Returning customer. I gave the game a break sometime around SKT with all the crazy attention being placed on things like fishing. I came back recently and have been really impressed. It seemed like mod 15 or so got a lot of things right. The CW felt really different than it did before I left.
So anyway, I looked at the preview server last night and this all just seems disastrous to me. I really don't understand why someone decided to throw away everything that has been fine tuned and worked on over many years. Whether the system was a success or not is irrelevant, because you threw it away to start a new system? How many years now will it take to get this right ? I might speak for a small minority, not sure, but I don't really care about critical strike resistance and accuracy and whatever else. That is confusing. Just give us a % chance to crit like before. Having X amount of sub types for numbers is cumbersome and necessary.
I also don't understand why all of my spells have the damage removed from them and placed with text & numbers about magnitude, but then do much more damage than the magnitude lists. Am I supposed to do the math here to figure out which spells are going to hit for how much damage? Someone in this thread mentioned that they worry for the other part of the playerbase that doesn't check the preview server or read the preview server forums. I'd be very, very worried.
Removing spell mastery was a mistake, too. btw. For those saying it's awesome cause you have a fourth encounter spell.... Hello? you've had one the entire freaking time. I know you would like feedback that has better suggestions, but I'm not a game designer. I'm a frequent payer through the zen system and re-occuring player and I don't understand the choices that are made. It seems very confusing and it concerned me so much that I came to the forums to figure out what was going on. You've seen this post before, apparently, all over these forums. It might be time to invest in different people on your team
4
arcanjo86Member, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 1,093Arc User
edited March 2019
@thefabricant " I think the class will be in a good state and as it is right now, compared to other classes, it has a much better overall theme." cw wont be in a good state due to cryptic studios history of content releases, you noticed that entangled force on tab key isn't a aoe cc power it is still a single target power and the daily power oppressive force radius is too small for a daily power and its damage low as well, they are the strongest powers on the class but they decided to Nerf its radius making them useless to use at all, they made ftf aoe with the incandescence feat, they give cw 5/10 feats from level 1 to level 80, they didn't even bother make a 17 feat build (8/16+ 1 class/paragon capstone feat), they didn't even bother to remove the crippled legs of the cw when they decided to remove movement from dark enchantments, and from what i read on stats and mechanics post INT wont give us much damage at all when over 10 points on it. i thank you for giving them feedback, but it all resumes to what they always did all these years, pretend they are listening but keep doing what they want and keep failing and delivering unfinished/broken modules.
First, I will say that I think the development team did an excellent job with the Mod 15 character balancing. I am a very experienced NW player, with over 8,000 hours spent playing to date, and play CW (main), DC, OP, GF and SW. All my characters run all content on live. I have thoroughly enjoyed Mod 15 and the variety of play styles it offers.
I also thing the development team has done an excellent job on the new maps on the preview server. If find the three dimensional aspect to provide a much more complex and engaging terrain to adventure in.
However, I find it very difficult to agree that the Wizard is in a good state on preview. The new Wizard class feels extremely flat and one dimensional. The removal of options for feats removes the level of customization that makes Neverwinter interesting. Additionally, the huge cool downs (CDs) on encounters disrupts the flow of the game. On my Wizard Talia (18.7k to 19k on live depending on what roll I am filling and what gear I use), I now spend time on preview just standing using at wills waiting for my encounters to recharge. This is on mobs that would normal die with one or two encounters on live. The at-wills feel significantly less effective or as important as well. On live, at-will are a very import part of activating certain buffs and feats. With the removal of many of these buffs and feats, the at-wills should be expected to provide more of a damage roll, which they currently do not.
On live, the oppressor tree, with 5/5 Icy Veins, can provide significant control. The stripped down version of Icy Veins on the preview server, and the lack of significant bonuses provided by chill stacks, is a significant step backwards, and in a direction that "flattens" the feel of the Wizard. I would suggest increasing the number of chill stacks applied by Icy Veins to make it match better with the increased rate of CDs, such that this feat becomes a more meaningful method to apply control. If the concern is that the additional chill stacks will provide a damage boost that is less predictable or controllable from a game balancing aspect, perhaps decrease the damage associated with the additional chill stacks. This would allow increased control, but still provide the narrower range of damage that I believe Mod 16 is striving for.
