Combat Abilities - 21/10/16 01:11 AM
Let's analyze the Combat Abilities and form some opinions.
The options are:
Weapons
Dual Wielding: +3% damage, +1% Critical Chance
Ranged: +3% damage, +2% Accuracy
Single-Handed: +4% damage, +2% Accuracy
Two-Handed: +3% damage, +3% Critical Damage
Defence
Magic Armour: +7% on first point, 2% per additional
Physical Armour: +7% on first point, +2% per additional
Vitality: +4% on first point, +1% per additional
Skills
Aerotheurge: +1 and +3% damage to Magical Armour
Geomancer: +1 and +2% to all Poison Damage. +1 and +3% bonus to Fortifying Physical Armour
Huntsman: +4% high ground bonus, -4% low ground penalty (minimum of 0 penalty), +10% Range Bonus
Hydrosophist: +1 and +3% to restoring vitality and Fortifying Magical Armour
Necromancer: +1 and +3% self-heal from all vitality damage done.
Pyrokinetic: +1 and +4% to all Fire Damage
Scoundrel: +3% Critical Multiplier, +5% Movement
Warfare: +1 and +3% damage to Physical Armour
A few observations:
* Weapon Combat Abilities offer nice consistent damage increases, provided the corresponding weapon type is being used in the attack. i.e. Works for weapon attacks and abilities, does NOT work for other damaging spells/attacks.
* Defense Abilities have a MUCH higher value for the first point spent
* Skills currently allow the user to learn all spells with just 1 point invested. After the first point, the only bonus gained is more of the associated passive.
Individual Analysis
Dual Wielding:
+3% damage bonus is competitive
+Applies to any attacks and weapon-based skills
+Crit chance amounts to a 0.5% average damage increase with the base crit mult of 50%
-Crit chance damage bonus is small and useless on any Backstab or Enraged attacks
-Doesn't apply to non-weapon abilities
Overall, this is the best pick for melee users using 2 weapons.
Ranged:
+Great stat increases, very competitive
+Accuracy is a much stronger boost than crit chance/mult.
-Accuracy bonus is useless if hit chance is already at 100%
This will generally be the best pick when using Bows/XBows.
Single-Handed:
+Best damage stat increase of the weapon abilities
-Weapon skill costs aren't reduced for 1H, but damage is halved (compared to 2H/dual-wield)
-Bug: Doesn't affect wands, as incorrectly stated in-game
This ability is an under-performer in the current environment due to anti-synergy with weapon skills and not working with wands.
Two-Handed:
+Provides the most extra damage, if it crits
+Strong synergy with Rage.
-With the VERY low default crit chance, the crit damage boost is almost completely wasted.
If using a 2H weapon this is still your best bet, but a dual wielding style is preferable if weapon quality is the same. Either way, the damage difference between 2-handed and dual-wield is very minor as the 3% boost to all damage from both is the major factor.
Defence
I never felt the need to increase my defence. If one does feel it is necessary, these abilities are mostly 1-hit wonders as the initial bonus is large and drops off fast, especially for Vitality.
Vitality has the bonus of keeping you alive longer through both types of damage (and your vitality pool will likely be much larger than your armors), however, more armour means you will be suffer from CC and statuses less, and that is an important factor.
Skills
I do not wish to debate any 1-point Skill inclusions, as gaining access to ALL abilities from a school is obviously useful, only further points will be discussed.
Of note, a current feature allows learning abilities if equipping gear with +1 to a Skill. This can be leveraged to invest no points on under-performing passives while still being able to learn the most-desired set of moves. The elf racial can sometimes be leveraged for the same purpose, when the situation presents itself.
Aerotheurge:
+Affects every type of Magic Damage
-Only affects the damage done to Magic Armour, which many enemies don't have at all
-Doesn't affect damage done to vitality, and enemies have much more vitality than Magic Armour
-Encourages bad behavior of having Magic users target enemies with Magic Armour
This ability appears good at first glance, but is a bad choice to invest in as it only buffs the portion of the damage hitting Magic Armour. Have your physical attacks target mages, and skip this very under-performing Skill.
Geomancer:
+Bonus to Poison damage and Physical Armour restoration
-No primarily Poison weapons
-Few Poison abilities and low Poison bonus
-Additional armour component only applies 1 skill, Fortify
This passive feels very underwhelming because of the limitations and low numbers.
Huntsman:
+Big range bonus
+Competitive damage bonus
+Applies to ALL abilities/attacks done from highground
+Preferred pick on most Mages and sometimes Rangers
+Points synergize with default 20% high-ground advantage
+High ground achievable for most tough fights
-Useless without highground/lowground.
The best pick for Mages and sometimes Rangers due to its high damage, availability, and utility.
Tip: This Skill pairs well with Teleporting enemies to low ground or using mobility skills to gain high ground.
Hydrosophist:
+Nice magnitudes
+Numerous healing abilities available
+Fits well for a healer/cleric playstyle
+Good synergy between protective and recovery elements
-Boosting healing feels unnecessary
-Hydrosophist Ice Abilities left out in the cold.
