I had them, so I can say that 3-6 stacks were maintained easily by my Zhentarim Warlock in places like epic demo, tiamat or others. Majority of the time, 2 stacks on my r12, 2 stacks on r11 and 2 stacks on r10, thats how I runned them most of the time, I used to make a screenshots of wondrous procs but I never had any over 9 for short period of time but sustainable 3-6, due to death and liira bell. I just think that they have to be toned down to the point that they don't restart upon death and are limited to 3 stacks, you know, one enchantment = one stack icon.
So let me get this straight - you are specifically using multiple different ranked stones to utilize this feature better...and are now calling for a nerf based on that?
That's funny. If you use them all at the same rank, you will have more than 3 stacks for a short period sometimes. If you are using different ranked stones to abuse this feature more, ten yes, you may have more stacks for longer....
I don't consider using 3 equal ranked stones and a bell to be an exploit. That is normal, expected gameplay that results in a what some would call an unexpected result. I'd use them even at 3 stacks....for no other reason than I like to see companions instead of augments. Is this all working as intended? Who the heck knows anymore....the line between a bug and a feature int his game has gotten to comical levels. I do consider using 3 different level of stones (which would not be considered normal except in very small cases), in order to produce an even bigger effect that was probably not intended...close to being an exploit.
Anyways, I don' think this nerf coming will do anything to the death/reset issue. I think it will stop the summon/resummon issue with PD. We will see though. Either way, I really hope active companions are still worthwhile.
louchristanMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 50Arc User
If everything are equal or so call Balance in this game, it will become too dull to play or have any incentive to buy it from Zen store or AH. They put the lesser bonding stones with some companions to get players to buy them for a reason.
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mamalion1234Member, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 3,415Arc User
THE supposed fix on preview is in favor for active companions. really in 1 gift you get 285% of the companion stats x3 12 bondings and in top of that 20 seconds duration is too much and the companion keep reseting the duration.
Fix them to work as intended, @mamalion1234 if the stones only have 20 second up time then they give less bonus than an augment stone over the duration of a fight. Everyone has the same access to companions and bonding stones, it is what you do with them that makes the difference. If people spend time/AD to level companions and rank bonding stones up then there should be a reward for that effort. I am in favor of once a companion enters combat you receive a "gift" buff for the total sum of bonding stones in one shot for a 20 second period then a 10 second cool down. This makes the companion potentially better than the augments with time and effort and makes all companions viable instead of a few. Augments provide guaranteed stats 100% of the time while companions die often, it is risk/reward choice.
Mixed emotions. The cooldown bug is game-breaking, but I also think about the people that grinded those suckers to R12. Best I got mine up to was R10 and that cost a small fortune.
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ironzerg79Member, Neverwinter Moderator, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 4,942Arc User
No, the dev is clear that bondings will be nerfed to work the same with all pets regardless of attack speed-so no overstacking.
It's not a nerf, it's a fix. If you're getting more than 3 stacks, you're taking advantage of exploits to do so.
And as it stands now, Bonding Runestones will be even better post-fix, unless they deal with what's essentially the removal of the ICD. But even if they get the ICD working, getting the full benefit of your Bonding Runestones basically as soon as combat starts is a buff, not a nerf. Again, that assumes you don't like cheating.
As Ironzerg says, it's a fix not a nerf and quite a welcome one really. My only gripe at the moment is that it's presense on the Preview Server means that testing out new builds involves a bit of extra faffing around as I first have to check how things feel with the fixed Bonding Runestones on my existing build before trying out any changes. But I can live with that
This is going to be a great fix. I can finally use all "productive" active bonus companions, and outfit a Fire or Air Archon to get the most out of Ring/Talisman or Ring/Neck slots. As a CW I will be able to max my Arp on Character sheet, then hit 100% crit and huge amount of power on summoned companion. Since the companion I will use will be a little slower to first attack then the fast attack companions, I will be able to start Cavalry's Warning and any other buffs right before the huge Companion's gift stack hits, so will be all lined up to bring the pain. Can't wait. Of course this is all theory, lol.
That's gunna be pretty hard on the gwf who has to kinda buff himself up at the beginning of fights, before it was timed so well with ZW, SD, Merc but now..mehh....Think I'm going to get my TR up
That's gunna be pretty hard on the gwf who has to kinda buff himself up at the beginning of fights, before it was timed so well with ZW, SD, Merc but now..mehh....Think I'm going to get my TR up
How does this hurt GWFs? They'll get 3 stacks now immediately starting a fight as soon as your companion goes at it.
