I haven't been able to test the Fireball yet. I'd actually be fine with it being a slow recharge long cast spell as long as it hits like a truck and has a pretty big AOE: idea is you use it as an opener before engaging mobs, but not great as part of a boss fight rotation.
But anything people expect to use during an actual fight, yeah: a long cast animation is just killer. I don't even use Steal Time most of the time because of how long it takes to actually cast. Would be a shame if Fireball finally got added, but turned out to be a trash power-though, it'd be very 4E D&D on-brand of it.
Oh man it hits like a truck full of unused napalm back from Vietnam ! And it is a sweeeeeeeet AoE skill, and its casted with pleasure (not like steal time nor jester flames in da circus ring not hittin anyone around, becase safety first !!)
Great suggestions so far. I tried to incorporate them. COMMON SKILLS Magic Missle: Change to affect multiple targets on third hit.
Shard of the Endless Avalanche: (moved to shared skills and changed to a cold power) remove: 'every 4 seconds adds a stack of arcane mastery'. new added effect: Magnitude increases by 50 every 4 seconds. new added effect: When shard explodes, all damaged foes gain one Chill stack, and their Chill stacks are refreshed.
Shield: (reworked) Push effect decreased to a quarter of its current value. (becomes a 'bump back') magnitude: 125 added effect: Deflection rating increases by 10,000 points. (equates to 10% damage reduction) added effect: magnitude increases by 5 for each percent of health you are missing. added effect: when shield explodes, enemies are bumped backward and you recover 15% of your missing health. mastery effect: base magnitude increased to 250
Ray of Enfeeblement: (now deals Ice damage, but generates one Arcane stack) new added effect: Target deals 3% less damage per stack of Chill. new added effect: Your damage against target is increased by 3% per stack of Arcane Mastery. new Mastery Effect: Allied damage against target is increased by 3%.
Mysticism: (replaces Arcane Presence) Fire and Lightning deal 10% more damage.
Orb of Imposition: Increases Control and Control Resistance by 20%
ARCANIST SKILLS
Arcane Bolt: new Added effect: Deals +2% extra damage per Arcane stack.
Engangling Force: Moved to Arcanist from common, swapping places with Shard of the Endless Avalanche. new mastery effect: Gain 2 arcane stacks
Lightning Strike: (replaces capstone "Imprisonment" skill) Cast: .40 seconds Recharge: 15 seconds Range: 80 feet Magnitude: 400 additional effect: target is stunned for 2 seconds. additional effect: Arcane damage versus target increased by 10% for 6 seconds. Mastery effect: enemies within 15 feet of target are struck by 100 magnitude lightning arcs.
Sudden Storm: Increase magnitude from 140 to 225.
Disintegrate: new added effect: Deals up to 20% extra damage as target health diminishes. new Mastery effect: Deals up to 40% extra damage as target health diminishes.
Eye of the Storm: (Class Feature) added effect: also increases critical severity by 25% for 5 seconds.
Feat2(top) -Arcanic Chill: (replaces Snap Freeze - This "counter feat" keeps the common ice skills viable for Arcanist) Chill now deals 25 magnitude damage each time a stack is applied to an enemy. You deal 1% more damage per stack of Chill on your target.
Feat3(bottom) - Arcane Lightning: (replaces Frigid Winds) For each Arcane stack, Lightning and it's arcs deal 3% extra damage.
Chill Strike: (Helps manage chill stacks to further differentiate from Ice Bolt) magnitude: decreased by 25 new added effect: target gains two stacks of Chill new mastery effect: Target gains three stacks of Chill instead of two.
Swath of Destruction - changed to: Targets affected by Smolder take 5% more damage from all sources.
Feat2(bottom) = Arcane Induction: (replaces Glowing Flames - This "counter feat" keeps common arcane skills viable for Thaumaturge) For each arcane stack you deal 10 magnitude damage whenever smolder or a chill is applied. When under 50% health, damage taken is reduced by 5% per Arcane stack.
Feat5(bottom) = Flame Caller: (replaces Directed Flames) Smolder now deals 75% of its total damage instantly when applied. Smolder's flames then radiate dealing 25% of the total damage to afflicted enemies within 15' of the primary target.
Great suggestions so far. I tried to incorporate them. COMMON SKILLS Magic Missle: Change to affect multiple targets on third hit.
Shard of the Endless Avalanche: (moved to shared skills and changed to a cold power) remove: 'every 4 seconds adds a stack of arcane mastery'. new added effect: Magnitude increases by 50 every 4 seconds. new added effect: When shard explodes, all damaged foes gain one Chill stack, and their Chill stacks are refreshed.
