Curse

nebojats · Nov 07, 2007, 11:32 PM // 23:32

IMPORTANT: This class is currently undergoing some serious renovation. Obviously, it is seriously overpowered in some situations, but I think this is an issue of quantity rather than quality (the concept doesn't have to change, just its intensity or duration), so help me out with that if you have suggestions.

Hello folks... here's another specimen from my CC Laboratory. I'm open to supportive criticism and communal brainstorming. For skimming ease, I've divided the post into three sections:

I. The Chronomancer - For the skimmer: concept art (coming soon...), a quick explanation of the basic concept, attributes, strengths, weaknesses and originality.
II. Tactics - For those with some time on their hands, a brief illustration of a few battle strategies.
III. Skills - For the ambitious reader, a tentative list of skills.

I. THE CHRONOMANCER

Background:

Covered from head to toe in heavy armor and defended by massive, two-handed shields, Chronomancers are unique and powerful wizards. When they lumber into battle, situations become surreal: nearby enemies are paralyzed and allies move with bizarre quickness. From within their moving fortresses, Chronomancers detachedly observe the surrounding chaos, swatting away would-be attackers with their body-sized shields. A Chronomancer’s interest is only piqued when confronted by a rival time mage, whose mere presence can disrupt his effectiveness. Resulting duels for temporal domination are perilous for both competitors, but can be downright catastrophic for bystanders.

Function:

The Chronomancer is a melee class that warps time to his team’s advantage. He enters the fray and acts as a moving ward, affecting all characters around him. He is powerfully protected behind sturdy armor and a large two-handed shield. At the expense of adrenaline and energy, he may bash adjacent opponents with magically charged shield attacks. A Chronomancer may teleport and duplicate himself at great cost. The presence of a rival time mage easily nullifies his effectiveness.

Attributes:

1) Temporality (primary) – Augments auras' effects by 0…25%.
2) Acceleration – Improves spells which speed up time.
3) Detention – Affects skills that slow and reverse time.
4) Stamina – Improves shield skills and lowers their adrenaline cost.

Strengths:

1) When taking into account the two-handed shield, the Chronomancer has the strongest armor in the game.
2) The Chronomancer has uninterruptible powerful auras which affect the speed surrounding players.
3) The Chronomancer can teleport and duplicate himself (although at great cost)

Weaknesses:

1) The shield does little damage. Truly effective shield attacks require lots of adrenaline.
2) The Chronomancer may only use one aura at a time and may not cancel an aura once it is in effect.
3) Players can only be affected by one aura at a time; if a player is already affected by one aura, a second aura will have no effect. Therefore, rival Chronomancers can easily disrupt each others' effectiveness.

Originality:

Time Control and Auras

The Chronomancer’s first major innovation is time control. He may establish one aura at a time (essentially a self-targeted enchantment that once in effect, is uninterruptible by anyone, including the Chronomancer himself). Alternatively, he has a vast array of single-targeted skills. It is a powerful aspect of the class, and if used effectively, can wreak havoc on the battlefield. Although impressive, time manipulation has its costs. Auras are extremely expensive, require slow preparation, and affect nearby players, including the Chronomancer himself! It is important to note that any player may only be affected by one aura at a time; if a player is already affected by one aura, a second aura will have no effect.

Two-Handed Shield

The second major innovation is the shield. It is truly massive, requiring two hands, and is covered in spikes and barbs. Without it, the Chronomancer has decent protection, but not nearly enough to be an effective melee unit. With the shield, the Chronomancer has the most powerful armor in the game. The great defense comes with a price, however: the shield is so heavy that while it may be used offensively, it takes great effort. Any serious damage requires adrenaline as well as energy. Therefore, the Chronomancer may only effectively attack after being in the fray for some time, building up adrenaline as he receives and deals damage.

Duplicates and Teleportation

The Chronomancer may travel through time to "transport" or be in multiple places at once. This would be very useful for spreading the effects of an aura around the battlefield. At the moment I can't think of cool way to implement this. Suggestions would be helpful.

TACTICS:

Pariah

The Chronomancer's most valuable role is that of a pariah. In group situations where his team is losing the fight, the Chronomancer is skilled at clearing out crowds so that his allies may regroup. He enters the fray until he is situated in the opponents' midst. At this point the Chronomancer casts Time Sink, Bystander and Repeat. All nearby players are slowed while the Chronomancer moves and attacks at normal speed, dealing double damage to his opponents. If done correctly, the Chronomancer can activate Repeating Concussion, effectively dealing four to six blows for every single attack. Melee fighters will try to escape the area, and if enemy ranged players decide to pummel the area with projectiles, the Chronomancer switches his aura to Stop or Reverse Flight, nullifying the incoming barrage.

