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Overhauling wizards - what would your concept be?
drago
Member Posts: 40 Arc User
in The Library
Rather than focusing on magnitudes or specific powers that should be changed or replaced, I'm curious as to how you would design the Wizard class for Neverwinter, from the ground up, if you had complete free reign? Along-side this, what challenges would you see with your approach, particularly when it comes to what it would mean in the context of how other classes work?
I'm not a DnD player, so my knowledge of mage classes in it doesn't influence anything. It's more around NW as a game. I also don't pretend to have the depth of knowledge around all different classes (I main a Wizard, have alts in most others, but I mainly play the Wizard).
My own take is not massively radical, because I actually quite like the foundations of what's there, in terms of paragons and magic types.
Paragons
I would keep the current options for types of magic.
1.) Fire & Ice - smoulder & chill effects
2.) Lightning & Ice - arcane & chill effects
I considered going further with 4 completely different magic types, 2 for each paragon, but I see more than enough options with the two (and ice fits quite well with both fire and lightning, providing the common element present in most class powers).
I'm not sure whether its then worth further differentiating the two paragons (e.g. emphasis on raw dps vs debuff vs even a group shield / heal ability), but for now I choose to leave the magic types as the key differentiating factor, with the different effects that come from those powers. May be for consistency with other classes, one paragon should have more of a focus on a support/control/dot than the other, but I personally like the idea of being able to do that with either paragon using different magic types to achieve it.
Feats: Damage vs Control
I would like to be able to choose between feats that increase my raw DPS vs those that add more control. The former is necessary because most of the other damage dealing classes deal a lot of damage quickly, so it's impossible for the Wizard to keep up in dungeon mob situations without doing this. It's also necessary for bosses. I imagine big magnitudes, quickly delivered, with devastating results.
But where the Wizard becomes more interesting is in the original "control" aspect that has long been lost. One of the challenges I see is, given the above, how well a control-based set of feats would work in the game. The key is probably having at least feat one feat that unlocks control over otherwise immune targets. You sacrifice personal dps to help the group, and would be a great loadout to swap to if facing a tricky boss the group doesn't quite have the dps to take down otherwise. Chill then becomes really fun and useful to play.
In terms of the feats, I do see it as a choice each time between a dps (causing most damage to be dealt immediately) and a control (lower damage, more dot) feat on each of the 5, so you can mix and match based on how you want to play it. A real support wizard may even have a shield power that spreads to the group (and maybe that's only available on one paragon). But the point is that the feats change the nature of your powers, whether that be toward more immediate damage or more control effects.
Powers
I'm not going to go into what I think the specific powers should be for each magic type, but just set out a few principles that I think should be adhered to.
1.) At-wills - one AOE ice, one ST ice, one AOE fire/lightning, one ST fire/lightning. Some trade-off between cast time and magnitude does make sense, but the magnitude has to be worth it (Ranger hits for 100, with a 1s cast time, and seems a reasonable upper limit on both).
2.) Encounters - an equal waiting of ice & fire / ice & lightning powers, so I could go all out on one magic type if desired, or have varying degrees of synergy between the two. Spell synergies could be really interesting here, if done well, and be used as the way to build up damage through a skill-based element.
3.) Dailies - one AOE control, one ST control, one AOE dps, one ST dps, with the 5th being a more unique option per paragon (Arcane Empowerment is actually quite a good example of that).
Building damage
Whilst Cleric DPS may be somewhat over-powered, they at least have a way of building damage output that needs some element of skill. This seems to be lacking from the Wizard, when in reality this class should be the one most likely to store and output bursts based on particular spell combos and synergistic effects. Of course that probably only comes to the fore against bosses, since most mobs won't last that long.
Stacks are a decent enough way to do it, but there should be a mechanic that enables you to either build them more quickly or give each stack more impact based on spell combos or synergies. I'm not advocating for replicating the Cleric model (since every class should be different), but to use the same example as the above, where Arcane Empowerment lacks is that it becomes "mash the keys", which isn't massively engaging.