Further, the loss of the ability to more regularly cast encounters makes it more difficult to activate feats (10% activation rate is really low when dealing with long cool down periods). This makes these feats feel LESS meaningful, not more. I do not believe based on the information provided regarding the goals of mod 16 that this was the intention. Please consider that if the reduced cool downs stay, it may be best to increase the rate at which these feats activate to make them more meaningful. Again, if the increased damage due to the more regular activation of these encounters is of concern regarding game balancing, I would suggest decreasing the damage associated with the feats.
In my opinion the main purpose of a game, for the customers, is for it to be fun. The significant decrease in the flow of the game, due to the longer CDs and loss of movement buffs, decreases the fun. I would highly suggest reducing the cool down times and providing a corresponding reduction in damage. I would much rather do less damage regularly, than find myself waiting. I also suggest looking into option of providing the players with more ways to customize their characters again. Having a Wizard that is close to others, but can do some things differently, is part of what makes Neverwinter a world worth investing a lot of time into.
Unless significant changes are made to increase the flow of game play and provide more meaningful feats, as the experience of playing on the preview server currently stands, I expect that after many years and a huge time investment in Neverwinter, my time here may be coming to a close. It makes me very sad.
Thank you for considering the comments above.
Talia 19k CW Taragon 17.4k DC Tabbatha 17.2k OP Tanya 16.8k GF Tasha 14.8k SW
I will also add as a general note, I have no issues easily soloing things like eLOL on live. For some reason, I can't even solo a single mob in eLOL on preview. Yes, I have balanced my stats for the new system, leveled to 80, completed the campaign etc. I have even updated my comps to be more advantageous and have over 90k power in PE. Is this the experience intended in Mod 16, or is there some sort of bug going on here?
I just ran with another CW I know well from live. We've done CR runs in less than 24 mins together. We both have horrible dps on preview. Also, I have tried the builds/feats recommended by @thefabricant and remain very underwhelmed from a dps standpoint compared to what and how fast I can kill stuff on live. Overall, the playing experience is significantly diminished in Mod 16 compared to previous mods.
I am sure a hundred have said it before, but wizard now feels like a shell of its former self. It still feels like it was cut in half and carved up too much. Sure the game is playable with each half, but i still feel the holes in which useful powers were excised to stick onto the paragons. The endless opportunity for making choices that attracted me to the class are gone, leaving me with a small and limited in scope system. I can no longer adapt my build to the game, i have to adapt my play-style to the limitations of Mod16's cookie-cutter character options. Nutshelled: Wizard used to be a corkscrew with bottle oppener and now it has been cut into a corkscrew and a bottle opener. Still useable but still rough from the cutting.
The variety was great. I hope that new things will come in and fill those holes so that the Paragon's feel complete and planned and not like the chop job they still Resemble.
Ego etiam cupo recrari et amari diu post mortem meam I too wish to be recreated, and to be loved long after my death.
The Arcanist is fun, but not having a AOE at-will is really annoying.
I can't speak for other classes as I've not really played them very much other that the HR but I can say this to "fix" what i feel is hampering the wizard and I know I've spammed this before but I KNOW this will work and be fantastic for the Arcanist path!
The arcanist need a way to keep mobs off of him while the encounters are coming back and arcane stacks fall off so fast it just not fun or worth building them up.
Please,Please, Please... remove Arcane Bolt and create a Arcane lightning at-will that chains mobs and has a chance to stun for 3-5 seconds.
Every time we stun we build a arcane stack and acrane stacks are "infinite" until disintegrate consumes all acrane stacks for a big nuke...Rinse and repeat. Disintegrate on mastery- each arcane stack give a 2% Dps boost to disintegrate's hit.
This mechanic keeps us alive in solo play and prevents us from kiting everywhere and makes the arcane powers we do have more impactful and worth the cool down, and most importantly it could be a ton of fun and very rewarding!!
Additionally- the chain/stun effect can help in group play for melee classes and give the arcanist wizard something to do to help the team as our current at-wills are useless.
Can we get some Dev response on this Please and Thank you?
2
arcanjo86Member, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 1,093Arc User
@noworries#8859What was the idea behind the build for Arcanist paragon? and What was the idea behind the build for Thaumaturge paragon?
