U55 Preview 1: The Level Cap Increase

[Vordax]

I'm not suggesting this is an OP feat. I am pointing out it is a good feat and that non elemental form DPS casters don't have much to get excited about with the new feats. I think given the current design trends and coupling of damage types, we desperately need elemental bypass methods and feel that a set of feats that let you bypass an element are appropriate for level 31 and would give another large set of caster something to look forward to.

Legendary toughness is what my Sorc is looking at for level 31, these feats don't really add additional power to my Sorc. Why should I care that an element I never use is buffed? With elemental bypass this is meaningless, or I may take epic spell power for a secondary element to give 5% crit damage to fire.

[peng]

• Weapon Specialty Feats:
  
  • These four feats grant bonuses that resemble the Greater version of their heroic feat line. Each feat requires having the Greater version of one of the other three weapon style combat lines, essentially allowing those who have taken feats in one fighting style to gain the effects of the full 3-feat-chain of a different fighting style.
  • Single Weapon Specialty: While Single Weapon Fighting (fighting with a single one-handed weapon, and wielding only an orb, rune arm, or nothing in your offhand) you gain a +30% Combat Style bonus to attack speed, +6 Combat Style bonus to Melee Power, and +50% more of your appropriate ability score to your damage. For the bastard sword and dwarven waraxe, this adds to their existing 10% bonus. This does not work in animal form. This does not count as a Combat Fighting Style feat.
  • Two Weapon Specialty: Reduces the penalty for fighting with two weapons. You gain +80% offhand strike chance. This does not work in animal form. This does not count as a Combat Fighting Style feat.
  • Two Handed Specialty: While Two-Handed Fighting: +140% strikethrough chance. You also gain a +6 Combat Style bonus to Melee Power while Two-Handed Fighting. For the purpose of this feat, you are considered to be Two-Handed Fighting while using a two-handed melee weapon (not including handwraps). You are also considered to be Two-Handed Fighting while wielding a bastard sword or dwarven waraxe in your main hand and a shield, orb, rune arm, or nothing in your off-hand. You are not considered to be Two-Handed Fighting while in Druid animal forms. In addition, while using a two-handed weapon, your ability score bonus to damage improves to 2.25x the ability score modifier you use for damage. When using a bastard sword or dwarven waraxe, your ability score bonus to damage improves to 1.6x the ability score modifier you use for damage. Neither bonus applies in animal form. This does not count as a Combat Fighting Style feat.
  • Shield Mastery Specialty: While wielding a shield, you gain +10% doublestrike and a +9 Combat Style bonus to Melee Power. You gain +10 Physical Resistance Rating while using a buckler or small shield. If you are using a large shield, this bonus increases to +15. If you are using a tower shield, this bonus increases to +20. This does not work in animal form. This does not count as a Combat Fighting Style feat.

This is *amazing* for anyone using a hand-and-a-half weapon with nothing, orb, or shield in off-hand. It's almost entirely useless on anyone else. I like the idea that melees can be more versatile, but in practice, it will pretty much only be used to double up on bonuses. Maybe add a ranged option?

[LIST]

• Spell Specialty Feats:
  
  • These require the Epic Spell Focus feat from a school other than the one you're picking here, essentially allowing you to improve your potency with a secondary school. These are also antirequisites of the base spell focus feats - so you can't double up on a school you already have a spell focus for.
  • Spell Specialty: Abjuration: You gain a secondary spell focus: +3 to the DC of your Abjuration spells.
  • Spell Specialty: Conjuration: You gain a secondary spell focus: +3 to the DC of your Conjuration spells.
  • Spell Specialty: Enchantment: You gain a secondary spell focus: +3 to the DC of your Enchantment spells.
  • Spell Specialty: Evocation: You gain a secondary spell focus: +3 to the DC of your Evocation spells.
  • Spell Specialty: Illusion: You gain a secondary spell focus: +3 to the DC of your Illusion spells.
  • Spell Specialty: Necromancy: You gain a secondary spell focus: +3 to the DC of your Necromancy spells.
  • Spell Specialty: Transmutation: You gain a secondary spell focus: +3 to the DC of your Transmutation spells.