Backline Support

Alternatively, the Chronomancer may stay back with the ranged and magic-using characters, greatly increasing their effectiveness. Although highly energy-consuming to the Chronomancer, simultaneously activating Augmented Regeneration, Instantaneous Magic, and Déjà Vu is well worth the cost. Mages and Monks are able to cast much more quickly. Spell Stagger could be thrown in to the mix, compounding the rapid succession of an ally's spell effects into one extremely powerful punch. Another option would be to stand directly in the middle of ally spellcasters and cast Revert, which returns their energy back to prior levels.

Disruptor

Yet another tactic is that of a disruptor. The Chronomancer can effectively nullify enemy spellcasters, particularly when they are grouped together. Once nearby, he casts Detained Minds, hindering the enemy mages' effectiveness. In order to avoid suffering the aura's effects, the targets will try to retreat rather than fight back, since that would only increase the Chronomancer's adrenaline stores. While some may be able to flee, a selected target has no chance of escape. Unfortunately for the victim, the Chronomancer is adept at pursuit. By simply casting Time Sink and Timewalker, the foe is now hopelessly slow. Easily catching up to his prey, the Chronomancer will attack, build up adrenaline, and incapacitate the target with powerful shield skills.

SKILLS:

Temporality

Temporal Independence – Elite Aura. For the next 1...8 seconds, you and nearby allies are immune to time-related effects.

Time Walker - Elite Enchantment. For 2...10 seconds, transport to nearby target foes.

Duplicity - Enchantment. For 2...10 seconds a duplicate transports to next target nearby foe. Duplicate lasts for 10 seconds.

Chronological Attunement – Enchantment. For the next 5…25 seconds, auras' time-related effects on you are increased by 110%...200%.

Bystander – Enchantment. For the next 4…16 seconds, you are impervious to auras’ effects.

Temporal Vigor - Enchantment. For 60 seconds, whenever one of your auras ends, gain 2...7 energy.

Chronological Stimulant - Enchantment. For 60 seconds, whenever one of your auras ends, gain 1...4 strikes of adrenaline.

Acceleration

Time Vortex – Aura. For the next 3…10 seconds, you and all nearby allies move and attack 25% faster.

Swift Thoughts – Aura. For the next 2…8 seconds, you and all nearby allies’ casting times are 25% faster.

Augmented Regeneration – Aura. For the next 10 seconds, you and all nearby allies’ health and energy regenerate 25%...100% faster than normal.

Instantaneous Magic – Enchantment. For the next 5 seconds, target ally casts spells 25%...100% faster.

Swift Shooting – Enchantment. For the next 2…7 seconds, target ally’s projectiles are twice as fast.

Déjà Vu – Elite Enchantment. For 1...6 seconds, target ally’s next spell is cast twice and costs 5...10 less energy.

Time Loop – Hex. For 5…10 seconds, target enemy casts his next spell twice instead of once.

Repeat - Aura. For 5...17 seconds, whenever an adjacent enemy takes damage, he is hit twice.

Regression

Lapse – Enchantment. In 3…10 seconds, target ally’s health and energy will revert to their current levels unless he or she is killed.

Revert – Elite Enchantment. In 3...10 seconds, the health and energy of you and all nearby players reverts back its current status unless player is killed.

Stop – Enchantment. For the next 4…12 seconds, all nearby projectiles are nullified.

Reverse Flight - Enchantment. For the next 3...10 seconds, all nearby projectiles return and deal damage to their source.

Instant Aging – Aura. For the next 5…17 seconds you and all nearby enemies’ health and energy regenerate 25% slower.

Detained Minds – Aura. For the next 3…10 seconds, you and all nearby enemies’ skills recharge and casting times are 25% slower.

Time Sink – Aura. For the next 4…14 seconds, you and all nearby enemies move and attack 25% slower.

Return to Youth - Elite Aura. For the next 10 seconds, the primary attribute of you and all adjacent enemies drops 1...5 levels.

Spell Stagger – Enchantment. For the next 5…10 seconds, target ally's spells have no effect. When this enchantment ends, all spells' effects occur simultaneously.

Temporal Prison – Elite Spell. For 5…10 seconds, target other player moves and attack 75% slower but evades all attacks and spells.

Stamina

Defensive Fury – Stance. For the next 2…10 seconds, gain double adrenaline whenever you take damage.

Decaying Attack - Shield Attack. You deal triple damage and for the next 5...25 seconds, and cause target's armor set lose one point of armor with each successful hit.

