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Official Feedback Thread: Control Wizard Changes

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    loboguildloboguild Member Posts: 2,371 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    My original bug report can be found here: http://nw-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?694431-Stacked-DoTs-Powers-also-stack-ArPen

    ArPen currently not only does offset DR from mobs, but also stacks up to three times on top of it. I was able to get to 166% damage against elite mobs without any feats, active boni and HV.

    That's why you can't realistically evaluate damage output right now.
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    cloud990plcloud990pl Member Posts: 16 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    Done some testing in Normal ToS today and I'm positively surprised with oppressor (but I still think some feats are useless for control).
    Preview SS Oppressor did almost the same damage as Live SS Thaum but... Thaum died and had more damage taken than Oppressor so shatter works preeeeeetty well but I have some questions regarding shatter (and few other things):
    -does shatter activates only when I froze the target? For example: 2 CWs are using Icy Terrain, at least one of them is Oppressor with Shatter Strike; will shatter strike activate when non oppressor Icy Terrain will froze the target (froze tick being non-op CWs IT)?
    -Can shatter stun be activated by any player? (<- I know it states "when taking damage" just making sure tooltip has correct description)
    -"your control powers deal 100% of your weapon damage against control immune target": how does shatter affect immune control targets if they must be frozen first?
    -"Shattered foes have a chance when taking damage to be stunned for 5 seconds": "chance" is not a unit of anything, how much chance we have to activate this effect?