Why did the majority of the CW spells lose Spell Mastery effects? That's a core part of the Wizard's mechanic and it would make the Wizard far more interesting if it were reinstated. For example, Fanning the Flame and Conduit of Ice on Mastery were able to spread their smolder/chill mechanic efficiently, now this is removed, deciding what to put on the Mastery slot boils down to a few lackluster spells e.g. Icy Terrain on Tab - this was unheard of in previous modules.
No sound FX for Arcane Bolt
No sound FX for Cataclysm. Also its Aoe is smaller than the graphics indicate. Also, why is it blue? Shouldn't it be flame (fire/red) as it adds smolder to each target hit? Furthermore a cone-shaped reticule for aiming would be better. Also if you stand close to your targets, only the smallest area in front of you is affected. Ideally it should be more of a cylindrical shape so that it affects a set area in front of the caster instead of the cone shape. Better yet, make it a circular targeting reticule and allow it to be cast at a distance, then include a fireball animation with it (we know you have it - Lair of Lostmauth anyone?) and allow it to hit anyone it passes through and then explode on landing.We want fireball!
If you do make Fireball, then make Sudden Storm into Chain Lightning or Lightning Bolt so that it has a linear AoE instead of that small burst only
The AoE reticule for Maelstrom of Chaos is too small; it seems to affect a wider area than what is indicated
Sudden Storm does very little damage - only accounts for 6% of all my powers on ACT despite being on high rotation
The cast time for Arcane Empowerment is too long, plus if I use it in the middle of mobs and they knock me, I lose concentration. Considering it only lasts 10 seconds and the cast time is ~1-1.5 seconds is pretty long.
Why does Disintegrate (Magnitude 320-480) do less damage than say Chill Strike (magnitude 600) or Icy Rays (Magnitude 250-525)? Disintegrate was *the* power of choice previously, plus its name lends us to believe it is much more powerful than a Chill Strike.
When I right click to choose a power on the Powers page, the Tab selection is the last choice (even though it is the left-most on the power tray) and the Q selection is the first choice (even though it is second to the left on the power tray). The Tab selection should be the top-most option as it is the left-most in the power tray, otherwise it is counter-intuitive
Why did the frogs in under mountain get a fire ball skill? are NPC's paying for this game? ...The new harvester enemy shoots lightning from his fingertips and his death animation is cooler than any At-will the Wizard has... Last I looked we've been the ones sinking money into this game not the monsters! I'm a bit miffed that the Dev's took the time to create some cool skills for the new monsters in the game and we the paying customer got arcane bolt.....It's almost like there purposely try to insult us and I just don't get that.. I spend money on this game, TOO much for sure and I want to use the cool skills! I'm not trying to be a jerk guys but this has just been glaring at me the entire time i'm been playing Undermountain...
I copied my CW from live and got the gear off Neverember to be able to start the campaign. She has a Valindra set and Fey weapons. A set of Archons, but none are legendary, and their companion options are the best choices I had plus Con Artist. Running Air Archon summoned, Rank 9 bondings. Most campaigns done.
So far I’ve been having success with Thaumaturge, the CC effects it produces keep the experience smooth enough that I can play her.
I tried Arcanist and it was a disaster. Enemies I was managing readily on Thaumaturge were suddenly dangerous and hard to kill. At this point (just got her to 75) I consider Arcarnist unplayable.
One final thing I was really looking forward to trying Cataclysm, I read the description and not the mechanics and it sounded like the exact power I wanted for my rotation. Then I slotted it and tried to use it...then ai unslotted it and was sad. Options: call it Burning Hands and give it fluff derived from the DnD spell of the same name, or make it a 360 AoE that feels like a Cataclysm not a little spurt of flame like a wyrmling hiccuped.
Obsidian Moonlight - Paladin Obsidian Oath - Warlock A whole lot of other Obsidian toons as well.
I will try this old famous d&d level 3 Fireball when I will be back at home... I hope it will be good...
“He raised his staff. There was a roll of thunder. The sunlight was blotted out from the eastern windows; the whole hall became suddenly dark as night. The fire faded to sullen embers. Only Gandalf could be seen, standing white and tall before the blackened hearth.” ― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers
BRAVO Dev's Fireball is really good and it feels fantastic !! Thank you very very much !