Shield: (reworked) Push effect decreased to half the current distance. magnitude: 100 new added effect: magnitude increases by 5 for each percent of health you are missing. new added effect: when shield explodes, you recover 15% of your missing health. new mastery effect: base magnitude increased to 250
Ray of Enfeeblement: (now deals Ice damage, but generates one Arcane stack) new added effect: Target deals 3% less damage per stack of Chill. new added effect: Your damage against target is increased by 3% per stack of Arcane Mastery. new Mastery Effect: Deals 10% more damage. Allied damage against target is increased by 3%.
Mysticism: (replaces Arcane Presence) Fire and Lightning skills recharge 10% faster.
Orb of Imposition: Increases Control and Control Resistance by 20%
ARCANIST SKILLS
Arcane Bolt: new Added effect: Deals +2% extra damage per Arcane stack.
touch: Moved to Arcanist from common, swapping places with Shard of the Endless Avalanche. Magnitude decreased from 650 to 600. new mastery effect: Gain 2 arcane stacks
Lightning Strike: (replaces capstone "Imprisonment" skill) Cast: .40 seconds Recharge: 15 seconds Range: 80 feet Magnitude: 400 additional effect: target is stunned for 2 seconds. additional effect: Arcane damage versus target increased by 10% for 6 seconds. Mastery effect: enemies within 15 feet of target are struck by 100 magnitude lightning arcs.
Sudden Storm: Increase magnitude from 140 to 225.
Disintegrate: new added effect: Deals up to 20% extra damage as target health diminishes. new Mastery effect: Deals up to 40% extra damage as target health diminishes.
Eye of the Storm: (Class Feature) added effect: also increases critical severity by 25% for 5 seconds.
Feat2(top) -Arcanic Chill: (replaces Snap Freeze - This "counter feat" is meant to keep the common ice skills viable for Arcanist) Chill now deals 25 magnitude damage each time a stack is applied to an enemy. You deal 1% more damage per stack of Chill on your target.
Feat3(bottom) - Arcane Lightning: (replaces Frigid Winds) For each Arcane stack, Lightning and it's arcs deal 3% extra damage.
Swath of Destruction - changed to: Targets affected by Smolder take 5% more damage
Feat2(bottom) = Arcane Induction: (replaces Glowing Flames - This "counter feat" is meant to keep the common arcane skills viable for Thaumaturge) For each arcane stack you deal 10 magnitude damage whenever smolder or a chill is applied. When under 50% health, damage taken is reduced by 5% per Arcane stack.
Feat5(bottom) = Flame Caller: (replaces Directed Flames) Smolder now deals 75% of its total damage instantly when applied. Smolder's flames then radiate dealing 25% of the total damage to afflicted enemies within 15' of the primary target.
Don't touch Engangling Force this fork well if you tested make 10 Arcane stacks and see.
Earthquake is not a wizard spell, and it's certainly not "arcane."
If you want to add a high level wizard spell alternative, better to go for something like Eyebite or Evard's Black Tentacles or something. Though in the latter case, I don't know if the Neverwinter license gives them access to that particular piece of product identity.
True, it's a Sorcerer, Druid or Cleric spell. Got a bit carried away there.
Earthquake is not a wizard spell, and it's certainly not "arcane."
If you want to add a high level wizard spell alternative, better to go for something like Eyebite or Evard's Black Tentacles or something. Though in the latter case, I don't know if the Neverwinter license gives them access to that particular piece of product identity.
True, it's a Sorcerer, Druid or Cleric spell. Got a bit carried away there.
One of my personal favorites has always been Abi-Dalzim's Horrid Wilting. Incredibly lethal and ought to enable Wizards to craft Beef Jerky +1.
I haven't been able to test the Fireball yet. I'd actually be fine with it being a slow recharge long cast spell as long as it hits like a truck and has a pretty big AOE: idea is you use it as an opener before engaging mobs, but not great as part of a boss fight rotation.
But anything people expect to use during an actual fight, yeah: a long cast animation is just killer. I don't even use Steal Time most of the time because of how long it takes to actually cast. Would be a shame if Fireball finally got added, but turned out to be a trash power-though, it'd be very 4E D&D on-brand of it.
If they cut off the animation of castes, they will automatically cut off the magnitude. which will be very bad, since AOE skills with small magnitude are enough.
I haven't been able to test the Fireball yet. I'd actually be fine with it being a slow recharge long cast spell as long as it hits like a truck and has a pretty big AOE: idea is you use it as an opener before engaging mobs, but not great as part of a boss fight rotation.
But anything people expect to use during an actual fight, yeah: a long cast animation is just killer. I don't even use Steal Time most of the time because of how long it takes to actually cast. Would be a shame if Fireball finally got added, but turned out to be a trash power-though, it'd be very 4E D&D on-brand of it.
If they cut off the animation of castes, they will automatically cut off the magnitude. which will be very bad, since AOE skills with small magnitude are enough.