    Also:
    Alacrity should affect few more powers (like other powers that had CD lengthened)
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    mysticmarksmysticmarks Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 117 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    • Armor Penetration should now correctly work on all powers. Good
    Powers
    • Magic Missile: The first two strikes can be chained together about 40% slower. The third strike of Magic Missile now takes 1.4 seconds to fire (up from 1.2). little difference
    • Chilling Cloud: The final strike of Chilling Cloud now takes 1 second to fire (down from 1.2). good
    • Scorching Burst: This power now benefits more from being charged. The bonus from charging has been improved by roughly 50%. good
    • Chill Strike: This power now takes 1.2 seconds to fire (up from 1 second).
    • Chill Strike: This power has had its recharge time increased to 15 seconds (up from 13 seconds). Counter to your own profound set; unwarranted
    • Conduit of Ice: This power now takes 1.5 seconds to fire (up from .98 seconds). fine
    • Conduit of Ice: This power has had its recharge time reduced to 13 seconds (down from 18 seconds). good
    • Conduit of Ice: This power has had its damage reduced by roughly 33%. too much; it's a slow DoT already with low damage. 1 second cast/ 15sec cooldown/ -10% dmg/ LONGER duration
    • Entangling Force: This power's damage over time component now ticks every .5 seconds (down from every .65 seconds). fine
    • Entangling Force: This power now takes 1.2 seconds to fire (up from 1 second). fine
    • Entangling Force: This power has had its total base damage reduced by about 10% overall. fine
    • Icy Terrain: This power now ticks every 1 second (down from every 1.3 seconds). good
    • Sudden Storm: This power has had its recharge time increased to 14 seconds (up from 10 seconds). fine
    • Sudden Storm: This power has had its base damage reduced by roughly 33% too much, not a fan of the skill but it was nearly useless before due to directional casting and time involved
    • Ray of Enfeeblement: This power now takes 1.5 seconds to fire (up from .9 seconds). Bad
    • Ray of Enfeeblement: This power has had its recharge time increased to 18 seconds (up from 14). Bad
    • Ray of Enfeeblement: Allies no longer benefit from this debuff. WORST CALL IN THE LIST for PvE, yet understandable in PvP(you've made loomweave and other effects have lower duration on other players; do that here. make the pvp debuff only for the caster, and leave it alone for PvE)
    • Steal Time: This power has had its damage increased by roughly 65%. Good
    • Steal Time: This power has had its recharge time reduced to 18 seconds (down from 22 seconds). Good
    • Shard of the Endless Avalanche: This power has had its base impact damage reduced by roughly 33%. Bad, 15%
    • Shard of the Endless Avalanche: This power has had its explosion damage reduced by roughly 60%. Bad, 30%
    • Fanning the Flame: This power now takes 1.5 seconds to fire (up from .6 seconds). Bad, 1 second
    • Fanning the Flame: This power has had its recharge time increased to 22 seconds (up from 15 seconds). Bad, 18 seconds
    • Arcane Singularity: Activation time increased to 2 seconds (up from 1 second). Bad, leave it alone
    • Arcane Singularity: Now can affect up to 8 targets (down from 15). NO, just NO. Absolutely needed crowd control. Icy terrain does NOT replace this control. Leaning that way will force too many oppressor builds
    • Oppressive Force: This power has had its overall damage reduced by roughly 9%. Fine
    • Ice Knife: This power now takes 1.2 seconds to fire (up from .93 seconds). Fine
    • Furious Immolation: This power has had its damage increased by roughly 26%. Fine
    • Eye of the Storm: This power now has an internal cooldown of 90 seconds. Base Duration increased to 4 seconds (up from 2). Duration increase per rank increased to 1 (up from .5). Bad. I don't use it in my build, but that's horrible. 30 seconds, or 45 even... but 90? ..no.. just no.
    Feats: Heroic
    • Wizard's Wrath: This feat now grants 1/2/3% area of effect damage (down from 2/4/6%). Can't really give input, as clarity on what skills are AoE has never been provided. If anything, the feat should just list skills it will enhance.
    • Arcane Enhancement: This feat now grants 1/2/3% more Arcane damage (down from 2/4/6%). No, leave it alone. Both Blighting Power and Arcane Enhancement should be 2/4/6
    • Blighting Power: This feat now grants 2/4/6% more cold damage (down from 3/6/9%). Fine, Both Blighting Power and Arcane Enhancement should be 2/4/6
    • Focused Wizardry: *REWORK* Single target Powers deal 2/4/6% more damage. Interesting.. will need more time to evaluate this change and viability in builds over other feats.
    Feats: Oppressor
    • Bitter Cold: *REWORK* Targets take 1/2/3/4/5% more damage for 6 seconds after being affected by Chill. This effect does not stack.
    • Chilling Control (Paragon: Spellstorm): *REWORK* Sudden Storm now applies 1/2/3/4/5 stacks of Chill to targets hit by the primary strike.
    • Twisting Immolation (Paragon: Master of Flame): This feat now dazes targets for .8/1.6/2.4/3.2/4 seconds (up from .2/.4/.6/.8/1 second(s)).
    • Cold Infusion: *REWORK* Foes deal 1/2/3/4/5% less damage for 10 seconds after being affected by Chill. This effect does not stack.
    • Glacial Movement: Ray of Frost has a 10/20/30/40/50% (up from 5/10/15/20/25%) chance to apply an additional stack of Chill.
    • Alacrity: *REWORK* When you deal damage to foes affected by Chill you have a chance to reduce the cooldown on Icy Terrain and Entangling Force by .5/1/1.5/2/2.5 second(s). What is "a chance"? 1%? 5%? once every 5 minutes? ..clarity in descriptives has always been an issue across classes.
    • Controlled Momentum: *REWORK* After using a Control power nearby allies deal 1/2/3/4/5% more damage for 6 seconds. This effect does not stack. Interesting change.
    • Shatter Strike: *REWORK* When you freeze a target they are afflicted by Shattered for 10 seconds. Shattered foes have a chance when taking damage to be stunned for 5 seconds (1 second on players) and take up to 5% of their Max HP in damage (max 300% weapon damage). This effect consumes Shatter. Additionally, your control powers deal 100% of your weapon damage against control immune targets and Chill lasts 2.5 seconds longer. Again, What is " a chance"?
    Feats: Thaumaturge
    • Tempest Magic: This feat now grants 1.5/3/4.5/6/7.5% (down from 2/4/6/8/10%) bonus damage while targets are below 30% HP. Bad, unwarranted
    • Malevolent Surge: This feat now grants 1/2/3/4/5% (down from 2/4/6/8/10%) and no longer stacks. This feat now lasts 15 seconds (up from 4). Decent compensation for duration
    • Snap Freeze: This feat now grants 2/4/6/8/10% (down from 3/6/9/12/15) bonus damage to your Cold At Wills and Encounters against foes who are not Chilled.Fine
    • Destructive Wizardry (Paragon: Storm): This feat now grants 1/2/3/4/5% (down from 2/4/5/8/10%) bonus damage. This feat no longer requires you strike at least 2 targets, but now requires you charge Storm Pillar fully. This feat now lasts 20 seconds (up from 6). Good, too many people overlook storm pillar
    • Drifting Embers (Paragon: Master of Flame): This feat now has a 8/16/24/32/40% (up from 5/10/15/20/25%) chance to spread Smolder to targets. Good
    • Far Spell: Now affects all Single Target powers rather than just Magic Missile and Chill Strike. Good
    • Frozen Power Transfer: This bonus now stacks up to a maximum of 3 stacks and is refreshed when you gain a new stack. Players will gain one stack for each target hit with the final strike of Chilling Cloud. This bonus now lasts 20 seconds (up from 8). Good
    • Transcended Master: Shard of Endless Avalanche now gains 2/4/6/8/10% (down from 3/6/9/12/15%) bonus damage. Icy Rays now gains 2/4/5/8/10% bonus damage when cast on the same target twice and a .5/1/1.5/2/2.5 second(s) shorter cooldown when used on two different targets. Interesting change
    • Elemental Empowerment: *REWORK* Dealing Cold damage has a 3/6/9/12/15% chance to apply Creeping Frost. Creeping Frost deals 85% of your weapon damage as cold damage every 3 seconds for 18 seconds. Dealing Arcane damage has a 3/6/9/12/15% chance to apply Warped Magics. Warped Magics deals 50% of your weapon damage as Arcane damage every 3 seconds for 18 seconds. Warped Magics ignores half of a target's resistance. These effects do not stack. When it works, call me.
    • Assailing Force: *REWORK* Dealing damage to foes has a chance to grant you Assailant. When you have Assailant your next encounter power deals 10% of the target's max HP as unresistable damage (max 500% weapon damage). This will only affect one target when used in an AoE. "a chance".. never enough clarity.
    Feats: Renegade
    • Reapers Touch: This feat now grants 2/4/6/8/10% (down from 3/6/9/12/15%) bonus damage. Bad
    • Nightmare Wizardry: This feat now has a 1/2/3/4/5% chance (down from 4/8/12/16/20%) to grant you and allies combat advantage for 12 seconds (up from 4). Bad. 2/4/6/8/10% with 8 seconds would be more reasonable
    • Unrestrained Chaos (Paragon: Storm): This feat now has a chance to apply 6 stacks of Chill (up from 1) to a nearby target or to grant you full stacks of Arcane Mastery (up from 1) every second for 1/2/3/4/5. Maelstrom will not freeze foes. Never take it, reading this.. still won't.
    • Arcane Burst (Paragon: Master of Flame): Each target hit by Scorching Burst has a 6/12/18/24/30% (up from 4/8/12/16/20%) chance to add a stack of Arcane Mastery. Good.
    • Phantasmal Destruction: When you deal Combat Advantage damage you have a 25% chance (down from 100%) to grant 3/6/9/12/15% Critical Severity for 6 seconds. Fine.
    • Energy Recovery: Now grants 1/2/3/4/5% (up from .15/.3/.45/.6/.75%) of your HP as Temp HP and .2/.4/.6/.8/1% (up from .15/.3/.45/.6/.75%) Temp HP for each additional target hit. Huge change. great viabily increase for the renegade.
    • Chilling Advantage: This feat now grants 1/2/3/4/5% chance to Crit to all Encounter Powers (rather than Cold Powers). Good
    • Chaos Magic: *REWORK* Dealing Damage to targets has a chance to apply Chaos Magic to yourself. When you are affected by Chaos Magic you cannot be affected by a new Chaos Magic. You will be affected by Chaotic Growth, Chaotic Nexus, or Chaotic Fury. Excellent change
      Chaotic Growth - Heal yourself for 200% weapon damage every second for 10 seconds.
      Chaotic Nexus - You gain 5% additional Armor Penetration and Critical Chance for 10 seconds.
      Chaotic Fury - You gain gain 10% additional Power and Lifesteal for 10 seconds.
    Sometimes you're your own best teacher. ~Me
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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    mysticmarksmysticmarks Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 117 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    Also others noted as will I add a few new notes:

    the High Viz set and its set 4 bonus. That question has stood since beta.

