test content
What is the Arc Client?
Install Arc

Official Feedback Thread: Hunter Ranger changes

1568101155

Comments

  • beckylunaticbeckylunatic Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 14,231 Arc User

    Longstrider Shot buff activation bug
    If there is a player standing between you and the mob and you use longstrider shot, the buff will not activate if the player is standing too close to you, it will consider the player as a mob being too close.

    This may also apply to ally NPCs and companions. (It's sort of hard to tell when you're just hoping to get the cast off before it's too late for it to work.)

    Guild Leader - The Lords of Light

    Neverwinter Census 2017

    All posts pending disapproval by Cecilia
  • ghoulz66ghoulz66 Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 3,748 Arc User
    Can some of the at-wills get some serious buffs to them? Rapid strike and clear the ground are so terribly underpowered. The combat tree only benefits from gushing wound and plant growth, so then it's DPS hits the toilet when those are on cooldown. The capstone needs a rework as you don't get enough melee encounters to use this, and the rain of swords trick to make use of it isn't cutting it any more.
  • rayrdanrayrdan Member Posts: 5,410 Arc User
    and today too..no updates. oh well
  • amenaramenar Member, NW_CrypticDev Posts: 90 Arc User
    Hey guys, quick update. Here are some more changes you'll see hitting preview... soon. I don't have an exact date.
    • Hunter Ranger: Binding Arrow: The secondary shot from this power should work properly again, instead of not firing if you are too far from the primary target.
    • Hunter Ranger: Binding Arrow: Will properly applied Thorned Roots again, instead of only applying Strong Grasping Roots when you have the Thorned Roots Feat.
    • Hunter Ranger: Blade Storm: Damage dealt by this Power no longer receives double benefit from damage buffs.
    • Hunter Ranger: Commanding Shot: Reverted the changes to the debuff effect and duration, and fixed bugs with its application, leading to the following patch note:
    • Hunter Ranger: Commanding Shot: The debuff should no longer fail to work in certain situations.
    • Hunter Ranger: Feat: Predator: Now increases damage against your Prey by 50%, up from 40%.
    • Hunter Ranger: Forest Meditation: Can once again be cancelled via the Shift power.
    • Hunter Ranger: Hawk Shot: Damage further increased by ~37%.
    • Hunter Ranger: Hawk Shot: This power should now work better when targeting on angled ground. Note that, when trying to hit multiple targets on angled ground, aiming for the target that is further from you will help the power draw a better line.
    • Hunter Ranger: Hawkeye: Damage dealt by this Power no longer receives double benefit from damage buffs.
    • Hunter Ranger: Longstrider Shot: Damage further increased by ~45%.
    • Hunter Ranger: Oak Skin: The tooltip now properly reports the total amount this power heals you for over the duration of the buff.
    • Hunter Ranger: Steel Breeze: No longer has charges, reverted back to standard recharge time. AoE reverted back to 20'.
    • Hunter Ranger: Steel Breeze: Recharge time reduced to 14s, down from 16s.
    Again, these changes are not on preview yet but should hopefully be there with our next build pushed to preview.

    As for some other topics:

    Regarding Hindering Strikes and Thorned Roots – Thorned Roots is a separate power, that deals damage on its own. There is no melee version of Thorned Roots or ranged version of it, just 1 Thorned Roots that doesn’t care if it was applied via melee or ranged powers. It uses the Main Hand damage as the basis for its damage, because it is the higher of the 2. We could switch it to always use the melee version, and then change the coefficients, but the net damage would be the same. I’ve updated the tooltip for Thorned Roots to make it clear that it uses the Main Hand weapons damage.

    Aspect of the Pack, Rank 4 – Looks like a patch note got missed, this was fixed. Updating the patch notes.
    • Hunter Ranger: Aspect of the Pack: Rank 4 now properly increases the range of the power, instead of decreasing it.
    Nature’s Enhancement – What makes you think it isn’t working? When I have it and switch into melee stance, I see the buff Icon appear, my Deflect Severity increases in my character sheet, and our internal debugging shows that my deflect severity has increased. That isn’t to say this isn’t a weak Feat, but it does appear to be functioning.

    Plant Growth/Blade Storm: Technically, Blade Storm procs when you deal melee damage, and Plant Growth is not considered melee damage. You don’t hit anything with your swords, you are casting a spell. However, this is a very unclear distinction, I’ll see what I can do.