• Elemental Form Specialty: Your elemental forms grant you mastery over the other three elements as well. Excluding the element of your current form, you gain the following bonuses to air, earth, fire, and water as long as you are in a Sorcerer's Elemental Apotheosis or Druid Elemental Wild Shape form: +3 caster levels with those elements, +3 to max caster level with those elements, +20 to spellpower of those elements, +2% spell critical chance with those elements.

Non-wizard DC casters can have trouble fitting in 2 heroic spell focus feats, and non-sorc/druids can't be in elemental form. There are many other forms of DC or dps casters. Maybe allow epic mental toughness for the spell focus pre-req as someone else suggested? And add a way to bypass elemental immunities for non-elementals. And allow past life bard and wizard feats to act as pre-reqs for greater spell focus feats.

• Wild Force: While in Druid Wild Shape, you gain some of the aspects of the form you aren't in. While in wolf or winter wolf form, you gain bear form's +10% exceptional bonus to maximum hit points. While in bear or dire bear form, you gain wolf form's +10% movement speed.

Maybe add something similar for monk forms?

Grandmaster of Flowers: Bring Peace: +3% dodge bypass, +10 Magical Resistance Rating cap. Your Meditation returns ki at 3x the base rate, and Wholeness of Body heals you 3x faster.

I would replace the meditation and WoB buffs with +1 passive and on-hit ki gen. In fact, I'd replace meditation and WoB themselves with abilities that just regen ki or heal all in one go. They are so clunky to use as is.

[Baahb3]

It doesnt matter. Core 4 can only be taken by taking core 3. So you'll have both in that case.

Should have been more pointed in my quote. The caster level stuff is nice but Warlocks and Clerics/FvS could use some way to strip immunities or at least the healing part of their elemental damage.

[WetWip]

Legendary toughness is what my Sorc is looking at for level 31, these feats don't really add additional power to my Sorc. Why should I care that an element I never use is buffed? With elemental bypass this is meaningless, or I may take epic spell power for a secondary element to give 5% crit damage to fire.

If you choose to only use one element than sure - it is no use. Before you limit yourself, you might want to try running a Tiefling fire sorc and picking up Infernal Sovereign (Acid) - it's pretty good/fun today and will be alot better with the new feat.

Why would you limit yourself to one element when with the single investment of the new feat and Tiefling Infernal Sovereign you could have a 2nd set of high DPS spells at the same spell power, similar caster level, and separate cooldowns? Be able to cherry pick high DPS spells of other elements to focus on AOE/single target, etc?

Edit: my apologies - I don't want to take a tangent about play styles and builds, don't think that will be good for the thread's intent - I'll not plan to respond to the usefulness of this feat again.

[Baahb3]

This is *amazing* for anyone using a hand-and-a-half weapon with nothing, orb, or shield in off-hand. It's almost entirely useless on anyone else. I like the idea that melees can be more versatile, but in practice, it will pretty much only be used to double up on bonuses. Maybe add a ranged option?

Agree, I don't see anyone taking these outside of the hand and a half shield builds.

I would like to see some of the ideas the Devs had on builds/quests/fights where this would actually come into play for someone to swap play styles, especially into or out of THF. You would have to have a whole new weapon(s), filigrees, etc, etc to even make it ok.

[Archfae]

I see the primary does not get increased, but for a sorc making the other elements on par with the main as you say is a decent DPS bump and removes most of the "penalty" you pay for specializing in an element and being in an elemental form. Giving a multi element caster like druid this is a substantial increase in their potential DPS.

I'm not suggesting this is an OP feat. I am pointing out it is a good feat and that non elemental form DPS casters don't have much to get excited about with the new feats. I think given the current design trends and coupling of damage types, we desperately need elemental bypass methods and feel that a set of feats that let you bypass an element are appropriate for level 31 and would give another large set of caster something to look forward to.

I play a druid and won't be taking this. Because you don't negate specialization. Using off elements requires gearing, enhancements, etc. As a cold elemental druid, it will bring up my SoV damage by a tiny bit and my call lightning by a tiny bit (those are both spells that come up in very niche situations and aren't in my boss dps rotation at all). But I still won't be casting fire spells because that will be off season. And realistically, you can only grab 2-3 spell power / lore types for equipment before it becomes a big burden.