    Reintroduction of visually incorrect axis on displayed main hand weapons.(90 degrees off in one plane)

    Shard of avalanche frame rate for the animation will have to be fully rerendered to match the final time. It's just destroyed.

    new*
    I can't confirm with other weapon enchantments, but now my lifedrinker enchantment renders wrong. This is only on the mage, no other character. On the live server it renders in the hand, and the orb stays at shoulder height leaving combat. In testing today, it renders proper in combat, then the visual for lifedrinker moves to the feet, while the orb itself returns to the default location and animation sequence. So it IS a class weapon animation issue, but is it only lifedrinker? Anyone?
    Sometimes you're your own best teacher. ~Me
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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    midnightfang93midnightfang93 Member Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    new*
    I can't confirm with other weapon enchantments, but now my lifedrinker enchantment renders wrong. This is only on the mage, no other character. On the live server it renders in the hand, and the orb stays at shoulder height leaving combat. In testing today, it renders proper in combat, then the visual for lifedrinker moves to the feet, while the orb itself returns to the default location and animation sequence. So it IS a class weapon animation issue, but is it only lifedrinker? Anyone?

    Every class has this (weapon enchant visuals stuck at this feet).
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    ash1113ash1113 Member Posts: 94 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    weren't Master of Flames CWs already nerfed by 30% recently!?...u wanna nerf CWs furthermore!!...Y??..isn't making GWFs strongest types around..enough!?
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    mysticmarksmysticmarks Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 117 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    The only overpowered builds right now are permastealth TR bilethorn builds. Everyone else has a fair 1v1 counter. I regularly kil GWFs on my cleric/mage/tr/hr

    Without naming names, one perma tr+ bilethorn is untouchable by no less than 3 other people. If you hit 2.2k + lifesteal AND regen AND have high power.. untouchable.
    Sometimes you're your own best teacher. ~Me
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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    chrcorechrcore Member Posts: 329 Bounty Hunter
    edited June 2014
    After reading these changes, my question then becomes, why would anyone play a CW anymore?
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    anfifoanfifo Member Posts: 6 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    By taking the damage out of the CW because of a new class coming for dmg makes sense
    but why re-make all these things?

    IF I WANTED ANOTHER GAME WITH DIFFERENT POWERS I WOULD PLAY IT

    Just come together, what you did shouldn't be done
    make content harder instead of making classes weaker
    focus on fixing the bugs instead of coming with new things
    get a smart head guys seriously

    making a CW more of a CC class wouldn't be adding cooldown time and making animations longer
    that's just ruining the class we so love
    I'M HERE TALKING AS A OLD SCHOOL CW THAT HAS BEEN GROWING
    RUINING THE EOS IS THE MOST STUPID THING YOU EVER DONE
    yeah overall damage was high
    simply low CW's average damage
    yes full control wasn't very easy to make, just change opressor if you'd like to
    but in this game, it is just too easy, you don't need things like a guardian fighter or a full control wizard to keep the mobs controled so everyone can live, god's sake you dont even need a healer to heal you!

    The game is good, you just need harder stuff
    'cause if you just make the easy hard for classes then the newbies won't be abble to play and the oldschoolers will just get mad

    we want bugs fixed and harder stuff that makes us beg for a cleric, not getting our alredy known feats and powers nerfed so we have to learn and re-build everything, for that you could simply add a new and more interesting paragorn!!!!!
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    charliemike25charliemike25 Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 1 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    First time posting anything here for me, and i wouldn't but in this case i must to avoid disaster.

    Ok as a CW, most of my dmg comes from the fact that i can control how often my crits happen. How?

    Feedback: Eye of the Storm

    Now this class feature, as it is right now is very OP, but thats only because I/we can control when it procs. It seems to me (based on personal experience) that the chance of activation is calculated for every mob hit, this enables us to use this to our advantage.
    Example: If i'm 1x1 against a mob, say an elite. The chances of EotS activating are calculated 1 time for every attack that hits that mob, which makes it much harder for it to proc.
    Now if i'm against a group of mobs, say 10. And i use an AoE skill like Steal Time to control them, the chance of EotS activating is calculated 1 time for every attack "ON EACH MOB" that means it has 10 more chances of activating. This IMHO is what makes it very OP.

    Now comes the part where i can control how often my crits happen using this tactic, and by that i can save my most damaging skills for when i'm sure it will deal maximum dmg, and try to hit as many mobs as possible with it. This is how 70% of the time i play with other cws i manage to outdps them even if i'm only using a regular vorpal and rank 7s, while they have greater/perfect vorpals and rank 8+ enchants.

    My idea is to tweak EotS so that its chance of activating is calculated 1 time for each skill used, instead of chance of activating by mob hit. This would leave this advatage to chance alone and i think it would be a great balance. The dmg output would be greatly reduced by this without even touching the other aspects of the class. And as i see it we're meant to do less dmg and focus more on control, that would help a lot without risk of breaking anything.

    I know that in the tooltip it says "When using an at-will u have 3% chance of activating... Encounters and Dailies have 3 more chance..." but in practice its not how it works (again personal EXP).
    Here is a suggestion: make it like 5% (or leave it at 3% needs testing to be sure whats best) chance of activating EotS on every at-will used and like 20% or maybe more or less? chance of activating EotS by encounter/daily used (ACTIVATED or FIRED instead of chance of proc for every mob thats hit by it like it is now).

    If the class is still in need of balance after that then do very small tweaks on skills and feats, instead of complete reworks and stuff like its apparently being done.


    And to conclude i'd like to comment on the Ray of Enfeeblement change

    Feedback: Ray of Enfeeblement

    It's not gonna work, remove that "Allies no longer benefit from this debuff" and we are good. Cuz thats the whole point of using it to be honest.

