test content
Logo
What is the Arc Client?
Install Arc
[PC][LIVE][Wizard] Arcanist, Storm Spell Feedback
c1k4ml3kc3
Member Posts: 1,257 Arc User
I have been playing Control Wizard with the idea of Storm Spell as the main attribute that's been here since the inception of Neverwinter Online.
This Feature power is my favorite one as it casts small lightning bursts on top of enemies who are hit with a Critical Strike.
Throughout mods 3 to 5, this Feature power was the absolute beast as it was hitting like crazy for optimized Wizards.
Throughout MOD6-12, this Feature power was severely diminished and couldn't crit!
"Patch Notes: NW.45.20150515a.6
By Andy (StrumSlinger) | Wed 10 Jun 2015 01:58:04 PM PDT"
This was changed in MOD13:
"Patch Notes: Version: NW.95.20180212a.3
By Julia (nitocris83) | Mon 26 Feb 2018 01:06:15 PM PST"
Right now in MOD16, the chance to critically strike dropped to 50%, meaning that the chance for Storm Spell feature to activate also severely dropped. On top of that, activation time for Storm Spell is horrendous as all encounters have their cooldowns increased drastically, leaving little to no space to actually utilize this feature power in any meaningful scenario. On top of that, Arcanist can't use Conduit of Ice which was used as one of the main Powers to activate Storm Spell feature.
The only three powers that Arcanist now possesses, which can somewhat activate Storm spell in a so-so manner are
As far as at-wills go, Ray of Frost can utilize Storm Spell, but this at-will is awfully weak. it's only benefit is it's DoT ICD which helps to activate Storm Spell. Sometimes. It is the fastest way I can think of for destroying Mimics given that each time is a critical strike. It takes 2-3 Storm Spell hits to do so.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
PROPOSITION FOR STORM SPELL FEATURE
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Please understand, these changes will not make Arcanist class better than other classes in any way or form. These changes are going to make Arcanist just slightly more interesting to play with as the current meta suggests that Rimefire Smolder is the best case scenario for any Wizard in the game, which is something I personally do not feel strong about nor would prefer to use. These changes won't even make Arcanist top DPS, but will keep a possibility to stay viable as times progress.
- Why to make it an actual class mechanic?
Simply put, everyone who ever played Spellstorm class will keep on playing it for as long as there is an option to deal lightning damage. We are set in our ways and we do not feel strongly about changing to pure arcane damage. By making it an actual class mechanic, you will completely stop all problems with Storm Spell concepts in the future and everything else can be attuned to follow a class mechanic, instead trying to find what would be the best way to play the class itself with each new mod.
- Since the drop to 50% critical chance is a very big change for Storm Spell, which was already reduced damage-wise to accommodate for its inherent ability to critically strike, choosing either to hit on regular hits based on 40% chance or to always hit on all Critical hits for 100% chance is something that should be implemented to accommodate for such a big change in terms of losing damage.
- Chance for Storm Spell to activate is 30% and ONLY on Critical hits, which now have a chance to activate standing on 50%. As such, Storm Spell as a feature Power lost around 75% of it's original value in all scenarios. If we add to that that encounters activate very slow, Storm spell lost more than 90% of it's original value! I'd even argue that it's not worth using on Arcanist paragon at all at this point.
- If Storm Spell becomes available to hit on each regular hit with 40% chance to activate, then it should constantly do a percentage of damage based on which hit it had. And this should not be less than 30% of overall BASE damage. If I hit Disintegrate with 200.000 base damage, then Storm spell should hit for 30% of that base damage. If I hit with Disintegrate for 600.000 Critical damage, then storm spell should hit for 15% of that Critical Strike damage. Critical Strike should not scale with other buffs in that scenario. It should hit, always, from Base Damage regardless if it is a regular hit or a critical hit.
- I was always an advocate of specific Weapon enchantments to be able to add to the overall effect of own powers. For Master of Flame I always wanted Fire-based weapon enchantments to add more overall DoT potency. For Lightning Wizards, well, lightning of course! This way it would be intuitive and easy for everyone to use. Poison increases poison, Fire increases Fire, Lightning increases Lightning, Frost increases Frost etc... I can't be the only one who thinks that this is a good idea to implement. And, frankly, Weapon Enchantments right now are a disaster! They do not really do anything for anyone. In fact, you can easily go without Weapon Enchantments and the difference will be barely noticeable.
This Feature power is my favorite one as it casts small lightning bursts on top of enemies who are hit with a Critical Strike.
Throughout mods 3 to 5, this Feature power was the absolute beast as it was hitting like crazy for optimized Wizards.
Throughout MOD6-12, this Feature power was severely diminished and couldn't crit!
"Patch Notes: NW.45.20150515a.6
By Andy (StrumSlinger) | Wed 10 Jun 2015 01:58:04 PM PDT"
- Storm Spell: This class feature now has a .5 second ICD and can no longer critically strike.