Now if we can just get a arcane lightning at-will or some type of AOE At-Will for the arcanist path I'll shut up and just keep playing and spending money on this game.
Now we just need Sudden Storm to be reworked into Lightning Bolt as a 80'*8' (or thereabouts) linear AoE with it being "Chain Lightning" on Mastery (i.e. arcs to two different mobs at lesser magnitude within 50' if on the Spell Mastery slot) then both wizards would be extremely fun to play IMO.
Emphasis on fun, and not necessarily overpowered. As long as my Wizards feel and function as I would expect a D&D wizard to be, then I'll be stoked.
As we are pleased by the Devs with a Fireball. How about make some more changes to the knockback mechanics on Wizards. The main question is do we really need this mechanic ?? Do we really want to spread the mobs around us and HAMSTER all the group members that we just tossed the mobs away of their AoE ???? My answer is: no. I hope most of us feel the same. Knocking the monsters back is not desirable. I will repeat some of the suggestions that were made earlyer
Sudden Storm Normal slot - check the aiming, because at this state it is barely possible to hit anythinng with that skill Spell Mastery slot - every target hit by the encounter gets shocked. Additional damage over time is applyed (magnitude 50) for 3 sec every 1 sec. or simply make it Lightning Bolt Normal slot - Change Maelstrom of Chaos into Lightning Bolt, same radious, same skillshot with nice circle that needs to be casted on demanded possition, cast time 1,2 sec, lower magnitude to 300 and quit the knockback mechanic cuz it simply doesnt work with tossing the monsters around. Spell Mastery - every target hit by the encounter gets shocked. Gets additional damage over time (magnitude 25) for 3 sec every 1 sec.
Maelstrom of Chaos - long cast time should reward us with a huge effect with lightning sparks all around us in radious 30' )or 35' maybe) and a big lightning fallin from the sky paralizing (make it prone if u want) all targets hit for 1sec. Come on, it's a daily, it honestly looks like an encounter in current state. Make it big, willing to be cast by players !!
Ice Storm - Revamped well, but how about quit the knockback mechanic that is realy bad and make it like this: If any target hit by Ice Storm has any stack of chill applayed it gets frozen. If a frozen target gets hit by Ice Storm the freeze effect extends by additional 2 sec. (pvp targets 1sec.) Magnitude stays the same. As a final Daily in the paragon path it would be much more usefull in my opinion.
As well i don't wanna come back to the Arcanist Snap Freeze and Frigid Winds Feats... I really hope u are going to do something with this and suggestions were made just enough that u are workin on it
What do you think about those ideas fellow Wizards? What do you think abot them dear Devs ??
3
thefabricantMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 5,248Arc User
As we are pleased by the Devs with a Fireball. How about make some more changes to the knockback mechanics on Wizards. The main question is do we really need this mechanic ?? Do we really want to spread the mobs around us and HAMSTER all the group members that we just tossed the mobs away of their AoE ???? My answer is: no. I hope most of us feel the same. Knocking the monsters back is not desirable. I will repeat some of the suggestions that were made earlyer
Sudden Storm Normal slot - check the aiming, because at this state it is barely possible to hit anythinng with that skill Spell Mastery slot - every target hit by the encounter gets shocked. Additional damage over time is applyed (magnitude 50) for 3 sec every 1 sec. or simply make it Lightning Bolt Normal slot - Change Maelstrom of Chaos into Lightning Bolt, same radious, same skillshot with nice circle that needs to be casted on demanded possition, cast time 1,2 sec, lower magnitude to 300 and quit the knockback mechanic cuz it simply doesnt work with tossing the monsters around. Spell Mastery - every target hit by the encounter gets shocked. Gets additional damage over time (magnitude 25) for 3 sec every 1 sec.
Maelstrom of Chaos - long cast time should reward us with a huge effect with lightning sparks all around us in radious 30' )or 35' maybe) and a big lightning fallin from the sky paralizing (make it prone if u want) all targets hit for 1sec. Come on, it's a daily, it honestly looks like an encounter in current state. Make it big, willing to be cast by players !!