Temporal Bash – Shield Attack. You deal 150% damage and for 2…9 seconds, enchantments, hexes, and conditions on target foe end 50% faster.

Aging Blow – Shield Attack. Your deal double damage and for the next 3…10 seconds, damaged enemy’s health and energy regenerate 75% slower.

Repeating Concussion - Shield Attack. Deal normal damage. In 10 seconds, target receives 100%...200% of this attack's damage.

Paused Response - Shield Attack. Deal normal damage. Target foe is knocked down and takes an extra 1...6 seconds to stand up.

Return to Fury – Enchantment. In 4…10 seconds, your adrenaline reverts back to its current level.

Paralyzed Reflexes - Shield Attack. Deal normal damage. For the next 2...10 second, target foe moves 25% slower.

Like what you see? Check out my CC Laboratory for more examples of my work. Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

Hells_Faithful · Nov 07, 2007, 11:34 PM // 23:34

Seems like something that would be fun to play around with... basically a walking/talking shield...

nebojats · Nov 07, 2007, 11:36 PM // 23:36

I just came up with this tonight... as I wait for my food to cook. I started thinking about it yesterday.

It's still sort of rough and the overall concept is unfinished. Most notably, it could be overpowered, I don't have many skills in either the Power or Stamina attributes, and I haven't started the Tactics section.

I do like the general gist of the character though. A battlemage that screws with time, has a massive shield, and may deal powerful attacks only if he is attacked. I'd like to get comments and suggestions before going further. Hell, even flames would be fine. I haven't been on this forum in a while now...

Clone · Nov 07, 2007, 11:53 PM // 23:53

I like it. I actually suggested something similar a while back (pre-factions or pre-nightfall, don't remember when now). I had mine split up a bit differently. Acceleration attribute for party buffs, deceleration attribute for hexes, and a line to increase duration and speed of regenerative/degenerative effects.

And actually, it looks like Anet was seriously looking at a chronomancer type class. For the people who don't know about this, check out http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Guild_Wars_Utopia

Hells_Faithful · Nov 07, 2007, 11:59 PM // 23:59

Let me take a closer looki, when I get off work... I was only able to skim the post right now...

But when I get off work Ill give you a better reply...

nebojats · Nov 08, 2007, 09:08 AM // 09:08

Thanks for the responses.

@Hells Faithful: it's a walking, talking, time-manipulating shield!

@Clone: I think time manipulation is pretty powerful, so I'm trying to tone it down by having the auras affect all adjacent players. No party buffs like your old CC. Do you have any examples of skills which affect re/degenerative effects?

I was thinking, is it unfair to have the Chronomancer unable to attack unless he is attacked first? Maybe instead of increasing adrenaline gain, Stamina should give the Chronomancer a slowly regenerating amount of adrenaline. x slashes of adrenaline per second, depending on the attribute level. Thoughts?

System_Crush · Nov 08, 2007, 01:34 PM // 13:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by nebojats

I was thinking, is it unfair to have the Chronomancer unable to attack unless he is attacked first? Maybe instead of increasing adrenaline gain, Stamina should give the Chronomancer a slowly regenerating amount of adrenaline.

[skill=text]Rage of the Ntouka[/skill]
[skill=text]Signet of Aggression[/skill]
[skill=text]"To The Limit!"[/skill]
[skill=text]Auspicious Parry[/skill]
Nah, adrenaline doesn't need to regenerate, it's pretty much gain able without attacking already.

You might want to make a return adrenaline to what it was x seconds ago skill though.
They are going to be needing to be very greedy with their adrenaline, skills like [skill=text]Soothing Images[/skill] and [skill=text]Ancestor's Visage[/skill] will be very painful to them, so they would need, preferably multiple skills to protect themselves from them.

On the class itself, it seems a little bland. All the time controlling effects might be powerful and stuff, but they are also all straight forward.
It's boring, only the aging blow is a interesting skill.
The idea of an aura'd tank is well tested, but a offensive aura'd tank has a problem, especially if it can't attack unless attacked.

Offensive aura's on a melee char can be good, but people can also just slow the char, saving them form both his attacks and his auras because he can't get close to them.
So usually there is a focus on defensive auras, that way they can be a good melee fighter and a useful buffer at the same time.

But if you are going time affecting, instead of holy radiance, debuffing makes sense.
So you might have to think of a way for the chronomancer to either:

Be safely approachable
(conditional debuff aura's)

Or to keep foes from getting away from them, with time stop skills.
(teleportation ( + preform an action instantly (if elite + teleport back)))

Phoenix Tears · Nov 08, 2007, 02:05 PM // 14:05

Don't like the Concept ...
When making a Chronomancer, then it should be a pure Mage Class...