    Also, real quick on animation speeds. Unfortunately, this is a difficult issue. Our animations are hand timed, so reducing them requires rebuilding the animation. This takes a lot more time than just simply tweaking a number. We are discussing changes here, but they certainly won’t be in for this review.

    Again, thanks for all the awesome feedback everyone. I really appreciate when we can keep it constructive.
  • ghoulz66ghoulz66 Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 3,748 Arc User
    Very disappointing. A tiny baby buff for archery and zero, nothing, nada for combat yet again.
  • lirithiellirithiel Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 2,482 Arc User
    edited July 2016
    ghoulz66 said:

    Very disappointing. A tiny baby buff for archery and zero, nothing, nada for combat yet again.

    Agreed. Combat tree already has lowest damage partly because the OH deals less damage. Won't you pls consider raising the OH damage to match the MH at least @amenar? It won't make it better than Archery but would help some. I see no reason why the OH should be dealing less damage than MH in the first place.

    Thanks for responding to our queries though, it is appreciated.
    Our pain is self chosen.

    The most important thing in life is to be yourself. Unless you can be Batman. Always be Batman.
  • durugudesudurugudesu Member Posts: 555 Arc User
    edited July 2016
    amenar said:

    Hey guys, quick update. Here are some more changes you'll see hitting preview... soon. I don't have an exact date.

    • Hunter Ranger: Blade Storm: Damage dealt by this Power no longer receives double benefit from damage buffs.
    • Hunter Ranger: Hawkeye: Damage dealt by this Power no longer receives double benefit from damage buffs.
    Feedback This is nice. Kindly update us here too once this is available to test in preview, so we can also test it and see if it really is now WAI. (It was worth the wait. good job)
    amenar said:

    Hunter Ranger: Commanding Shot: Reverted the changes to the debuff effect and duration, and fixed bugs with its application, leading to the following patch note:
    • Hunter Ranger: Commanding Shot: The debuff should no longer fail to work in certain situations.
    By revert, did you mean it works again like how it works in live? And debuff no longer fails to work - does this mean it can stack at same ranks from different users?
    • amenar said:

      Hunter Ranger: Forest Meditation: Can once again be cancelled via the Shift power.

      Hunter Ranger: Steel Breeze: No longer has charges, reverted back to standard recharge time. AoE reverted back to 20'.
      Hunter Ranger: Steel Breeze: Recharge time reduced to 14s, down from 16s.
      Thanks for listening! The cooldown of steel breeze wasn't an issue(in my opinion), but I can welcome a buff if you think it's needed.
      amenar said:

      Again, thanks for all the awesome feedback everyone. I really appreciate when we can keep it constructive.

      Thanks! was starting to think you abandoned us, and worry not as I for one realized you must be getting lots of notifications when we use @yourhandle, and will not do that anymore as it seems you read the posts here.

    • Last one though, about the aspect of the serpent suggestion posted by @hypergorila2, have you guys given it a thought? It seemed a really good change, given the points he pointed out as to why we should/could get these changes on it. Thanks and will be waiting for more updates!
  • ghoulz66ghoulz66 Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 3,748 Arc User
    edited July 2016
    lirithiel said:

    ghoulz66 said:

    Very disappointing. A tiny baby buff for archery and zero, nothing, nada for combat yet again.

    Agreed. Combat tree already has lowest damage because the OH deals less damage. Won't you pls consider raising the OH damage to match the MH at least @amenar? It won't make it better than Archery but would help some. I see no reason why the OH should be dealing less damage than MH in the first place.

    Thanks for responding to our queries though, it is appreciated.
    It's better to just buff specific melee powers than buff the OH and go through the trouble of toning down plant growth, gushing, ect. Who knows, buffing the OH might lead to unwanted bugs.

  • lirithiellirithiel Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 2,482 Arc User
    ghoulz66 said:

    lirithiel said:

    ghoulz66 said:

    Very disappointing. A tiny baby buff for archery and zero, nothing, nada for combat yet again.

    Agreed. Combat tree already has lowest damage because the OH deals less damage. Won't you pls consider raising the OH damage to match the MH at least @amenar? It won't make it better than Archery but would help some. I see no reason why the OH should be dealing less damage than MH in the first place.