Ice Storm - Revamped well, but how about quit the knockback mechanic that is realy bad and make it like this: If any target hit by Ice Storm has any stack of chill applayed it gets frozen. If a frozen target gets hit by Ice Storm the freeze effect extends by additional 2 sec. (pvp targets 1sec.) Magnitude stays the same. As a final Daily in the paragon path it would be much more usefull in my opinion.
As well i don't wanna come back to the Arcanist Snap Freeze and Frigid Winds Feats... I really hope u are going to do something with this and suggestions were made just enough that u are workin on it
What do you think about those ideas fellow Wizards? What do you think abot them dear Devs ??
I would rather keep the knock back on repel and shield pulse. If you use shield, it is not for the damage and as far as repel goes, well, wizards who pvp (not me) need the knock back there.
I didnt mention Repel and Shield Pulse on purpose. The knockback on those encounters is a good option. But they are Arcane themed spells. I wrote about the knockback on Lightning and Frost spells because they can be swaped to something with themed elemental effect
As we are pleased by the Devs with a Fireball. How about make some more changes to the knockback mechanics on Wizards. The main question is do we really need this mechanic ?? Do we really want to spread the mobs around us and HAMSTER all the group members that we just tossed the mobs away of their AoE ???? My answer is: no. I hope most of us feel the same. Knocking the monsters back is not desirable. I will repeat some of the suggestions that were made earlyer
Sudden Storm Normal slot - check the aiming, because at this state it is barely possible to hit anythinng with that skill Spell Mastery slot - every target hit by the encounter gets shocked. Additional damage over time is applyed (magnitude 50) for 3 sec every 1 sec. or simply make it Lightning Bolt Normal slot - Change Maelstrom of Chaos into Lightning Bolt, same radious, same skillshot with nice circle that needs to be casted on demanded possition, cast time 1,2 sec, lower magnitude to 300 and quit the knockback mechanic cuz it simply doesnt work with tossing the monsters around. Spell Mastery - every target hit by the encounter gets shocked. Gets additional damage over time (magnitude 25) for 3 sec every 1 sec.
Maelstrom of Chaos - long cast time should reward us with a huge effect with lightning sparks all around us in radious 30' )or 35' maybe) and a big lightning fallin from the sky paralizing (make it prone if u want) all targets hit for 1sec. Come on, it's a daily, it honestly looks like an encounter in current state. Make it big, willing to be cast by players !!
Ice Storm - Revamped well, but how about quit the knockback mechanic that is realy bad and make it like this: If any target hit by Ice Storm has any stack of chill applayed it gets frozen. If a frozen target gets hit by Ice Storm the freeze effect extends by additional 2 sec. (pvp targets 1sec.) Magnitude stays the same. As a final Daily in the paragon path it would be much more usefull in my opinion.
As well i don't wanna come back to the Arcanist Snap Freeze and Frigid Winds Feats... I really hope u are going to do something with this and suggestions were made just enough that u are workin on it
What do you think about those ideas fellow Wizards? What do you think abot them dear Devs ??
Knockback is not really useful with normal group play, I agree with you there, but there is still some utility in it with leveling mages (who cannot burn things so quickly), and also as a minor point it is still useful in PvP (which some people still do play, as I do).
I would love Sudden Storm to be reworked into Lightning Bolt, to make it a comparable skill to Fireball, in order to level out the Thaumaturge's vs Arcanist's abilities.
For Maelstrom of Chaos, reworking it into a large AoE power such as 'Lightning Storm' would probably be more fun (e.g. similar in animation to Split the Sky for HRs, but having the lightning bolt animations that the druids in Barovia summon). It would shock each mob within per second, with a 30% chance to cause stuns whenever shocked. As it is, Maelstrom's control effect is practically useless, it is too slow to cast, the AoE imprecise, and as you mentioned knockback is not useful in many settings.
Ice Storm's knockback is also pretty fiddly. The main thing I dislike about it is the long duration of its casting time, and the fact that it could be interrupted, otherwise it would be a very strong spell in PvP. Still, it has a nice animation and sound FX. It could be reworked into something similar to 'Lightning Storm' as mentioned above, but with added effects such as adding chill per second with the ability to freeze enemies within, however, if both types of AoE spells were implemented, it might lose a bit of the flavour and repertoire of Wizard spells at our disposal.
thefabricantMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 5,248Arc User
edited March 2019
Fireballs cooldown is quite long for an AoE skill, id prefer if its magnitude was halved along with its cooldown.