Or does the Necromancer or the Elemeantalist (Pyromancer....) work so ? No, they don't ...

When you want make an unique Mage Class, then try to give it an other Weapon Concept, then only again Staffs and Rods, but still some kind of Weapon, that lets the Chronomancer attack from the Back Row and not at the Frontline, where a Chronomancer has nothing to search with its 60 AL

Also the Attributes are imo not total false setted togethe with the Concept...why you want mkeout of a Mage class a dumb tank with a 2H Shield.. not to mention, that such shields don't exist normally.

A Chronomancer is no Melee Tank!!, a Chronomancer a one of the strongest Types of AoE Attack/Support Mages. Time Magic can do outrageous Damage, when used by wrong people.

Attributes of a real Chronomancer should look like this:

(Primary)Immortality
Every point in Immortality will increase by 3% every healing from all sources the Chronomancer will receive. Also Immortalilty will give the Chronomancer per every point a Damage Reduction of 1%, which doubles, whenever the Chronomancer reaches the Health Marks o 50% and 25% HP left
This Attribute contains Spells, which will protect over time the chronomancer or other party members from deaths. also includes Spells, which can remove for certain time death malus, protect from new death malus, when dieing

Ex. Immortality 16 > 100% HP = 16% Damage Reduction
50% HP > 32% Damage Reduction
25% HP > 64% Damage Reduction
(not including damage of defense ignorign attacks/spells) So blood necros with their vamp skills do still full damage for example)

Chronology
No inherent effects. Chronology contains Support Spells, which manipulate the past, the now and the future, to buff the party members and or to heal damage over time, or in reaction with damage/condition triggers

Nature Magic
A Sub Kind of the Time Magic(Distortion), which allows it the Chronomancer to manipulate the nature, manipulating with his powers the growth of plants and birth of animals, able to summon the nature. Includes also buffing Spells for Pets, so surely an interesting attribute later for C/R Combos, btw R/C ...

Time Distortion
No inherent effects. This Attribute contains Time Spells, which do Damage to Single Targets or Field Damage to nearby Foes. Includes also lots of Degeneration Spells

Weapon:
To avoid Staffs and Rods, the Chronomancer fights with Magical Mittens.
which are called "Sphere Orb".
Weapon attributes are as for Mage Class normal all attributes.
The Sphere Orb does 6-28 Dark/Light/Chaos Damage. The Sphere Orb is a 1H Weapon and comes with Focus Items, that look like Armbraces.
Appearance of the Concept Drawings fomr Anet

http://i153.photobucket.com/albums/s...onomancer3.jpg

There you can see at the Arms, what I mean.
Headgear are tiaras, nothing that looks so weird, like at these drawings...
Chronomancer should look like a normal being and not like a futuristic robot, like on thes concept drawings, but the part of the focus items and the weapon on these drawings is good, also this blue glowing stuff at it, makes the Chronomancer look, as if time would flow through its body XD.
Attack speed of the Sphere Orb would be similar to the Axe.

When U want me to write some example skills, then I'll do so, or you can think of them, for my Setting of Attributes ... as a pure Mage Class

Hells_Faithful · Nov 08, 2007, 05:06 PM // 17:06

As I said before Nebojats I absolutely love the concept of the Chronomancer... But after looking more closely at your post I see some of your ideas would be hard to apply to current gameplay..

The idea of a full out walking shield/aura is would seem like a great add to the gw world... But having very little attack power actually melee as a tank is kinda wierd, I say this cause you have to think of the character in two major catagories... PvE, and PvP... The issue of having all his melee attacks require adrenaline, is that in PvP is that all the opposing players would just ignore you and go after other players, since your melee attacks require adrenaline, if you dont take dmg your cant attack (which kinda deafeats the purpose of tank)... So all you would be doing is casting spell after spell, quickly running into energy problems... But your auras would help your team slightly, if they survive the onslaught without a real tank... But on the other hand this would be outright unfair to the NPCs in PvE when fighting you (considering that in PvE you are usually tanking the enemy NPCs no matter what class)...

The next issue is the whole time-warping side of your concept... It is definitely an original addition to the MMORPG world (never heard of your concept being considered for a game of this genere)... But it has application issue that could be worked out with some redesigning...
Take for instance your spell Lapse... I see issues with configuring a spell that would revert your health back in time (seems a little bit of a tricky issue, but then again i am not a programmer)...
Otherwise your time-warping spells see to fall along the same lines as some of the other classes (Deja Vu seems a lot like one of the Ele spells ???)... And having spells that re similar to current game spells is great cause it means that your spell would easily be implemented...

