U45 Preview 1: Balance: Knight of the Chalice Changes

[Cocomajobo]

Disclaimer

Everything seen on the preview server, Lamannia, is not final and is subject to change or removal before live release.

Here's our current plan for KOTC for Update 45. Our goals are to:

• Increase the overall viability of DPS Weapon-based Paladins
• Move abilities in the tree that augment Paladin feats out of tiers where you don't have the feat yet (Remove Disease, Turn Undead, etc)
• Provide some incentive to use Favored Weapons as well as add synergy with alternate Favored Weapons from Wood Elf, Inquisitive, Divine Crusader

Basic Paladin:

• Remove Disease now starts with 4 charges/rest.
• Level 1 Paladins get a Ranged version of the Smite Evil feat.

Overall Divines:
Changes to Deity Feat Structure have been made to bring alternate-Favored-Weapons up to speed with "traditional" ones, and to make respeccing into a new Deity easier. For Divines using their Deity's Favored Weapon, these changes should be a net zero change in Attack/Damage.

• "Follower" Deity Feats (usually obtained with your first Divine level) now designate your Deity's weapon as a "Favored Weapon", grant proficiency with that weapon, and grant +1 to Attack with all Favored Weapons.
• "Child of" Deity Feats (the level 3 Deity Feats) have been replaced with a single new Feat, "Child of Faith: Your connection to your Deity strengthens. You gain bonuses to Attack and Damage rolls with all Favored Weapons you wield. Simple and Martial Favored Weapons gain +2 to Attack and Damage. Exotic Favored Weapons gain +1 to Attack and Damage." Players with existing "Child of" Feats have had them replaced with this Feat. This feat is gained by the same methods and has the same prerequisites as the old "Child of" Feats.
• "Beloved of" Deity Feats (the level 12 Deity Feats) have been replaced with a single new Feat, "Beloved of the Divine: Your connection to your Deity strengthens. You gain bonuses to Attack and Damage rolls with all Favored Weapons you wield: Simple Favored Weapons gain +3 to Attack and Damage. Martial Favored Weapons gain +2 to Attack and Damage. Exotic Favored Weapons gain +1 to Attack and Damage." Players with existing "Beloved of" Feats have had them replaced with this Feat. This feat is gained by the same methods and has the same prerequisites as the old "Beloved of" Feats.
• Characters with at least 6 Divine levels can now take a new feat in place of the Active feat related to their Deity: "Search the Soul: You are seeking guidance to new paths of Faith. Passive: You gain +3 to the Concentration skill. As this Feat has no particular required Deity, while you have this feat (and assuming you meet all other requirements), you can exchange your Deity with a Feat Exchange (using normal Feat Exchange rules and costs).

Knight of the Chalice:

Cores:

• Light Damage in the Cores now scales with 200% Melee or Ranged Power, in addition to other changes below.
• Core 1: Unchanged.
• Core 2: Unchanged.
• Core 3: In addition to what this already does, you also gain +3 Remove Disease Charges and your Remove Disease now applies Greater Restoration to your target.
• Core 4: In addition to what this already does: Sealed Life: Immunity to Energy Drain.
• Core 5: Unchanged.
• Core 6: In addition to what this already does: Your Aura of Courage now grants allies a +3% Sacred Bonus to melee and ranged damage. Blessed Purpose now stacks up to 25 times.

Tier 1:

• Extra Turning: Removed, added to Tier 4.
  
  • Replaced With: Holy Combatant: +1 to hit and damage with Favored Weapons.
  
  
• Extra Smite: MOVED but otherwise unchanged
• NEW: Shieldbreaker: +1/2/3 to Sunder DCs. (Sunder DCs are now used in Holy Retribution).
• Extra Remove Disease: Removed, Added to Core 3
  
  • Replaced With: Knight's Authority: Multiselector: Active that debuffs Will, Fortitude, or Reflex. (This is a copy of Swash's Insults with different flavor, multiselector that lets them debuff enemy saves.)
  
  
• Attack Boost: Removed, made multiselector with Power Boost in Tier 2
  
  • Replaced With: Knight's Command: +1/2/3 to Intimidate, Diplomacy, and Concentration. Rank 3: +1 to Fortitude Saves

Tier 2:

• Improved Turning: Removed, added to Tier 4.
  
  • Replaced With: Adept Combatant: +1 to hit and damage with all weapons. Longswords, Battle Axes, Heavy Maces, Morningstars, and War Hammers are considered as favored Weapons regardless of your religion.
  
  
• Divine Might: Unchanged
• Rally:Unchanged
• Exalted Cleave: Reduced to 1 rank at 2AP (with third rank's effects)
  
  • NEW: Multiselector: Ranged attack version.
  