    Thanks for responding to our queries though, it is appreciated.
    It's better to just buff specific melee powers than buff the OH and go through the trouble of toning down plant growth, gushing, ect. Who knows, buffing the OH might lead to unwanted bugs.

    Well we know that Plant Growth doesn't work off OH as it is not a melee weapon attack, according to @amenar. But yeah the last thing our class needs is more bugs.
    Our pain is self chosen.

    The most important thing in life is to be yourself. Unless you can be Batman. Always be Batman.
  • romotheoneromotheone Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 729 Arc User
    edited July 2016
    @amenar Thank you for the awesome communication. We love you for it!

    CW's have an encounter called Chill Strike. It had its casting duration shortened, yet the animation remained the same. Now we are able to cast into the end of the encounter's animation and it feels great because it contributes towards a better combat flow. I strongly suggest that you guys consider this on the HR as well.

    Thanks for the slight boost on the Archery HR. I can only echo what the others have been saying, Archery and Combat deserve so much more. Please consider letting loose and commit to meaningful changes regarding these 2 specs!!
  • rayrdanrayrdan Member Posts: 5,410 Arc User
    edited July 2016
    amenar said:

    Nature’s Enhancement – What makes you think it isn’t working? When I have it and switch into melee stance, I see the buff Icon appear, my Deflect Severity increases in my character sheet, and our internal debugging shows that my deflect severity has increased. That isn’t to say this isn’t a weak Feat, but it does appear to be functioning.

    BUG::::::: AMBUSH: if a dot is on going you are unable to stealth



    hence why i proposed to change it into control immunity for sometime upon a successful crit, each hr tree is based on crit stacking.

    please think about the idea


    moreover can the PREDATOR penalty in pvp be removed?

    maradeur's escape still gets stuck if used while jumping, should grant damage immunity meanwhile by the way
    Post edited by rayrdan on
  • krondhorkrondhor Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 150 Arc User
    edited July 2016
    amenar said:


    • Hunter Ranger: Binding Arrow: The secondary shot from this power should work properly again, instead of not firing if you are too far from the primary target.
    • Hunter Ranger: Binding Arrow: Will properly applied Thorned Roots again, instead of only applying Strong Grasping Roots when you have the Thorned Roots Feat.
      Thanks for have restored Binding Arrow to an usable state.

    • Hunter Ranger: Blade Storm: Damage dealt by this Power no longer receives double benefit from damage buffs.
      Thanks for fixing the bug, but eventually Blade Storm now could need a little damage buff.

    • Hunter Ranger: Commanding Shot: Reverted the changes to the debuff effect and duration, and fixed bugs with its application, leading to the following patch note:
    • Hunter Ranger: Commanding Shot: The debuff should no longer fail to work in certain situations.
      Commanding Shot need it's casting cost lowered by ~0.5s to become usable, it's still one of the slowest encounters we have.

    • Hunter Ranger: Feat: Predator: Now increases damage against your Prey by 50%, up from 40%.
      Thanks for the damage increase, it's still not enough but it's a start in the right direction, it's appreciated.

    • Hunter Ranger: Forest Meditation: Can once again be cancelled via the Shift power.
      Thanks for the fix

    • Hunter Ranger: Hawk Shot: Damage further increased by ~37%.
    • Hunter Ranger: Hawk Shot: This power should now work better when targeting on angled ground. Note that, when trying to hit multiple targets on angled ground, aiming for the target that is further from you will help the power draw a better line.
      A little boost is always a little boost...

    • Hunter Ranger: Hawkeye: Damage dealt by this Power no longer receives double benefit from damage buffs.
      Ok.

    • Hunter Ranger: Longstrider Shot: Damage further increased by ~45%.
      A little boost is always a little boost...

    • Hunter Ranger: Oak Skin: The tooltip now properly reports the total amount this power heals you for over the duration of the buff.
      Oak Skin still need a further boost as the heals, is too marginal, I want to remember that when this power was designed classes still had cap at lvl 60, where the total HP pool was less than half we have today, and the HP this power was given (during lvl 60 days) was already underperformed, as of now it should be boosted for another x2.5 at least to reach an usable state.

    • Hunter Ranger: Steel Breeze: No longer has charges, reverted back to standard recharge time. AoE reverted back to 20'.
    • Hunter Ranger: Steel Breeze: Recharge time reduced to 14s, down from 16s.
      Thanks, thanks to have listened our community for this one.