Yes, as it stands, the Fireball with a slightly longer animation cast is useful as an opener because: 1) It's cast at a distance (so has an advantage over melee classes, and would still get to the mobs quicker than a sprinting GWF for example) and applies smolder (a core Thaumaturge mechanic) so gets the ball *pun intended* rolling on DoTs and debuffs, and 2) It has a decently correlated magnitude to cast time.
As the @thefabricant proffered, if the cooldowns were to decrease the magnitude should decrease. If this was a direction the developers were to take, then the animation time should also be lessened, as a big build-up with lower impact would not make sense.
I would prefer the Fireball either way, because on the one hand, as it is currently on Preview, it is a decently powered AoE opener (albeit with a moderately long cast time and cooldown), but on the other hand if it were changed as @thefabricant said, then I'd be able to fling the Fireballs more often, which would also suit me fine .
I haven't been able to test the Fireball yet. I'd actually be fine with it being a slow recharge long cast spell as long as it hits like a truck and has a pretty big AOE: idea is you use it as an opener before engaging mobs, but not great as part of a boss fight rotation.
But anything people expect to use during an actual fight, yeah: a long cast animation is just killer. I don't even use Steal Time most of the time because of how long it takes to actually cast. Would be a shame if Fireball finally got added, but turned out to be a trash power-though, it'd be very 4E D&D on-brand of it.
If they cut off the animation of castes, they will automatically cut off the magnitude. which will be very bad, since AOE skills with small magnitude are enough.
Yes, as it stands, the Fireball with a slightly longer animation cast is useful as an opener because: 1) It's cast at a distance (so has an advantage over melee classes, and would still get to the mobs quicker than a sprinting GWF for example) and applies smolder (a core Thaumaturge mechanic) so gets the ball *pun intended* rolling on DoTs and debuffs, and 2) It has a decently correlated magnitude to cast time.
As the @thefabricant proffered, if the cooldowns were to decrease the magnitude should decrease. If this was a direction the developers were to take, then the animation time should also be lessened, as a big build-up with lower impact would not make sense.
I would prefer the Fireball either way, because on the one hand, as it is currently on Preview, it is a decently powered AoE opener (albeit with a moderately long cast time and cooldown), but on the other hand if it were changed as @thefabricant said, then I'd be able to fling the Fireballs more often, which would also suit me fine .
All else being equal, I tend to prefer the opening fireball. I feel like that's more true to the spell anyway.
THAUMATURGE is definitely feeling good with the Fireball Nuke. The damage is great for AOE but feel's very week on single target. Maybe that is a bug with the skill right now and needs tuning I don't know,.. but there is something going on with damage not feeling that Nuke on single target. Almost seams like the mastery effect could or should be if the fire ball hits 2 or fewer targets the magnitude or damage is increased by x%. I'm really enjoying the THAUMATURGE right now, a few more tweeks here and there but digging it for sure!!
The Arcanist however i still have the same issues with I've spoke of several times here. I Love Disintegrate it's become one of my favorite skills of any game i've ever played a wizard in!! But it's lacking that nuke feeling and is just MEH for me right now AND Not have a Good AOE At-Will for the Arcanist I think is a mistake. Acrane stacks build up to slowly and fall off too fast.
Playing the Arcanist is like using a single shot bolt gun in a Mob fight when it requires a shot gun. I've state my case on this several times. If the Arcanist is just going to be the Boss killer loadout then ok. But if we're to have some choice then Arcanist needs a true AOE At-Will.
All and All... The changes with loot from bosses/chests, loosing some of the time gated mechanics and over all Undermountain game play is a huge step froward and I'm very excited to see everything come together and to see the final polished Mod16 hit!
Undermountain is really fantastic over all!!! Amazing Job cryptic!
Thank you Cryptic for all your hard work and listening to your customers
Question - is debuffing dead in m16? It seems like a lot of debuffs were nerfed. Just want to know what options there are for a wizard that wants to sometimes play more enchanter-esque?
Question - is debuffing dead in m16? It seems like a lot of debuffs were nerfed. Just want to know what options there are for a wizard that wants to sometimes play more enchanter-esque?
It was a situational option before, and it's basically gone now.
In M15 a player could kind of get away with building CW for support for things like Cradle while not dealing great DPS, but I don't see how a Wizard not focused on damage could work in M16.
New Alt-Will arcane bolt and new another hit, simply false cancel skills hit with a long animation example steel time, who goes into a cooldown without hit, not always but it happens.
When Did Allt will don't pushed Tenser's Floating Disk possible due to animation conflict? maybe there is a coincidence of failure and there is simply no animation order?
P.S. Who has similar problems? maybe I checked it on the wrong server. If so then I am sorry.
First of all thank you for Fireball, I like it. Casting time and cool-down is long, but I can live with that, because I really like the good damage.
Like other player, I think Arcanist path need some tweak for AoE. I think you should change the 2 feats Snap freeze and Frigid winds to something that affects lightning powers.