If there is a long cooldown, of course this will hurt the GWF the most. Other classes do not have to prime their damage. By the time we are fully buffed, the stones will likely be on cooldown. Gonna have to have fast fingers. lol
you get the gift at start of the fight that means until the gift go to long cooldown( if they add) you will have your stacks up. Cooldowns general reset when you exit combat for all items
If there is a long cooldown, of course this will hurt the GWF the most. Other classes do not have to prime their damage. By the time we are fully buffed, the stones will likely be on cooldown. Gonna have to have fast fingers. lol
WHAT OTHER classes do ? Great weapon fighter not only has the ability to buff very fast but also has the ability to engage faster than anyone in combat. lies cleric build faster but deals far lesser damage. THE rest we have to worry you mean i have alt gwf to do a dread ring lair with no enchants is the fastest dps ever. ALSo lets trade chill stacks and arcane stacks and give me as passives all of your buffs.
Last night in a eLoL instance, a 2.8K TR out-DPSed two near-BIS 3.4K DPS by almost double. I inspect him and of course some orange devil pet with 3xR12 bonding stones. Thats nutz
285% it looks to me a bit overkill , what happens with the augmented companions ?
Nothing as they can never trigger Companion's Gift but their 100% stat bonus is always there, even when you have no use for it. It is similar in some ways to the way the various different types of ring operate. You can have a permanent stat gain from standard rings, a semi-permanent stat gain when in combat from the 'of Rising whatever' range of rings and big bursts of stats for brief periods in combat with the 'of Sudden whatever' range of rings.
fir 0 ad you get 0 % for 100k ad you get 100% for 8.5m 11m in case of adorable where you saw the number 15m i dont know is based on the greedy auction house?:P
but is not how much you pay anyway is that the items are too strong. for example payed to make a legendary lostmauth set true not only me they fixed it . i WILL not suprise when the patch will go live if they put a long cooldown on bonding gift or even a lot smaller chance because now is 100% chance to proc no matter if it says chance. I Will support any change to bring back the game to mod 3 pve difficulty.
Comments
That's funny. If you use them all at the same rank, you will have more than 3 stacks for a short period sometimes. If you are using different ranked stones to abuse this feature more, ten yes, you may have more stacks for longer....
I don't consider using 3 equal ranked stones and a bell to be an exploit. That is normal, expected gameplay that results in a what some would call an unexpected result. I'd use them even at 3 stacks....for no other reason than I like to see companions instead of augments. Is this all working as intended? Who the heck knows anymore....the line between a bug and a feature int his game has gotten to comical levels. I do consider using 3 different level of stones (which would not be considered normal except in very small cases), in order to produce an even bigger effect that was probably not intended...close to being an exploit.
Anyways, I don' think this nerf coming will do anything to the death/reset issue. I think it will stop the summon/resummon issue with PD. We will see though. Either way, I really hope active companions are still worthwhile.
The cooldown bug is game-breaking, but I also think about the people that grinded those suckers to R12.
Best I got mine up to was R10 and that cost a small fortune.
And as it stands now, Bonding Runestones will be even better post-fix, unless they deal with what's essentially the removal of the ICD. But even if they get the ICD working, getting the full benefit of your Bonding Runestones basically as soon as combat starts is a buff, not a nerf. Again, that assumes you don't like cheating.
zhentarim-warlock-companion
Pure -> Transcendent Plague Fire weapon enchantment giving 80damge/20 seconds for 500k+ AD is a joke.
plague-fire-weapon-enchant-r11-vs-r12
ALSo lets trade chill stacks and arcane stacks and give me as passives all of your buffs.
ok longer version
for 0 ad you get 0%
for 100k ad you get 100%
for 15milion ad you get 285%
all 3 options are available for any player.
overstacking with bugged companions was unfair.
zhentarim-warlock-companion
Pure -> Transcendent Plague Fire weapon enchantment giving 80damge/20 seconds for 500k+ AD is a joke.
plague-fire-weapon-enchant-r11-vs-r12
for 100k ad you get 100%
for 8.5m 11m in case of adorable where you saw the number 15m i dont know is based on the greedy auction house?:P
but is not how much you pay anyway is that the items are too strong. for example payed to make a legendary lostmauth set true not only me they fixed it . i WILL not suprise when the patch will go live if they put a long cooldown on bonding gift or even a lot smaller chance because now is 100% chance to proc no matter if it says chance. I Will support any change to bring back the game to mod 3 pve difficulty.