Curse

frojack · Dec 07, 2006, 08:28 PM // 20:28

There are quite a few adjustments here. Some even change how a few skills work. There has been a LOT of negativity towards Ritualists lately. A lot of it not entirely unfounded. People are definitely having trouble squeezing the potential out of the class.
It is doable however. Though the efficiency window is tight. Almost sadistically so in some areas, and damn near unplayable in others. Anyway, here are the proposed updates. Some quite subtle but most experienced Ritualists will understand the implication. Some not so subtle...

Ancestors' Rage: 10 | 3/4 | 5
Spell. All foes adjacent to target ally are struck for 10...82 lightning damage.

Caretaker's Charge: 5 | 1 | 8
Elite Spell. Target foe is struck for 10..94 lightning damage. If you are holding an item, you gain 14 Energy and 10..94 Health.
(Currently, it's pretty poor. I'd sooner have a higher benefit and double the recharge than it's current state.)

Clamor of Souls: 10 | 3/4 | 10
Elite Spell. For each nearby ally, one nearby foe is struck for 10...94 lightning damage. (The same foe cannot be struck more than twice.)
(This is junk right now. It would still be random if you had more than one foe nearby, but the chance of hitting 1 foe more than once would be worth your elite slot).

Cruel Was Daoshen: 10 | 1 | 30
Item Spell. Hold Daoshen's ashes for up to 15...51 seconds. When you drop his ashes, all nearby foes are struck for 10...94 lightning damage.

Essence Strike: 5 | 1 | 5
Spell. Target foe is struck for 15..51 lightning damage. If any spirits are in the area around you, you gain 1..7 energy.

Grasping Was Kuurong: 15 | 2 | 20
Elite Item Spell. Hold Kuurong's ashes for up to 15...51 seconds. When you drop his ashes, all nearby foes are struck for 10...94 damage and knocked down.
(This is also quite under-used. Too risky for a rit to run in and use. At least now it would be worth it.)

Lamentation: 5 | 2 | 10
Spell. If target foe is in ear shot of any corpse or Spirit, that foe takes 10..82 damage.
(Ritualist Obsidian Flame. If a little more gimped).

Nightmare Weapon: 5 | 1 | 10
Weapon Spell. For 15 seconds, target ally has a Nightmare Weapon. Target ally's next successful attack is reduced by 15...51 Damage and steals up to 15...51 Health.

Offering of Spirit: 5 | 1/4 | 15 (sac 17%)
Elite Spell. Sacrifice 17% maximum Health. You gain 5...17 Energy. If any Spirits are in the area, you do not sacrifice Health.
(just not enough energy to justify the cost)

Signet of Spirits: 1 | 20
Elite Signet. You gain 1...6 Energy. You gain an additional 0...4 Energy for each spirit in the area (maximum 5...17 Energy).
(The recharge and conditional nature should be enough to justify this change.)

Spirit Boon Strike: 10 | 2 |10
Spell. Target foe is struck for 10...82 lightning damage, and all spirits near you gain 10...82 Health.
(Healing Spirits should be easier...)

Spirit Siphon: 10 | 1/4 | 2
Spell. Target spirit loses 0..33% Energy. You gain 0..110% of that Energy. If target allied Spirit loses 30...8 Energy and has less than 5 energy left, that spirit is destroyed.
(This skill is basically useless as it is. With this change, I've given it a purpose. It can now destroy an allied spirit with high enough in channeling. Giving Channeling magic another way to destroy Destruction while gaining energy. Anything below around 10 or 11 channeling will of course, fail to kill it.
You need only use it twice to 'detonate' the spirit as all spirits have 31 energy.)

Wailing Weapon: 15 | 3/4 | 15
Weapon Spell. For 5..10 seconds, target ally has a Wailing Weapon. Whenever the Wailing Weapon strikes an attacking foe, that foe is interrupted.
(Compared to Warmonger's Weapon, this is really poor. This change put's it in-line with the quality and usefulness of that skill.)

Weapon of Fury: 5 | 2 | 8
Elite Weapon Spell. For 5...13 seconds, target ally gains 5...41% more adrenaline and 1 Energy for each attack and 0..2 energy per spell.
(This is potentially really good (for physicals) or completely useless (for casters). Needs a change big-time. This is a hefty ether-engine so it needs a 2 second cast to be interrupt-able...)

Anguished Was Lingwah: 10 | 3 | 30
Item Spell. Hold Lingwah's ashes for up to 30...126 seconds. Dropping her ashes summons a level 1...8 Spirit of Pain that does 5...25 damage. This Spirit dies after 30...126 seconds.

Armor of Unfeeling: 10 | 1 | 20
Enchantment Spell. For 10...30 seconds, you have 5-21 base damage reduction while casting Binding Rituals.

Binding Chains: 15 | 2 | 20
Hex Spell. For 5...15 seconds, target foe moves 90% slower and cannot attack. Binding Chains ends if that foe takes damage.

Bloodsong: 15 | 3 | 30
Binding Ritual. Create a level 1..7 Spirit who dies after 30..126 seconds. Attacks by that Spirit steal up to 5..21 Health.
(All spirits need a maximum cast of 3 seconds. 5 is just silly)

Defiant Was Xinrae: 15 | 1/4 | 15
Elite Item Spell. Hold Xinrae's ashes for up to 5...10 seconds. While you hold her ashes, enemy Spells that the caster and the caster's allies use against you are disabled for an additional 5...17 seconds.
(How many times have you seen this used? Will it get used with change? who knows...)

Disenchantment: 25 | 3 | 30
Binding Ritual. Create a level 1..7 Spirit. This Spirit deals 5..17 damage and anyone struck by its attack loses one Enchantment. This Spirit dies after 10..30 seconds.

Dissonance: 25 | 3 | 45
Binding Ritual. Create a level 1...7 Spirit. This Spirit deals 5...17 damage and anyone struck by its attack is interrupted. This Spirit dies after 10...30 seconds.

