First Look: U43 Pale Master

[Steelstar]

Hello, everyone!

In addition to the Epic Destiny Pass and the New Epic Past Lives that we've already given a sneak peek of, Update 43 will also feature a revamp of the Pale Master enhancement tree.

Some of our goals for this pass included:

• Make Pale Master less about progressing through increasingly-powerful Undead Forms and more about picking a single (or multiple) forms to specialize in
• Give each Undead Form a unique playstyle
• Allow players to specialize without enforcing each form completely into a specific role
• Help parties effectively interact with Undead players
• Provide an actual way for Pale Masters to combat undead
• Help address concerns of survivability

To call out that last point (& so this doesn't get lost in the shuffle below): One of the big changes here is that Undead players will now be healed 50% by Positive Energy spells. While it doesn't 100% fit Undead lore, we believe the positive benefit to survivability and party dynamics is worth the change.

With that said, here's the tree!





CORES:

• Core 1: Dark Reaping: For each Core Ability in this tree you get +3 Negative Spell Power and +3 Negative Healing Amplification.
• Core 2: Pale Shroud: Multiselector: All forms grant 100% critical hit resistance and allow you to be healed by Negative Energy. You take 50% healing from Positive, and double damage from Light. You are considered undead.
  
  • Shroud of the Zombie: While in this form, +4 Constitution, +20% damage with attacks but you attack 20% slower than normal. You gain +3 PRR, +3 MRR.
  • Shroud of the Vampire: While in this form, +2 Charisma, +2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom. +3 Perform skill, and your melee and unarmed attacks have a chance to heal you for 1d3 Negative Energy damage per Wizard Level.
  • Shroud of the Wraith: While in this form, +2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence. Enemy attacks have a 10% chance to miss you due to incorporeality, +1 Sneak Attack Dice, and you gain Feather Falling.
  • Shroud of the Lich: While in this form, +2 Constitution, +2 Intelligence, +10 Negative Amplification, +5 Negative Spell Power, and +15 Magical Resistance Rating.
  
  
• Core 3: Multiselector: Improved Shrouding: Pick one of the following abilities that applies while in a Pale Shroud: (Passive: While in a Shroud, you can breathe underwater. +1 Spell Penetration.)
  
  • Deathly Tough: 15 Maximum Hit Points
  • Deathly Resistance: 15 Magical Resistance Rating, +2 to all Saves
  • Inflict Weariness: Your attacks inflict 2-9 points of Negative Energy damage to a living target. This scales with 100% Spell Power. Your Vorpal Melee Hits cause Energy Drain, inflicting 1 Negative Level on victims.
  • Haunting in the Dark: +2 Assassinate DCs.
  • Ghost in the Wind: +15% Incorporeal Miss Chance. (If you are in Wraith Form, this increases your total to 25%).
  • Deathly Power: +10 to Negative Energy Spellpower.
  • +2 Necromancy DC
  • +2 Enchantment DC
  • Undead Chill: +15% bonus to Cold Absorption. You no longer take extra damage from Light.
  • Undead Shock: +15% bonus to Electric Absorption. You no longer take extra damage from Light.
  • Unhallowed Touch: You gain Ghost Touch on all attacks, +5 Hide and Move Silently
  
  
• Core 4: Pick an ability you didn't pick in Core 3. (Passive: +1 Spell Penetration.)
• Core 5: Pick an ability you didn't pick in Core 3+4 (Passive: +50 Maximum Spell Points, +1 Spell Penetration.)
• Core 6: Undead Overlord:
  
  • Active: Greater Death Aura SLA. (Envelops the caster in a sickly aura of negative energy. Living enemies stepping inside the aura take 3 to 12 negative energy damage plus 1 additional point per caster level every two seconds as long as they remain within it. A successful Fortitude save reduces the damage by half. Undead are instead healed by the aura. This aura can affect up to one target per caster level. D&D Dice: Deals 3d4 negative energy damage plus 1 per caster level every two seconds.) (This can be cast simultaneously with Lesser Death Aura and Death Aura).
  • Passive: You gain +4 Intelligence and Deathblock. +10 Negative Healing Amplification. +2 Spell Penetration.