With regards to Arcanist feats, it would be appreciated if my charge suggestion earlier on was taken into consideration, Lightning really needs an identity of its own.
Ice Knife - it is a very powerfull daily, but how about instead of giving knockdown effect and adding chill it now consumes all applayed chill stacks from target and every chill stack consumed adds 50 magnitude to overall magnitude ?? (i know Fighters have some skill with 3000 magnitude, Rogues have Shocking Execution 3000 magnitude too, why Wizadrd cant have 2800 one if used well ??)
Ice Knife - it is a very powerfull daily, but how about instead of giving knockdown effect and adding chill it now consumes all applayed chill stacks from target and every chill stack consumed adds 50 magnitude to overall magnitude ?? (i know Fighters have some skill with 3000 magnitude, Rogues have Shocking Execution 3000 magnitude too, why Wizadrd cant have 2800 one if used well ??)
I would be happy with it consuming chill stacks to add more magnitude of damage per stack consumed, but you must note that the removal of chill stacks, even though you may apply it again fairly quickly, may reduce your DPS if you slot Chilling Presence as a feat.
No to removing the prone effect. It's a huge frickin' knife dropping from the sky, you'd think the mob it hits would be proned for a sec.
Ice Knife - it is a very powerfull daily, but how about instead of giving knockdown effect and adding chill it now consumes all applayed chill stacks from target and every chill stack consumed adds 50 magnitude to overall magnitude ?? (i know Fighters have some skill with 3000 magnitude, Rogues have Shocking Execution 3000 magnitude too, why Wizadrd cant have 2800 one if used well ??)
I would be happy with is consuming chill stacks to add more magnitude of damage, but you must note that the removal of chill stacks, even though you may apply it again fairly quickly, may reduce your overall DPS if you slot Chilling Presence as a feat. Just a point to note.
No to removing the prone effect. It's a huge frickin' knife dropping from the sky, you'd think the mob it hits would be proned for a sec.
Plus, the knockdown effect is very useful in PvP
Ok considering it as a good pvp skill (for those who play pvp). You are right ... Ice Knife is fine
Comments
So anyway, I looked at the preview server last night and this all just seems disastrous to me. I really don't understand why someone decided to throw away everything that has been fine tuned and worked on over many years. Whether the system was a success or not is irrelevant, because you threw it away to start a new system? How many years now will it take to get this right ? I might speak for a small minority, not sure, but I don't really care about critical strike resistance and accuracy and whatever else. That is confusing. Just give us a % chance to crit like before. Having X amount of sub types for numbers is cumbersome and necessary.
I also don't understand why all of my spells have the damage removed from them and placed with text & numbers about magnitude, but then do much more damage than the magnitude lists. Am I supposed to do the math here to figure out which spells are going to hit for how much damage? Someone in this thread mentioned that they worry for the other part of the playerbase that doesn't check the preview server or read the preview server forums. I'd be very, very worried.
Removing spell mastery was a mistake, too. btw. For those saying it's awesome cause you have a fourth encounter spell.... Hello? you've had one the entire freaking time. I know you would like feedback that has better suggestions, but I'm not a game designer. I'm a frequent payer through the zen system and re-occuring player and I don't understand the choices that are made. It seems very confusing and it concerned me so much that I came to the forums to figure out what was going on. You've seen this post before, apparently, all over these forums. It might be time to invest in different people on your team
I also thing the development team has done an excellent job on the new maps on the preview server. If find the three dimensional aspect to provide a much more complex and engaging terrain to adventure in.
However, I find it very difficult to agree that the Wizard is in a good state on preview. The new Wizard class feels extremely flat and one dimensional. The removal of options for feats removes the level of customization that makes Neverwinter interesting. Additionally, the huge cool downs (CDs) on encounters disrupts the flow of the game. On my Wizard Talia (18.7k to 19k on live depending on what roll I am filling and what gear I use), I now spend time on preview just standing using at wills waiting for my encounters to recharge. This is on mobs that would normal die with one or two encounters on live. The at-wills feel significantly less effective or as important as well. On live, at-will are a very import part of activating certain buffs and feats. With the removal of many of these buffs and feats, the at-wills should be expected to provide more of a damage roll, which they currently do not.