Restoration: 15 | 6 | 20
Binding Ritual. Create a level 1...8 Spirit. When this Spirit dies, all Party members in the area are resurrected with 15...63% Health and zero Energy. This Spirit dies after 30 seconds.
(This is just a jazzed-up res. It's cost, cast-time, and recharge should reflect this. Or at least be comparable to Naomai...)

Shadowsong: 15 | 3 | 45
Binding Ritual. Create a level 1...5 Spirit. The Spirit's attacks cause Blindness for 1...5 second[s]. This Spirit dies after 30 seconds.

Soothing: 15 | 3 | 45
Binding Ritual. Create a level 1...7 Spirit. All foes within its range take twice as long to build adrenaline. This Spirit dies after 15...39 seconds.

Weapon of Quickening: 15 | 2 | 15
Elite Weapon Spell. For 5...21 seconds, target ally has a Weapon of Quickening, and Spells, Binding Rituals and Skills recharge 0...25% faster.
(This is an good (if a little dull) skill. This change is just an idea, not a needed buff).

Xinrae's Weapon: 15 | 1/4 | 25
Elite Weapon Spell. For 4...9 seconds, target ally has Xinrae's Weapon. Whenever a foe casts a Spell on that ally, that Spell is disabled for an additional 5...13 seconds for that foe and all party members of that foe.
(I can understand it's quality. Even if it's just a duplicate of the Factions variant. Being able to cast on allies is interesting. Potentially a 'spike' killer. The cost however is absurd.)

Blind Was Mingson: 5 | 2 | 10
Item Spell. Hold Mingson's ashes for up to 15...51 seconds. When you drop his ashes, all adjacent foes are Blinded for 3...7 seconds.

Recuperation: 25 | 3 | 30
Binding Ritual. Create a level 1...8 Spirit. Non-Spirit allies within its range gain +1...3 Health regeneration. This Spirit dies after 15...39 seconds.

Resilient Was Xiko: 10 | 2 |10
5...17 seconds. For each Hex or Condition you are suffering from while holding her ashes you gain +2 Health regeneration. When you drop her ashes, you lose 1...3 Conditions and 0..1 hexes.
(It's about time I think...)

Spirit Light Weapon: 5 | 1 | 5
Elite Weapon Spell. For 10 seconds, target ally gains 1...12 Health per second and additional 1...12 Health per second and 0...1 energy if that ally is near a spirit.
(This elite is like a rubbish version of the non-elite skill Healing Spring...)

Tranquil Was Tanasen: 5 | 2 | 15
Elite Item Spell. Hold Tanasen's ashes for up to 5...17 seconds. While you hold his ashes, you have +10...25 armor and cannot be interrupted.
(I'd consider using this as my elite skill with this change...)

Weapon of Shadow: 10 | 3/4 | 15
Weapon Spell. For 5...10 seconds, target ally has a Weapon of Shadow. Whenever that ally is struck by an attack, that ally's attacker becomes Blinded for 5 seconds.

Weapon of Warding: 10 | 1 | 5
Weapon Spell. For 5...10 seconds, target ally has a Weapon of Warding that grants target ally +2...4 Health regeneration and a 50% chance to "block."

Wielder's Boon: 5 | 1/4 | 3
Spell. Heal target ally for 10...82 points. If that ally is under the effects of a "Weapon Spell," Wielder's Boon heals for an additional 10...82 Health.
(There's no real reason to use this instead of other options. Could use a buff to aid Ritualist healers.)

Attuned Was Songkai: 10 | 2 | 30
Elite Item Spell. Hold Songkai's ashes for up to 20 seconds. While you hold her ashes, your spells and Binding Rituals cost -5...41% of the base Energy to cast.
(Getting interrupted wrecks your whole build for 60 seconds...)

Boon of Creation: 5 | 2 | 30
Enchantment Spell. For 15...51 seconds, whenever you create a creature, you gain 5...41 Health and 1...5 Energy.
(A lot of these enchantments need to move with the times. Enchantment removal if rife...)

Consume Soul: 5 | 3/4 | 10
Elite Skill. Target touched Spirit is destroyed. All allies within the area of the destroyed Spirit are healed for 30...198 Health and lose 1 condition and 1 hex.
(A very under-used skill. This would make it far more useful.)

Explosive Growth: 10 | 2 | 30
Enchantment Spell. For 15...51 seconds, whenever you create a creature, up to 5 foes near that creature are struck for 20...56 lightning damage.

Renewing memories: 5 | 1 | 10
Enchantment Spell. For 5...17 seconds, while holding an item, any weapon and item Spells you cast cost 5...41% less Energy.

Spirit to Flesh: 5 | 3/4 | 10
Spell. Target touched allied Spirit is destroyed. All nearby allies are healed for 30...198.

Spirit's Gift: 15 | 2 | 30
Enchantment Spell. For 60 seconds, whenever you create a creature, all allies near that creature gain 15...63 Health and lose 1 Condition.

Wielder's Zeal: 5 | 1 | 10
Elite Enchantment Spell. For 10...30 seconds, whenever you cast a weapon Spell on an ally, you gain 1...5 Energy.
(Too much wrangling to get bonus energy from this fragile skill. The change will make it easier).

Draw Spirit: 5 | 1/4 | 5
Spell. Teleport target allied Spirit and all adjacent allied spirits to your location.

let me know what you think...

Karmaniac · Dec 07, 2006, 09:26 PM // 21:26

Looks pretty nice except that I think spirit siphon should be 5e, 5s recast. As in your suggestion it would still be a terrible energy gaining skill (31x0.33x1.1= whopping 1.25 energy) and really there are better skills to kill spirits. And remember the KISS-rule: why not just make it "if target allied spirits energy is below 15..5 it is destroyed"?