TIER 1:

• Necrotic Touch: 6/4/2 SP, 12/8/4 seconds. Accepts Metamagics. Scales with full Spell Power. For 12 seconds after casting this, your Skeletal Knight reduces its incoming damage by 50%.
• Negative Energy Conduit (relocated)
• Spell Crit: Negative I (unchanged)
• Skeletal Knight: (Cooldown on re-summoning changed to 20 seconds. No summon cost.)
• Deathless Vigor (relocated but otherwise unchanged)

TIER 2:

• (this space intentionally left blank)
• Cloak of Night: While blocking in a Pale Shroud, you gain invisibility, displacement, and do not take extra damage from Light. Passive: +5 Hide.
• Spell Crit: Negative II (unchanged)
• Corpsecrafter: Your Skeletal Knight gain a +2/4/6 Profane Bonus to Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution. Rank 3: You gain +1 Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution.
• Efficient Metamagic (unchanged)

TIER 3:

• Necrotic bolt: 10/8/5 SP, 15/10/5 seconds. Accepts Metamagics. Scales with full Spell Power.
• Negative Energy Adept: +10/20/30 Negative Amp
• Spell Crit: Negative III (unchanged)
• Eternal Furor: You (while in a Shroud) AND your Skeleton Knight gain +5/10/15 Profane Bonus to PRR. Your Skeletal Knight gains +3/6/10 to hit and damage, +2/4/6 Profane Bonus to AC, and and its attacks bypass 10%/20%/50% of enemy Fortification.
• CON/INT (unchanged)

TIER 4:

• (this space intentionally left blank)
• Unholy Avatar: While in an Undead Shroud, your Negative Energy attacks leave a lingering debuff on undead foes that leaves them vulnerable to Negative Energy if they were immune.
• Spell Crit: Negative IV (unchanged)
• Deathly Versatile: Pick a second Shroud Toggle. You may only have one active at a time.
• CON/INT (unchanged)

TIER 5:

• Necrotic Blast: 20/15/10 SP, 18/12/6 seconds. Accepts Metamagics. Scales with full Spell Power.
• Animate Ally: 18 second cooldown. Target no longer takes damage over time. Zombie Form is removed on Rest or Death.
• Necromantic Focus (unchanged)
• Dark Discorporation: Multiselector:
  
  • Dark Discorporation SLA (as per the Warlock spell... Because Pale Masters should get to turn into bats and float away).
  • Reactive Discorporation: When your HP drops below 50%, gain Dark Discorporation for 20 seconds. This effect still ends if you attack. This effect may only trigger once every 60 seconds.
  
  
• Ascendant Shroud: You get bonuses based on your current form:
  
  • Zombie: While in Zombie Form, +20 Melee Power & 10 PRR. +20% Racial Bonus to maximum Hit Points.
  • Vampire: While in Vampire Form, +1 Enchantment DC. Your melee attacks have a chance to dominate your adversaries. On Hit: Target has a chance to be Paralyzed (Will save vs. DC 20 + INT Mod + Enchantment Spell Bonuses). On Save: -10% Movement and Attack Speed.
  • Wraith: While in Wraith Form, +10% Incorporeality (bringing your total to 20%, or 35% if you have Ghost in the Wind), +2 Sneak Attack Dice. +3% Dodge & Dodge Cap. +10 to Hide and Move Silently.
  • Lich: While in Lich Form, +15 to MRR cap, +5 Negative Spell Power, +10 Cold and Electric Resistance.

NEW SPELL:
Finally, there will be a new Level 9 Sorcerer/Wizard Spell - "Rend the Soul":
"Twists unholy energies around a single foe, causing it significant negative damage over time. Deals 4 to 10 damage every two seconds for 10 seconds for every caster level up to 20. A successful fortitude save reduces damage by half. D&D Dice: Deals 1d6+4 negative damage per caster level, max 20d6+80, every 2 seconds for 10 seconds."

[Kza]

This is so awesome and good i had to read it twice. Awesome with 50% healage, just awesome!!!!!

[Highdracolich79]

1st you take away my Frostmarrow Mage...

[Xyfiel]

1st you take away my Frostmarrow Mage...

Deathly Versatile: Pick a second Shroud Toggle. You may only have one active at a time.

[mr420247]

Great stuff now where is the SORC PASS AT

the Arcane class getting screwed by the maj pass and a useless ea tree

[Darckengel]

As a Pale Master main, this post makes me incredibly happy.

First of all the 50% healing from positive energy makes a massive change for epics.

The SLAs are now useful since they scale with full spell power and accept metamagics. Are they moving over to SP, or will it still be HP? It reads SP in the description, I did not know if this was a typo.

Undead Overlord makes me so happy. Especially since you can cast it simultaneously with LDA and DA.

Unholy Avatar is a dream! Running through and hitting an annoying block with a bunch of undead as a Pale Master is incredibly annoying. Usually having to spam some evo skill over and over again to tear through them which takes so much time. Also, just being generally useful in some raids now.

The new spell sounds intriguing. You have my interest!

[Eddexp]

one less class to play

[Mindos]

Cloak of night seems too powerful or too low in the tree or both. Maybe some odd always tumble playstyle can abuse it?

Animate ally, will players still have the slower movement? Or will it be really cool, and players get all the zombie form changes listed? Hmmm, maybe players will WANT to die, to get animated to get the buffs

I sorta don't understand what you want this tree to do. Melee? Great with the paralysing on hit. Caster? Great with the charms. Undead buddy healer? Even better. I'm just not seeing what this is supposed to really shine at doing. Tanking? DPS? Right now it seems just like it was before. Niche. But buffed niche.