    I haven't put much thought into anything else but this idea came to my mind and i had to share it, cuz i think its great and would bring great balance IMO. Forgive me if i said any bs, but pls take this idea in consideration.

    Thanks for ur time
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    todesfaelletodesfaelle Member Posts: 1,370 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    Feedback: Oppressor Tree.
    - I gotta say, devs, you guys really did a swell job in shaping this tree up. We've been asking for these reworks and you listened. :) Thank you very much. I've been an avid user of the Oppressor tree since I leveled my CW to 60, and I feel a whole lot more tanky with this tree thanks to the control it provides me. I like the improved Glacial Movement feat the most as it turns Ray of Frost into a more viable utility and control power that is useful for both PVP and PVE. It makes playing as an Ice Mage very fun as you get to be effective in the process of having fun. Sudden Storm now also gets to contribute to the generation of Chill stacks via the Chilling Control feat, which is making me consider switching to Spellstorm Mage despite my loyalty and love for the MoF Paragon Path. :o The added Control that Oppressors provide for CWs makes the loss in the Thaum DPS negligible. I personally like Shatter Strike as well, because not only does it increase the duration of Chill effects, but it also adds some control via the Shattered stun effect. CWs have been complaining about not being useful enough in PVP, now we can breath new life into our PVP matches with the Oppressor Path, bringing Control back in the Control Wizard.

    So many possible ways to play as an Ice Mage with these new changes, specially for PVE. This is, in my opinion, one of the best things that have happened in the history of CWs. We might have lost Thaum's game-breaking DPS, but we now have competitive control in the process, which is what I believe is how a CW should be played; to control. I'll be doing a couple more tests tomorrow after I get home from work but for now I really love these changes, devs. Please keep it up! The Oppressor path finally got its much needed love.


    Feedback: Eye of the Storm.
    - Tested it, and this is a pretty immense nerf. Would it be possible to add some sort of T2 Thaum Mechanic for Spellstorm Mages that reduces the CD of EotS to 20 or 30 seconds? Because IMO, 90 seconds with a VERY low proc chance is just too much. It feels as if playing as a DPS mage isn't viable anymore.

    Bug: Ray of Frost doesn't seem to be crit-ing.
    - I was playing around with RoF a while back and noticed that none of my RoF hits are crit-ing. Can anyone confirm if it is indeed not crit-ing?
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    iambecks1iambecks1 Member Posts: 4,044 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    *snipped feedback*

    Just a heads up , you need to give feedback in cyan
    And bug reports in red
    otherwise the developer will probably miss your post and not read your feedback.
    YourSecretsAreOurSecrets.gif
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    ianthewizard2012ianthewizard2012 Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 2,142 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    Feats: Oppressor
    • Controlled Momentum: *REWORK* After using a Control power nearby allies deal 1/2/3/4/5% more damage for 6 seconds. This effect does not stack.
    At first, I thought Controlled Momentum only buffs nearby allies when I read the description. But I just watched a video of someone tests the new tree at Trade of Blade and I saw Controlled Momentum buffs the caster himself. Does that mean it not only buffs nearly allies, but also buffs the caster? If so, the description might need an update.
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    marko531marko531 Member Posts: 32
    edited June 2014
    chrcore wrote: »
    After reading these changes, my question then becomes, why would anyone play a CW anymore?

    This tread require testing feedback not reading aftertoughts.
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    kieranmtornkieranmtorn Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 382 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    Feedback - This is strictly from a PVE view:

    On preview I re-spec'd my Thaum CW to MoF/Oppressor and then tried it out. I also tried my SS Rene/CW as normal and as an SS/Oppressor CW (god, I hate oppressor, I'm a gunslinger at heart) and did some testing. Still need to try out SS/Thaum.

    I tried out on my SS Rene CW (15.2k) my normal EoTs/Nightmare/Phantasmal build and that was pretty much pointless. The proc rate on EoTs combined with cool down rendered EoTS useless. In a five minute span Nightmare only proc'd 4 times and there is no indication that Phantasm proc'd at all (both on screen or ACT log). This was fighting small HE in IWD. I could still kill the HE, but it was not due to my Feat tree, just the correct rotations + G-Vorpal (HV armor, rotation = Steal Time, Sudden Storm, Shard, ...).

    Trying out my other CW (14.4k - orginally Thaum/SS tried as a Oppressor/MoF), as a DoT build it was slow/ok. Solo'd a meduim HE (Yeti's), including the boss (used HV + plague fire), but took like most of the allowable time (with a non-optimal build). Tedious & Boring. Plenty of control, just don't miss a teleport or get caught in a casting animation (longer cast times really are bad in PVE). You really don't want to be low-level poorly gear character leveling now.

    Looks like middle tier of the useful Renegade feats are pointless/bugged/nerfed. The capstone is interesting, but not enough to waste that many feat points uselessly (given that Nightmare Wizardry & Phantasmal Destruction are dis-functional - at least that's what I was seeing). Not really interested in playing Oppressor/Chill factory (for the Spell Storm side of CW).

    Also as Spell Storm, the key class feature that are useable on Live are EoTS, Sudden Storm, Storm Spell (at least for me). As things are on preview, I can't see even wasting skill points on EoTS now. Now the only reason to remain as Spell Storm is Sudden Storm + Storm Spell, since my critical chances are basically the same as MoF without the severity buffs of MoF. The other class abilities and feats that come from Spell Storm are pretty pointless (thinking of Maelstrom of Chaos & Storm Fury + + any feats to support them).

    The changes in the powers that I noticed and disliked:

    a) Magic Missile - lengthened casting time. Looking at an ACT parse of a recent Spell Plague (on Live) run, MM is 1/37 of my damage. If MM is a major component of your damage, you're doing something wrong in PVE. So unless there's a PVP reason to this, it's not going to affect DPS in a major way, instead it will just be an irritant.

    b) Chill Strike (old standby that you need to level with, pity the low levels on that one). This already has a long visible cast (easily dodged) that can get you killed. Adding to it, is insult to injury.

    c) Oppressive Force (lengthen casting time for a spell you have to cast basically from melee distances, not a happy idea).

    d) Ray of enfeeblement - that's just sad - no group utility. In PVP, I can maybe understand it, but in PVE, that will be a dead skill.