Another thing is that in most cases renewing memories>>wielder's zeal and to be honest weapon spells aren't hot enough to make me add either of the them in my skillbar.

Apart from that I like your suggestions. Shelter could still use a buff. I know people say that shelter is fine but there's miles from fine skill to good skill and lightyears from good skill to great skill IMO.

Gregslot · Dec 07, 2006, 10:11 PM // 22:11

I was going to create a thread with skill rebalancing for channeling skills, they are the ones who need an "upgrade".
You could at least show us how they are right now, i dont know them all.
Now i have to go to wiki and compare them all.
Ill be posting something in 15 minutes

Gregslot · Dec 07, 2006, 11:19 PM // 23:19

Ancestors Rage: humm, i dont see why not

Caretaker's Charge: Too much dmg, energy gain and healing. 10 energy maybe? I think the idea of this skill is to gain a bit of health at every 4 seconds, mantain your energy and also deal some damage.

Clamor of Souls: For gods sake no, it would be IMPOSSIBLE for ANY classe to get close to a group of ritualists, just image it, a warrior charging in againts a pack of spirits and then he gets fried. Make the damage ignore armor or reduce recharge to 8-10 and energy to 5.

Cruel Was Daoshen:: Sounds fair

Essence Strike: No, you already get 10 energy with 16 on Channeling

Grasping Was Kuurong: Hummm... ill stay neutral on this one.

Lamentation: 2 seconds casting time? You made it crappy! Maybe 15-20 seconds recharge, thats all.

Nightmare Weapon: Wont change much, but ok.

Offering of Spirit: i dont know...

Signet of Spirits: I see a little conflict in here. In 60 secs with Offering of Spirits you can get about +60 energy (considering ull lose 20 to cast it), but you will need only 1 spirit to get that much amount. And Signet of Spirits would require at least 2 spirits.

Spirit Boon Strike: I dont think you got the idea of the spirits in Gw, you shouldnt be able to heal them or else they would be far overpowering because it would take too long to kill them. I say the casting time should be 1 and thats all. If A.net would like to introduce a healing system for spirits they should go easy on them.

Spirit Siphon: Nice idea, but 33% of spirits energy is about 6 energy

Wailing Weapon: 10 | 3/4 | 15 plz

Weapon of Fury: I like your idea, this would work nicely for Dervishes. But the casting time should stay 1

Anguished Was Lingwah: I dunno, its too similar to Pain.

Armor of Unfeeling: Maybe too much dmg reduction, i liked it thoug

Binding Chains: In my opinion what makes this skill bad is the casting time

Bloodsong: No, this spirits heals himself.

Defiant Was Xinrae: Ahmm... might be ok.

Disenchantment: Sounds ok to me, you will have to use 25 energy anyways.

Dissonance: Should follow the same lin of thought as Desinchantment, reduce the recharge only, interrupting is a far powerful weapon againts anything, making you pay 25 energy contantly should do the trick.

No Dulled Weapon? Come on...

Restoration: 20 recharge will make it bad along with the 6 second to cast it, if u want to cast it constantly use Ritual Lord.

Shadowsong: It BLINDS! Its good as it is.

Soothing: Sry, no, its far too good against warriors. I agree with the 3 secs casting time thoug, to make it very good, but maybe no.

Weapon of Quickening: did u made it worst?

Xinrae's Weapon: 15 energy only, And make it target other ally.

Blind Was Mingson: Yea i dont know, maybe just 1 second? So that u can use it when u see ur about to be attacked by melee characters.

Recuperation: No point on reducing its Recharge, this would be a little more useful for 15 energy and 5 sec cast. But maybe no, its already uself, but the energy is really heavy.

Resilient Was Xiko: keep 1 second as casting time, if contemplation of purity can remove hexes why cant this skill remove too?

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ok i have to go now, sry =/

frojack · Dec 08, 2006, 01:37 AM // 01:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Karmaniac

Looks pretty nice except that I think spirit siphon should be 5e, 5s recast. As in your suggestion it would still be a terrible energy gaining skill (31x0.33x1.1= whopping 1.25 energy) and really there are better skills to kill spirits. And remember the KISS-rule: why not just make it "if target allied spirits energy is below 15..5 it is destroyed"?

Another thing is that in most cases renewing memories>>wielder's zeal and to be honest weapon spells aren't hot enough to make me add either of the them in my skillbar.

Apart from that I like your suggestions. Shelter could still use a buff. I know people say that shelter is fine but there's miles from fine skill to good skill and lightyears from good skill to great skill IMO.

About Siphon: Perhaps your right. I initially played with the idea of letting it work on all spirits as it does now, however I wanted to limit this ability to dedicated Channelers (the math's mean you'd need around 10/11+ for the ability to kill a spirit.
However the ability to kill spirits so easily was worrisome so I then changed it to only work on allied spirits. So I guess it's over-complicated. Your right about there being better skills for killing spirits, as there should be. Those however, live in the Spawning line. With the long awaited advent of skills like Gaze of Fury, I wanted to build on the ability for 'pure' channelers to detonate Destruction without using a skill tree they probably won't need.
Wielder's Zeal: Your so right! I just didn't really know what to do with it. It works well with Renewing (especially with my buff for Renewing) but it's hard to justify, there just aren't that many Weapon Spells you'd spam. Needs more work me thinks.

Shelter is very delicate. A dangerous skill to alter too much. Anyways, thanks for your thoughts.

@Gregslot.

Guildwiki exists for that very reason

. Why repeat something easily accessible?
Also, how familiar are you with Ritualists? A lot of people know of them but you really have to play as one for a while to realise how subtly hamstrung and also how strong they can be...

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Caretaker's Charge: Too much dmg, energy gain and healing. 10 energy maybe? I think the idea of this skill is to gain a bit of health at every 4 seconds, mantain your energy and also deal some damage.

As it is, it's not very good at all. Not worthy to be an elite. Increasing the cost to 10 energy would still be acceptable with my changes, though...