Something that is sorely lacking for Arcanist is a mechanic for lightning. Cold has Chill Stacks, Fire has Smoulder, Arcane has Arcane stacks, but what defines Lightning? I propose the following:
1) Add a mechanic called charge, which has a duration of 5 seconds. 2) When you damage an enemy with a lightning power, charge is applied. 3) When you damage an enemy who is charged with an encounter or daily power, shock them, deal 80 magnitude damage.
This helps to make lightning a mechanic in and of itself.
1) Change Snap Freeze to Overcharge, which lowers the magnitude of charge 60, but allows at wills to shock charged enemies. 2) Change Frigid Winds to Storm Brand, which increases your damage by 1% for each time you have shocked an enemy within the past 10 seconds, capping at 10%.
These changes will help to give lightning an identity of its own
Sudden Storm: Increase the size of the AoE. Currently it's a 5'x30', I think it will be better if you increase the size to 10'x30'. It will help to affect more mobs. Currently, it's easy to miss a lot of mobs.
Maelstrom of chaos : Increase the area of effect to match Oppressive Force. Change the pull and throw all mobs at a target location mechanic to a Shocking and Stun mechanic for 3-4 seconds to all mobs around you in this larger AoE.
Shard of Endless Avalanche : Change it so that the regular version is the mechanic from the spell mastery on live with a little modification like this : The ball now fall from the sky at a target location, but change it so that the ball explode as soon as it touch the ground. Increase the yellow circle to match the size of the explosion. For the spell mastery version : add an arcane stack for each target damaged by the explosion.
“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
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mamalion1234Member, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 3,415Arc User
fireball need faster cast. IS Even slower cast than icy rays...
@noworries#8859 Icy Terrain cool-down on preview is really long. On the live server each rank of Icy Terrain decreases the cool-down by 2 seconds for a total of 6 seconds cool-down reduction at rank 4.
I would like to know if this is taken into account on the preview server, because it seems that the new cool-down on preview server is based on the rank 1 from the live server.
“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
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mamalion1234Member, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 3,415Arc User
Give us back the entagling force on mastery 1 arcane stack per enemy.:)
Give us back the entagling force on mastery 1 arcane stack per enemy.:)
I agree, except I would swap Entangling Force with Shard of the Endless Avalanche first.
With Entangling Force in the Arcanist Paragon, have mastery give 2 arcane stacks. This will help with stack maintenance on single or multi target casts, and make it possible to actually get to 10 stacks for those that choose that feat.
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thefabricantMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 5,248Arc User
Give us back the entagling force on mastery 1 arcane stack per enemy.:)
I agree, except I would swap Entangling Force with Shard of the Endless Avalanche first.
With Entangling Force in the Arcanist Paragon, have mastery give 2 arcane stacks. This will help with stack maintenance on single or multi target casts, and make it possible to actually get to 10 stacks for those that choose that feat.
I disagree, because Entangling Force is a very strong single target power and whilst Arcanist is more of a single target path, having some single target powers for if you get caught on the wrong loadout is a good thing. Likewise, having some AoE powers (shard) for when you get caught on the wrong loadout is also a good thing. I would rather they gave shard a lightning theme and left EF where it is.
Since Shard makes an "Avalanche" it belongs in general. They can turn Imprisonment into "Lightning Strike", keeping its present effects, adding 400 Magnitude to target, and the Mastery effect can be 100 magnitude AoE lightning arcs 15' or 25'.
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mamalion1234Member, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 3,415Arc User
edited March 2019
conduit of ice suppose add chill stack to all targets hit.
in this screenshot it add chill only to primary target not to all mobs that get hit from conduit ice.
IS it wai that conduit adds only 1 chill stack instead of 6 ( live version)?
I agree to bring back the spell mastery effect of Entangling Force.
I don't think loosing the possibility to use it as a single target in the mastery slot for 10% more damage is a problem. For single target, Ray of Enfeeblement in mastery seems a good choice and it's available for both paths.
But I agree with @thefabricant that EF needs to be accessible for Thaumaturge.
One reason to keep it available for both paths and bring the mastery version back, it's from the perspective of a new player, a low level wizard needs some effective AoE spell to leveling up and I think Entangling Force in mastery with Icy Terrain can be used together for an effective leveling up build. A new player needs to have an effective choice for the mastery slot to have a good impression of the class.
For endgame wizard, I think if you bring the mastery effect back, it will be useful, yes to build up arcane mastery stack in a dungeon run, but in the open world it could be useful to pack mobs together and follow it with sudden storm for an Arcanist to be sure to not miss a target. For Thaumaturge to pack mobs together and follow it with Fireball, because sudden storm (5'x30') and Fireball in a regular slot (15') have a little AoE size. I don't think building 5 arcane stack for Thaumaturge is too strong, it's only 2.5% more damage. To have a really good advantage of it you need the specific feats and powers from the Arcanist path. On the other side Arcanist can use Icy Terrain and Chilling presence, but I agree that it should be less effective for an Arcanist. It's why, to be sure that Arcanist cannot improve is chill stack mechanic with feats, something needs to be changed for snap freeze and Frigids Winds, some of us have suggested feats that applies to lightning powers and it's perfect for this.