    Also looking at the lengthen casting times vs build theory, I see an incentive to heavily front load my damage (ala Stox), since the decrease in recovery speed changes the trade off (rate of cast vs front-loaded spike) or go for a total control Oppressor/Ice Factory (higher recovery to allow spell recharge times to be workable) - not my idea of fun, plus it's hard to move 3000+ recovery to power.

    That's pretty much my first and second impressions. Still looking at things.
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    aethanasaethanas Member Posts: 232 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    Feedback: Oppressor Tree.
    - I gotta say, devs, you guys really did a swell job in shaping this tree up. We've been asking for these reworks and you listened. :) Thank you very much. I've been an avid user of the Oppressor tree since I leveled my CW to 60, and I feel a whole lot more tanky with this tree thanks to the control it provides me. I like the improved Glacial Movement feat the most as it turns Ray of Frost into a more viable utility and control power that is useful for both PVP and PVE. It makes playing as an Ice Mage very fun as you get to be effective in the process of having fun. Sudden Storm now also gets to contribute to the generation of Chill stacks via the Chilling Control feat, which is making me consider switching to Spellstorm Mage despite my loyalty and love for the MoF Paragon Path. :o The added Control that Oppressors provide for CWs makes the loss in the Thaum DPS negligible. I personally like Shatter Strike as well, because not only does it increase the duration of Chill effects, but it also adds some control via the Shattered stun effect. CWs have been complaining about not being useful enough in PVP, now we can breath new life into our PVP matches with the Oppressor Path, bringing Control back in the Control Wizard.

    So many possible ways to play as an Ice Mage with these new changes, specially for PVE. This is, in my opinion, one of the best things that have happened in the history of CWs. We might have lost Thaum's game-breaking DPS, but we now have competitive control in the process, which is what I believe is how a CW should be played; to control. I'll be doing a couple more tests tomorrow after I get home from work but for now I really love these changes, devs. Please keep it up! The Oppressor path finally got its much needed love.


    Feedback: Eye of the Storm.
    - Tested it, and this is a pretty immense nerf. Would it be possible to add some sort of T2 Thaum Mechanic for Spellstorm Mages that reduces the CD of EotS to 20 or 30 seconds? Because IMO, 90 seconds with a VERY low proc chance is just too much. It feels as if playing as a DPS mage isn't viable anymore.

    Bug: Ray of Frost doesn't seem to be crit-ing.
    - I was playing around with RoF a while back and noticed that none of my RoF hits are crit-ing. Can anyone confirm if it is indeed not crit-ing?

    It is nice, but in PvP I see Ice Wizards freezing their opponents up till the end of the duel. Should a team now need two opponents to beat an Oppressor Control Wizard, because one is permanently frozen? At least the Guardian Fighter has its big problems as it has no way to counter this: freeze goes through Block and freezes the Guardian Fighter up in the end.
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    hfgtfsdfshfgtfsdfs Member Posts: 688 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    I have been testing the new changes and from a PvP perspective it has some major disaster changes but also some good ones. First I want to say that the nerf for damage in PvE was indeed needed but the way you nerfed PvE affected PvP too in some major ways and that is not okay because the CW has always been one of the overall weakest class in PvP.

    CW in PvP
    CW has been a class that can do major damage but with very weak defense and that's the reason that the CW is always one of the classes getting focused first in a domination fight. Actually the damage is one of the few things we had going for our class in PvP. Now when you remove that part, I don't see that we can bring much to the match.

    I love the idea of shatter but right now its not working very well in all situations. a GF and DC can be perma freezed, that's not good. But against a GWF/HR/TR we are still to weak. That is something that is hard to balance but it needs more work but maybe the changes needs to be done to the other classes too. HR needs a nerf because they gain more HP than the damage I can give. TR needs some rework with stealth (and a buff when stealth is fixed) because there is nothing more boring than fighting a TR today.

    I think when shatter gets fixed and cant perma freeze anymore, we will be to weak for some classes and that's partly because you nerfed some of our other PvP powers.

    Chill Strike: This power has had its recharge time increased to 15 seconds (up from 13 seconds) and now takes 1.2 seconds to fire (up from 1 second).
    Very bad for PvP. This is one of our main-source of damage in PvP and can be dodged. This nerf is not good at all. with the damage-nerf and higher cooldown and fire up time is making this power bad. 1 second was almost to long for this power.

    Entangling Force: This power has had its total base damage reduced by about 10% overall, now takes 1.2 seconds to fire (up from 1 second) and the damage over time component now ticks every .5 seconds (down from every .65 seconds).
    This power is never used in PvE since the AP gain nerf and is therefor a pure PvP nerf.

    Ice Knife: This power now takes 1.2 seconds to fire (up from .93 seconds).
    This can be dodged very easy and making it even easier to dodge is a pure PvP nerf.


    Magic Missile: The first two strikes are now chained together about 40% slower. The third strike of Magic Missile now takes 1.4 seconds to fire (up from 1.2).
    Makes the CW sluggish. I do not like the impact it has on the quality of the game-play. Unnecessary to nerf it because its not a huge damage source in PvE.

    Oppressive Force: This power has had its overall damage reduced by roughly 9%.
    I guess this nerf is okay because its one of the biggest damage-source in PvE. But PvP suffers too because of this nerf. Maybe using a target cap instead would achieve the goal better.

    Ray of Enfeeblement: This power has had its recharge time increased to 18 seconds (up from 14), now takes 1.5 seconds to fire (up from .9 seconds) allies no longer benefit from the resistance reduction part of this power.
    This nerf affects PvP and its now useless in both PvP and PvE. Nerfing something until its useless cant be the goal and this should be changed so that allies benefits.

    Shard of the Endless Avalanche: This power has had its base impact damage reduced by roughly 33% and its explosion damage reduced by roughly 60%.
    This is a wrong way to nerf this power. This is one of the most used and needed power in PvP for a CW. With shard on TAB it gives the party prones and nerfing it is very bad for PvP. I suggest a target cap instead so that PvP dont get this nerf. Maybe nerf the damage a little bit like 15% for the explosion. But 60% is way overkill. Also this has a new bug that affects FPS ingame. It moves like 5 frames / second. Ive seen this on some other powers too or maybe with shatter.

