I don't like the new name for the Sorcerer's SHIELD skill...definitely approve of the other changes, though. Makes me think twice about my impending switch to Mystic Knight--and considering the main reason I've been planning to do so has been to prepare for my Expert Classes, that is REALLY saying something.

The wording on the Battle Mage skill is a little strange--I understand what it does, but I keep stumbling when I try to read it. This section seems to be the one giving me the most trouble: "first delivering physical attacks with strength equal to their weapon power added to their level, and then spells of the chosen element with the same strength".

I honestly think that Berserker's shield needs to attack all enemies. I know single-target focus is their "hat", but...

On a different subject: we have Mulled Wine for health and Ambrosia for SP...shouldn't we have something for Ether?

Edited July 13, 201311 yr by Flipz

  On 7/13/2013 at 10:43 PM, Flipz said:

On a different subject: we have Mulled Wine for health and Ambrosia for SP...shouldn't we have something for Ether?

No. I'm specifically advocating these changes to the ether-based classes to get them to actually spend their ether, so that there's at least some trade-off to being able to dish out that much elemental damage or healing. The last thing I want to do is to allow them to double their ether.

And this is coming from someone playing an ether-based class himself.

This may have been answered before, but will an accessory with an elemental effect stack with a weapon imbued with the same element (electro gear and a weapon with lightning elemental imbued, for instance)?

Everything Flipz said, minus the by about the ether increasing items.

Nothing I disagree with in the changes. Everything makes sense, and I think the ether class changes were necessary.

I think the answer was "no".

Does anyone remember if this came up in Q53, what with the Regulators and their elemental damage? I can't recall.

It doesn't, I've asked.

  On 7/13/2013 at 11:17 PM, posades said:

This may have been answered before, but will an accessory with an elemental effect stack with a weapon imbued with the same element (electro gear and a weapon with lightning elemental imbued, for instance)?

You mean do you get a x4 multiplier against enemies weak against lightning by equipping two lightning-elemental equipment? No, you don't.

Are bones retrievable?

Don't mind the changes at all.

Flipz - this may help nudge you a bit: I started the fields with an SP 10 shield. It's now 15. Gotta love Enchant! I will continue to dump my enchant into my SP from now on. I can use a shield in the next classes I am interested in (Dragoon & Paragon).

  On 7/14/2013 at 3:19 AM, UsernameMDM said:

Don't mind the changes at all.

Flipz - this may help nudge you a bit: I started the fields with an SP 10 shield. It's now 15. Gotta love Enchant! I will continue to dump my enchant into my SP from now on. I can use a shield in the next classes I am interested in (Dragoon & Paragon).

You can use one as a Regulator, too.

You, me, and Swils need to go be Dragoons together sometime. Hopefully you can kill the Kraken before Doc's Quest sets out.

  On 7/13/2013 at 10:30 PM, Sandy said:

a bigger overhaul to restore balance and purpose to many of the classes.

You were supposed to restore balance to rules, not destroy them!

In all seriousness I like most of the changes. Changing Mug to steal gold according to enemy level rather than power makes more sense for consistency and balance. I really do like the fact that Clerics and Mages are going spend more ether now. There's got to be a cost for that damage.

I don't really see the point of renaming some of the skills that you have, but I guess that's not the main concern. I still prefer the names the old way.

Psychedelic Flourish: No no no no no. Just no. This is way too complicated. As a QM I am not going to sit there and figure out which elements match-up against which types (especially multi-type enemies). And the loopholes in this skill are just begging for manipulation and confusion. What if one enemy is ethereal and the rest aren't? Like you've always said, we need to keep this game as simple as possible because QM's aren't computers and are prone to making mistakes. This skill is a step in the wrong direction IMO.

Sleight of Hand is a little OP as well. I think it should be left as Confuse.

Ring of Might & Magic: I know I'll be argued with on this but I liked Spellblade better. Even though both Mages and Barbarians are going down from AoE skills to a single powerful attack (well actually two attacks, but whatever), I think Spellblade was more predictable and practical. Battle Mages are the ultimate offensive class, bar Berserker and maybe Raider, and I think they should specialize in the most devastating attacks rather than less-effective AoE attacks.

And that's my feedback. If I could change one thing it would definitely be the Sorcerer's changes.

Its a little annoying to have so many names changed, but the actual content changed looks fine. Except for pschyadelic flourish - I agree with the above.

Sorcerers get no love.

The problem is that Sorcerers are hardest hit by the steal nerf, they NEED something to counter that. A non-Gold dropping enemy that is immune to Stun (which is a lot more common than you'd think) makes the existing Sorcerer's SHIELD-skill completely useless. They NEED something to make up for the fact that they're losing Gold AND using more Ether.

I do like Sorcerers getting a counterpart to Steal. It makes Raider less of "The Gold-gaining class" and, in combination with the alteration to Ravage, makes it more about offense with gold-earning as a side bonus, which fits with the philosophy behind the steal nerf: "Rogues are outnumbering the other classes just because they earn gold." Raiders do that among the Rogue ACs, so if that was indeed the motivation behind the nerf, I'm happy to see it addressed within the Rogue ACs as well as within the general meta.