I agree that Shard of Endless Avalanche needs an improvement. I'm open for everything, but something needs to be done with this power. There are 2 things that I don't really like with the encounter Shard of Endless Avalanche. First, I don't like the long time required to create the ball and push it. In a middle of a lot of mobs is problematic, it need to be faster. The second thing is the ball need to touch 2 enemies to explode, personally I would like to trigger the explosion myself, but if at least the explosion needed only to touch 1 enemy to explode, it will be a little improvement.
“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
Exactly... use the mastery effect on every slot, fallin Shard with any contact exploads... if u dont wanna make any mastery effect ... we can handle it... but we have some free space in case any chances for mastery effect there... (some sparks maybe)
If we make Shard a General Ice skill, swapping it with Entangling force... then everyone gains an ice AoE. That gives Entangling Force to Arcanists, which can then have a meaningful Mastery effect... like AoE or double Arcane stack gain. If they turn Imprisonment into Lightning Strike AoE, then we dont really need Entangling to be AoE. The advantage of 2 stack gain on mastery is that it will work even on single-target. I've played both paragons at many difficulty levels. Right now Thaumaturge is better by a noticeable margin for solo campaign. I don't subscribe to the idea that one paragon should be multi-target, the other single target. A player should be able to run just one of the Paragons for all content if they wanted to. Each paragon should bring a different flavor, with subtle advantages and disadvantages.
Shard of the Endless Avalanche: (moved to shared skills and changed to a cold power) remove: 'every 4 seconds adds a stack of arcane mastery'. new added effect: Magnitude increases by 50 every 4 seconds. new added effect: When shard explodes, all damaged foes gain one Chill stack, and their Chill stacks are refreshed.
Engangling Force: Moved to Arcanist from common, swapping places with Shard of the Endless Avalanche. new mastery effect: Gain 2 arcane stacks (+10% damage)
Lightning Strike: (replaces capstone "Imprisonment" skill) Cast: .40 seconds Recharge: 15 seconds Range: 80 feet Magnitude: 400 additional effect: target is stunned for 2 seconds. additional effect: Arcane damage versus target increased by 10% for 6 seconds. Mastery effect: enemies within 15 feet of target are struck by 100 magnitude lightning arcs. (+10% damage)
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thefabricantMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 5,248Arc User
If we make Shard a General Ice skill, swapping it with Entangling force... then everyone gains an ice AoE. That gives Entangling Force to Arcanists, which can then have a meaningful Mastery effect... like AoE or double Arcane stack gain. If they turn Imprisonment into Lightning Strike AoE, then we dont really need Entangling to be AoE. The advantage of 2 stack gain on mastery is that it will work even on single-target. I've played both paragons at many difficulty levels. Right now Thaumaturge is better by a noticeable margin for solo campaign. I don't subscribe to the idea that one paragon should be multi-target, the other single target. A player should be able to run just one of the Paragons for all content if they wanted to. Each paragon should bring a different flavor, with subtle advantages and disadvantages.
Shard of the Endless Avalanche: (moved to shared skills and changed to a cold power) remove: 'every 4 seconds adds a stack of arcane mastery'. new added effect: Magnitude increases by 50 every 4 seconds. new added effect: When shard explodes, all damaged foes gain one Chill stack, and their Chill stacks are refreshed.
Engangling Force: Moved to Arcanist from common, swapping places with Shard of the Endless Avalanche. new mastery effect: Gain 2 arcane stacks (+10% damage)
Lightning Strike: (replaces capstone "Imprisonment" skill) Cast: .40 seconds Recharge: 15 seconds Range: 80 feet Magnitude: 400 additional effect: target is stunned for 2 seconds. additional effect: Arcane damage versus target increased by 10% for 6 seconds. Mastery effect: enemies within 15 feet of target are struck by 100 magnitude lightning arcs. (+10% damage)
You are just making the "problem" that you are trying to solve worse. Thaum has enough AoE, Arcanist does not. Thaum needs Single Target, EF fulfills that spot. Shard is in no way a cold spell. The word "Avalanche" does not only mean snow rolling off down a mountain, it also means, "a sudden arrival or occurrence of something in overwhelming quantities." This is the context it is meant in here and its blatantly obvious, as it isn't even a cold spell. Make shard better, don't make problems for thaum. Especially not because you don't understand the definition of the word avalanche used in this context.