    Steal Time: This power has had its damage increased by roughly 65% and its recharge time reduced to 18 seconds (down from 22 seconds).
    Instead of nerfing the shard that affects PvP, maybe steal time didn't need this buff that only affects PvE. Remove the shard buff (add a target cap) and remove this buff to steal time.

    Arcane Enhancement: This feat now grants 1/2/3% (Down from 2/4/6%)
    Blighting Power: This feat now grants 2/4/6% (Down from 3/6/9%)
    Focused Wizardry: This feat has been reworked it now has the following effect: Single target Powers deal 2/4/6% more damage.
    Wizard's Wrath: This feat now grants 1/2/3% (down from 2/4/6%)
    Many damage-nerfs for PvP and PvE. Needs to be replaced with more control.

    Glacial Movement
    Good for control. Very needed.

    Shatter Strike
    Good for control also needed. But needs work because it works to good against some classes (DC/GF) and not so good against others (TR/HR/GWF). To many bugs to test it properly.

    Eye of the Storm: This power now has an ICD of 90 seconds. Base Duration increased to 4 seconds (up from 2). Duration increase per rank increased to 1 (up from .5).
    This is a disaster. Its simply a deal breaker. The best class feature for a CW is now one of the worst. I rather you don't mess with this at all. If you feel that a CW has to much damage even after all the nerfs I suggest you nerf HV set instead of Eye of the Storm.

    Summary
    Changes needed and much is in the right direction. But some changes takes the fun out of the class. Casting times are one of those changes and longer cooldowns.

    / ZengiaH @ Enemy Team
    ZengiaH@ejziponken
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    rodrant64rodrant64 Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 172 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    From my testing of my CW on the shard (solo, some experimentation in dungeons is what's really needed) the one takeaway is that it just doesn't FEEL as fun anymore. It's not just about the damage decrease or having to adjust how to play, but some of the longer cast times for powers makes the class feel so sluggish. Especially magic missile, while testing out oppressor I went to chilling cloud instead mainly because that felt a little more natural and not so... crappy.

    The changes to the CW are definitely in the right direction and the damage nerfs and power changes might not need to be rolled back that much (30 second cooldown for EoTS might be better, I just immediately slotted that out for the orb passive for longer control effect), but some reconsideration needs to be taken on the longer casting times for the powers. Not just for how much it might negatively affect the productivity of CW's (it will definitely hurt in PvP) but so it doesn't feel so sluggish and cruddy.

    Just call me Rod. Member of Grievance!
    CW: Rodrant Turnbul
    TR: Rodran
    DC: Rodrat
    GWF: ROARdrant TurnBRAWL
    Other GWF: Shieldrant
    HR: Bowdrant
    SW: Wardrant Turnlock (my main!)
    OP: Paladrant (on Preview!)
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    ianthewizard2012ianthewizard2012 Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 2,142 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    rodrant64 wrote: »
    The changes to the CW are definitely in the right direction and the damage nerfs and power changes might not need to be rolled back that much (30 second cooldown for EoTS might be better, I just immediately slotted that out for the orb passive for longer control effect), but some reconsideration needs to be taken on the longer casting times for the powers. Not just for how much it might negatively affect the productivity of CW's (it will definitely hurt in PvP) but so it doesn't feel so sluggish and cruddy.
    Do you mean Orb of Imposition works? But I had maxed it out and tested it on live shard, and found it is broken and doesn't work completely.
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    rodrant64rodrant64 Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 172 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    Do you mean Orb of Imposition works? But I had maxed it out and tested it on live shard, and found it is broken and doesn't work completely.

    Yep, that's what I meant. But I never took it off during my testing so I couldn't notice if it was working as it's supposed to or not.
    Just call me Rod. Member of Grievance!
    CW: Rodrant Turnbul
    TR: Rodran
    DC: Rodrat
    GWF: ROARdrant TurnBRAWL
    Other GWF: Shieldrant
    HR: Bowdrant
    SW: Wardrant Turnlock (my main!)
    OP: Paladrant (on Preview!)
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    darthpotaterdarthpotater Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 1,259 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    Overall I like the changes direction and lots of minor tweaks must be done, but I will adress that after more tests.

    In my first tests, there are some CRITICAL things to change in my opinion, some skills/feats/features are totally useless and thats very bad for variety of builds:

    Eye of the Storm: This is supossed to be one of the best class features of a spellstorm mage. I see it like an explosion of temporal damage. The old EoTS was bad because people ignored the crit stat, but the proc rate and active time were ok. I suggest just to change from 100% crit to +40/50/60% crit rate when is active, so people who invest in critical stat gets better result (but never 100% crit), and is usable and good for every spell storm (low geared or high heared). Actually is 100% useless.

    Ray of Enfeeblement: recharge time longer, casting time near doubled, and alies cant benefit... this power is totally useless for pvp or pve, if you only get damage for yourself should be at las an AoE power... for example 5 rays to 5 mobs (8 in tab). Or make it party debuff and buff his dmg if casting time and cooldown are so high.

    Shard of the Endless Avalanche: the damage nerf is too much for a spell supposed to be one of the best for cw. Make the prone longer or up the dmg, his asociated feat lowered the dmg too.

    Sudden storm: I can see a damage nerf, but the increased cooldown is too much for a dmg spell only. Maybe thaumaturge and renegade spellstorms can have a feat to improve it like oppresor.

    Phantasmal Destruction: this change is not needed, at much reduce the % to 4/6/8/10/12 but not a chance because you need combat advantage, and Nightmare Wizardry was nerfed too. Do something or this feat is totally useless.

    Assailing Force: I can see this good in PvP, but useless in PvE. And thats bad, if you remove the last sentence "This will only affect one target when used in an AoE" will be ok.

    Arcane singularity: The target cap will only make runs slower. This is really bad, for low geared groups. High heared groups can run 2-3 encounters and kill all together with big aoe dmg spells. Singularity helps a lot in lowered geared groups, to gather ads and kill them together if they have lower dps. And the casting time....

