U53 Preview 2: Hunter and Hunted

[Tilomere]

Quality Spell Focus Mastery now changes from +1 to +2 at a slightly earlier level so more gear has the +2 version of the affix

Hey, did anyone test if this change means that SFM now hits +5 at earlier levels (slave lords gear) as well?

[Artos_Fabril]

100k? I have neither raid gear nor Greensteel (very tough raiding environment overall on Orien when I can play) and on a purple Crit from a tief Fire Sorc with all filigree slots and top non raid gear, 9 heroic lives and 18 racial lives, I don’t come close to that. Horizon walker does 100k DPS? Geez I feel like where do you get all that from???

That particular build is using Ying's 12/6/2 Rogue/Ranger/Warlock HW build. First lifer is hitting for crits upwards of 100k. It comes from a very high crit profile 19-20 combined with favored enemies damage boost from mark.

I'm merely comparing that to my monk DPS. My monk is literally geared out. Every item is raid gear, upgraded legendary crafting gear, or feytwisted. It has damage procs from RDA and Staggershockers. The DPS output doesn't even come REMOTELY close. I understand that it's a completely different build, different playstyle, and far more survivable..

Just need to be clear here. Hitting 100k stars-aligned crits is not 100k DPS. More likely its 98k overkill on a nearly dead trash mob.

Monks could surely use some help, but making faulty arguments isn't likely to help your case.

Big numbers in a screenshot is not the same thing as consistent DPS when it counts.

[Xharath]

Virtually everyone I know is playing melee at endgame and have abandoned casting entirely. How and why the devs think an update full of melee buffs and bug fixes + melee rebalancing is appropriate blows my mind ...

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...mDC4SuZKC/edit


Three most populated servers, classes played at endgame.


Wizard @ ~9%
Sorc @ ~6%

Pally @ ~8%
Barb @ ~8%

I call complete and utter cattle manure on your comment. You play with melee players who don't like casters. I play with casters who don't like melee. Balanced

I like this, can it be incorperaded in a 2wf dex based roque assasin? is the gear suitable? or are there better options? for a 2wf daggerbased assasin

[Doomflayer]

Virtually everyone I know is playing melee at endgame and have abandoned casting entirely. How and why the devs think an update full of melee buffs and bug fixes + melee rebalancing is appropriate blows my mind ...

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...mDC4SuZKC/edit

Three most populated servers, classes played at endgame.

Wizard @ ~9%
Sorc @ ~6%

Pally @ ~8%
Barb @ ~8%

I call complete and utter cattle manure on your comment. You play with melee players who don't like casters. I play with casters who don't like melee. Balanced

What garbage guild are you referring to? We completed R6 VoD and we had ZERO melee besides the two tanks! R5 was EASY without melee that is why we are running R6's.

[PedXing20]

What garbage guild are you referring to? We completed R6 VoD and we had ZERO melee besides the two tanks! R5 was EASY without melee that is why we are running R6's.

Not referring to any guild. Using real numbers from DDO Audit. Based on data, more people are playing melee than casters. Your guild might be different - goody for you.

[Doomflayer]

Not referring to any guild. Using real numbers from DDO Audit. Based on data, more people are playing melee than casters. Your guild might be different - goody for you.

Oh, I see people that can barely play DDO are playing melee, got it.

[PedXing20]

What garbage guild are you referring to? We completed R6 VoD and we had ZERO melee besides the two tanks! R5 was EASY without melee that is why we are running R6's.

R6? Very nice! When you get your big boy pants you can move up to R8 - looks like you'll need 4 melee, 4 ranged, 2 healers and 2 casters.

[Doomflayer]

R6? Very nice! When you get your big boy pants you can move up to R8 - looks like you'll need 4 melee, 4 ranged, 2 healers and 2 casters.

Here is a cookie, that was update 50, not 52. Quoting numbers of playing melee vs casters proves NOTHING, melee is under powered currently. It isn't 4 melee, it is 2 melee and 2 tanks. No one ever stated tanks are under powered just melee DPS.

[Tilomere]

No one ever stated tanks are under powered just melee DPS.

They could just build their characters as tanks then. US + LD melee have double AoE stuns, high tankyness, solid dps, and decent healing.

[Oliphant]

Yes but - Shadowscale Robe / Outfit can not be upgraded with the 2d6 sneak dice? To quote a guildie once again, "SSG Hates Monks."

