Curse

Morphy · Jan 21, 2010, 05:12 PM // 17:12

NOTE: These changes are GvG oriented. If needed, a PvP/E split could be implemented. I don't really care.

I'm going to put up a series of possible reworks for currently broken attributes. These are conceptual changes. The numbers are therefore not always perfect.

I'll start off with Blood Magic.

Blood Magic is an attribute that is really only used for Bloodspike and a few utilious skills such as Strip Enchantment. It's time for change.

== Bleeding/Utility ==

* Barbs: Decrease cast time to one, change functionality to: "Enchantment Spell. For 5...13...15 seconds, target other ally inflicts Bleeding (5...17...20 seconds) with its physical attacks." Move to Blood Magic.

Removing a passive skill that supports Hexway is a big plus.

I always found it odd that Blood Magic has no serious means of inflicting Bleeding. It only seems logical to me to make Bleeding their main Condition, much like Curses deals with Weakness and Death Magic has access to Poison and Disease. This would be a useful role in supporting allies inflicting pressure. Bleeding is rarer than Poison, which is commonly used on Rangers with Apply Poison.

It's up to the user who to use this on, although it would probably be most effective on a Ranger.

* Barbed Signet: Decrease recharge to 8, cast time to 1, increase sacrifice cost to 10%, change functionality to: "Signet. Inflicts Bleeding (5...13...15 seconds) and Cripple (5...9...10 second)." (Cripple covers Bleeding)

A simple function, this would be a very useful core skill. It's much like Pin Down, except that instead of energy it costs health and except for inflicting non-covering Bleeding instead of covering Poison. Also following the new pattern of inflicting Bleeding.

== Supporting Frontline and Other Party Members ==

* Mark of Fury: Decrease recharge to 8, change functionality to: "Hex Spell. For 3 seconds, the next time target foe blocks an attack, that foe takes 10...50...60 damage and the attacker gains 0...2...3 adrenaline.

A skill similar to Defile Defenses (for which I'll also put up a slight rework in my Curses post) punishing blocking. The adrenaline gain would fit in a supportive role Blood Magic is already slightly doing.

* Dark Fury: Change functionality to: "Enchantment Spell. For 1...7...8 seconds, target ally and nearby allies move 25% faster and gain 1 adrenaline on hitting attacks. For each ally, this skill ends the next time that ally uses a skill."

Minor change, making it slightly more useful for supporting other party members as well. The end clause and smaller range are compensated by the IMS this skill provides the targets with.

* Foul Feast: Reduce recharge to 3 seconds. Move to Blood Magic. Change functionality to: "Spell. All conditions are transferred from target other ally to yourself. For each condition acquired in this way, you gain 0...40...50 Health."

This skill residing in Blood Magic would beef up that attribute and also make Necromancers speccing only in Curses and Soul Reaping less powerful, thus fixing two problems simultaneously.

== Converting Health to Energy ==

* Cultist's Fervor: 5 energy, 1 cast, 5 recharge, 5% sacrifice cost, change functionality to: "Enchantment Spell. Lose all Enchantments. For 10 seconds, gain +1...5...6 energy regeneration. Whenever you cast a Spell/Touch Skill, you lose 5% of your health for every Spell/Touch Skill you have casted while under the effect of this Enchantment. Ends if you use a non-Necromancer skill."
* Oppressive Gaze: 1 energy cost, 1 cast, 8 recharge, 10% health sacrifice, change functionality to: "Spell. Deal 5...41...50 damage to target foe. If that foe is suffering from Weakness gain 1...7...8 energy."

Converting Health to Energy is something Blood Magic users are already capable of using Offering of Blood. I think it's a good function and that more skills should be able to do it. Cultist's Fervor would be better if used for more expensive and less used skills. Oppressive Gaze would be a skill that would require another attribute (hint: Curses) to inflict the condition for it. This encourages splitting into Blood Magic.

== Fixing Blood Spike ==
This is probably the most important change in my post. Fixing Blood Spike is actually pretty easy:

* Add the clause "That foe begins Bleeding (10 seconds). If that foe was already Bleeding, you gain (...) health instead of stealing it."

After that clause has been added, the skills stealing health can be buffed.

The beauty of this change is that if you choose to pressure a target with Bleeding, you won't be able to spike that same target. It thus increases the effectiveness of these life steal skills in vacuüm while nerfing it for (ab)using it with other life steal skills.