    Aimed Shot: this At-Will is still too slow and nowhere usable, we need it's casting cost reduced considerably more even if it comes at cost to have it's damage reduced as conseguence.

    Marauder's Rush the distance nerf from 83" to 63" should be still reverted back, this power was never considered OP, so there's no reason to fix something that was working as intended.

    Bear Trap is still a very bad encounter and to give us an opportunity to use slot Ambush, we need a complete rework of Bear Trap to something better and more usefull.

    Forest Meditation: this daily need some love, we need to be untouchable during the meditation state, as of now GF/GWF/TR can literally kill us while under the effect of this daily.

    Battlehoned passive: Is the worst power ever HR got and I doubt anybody ever used it once in his life, this one need a complete rework, could be an opportunity to do a passive that help the Combat Tree in some matter.

    The damage overall still low, and we have nowhere a finisher skill, as let's remember that the HR is a striker class and we don't have even one daily that can be used for this job.

    GRAVITY X GAME
  • romotheoneromotheone Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 729 Arc User
    @krondhor You should probably state that your suggested changes are PvP focused, to avoid HAMSTER talking and confusion.
  • ghoulz66ghoulz66 Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 3,748 Arc User
    So many single target buffs and such. Hawk Shot and Longstrider buff, nice, but archery is still meh with it's at-wills. You can't use these when everything is bashing you over the head. Archery needs a little more love to help it DPS things at close a little better.

    I really hope they're going to focus on combat for the next patch. Losing hope here.
  • krondhorkrondhor Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 150 Arc User
    edited July 2016

    @krondhor You should probably state that your suggested changes are PvP focused, to avoid **** talking and confusion.

    Only Forest Meditation suggested changes where I mentioned which other classes literally bypass it's effect concerns PvP, rest aren't even skills that a Trapper would use in PVP, beside Binding Arrow and Longstrider Shot eventually, which the first one was fixed as it was in a broken state during the first beta.

    The point is rather the diversification, that devel had as goal for us as well, but as long we have such slow encounters they will be still not used, beside you play a full support debuffer role in a 5 player party, but if you do solo content you will never ever slot any slow skill, that can be interrupted while attacked by mobs.
    GRAVITY X GAME
  • beckylunaticbeckylunatic Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 14,231 Arc User
    Battledhoned is terrible. It was designed when regeneration actually worked in combat and was not changed to take into account the alteration of stat functionality. Regen increases incoming healing in combat, but it's a sucky mechanic for HR survivability. If not wanting to redesign it completely, then changing it to either increase the deflection stat or provide an increase to deflection chance would provide far better synergy with HR feats. The off-hand bonus would also need to be changed. (Note that all off-hand power bonuses that grant 100 or 150 to a stat are horrible now. They were pretty horrible at level 60.)
    Guild Leader - The Lords of Light

    Neverwinter Census 2017

    All posts pending disapproval by Cecilia
  • kaudilhokaudilho Member Posts: 70 Arc User
    amenar said:

    Hey guys, quick update. Here are some more changes you'll see hitting preview... soon. I don't have an exact date.

    • Hunter Ranger: Binding Arrow: The secondary shot from this power should work properly again, instead of not firing if you are too far from the primary target.
    • Hunter Ranger: Binding Arrow: Will properly applied Thorned Roots again, instead of only applying Strong Grasping Roots when you have the Thorned Roots Feat.
    • Hunter Ranger: Blade Storm: Damage dealt by this Power no longer receives double benefit from damage buffs.
    • Hunter Ranger: Commanding Shot: Reverted the changes to the debuff effect and duration, and fixed bugs with its application, leading to the following patch note:
    • Hunter Ranger: Commanding Shot: The debuff should no longer fail to work in certain situations.
    • Hunter Ranger: Feat: Predator: Now increases damage against your Prey by 50%, up from 40%.
    • Hunter Ranger: Forest Meditation: Can once again be cancelled via the Shift power.
    • Hunter Ranger: Hawk Shot: Damage further increased by ~37%.
    • Hunter Ranger: Hawk Shot: This power should now work better when targeting on angled ground. Note that, when trying to hit multiple targets on angled ground, aiming for the target that is further from you will help the power draw a better line.
    • Hunter Ranger: Hawkeye: Damage dealt by this Power no longer receives double benefit from damage buffs.
    • Hunter Ranger: Longstrider Shot: Damage further increased by ~45%.
    • Hunter Ranger: Oak Skin: The tooltip now properly reports the total amount this power heals you for over the duration of the buff.
    • Hunter Ranger: Steel Breeze: No longer has charges, reverted back to standard recharge time. AoE reverted back to 20'.
    • Hunter Ranger: Steel Breeze: Recharge time reduced to 14s, down from 16s.
    Again, these changes are not on preview yet but should hopefully be there with our next build pushed to preview.