This was changed in MOD13:
"Patch Notes: Version: NW.95.20180212a.3
By Julia (nitocris83) | Mon 26 Feb 2018 01:06:15 PM PST"
- Storm Spell: This power's artifact bonus now correctly scales with Storm Spell ranks.
- Storm Spell no longer deals less damage when procced by certain powers.
- Storm Spell can now critically strike.
- Storm Spell's Artifact Off-hand bonus has been adjusted so that it properly has its own 5% chance to proc Storm Spell.
- Storm Spell: To balance out the above changes, this power's damage has been reduced by about 30%.
Right now in MOD16, the chance to critically strike dropped to 50%, meaning that the chance for Storm Spell feature to activate also severely dropped. On top of that, activation time for Storm Spell is horrendous as all encounters have their cooldowns increased drastically, leaving little to no space to actually utilize this feature power in any meaningful scenario. On top of that, Arcanist can't use Conduit of Ice which was used as one of the main Powers to activate Storm Spell feature.
The only three powers that Arcanist now possesses, which can somewhat activate Storm spell in a so-so manner are
- Oppressive Force (daily, rarely used, does not scale with power well enough)
- Steal Time (encounter, bugged, long cooldown without much use as it doesn't add combat advantage anymore, nor speed)
- Icy Terrain (encounter, commonly used, possibly bugged as it does not scale well enough with accuracy nor armor penetration, weak, used primarily for Chill feature)
As far as at-wills go, Ray of Frost can utilize Storm Spell, but this at-will is awfully weak. it's only benefit is it's DoT ICD which helps to activate Storm Spell. Sometimes. It is the fastest way I can think of for destroying Mimics given that each time is a critical strike. It takes 2-3 Storm Spell hits to do so.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
PROPOSITION FOR STORM SPELL FEATURE
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Please understand, these changes will not make Arcanist class better than other classes in any way or form. These changes are going to make Arcanist just slightly more interesting to play with as the current meta suggests that Rimefire Smolder is the best case scenario for any Wizard in the game, which is something I personally do not feel strong about nor would prefer to use. These changes won't even make Arcanist top DPS, but will keep a possibility to stay viable as times progress.
- Make it an actual mechanic of the class, instead of a Feature power.
- Make it hit on all regular hits for a percentage of damage, or make it hit on all crits whenever they activate.
- Increase it's activation time to 40%.
- Allow it's ICD to hit on 0.1sec, so that we get full benefit from AoE powers in combination (Oppressive Force + Steal Time + Icy Terrain)
- In case Storm Spell can hit on each hit instead of just critical ones, let it do a percentage of damage from regular encounter and at-will powers, so that if you hit for 100 damage it will hit for something like 30 extra damage.
- Allow that use of Lightning Based weapon enchantments increase Storm Spell's potency.
- Why to make it an actual class mechanic?
Simply put, everyone who ever played Spellstorm class will keep on playing it for as long as there is an option to deal lightning damage. We are set in our ways and we do not feel strongly about changing to pure arcane damage. By making it an actual class mechanic, you will completely stop all problems with Storm Spell concepts in the future and everything else can be attuned to follow a class mechanic, instead trying to find what would be the best way to play the class itself with each new mod.
- Since the drop to 50% critical chance is a very big change for Storm Spell, which was already reduced damage-wise to accommodate for its inherent ability to critically strike, choosing either to hit on regular hits based on 40% chance or to always hit on all Critical hits for 100% chance is something that should be implemented to accommodate for such a big change in terms of losing damage.
- Chance for Storm Spell to activate is 30% and ONLY on Critical hits, which now have a chance to activate standing on 50%. As such, Storm Spell as a feature Power lost around 75% of it's original value in all scenarios. If we add to that that encounters activate very slow, Storm spell lost more than 90% of it's original value! I'd even argue that it's not worth using on Arcanist paragon at all at this point.
- If Storm Spell becomes available to hit on each regular hit with 40% chance to activate, then it should constantly do a percentage of damage based on which hit it had. And this should not be less than 30% of overall BASE damage. If I hit Disintegrate with 200.000 base damage, then Storm spell should hit for 30% of that base damage. If I hit with Disintegrate for 600.000 Critical damage, then storm spell should hit for 15% of that Critical Strike damage. Critical Strike should not scale with other buffs in that scenario. It should hit, always, from Base Damage regardless if it is a regular hit or a critical hit.
- I was always an advocate of specific Weapon enchantments to be able to add to the overall effect of own powers. For Master of Flame I always wanted Fire-based weapon enchantments to add more overall DoT potency. For Lightning Wizards, well, lightning of course! This way it would be intuitive and easy for everyone to use. Poison increases poison, Fire increases Fire, Lightning increases Lightning, Frost increases Frost etc... I can't be the only one who thinks that this is a good idea to implement. And, frankly, Weapon Enchantments right now are a disaster! They do not really do anything for anyone. In fact, you can easily go without Weapon Enchantments and the difference will be barely noticeable.
True Neutral
Left the Game due to heavy Damage Control & Missing Spanish Language
0