The only other concept issue I see in your class, is the shield = dmg... It is definitely a doable thing (World of Warcraft Warrior shield attacks)... But It would appear have some conflicting problems with the current game machanics...
First in order to top the warrior for all out defense you would have to introduce a new type of shield (exclusive to the chronomancer) which would be a two-handed shield with lets say a minimium base of 40 armor, Not a big deal in gameplay...
Secondly you would either have to make these shields have a natural base dmg (like any other weapon... which would be kinda cool to see a shield in the catagory of weapon...lol) or you would have to compinsate and make the actual attack skills for the shield to do set dmg, kinda like any other casted spell...

Auras seems to be a reasonable add to the game, but the only aura I dont think would make it to the end of game production would be Suspension (not a bad idea but it would be easier just to make it so that the incoming projectiles are deflected... not just fall to the ground... then you would also have to change the aura name after that switch)...

I hope I dont sound to critical of your Chronomancer but it does have some aspects that would need to be tweaked in order to make to the actual game, instead of just a concept...

P.S. If you have any other idea that you want to run by me I would be glad to look them over and give you my opinion...

Hells_Faithful · Nov 08, 2007, 05:07 PM // 17:07

Sorry for the length of my critic...

Hells_Faithful · Nov 08, 2007, 05:12 PM // 17:12

Ohh and some comments to Phoenix Tears mod on the Chronomancer...

Come on... % dmg reduction... that seems a little to powerful even for a warrior concept... All warrios would dream to bethat powerful in gw... and this coming from a guy who wants the Chronomancer to be recatagorized from Nebojats idea of a hardcore tank, into a squishy back-row catser class...

System_Crush · Nov 08, 2007, 06:02 PM // 18:02

Quote:

(seems a little bit of a tricky issue, but then again i am not a programmer)

Not a problem at all, long as you are setting a point to return to it isn't that hard.
If it where the skill that returns you to how or where you where X seconds ago, you didn't set a point to return too so it would have to have been logged, which is memory wise not recommended.

Quote:

Revert – Elite Spell. The health and energy of you and all adjacent players reverts back to 1…10 seconds ago.

Would require giant log files, and be giant pain on servers and connection speed because of this.

That doesn't say anything about balance though, would be a great way to fill up an 90 energy ele's bar.

Hells_Faithful · Nov 08, 2007, 06:20 PM // 18:20

As I said earlier issues that would need to be tweaked or redesigned...

Phoenix Tears · Nov 08, 2007, 10:10 PM // 22:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hells_Faithful

Ohh and some comments to Phoenix Tears mod on the Chronomancer...

Come on... % dmg reduction... that seems a little to powerful even for a warrior concept... All warriors would dream to bethat powerful in gw... and this coming from a guy who wants the Chronomancer to be recatagorized from Nebojats idea of a hardcore tank, into a squishy back-row catser class...

When it sounds too strong, then half the % to 0,5% reduction per point ...
then its 8 > 16 > 32 ...
My CC version is in first line a Magelike concept... but the problem everyone has with new CC is the primary attribute ...

first you have to find something, that fits to the profession ..., then it must be something unique, that no other proession had before.
Alone Fact 2 smallers widely the options of what you can pick, because nobody surely wants to create a CC, that looks somehow copied from other professions ...
When U've thought of these 2 aspects, you must also look that the effect of the primary fits to the profession. Don't forget that Chronomancer should have 60 AL ...not like some super pwned value, that should be far stronger, then Warriors with like 40 AL 2H Shields (what would be 2,5x better, than a max 1H shield)

However, when this Reduction seems to be too strong, than change it maybe, that Max Energy will increase, so lower HP gets

instead this then:

(Primary)Immortality
Every point in Immortality will increase by 3% every healing from all sources the Chronomancer will receive. Also Immortalilty will give the Chronomancer per every point 2 Energy Point more, which doubles, whenever the Chronomancer reaches the Health Marks o 50% and 25% HP left
This Attribute contains Spells, which will protect over time the chronomancer or other party members from deaths. also includes Spells, which can remove for certain time death malus, protect from new death malus, when dieing

Would mean then 100% > +32 E
50% > +64E
25% > +128E

say Base Energy is 30 with E Reg of 4
At 25% Hp, without any armor mods a Chronomancer would have then 168 E
Thats balanced imo, compared that an Ele with mods ect can have permanent over 120 E, while the Chronomancer must be at 25% Hp, to receive best volume of its Energy
With mods ect. an Chronomancer would receive an Energy max of say 190 around circa.
Would fit to the energy level of both professions, because as said, the Chronomancer will also do AoE Spells with DoT, which should be its specialisation.