Hells Fury · Jan 21, 2010, 05:33 PM // 17:33

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you don't touch barbs, people love barbs
You just renamed sharpen daggers with barbs

Page Down Warhammer · Jan 21, 2010, 05:50 PM // 17:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hell Darkblight

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you don't touch barbs, people love barbs
You just renamed sharpen daggers with barbs

Except the key difference would be Barbs could be cast on any other ally thereby saving the sin 1 valuable slot on his bar and making a warrior able to use Sever Artery w/o Gash

Rampage · Jan 21, 2010, 05:52 PM // 17:52

You want to move two amazing necro skills into a shitty skill line. Get out.

ajc2123 · Jan 21, 2010, 06:38 PM // 18:38

Change the other 70% of the necromancers skills, not the few that I love lol.

Shadowmere · Jan 21, 2010, 06:48 PM // 18:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Page Down Warhammer

Except the key difference would be Barbs could be cast on any other ally thereby saving the sin 1 valuable slot on his bar and making a warrior able to use Sever Artery w/o Gash

It might be a nice skill if it didn't take away barbs, that is the #1 single target kill spell of curse necros. It'd be like the time they changed Order of Undeath, the new functionality was neat and unique but it was not worth what was lost at all.

Also your proposed change to mark of fury is identical to Defile Defenses with added adrenaline gain, don't understand the logic there.

I do however like the change for Oppressive Gaze, that's one of those spells that could just use a good change like that.

Chthon · Jan 21, 2010, 07:11 PM // 19:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rampage

You want to move two amazing necro skills into a shitty skill line. Get out.

This. Stop trying to mess with decent skills. Blood has plenty of awful skills available for function changes.

37er · Jan 21, 2010, 08:13 PM // 20:13

your mark of fury is very OP
btw too many changes;
no need of changes in blood mag

Reverend Dr · Jan 21, 2010, 09:41 PM // 21:41

Blood's current design is only useful for its few overpowered skills (rip, strip enchant), and terrible gimmicks.

While it really should get a remake, it isn't going to happen. And changing unusable skills to usable formats is really the same as buffing a bunch of skills, which is absolutely something this game doesn't need right now.

Orry · Jan 21, 2010, 10:02 PM // 22:02

Blood magic shouldn't cause targets to bleed, maybe yourself but not your targets.

Braxton619 · Jan 22, 2010, 01:42 AM // 01:42

Lol you have a terrible taste in skill balancing...

Get out.

MasterSasori · Jan 22, 2010, 03:35 AM // 03:35

This doesn't change the fact that the Blood skills line is still sucking as the majority are some kind of life steal which are pretty worthless in today's PvE. Besides PvE today has enough OP skills.

To make the line into something useful other than being a energy slave is going to take a major overhaul.

Malician · Jan 22, 2010, 06:12 AM // 06:12

Most of your skill changes appear to be giant nerfs.

"gain 1 adrenaline on hitting attacks. For each ally, this skill ends the next time that ally uses a skill"

This will end with a good warrior's first attack.

" Cultist's Fervor: 5 energy, 1 cast, 5 recharge, 5% sacrifice cost, change functionality to: "Enchantment Spell. Lose all Enchantments. For 10 seconds, gain +1...5...6 energy regeneration. Whenever you cast a Spell/Touch Skill, you lose 5% of your health for every Spell/Touch Skill you have casted while under the effect of this Enchantment."

Would ruin my great Orders hero.

"Also following the new pattern of inflicting Bleeding."

Why do I want bleeding?

Not trying to be harsh here; it's just that I *LIKE* current barbs, dark fury, Cultist's Fervor.

Morphy · Jan 22, 2010, 02:22 PM // 14:22

The edit button is there for a reason. - JR

Yes, yes, I should add: These changes are meant for PvP. I don't give a rat's ass about PvE.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Braxton619

Lol you have a terrible taste in skill balancing...

Get out.

Explain that.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 37er

your mark of fury is very OP
btw too many changes;
no need of changes in blood mag

Wrong. Blood Magic is unusable outside of Bloodspike. It needs a complete rework.

Zahr Dalsk · Jan 22, 2010, 02:40 PM // 14:40

These changes are terrible and you should feel terrible for posting them. Also reported for being too stupid/lazy/self-important to use the Edit button.

Morphy · Jan 22, 2010, 03:06 PM // 15:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zahr Dalsk

These changes are terrible and you should feel terrible for posting them. Also reported for being too stupid/lazy/self-important to use the Edit button.

Explain that.