  
• Melee/Ranged Power Boost: Unchanged
  
  • MOVED: Multiselector: AB Attack

Tier 3:

• Improved Restoration: Removed, added to Core 3
  
  • Replaced With: Holy Combatant: +2 to hit and damage with Favored Weapons. Greatswords are considered as favored Weapons regardless of your religion.
  
  
• Divine Sacrifice: Add +2[w], add in Passion's effects (upgraded): On damage: gain +15 Temporary SP and +10 Melee and Ranged Power for 10 seconds if you strike an Undead or Evil Outsider with this attack.
  
  • NEW: Multiselector: Ranged attack version.
  
  
• Vigor of Life: REMOVED, rolled into T4 and T5.
  
  • Replaced With: Lead the Charge: +2/3/5[w], sprint forward toward your target and deliver a single-target blow. 6 second cooldown. (1ap per rank). This works like Vanguard's Shield Charge, but it's single-target and works with any Melee weapon.
  
  
• Exalted Smite: Rolls in Empowered Smite: Your Smite Evil and Exalted Smite abilities increases Melee Power by 5 for 10 seconds.
  
  • NEW: Multiselector: Ranged attack version.
  
  
• Ability Score: Unchanged

Tier 4:

• Passion: Removed, added to Divine Sacrifice.
  
  • Replaced With: Knight's Training: +1 to hit and damage with all weapons and +1 to hit and damage with Favored Weapons. You gain the Knight's Training feat.
  
  
• Censure Demons: Unchanged (shifts right in the tree)
• Vigor of Life: Now +30 Positive Healing Amp and -30 Negative Healing Amp.
  
  • NOTE: Vigor of Life now actually reduces Negative Healing Amp, as opposed to reducing Negative Vulnerability as it was doing before.
  
  
• Empowered Smite: Removed, rolled into Exalted Smite
  
  • Replaced With: Improved Turning: You gain +1/2/3 use of Turn Undead per rest. You also count as 1/2/3 level higher when turning undead and add 2/4/6 to the number of hit dice turned. Finally, your Turn Undead ability now also deals 6d6/12d6/18d6 light damage to nearby undead. Scales with 200% Melee Power.
  
  
• Ability Score: Unchanged

Tier 5:

• Sealed Life: Removed, added to Core 4.
  
  • Replaced With: Ascendant Training: +2 to hit and damage with all weapons. An additional +2 to hit and damage with Favored Weapons. Whenever you attack an undead or evil outsider with a Favored Weapon, you gain a stack of Blessed Purpose: +3 Sacred Bonus to Melee and Ranged Power that lasts for 6 seconds. You can acquire up to 15 stacks by continuing to attack Undead or Evil Outsiders. Switching to a non-Favored Weapon will reset your stacks.
  
  
• Censure Outsiders: Bonus changes to +10 Melee and Ranged Power. Also adds "All other Evil creatures are instead Dazed for six seconds". Shifts right in the tree.
• Vigor of Life: Now +30/-30, as the previous tier.
• Avenging Cleave: Reduced to 1 rank at 2AP (with third rank's effects).
  
  • NEW: Multiselector: Ranged attack version.
  
  
• Holy Retribution: Holy Retribution: No longer takes Turn Undead charges. Now only 1 Rank. "Melee Channel Divinity: Executes a powerful holy cleave against nearby targets that deals +5[W] damage, 100 extra holy damage that scales with 200% Melee or Ranged Power, -6 to all ability scores for ten seconds, and recharges one Smite Evil charge to you. On Damage: Evil creatures may be forced to make a Will save (DC 10 + Paladin Level + Charisma Mod + Sunder Bonuses) or be destroyed. Evil creatures under 1000 HP must always make this save or die. Evil creatures between 5000 and 1000 HP have a 50% chance to be forced to make this save or die. Evil creatures with more than 5000 HP have a 33% chance to be forced to make this save or die." 30 second cooldown.
  
  • NEW: Multiselector: Ranged version

Spell Changes:

• Bless: Now scales with caster level - 1 debuff/buff level per 5 levels
• Angelskin Now grants +1 Sacred bonus to AC and +1 Sacred bonus to PRR per caster level.
• Prayer: Now scales with caster level - 1 debuff/buff level per 5 levels
• Stalwart Pact: Delete current functionality: This now grants you +1 Sacred bonus to Melee and Ranged power per caster level for its duration.
• Zeal: Added 10% Doubleshot

Known Issues

• N/A

[Arkat]

So, minor tweeks to KotC.

Helpful to Ranged Paladins but, at first glance, won't move many needles for melee Paladins.