You are just making the "problem" that you are trying to solve worse. Thaum has enough AoE, Arcanist does not. Thaum needs Single Target, EF fulfills that spot. Shard is in no way a cold spell. The word "Avalanche" does not only mean snow rolling off down a mountain, it also means, "a sudden arrival or occurrence of something in overwhelming quantities." This is the context it is meant in here and its blatantly obvious, as it isn't even a cold spell. Make shard better, don't make problems for thaum. Especially not because you don't understand the definition of the word avalanche used in this context.
Eh, I'd disagree with the naming thing, the name is non-indicative.
There is a shard, but there doesn't seem to be any "endless" or "overwhelming quantities" of the bowling ball.
Unless the plan is to rework the power to allow us to summon a storm of bowling balls raining from the sky...
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theycallmetomuMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 1,861Arc User
Shard of the Endless Avalanche should be Sphere of Ultimate Destruction just as a callback to old D&D spells (which itself was basically the spell version of Sphere of Annihilation), but otherwise, I have no real comment about it. For whatever it's worth, the spell was a complete non-entity in 4E (Sphere of the Endless Avalanche I mean) and I always found it kind of mistifying that THAT was the spell they chose (not Fireball or Lightning Bolt or-if you wanted to go a control route-something like Thunderclap Confusion, or Forcecage).
You are just making the "problem" that you are trying to solve worse. Thaum has enough AoE, Arcanist does not. Thaum needs Single Target, EF fulfills that spot. Shard is in no way a cold spell. The word "Avalanche" does not only mean snow rolling off down a mountain, it also means, "a sudden arrival or occurrence of something in overwhelming quantities." This is the context it is meant in here and its blatantly obvious, as it isn't even a cold spell. Make shard better, don't make problems for thaum. Especially not because you don't understand the definition of the word avalanche used in this context.
Eh, I'd disagree with the naming thing, the name is non-indicative.
There is a shard, but there doesn't seem to be any "endless" or "overwhelming quantities" of the bowling ball.
Unless the plan is to rework the power to allow us to summon a storm of bowling balls raining from the sky...
Oh fun, a semantics discussion
The shard itself isn't endless; it's splintered off of the "endless avalanche," whatever the hamster that is supposed to be. Also, avalanche in this context definitely implies something to do with snow/ice/mountains since cold magic is a core function of Wizard. It is slightly odd that this power has nothing to do with anything cold, but I honestly never once considered this before now since I haven't really touched it in about 4 years and tend to forget that it exists except when I feel like complaining about it.
All of this aside, the fact is that the power is lame and underperforming, but could be fun and useful with some major tweaks. Whatever we want to call it or change it to, Arcanist should be able to use it as an AoE power, and it's not at all good at what it does right now.
Comments
COMMON SKILLS
Magic Missle: Change to affect multiple targets on third hit.
Shard of the Endless Avalanche: (moved to shared skills and changed to a cold power)
remove: 'every 4 seconds adds a stack of arcane mastery'.
new added effect: Magnitude increases by 50 every 4 seconds.
new added effect: When shard explodes, all damaged foes gain one Chill stack, and their Chill stacks are refreshed.
Shield: (reworked)
Push effect decreased to a quarter of its current value. (becomes a 'bump back')
magnitude: 125
added effect: Deflection rating increases by 10,000 points. (equates to 10% damage reduction)
added effect: magnitude increases by 5 for each percent of health you are missing.
added effect: when shield explodes, enemies are bumped backward and you recover 15% of your missing health.
mastery effect: base magnitude increased to 250
Ray of Enfeeblement: (now deals Ice damage, but generates one Arcane stack)
new added effect: Target deals 3% less damage per stack of Chill.
new added effect: Your damage against target is increased by 3% per stack of Arcane Mastery.
new Mastery Effect: Allied damage against target is increased by 3%.
Evocation: Encounter AoE skills recharge 10% faster.
Mysticism: (replaces Arcane Presence) Fire and Lightning deal 10% more damage.
Orb of Imposition: Increases Control and Control Resistance by 20%
ARCANIST SKILLS
Arcane Bolt:
new Added effect: Deals +2% extra damage per Arcane stack.
Engangling Force: Moved to Arcanist from common, swapping places with Shard of the Endless Avalanche.
new mastery effect: Gain 2 arcane stacks
Lightning Strike: (replaces capstone "Imprisonment" skill)
Cast: .40 seconds
Recharge: 15 seconds
Range: 80 feet
Magnitude: 400
additional effect: target is stunned for 2 seconds.
additional effect: Arcane damage versus target increased by 10% for 6 seconds.
Mastery effect: enemies within 15 feet of target are struck by 100 magnitude lightning arcs.
Sudden Storm:
Increase magnitude from 140 to 225.
Disintegrate:
new added effect: Deals up to 20% extra damage as target health diminishes.
new Mastery effect: Deals up to 40% extra damage as target health diminishes.
Eye of the Storm: (Class Feature)
added effect: also increases critical severity by 25% for 5 seconds.