Druid also mostly plays off ice flowers, tsunami, ruin/gruin, and cold dots. (dragon breath weaved in off cooldown). Ice flowers as roughly a 1 second cd, and it does more damage than any fire spell I could opt to cast.

I'd be much better off taking another spell power feat to get 5% universal crit multi to cold, force, and positive.

On a sorc, it does even less. As you your enhancements are keyed to a specific element. It does allow you the opportunity to dual specialize in the savant trees though if you want to go that route. I also wouldn't take it on a sorc though as primary element + force is a better combo anyways.

What these feats do, is provide a meaningful opportunity to eventually get rid of elemental immunity stripping down the road, which would be healthy for the game.

[Archfae]

Should have been more pointed in my quote. The caster level stuff is nice but Warlocks and Clerics/FvS could use some way to strip immunities or at least the healing part of their elemental damage.

I think they are planning to remove immunity strip down the road based on one of the devs comments on discord. It isn't exactly healthy for the game. That said, I would expect the new warlock themed curse destiny whenever that drops to include elemental bypass down the road - if they were going to include more of it.

I do agree, it'd be nice if the pact damage for warlocks at least didn't heal mobs. Turning off and on warlock pact sucks. Its one of the many reasons i dont bother doing warlock lives anymore.

[GramercyRiff]

For DC's Divine Sundering: How bout instead of some underwhelming light damage, we just bring back the old Confront Any Foe attack?

[Aftergod]

As a part of this pass, all items that are level 29 and below that are currently named "Legendary" will be renamed to "Epic" and will be given the appropriate purple border. Legendary will now be a term specifically reserved for items with a minimum level of 30 or higher.

[/LIST]

I wonder how you can tell the difference between the Epic Sands set and the Legendary ones.different set with the same description?It seems a little unreasonable.


oh,my bad,forget Legendary ones is lvl30...lol

[apocaladle]

Maybe add something similar for monk forms?


I would replace the meditation and WoB buffs with +1 passive and on-hit ki gen. In fact, I'd replace meditation and WoB themselves with abilities that just regen ki or heal all in one go. They are so clunky to use as is.

This.

Monks could use a little love.

[Vordax]

If you choose to only use one element than sure - it is no use. Before you limit yourself, you might want to try running a Tiefling fire sorc and picking up Infernal Sovereign (Acid) - it's pretty good/fun today and will be alot better with the new feat.

Why would you limit yourself to one element when with the single investment of the new feat and Tiefling Infernal Sovereign you could have a 2nd set of high DPS spells at the same spell power, similar caster level, and separate cooldowns? Be able to cherry pick high DPS spells of other elements to focus on AOE/single target, etc?

Edit: my apologies - I don't want to take a tangent about play styles and builds, don't think that will be good for the thread's intent - I'll not plan to respond to the usefulness of this feat again.

I do that, but with electric. With the new feat the spell power boost will not affect my electric SP, since it uses fire SP, 2% crit doesn't get the chance anywhere near fire's crit chance. The three caster levels are a bit better, but still its not like casting another fire spell wouldn't be better.

[Gralhota]

Legendary Levels

Each legendary level will grant you Legendary Power, a new feat that grants you +6 Melee, Ranged, and Universal spellpower. Every 2 legendary levels will grant you +1 caster level and max caster level with all spells. Legendary levels have a BaB progression of 0.

Will there be something similar to the summons?


Epic Summons Each epic level grants your summons, pets and hirelings: +5 Melee and Ranged Power, +10 Universal Spell Power, +5 PRR and +5 MRR. 10 levels will be the maximum?

[Baahb3]

[*]Fury of the Wild: Be the Whirlwind: Using any of the feats Trip, Improved Trip, or Whirlwind Attack causes a whirlwind of force to burst from you striking nearby enemies for 1d10 bludgeon damage per character level. Scales with 200% Melee Power. Improved Trip also causes all affected enemies to be tripped unless they succeed at a balance check (DC equal to Improved Trip).

Shouldn't cores be more general in nature, rather than tied to a specific combat maneuver or feat?

