So I've recently been messing around with Sorcery and the powers it has, trying to come up with a build I'm fond of. I've had a few rough ideas of some things which could be fun once refined and added to Sorcery to make it a bit more...flexible or fun (in my estimation) outside of DPS or heavy support.
1. Aura of Primal Majesty - Changed to be a Hybrid Passive, with slightly different attributes, which are suited to each role. (Note: I don't know how many rules were waived to create Congress of Selves in the sense that it was no longer limited to support/hybrid role but can be applied in ALL roles, but if this isn't a problem, I think AoPM would be a good candidate for such a thing.) Each version has the basic buff from the standard version (standard version being the Hybrid Role version) but at differing levels.
Aura of Primal Majesty (Hybrid Role)
- Self Stat Buff (as currently but with a few more stat points granted to make up for no other buffing portion of the passive in Hybrid)
- Minor additional Paranormal Damage Resistance (possibly fixed values 15% /20 %/25%)
- Self Paranormal Damage boost (possibly fixed values 10% / 15% / 20%)Aura of Primal Protection (Tank Role)
- Self Stat Buff (two thirds of that Hybrid Role grants)
- Additional Paranormal Damage Resistance (30% /40% /50%)
- Self Threat Buff (Threat modifier which applies to all forms of damage and healing you do)Aura of Primal Rage (Melee DPS Role)
- Self Stat Buff (Half of that Hybrid Role grants)
- Additional Paranormal Melee Damage Boost (possibly fixed values 20% / 25% / 30%)
- Chance for a Protective Ward (Dodge/Avoidance ratings to be increased to 20% additional dodge & 30% additional avoidance at low health) to apply below 20% HP. Can occur once every 40 seconds when conditions are fulfilled.Aura of Primal Assault (Ranged DPS Role)
- Self Stat Buff (Half of that Hybrid Role grants)
- Additional Paranormal Ranged Damage Boost (possibly fixed values 20% / 25% / 30%)
- Chance for a Protective Ward (Damage Shield - 2500 total damage absorb, shield vanishes once amount is reached or you reach 75% HP) to apply below 20% HP.Can occur once every 40 seconds when conditions are fulfilled.Aura of Primal Support (Support Role)
- Self Stat Buff (Half of that Hybrid Role grants)
- Other Stat Buff (as currently but slightly more potent)
- Chance for an Arcane Disruption (self-rezzes to reset cool down if you die within 15 seconds of having self-rezzed to apply to self). Can occur once every 40 seconds when conditions are fulfilled.2. Spellcaster Toggle - I'd like to see it use a different and 'cooler' animation than it currently does, as it just uses Manipulator's floaty animation. A good candidate would be the animation sequence you get when accessing a mystic crafting table. So:
3. Invocation of a Storm Calling - Whilst this is a nice power...I'd like to be able to move whilst casting it, similar to Hurricane.
4. Soul Beam - Would like to see a visually thicker beam of arcane power, as well as an actual description and a new icon.
5. Pillar of Poz - Give this power an advantage which drastically lowers the damage it deals in favour of drastically boosting the potential healing it can deliver. Advantage: Enhanced Rune This could be like...
Pillar of Poz deals 441 damage @ Rank 1 and grants 92 healing.
Pillar of Poz deals 100 damage @ Rank 1 and grants 292 healing w/ Enhanced Rune advantage.
I'd also like Pillar of Poz to show up on the status / buffs bar when you are affected by its rune, maybe have the Pillar of Poz icon but with a green PLUS sign in the middle of it, similar to what was done to Absorb Heat and Electrical Siphon.
5. Skarn's Bane - This power has been chopped and changed so much. I think Bane should be innate to the power again and applying Hexed at the end of a full maintain should be an advantage. The damage it deals could possibly be upped a little. Maybe increase the range of the power to 60ft and allow "Bane application" to be considered applying a Curse for the purpose of Conjuring.
6. Enchanter Passive - I haven't actually used this passive yet, but it seems a bit bare bones compared to other passives. It feels like it should have some sort of secondary effect, but I'm not entirely sure what that could be, but it does need something I think.
That's all I've got for now....
Comments
All: Locking them behind paranormal damage takes away from the passive's current universal appeal. I'd be nice to see it more along the lines of Night Warrior, offering a lesser damage/resistance bonus to make up for its stat boost as well as its less specialized nature.
Tank: This doesn't do much to really mitigate damage to the user, so I can't see any tank actually wanting to use it. AoRP is on the right track here, so perhaps a solid amount of damage reduction that places it a bit below max-stack defiance. That plus its stat bonuses should make it an appealing alternative.
Derps: Not all passives segregate ranged and melee damage, and again, AoPM's current appeal is its flexibility. So, as mentioned above, it might be better to keep its bonus just a general damage boost, like Night Warrior. Adjusting for the fact that it's also boosting stats, of course. I'm not sure how much it should offer for defensive measures since it's already boosting stats (which includes con) as a secondary benefit.
Support: I'll agree with a bit more potency, but it doesn't need much other than that.
- - -
Now, regarding the rest:
Invocation of Storm Calling: Honestly, I'd like to see this just converted into a useful PBAoE maintain like hurricane or epidemic. I don't care about mobility so much as usefulness and cutting back on the gimmicky nonsense like the final strike. 0.5 sec ticks, proper damage adjustment, no nonsense at the end, or at least having the nonsense at the end be more of a thematic thing, such as no extra damage, but application of some curse or something.