Feat2(top) -Arcanic Chill: (replaces Snap Freeze - This "counter feat" keeps the common ice skills viable for Arcanist)
Chill now deals 25 magnitude damage each time a stack is applied to an enemy. You deal 1% more damage per stack of Chill on your target.
Feat3(bottom) - Arcane Lightning: (replaces Frigid Winds) For each Arcane stack, Lightning and it's arcs deal 3% extra damage.
THAUMATURGE
Ice Bolt: (Icy Rays changed to Ice Bolt)
Cast: .35 seconds
cooldown: 8 seconds
Magnitude: 250 (single target only)
Added effect: Chill stack damage bonus is doubled
Chill Strike: (Helps manage chill stacks to further differentiate from Ice Bolt)
magnitude: decreased by 25
new added effect: target gains two stacks of Chill
new mastery effect: Target gains three stacks of Chill instead of two.
Swath of Destruction - changed to: Targets affected by Smolder take 5% more damage from all sources.
Feat2(bottom) = Arcane Induction: (replaces Glowing Flames - This "counter feat" keeps common arcane skills viable for Thaumaturge)
For each arcane stack you deal 10 magnitude damage whenever smolder or a chill is applied. When under 50% health, damage taken is reduced by 5% per Arcane stack.
Feat5(bottom) = Flame Caller: (replaces Directed Flames) Smolder now deals 75% of its total damage instantly when applied. Smolder's flames then radiate dealing 25% of the total damage to afflicted enemies within 15' of the primary target.
Contagion - Cleric
Testament - Wizard
Pestilence - Ranger
Dominion - Paladin
NIGHTSWATCH
which will be very bad, since AOE skills with small magnitude are enough.
As the @thefabricant proffered, if the cooldowns were to decrease the magnitude should decrease. If this was a direction the developers were to take, then the animation time should also be lessened, as a big build-up with lower impact would not make sense.
I would prefer the Fireball either way, because on the one hand, as it is currently on Preview, it is a decently powered AoE opener (albeit with a moderately long cast time and cooldown), but on the other hand if it were changed as @thefabricant said, then I'd be able to fling the Fireballs more often, which would also suit me fine
The Arcanist however i still have the same issues with I've spoke of several times here. I Love Disintegrate it's become one of my favorite skills of any game i've ever played a wizard in!! But it's lacking that nuke feeling and is just MEH for me right now AND Not have a Good AOE At-Will for the Arcanist I think is a mistake. Acrane stacks build up to slowly and fall off too fast.
Playing the Arcanist is like using a single shot bolt gun in a Mob fight when it requires a shot gun. I've state my case on this several times. If the Arcanist is just going to be the Boss killer loadout then ok. But if we're to have some choice then Arcanist needs a true AOE At-Will.
All and All... The changes with loot from bosses/chests, loosing some of the time gated mechanics and over all Undermountain game play is a huge step froward and I'm very excited to see everything come together and to see the final polished Mod16 hit!
Undermountain is really fantastic over all!!! Amazing Job cryptic!
Thank you Cryptic for all your hard work and listening to your customers
In M15 a player could kind of get away with building CW for support for things like Cradle while not dealing great DPS, but I don't see how a Wizard not focused on damage could work in M16.
Contagion - Cleric
Testament - Wizard
Pestilence - Ranger
Dominion - Paladin
NIGHTSWATCH
who goes into a cooldown without hit, not always but it happens.
When Did Allt will don't pushed Tenser's Floating Disk possible due to animation conflict?
maybe there is a coincidence of failure and there is simply no animation order?
P.S. Who has similar problems? maybe I checked it on the wrong server.
If so then I am sorry.
Like other player, I think Arcanist path need some tweak for AoE.
I think you should change the 2 feats Snap freeze and Frigid winds to something that affects lightning powers.
I like the suggestion from @thefabricant :
Sudden Storm: Increase the size of the AoE. Currently it's a 5'x30', I think it will be better if you increase the size to 10'x30'. It
will help to affect more mobs. Currently, it's easy to miss a lot of mobs.
Maelstrom of chaos : Increase the area of effect to match Oppressive Force. Change the pull and throw all mobs at a target
location mechanic to a Shocking and Stun mechanic for 3-4 seconds to all mobs around you in this larger
AoE.
Shard of Endless Avalanche : Change it so that the regular version is the mechanic from the spell mastery on live with a little
modification like this : The ball now fall from the sky at a target location, but change it so that the
ball explode as soon as it touch the ground. Increase the yellow circle to match the size of the
explosion. For the spell mastery version : add an arcane stack for each target damaged by the
explosion.
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers
fireball need faster cast. IS Even slower cast than icy rays...
But I do love having it there, it nicely rounds out my AoE rotation for Thaumaturge.
So adding my thanks for Fireball.
Obsidian Oath - Warlock
A whole lot of other Obsidian toons as well.