    As for some other topics:

    Regarding Hindering Strikes and Thorned Roots – Thorned Roots is a separate power, that deals damage on its own. There is no melee version of Thorned Roots or ranged version of it, just 1 Thorned Roots that doesn’t care if it was applied via melee or ranged powers. It uses the Main Hand damage as the basis for its damage, because it is the higher of the 2. We could switch it to always use the melee version, and then change the coefficients, but the net damage would be the same. I’ve updated the tooltip for Thorned Roots to make it clear that it uses the Main Hand weapons damage.

    Aspect of the Pack, Rank 4 – Looks like a patch note got missed, this was fixed. Updating the patch notes.
    • Hunter Ranger: Aspect of the Pack: Rank 4 now properly increases the range of the power, instead of decreasing it.
    Nature’s Enhancement – What makes you think it isn’t working? When I have it and switch into melee stance, I see the buff Icon appear, my Deflect Severity increases in my character sheet, and our internal debugging shows that my deflect severity has increased. That isn’t to say this isn’t a weak Feat, but it does appear to be functioning.

    Plant Growth/Blade Storm: Technically, Blade Storm procs when you deal melee damage, and Plant Growth is not considered melee damage. You don’t hit anything with your swords, you are casting a spell. However, this is a very unclear distinction, I’ll see what I can do.

    Also, real quick on animation speeds. Unfortunately, this is a difficult issue. Our animations are hand timed, so reducing them requires rebuilding the animation. This takes a lot more time than just simply tweaking a number. We are discussing changes here, but they certainly won’t be in for this review.

    Again, thanks for all the awesome feedback everyone. I really appreciate when we can keep it constructive.
    Bringing Forest Meditation and Steel Breeze to the previous state is very nice. Thank you.

    Harding Grim
    Guild:
    Dragon Server-Essence of Aggression
    Drider Server- TheWolves
    youtube channel
  • amenaramenar Member, NW_CrypticDev Posts: 90 Arc User
    edited July 2016
    One more set of changes, that will NOT be in the upcoming preview push, but in the NEXT next preview push (builds are fun!).
    • Hunter Ranger: Feats: Blade Hurricane: Now affects the next 2 melee At-Will attacks, instead of just 1.
    • Hunter Ranger: Feats: Fluid Hunter: Now also increases your Crit Chance by the same amount as it increases your Deflect Chance.
    • Hunter Ranger: Feats: Piercing Blades: Now deals 10/20/30/40/50% bonus damage as Piercing Damage, up from 8/16/24/32/40%.
    • Hunter Ranger: Feats: Scything Blade: Now causes you to deal an additional 1/2/3/4/5% more melee damage at all times, in addition to the existing bonus damage based on nearby foes.
    • Hunter Ranger: Plant Growth: The first hit of damage this power deals is now considered melee damage, instead of a DoT. This means it can now proc Blade Storm, and is affected by various Feats that only affect melee damage.
    • Hunter Ranger: Rain of Swords: No longer procs Blade Hurricane/Flurry on every tick of damage, just the initial hit.
    • Hunter Ranger: Thorned Roots: Updated the tooltip to make it clear that it deals damage based on your Main Hand weapon.
    For updated patch notes, see my post on page 12
    Post edited by amenar on
  • ghoulz66ghoulz66 Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 3,748 Arc User
    amenar said:

    One more set of changes, that will NOT be in the upcoming preview push, but in the NEXT next preview push (builds are fun!).