[LrdSlvrhnd]

Seems like a bad idea to have augments and Cannith crafting be a higher power level than named loot

You mean like currently happens with L30 CC and L29 named items? Or L28 augs and L27 named items?

I wonder how you can tell the difference between the Epic Sands set and the Legendary ones.different set with the same description?It seems a little unreasonable.

Well, the Epic Sands stuff will be Epic at ML20, and the Legendary ones will be Legendary, at ML30? Doesn't seem unreasonable to me.

For everybody saying how the Specialties are useless... 1) Then, uh, don't take them? Take something from one of the lower Destiny feats; and 2) Have you considered that you're getting the benefits of the entire second line making swapping between fighting styles far easier?

[Baahb3]

[*]Unyielding Sentinel: Last Hope: When you drop below 20% health you gain +50 Melee Power and Physical and Magical Resistance Rating for 8 seconds and you apply the heal spell yourself as the divine spell, four times over the duration of the effect. This can only occur once every 5 minutes, or if you have the Guardian Angel feat once every 3 minutes.

@Devs, do you have any stats on how many people actually take Guardian Angel as a feat? I know you are trying to get more milage out of the epic/destiny feats but as a tank, I have to say I have never even considered that as a useful feat.

[Baahb3]

For everybody saying how the Specialties are useless... 1) Then, uh, don't take them? Take something from one of the lower Destiny feats; and 2) Have you considered that you're getting the benefits of the entire second line making swapping between fighting styles far easier?

That is kind of the point most people are asking, why would someone take them? What are the reasons one would drop their 2-handed weapon and want or need to swing a hand axe for SWF? I just don't see any reasons to do this, thus making the feats a head scratcher of why they would put them in, in the first place?

Sure you get the style feats and that helps, no question there, I just think it would be a drop in combat effectiveness unless as one pointed out you wanted to swap to do some debuffing before going back to your main style.

[Nandos]

What good is all your strikethrough going to do for you when you are fighting a single boss with millions of hit points? Doesn't using two weapon or single weapon style make more sense in that situation with the new feat and properly outfitted weapons?

[Artos_Fabril]

What good is all your strikethrough going to do for you when you are fighting a single boss with millions of hit points? Doesn't using two weapon or single weapon style make more sense in that situation with the new feat and properly outfitted weapons?

More sense than your +2.5x stat mod? It might benefit someone like a Barb or Pali off-tanking a PUG raid, but there's a fairly narrow use case for "hard enough to need to go sword and board, but not hard enough to need a tank spec.

[Mavnimo]

Reincarnation

There is no Legendary Reincarnation as a part of this level cap increase.

You may Epic Reincarnate (or any kind of reincarnation, actually) even while you are in legendary (just like how you can technically TR without ETRing while in epics right now).

We are going to save your legendary XP total on your character through Epic, True, or Racial Reincarnation. This means that once you take level 30 on subsequent lives, you'll have the XP needed to level directly to whatever legendary level you were before. This means that if you leave the level cap via, say, an ETR, you'll just need to get back to 30 in order to be able to get back to 32, with no further XP needed.

We are also considering doing this for epic experience down the line. It would mean that Reincarnating mid-epic life would let you get back to where you were in epics without retreading old ground. Of course, an ETR would still burn that XP (since it wants to send you back to 20) but it'd make bailing mid-epics much more forgiving since you're no longer wasting XP.[/LIST]

Would this also include saving Epic and legendary xp? for example if i just wanted to do a heroic/racial and just get back to cap. could i racial reincarnate, then once i hit 20 go right to 32. if say i had all my epic lives done or didn't need any more 20-30/32 xp?

[ideal_insomnia]

Overall good stuff! Pretty much what I expected, done in a very reasonable manner. My only gripes so far are some of the new abilities:

1. TWF specialization seems very, very weak, especially compared to the other weapon specializations.
2. Improved Point Blank doesn't look good on paper. Is that speed penalty really necessary?
3. New epic destiny core abilities. While those are not bad, they are very very specialized. For example, new Fatesinger core is great, but what about melee/non-spellcaster Bards? Does absolutely nothing for them. Or Divine Crusader. What about people who don't use Sunder? DDO has always been great with not forcing people into specific play styles, so I would love to see something a bit more... generally useful.

Other than that, looks very promising!