Good point. They should fix Shadowscale Robe. I don't understand why no Shadowkiller on a robe...

[ivorycoaster]

Just need to be clear here. Hitting 100k stars-aligned crits is not 100k DPS. More likely its 98k overkill on a nearly dead trash mob.

Monks could surely use some help, but making faulty arguments isn't likely to help your case.

Big numbers in a screenshot is not the same thing as consistent DPS when it counts.

Or, it's a 100k crit on a raid boss/ high HP raid mob. Or it's a ~10-15k crit in r10, chunking dooms and 1shotting mobs.

[Doomflayer]

They could just build their characters as tanks then. US + LD melee have double AoE stuns, high tankyness, solid dps, and decent healing.

Or play a ranged character and do actual DPS, you can't have a bunch of tanks standing around doing almost no dps. One of the many problems with this game is a bunch of know nothing players standing around giving bad advice. You need two tanks TWO, and EVERYONE else has to do DPS. The Red Named Elite Orthon Legionnaires make melee worthless, they are the problem. They hit for 4500+ if anyone is near them except a tank who can just stand there shield blocking and hoping they only get 2 and Suulomades or 3 without Suulomades.

[Oxarhamar]

Just need to be clear here. Hitting 100k stars-aligned crits is not 100k DPS. More likely its 98k overkill on a nearly dead trash mob.

Monks could surely use some help, but making faulty arguments isn't likely to help your case.

Big numbers in a screenshot is not the same thing as consistent DPS when it counts.

Yeah I agree & I think the builder spender style big spike damage play is Boring while others love it

I’d much rather have sustained consistent DPS

[VinoeWhines]

I see there is no solid gear/weapons for an Assassin Rogue or Rogue in general in this Adventure Pack.( Light armored "Elusive Target" should of had a Robe version or have been added to the Cape or Ring as it would be more thematic as a Robe/Ring or Cape that would swoosh by Eluding the strike.
The Legendary Greenstone Dagger is I guess a poor mans (Dull Dagger)Keeper of the Crimson Covenant dagger wannabe.
Shouldn't every Adventure Pack have one or three items per class? Shouldn't that be the thought process going into adding content for every class in ddo? Casters are cool, but count it, how many caster items are in this new Pack?

You can make a Universal Element Spell Power casting item that has: Force/Negative/Positive/Light/Sonic/Fire/Electric/Cold/Acid/Poison/Repair Spell Enhancement/Equipment/Insightful/Quality Power on a - Club/Sickle/Mace/Orb/Staff/Dagger and save time to create for other classes/races like Barbarian/Dwarves/Shifters/Gnomes/Shaderkais/Dragonborn/Human/Halfsies....to have a weapon/gear for them.

Revisit DevOps?

-----------------------------

Legendary Green steel should have augment slots on them, at least one spot.

Shadow Dancer Tree still has no reason/rhyme to have been removed so much from it's original Tree abilities:

1. Shadow Manipulation (Shiradi now has it in Beguile? Why?)
2. Consume (a less direct version of Everything Is Nothing(which is still in GMoF Destiny Tree and good for that tree.)
3. Executioner Strike/Shot (another stealthy way an Assassin had a chance to kill a target).
4. Meld Into Darkness/Dark Imbuement(watered down way too much and made to have to choose only one between hitting or evading: Now other Trees get a 25% Dodge version of it, in their Tree and aren't penalized with their DPS? How/what was that all about?)

They said that everything in that Tree is suppose to stack with game, but Wand and Scroll Mastery doesn't(which makes it useless at End Game.) Ghostly(Incorporeal) items should also stack and it doesn't.

If you go to the Rogue section, I gave quite a few write ups on rounding out the Tree while still keeping most of what is in it now.
But the MAIN things, are those first four that should never have been removed, they could of been moved as a Tier IV or V if anything.

[DRoark]

Hey, Devs,

They going to get around to fixing Enervation eventually? DW still offers ZERO protection, multiple people dead after
TWO ticks of Empowered Champ Enervation DoTs in Delera's. With that change, HC is going to be a cr4pshoot at best.

Rather unwarranted change.