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Clamor of Souls: For gods sake no, it would be IMPOSSIBLE for ANY classe to get close to a group of ritualists, just image it, a warrior charging in againts a pack of spirits and then he gets fried. Make the damage ignore armor or reduce recharge to 8-10 and energy to 5.

That's the point. Why should it be so easy for warriors to come and decimate your defence then just pummel you in the face till you die shortly after. they should fear a stationary Ritualist enough to consider a better attack approach. As of right now, theres no need for warriors to do anything other than steam role a Ritualist. Think of it from a Ritualists Point of Veiw. This is your elite slot. On this piece of junk.
If you had said what about offensive teleporters? I would have said "so what? Ele's have been doing it for ages..."

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Essence Strike: No, you already get 10 energy with 16 on Channeling

A fair comment, but the 5,1,5 synergy is just 'Ritualist'. It feels right when I use Spirit Burn. It would mesh together far better. Besides, 3 seconds isn't completely game-breaking is it?

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Lamentation: 2 seconds casting time? You made it crappy! Maybe 15-20 seconds recharge, thats all.

Is Obsidian Flame crappy because it has a 2 second cast? No. How about Shadow Strike? No. Channeling Strike...? The simple fact is, an assault skill in a similar vain to Spirit Burn, Essence Strike, Wielder's Strike etc. with a 30 second recharge in Channeling (as gimped as this one is) is completely worthless on most bars. By increasing the range and dropping the recharge significantly, I almost created another, 'better' Gaze From Beyond. That is, in the days it was broken and dealt armour ignoring damage. A 2 second cast is a must for such a skill.

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Nightmare Weapon: Wont change much, but ok.

Nightmare Weapon is a delicate one. Too much and it becomes a vampiric free for all. Too little and nobody cares.

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Wailing Weapon: 10 | 3/4 | 15 plz

Nope. Too strong. Later in this you talk of gimping warriors. This is the ultimate warrior gimp skill. Besides 15 energy gives it synergy with Warmonger's Weapon.

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Signet of Spirits: I see a little conflict in here. In 60 secs with Offering of Spirits you can get about +60 energy (considering ull lose 20 to cast it), but you will need only 1 spirit to get that much amount. And Signet of Spirits would require at least 2 spirits.

OoS over 60 seconds grant's you 64 energy at max channeling. However it cost's you 20. net gain is actually 40. Plus it's a spell. The implecations are obvious (Mesmer hate). Besides. SoS is all about Rolling with Spirits. At optimal efficiency it will out-perform OoS but it's stationary and needs fragile allies to achieve this. That's the whole deal with balancing power...

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Spirit Boon Strike: I dont think you got the idea of the spirits in Gw, you shouldnt be able to heal them or else they would be far overpowering because it would take too long to kill them. I say the casting time should be 1 and thats all. If A.net would like to introduce a healing system for spirits they should go easy on them.

I don't think you've used spirits enough. They are so fragile it's almost funny. In pvp they are a complete joke. If you think Spirit Boon Strike at a 10 second recharge instead of 20 is a 'healing System' for spirits, you are sadly mistaken.

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Spirit Siphon: Nice idea, but 33% of spirits energy is about 6 energy

Your math's is somewhat off. 33% of 31 rounds to about 10 energy. 110 percent of that is 11 energy gain. Paltry I know, but the deal here is for killing the spirit essentially for free. I imagined with the scale value at 16, this would be at around 50% spirit energy loss and 140% energy gain. That's 22.5 or 22 energy gain; thus a net 12 energy. Not a bad deal for a full-time Ritualist. It may seem over-powered but remember, spirits have finite energy. They do have regen though

. That's the real trick here you see. The smarter players will using this to have effectively 2 energy bars. Hows' about that for using your head?

.

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Weapon of Fury: I like your idea, this would work nicely for Dervishes. But the casting time should stay 1

It's already 'nice' for Dervish, but it's JUNK for Ritualist's. That's the point see? This thread isn't about making rit skills better for everyone else. Screw the other classes. They have their own skills. This is about improving things for the Ritualist primaries. With even rangers finding it easier to use your own spirits? There is serious imbalance...
This skills would become a serious energy engine that can also power other people without sac-ing yourself to death. The 2 second cast is there so it can be interrupted and locked.

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Anguished Was Lingwah: I dunno, its too similar to Pain.

Again, that's the point. The recharge and cost of this thing didn't reflect the improvements made to the Pain spirit itself. This corrects that...

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Armor of Unfeeling: Maybe too much dmg reduction, i liked it thoug

I don't believe it's over-powered. Creating spirits doesn't take that long. You only have the deduction during that period. Just like Protective Spirit, it doesn't stop you from actually dying

.

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Binding Chains: In my opinion what makes this skill bad is the casting time

Cast- time is ok. The fact that it's removed so easily is what's annoying. If used well enough, you can delay offensive's for a little while giving you time to do stuff (spirit's). One screw up or hex removal and there goes your game plan.

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Dissonance: Should follow the same lin of thought as Desinchantment, reduce the recharge only, interrupting is a far powerful weapon againts anything, making you pay 25 energy contantly should do the trick.

Not sure what your saying but it does cost 25 energy already

. If you refer to the cast-time, 5 seconds for any spirit is completely ridiculous. Especially since a team can go make a cup of coffee and then on returning, destroy the thing in less than half the time it took you to create it. Anything above 3 seconds is an advert in huge, neon lights. Huge exploding neon lights even...

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No Dulled Weapon? Come on...

I see nothing wrong with it. The bane of all assassins and Dervish (haha, no more auto-crit for you guys).

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Restoration: 20 recharge will make it bad along with the 6 second to cast it, if u want to cast it constantly use Ritual Lord.

That makes no sense. It's recharge now is 45 seconds, and it's a res skill with really (REALLY) poor range. Ritual Lord has nothing to do with how crap this is.