On live, the oppressor tree, with 5/5 Icy Veins, can provide significant control. The stripped down version of Icy Veins on the preview server, and the lack of significant bonuses provided by chill stacks, is a significant step backwards, and in a direction that "flattens" the feel of the Wizard. I would suggest increasing the number of chill stacks applied by Icy Veins to make it match better with the increased rate of CDs, such that this feat becomes a more meaningful method to apply control. If the concern is that the additional chill stacks will provide a damage boost that is less predictable or controllable from a game balancing aspect, perhaps decrease the damage associated with the additional chill stacks. This would allow increased control, but still provide the narrower range of damage that I believe Mod 16 is striving for.
Further, the loss of the ability to more regularly cast encounters makes it more difficult to activate feats (10% activation rate is really low when dealing with long cool down periods). This makes these feats feel LESS meaningful, not more. I do not believe based on the information provided regarding the goals of mod 16 that this was the intention. Please consider that if the reduced cool downs stay, it may be best to increase the rate at which these feats activate to make them more meaningful. Again, if the increased damage due to the more regular activation of these encounters is of concern regarding game balancing, I would suggest decreasing the damage associated with the feats.
In my opinion the main purpose of a game, for the customers, is for it to be fun. The significant decrease in the flow of the game, due to the longer CDs and loss of movement buffs, decreases the fun. I would highly suggest reducing the cool down times and providing a corresponding reduction in damage. I would much rather do less damage regularly, than find myself waiting. I also suggest looking into option of providing the players with more ways to customize their characters again. Having a Wizard that is close to others, but can do some things differently, is part of what makes Neverwinter a world worth investing a lot of time into.
Unless significant changes are made to increase the flow of game play and provide more meaningful feats, as the experience of playing on the preview server currently stands, I expect that after many years and a huge time investment in Neverwinter, my time here may be coming to a close. It makes me very sad.
Thank you for considering the comments above.
Talia 19k CW
Taragon 17.4k DC
Tabbatha 17.2k OP
Tanya 16.8k GF
Tasha 14.8k SW
I just ran with another CW I know well from live. We've done CR runs in less than 24 mins together. We both have horrible dps on preview. Also, I have tried the builds/feats recommended by @thefabricant and remain very underwhelmed from a dps standpoint compared to what and how fast I can kill stuff on live. Overall, the playing experience is significantly diminished in Mod 16 compared to previous mods.
Thanks.
Nutshelled: Wizard used to be a corkscrew with bottle oppener and now it has been cut into a corkscrew and a bottle opener. Still useable but still rough from the cutting.
The variety was great. I hope that new things will come in and fill those holes so that the Paragon's feel complete and planned and not like the chop job they still Resemble.
I too wish to be recreated, and to be loved long after my death.
...The new harvester enemy shoots lightning from his fingertips and his death animation is cooler than any At-will the Wizard has... Last I looked we've been the ones sinking money into this game not the monsters!
I'm a bit miffed that the Dev's took the time to create some cool skills for the new monsters in the game and we the paying customer got arcane bolt.....It's almost like there purposely try to insult us and I just don't get that..
I spend money on this game, TOO much for sure and I want to use the cool skills!
I'm not trying to be a jerk guys but this has just been glaring at me the entire time i'm been playing Undermountain...
Please do not kill all the possibilities of lightning 1 stupid skill
So far I’ve been having success with Thaumaturge, the CC effects it produces keep the experience smooth enough that I can play her.
I tried Arcanist and it was a disaster. Enemies I was managing readily on Thaumaturge were suddenly dangerous and hard to kill. At this point (just got her to 75) I consider Arcarnist unplayable.
One final thing I was really looking forward to trying Cataclysm, I read the description and not the mechanics and it sounded like the exact power I wanted for my rotation. Then I slotted it and tried to use it...then ai unslotted it and was sad. Options: call it Burning Hands and give it fluff derived from the DnD spell of the same name, or make it a 360 AoE that feels like a Cataclysm not a little spurt of flame like a wyrmling hiccuped.
Obsidian Oath - Warlock
A whole lot of other Obsidian toons as well.