    • Hunter Ranger: Feats: Blade Hurricane: Now affects the next 2 melee At-Will attacks, instead of just 1.
    • Hunter Ranger: Feats: Fluid Hunter: Now also increases your Crit Chance by the same amount as it increases your Deflect Chance.
    • Hunter Ranger: Feats: Piercing Blades: Now deals 10/20/30/40/50% bonus damage as Piercing Damage, up from 8/16/24/32/40%.
    • Hunter Ranger: Feats: Scything Blade: Now causes you to deal an additional 1/2/3/4/5% more melee damage at all times, in addition to the existing bonus damage based on nearby foes.
    • Hunter Ranger: Plant Growth: The first hit of damage this power deals is now considered melee damage, instead of a DoT. This means it can now proc Blade Storm, and is affected by various Feats that only affect melee damage.
    • Hunter Ranger: Rain of Swords: No longer procs Blade Hurricane/Flurry on every tick of damage, just the initial hit.
    • Hunter Ranger: Thorned Roots: Updated the tooltip to make it clear that it deals damage based on your Main Hand weapon.
    Sigh.

    The buff to blade hurricane is meaningless if the at-wills do horrifically low damage. This is about the core reason why combat is just soooo awful.

  • romotheoneromotheone Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 729 Arc User
    @amenar how fricking awesome are you? :)
  • gabrieldourdengabrieldourden Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 1,212 Arc User
    Thanks for looking into stuff @amenar

    This opens up some more space for Trapper Combat Hybrids.
    Le-Shan: HR level 80 (main)
    Born of Black Wind: SW Level 80
  • alliera7311alliera7311 Member Posts: 296 Arc User
    edited July 2016
    @amenar I am so happy you are listening to the people these changes look really nice. :) I'm especially happy your making Plant Growth work with Blade Storm. Another thing I liked to see is it Procing with Cold Steel Hurricane that is a melee daily and I feel it would make it popular to use. Currently it doesn't get used really. Most people find Sismetic Shot to be better. Also removing the Charges on Steel Breeze was a good move having them effects the flow of our rotation.
    Guild: TLO GH 20
    Contact:@EmeraldG1173
    Main: EMERALD LEGEND
  • flowcytoflowcyto Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 196 Arc User
    edited July 2016
    Imo, Combat's main problems w/ dps aren't burst dps, so these changes to Plant Growth and Blade Hurricane etc. are a bit misguided (though overall nice as buffs). Combat's AoE burst dps is actually pretty good w/ Plant Growth/CoA and Blade Hurricane around (even if I dun like Combat being so tied to them). Its always been its terribly low sustained dps when all ur encounters are on cd and ya only have weak at-wills. Rapid Strike, CtG, Split Strike, etc still feel like I'm hitting targets w/ a wet noodle once Blade Hurricane is gone.

    If anything, Rain of Swords procing Blade Hurricane on each tick shows off how better Combat's filler dps should be, imo. I understand why that is going to be changed, as it would make Combat too dependent on that power, but its a nice glimpse into what could have been.. Regardless, it seems that RoS still has issues hitting targets that move or change elevation (and I'd appreciate speeding up its slow casting time- esp since it doesn't have dodge/iframes like Mighty Leap or similar powers). Boar Charge also having its long after-hit delay also hurts Combat and its follow-up dmg (and looks kinda dumb anyways, w/o canceling it into another anim ur toon is just frozen there, glaring at the enemy that you briefly laid prone before ya can move again).

    Its also a bit sad that one of the Paragon powers that Combat can Feat (Throw Caution) doesn't proc Blade Hurricane since it doesn't deal direct dmg. Same for all 'buff' powers. I mean, just make a Combat build slotting Throw Caution, Stag Heart or Oak Skin, and Hawkeye, and just laugh at ur dps. Sure ur buffing teammates now, but ur own dps is so awful I dunno why any team would consider that a worthwhile sacrifice (and that's w/ Hawkeye and Throw Caution buffing ur at-wills anyways). Heck, the only daily that can even proc Blade Hurricane is Paragon-specific (Slasher's Mark). This whole thing is just a mess for Combat.
    Post edited by flowcyto on
    ________________
    <CO docs> .: Petco :. // Base DPS Sheet (needs revision) // PSA on Power Activation Delay
    - Themed Tanks // Misc Build Dump // Ayonachan's Gift Horse (stat data)
    - Be safe and have fun, champs - for science!
  • marnivalmarnival Member Posts: 1,432 Arc User
    ghoulz66 said:

    amenar said:

    One more set of changes, that will NOT be in the upcoming preview push, but in the NEXT next preview push (builds are fun!).