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Shadowsong: It BLINDS! Its good as it is.

Soothing: Sry, no, its far too good against warriors. I agree with the 3 secs casting time thoug, to make it very good, but maybe no.

For both of these, Same as before... Warriors have it good in this game. So they can deal nasty damage without even using adrenaline. Shadowsong does indeed blind, but it also attacks what it wants and again 5 seconds is stupid.

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Weapon of Quickening: did u made it worst?

Perhaps... Though now it would function on skills aswell. It could scale all the way to 33%, it would be un-removable (unlike Serpent's Quickness) and would outlast it's recharge by a fair margin. Dnno' really. It was just and idea I guess. Not really a necessary buff.

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Xinrae's Weapon: 15 energy only, And make it target other ally.

That would be worse than the current skill. If you can't even use it on yourself, why bother with it? Remember it's an elite skill...

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Blind Was Mingson: Yea i dont know, maybe just 1 second? So that u can use it when u see ur about to be attacked by melee characters.

That's basically the idea. 1 second would also be acceptable. I'm quite partial 2 3/4 second though...

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Recuperation: No point on reducing its Recharge, this would be a little more useful for 15 energy and 5 sec cast. But maybe no, its already uself, but the energy is really heavy.

I understand why Anet made it 25 energy, but I still (even now) don't agree with it. There's probably some logic behind it so I left it as it is. At a 30 second recharge, it's far more flexible though. It would be as usable as Life (barring the energy costs of course).

Some of that may have sound bad but I don't mean to be offensive or anything. Thanks a lot for your opinion

. I really am trying to improve things for the Ritualist as a whole. How useful these sklls are to other classes is most certainly a secondary concern. Keep em coming...

Flopjack · Dec 08, 2006, 02:35 AM // 02:35

This is my input as someone who place Ritualist quite a bit, both in PvE and PvP.

Ancestors' Rage: 10 | 3/4 | 5
Spell. All foes adjacent to target ally are struck for 10...82 lightning damage.

I would rather see the same stats with the area increased to nearby and possibly a little extra longer recharge. Adjacent is hard to work with on this skill, especially seeing as how it is a buff, in one sense.

Caretaker's Charge: 5 | 1 | 8
Elite Spell. Target foe is struck for 10..94 lightning damage. If you are holding an item, you gain 14 Energy and 10..94 Health.

I think I would prefer to have this skill's damage, health gain and energy gain pushed up just a little. +10-20ish more damage and +1-2 more energy. Leave rest alone.

Clamor of Souls: 10 | 3/4 | 10
Elite Spell. For each nearby ally, one nearby foe is struck for 10...94 lightning damage.

Take energy cost to 5, leave how it is. I agree with... whoever said it. This spell hitting same person more than once would be a little too powerful.

Cruel Was Daoshen: 10 | 1 | 30
Item Spell. Hold Daoshen's ashes for up to 15...51 seconds. When you drop his ashes, all nearby foes are struck for 10...94 lightning damage.

Sure.

Essence Strike: 5 | 1 | 5
Spell. Target foe is struck for 15..51 lightning damage. If any spirits are in the area around you, you gain 1..7 energy.

I say leave how it is.

Grasping Was Kuurong: 15 | 2 | 20
Elite Item Spell. Hold Kuurong's ashes for up to 15...51 seconds. When you drop his ashes, all nearby foes are struck for 10...94 damage and knocked down.

Sounds good, for an elite item spell and energy cost.

Lamentation: 5 | 2 | 10
Spell. If target foe is in ear shot of any corpse or Spirit, that foe takes 10..82 damage.

1/4 cast is important, which is why it has a longer recharge. My guess is it was something they gave Rits to help out in a spike. Possibly a little shorter recharge.

Nightmare Weapon: 5 | 1 | 10
Weapon Spell. For 15 seconds, target ally has a Nightmare Weapon. Target ally's next successful attack is reduced by 15...51 Damage and steals up to 15...51 Health.

How about this:
Nightmare Weapon. 10|1|15
Weapon spell. For 15 seconds, the next 3 attack made by target ally are reduced by 10-50 and steal up to 10-50 health.

Offering of Spirit: 5 | 1/4 | 15 (sac 17%)
Elite Spell. Sacrifice 17% maximum Health. You gain 5...17 Energy. If any Spirits are in the area, you do not sacrifice Health.

Here is why this spell gives only a smaller amount of energy compared to other energy gains. If you are near a spirit, there is no penalty. OoB takes 20% health, Mantra make you wait for 20 seconds. This is the only spell in the game that just blams your self some energy for no penalty. This is a good spell if you are maintaining 1 or 2 spirits at a time.

Signet of Spirits: 1 | 20
Elite Signet. You gain 1...6 Energy. You gain an additional 0...4 Energy for each spirit in the area (maximum 5...17 Energy).

I guess... This skill gives back more energy than Mantra of Recall or OoB, provided you have spirits around you. Sure, I use this skill, we can buff it a little.

Spirit Boon Strike: 10 | 2 |10
Spell. Target foe is struck for 10...82 lightning damage, and all spirits near you gain 10...82 Health.

Agreed. Take off the 2 sec cast and make it 1 second.

Spirit Siphon: 10 | 1/4 | 2
Spell. Target spirit loses 0..33% Energy. You gain 0..110% of that Energy. If target allied Spirit loses 30...8 Energy and has less than 5 energy left, that spirit is destroyed.

I disagree. 9/10 times I don't want to destroy my spirit, i just want it's energy. And this was never useless skill before hand. (whoever said that) Compare it to essense strike, you can use it almost 3 times as often for same energy gain.

Wailing Weapon: 15 | 3/4 | 15
Weapon Spell. For 5..10 seconds, target ally has a Wailing Weapon. Whenever the Wailing Weapon strikes an attacking foe, that foe is interrupted.

I agree. Warmonger's weapon is nuts compared to this skill.