Icy Terrain cool-down on preview is really long.
On the live server each rank of Icy Terrain decreases the cool-down by 2 seconds for a total of 6 seconds cool-down reduction at rank 4.
I would like to know if this is taken into account on the preview server, because it seems that the new cool-down on preview server is based on the rank 1 from the live server.
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers
Give us back the entagling force on mastery 1 arcane stack per enemy.:)
With Entangling Force in the Arcanist Paragon, have mastery give 2 arcane stacks. This will help with stack maintenance on single or multi target casts, and make it possible to actually get to 10 stacks for those that choose that feat.
conduit of ice suppose add chill stack to all targets hit.
in this screenshot it add chill only to primary target not to all mobs that get hit from conduit ice.
IS it wai that conduit adds only 1 chill stack instead of 6 ( live version)?
I agree to bring back the spell mastery effect of Entangling Force.
I don't think loosing the possibility to use it as a single target in the mastery slot for 10% more damage is a problem.
For single target, Ray of Enfeeblement in mastery seems a good choice and it's available for both paths.
But I agree with @thefabricant that EF needs to be accessible for Thaumaturge.
One reason to keep it available for both paths and bring the mastery version back, it's from the perspective of a new player, a low level wizard needs some effective AoE spell to leveling up and I think Entangling Force in mastery with Icy Terrain can be used together for an effective leveling up build. A new player needs to have an effective choice for the mastery slot to have a good impression of the class.
For endgame wizard, I think if you bring the mastery effect back, it will be useful, yes to build up arcane mastery stack in a dungeon run, but in the open world it could be useful to pack mobs together and follow it with sudden storm for an Arcanist to be sure to not miss a target. For Thaumaturge to pack mobs together and follow it with Fireball, because sudden storm (5'x30') and Fireball in a regular slot (15') have a little AoE size.
I don't think building 5 arcane stack for Thaumaturge is too strong, it's only 2.5% more damage.
To have a really good advantage of it you need the specific feats and powers from the Arcanist path.
On the other side Arcanist can use Icy Terrain and Chilling presence, but I agree that it should be less effective for an Arcanist.
It's why, to be sure that Arcanist cannot improve is chill stack mechanic with feats, something needs to be changed for snap freeze and Frigids Winds, some of us have suggested feats that applies to lightning powers and it's perfect for this.
I agree that Shard of Endless Avalanche needs an improvement.
I'm open for everything, but something needs to be done with this power.
There are 2 things that I don't really like with the encounter Shard of Endless Avalanche.
First, I don't like the long time required to create the ball and push it. In a middle of a lot of mobs is problematic, it need to be faster. The second thing is the ball need to touch 2 enemies to explode, personally I would like to trigger the explosion myself, but if at least the explosion needed only to touch 1 enemy to explode, it will be a little improvement.
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers
Shard of the Endless Avalanche: (moved to shared skills and changed to a cold power)
remove: 'every 4 seconds adds a stack of arcane mastery'.
new added effect: Magnitude increases by 50 every 4 seconds.
new added effect: When shard explodes, all damaged foes gain one Chill stack, and their Chill stacks are refreshed.
Engangling Force: Moved to Arcanist from common, swapping places with Shard of the Endless Avalanche.
new mastery effect: Gain 2 arcane stacks (+10% damage)
Lightning Strike: (replaces capstone "Imprisonment" skill)
Cast: .40 seconds
Recharge: 15 seconds
Range: 80 feet
Magnitude: 400
additional effect: target is stunned for 2 seconds.
additional effect: Arcane damage versus target increased by 10% for 6 seconds.
Mastery effect: enemies within 15 feet of target are struck by 100 magnitude lightning arcs. (+10% damage)
There is a shard, but there doesn't seem to be any "endless" or "overwhelming quantities" of the bowling ball.
Unless the plan is to rework the power to allow us to summon a storm of bowling balls raining from the sky...
The shard itself isn't endless; it's splintered off of the "endless avalanche," whatever the hamster that is supposed to be. Also, avalanche in this context definitely implies something to do with snow/ice/mountains since cold magic is a core function of Wizard. It is slightly odd that this power has nothing to do with anything cold, but I honestly never once considered this before now since I haven't really touched it in about 4 years and tend to forget that it exists except when I feel like complaining about it.
All of this aside, the fact is that the power is lame and underperforming, but could be fun and useful with some major tweaks. Whatever we want to call it or change it to, Arcanist should be able to use it as an AoE power, and it's not at all good at what it does right now.
Contagion - Cleric
Testament - Wizard
Pestilence - Ranger
Dominion - Paladin
NIGHTSWATCH
And nerf encounter and daily magnitude.
Give us a normal AOE alt-will to Arcanist, and increase the possibility of using existing AOE alt-will
Alt-will with charges under a small circle, 3rd strike, it's not normal AOE alt-will, loss of time with possible death.