    Shatter Strike: This is too strong in pve, should be 3 seconds stun

    Casting times *Special mention: this is the worst idea ever. With actual casting times in PvP people still can block/dodge easy our spells (icy rays, chill strike...) it will be even easier, and for pve is not fun also, the feeling of play a character with this casting times is so bad... And if a spell have 2 secs of casting time, it should be much stronger. I can see singularity with 2 secs casting time, but no target cap.

    Armor sets *Free feedback: Please, please, please, balance armor sets. Armor sets have high impact in balance, and variety of builds. Give us options. Magelord -> +power + recovery for all the party with a good trigger for example. Nerf HV to 300/600/900 defense, remove shadow weaver Internal cooldown. Make upgrades to T1 sets with profession so we can get more variety of 4 set piece and better stats. Make Fabled set, dread set and black ice sets better and competitive (I mean 4 set bonus).
    Lescar PvE Wizard - Sir Garlic PvE Paladin
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    reddevilbsreddevilbs Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 84 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    I can say only one thing - nerfing and reducing is not balancing! Same way you killed combat TR and pushed away lot of ppl when you "balance" GWF after M3. And do you know what ppl you push away - ppl that play more and pay more so their character to be at the top.
    Instead of nerfing things please search way to improve. So what if CW doing tons of damage?! Make monsters stronger with more HP. If you reduce damage and increase recharge speed, it reflects directly to survivability. Increasing recharge time reflects to control and what CW it will be?! What if CW is OP atm.?! Make other class OP also and make monsters harder to kill = balancing!
    Before you start to ruin and nerf, ask your self this question: Why to ruin something good just to look like others? Why not to try to make others to look good?
    Try to balance other classes, for example GF is useless class atm. No offence to GFs, I like it too much and I want to play with GF, but ... waiting for improvement.
    Hope Devs to listen!
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    cloud990plcloud990pl Member Posts: 16 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    Said it once I'll say it again:
    Sudden Storm: This power has had its recharge time increased to 14 seconds (up from 10 seconds).
    Sudden Storm: This power has had its base damage reduced by roughly 33%
    nerf of this power suggests that it never was meant for dps so putting this as SS paragon power was/is a misfire so I'll say get rid of it; it doesn't provide control and its purpose from the start was to dps enemies as mush as possible (initial nerf and overall CW nerf shows that he is suppose to be mainly controller and support striker).
    My proposal is to get rid of Sudden Storm and introduce:
    Storm Cage:You trap your enemies in a cage made of lightning and filled with roaring thunder.; initial damage 2k-4k, AoE 10' Burst, range 60' stun/freeze/root/trap duration 3s (disables encounters), activation: instant after selecting area, CD 14s // Spell Mastery same effect as Sudden Storm (DoT effect)

    edit (almost forgot):
    Chilling Control (Paragon: Spellstorm): *REWORK* Sudden Storm now applies 1/2/3/4/5 stacks of Chill to targets hit by the primary strike.
    for Storm Cage change it to:
    Storm Cage has now 10/20/30/40/50% to apply 5 (or 1/2/3/4/5) stacks of chill on targets trapped in AoE


    edit2:

    Glacial Movement: Ray of Frost has a 10/20/30/40/50% (up from 5/10/15/20/25%) chance to apply an additional stack of Chill.

    add Chilling Cloud to this making this feat viable for PvE mass mob cc purpose
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    ianthewizard2012ianthewizard2012 Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 2,142 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    cloud990pl wrote: »
    Said it once I'll say it again:
    Sudden Storm: This power has had its recharge time increased to 14 seconds (up from 10 seconds).
    Sudden Storm: This power has had its base damage reduced by roughly 33%
    nerf of this power suggests that it never was meant for dps so putting this as SS paragon power was/is a misfire so I'll say get rid of it; it doesn't provide control and its purpose from the start was to dps enemies as mush as possible (initial nerf and overall CW nerf shows that he is suppose to be mainly controller and support striker).
    My proposal is to get rid of Sudden Storm and introduce:
    Storm Cage:You trap your enemies in a cage made of lightning and filled with roaring thunder.; initial damage 2k-4k, AoE 10' Burst, range 60' stun/freeze/root/trap duration 3s (disables encounters), activation: instant after selecting area, CD 14s // Spell Mastery same effect as Sudden Storm (DoT effect)
    Imho, this idea makes sense. After a series of nerfs, Sudden Storm becomes an ordinary power and is no longer a decent DPS power. It would be better just remove it and introduce Storm Cage. That would grant Spellstorm Mage paragon path some control element.
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    roksanalyasinroksanalyasin Member Posts: 6 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    I would suggest tweaking/balancing rather than nerfing. I understand that we do hit hard, especially if we're sitting on a 16K+ GS (I am finally at 15.3K after working on my Ren CW recently) but so do HR, and they have the added advantage of being able to be relatively tanky compared to the very squishy CW, the survivability of which will be greatly affected by dps reduction as Lifesteal will no longer be as viable.

    Also, the CW becomes very sluggish with the increased cooldowns and as such loses a lot of the thrill that makes CW my favourite class especially when combined with the decreased DPS.

    I am also concerned that we will not be a viable class in PvP anymore. This is concerning a lot of people I think, especially with the recently added PvP campaign on top of Icewind Dale. It is already difficult enough to get through a PvP match even with experience and having practiced rotations and casting for over a year (after trying various combinations). At the very least there needs to be a higher emphasis on control which is currently being severely reduced on top of damage output.

    One thing I do agree with is the gear balancing. I am quite fond of the stats of the Magelord and Shadow Weaver set, but before creating black ice gear and using more PvP gear (I am currently running 2/4 HV and 2/4 Purified Black Ice) I was more inclined towards the HV as a full set in dungeons.

    I think what needs to be considered most of all is that everyone plays CW differently. At the moment it feels like I am being forced into a set playstyle (and class build: Oppressor) that I simply do not enjoy as much as the Renegade build that I have spent a year developing and would like to continue to develop.
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    fmultifmulti Member Posts: 59
    edited June 2014
    Hi all!