Weapon of Fury: 5 | 2 | 8
Elite Weapon Spell. For 5...13 seconds, target ally gains 5...41% more adrenaline and 1 Energy for each attack and 0..2 energy per spell.

I don't think it should effect spells. It should however give 100% more adrenaline (level 15). ... I dunno, maybe it could effect spells...

Anguished Was Lingwah: 10 | 3 | 30
Item Spell. Hold Lingwah's ashes for up to 30...126 seconds. Dropping her ashes summons a level 1...8 Spirit of Pain that does 5...25 damage. This Spirit dies after 30...126 seconds.

Yes, it is lame how this one deals less damage.

Armor of Unfeeling: 10 | 1 | 20
Enchantment Spell. For 10...30 seconds, you have 5-21 base damage reduction while casting Binding Rituals.

Good call.

Binding Chains: 15 | 2 | 20
Hex Spell. For 5...15 seconds, target foe moves 90% slower and cannot attack. Binding Chains ends if that foe takes damage.

Keep how it is.

Bloodsong: 15 | 3 | 30
Binding Ritual. Create a level 1..7 Spirit who dies after 30..126 seconds. Attacks by that Spirit steal up to 5..21 Health.

I don't agree. Some spirits have really powerful effects. Bloodsong however... could go with 3... maybe 4 second cast.

Defiant Was Xinrae: 15 | 1/4 | 15
Elite Item Spell. Hold Xinrae's ashes for up to 5...10 seconds. While you hold her ashes, enemy Spells that the caster and the caster's allies use against you are disabled for an additional 5...17 seconds.

This energy cost should be 5. This only helps ONE person, the one who is carrying it, and your not even guarnteed they will target you once you use it.

Disenchantment: 25 | 3 | 30
Binding Ritual. Create a level 1..7 Spirit. This Spirit deals 5..17 damage and anyone struck by its attack loses one Enchantment. This Spirit dies after 10..30 seconds.

Keep 5 second cast, this can potientially rape enchantments.

Dissonance: 25 | 3 | 45
Binding Ritual. Create a level 1...7 Spirit. This Spirit deals 5...17 damage and anyone struck by its attack is interrupted. This Spirit dies after 10...30 seconds.

Keep 5 seconds, but good on additional life time. This spirits is annoying... so annoying.

Restoration: 15 | 6 | 20
Binding Ritual. Create a level 1...8 Spirit. When this Spirit dies, all Party members in the area are resurrected with 15...63% Health and zero Energy. This Spirit dies after 30 seconds.

Keep 3 second cast time, make it die in 20 seconds OR res in "ear shot" radius.

Shadowsong: 15 | 3 | 45
Binding Ritual. Create a level 1...5 Spirit. The Spirit's attacks cause Blindness for 1...5 second[s]. This Spirit dies after 30 seconds.

Good.

Soothing: 15 | 3 | 45
Binding Ritual. Create a level 1...7 Spirit. All foes within its range take twice as long to build adrenaline. This Spirit dies after 15...39 seconds.

Keep 25 mana. Rapes warriors too hard.

Weapon of Quickening: 15 | 2 | 15
Elite Weapon Spell. For 5...21 seconds, target ally has a Weapon of Quickening, and Spells, Binding Rituals and Skills recharge 0...25% faster.

Just say: All skills, but keep energy cost at 10 and recharge at 10.

Xinrae's Weapon: 15 | 1/4 | 25
Elite Weapon Spell. For 4...9 seconds, target ally has Xinrae's Weapon. Whenever a foe casts a Spell on that ally, that Spell is disabled for an additional 5...13 seconds for that foe and all party members of that foe.

If energy cost of other is 5, then yes.

Blind Was Mingson: 5 | 2 | 10
Item Spell. Hold Mingson's ashes for up to 15...51 seconds. When you drop his ashes, all adjacent foes are Blinded for 3...7 seconds.

Sounds good.

Recuperation: 25 | 3 | 30
Binding Ritual. Create a level 1...8 Spirit. Non-Spirit allies within its range gain +1...3 Health regeneration. This Spirit dies after 15...39 seconds.

Sure... I guess.

Resilient Was Xiko: 10 | 2 |10
5...17 seconds. For each Hex or Condition you are suffering from while holding her ashes you gain +2 Health regeneration. When you drop her ashes, you lose 1...3 Conditions and 0..1 hexes.
(It's about time I think...)

No, just because CoP removes hexes doesn't justify this one too. First off, the rit cannot and should not be able to remove hexes. Second, CoP is 1: a diff class skill and 2: a primary attribute. You don't say, well Vampiric gaze steals health, why doesn't conjure phantasm?

If it isn't already, keep energy to 5... (which I think it is)

Spirit Light Weapon: 5 | 1 | 5
Elite Weapon Spell. For 10 seconds, target ally gains 1...12 Health per second and additional 1...12 Health per second and 0...1 energy if that ally is near a spirit.

I disagree. This skill amounts to about 7-8 health regeneration, if near a spirit. For 5 mana, and something that cannot be removed, that isn't bad at all.

Tranquil Was Tanasen: 5 | 2 | 15
Elite Item Spell. Hold Tanasen's ashes for up to 5...17 seconds. While you hold his ashes, you have +10...25 armor and cannot be interrupted.

This skill, I agree, should be able to be held indefinately.

Weapon of Shadow: 10 | 3/4 | 15
Weapon Spell. For 5...10 seconds, target ally has a Weapon of Shadow. Whenever that ally is struck by an attack, that ally's attacker becomes Blinded for 5 seconds.

Yes. This skill, as a defensive skill, should be something like this.

Weapon of Warding: 10 | 1 | 5
Weapon Spell. For 5...10 seconds, target ally has a Weapon of Warding that grants target ally +2...4 Health regeneration and a 50% chance to "block."