Also the weakness of the Chronomancer lies in armor penetrating attacks and spells, because these don't get reduced...

Imo I think both would be balanced, if now more energy, or like 32% reduction of damage with 25% HP left.
And you know, that this should be balanced, even with reductuon..fighting with only 25% HP left is hard, especially in hard mode, where enemies attack more and quicker with armor penetrating attacks.

Also making Mage classes, that aren't just simple other magicians with near no difference in gameplay is not easy.
However, my CC, i think is in this form implementable, the balancing around the primary is just peanuts. the basic concept around stands and is fluid

nebojats · Nov 09, 2007, 01:17 AM // 01:17

Wow, thanks for all the feedback! I wasn't expecting nearly this much (well maybe I was for SC since I know him). To HF and PT, thanks! And it’s delightfully thoughtful to boot… sweet!

God, I wish there were an easier and shorter way to do this, but to respond to the critiques (because there are so many of them), I need to lay them out. I think these are the main critiques people have pointed out:

1) The Chronomancer needs adrenaline-protection skills. (SC)
2) The Chronomancer is boring. (SC)
3) The Chronomancer is easily kept at bay by slowing him, etc. (SC and HF)
4) The Chronomancer should be a pure mage profession sticking to the backlines… no two-handed shield! (PT)
5) No one would attack the Chronomancer, since that just lets him attack back. (HF)
6) The skills aren't original. (HF)
7) How would the two-handed shield work? (HF)

Time for my responses:

1) SC, you’re definitely right about that. Some sort of skills that protect from adrenaline-draining spells would be necessary for this class. I’ll try and think some up. If you have any ideas, please let me know.

2) Personally, I think the gameplay would be fun (although I admit it still needs to be expanded). Acting as a moving fortress, you seriously screw with people by using Chronology or Temporality skills. The enemy is caught in a catch-22; they can passively suffer the effects of your magic, or they can attack you and consequently get bashed with a massive, damage-dealing shield. I agree the role could be expanded (possibly with the creation of a new attribute and a merging of two existing ones), and there could be more flashy and exciting time spells. If you can point out specifically what’s boring or suggest any ways to spice up the class, I’d be thankful. It’s too vague a critique at this point for me to really tackle.

3) You guys are right. I want this class to be such a pain in the ass, that when the other team sees him, they try all they can do to stop him from getting in the middle of their ranks (where he’ll disrupt the whole team’s efficiency with auras). They won’t want to attack him, so slowing him would be a logical alternative. Maybe the Chronomancer could have skills (perhaps stances) which for a set amount of time, let him ignore all spell effects that influence his speed. Yeah? Maybe?

4) Well Phoenix Tears, I appreciate the opinion, but that’s all it is: an opinion. There is no definition of what a chronomancer must be (except that it somehow uses time magic). It doesn’t need to be a support class, it doesn’t need to use aoe spells, and it certainly doesn’t need to use magic mittens. Personally, I like the idea of a battlemage. I’ve had enough weak spellcasters who sit back far away from the fight and wave a magic wand. I’ve been on these boards for about a year, and I know I’m not the only one who thinks that. Battlemages are in plenty of other games. There’s no reason they wouldn’t work in Guild Wars. As far as two-handed shields not normally existing, neither do scythe-wielding god avatars, magical mittens, and a long list of other Guild Wars features. Please PT, I can tell you’re intelligent. If you’re going to write on my thread, point out and critique the CC’s weaknesses rather than outright reject it as a general concept.

5) I actually think enemies would be really inclined to attack the Chronomancer. Because he has such powerful auras and time-manipulating spells, he would be a real thorn in the other team’s side. They either have to passively suffer from his magic, or fight back and get a two-handed shield bash in the face. Maybe I misunderstood though?

6) I admit, it’s been a while since I played GW, so I’m not up-to-date on all the current skills (not like I ever really was…), but can you give me examples of other skills which the Chronomancer spells might be copying? It could be that the Chronology skillset is unoriginal, I’m not sure. I’m positive, though, that the auras in Temporality are damn original, both because of their effects and the mechanic of being an environmental effect centered on a moving character.

7) I don’t think the general idea of introducing a new weapon would be a big deal (it’s been done four times already), but as far as the details on the shield go, I envision it having two stats: armor and damage. Shield attack skills would either augment the base damage or add some sort of effect. Thoughts?

So yeah… that’s one of the longest posts ever. Thanks so much for the feedback and please write again!

