DEAR SSG (Enhancement Trees)

[Gnominal_Aphasia]

Dear SSG,

Happy New Year!

PLEASE would you fix all the bugs in the existing Enhancement Trees as a priority in 2022.

WOULD IT BE REALLY THAT DIFFICULT?

Enhancement Trees are backbone of DDO builds... wait, I sound that I'm trying to justify myself. The ET bugs are the biggest source of frustration I have with the game. OK, maybe just behind lag.

WOULD IT REALLY TAKE A LOT A RESOURCES?

WOULD IT HAVE ANY ADVERSE IMPACTS ON THE GAME?

Some communication on this subject from SSG would be really appreciated... these bugs have existed for years.

I just don't understand why we hardly ever see these issues addressed.

Thanks. Maybe?

[Oxarhamar]

Dear SSG,

Happy New Year!

PLEASE would you fix all the bugs in the existing Enhancement Trees as a priority in 2022.

WOULD IT BE REALLY THAT DIFFICULT?

Enhancement Trees are backbone of DDO builds... wait, I sound that I'm trying to justify myself. The ET bugs are the biggest source of frustration I have with the game. OK, maybe just behind lag.

WOULD IT REALLY TAKE A LOT A RESOURCES?

WOULD IT HAVE ANY ADVERSE IMPACTS ON THE GAME?

Some communication on this subject from SSG would be really appreciated... these bugs have existed for years.

I just don't understand why we hardly ever see these issues addressed.

Thanks. Maybe?

I been saying they need to take a pause from content and do an update that just fixes existing problems for a while now

We.got a no content update 5o redo 5he EDs that broke a whole lot of other stuffs we could get some fixes

[merridyan]

I been saying they need to take a pause from content and do an update that just fixes existing problems for a while now

We.got a no content update 5o redo 5he EDs that broke a whole lot of other stuffs we could get some fixes

Looks like you missed it, U52 was a bug fix/QOL update.

[Oxarhamar]

Looks like you missed it, U52 was a bug fix/QOL update.

Nah U52 was the intro quest for the coming expansion pack

I'm talking about something more like U51 but for fixes

[eightspoons]

Also, give the Archmage enhancement tree the attention that the classic DnD Wizard really deserves. Enough of this undead deep gnome, illusion spamming, negative and cold damage focus nonsense already.

It's a new year, so that means it's time for this to be mentioned yet again.

[Enderoc]

Also, give the Archmage enhancement tree the attention that the classic DnD Wizard really deserves. Enough of this undead deep gnome, illusion spamming, negative and cold damage focus nonsense already.

It's a new year, so that means it's time for this to be mentioned yet again.

Question...do you choose skill focus UMD and light armor prof for standard feats having so many extra , Actually start with at least 12 Charisma, and put points in the heal skill for epic levels when building your Archmage?
When people make videos of builds they like to show off big numbers, and don't really focus on self sufficiency but the fireworks.
There is a difference between player and promoter...
It's nice to see what is possible but what is viable is another story all together.
Con is nice but there are a ton of ways to get more hp... keeping that hp above zero is the primary goal so if you dump Charisma on what should be an enchanting wizard...unless you are made of wood. Or dress like everyday is halloween..you are going to get burnt.
An archmage Feydark Harper Illusionist has a lot of potential.
I like the idea of a conjurer though with three past lives of Cleric.
Pretty certain the new turn undead thing in Exalted Angel incorporates every one of your levels epic and heroic into the formula for turning as well. With Heavenly Presence you have more healing capability than your undead peers without any sp cost. Not to mention that Pillar of the Sun SLA.. light magic is not usually utilized by wizards...and it doesn't scorch your web.
Try it after an EPL as a necro...so you don't need death Aura to heal as you begin at 20 with hopefully enough UMD to heal yourself until you can achieve the enhancement.

Holy Command: When you hit enemies with Sun Pillar, Flame Pillar, or Healing Pillar, they must make a saving throw (20 + highest of Intelligence/Wisdom/Charisma + highest of Evocation and Conjuration bonuses) or be tripped, blinded, and made helpless for 12 seconds.

Thus 3 lives Cleric , plus feats for conjuration and archmage enhancements for conjuration on top of gear and stat bonuses... that's a pretty decent DC. Beautiful that the Pillar itself has no DC save.

12 seconds is a huge debuff for reaper at the cost of 5 sp.
Imagine a blast of light with a max intelligent caster for max spellcraft and all the feats to Empower damaging spells. If you want nuker.. that's a lot of radiation.

[yfernbottom]

Also, give the Archmage enhancement tree the attention that the classic DnD Wizard really deserves. Enough of this undead deep gnome, illusion spamming, negative and cold damage focus nonsense already.

It's a new year, so that means it's time for this to be mentioned yet again.

It's a bit silly that holy nukers completely outclass wizards. The best wizard builds are undead and inquisitive/ melee by a huge margin. That really makes zero sense with the PNP class. But it's been that way for years, I don't expect it to change soon or quickly.