Your STR cleric can't take strength damage! ..../gets "drained" to zero.
DM: Yeah, STR damage makes you lose STR, but you're immune!
Player: So what's drain do?
DM: Makes you lose STR. By the way, you just lost 27 STR.
Player: .... But, I'm immune to STR damage?
DM: Well, yeah, but "Ability Damage" ... is all drain. Oh, and you're Enfeebled now, too... and Fatigued.
Player: Why am I a STR cleric again?
DM: Heck if we know.
Player: ....
Player: Well, at least I can cast Death Ward to stop Enervation.
DM: *Snicker*
Player: Oh, WHAT now??

Programmer logic. If it's not broken after a decade, find a way.

[Callpso]

I see there is no solid gear/weapons for an Assassin Rogue or Rogue in general in this Adventure Pack.( Light armored "Elusive Target" should of had a Robe version or have been added to the Cape or Ring as it would be more thematic as a Robe/Ring or Cape that would swoosh by Eluding the strike.
The Legendary Greenstone Dagger is I guess a poor mans (Dull Dagger)Keeper of the Crimson Covenant dagger wannabe.
Shouldn't every Adventure Pack have one or three items per class? Shouldn't that be the thought process going into adding content for every class in ddo? Casters are cool, but count it, how many caster items are in this new Pack?

You can make a Universal Element Spell Power casting item that has: Force/Negative/Positive/Light/Sonic/Fire/Electric/Cold/Acid/Poison/Repair Spell Enhancement/Equipment/Insightful/Quality Power on a - Club/Sickle/Mace/Orb/Staff/Dagger and save time to create for other classes/races like Barbarian/Dwarves/Shifters/Gnomes/Shaderkais/Dragonborn/Human/Halfsies....to have a weapon/gear for them.

Revisit DevOps?

-----------------------------

Legendary Green steel should have augment slots on them, at least one spot.

Shadow Dancer Tree still has no reason/rhyme to have been removed so much from it's original Tree abilities:

1. Shadow Manipulation (Shiradi now has it in Beguile? Why?)
2. Consume (a less direct version of Everything Is Nothing(which is still in GMoF Destiny Tree and good for that tree.)
3. Executioner Strike/Shot (another stealthy way an Assassin had a chance to kill a target).
4. Meld Into Darkness/Dark Imbuement(watered down way too much and made to have to choose only one between hitting or evading: Now other Trees get a 25% Dodge version of it, in their Tree and aren't penalized with their DPS? How/what was that all about?)

They said that everything in that Tree is suppose to stack with game, but Wand and Scroll Mastery doesn't(which makes it useless at End Game.) Ghostly(Incorporeal) items should also stack and it doesn't.

If you go to the Rogue section, I gave quite a few write ups on rounding out the Tree while still keeping most of what is in it now.
But the MAIN things, are those first four that should never have been removed, they could of been moved as a Tier IV or V if anything.

Saltmarsh had a bunch of rogue oriented gear, I picked up 7 pieces for my assassin, and not so much gear for some other classes, so I think it evens out. It's hard in a 3 quest pack to make something for EVERY class. With the next expansion and level cap increase, I'm sure we will be seeing quite a bit of gear upgrade.

I don't recall off the top of my head exactly what Shadow Manipulation did, but in tier 5, you can take the Consumed by Shadows in the Weird multiselector. It's an AoE centered on you that you hit while stealthed. It has a Will Save, but enemies that fail have their AC set to 0 for five seconds, and you apply a stack of vulnerability each time they're hit, up to 20 stacks. It only has a 60 second cooldown, and makes a big difference, especially when you have a bigger group of mobs, and it helps your other DPS party members, too.

I missed Consume at first, but it had kill limits similar to Implosion. The Epic Moment in Tier 5, Shadow Mastery is so much better, my only complaint is the cooldown is 2 minutes longer at 5 minutes instead of Consume's 3 minutes. There is no limit to how many mobs can be killed in those 20 seconds by the no save Phantasmal Killer effect, as long as they are non-boss and they miss you. With the 50% incorporeality it gives for the duration, hit your uncanny dodge, and just about everything dies. I was a bit miffed at first because it didn't have an effect for bosses, however, the Shadow Manipulation does apply, and that makes up for it, I think.

Executioner's Strike was only a chance at an instakill with a 30 second cooldown and was Tier 5; you could use your actual assassinate twice in the same time frame. While the Epic Strike isn't an instakill per se, it IS a 5[W] damage strike that does serious work on an enemy's HP.

[kelavas]

no