Chill, smoulder & arcane effects
I think it's fairly obvious what each of these should do, but it's clear they need to be applied differently based on how far along the scale of control you are vs raw dps. DoT seems to sit nicely with control, but should have less of a role if you choose quicker-acting damage. And as mentioned before, control effects on bosses need to exist in some form (as a trade-off for your own damage).
I appreciate this is hardly a comprehensive view on what exactly should be done, what exact powers should be present and how each should work, but from a pure gameplay perspective, something within this framework would give quite a few options and hopefully not "break" class balance relative to others. I'm sure there are many other ways to tackle it too.
I'm not a DnD player, so my knowledge of mage classes in it doesn't influence anything. It's more around NW as a game. I also don't pretend to have the depth of knowledge around all different classes (I main a Wizard, have alts in most others, but I mainly play the Wizard).
My own take is not massively radical, because I actually quite like the foundations of what's there, in terms of paragons and magic types.
Paragons
I would keep the current options for types of magic.
1.) Fire & Ice - smoulder & chill effects
2.) Lightning & Ice - arcane & chill effects
I considered going further with 4 completely different magic types, 2 for each paragon, but I see more than enough options with the two (and ice fits quite well with both fire and lightning, providing the common element present in most class powers).
I'm not sure whether its then worth further differentiating the two paragons (e.g. emphasis on raw dps vs debuff vs even a group shield / heal ability), but for now I choose to leave the magic types as the key differentiating factor, with the different effects that come from those powers. May be for consistency with other classes, one paragon should have more of a focus on a support/control/dot than the other, but I personally like the idea of being able to do that with either paragon using different magic types to achieve it.
Feats: Damage vs Control
I would like to be able to choose between feats that increase my raw DPS vs those that add more control. The former is necessary because most of the other damage dealing classes deal a lot of damage quickly, so it's impossible for the Wizard to keep up in dungeon mob situations without doing this. It's also necessary for bosses. I imagine big magnitudes, quickly delivered, with devastating results.
But where the Wizard becomes more interesting is in the original "control" aspect that has long been lost. One of the challenges I see is, given the above, how well a control-based set of feats would work in the game. The key is probably having at least feat one feat that unlocks control over otherwise immune targets. You sacrifice personal dps to help the group, and would be a great loadout to swap to if facing a tricky boss the group doesn't quite have the dps to take down otherwise. Chill then becomes really fun and useful to play.
In terms of the feats, I do see it as a choice each time between a dps (causing most damage to be dealt immediately) and a control (lower damage, more dot) feat on each of the 5, so you can mix and match based on how you want to play it. A real support wizard may even have a shield power that spreads to the group (and maybe that's only available on one paragon). But the point is that the feats change the nature of your powers, whether that be toward more immediate damage or more control effects.
Powers
I'm not going to go into what I think the specific powers should be for each magic type, but just set out a few principles that I think should be adhered to.
1.) At-wills - one AOE ice, one ST ice, one AOE fire/lightning, one ST fire/lightning. Some trade-off between cast time and magnitude does make sense, but the magnitude has to be worth it (Ranger hits for 100, with a 1s cast time, and seems a reasonable upper limit on both).
2.) Encounters - an equal waiting of ice & fire / ice & lightning powers, so I could go all out on one magic type if desired, or have varying degrees of synergy between the two. Spell synergies could be really interesting here, if done well, and be used as the way to build up damage through a skill-based element.
3.) Dailies - one AOE control, one ST control, one AOE dps, one ST dps, with the 5th being a more unique option per paragon (Arcane Empowerment is actually quite a good example of that).
Building damage
Whilst Cleric DPS may be somewhat over-powered, they at least have a way of building damage output that needs some element of skill. This seems to be lacking from the Wizard, when in reality this class should be the one most likely to store and output bursts based on particular spell combos and synergistic effects. Of course that probably only comes to the fore against bosses, since most mobs won't last that long.