[Steelstar]

The SLAs are now useful since they scale with full spell power and accept metamagics. Are they moving over to SP, or will it still be HP? It reads SP in the description, I did not know if this was a typo.

They are moving over to SP.

[HungarianRhapsody]

I may have missed something, but this seems like big upgrades and big downgrades at the same time. Agar is making up for the loss of 1.5 negative spell power per point spent in tree? Will the other bonuses make up for this so that undead folks still swing for big negative spell power?

[mr420247]

Looking at stuff its pretty op what about AM

[FlavoredSoul]

Cloak of night seems too powerful or too low in the tree or both. Maybe some odd always tumble playstyle can abuse it?

Animate ally, will players still have the slower movement? Or will it be really cool, and players get all the zombie form changes listed? Hmmm, maybe players will WANT to die, to get animated to get the buffs

I sorta don't understand what you want this tree to do. Melee? Great with the paralysing on hit. Caster? Great with the charms. Undead buddy healer? Even better. I'm just not seeing what this is supposed to really shine at doing. Tanking? DPS? Right now it seems just like it was before. Niche. But buffed niche.

I think the idea is to make it a tree that via multi selectors can be specialized either as melee or necro/enchant spellcaster with negative energy healing added on as a bonus.

Tree looks pretty decent as a secondary tree for wizard Eldritch knights (using vampire or wraith form) who don't have a lot of options other than EK and harper (because they NEED to take the EK capstone to do decent damage), but also as a decently powerful tree for Necro/enchant casters (vampire or Lich)

[bracelet]

They are moving over to SP.

The SLA changes are the best thing I am reading here. I might have been doing it wrong in the past, but I never found them worth putting on the hotbar.

[Steelstar]

Tree looks pretty decent as a secondary tree for wizard Eldritch knights (using vampire or wraith form) who don't have a lot of options other than EK and harper (because they NEED to take the EK capstone to do decent damage), but also as a decently powerful tree for Necro/enchant casters (vampire or Lich)

Synergy with Eldritch Knight was definitely a sub-goal of mine. I wrote up the first draft of this pass at the same time as the Eldritch Knight pass last year.

[rabidfox]

[*]Core 3: Multiselector: Improved Shrouding: Pick one of the following abilities that applies while in a Pale Shroud: (Passive: While in a Shroud, you can breathe underwater. +1 Spell Penetration.)

• Inflict Weariness: Your attacks inflict 2-9 points of Negative Energy damage to a living target. This scales with 100% Spell Power. Your Vorpal Melee Hits cause Energy Drain, inflicting 1 Negative Level on victims.

Will this 2-9 neg dam work with ranged attacks too? =)

[Steelstar]

Will this 2-9 neg dam work with ranged attacks too? =)

Yes.

[janave]

• Wraith is missing 10% incorporeal from T5, it is 35%. I would probably swap the early bonus to 15% then add 10%, a free "ghostly" is still generous for the other forms.
• Not all core3s look competitive. Hp, Spell power could be more, MRR could increase the MRR cap slightly, absorption could be 20%.
• Unholy Avatar as a T4 is too OP, Sorcs get something like this as a T5/Capstone
• I think the positive energy vulneb for heals should be trained with a trade-off, adding 50% heal for free is too generous, very anti theme too.
• With the capstone the character will be near immortal on EE on a well geared 1st life char.
• Core 5: the 50 spell points would make more sense in AM tree, could get 10% stacking discount on necro spell tho, that would be fitting

=> Not sure how I feel about the spell penetration, id rather see some arcane_augmentation_necro here, and see more spell pen for AM.
=> Nice that you made the new spell as a DoT, less competition for direct damage builds. Well done.
=> Looks like the tree got some serious multi-classing potential, which is probably good long term.

[mr420247]

They completely removed all penalties to being a PM

No extra light dmg and positive healing guess easier to code then a purple bar

Why play a robot now

[rabidfox]

Will this 2-9 neg dam work with ranged attacks too? =)

Yes.

Oooo, that combined with Unholy Avatar could be fun. Time for me start dreaming up an Arcane Arch undead build. Probably niftier in my head than reality but that's the fun of D&D.

[Steelstar]

• Wraith is missing 10% incorporeal from T5, it is 35%. I would probably swap the early bonus to 15% then add 10%, a free "ghostly" is still generous for the other forms.

That got dropped from the notes accidentally. I've updated the OP to reflect that Ascendant Wraith should be granting an additional 10%.

• Unholy Avatar as a T4 is too OP, Sorcs get this as a T5/Capstone

Given the prevalence of Undead in the game (& how often PM's spells are not useful relative to other damage types), we feel this positioning is appropriate.