    • Hunter Ranger: Feats: Blade Hurricane: Now affects the next 2 melee At-Will attacks, instead of just 1.
    • Hunter Ranger: Feats: Fluid Hunter: Now also increases your Crit Chance by the same amount as it increases your Deflect Chance.
    • Hunter Ranger: Feats: Piercing Blades: Now deals 10/20/30/40/50% bonus damage as Piercing Damage, up from 8/16/24/32/40%.
    • Hunter Ranger: Feats: Scything Blade: Now causes you to deal an additional 1/2/3/4/5% more melee damage at all times, in addition to the existing bonus damage based on nearby foes.
    • Hunter Ranger: Plant Growth: The first hit of damage this power deals is now considered melee damage, instead of a DoT. This means it can now proc Blade Storm, and is affected by various Feats that only affect melee damage.
    • Hunter Ranger: Rain of Swords: No longer procs Blade Hurricane/Flurry on every tick of damage, just the initial hit.
    • Hunter Ranger: Thorned Roots: Updated the tooltip to make it clear that it deals damage based on your Main Hand weapon.
    Sigh.

    The buff to blade hurricane is meaningless if the at-wills do horrifically low damage. This is about the core reason why combat is just soooo awful.

    +1
  • flyingleonflyingleon Member Posts: 451 Arc User
    The little buff here and there does add to be a thing.

    Join the Greycloaks



    Ana-GWF SM Destroyer | Farseer-CW MoF Renegade | Leon-GF SM Tactician
    Adrik Battlefate-DC DO Virtuous | Cassi Woodsheart-HR PF Trapper
  • ghoulz66ghoulz66 Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 3,748 Arc User

    The little buff here and there does add to be a thing.

    I have tried to make combat remotely decent ever since mod 6 destroyed the combat tree for good with massive HP pools on mobs. All this buff does is buff plant growth. Combat still stuck with gushing wound and plant growth for the only viable DPS powers for melee, fox shift is more utility/survival.

    Even with the multiproc with flurry and rain of swords, the DPS with at-wills was so laughable. Now removing the multi proc, but only adding in an extra hit for flurry does the at-wills no good at all. You're stuck with 3 melee powers that have to go on CD and melee at-wills that tickle. It's not going to help make combat become viable unless the at-wills are actually viable themselves. Ever since mod 6 mobs have gotten so much more HP while the scaling of these old attacks never scaled up enough to keep up.

    The capstone revolves around melee at-wills. It is nothing if the powers the capstone supports aren't viable themselves. Just imagine the Destroyer tree without the destroyer capstone, or all the capstone does is provide 10% damage, no other benefits. It would destroy that tree.

  • zerappuszerappus Member Posts: 138 Arc User
    Saddening and underwhelming to Archery.

    Cryptic Developers play Archery Hunter on paper, not in practice. They don't know how PvE Archery DPS is maximized. That's why they insist on buffing utterly inefficient skills to no avail or effect (they are simply inferior to the best Archery rotations).

    The primary (core) areas of Archery is: (i'm mentioned this in detail in my first feedback post)
    1) Distancing
    2) Mobility
    3) Fast Cast
    The secondary areas of Archery is:
    1) Damage
    2) Cooldown.

    They focus on the latter area, not emphasizing what is essential to Archers.
    I'll make a list of examples of what's missing:

    - Single Target Burst damage encounter that is instant cast. The second additional damage to Hawk Shot (as we requested) is welcomed, but it won't buy any place in the rotation because any good Archer will not allow itself to be mobbed while casting. It's doable but it's inefficient (nee, DPS goes down).
    - AOE Slow that is secondary effect to an encounter. Add this Marauder's Escape for example.
    - Flat speed buff (10%) in-combat Feat instead of Hasty Retreat.
    - Range-dependent cast-time reduction (-0.5s/1s/1.5s/2s) that should be tacked on the Tier 5 Stillness of the Forest (?) Feat
    - Once AOE slow is added to Marauder's. Add feat that increases AOE slow times (+0.4s/0.8/1.2/1.6/2.0) in lieu of the worthless Keen Eye.

    Our special 'Archery' themed Companion, Hunting Hawk gives max at-will bonus at 100'. The same with Artifact weapon features that similarly only works on great distance (Aspect of the Falcon)( hence I don't use this). Yet Archers are not given tools to routinely and properly reach these ceilings.