Stacks are a decent enough way to do it, but there should be a mechanic that enables you to either build them more quickly or give each stack more impact based on spell combos or synergies. I'm not advocating for replicating the Cleric model (since every class should be different), but to use the same example as the above, where Arcane Empowerment lacks is that it becomes "mash the keys", which isn't massively engaging.
Chill, smoulder & arcane effects
I think it's fairly obvious what each of these should do, but it's clear they need to be applied differently based on how far along the scale of control you are vs raw dps. DoT seems to sit nicely with control, but should have less of a role if you choose quicker-acting damage. And as mentioned before, control effects on bosses need to exist in some form (as a trade-off for your own damage).
I appreciate this is hardly a comprehensive view on what exactly should be done, what exact powers should be present and how each should work, but from a pure gameplay perspective, something within this framework would give quite a few options and hopefully not "break" class balance relative to others. I'm sure there are many other ways to tackle it too.
4
Comments
I wouldn't keep the current options for Paragon choices.
Most games separate the types of magic to create Identity choices: Dragon Age Origins, Elder Scrolls, even look at Genshin Impact with the elemental type characters (hint hint).
I would do the same.
Reorganizing what they have, the paragon choices would be Fire Mage, Ice Mage, Lightning Mage. No Thaumaturge, No Arcanist. Simple choices that even the Novice of players could understand.
The goal of my suggestion is to allow players to specialize in one specific element, allow for more in depth character customization that differs from other mages, and create more Synergy options with other Wizards. Considering that Neverwinter does not have Elemental Resistances, this change would not render any of the paragon choices irrelevant.
All three paragons would have Both AOE and ST choices with class feats that enhances those abilities. The current Class feats would be reworked to accommodate the new changes.
All the Wizard's powers will be separated into their respective paragon. Therefore, when you enter the Powers page, all you would see are powers that fall in that elemental category. This change would show the disproportionate choices there are now and thus more powers will have to be added to each element type. (Doubt it? Try organizing the powers now..... cough Lightning)
As for Smolder & Chill, I would change Smolder to just Burn & Combust Effects for Fire Mages. No ice needed. Chill & Frozen would remain for Ice Mages. Shock & Paralyze would be added for Lightning Mages.
History in Neverwinter with the Wizard has shown that balance is a seesaw effect. When some powers are lifted, others are terribly disproportionate in damage and overall usefulness. No need to rehash. Need more details just look at the Wizard threads. There are countless threads....... If the intent was to move away from Control Wizard to Wizard (M16), then the Class core should have changed to reflect that intent. Instead our powers were jumbled together like Gumbo, no need to rehash.
GENERAL SKILLS
Shield: (reworked)
Push/repel effect removed from standard encounter. Push back enabled in Mastery version.
magnitude: 125
added effect: Deals double damage versus controlled targets.
on Mastery: recharges 25% faster.
Orb of Imposition: Increases Control by 50% (only 25% in PvP).
Teleport Class Mechanic:
added effect: Reduces the cooldown of recharging skills by .1 second
ARCANIST SKILLS
Shard of the Endless Avalanche:
new added effect: Magnitude increases by an additional 10 magnitude per second until it explodes.
new added effect: While active, increases the wizard's control by 50%.
Arcane Bolt:
new Added effect: Deals +2% extra damage per Arcane stack.
Imprisonment:
additional effect: enemies within 15 feet of target are struck by 100 magnitude lightning arcs.
on Mastery effect: enemies struck by lightning arcs are stunned for 2 seconds.
Lightning Bolt:
Increase magnitude to 160, up from 150.
Eye of the Storm: (class feature)
added effect: increases critical severity by 50% versus controlled targets.
THAUMATURGE
Chilling Cloud (at-will)
additional effect: Deals 20% extra damage to targets affected by Smolder.
Icy Ray: (Icy Rays name changes to Ice Ray or Ice Bolt)
Cast: .35 seconds
cooldown: 8 seconds
Magnitude: 250 (single target only)
Added effect: Chill stack damage bonus is doubled
on Mastery: stuns for 2 seconds.
Fanning the Flame: decrease recharge from 20 seconds to 18 seconds.