Possibly... This skill is essentially a chunkier guardian. If a typical

Wielder's Boon: 5 | 1/4 | 3
Spell. Heal target ally for 10...82 points. If that ally is under the effects of a "Weapon Spell," Wielder's Boon heals for an additional 10...82 Health.

This skill heals just under Spirit light, which is a very poweful 5 mana heal, if a weapon spell is on them. healing for 160+ health for just 5 mana seems a bit too much.

Attuned Was Songkai: 10 | 2 | 30
Elite Item Spell. Hold Songkai's ashes for up to 20 seconds. While you hold her ashes, your spells and Binding Rituals cost -5...41% of the base Energy to cast.

That is why you cast it BEFORE enemies are in range.

Boon of Creation: 5 | 2 | 30
Enchantment Spell. For 15...51 seconds, whenever you create a creature, you gain 5...41 Health and 1...5 Energy.

Yeah.

Consume Soul: 5 | 3/4 | 10
Elite Skill. Target touched Spirit is destroyed. All allies within the area of the destroyed Spirit are healed for 30...198 Health and lose 1 condition and 1 hex.

Keep same stats, heal for less. Heal entire party.

Explosive Growth: 10 | 2 | 30
Enchantment Spell. For 15...51 seconds, whenever you create a creature, up to 5 foes near that creature are struck for 20...56 lightning damage.

Yes.

Renewing memories: 5 | 1 | 10
Enchantment Spell. For 5...17 seconds, while holding an item, any weapon and item Spells you cast cost 5...41% less Energy.

Recharge yes, less enegy, no.

Spirit to Flesh: 5 | 3/4 | 10
Spell. Target touched allied Spirit is destroyed. All nearby allies are healed for 30...198.

Yes.

Spirit's Gift: 15 | 2 | 30
Enchantment Spell. For 60 seconds, whenever you create a creature, all allies near that creature gain 15...63 Health and lose 1 Condition.

Yes. 10 or 5 energy, since radius is only near. Something similar possibly. Not so sure about condition removal also.

Wielder's Zeal: 5 | 1 | 10
Elite Enchantment Spell. For 10...30 seconds, whenever you cast a weapon Spell on an ally, you gain 1...5 Energy.

Sure.

Draw Spirit: 5 | 1/4 | 5

No, it should have little or NO recharge however. I may not want the union spirit next to my Shadowsong.

____________

Some of MY fixes:

Life. 5/3/15
When this spirits dies, all allies within it's ranger gain 1...6 health for each second this spirit was alive. This spirit dies after 20 seconds.

This is basically identical to Destruction, and no where else does damage come as easily as healing as fast as cost, cast or recharge of any skill. (adrenaline is only exception)

Restoration: Move to RESTORATION magic? I dunno, makes sense to me.

Soul Twisting: I read somewhere on these forums this does not effect Ranger spirits. It should. Ritualists are the masters of all spirits. Let them be so!

Anguish: lower cost to 15 mana.

Preservation: Instead of healing random allies. Heals closest and ally with least amount of health within it's range. This would become a strong skill then.

I sometimes see my spirits just sitting and doing nothing. Fix misc spirit glitches. Shadow song should target physicals over casters, if they come into range. Disenchant should look for enchantments to remove. Dissonence should taget casters, if it can. Add a few more spirit models. Change life to the still model type.

Empowerment: Lower recharge... 30 secs maybe.

Done!

Terra Xin · Dec 08, 2006, 03:08 AM // 03:08

oh my god... please please leave the skill balances to the developers... *sigh* alright. Let's take another look at the proposed skill changes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by frojack

Caretaker's Charge: 5 | 1 | 8
Elite Spell. Target foe is struck for 10..94 lightning damage. If you are holding an item, you gain 14 Energy and 10..94 Health.
(Currently, it's pretty poor. I'd sooner have a higher benefit and double the recharge than it's current state.)

This equates to 9 energy every 9 seconds. Are you crazy? It effectively comes to having +3 energy rengeneration on a permanent basis. It's fine as it is.

As a Channeler, Essence Strike is a very powerful tool for energy management. Reducing the recharge time to 5 seconds, and you've made this skill equal to your proposed Caretaker's Charge when it comes to energy recovery.

Oh my god I can't believe you touched Lamentation....

Quote:

Originally Posted by frojack

Lamentation: 5 | 2 | 10
Spell. If target foe is in ear shot of any corpse or Spirit, that foe takes 10..82 damage.
(Ritualist Obsidian Flame. If a little more gimped).

Alright, if you want Lamentation to be more like Obsidian Flame... then play an elementalist and leave this skill alone. This is my best weapon, I'm going to come crashing with screams and horrid shouts if this skill gets read by anet...

... the proposed skill changes seem to get worse and worse. Here's what I propose.... Please, dear god do not let this thread see the light of day!!!

frojack · Dec 08, 2006, 06:23 AM // 06:23

Hey. Don't have a heart attack, and banging your head against a wall might actually hurt ^_^. Seriously though, these are just idea's. last I checked, I'm not an employee of Anet. I'm sure they will balance as they see fit. Regardless of what happens here, or on any fan site...

Caretaker's Charge is an okay skill. The energy is the point I guess. Would it still not be just as useful with twice the benefit at the double the recharge? As I'd prefer spending that short spikeey window trying to kill a target, rathar than trying to get energy with low power skills. Whatever anyways, it's up in the air. If more people feel as you do, I'll remove that one.

About Lamentation. Well I'm happy for you but this skill is weak. If you like the cast-time, which is what I'm guessing here, then so be it. A 30 second recharge is criminally long though.

Thanks for the input, but no more hysterics please.

Edit: @ Flopjack (interesting name ^_^).

Thanks for your opinions. I won't address them all, but I will say this much. I really do believe that all spirits should have a cast time of 3 seconds or less. 5 is just too restrictive and above all else, 'obvious'.