Skarn's Bane: I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, the bane effect is cool, but on the other, Hexed is a bit more important to the framework overall, and having more ways to apply debuffs like hexed is nice.
Enchanter Passive: You're not missing much. It's a pretty uninspiring passive that I've never bothered with since it doesn't really allow me the flexibility I'd like in creating my own vision of a magic user. No fire, ice, or lightning? Fail, imo.
I think it might be an idea to keep the ranged and melee bonuses different / separate. Defensive measures are there as this is still a ‘magical’ passive. (Which is why I don’t use it on non-magic related characters personally). However the amount might need to be smaller than what is suggested. Initially that’s all I had down for Support, but noticed it was lacking a bit. Also in the spirit of the passive, it would be nice to have something for when healers accidentally get caught out and get double wiped. In the right hands, this power seems to do pretty good damage. But the lack of mobility and the “slow” strikes bother me no end. Invocation does apply Jinxed at the end of a full maintain, but for something which seems to focus on AoE damage it lacks the repel appeal of Hurricane or the application of another DoT. I’ve always thought Sorcery could make use of the list of weird debuffs and status effects that PBR’s FIE has access to… Mhm, I really like this power and I am not happy I’m having to replace it on my build (but I might put it back cause I miss it). At Level 40, HoS is already available and is a simple click. Skarn’s Bane is just an annoying way to apply Hexed IMO. I see, I’ve seen some impressive numbers with it but as the limitation on magic in CO appears to be shifting towards “Paranormal and/or Toxic damage”, that does cut out a significant amount of possible magical effects…on the plus side, I like the Enchanter Icon.
Maybe it should have a chance to strike foes with magic lightning or Corrupt attacking foes or something *shrugs*
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Yeah, Storm Summoner can be decent too, but the problem with these kind of powers is that, in order to function optimally, you need all your ducks lined up in a proper row, and they need to stay lined up long enough for the final strike to go off.
If AoEs were samurai warriors, Storm Summoner and Invocation would be twirling their swords around while doing fancy dances, whereas Hurricane and Epidemic simply draw their swords, charge through the enemies, sheath their swords, and start walking away as all the bad guys spray blood everywhere, split in half, and fall over dead.
Whatever it does, I'd like to see it make the fire/ice/lightning mage great again.
Spellcaster should not have the same animation with Manipulator, this has been bugging me a lot
The example you gave is better themed animation
Agreed, I have 2 Magic dps and both are using Shadow Form instead, the second one is Magic+Darkness i may add
Just like they did with Electric Form, the Healing over time for attacking targets with negative ions boosted the popularity of the power since it got overshadowed when Quantum Stabilizer became available
Perhaps they can add a healing over time for attacking Cursed enemies as well
Honestly the power is pretty fine as it is, The root while using it was made to reflect the damage its able to dish out because getting 2-3k critical while maintaining it and 5-6k on the final hit is pretty darn good
if they made it mobile like Hurricane and Epidemic they would propably nerf the damage to balance this
HOWEVER what im not ok is Invocation of a Storm Calling ADVs, they are all trash compared to the revamped Storm Summoner
Strong Winds needs to become a Vacuum pull instead of Repel, the Repel is aweful
Electrify: Sure i can see the synergy with electric powerframe
Mystical: I have no idea why would want that buff to be honest, even for soul beam builds there are better Enchantments
Light up the Sky: failed attemp to provide synergy with Celestial
basically if you are DPS and using this power, RANK IT UP TO 3
if you are tank and using this power... well there are not many things to do, go with Storm Summoner
if you are a healer and using this power... HECK IF I KNOW
Form animations are one of those things I never pay attention to. More annoyed by the pointless charge up and easily interruptable nature of them.
I like the way Soul Beam looks now. I don't need a girthier beam.
Doesn't Enchanter passive do what players suggested it do? Too bad it doesn't give decent energy returns on attacking a cursed target. Nice HoTs are everywhere but there are basically no good energy over times with Accelerated Metabolism being trash. Gaining energy when hit with a certain type of damage on a dps passive is dumb and almost completely worthless. Sorcery seems on the expensive side.
I'm going to add a change to how those circle work. Instead of some dumb thing you have to constantly recast and stand in with our new world of knock spam and moving out of the way of deadly attacks, I'd like to see them reserve energy. I.E. if your total energy was 100, circle would reserve 35% or something so you could never have more than 65 energy. Investing into energy stats a little more would be a thing, especially on an expensive build or a build using an ultimate.
[at]riviania Member since Aug 2009
yeah, they REALLY need to do something about that...like remove that idiotic 15 second lockout or at least reduce it to 5 seconds; or if leaving the lockout time as-is, at least make it a guaranteed trigger instead of 20%, so all types of attacks benefit equally instead of only maintains
Whoever you are, be that person one hundred percent. Don't compromise on your identity.
I can see Enchanter beating it, if you were mixing in Toxic damage however...
Functionally, yes, the Spellcaster toggle does work.
But my suggestion is referring to the actual animation it plays out when activating.
Other set specific forms have received nice thematic animations. Would be good to see the same for Spellcaster.
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Shadow form's stealth bit is very low and simply doesn't matter to me.
The slight threat reduction and occasional heal effect is nice, I suppose, but both are pretty minimal for end game stuff.
Whoever you are, be that person one hundred percent. Don't compromise on your identity.