The Damage the Bolt of Lightning causes is very low. It was something that happened a long while ago. I just finally learned how to post questions. Thank you our Community Manager.- ahem
rickcase276Member, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 1,404Arc User
It was intentionally lowered when they gave the power the ability to crit again, so I rather doubt that they will increase its damage again. And yes back when they decreased it, everyone complained but it did not accomplish anything.
Yes, they decided to lower Storm Spell (Bolt of Lightning?) to be on par with the rest of our DPS powers.
The problem is, is that the rest of our powers are underperforming so it just made everything a CW can do DPS-wise mediocre at best.
There doesn't seem to be any improvements planned to this class in sight. The multiple posts and threads which complained about these changes went largely unaddressed.
If you can stack enough crit (about >85%) then Storm Spell might do more damage than before. However, this slight increase in damage (about ~8%) can only be achieved by end-game players.
So even if levelling up a mage is difficult, as it is normally in D&D, there is no 'pay-off' so to speak. The CW doesn't get noticeable stronger comparatively to other classes in end-game.
It was intentionally lowered when they gave the power the ability to crit again, so I rather doubt that they will increase its damage again. And yes back when they decreased it, everyone complained but it did not accomplish anything.
Sadly, CWs are a second rate support class, and a 3rd rate DPS class. It's intentional.
I've been waiting years since the mod 6 debacle that saw many leave the game, for the DEVs to notice or find time to fix the CW class. Having not touched the class at all in that time, they finally made some adjustments when they killed off entity procs ( CW's lightning), kicking it further into the ditch. They did respond by bringing back SpellStorm crits, and then nerfed that again to ensure that the class remained where it was.
The only conclusion you can draw, is that the CW class is exactly where the DEVs want it to be. I seriously advise you to not spend any money on the class, or not spend AD desperately trying to find the magic set of gear or enchants that will make you a competitive invite for new module runs. Barring friends willing to carry you, the meta classes (of which you are not a part), will madly farm new module runs in quick time for the good early drop rates, at high AH prices. Later, after the GWFs are bored, the drop rates have gone south and the AH prices have dropped, the support classes will be far more likely to take you. They are actually strong enough to take a chihuahua with a bite attack along as the main DPS.
It's been this way for years, and there's been absolutely no indication that it's going to change. A popular opinion in discussions is that the DEVs have sent a clear, unarticulated message that they've anointed the GWF class to guarantee easy success for players prepared to pay their way, and not have their investment disrupted by balancing changes. Balancing changes are easy to do (as per the to-and-fro adjustments to kill entity procs), but they're not doing them.
The guild grabbed my CW as main DPS for a TONG run one time while I was in mid-respec. It was only at the end of the (somewhat longer than usual) run, that we realized I didn't have a bonding stone companion active every time I swapped to my boss fight load out. It became apparent how relatively unimportant personal DPS is these days, unless you're trying to set fast run records. That incident actually created a temporary sport where they tried various combinations of different DPS classes without bonding stone pets in TONG runs (hence my earlier glib comment about using a chihuahua as the main DPS).
In summary, apart from getting through solo content more easily, it's just not worth struggling and spending to find that little extra DPS. The way the meta works now, with large support numbers wanting just one DPS to buff (you're nowhere near their optimal choice), they actually determine the DPS. Your personal optimization efforts in that area mean surprisingly little. When that new module comes around, and you work your butt off to get the latest improvements, you still end up being the 3rd rate DPS you were before. If anyone can find a reason for a CW to spend what it takes to move to the next level of Rank 14 enchants, please post it here!
ahemuser
Member Posts: 7 Arc User
Answers
The problem is, is that the rest of our powers are underperforming so it just made everything a CW can do DPS-wise mediocre at best.
There doesn't seem to be any improvements planned to this class in sight. The multiple posts and threads which complained about these changes went largely unaddressed.
If you can stack enough crit (about >85%) then Storm Spell might do more damage than before. However, this slight increase in damage (about ~8%) can only be achieved by end-game players.
So even if levelling up a mage is difficult, as it is normally in D&D, there is no 'pay-off' so to speak. The CW doesn't get noticeable stronger comparatively to other classes in end-game.
I've been waiting years since the mod 6 debacle that saw many leave the game, for the DEVs to notice or find time to fix the CW class. Having not touched the class at all in that time, they finally made some adjustments when they killed off entity procs ( CW's lightning), kicking it further into the ditch. They did respond by bringing back SpellStorm crits, and then nerfed that again to ensure that the class remained where it was.
The only conclusion you can draw, is that the CW class is exactly where the DEVs want it to be. I seriously advise you to not spend any money on the class, or not spend AD desperately trying to find the magic set of gear or enchants that will make you a competitive invite for new module runs.
Barring friends willing to carry you, the meta classes (of which you are not a part), will madly farm new module runs in quick time for the good early drop rates, at high AH prices. Later, after the GWFs are bored, the drop rates have gone south and the AH prices have dropped, the support classes will be far more likely to take you. They are actually strong enough to take a chihuahua with a bite attack along as the main DPS.
It's been this way for years, and there's been absolutely no indication that it's going to change. A popular opinion in discussions is that the DEVs have sent a clear, unarticulated message that they've anointed the GWF class to guarantee easy success for players prepared to pay their way, and not have their investment disrupted by balancing changes. Balancing changes are easy to do (as per the to-and-fro adjustments to kill entity procs), but they're not doing them.
The guild grabbed my CW as main DPS for a TONG run one time while I was in mid-respec. It was only at the end of the (somewhat longer than usual) run, that we realized I didn't have a bonding stone companion active every time I swapped to my boss fight load out. It became apparent how relatively unimportant personal DPS is these days, unless you're trying to set fast run records. That incident actually created a temporary sport where they tried various combinations of different DPS classes without bonding stone pets in TONG runs (hence my earlier glib comment about using a chihuahua as the main DPS).
In summary, apart from getting through solo content more easily, it's just not worth struggling and spending to find that little extra DPS. The way the meta works now, with large support numbers wanting just one DPS to buff (you're nowhere near their optimal choice), they actually determine the DPS. Your personal optimization efforts in that area mean surprisingly little.
When that new module comes around, and you work your butt off to get the latest improvements, you still end up being the 3rd rate DPS you were before.
If anyone can find a reason for a CW to spend what it takes to move to the next level of Rank 14 enchants, please post it here!