I also like Sorcerers getting a damage-dealing SHIELD roll; as I said before, enemies with immunity to Stunning make the SHIELD roll useless, especially now that the Gold earnings are no longer guaranteed. Perhaps the randomness factor should be switched to match the other Mage Advanced Classes for consistency, but I don't think it should stay as Magnetic Mojo currently is. (I wouldn't mind it keeping the name, though. )

If I had to pick one, though, I'd go with Sleight of Hand. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: people really, REALLY underestimate how expensive Ether is. Sleight of Hand will help a LOT with that.

Also, I like the name of Spellspin--as a soon-to-be Mystic Knight, can I pleeeease ask that it stay?

  On 7/14/2013 at 4:44 AM, Flipz said:

The problem is that Sorcerers are hardest hit by the steal nerf, they NEED something to counter that. A non-Gold dropping enemy that is immune to Stun (which is a lot more common than you'd think) makes the existing Sorcerer's SHIELD-skill completely useless.

Sounds exactly like an assassin vs a non-Gold dropping enemy that is immune to insta-kill, which is also very common. Though gold reaper doesn't use ether.

Mass Illusion seems a bit over-powered, if the effect is guaranteed for all enemies.

Wow! Sage's are looking up with the shield that restores all ether when ether is depleted.

About the Sleight of Hand it says that the Sorcerer steals gold equal to each target's level. In most cases wouldn't he only be targeting one person though?

  On 7/14/2013 at 6:34 AM, Palathadric said:

Mass Illusion seems a bit over-powered, if the effect is guaranteed for all enemies.

At the cost of ether, I think that's fair.

  On 7/14/2013 at 6:34 AM, Palathadric said:

Wow! Sage's are looking up with the shield that restores all ether when ether is depleted.

I think that this is overpowered. They can heal, almost guaranteed to get x2 multiplier on all enemies they face, sit in the back row halving most damage and now they don't have to worry about ether.

The reason behind the name changes of the skills were simply to make them better fit what they do. Mystic Knights don't actually "spin spells", they imbue their weapon with elemental properties and attack "physically". Assassins no longer "reap gold" from all enemies, they attempt mass murder and sometimes gain gold on the side. Sorcerer's skill was completely changed, so there's nothing "magnetic" about it. I was aiming to give the class a stage magician-kind of feeling, too, with the sleight of hand and everything.

But like I said, these are all on the table for now. I want to hear your thoughts first before making decisions.

  On 7/14/2013 at 6:34 AM, Palathadric said:

Mass Illusion seems a bit over-powered, if the effect is guaranteed for all enemies.

I can consider to put it back to being 1/2 chance of being hexed, but adding stealing gold to it. That way witches don't end up with the short end of the stick by having the least useful Shield-skill.

  Quote

Wow! Sage's are looking up with the shield that restores all ether when ether is depleted.

Well, Sages are solely dependent on ether - they cannot really act otherwise. I might change the Shield-skill to restore ether equal to their level, though, so that they won't be too carefree.

  Quote

About the Sleight of Hand it says that the Sorcerer steals gold equal to each target's level. In most cases wouldn't he only be targeting one person though?

It was just an error from using copy&paste. The sleight of hand only works on the targetted enemy.

I am very happy with the damage dealing buffs to Bezerker and Raider, good to see especially for the Bezerker, who gains a large multiplier at the expense of single target only damage. The Raider buff, well I know some saw it as a way to make Gold but Ravage was already strong as it's an AoE. I can see it being changed back later on.

  On 7/13/2013 at 10:30 PM, Sandy said:

Black Knight: "Arrogant Prick" nerfed to cause damage equal to 4xWP+Level (otherwise unchanged).

Fair enough.

Looks good to me.

Originally I thought it was strange that a Battle Mage has a SHIELD roll that hits one target especially as it comes from two classes (mage & barbarian) whose SHIELD rolls hit all targets. Now that granting Battle Mages the ability to hit multiple targets with reduced strength is a reality, I'm a bit disappointed there will no longer be a mage class that focuses solely on dealing high damage to a single target. The plus side is that the change leaves a party function open for a newly created mage class.

For Evokers, will the spirit now attack the evoker's target immediately after the evoker (in the order of actions) in the round it was summoned?

I like the changes, lowering the gold gain and increase in ether cost both seem fair, and changing the sorcerer's Shield skill to add damage is a step up. As any QM who plans his/her enemies and knows their strengths and weaknesses, I dont see it as a problem to utilize the most effective element against them. And, as Flipz said, something is indeed needed to make up for increase in ether cost and decrease in gold-gain...

P.S. I really like the renaming of "Confuse" to "Slight of Hand"; I think it fits perfectly...

Does Hex usually last only one round of battle or three? Having trouble loading the page again.

  On 7/14/2013 at 5:57 PM, Palathadric said:

Does Hex usually last only one round of battle or three? Having trouble loading the page again.

Always a round (or to be specific, till the end of the next round). Confused-effect lasts three rounds.