[eightspoons]

Question...do you choose skill focus UMD and light armor prof for standard feats having so many extra , Actually start with at least 12 Charisma, and put points in the heal skill for epic levels when building your Archmage?
When people make videos of builds they like to show off big numbers, and don't really focus on self sufficiency but the fireworks.
There is a difference between player and promoter...
It's nice to see what is possible but what is viable is another story all together.
Con is nice but there are a ton of ways to get more hp... keeping that hp above zero is the primary goal so if you dump Charisma on what should be an enchanting wizard...unless you are made of wood. Or dress like everyday is halloween..you are going to get burnt.
An archmage Feydark Harper Illusionist has a lot of potential.
I like the idea of a conjurer though with three past lives of Cleric.
Pretty certain the new turn undead thing in Exalted Angel incorporates every one of your levels epic and heroic into the formula for turning as well. With Heavenly Presence you have more healing capability than your undead peers without any sp cost. Not to mention that Pillar of the Sun SLA.. light magic is not usually utilized by wizards...and it doesn't scorch your web.
Try it after an EPL as a necro...so you don't need death Aura to heal as you begin at 20 with hopefully enough UMD to heal yourself until you can achieve the enhancement.

Holy Command: When you hit enemies with Sun Pillar, Flame Pillar, or Healing Pillar, they must make a saving throw (20 + highest of Intelligence/Wisdom/Charisma + highest of Evocation and Conjuration bonuses) or be tripped, blinded, and made helpless for 12 seconds.

Thus 3 lives Cleric , plus feats for conjuration and archmage enhancements for conjuration on top of gear and stat bonuses... that's a pretty decent DC. Beautiful that the Pillar itself has no DC save.

12 seconds is a huge debuff for reaper at the cost of 5 sp.
Imagine a blast of light with a max intelligent caster for max spellcraft and all the feats to Empower damaging spells. If you want nuker.. that's a lot of radiation.

I personally never took any armour feat on a wizard with Archmage or, latterly, Pale Master because in my DnD brain, wizards have no business doing things like that, and I've always been a stickler for tradition when it comes to DnD mages. It could be an issue back in the early days, but with a bunch of past lives, especially epics ones, the squishiness is somewhat mitigated. I know that a great many other players do take Light or even Medium, however. Have certainly never taken UMD skill focus, and there are more than enough skill points available to max out both Heal and UMD, regardless. A couple of points of Charisma and Wisdom aren't going to make any real difference to those in the greater scheme of things. 10 is enough (though I admit I do have a +6 CHA and +7 WIS tome).

The wizard of DnD lore possesses better defensive spells than are currently available in game, as well as the ability to cast spells from the full spectrum of schools with some level of proficiency. The Archmage tree, like it's title would suggest, needs to reflect this adaptability, perhaps with some extra metamagic focus and unique defensive abilities that don't include even more self-healing or evasion (though let's face it, evasion would make far more sense on a wizard carrying around a bag of bat poo and dust than it does on an alchemist hauling around 100's of glass bottles, but that's a whole other topic) and at least bypassing the cloth armour MRR restriction, which never made the slightest sense to me. A big old set of metallic armour might as well be a mobile lightning conductor, not to mention that it would/should probably melt and merge agonisingly with flesh in the face of dragon breath or a strong fireball. It would hardly be that much more effective as a defensive barrier than a fancily tailored robe carrying the sorts of enchantments an Archmage would be more than capable of imbuing in to it.

I am talking exclusively about the heroic levels here of course, which is the point of the OP. After the mid-level-20's, class basics go out of the window anyway so who cares at that point?

I digressed a bit there. I always do on this subject. At this time, I'm on an extended DDO break, and the one thing that might reignite my interest and draw me back is an Archmage tree that's brought up to spec, and even then only if it's done in a way that is sensitive to Dungeons and Dragons lore. I don't have too much hope on that one, though. The last mention by a developer on anything to even vaguely do with Archmage was, unless I'm mistaken, back in August 2019.

[eightspoons]

It's a bit silly that holy nukers completely outclass wizards. The best wizard builds are undead and inquisitive/ melee by a huge margin. That really makes zero sense with the PNP class. But it's been that way for years, I don't expect it to change soon or quickly.

Yes, absolutely agreed.

[MasterDragonan]

Washed-off classes are one of the problems of ddo. So when in heroics, not all classes are well designed, and when you get to epics, they get ignored instead of building on top of suitable classes. 75% of sorc/wizz spells are trash. They told us they want us to change the damage type if we face someone immune to our current damage, and at the same time, they designed sorc trees where we should not use any other damage type.
Sorc should have only 3 trees:
Fire/Electric
Water/Earth
Eldritch Knight or even something else
We should be able to splash sorc with a bard, but it is impossible now.

If they want to increase lvls, they need improvements to base classes.