If you ask me how i live without it, i struggle for survival. Giffffffff us.
I will try this old famous d&d level 3 Fireball when I will be back at home... I hope it will be good...
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers
Now if we can just get a arcane lightning at-will or some type of AOE At-Will for the arcanist path I'll shut up
Now we just need Sudden Storm to be reworked into Lightning Bolt as a 80'*8' (or thereabouts) linear AoE with it being "Chain Lightning" on Mastery (i.e. arcs to two different mobs at lesser magnitude within 50' if on the Spell Mastery slot) then both wizards would be extremely fun to play IMO.
Emphasis on fun, and not necessarily overpowered. As long as my Wizards feel and function as I would expect a D&D wizard to be, then I'll be stoked.
I will repeat some of the suggestions that were made earlyer
Sudden Storm
Normal slot - check the aiming, because at this state it is barely possible to hit anythinng with that skill
Spell Mastery slot - every target hit by the encounter gets shocked. Additional damage over time is applyed (magnitude 50) for 3 sec every 1 sec.
or simply make it
Lightning Bolt
Normal slot - Change Maelstrom of Chaos into Lightning Bolt, same radious, same skillshot with nice circle that needs to be casted on demanded possition, cast time 1,2 sec, lower magnitude to 300 and quit the knockback mechanic cuz it simply doesnt work with tossing the monsters around.
Spell Mastery - every target hit by the encounter gets shocked. Gets additional damage over time (magnitude 25) for 3 sec every 1 sec.
Maelstrom of Chaos - long cast time should reward us with a huge effect with lightning sparks all around us in radious 30' )or 35' maybe) and a big lightning fallin from the sky paralizing (make it prone if u want) all targets hit for 1sec. Come on, it's a daily, it honestly looks like an encounter in current state. Make it big, willing to be cast by players !!
Ice Storm - Revamped well, but how about quit the knockback mechanic that is realy bad and make it like this: If any target hit by Ice Storm has any stack of chill applayed it gets frozen. If a frozen target gets hit by Ice Storm the freeze effect extends by additional 2 sec. (pvp targets 1sec.) Magnitude stays the same. As a final Daily in the paragon path it would be much more usefull in my opinion.
As well i don't wanna come back to the Arcanist Snap Freeze and Frigid Winds Feats... I really hope u are going to do something with this and suggestions were made just enough that u are workin on it
What do you think about those ideas fellow Wizards? What do you think abot them dear Devs ??
I would love Sudden Storm to be reworked into Lightning Bolt, to make it a comparable skill to Fireball, in order to level out the Thaumaturge's vs Arcanist's abilities.
For Maelstrom of Chaos, reworking it into a large AoE power such as 'Lightning Storm' would probably be more fun (e.g. similar in animation to Split the Sky for HRs, but having the lightning bolt animations that the druids in Barovia summon). It would shock each mob within per second, with a 30% chance to cause stuns whenever shocked. As it is, Maelstrom's control effect is practically useless, it is too slow to cast, the AoE imprecise, and as you mentioned knockback is not useful in many settings.
Ice Storm's knockback is also pretty fiddly. The main thing I dislike about it is the long duration of its casting time, and the fact that it could be interrupted, otherwise it would be a very strong spell in PvP. Still, it has a nice animation and sound FX. It could be reworked into something similar to 'Lightning Storm' as mentioned above, but with added effects such as adding chill per second with the ability to freeze enemies within, however, if both types of AoE spells were implemented, it might lose a bit of the flavour and repertoire of Wizard spells at our disposal.
With regards to Arcanist feats, it would be appreciated if my charge suggestion earlier on was taken into consideration, Lightning really needs an identity of its own.
Ice Knife - it is a very powerfull daily, but how about instead of giving knockdown effect and adding chill it now consumes all applayed chill stacks from target and every chill stack consumed adds 50 magnitude to overall magnitude ?? (i know Fighters have some skill with 3000 magnitude, Rogues have Shocking Execution 3000 magnitude too, why Wizadrd cant have 2800 one if used well ??)
No to removing the prone effect. It's a huge frickin' knife dropping from the sky, you'd think the mob it hits would be proned for a sec.
Plus, the knockdown effect is very useful in PvP
But Mealstrom and Sudden Storm really need a hug