Reflections on ED upgrades- Divine Casters

[noinfo]

Taking a look at ED's I think it was overall positive.

One thing that may want to be looked at is the EA tree vs Magister.

EA was for a long time the superior tree for casters with Magister being used for twists only.

The change to make Magister the superior overall DC caster was IMO a good one. However due to the lack of wisdom as an option puts certain caster types at a significant disadvantage- Druids and Clerics.

It would also be ideal for not everyone to default go to Magister for all dc casters. I would like to see EA have an option in the top core to have a drop down selection to boost 1 dc type by a further +3, I would also like to see core 4 have a +2 selector. This would bring the total DC bonuses +3 to all +3 to 1 school +2 to another or same.

Magister would then be +6 to all dcs, +3 twistable, +3 to specific school
EA would then have +3 to all +3 to a specific, +2 to a specific +3 from Magister twisted- Max 1 pt behind magister to 1 school, 3 points behind on others making Magister still superior overall but allowing others to gain an alternative to it for those wisdom based.

[SirValentine]

It would also be ideal for not everyone to default go to Magister for all dc casters.

But that was the devs explicitly-stated goal. There was discussion on the point before the changes. If that didn't change their minds then, I think you're going to need some substantial reason(s) why they should backtrack now.

One thing that may want to be looked at is the EA tree vs Magister.

Yeah, that was brought up before the changes, too. So they were certainly aware of how it would shake out, because we told them.

[janave]

Agree that tiering layers is a very bad design choice.

I am fine with it because I wanted to play in Magister specifically, but honestly it is hard to make a case for the other EDs now. 99% sure here the motive was to make people give up Divine Wrath heal to full on DC builds, even tho PM Auras is about 100 times superior healing now

TLDR;
Pendulum shifts != balance.

[LurkingVeteran]

Agree that tiering layers is a very bad design choice.

I am fine with it because I wanted to play in Magister specifically, but honestly it is hard to make a case for the other EDs now. 99% sure here the motive was to make people give up Divine Wrath heal to full on DC builds, even tho PM Auras is about 100 times superior healing now

TLDR;
Pendulum shifts != balance.

You may be on to something, but not everbody is a PM, and it might have been equally as much to keep DC casters from obsoleting the group healer role.

[SpartanKiller13]

I am fine with it because I wanted to play in Magister specifically, but honestly it is hard to make a case for the other EDs now. 99% sure here the motive was to make people give up Divine Wrath heal to full on DC builds, even tho PM Auras is about 100 times superior healing now

You may be on to something, but not everbody is a PM, and it might have been equally as much to keep DC casters from obsoleting the group healer role.

If I could give up 1-2 DC's and run in EA instead of Magister I'd be there in a heartbeat - on my PM. MCMW means I don't need to twist Cocoon (especially since I accidentally have 700 positive spellpower) and all I'd really miss is Arcane Tempest - but Wings, two twist slots (I'm presently twisting Endless Faith as well), and Divine Wrath would more than make up for it. Sun Bolt SLA would probs be nice too.

If all ED's are similar in effect, what's the point? Just reflavoring? Currently to me it's DC's vs utility - with a DC bump for EA it wouldn't be a contest.

[LurkingVeteran]

What people were arguing for back then was that it would have been better if Magister also had comparable utility so we don't end up in the specialization vs. generalization dilemma, because specialization almost always wins, to the detriment of fun and varied gameplay. They made some improvements to Tempest and the wards, but Magister is still a bit narrow in comparison.

[janave]

My current Mage's setup:

Narrow you say? xd