@SC: Actually, I think the Chronomancer’s targets will have a hard time running away from him. If he’s using something like Time Sink, there’s no way they can outrun him unless they adjust their speed somehow. What’s CGR && PLSQL?

Phoenix Tears · Nov 09, 2007, 10:13 AM // 10:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by nebojats

4) Well Phoenix Tears, I appreciate the opinion, but that’s all it is: an opinion. There is no definition of what a chronomancer must be (except that it somehow uses time magic). It doesn’t need to be a support class, it doesn’t need to use aoe spells, and it certainly doesn’t need to use magic mittens. Personally, I like the idea of a battlemage. I’ve had enough weak spellcasters who sit back far away from the fight and wave a magic wand. I’ve been on these boards for about a year, and I know I’m not the only one who thinks that. Battlemages are in plenty of other games. There’s no reason they wouldn’t work in Guild Wars. As far as two-handed shields not normally existing, neither do scythe-wielding god avatars, magical mittens, and a long list of other Guild Wars features. Please PT, I can tell you’re intelligent. If you’re going to write on my thread, point out and critique the CC’s weaknesses rather than outright reject it as a general concept.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronomancer

You're wrong... the Chronomancer has a definition. the definition is and was ever the "Time Mage" and nothing other is the Chronomancer.
Making out of a Mage Class a Melee Class is like, as if we would make now a CC about a GW2 Warrior, with Elementalist attributes ...

When we implement new professions, then we should/could expect from Anet, that they implement, as usual (with exception of the silly paragon), that the Concept around a Profession looks "realistic"
With realistic in this case I mean, that the Profession will look, act and move like the profession, from what the community understands under the name of the profession.

When anet would implement now a Rogue Class, than I'll expect from the Concept of that profession, that this professesion will be played like a real rogue and don't ends up in in a mage like gameplay, that totally don't fits to the concept of a Rogue.

The Chronomancer, as long as the Concept around a Time "Mage" exists in the scene of RPG's, was ever understood as a Mage and not as a warrior like tank.
What you describe here as Concept absolutely don't fits to the name of the profession > Chronomancer...

You seem to think, only because you gave your CC the ability over Time Magic, makes it automatically a Chronomancer ?!
Thats imo the wrong way of thinking.
Thats a childish way of thinking, thats as if I would say now, only because my elementalist weilds a Sword, makes it to a Warrior. Sry to say that...
When I create a CC about a Priest for example, then the result will look at the end like a CC, from what people mostly think a priest should look, act and move like. Then a don't end of with a paladin concept...thats no Priest

You want hear weaknesses ?
Can i tell you.

You just created a Paladin Concept with merged Chronomancer Abilities.
The result:

A Melee Class which should tank (Paladin, the main work of Paladins in RPG's is7was mostly ever tanking and attacking with Auras, or protecting with these) all this Stuff U've included in your CC. And due to the fact, that the pure paladin with is uber 2H Shield and the Auras wasn't unique enough to you, you thought, why not combine A with B and give it also Time magic and call it a Chronomancer which should work like a Paladin Tank...

Paladins also fight with 1H Shields, yes, they use they Shield also to Attack.
Look at the Crusader/Paladin of Ragnarok Online. Think of that Class and think now onto that concept additional Time Magic and bam, you have your CC here.

Your CC is too easily clear transparanted imo

My version version that is a clear Mage, with an other Weapon Concept, sure such mittens don't exist, but Mage Classes are an exception, everything around magic is in the end so or so only fantasy. But Melee classes should rely more on realism and fact is. 2H Shields never have existed. For which reason should a Warrior use such a shield, when he can't wear then a Weapon to defend hisself really. The only thing you could do with such a shield is blocking attacks. With such a big shield a Warrior would be effectively too slow to try to attack with the shield someone, and even then, it wouldn#t do very much damage...

My CC version has synergies with all other mage classes + the ranger.
When going with my 2nd version of Immortality, can have even all secondary classes have a benefit. But Version 1 could also bring mybe an end to the era of the obsi tank, making it possible, that everyone can tank more or less

Your CC would be only good in combination with secondary Warriors, because only they would have benefits beneath your CC self from your boring Stamina primary, which is even senseless, because when warriors want more adrenaline, they have lots of enough skills, to gain easily adrenaline, + they have weapon mods, that can double their adrenaline input with attacks at random chance. When your CC would receive also such skills and mods, the primary would be totally senseless at all

System_Crush · Nov 09, 2007, 10:59 AM // 10:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by nebojats

So yeah… that’s one of the longest posts ever. Thanks so much for the feedback and please write again!