Necromancer:
+Good magnitude on numbers
-Only kicks in when an amour is fully depleted
-Scales off of damage done, but reduces damage potential
-More vitality healing isn't usually helpful/necessary
As an aside, does anyone know if Hydrosophist bonus affects this bonus?
Pyrokinetic:
+Large bonus (+1 and +4% is very competative)
+Affects wand, stave, and skill damage
-Requires Fire damage type
-Reduces viable weapons significantly (Fire wands/staves only)
-Fire wands have lower base damage than same-level wands of other elemental types
-Countered by Fire Immune enemies (Phoenix Dive is prevalent)
Scoundrel:
+Movement bonus provides nice and significant utility
+Damage bonus applies to all crits
-Damage bonus is very poor compared to weapon passives and requires Crits/Backstabs
If you will crit on most of your attacks (due to Backstab mechanic) this is the preferred dagger pick over dual wielding. However, I'd strongly recommend just using Strength weapons instead as they have much higher base damage without requiring the user to get behind the target or invest a talent point in Backstab.
Warfare:
+Affects every type of Physical Damage
-Only affects the damage done to Physical Armour, which some enemies don't have at all
-Doesn't affect damage done to vitality, and enemies have much more vitality than Physical Armour
-Encourages bad behavior of having physical attacks target enemies with Physical Armour
Warfare is the Physical Armour counterpart to Aerotheurge. However, physical damage characters have MUCH better options from Weapon points. Skip additional points in Warfare in favor of your favorite weapon type, as the damage bonus from Warfare is abysmal by comparison.
Conclusion
There are many Combat Abilities, but few viable options to place additional points in. Some might think the passive bonuses are too weak, but I am more concerned with the imbalance of power. I'd like to see the under-performing Combat Point options placed in-line so as to be competitive picks.
The current system also causes a player to mostly dump all extra points into the same stat, which is pretty boring.
In the case of the abilities that require a specific niche to gain their damage boost, I would expect a much larger compensating number to make them attractive over the consistent picks, such as the Weapon Abilities. I think no number for Warfare/Aerotheurge passives would make them attractive, given their limitations.
A few options I think may help;
Require more than a single skill point to learn some skills.
Require an active skill point(s) to USE a skill. This would help far more. (prevents elf/gear abusers from having all skills with no skill points spent)
Increase the effectiveness of skills based on point investment in the corresponding Skill (not just damage or healing)
Revamp unattractive and weak Combat Abilities to have more interesting effects.
What is your take on the current Combat Ability system community?
The options are:
Weapons
Dual Wielding: +3% damage, +1% Critical Chance
Ranged: +3% damage, +2% Accuracy
Single-Handed: +4% damage, +2% Accuracy
Two-Handed: +3% damage, +3% Critical Damage
Defence
Magic Armour: +7% on first point, 2% per additional
Physical Armour: +7% on first point, +2% per additional
Vitality: +4% on first point, +1% per additional
Skills
Aerotheurge: +1 and +3% damage to Magical Armour
Geomancer: +1 and +2% to all Poison Damage. +1 and +3% bonus to Fortifying Physical Armour
Huntsman: +4% high ground bonus, -4% low ground penalty (minimum of 0 penalty), +10% Range Bonus
Hydrosophist: +1 and +3% to restoring vitality and Fortifying Magical Armour
Necromancer: +1 and +3% self-heal from all vitality damage done.
Pyrokinetic: +1 and +4% to all Fire Damage
Scoundrel: +3% Critical Multiplier, +5% Movement
Warfare: +1 and +3% damage to Physical Armour
A few observations:
* Weapon Combat Abilities offer nice consistent damage increases, provided the corresponding weapon type is being used in the attack. i.e. Works for weapon attacks and abilities, does NOT work for other damaging spells/attacks.
* Defense Abilities have a MUCH higher value for the first point spent
* Skills currently allow the user to learn all spells with just 1 point invested. After the first point, the only bonus gained is more of the associated passive.
Individual Analysis
Dual Wielding:
+3% damage bonus is competitive
+Applies to any attacks and weapon-based skills
+Crit chance amounts to a 0.5% average damage increase with the base crit mult of 50%
-Crit chance damage bonus is small and useless on any Backstab or Enraged attacks
-Doesn't apply to non-weapon abilities
Overall, this is the best pick for melee users using 2 weapons.
Ranged:
+Great stat increases, very competitive
+Accuracy is a much stronger boost than crit chance/mult.
-Accuracy bonus is useless if hit chance is already at 100%
This will generally be the best pick when using Bows/XBows.
Single-Handed:
+Best damage stat increase of the weapon abilities
-Weapon skill costs aren't reduced for 1H, but damage is halved (compared to 2H/dual-wield)
-Bug: Doesn't affect wands, as incorrectly stated in-game
This ability is an under-performer in the current environment due to anti-synergy with weapon skills and not working with wands.
Two-Handed:
+Provides the most extra damage, if it crits
+Strong synergy with Rage.