:sigh:

[capsela]

Holy retribution was a cleave before. Is it now single target?

If so isn't that a significant downgrade?

[Zretch]

Holy retribution was a cleave before. Is it now single target?

If so isn't that a significant downgrade?

Edited to say: nevermind

[Steelstar]

Holy retribution was a cleave before. Is it now single target?

If so isn't that a significant downgrade?

That's an older design than what's on Lamannia. Hang tight, getting the current one edited in shortly.

[Zretch]

So, minor tweeks to KotC.

Helpful to Ranged Paladins but, at first glance, won't move many needles for melee Paladins.

:sigh:

If you're fighting undead or evil outsiders, there looks to be some pretty serious melee power upgrades.

[Steelstar]

That's an older design than what's on Lamannia. Hang tight, getting the current one edited in shortly.

This is fixed now.

[PsychoBlonde]

Replaced With: Knight's Authority: Multiselector: Active that debuffs Will, Fortitude, or Reflex. (This is a copy of Swash's Insults with different flavor, multiselector that lets them debuff enemy saves.)

The animation delay on Insults is SUPER-annoying and basically makes it unusable. Please don't put that kind of animation on Knight's Authority (and REMOVE it from Insults, it should just be a boom, goes off, or have a high-speed casting animation.)

[Garix]

"Evil creatures between 5000 and 1000 HP"

Typo i'm guessing. Should be 10k?

EDIT. Just reread it. Now think the values are the wrong way round?

EDIT 2: Think its supposed to read "upto 1K save or die. 1k to 5k: 50% chance for save or die. 5k+ 33% chance to save or die

[PsychoBlonde]

Characters with at least 6 Divine levels can now take a new feat in place of the Active feat related to their Deity: "Search the Soul: You are seeking guidance to new paths of Faith. Passive: You gain +3 to the Concentration skill. As this Feat has no particular required Deity, while you have this feat (and assuming you meet all other requirements), you can exchange your Deity with a Feat Exchange (using normal Feat Exchange rules and costs

Suggest making it so that you can also pick ANY deity feat instead of being bound by your race.

[Steelstar]

EDIT 2: Think its supposed to read "upto 1K save or die. 1k to 5k: 50% chance for save or die. 5k+ 33% chance to save or die

This is right. We'll adjust the wording to be clearer.

Suggest making it so that you can also pick ANY deity feat instead of being bound by your race.

This is something we cannot change at this time.

[Fedora1]

Hmmm, these changes look so-so at first glance, but maybe.... Definitely something that will need to be played to see if there is noticeable improvement. Have always loved paladins but haven't played one in years (since the original enhancement pass).

[axebender]

Are there any plans to revamp paladin spells or maybe add some new ones possibly linked to deity choice

[Lynnabel]

Are there any plans to revamp paladin spells or maybe add some new ones possibly linked to deity choice

Actually, 5 Paladin spells did get reworked. Getting them added to the OP, but in the meantime:

Bless: Now scales with caster level - 1 debuff/buff level per 5 levels

Angelskin: Now grants +1 Sacred bonus to AC and +1 Sacred bonus to PRR per caster level.

Prayer: Now scales with caster level - 1 debuff/buff level per 5 levels

Stalwart Pact: Delete current functionality: This now grants you +1 Sacred bonus to Melee and Ranged power per caster level for its duration.

Also, we added 10% Doubleshot to Zeal

[SirValentine]

Stalwart Pact: Delete current functionality: This now grants you +1 Sacred bonus to Melee and Ranged power per caster level for its duration.

I don't care whether you add this to Stalwart Pact, but please do not remove the current functionality.

[Aelonwy]

Was Divine Might truly unchanged or did it have its AP cost reduced to match the AP cost in Warsoul/Warpriest?

[Lynnabel]

I don't care whether you add this to Stalwart Pact, but please do not remove the current functionality.

Was the current functionality any good? I honestly wasn't aware players were fond of this spell. I absolutely don't mind another rework - what would you like the spell to do?

[Seph1roth5]

I liked stalwart pact, if for nothing else than the temp HP when you're in trouble. The new effect seems more offensive than the name suggests...why not just add a new spell?

[Vorachtin]

Was the current functionality any good? I honestly wasn't aware players were fond of this spell. I absolutely don't mind another rework - what would you like the spell to do?

I just didnt cast stalwart before, I would cast the new version.

[Lynnabel]

I liked stalwart pact, if for nothing else than the temp HP when you're in trouble. The new effect seems more offensive than the name suggests...why not just add a new spell?

Honest answer: Because I made over 100 for Alchemist and don't wanna make any more spells, please, anything but that, nooooo