    First of all, I'd like to say I like the general direction this alterations are going. I think people fail to see that you should not analyse alterations as big as these in a class-by-class basis, but have the overall, big picture in mind. As far as I can see, making GFs more tanky, GWFs having to choose between defense or offense, making CWs have lower damage and longer CDs/cast times is sending a VERY GOOD message that ALL classes (including TRs!!!) are having their roles heavily reworked and sent in the right direction. Parties made of 5 CWs will have a harder time in MC - as well they should! Now CWs will need a GF to draw adds away from them - and as well they should too!

    [I speak from a completely PvE point of view!]

    But this is the CW feedback, so let me contribute with my views on what's been presented:
    1) You do realise you are nerfing CWs in FOUR different fronts: longer CDs; longer cast animations; lower damage; and consequent lower lifesteal returns (equals less tankiness). That's a lot, I think, and though I strongly believe CWs overperform at the moment, I don't think nerfing all of these aspects at the same time, with little to no return in other aspects, is the right way to do it.
    2) As many have said before, one way of rethinking the CW is actually making it focus harder on CONTROL - so I endorse the voices that claim for longer disable times.
    3) As it is now, I feel CWs will spend A LOT of time (and I mean A LOT) with their powers on CD - and considering the lower damage/lower lifesteal with no control bonuses, this means they will be 100% reliant on other classes to tank (which, again, IMO goes in the right direction - but too harshly!).
    3) As I see it, Thaum is supposed to be focused on debuffing rather than straight up damage. I think the changes proposed go in the wrong direction. Having three very distinct tress would be very nice: control; straight up damage; increasing the damage of the whole party.
    4) I like all changes that nerf abused powers (especially SoEA and Singularity) and buff hardly ever used powers (general MoF powers and Chilling Cloud). I hate the fact that EVERY SINGLE CW absolutely always uses Singularity, so nerfing it and/or boosting other dailies is a good idea. But that said, I think some changes went in the total opposite direction - especially Entangling Force and Ray of Enfeebling (did NOT need a nerf!) and Steal Time (of all things, THIS power didn't need a buff!!!).
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    anfifoanfifo Member Posts: 6 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    bug found:

    targets with 6 stacks of chill aren't freezing just movement slowed

    info: 5 stacks added with sudden storm+Conduit of ice (on tab) tested more than once on various mobs in dread ring

    173jlw.png
    also in my opinion you nerfed the damage way too much and the eye of the storm should have a 10s cooldown, which is alredy a lot instead of 90s, 'cause in case you ahven't noticed, not enchant, no buff, no set, that has a cooldown of 30s or higher is used in this game, so you're basicly throwing eye of the storm to the trash
    and the damage, i do still belive you should just come up with harder content instead of nerfing classes and get the time you have free to fix de bugs instead of re-creating everything
    my humble and honest opinion
    -A good oldschool player that has stick to this game for a while and loves this game a lot
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    grimahgrimah Member Posts: 1,658 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    anfifo wrote: »
    bug found:

    targets with 6 stacks of chill aren't freezing just movement slowed

    info: 5 stacks added with sudden storm+Conduit of ice (on tab) tested more than once on various mobs in dread ring

    173jlw.png
    [/COLOR]

    Not sure if its a bug, but it has always been the 7th stack that make things freeze
    Creator of the featured survival horror foundry: "The Silence of Haydenwick" Video Review
    and also the featured satirical comedic adventure "A Call for Heroes".
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    vampirecavyvampirecavy Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 55 Arc User
    edited June 2014
    The Twisting Immolation MoF paragon feat appears to not be dazing enemies at all.
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    gentlemancrushgentlemancrush Member, Cryptic Developer Posts: 445 Cryptic Developer
    edited June 2014
    Hey guys! We have read through the feedback and wanted to share some of the changes we are making in the next week or two. There isn't enough data from dungeons yet to make any big changes but we wanted to take some time to share these and also talk about increased casting times and why powers got these changes.

    First up, the changes we are making.
    Bug fixes:
    Twisting Immolation: Now correctly Dazes targets when they land.
    Elemental Empowerment: Creeping Frost and Warped Magics should now properly trigger and apply to foes.
    Assailing Force: Assailing Force will now correctly trigger more than once. Additionally, the tooltip has been updated to be more transparent about activation chance and uptime.

    Adjustment:
    Control Wizard: Eye of the Storm: ICD reduced to 25 seconds (Down from 90 seconds)
    Control Wizard: Ray of Enfeeblement: Allies now benefit from this effect again, but multiple Wizards cannot stack this effect for increased potency.
    Control Wizard: Chill: While a foe is affected by Shattered or the Stun from Shatter Strike they cannot be afflicted with stacks of Chill.
    Control Wizard: Shatter Strike: Will no longer improperly hold players for 5 seconds or be immune to CC break effects.

    Second, I wanted to take a moment to talk about Casting Time, Cooldowns, and why powers had a lot of adjustments in this area. We sat down and looked at the damage potential of all the Control Wizard powers and looked at the damage potential of the power versus the total time spent actively casting it (Damage per cast time or DPCT). This functions like an opportunity cost where you are getting X damage for Y seconds spent casting. Most of the spells that had adjustments to casting time were substantially better powers than any other options for the same slot (Magic Missile was a prime offender here, being massively better than every other at will option in almost every possible situation). We also looked at the potential DPS of each power (which is a combination of Cast Time + Recharge Time versus the damage potential of the power) and adjusted various cooldowns to get more of these to be competitive. This meant buffs in a handful of cases, but largely it meant making them slightly longer to make more options competitive. We had several options for adjusting these, but instead of just making all of your powers deal less or more damage we wanted to try and preserve more of the damage potential of individual hits (because numbers feel really good) and slow down the rate at which those hits can be applied. While most powers needed only minor changes in this area, several were FAR stronger than any other option if they were used in a good situation.

    At this time we want to see more testing of the cast time changes in practice (because not everything works exactly as it should on paper or in our testing) so we would like to see players attempting dungeon runs and PVP matches. This will let us dial these changes in and keep more powers competitive while still making the class feel powerful and competitive in group and solo settings.

    Thank you all for your continued feedback.

    Chris "Gentleman Crush" Meyer
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