    Archery Revision Summary:

    - The Archery changes will help us Archers who already pretty much mastered the tree and maximized the damage from rotations.
    - In terms of Hunter Ranger Tree player distribution, It wouldn't affect the ratio in terms of Archery affinity.
    - Cryptic Developers Archery concepts are doable but inefficient. It's akin to being asked to pedal a bicycle with your hands as a 'go to'. It's doable but extremely awkward and excruciating.

    Having a long-cast At-will is doable but the DPS will go down, hands down. How can we agree to call it the 'go to' at-will?

    Thx for reading. But, no thx for not catching the concepts.
  • romotheoneromotheone Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 729 Arc User
    Now that we have amenar around, you guys (experienced Archery/Combat HR players) could actually come up with a specific concepts instead of just saying "this doesn't work". Give them something to start with, come up with viable combos/rotations, give them food for thought so they can decide if that's something they could see work in the game.

    @amenar I also feel like archery is too static for what it's supposed to do. Most of the cast times are super long, which feels really awkward for a spec that relies so heavily on keeping distance.


    Archery suggestions

    - Additional tools that help the class do this, like actually working slowing effects, even ones that go through resistance/immunity could be the signature mechanic to go for this class.
    - Archery tree's early feat options are super weak, while the deeper ones into the tree are kind of a must-have in both rows if anyone is looking to play an archery themed build.
    - Currently, a trapper is a better archer due to the insane cooldown reduction, extra damage damage and control. Archery is inferior in all 3, by far. To compensate this, you could make the archer hits to be felt. No DoTs? No problem, let us deal bigger direct hits to the enemies and actually make this tree more threatening.
    - Since cooldowns as an Archery spec are super long (and as I heard, the Combat spec suffers from the same), you could add something to make at-wills deal more damage. Archery tree 3rd column, "Longshot" is a terrible feat for a 3rd column one. It is heavily favoring the underperforming Archery tree and even there, it barely does 1% of your total damage. Imo, procs just don't fit the Archery and the Combat playstyle. 3rd column feats are responsible for build variety for many of the classes, they provide that extra diversity and are supposed to make you think about where you put your points into. This could be the key feat that could make both Archery and Combat a lot more viable. Turn it into an at-will boosting feat for both ranged and melee.
    - Archery needs those lower cast-times, combat needs to be much more fluent, both combat and movement-wise. Slightly lower cast durations here and there would help out this spec immensely. You don't have to rework animations, just actually tweek the numbers. I can only quote myself here:


    CW's have an encounter called Chill Strike. It had its casting duration shortened, yet the animation remained the same. Now we are able to cast into the end of the encounter's animation and it feels great because it contributes towards a better combat flow. I strongly suggest that you guys consider this on the HR as well.

    I cannot thank you enough for the insanely quick responses and the attention you're giving us. It is greatly appreciated!
  • ghoulz66ghoulz66 Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 3,748 Arc User

    Now that we have amenar around, you guys (experienced Archery/Combat HR players) could actually come up with a specific concepts instead of just saying "this doesn't work". Give them something to start with, come up with viable combos/rotations, give them food for thought so they can decide if that's something they could see work in the game.

    I don't know how many times I have to beat the dead horse.... I've already said it enough times.
  • romotheoneromotheone Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 729 Arc User
    edited July 2016
    ghoulz66 said:


    I don't know how many times I have to beat the dead horse.... I've already said it enough times.

    @ghoulz66
    Balancing in any game is a matter of fine-tuning based on previous experiences. Obviously in this case, the HRs balancing happens in much bigger steps, because the class has 2 specs that are heavily outdated and not on the level of not only the other classes, but even its 3rd feat tree.
    I know that you've pretty much said everything there is to say. But you have to understand what is happening right now. Amenar presents a bunch of changes and then waits for feedback. Based on the feedback, he comes up with a new set of changes and listens to feedback again. Obviously a developer that hasn't spent a complete year putting the classes under the loupe, won't have as much experience and knowledge of the class than you, the player, who has done exactly that, would.
    Now is your chance to work with him and finally elevate your class to the level it deserves. Don't throw this chance away. Be as patient as Amenar is, despite all the emotional and often negative feedback. Work with him, because he is certainly willing to work with you.
This discussion has been closed.