We can't be the only people who use Ritualists. All this is from my own perspective, and that perspective is skewed to my tastes and usages. Ritualists are highly precarious by nature. So subtly flexible, relying on the style/personality of play rather than just standard synergy for builds. Some like to front-load damage continually, others like to spike in bursts. Others like the slow pace of spirits to dominate the battlefield. So many ways to play... A skill balance needs to have a LOT of varied user input to for it to be accurate.
Some of my assertions are probably absurd to most of you, so it would help to get more views about the skills changes. Thanks in advance....

Flopjack · Dec 08, 2006, 06:04 PM // 18:04

(Ya like that name? I laughed when I read yours. "Flopjack" is like 10 years old.)

I totally agree with tweaking Ritualists in specific areas. I also think however some of the spirits deserve a longer casting time because of their powerful effects on the battle field. Which brings out a weakness (as it should be) for Ritualists; inturruption.

On a side note I just thought of: one thing that ticks me off is people whine because Ritualists are not as strong as Eles, cannot heal as good as Monks or some other unfair comparison. Well duh, they are not supposed to be able to. They are a support class, for one. They can also do things no other class can do, such as: Weapon spells, a positive effect on an ally that cannot be removed Spirits such as Reccuperation, Recovery, or Union give your entire party a bonus, not just one person. I think there are spells like Aegis or Heal Party, but you are able to work out different effects with Ritualists.

The last thing I think is funny is a "tainted skill" idea. People drop Ritual Lord like it was hot because they dropped the recharge % bonus, when in fact the majority of the spirits lost 15 seconds of recharge anyways, that is a 25% reduction time. The build got boosted, but because so many people just looked at Ritual Lord nerf, they missed it. There was added mana cost to shelter, which needed that anyways, and a little less energy gain from Boon of Creation, but they also added new ways of keep spirits alive longer too.

I dunno, Rits are fun. I think people miss their potiential and versatality.

Amity and Truth · Dec 08, 2006, 07:23 PM // 19:23

Ritual Lord was dropped because of the raised energy cost for those binding rituals, not due to the recharge time.

Karmaniac · Dec 08, 2006, 10:11 PM // 22:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flopjack

(Ya like that name? I laughed when I read yours. "Flopjack" is like 10 years old.)

I totally agree with tweaking Ritualists in specific areas. I also think however some of the spirits deserve a longer casting time because of their powerful effects on the battle field. Which brings out a weakness (as it should be) for Ritualists; inturruption.

On a side note I just thought of: one thing that ticks me off is people whine because Ritualists are not as strong as Eles, cannot heal as good as Monks or some other unfair comparison. Well duh, they are not supposed to be able to. They are a support class, for one. They can also do things no other class can do, such as: Weapon spells, a positive effect on an ally that cannot be removed Spirits such as Reccuperation, Recovery, or Union give your entire party a bonus, not just one person. I think there are spells like Aegis or Heal Party, but you are able to work out different effects with Ritualists.

The last thing I think is funny is a "tainted skill" idea. People drop Ritual Lord like it was hot because they dropped the recharge % bonus, when in fact the majority of the spirits lost 15 seconds of recharge anyways, that is a 25% reduction time. The build got boosted, but because so many people just looked at Ritual Lord nerf, they missed it. There was added mana cost to shelter, which needed that anyways, and a little less energy gain from Boon of Creation, but they also added new ways of keep spirits alive longer too.

I dunno, Rits are fun. I think people miss their potiential and versatality.

Contrary to popular belief 5 seconds is a long time in GW and the effects spirit offer are unacceptable compared to casting time. Geez, SS can ruin your day and its what? 2 seconds? A poor example but an example nevertheless. And how about weapon spells? Seriously I'm yet to see ONE build centering around them.
And what comes to Ritual Lord the nerf wasn't the reason why so many ritualists left. It was the complete no-nonsense joint effort nerf on RL, Shelter and Boon of Creation that put people off. Spirits being the trademark of ritualists nd since the rest of the alternatives were quite easily outshined by their core counterparts the whole profession just quietly passed away.
And yes, we got skills that let spirits last longer- in an expansion no way affiliated with Cantha or Factions.

Sniper Corps · Dec 09, 2006, 04:36 AM // 04:36

I was PISSED when they nerfed my Spirit Spammer Build. Well it wasnt a big nerf, but they changed it!

Thats jsut not cool. Rits have it hard enough since they have only 2 real Builds. Spirits and Channeling.

Zuranthium · Dec 14, 2006, 05:19 PM // 17:19

I like the change to a 3 second cast time for the spirits you listed that used to have 5.

I think the class needs a TON of work with regards to item and weapon spells. They are a unique part of the class and mostly suck. I liked a lot of your suggestions.

Also, I don't believe the Ritualist class should have ANY enchantments. Boon of Creation, Explosive Growth, etc., should act just like Ritual Lord.

~Z

Epinephrine · Dec 14, 2006, 05:32 PM // 17:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Wrong

I was PISSED when they nerfed my Spirit Spammer Build. Well it wasnt a big nerf, but they changed it!

Thats jsut not cool. Rits have it hard enough since they have only 2 real Builds. Spirits and Channeling.

So wrong.

frojack · Dec 14, 2006, 08:17 PM // 20:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Epinephrine

Originally Posted by Mr. Wrong...

Quality

...

falling demon · Dec 14, 2006, 10:23 PM // 22:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by frojack

Consume Soul: 5 | 3/4 | 10
Elite Skill. Target touched Spirit is destroyed. All allies within the area of the destroyed Spirit are healed for 30...198 Health and lose 1 condition and 1 hex.
(A very under-used skill. This would make it far more useful.)

Seriously? if its going to work like that, make it target touched ALLIED spirit. the W/Rt's carrying this were bad enough, if you add condition and hex removal to that the whole universe is buggered. Either that, or reduce it to 0...1 Condition and 0...1 hex (would NOT go up to 2 at attrib 16)