-With the VERY low default crit chance, the crit damage boost is almost completely wasted.
If using a 2H weapon this is still your best bet, but a dual wielding style is preferable if weapon quality is the same. Either way, the damage difference between 2-handed and dual-wield is very minor as the 3% boost to all damage from both is the major factor.
Defence
I never felt the need to increase my defence. If one does feel it is necessary, these abilities are mostly 1-hit wonders as the initial bonus is large and drops off fast, especially for Vitality.
Vitality has the bonus of keeping you alive longer through both types of damage (and your vitality pool will likely be much larger than your armors), however, more armour means you will be suffer from CC and statuses less, and that is an important factor.
Skills
I do not wish to debate any 1-point Skill inclusions, as gaining access to ALL abilities from a school is obviously useful, only further points will be discussed.
Of note, a current feature allows learning abilities if equipping gear with +1 to a Skill. This can be leveraged to invest no points on under-performing passives while still being able to learn the most-desired set of moves. The elf racial can sometimes be leveraged for the same purpose, when the situation presents itself.
Aerotheurge:
+Affects every type of Magic Damage
-Only affects the damage done to Magic Armour, which many enemies don't have at all
-Doesn't affect damage done to vitality, and enemies have much more vitality than Magic Armour
-Encourages bad behavior of having Magic users target enemies with Magic Armour
This ability appears good at first glance, but is a bad choice to invest in as it only buffs the portion of the damage hitting Magic Armour. Have your physical attacks target mages, and skip this very under-performing Skill.
Geomancer:
+Bonus to Poison damage and Physical Armour restoration
-No primarily Poison weapons
-Few Poison abilities and low Poison bonus
-Additional armour component only applies 1 skill, Fortify
This passive feels very underwhelming because of the limitations and low numbers.
Huntsman:
+Big range bonus
+Competitive damage bonus
+Applies to ALL abilities/attacks done from highground
+Preferred pick on most Mages and sometimes Rangers
+Points synergize with default 20% high-ground advantage
+High ground achievable for most tough fights
-Useless without highground/lowground.
The best pick for Mages and sometimes Rangers due to its high damage, availability, and utility.
Tip: This Skill pairs well with Teleporting enemies to low ground or using mobility skills to gain high ground.
Hydrosophist:
+Nice magnitudes
+Numerous healing abilities available
+Fits well for a healer/cleric playstyle
+Good synergy between protective and recovery elements
-Boosting healing feels unnecessary
-Hydrosophist Ice Abilities left out in the cold.
Necromancer:
+Good magnitude on numbers
-Only kicks in when an amour is fully depleted
-Scales off of damage done, but reduces damage potential
-More vitality healing isn't usually helpful/necessary
As an aside, does anyone know if Hydrosophist bonus affects this bonus?
Pyrokinetic:
+Large bonus (+1 and +4% is very competative)
+Affects wand, stave, and skill damage
-Requires Fire damage type
-Reduces viable weapons significantly (Fire wands/staves only)
-Fire wands have lower base damage than same-level wands of other elemental types
-Countered by Fire Immune enemies (Phoenix Dive is prevalent)
Scoundrel:
+Movement bonus provides nice and significant utility
+Damage bonus applies to all crits
-Damage bonus is very poor compared to weapon passives and requires Crits/Backstabs
If you will crit on most of your attacks (due to Backstab mechanic) this is the preferred dagger pick over dual wielding. However, I'd strongly recommend just using Strength weapons instead as they have much higher base damage without requiring the user to get behind the target or invest a talent point in Backstab.
Warfare:
+Affects every type of Physical Damage
-Only affects the damage done to Physical Armour, which some enemies don't have at all
-Doesn't affect damage done to vitality, and enemies have much more vitality than Physical Armour
-Encourages bad behavior of having physical attacks target enemies with Physical Armour
Warfare is the Physical Armour counterpart to Aerotheurge. However, physical damage characters have MUCH better options from Weapon points. Skip additional points in Warfare in favor of your favorite weapon type, as the damage bonus from Warfare is abysmal by comparison.
Conclusion
There are many Combat Abilities, but few viable options to place additional points in. Some might think the passive bonuses are too weak, but I am more concerned with the imbalance of power. I'd like to see the under-performing Combat Point options placed in-line so as to be competitive picks.
The current system also causes a player to mostly dump all extra points into the same stat, which is pretty boring.
In the case of the abilities that require a specific niche to gain their damage boost, I would expect a much larger compensating number to make them attractive over the consistent picks, such as the Weapon Abilities. I think no number for Warfare/Aerotheurge passives would make them attractive, given their limitations.
A few options I think may help;
Require more than a single skill point to learn some skills.
Require an active skill point(s) to USE a skill. This would help far more. (prevents elf/gear abusers from having all skills with no skill points spent)
Increase the effectiveness of skills based on point investment in the corresponding Skill (not just damage or healing)
Revamp unattractive and weak Combat Abilities to have more interesting effects.
What is your take on the current Combat Ability system community?