Yes come over to the dark side, we have (Internet browser)cookies.

Quote:

Originally Posted by nebojats

2) Personally, I think the gameplay would be fun (although I admit it still needs to be expanded). Acting as a moving fortress, you seriously screw with people by using Chronology or Temporality skills. The enemy is caught in a catch-22;
@SC: Actually, I think the Chronomancer’s targets will have a hard time running away from him. If he’s using something like Time Sink, there’s no way they can outrun him unless they adjust their speed somehow.

Well adjascent is not a large range at all, and you will first have to get your foes into it, which is why is suggested the teleportation skills.
You do have a point in that the ranged spells could piss people off, how ever that requires 2 attributes to be good, ending it up with just a bunch of casters that use 'Renewed Youth' to maintain their energy, but don't spend any points in the shield attribute, nor in the primary because it only relates to adrenaline which is only needed for the shield attribute.
Or you get the opposite, of a player who spends in the primary and the shield attribute, and uses a weak aura.

This clean cut, besides being one of the reasons it's boring, funnels the role of a single chrono. Many caster's prefer a pure build over a hybrid build, even though the chrono is not a traditional caster, they aren't a traditional thumper either(because they can't attack without adrenaline) so they should be kind of free to move between the caster side and the thumper side of their class.
Merging some attributes, preferably the temporalety attribute with something,as you will take only 1, 2 maybe 3 auras at a time, but not a lot of skills from that attribute at any time, because only 1 can be active at a time.

It's also boring because of the "activate a aura, stand near a foe" play style. When I'd glanced it I'd planned to go with the Primary 10+1 Auras 11+1 Shields 10+2
Resulting in a stand near foe and hope they hit you play style.
That is what I though would be boring, other than activating adrenal skill when they are ready, its rather fire and forget.
There isn't even any work going in to making foes for fill certain requirements to make my aura hit them, such as suffering form a condition, or having lost X% health.

Quote:

What’s CGR && PLSQL?

They are cources I take, with the same teacher. Not only does he give loads of homework, but even if you Ace the exam, it will be 0 if you didn't show him you finished every shred he gave you before you took the exam.
(C)omputer (G)enerated (R)... I guess rendering, it is supposed to be (I)mages for what we learned in the course.
PL-SQL is programming in SQL(database language)

Quote:

Originally Posted by nebojats

6) I admit, it’s been a while since I played GW, so I’m not up-to-date on all the current skills (not like I ever really was…), but can you give me examples of other skills which the Chronomancer spells might be copying?

Quote:

Déjà Vu – Enchantment. For 5…10 seconds, target ally’s next spell is cast twice at no extra cost.

Highly overpowered, non elite version of [skill=text]Glyph of Renewal[/skill]
Imagine Déjà Vu + [skill=text]Glyph of Renewal[/skill] + [skill=text]Meteor Shower[/skill] + recast the shower.
That is 3 hits with the casting time and energy cost of 2.
The current [skill=text]Arcane Echo[/skill] + [skill=text]Echo[/skill] + shower doesn't stand up to that.

Also it has a strong hint towards [skill=text]Tease[/skill] as a whole, as well as Glyph of Swiftness, though that is not nesiceraly a bad thing, as those skills are a rare tree in the desert and haven't been done to death yet.

Hells_Faithful · Nov 09, 2007, 04:46 PM // 16:46

About you #6 repsonse Nebojat its not that the skills are not original, my points was that some of the skills that you are creating a similar to some of the current skills, which is a good thing... Because it shows that the skills you have created for the Chronomancer are easy to implement into the game since similar skills are used quite effectively in the game already (like your Deja Vu spell, and the Elementalists Echo spell)... For the most part your Chronomancer has some of the most original skill sets and spells out of any class in GW...

Hells_Faithful · Nov 09, 2007, 04:49 PM // 16:49

For your #7 response add a new weapon class is not new to the whole world of gw but it might cause a lot of warriors to be a poughty about the fact the a Chronomancer has a Shield that can do dmg and Warriors are stuck with a piece of: metal, wood,bones,rock that just is defensive in nature...

Hells_Faithful · Nov 09, 2007, 04:53 PM // 16:53

And for #5 its not that the Chronomancer wouldnt be a thorn in the side of an opposing PvP team its just that, there would probably be ways to counter his aura (healing, buffs, dmg reduction, etc)... So if a team had such tatics against the Chronomancer, they would have no need in even bothering with attacking him... Basically I am say that istead of making all his shield attacks require adrenaline, mix it up (like the warriors has and have some run of adrenaline, and other run of energy) or make it a little easier for the Chronomancer to gain adrenaline...