DEVS: Zombie shroud giving -20% attack speed. Is this WAI?

[Khalibano]

I am feeling rather disappointed at Zombie form for Pale Master Wizards. I levelled mine all the way to 16, as a mixture of Eldritch Knight and PM Zombie, and the plan is to use the Ascendant Zombie form for extra HP and all the extra melee dmg.

As soon as I toggled the Ascendant Shroud, to my surprise I started attacking MUCH slower. Yes, I had already been attacking slower (-10% speed) all the way to level 16 due to the regular Zombie form penalty, but the Ascendant form made it A LOT slower.

I couldn't really work out what was happening: I read and re-read the description of the Tier 5 Ascendant Shroud enhancement in the Pale Master tree, and it just does NOT mention at all that there is a further reduction of 10%, making it -20% to the attack speed:
"While in Zombie Form, you gain an additional +30 Melee Power and +10 Physical Resistance Rating, and your attacks deal +10% more damage. You also benefit from a 10% Profane Bonus to Maximum Hit Points"

I then hovered my mouse over the buff bar at the top of the screen, and then the description there said:
"Shroud of the Plague Zombie: While in this form, you hunger for brains and gain +4 CON, +2 STR, +10 Melee Power, +3 PRR and MRR, and attack 20% slower. You also gain an extra +10 Physical Resistance Rating, 10% Profane Bonus to Maximum Hit Points, deal +10% more damage with your attacks, and 30 additional Melee Power for choosing Zombie as your Ascendant Shroud". The first and ONLY place where the 20% penalty is ever mentioned.

Just VERY disappointed really, mostly with the game not saying this clearly in the Pale Master enhancement tree (and, consequently, on the wiki). I spent a long time planning the character, then TRed it, got all the gear ready, levelled to 16 and then found it out the hard way through toggling it on that it completely cripples melee (I am using THF feat line for the strikethrough with Dwarven axes and shields, so not using SWF feats).

I am really hoping this is a bug, and that it can be fixed. I found another post about this earlier today:

Tested it thoroughly,

The attackspeed is -20%
The dmg is +10%
Animation is broken for WF (and horc I guess)
+2 str that shouldn't be there

Zombie is fkn god-awful.
Hotfix on that would be really nice.


Some wiki dude should fix the wiki to reflect this, so no poor soul thinks they can make a PM tank with respectable DPS in zombie.

Wish I had read this earlier to be honest, as I was the poor soul that made this charcter...

Could we please get a confirmation from a DEV?

[Khalibano]

Just noticed another error/bug in the description of the Zombie shroud in the PM tree:

Under the core 2, the Zombie shroud displays: "While in this form, you hunger for brains and gain +4 Constitution, +10 Melee Power, 3 Physical and Magical Resistance Rating, and attack 10% slower." It clearly says 10% slower, and also does not mention the +2 STR bonus it is currently giving.

Under the tier 4 enhancement that allows you to select a second shroud, the same Zombie shroud displays: "While in this form, +4 Constitution, +20% damage with attacks but you attack 20% slower than normal".

Very confusing...

[Sormiron]

Just noticed another error/bug in the description of the Zombie shroud in the PM tree:

Under the core 2, the Zombie shroud displays: "While in this form, you hunger for brains and gain +4 Constitution, +10 Melee Power, 3 Physical and Magical Resistance Rating, and attack 10% slower." It clearly says 10% slower, and also does not mention the +2 STR bonus it is currently giving.

Under the tier 4 enhancement that allows you to select a second shroud, the same Zombie shroud displays: "While in this form, +4 Constitution, +20% damage with attacks but you attack 20% slower than normal".

Very confusing...

I tested this the other day too. I wanted to know if the tier 4 was still like the before the nerf. It turns out the tier 4 zombie shroud gives +10 melee power and +2 strength but still has the old -20% attackspeed.

i´ve tried to figure out a way to make a melee zombie or vampire worth it. the lack of crit multiplier is an issue for me when I look at tier 5. I guess 6 fighter levels could work but then you make the wizard kinda hollow and vistani isnt that great with any of them.