As I posted in the update thread, this will make for some interesting choices for warriors when choosing armor.
With the update, all types of warrior armor have a 100AL versus physical and 80AL versus elemental. So, now you have to analyze the difference (I'm only assuming chest and skirt here)...
Gladiator's +5 Energy
Knight's -3 Dmg vs Physical
Platemail +10 Armor vs Elemental
Berserker's +25 Health
Legionnaire's +10 Armor vs Elemental, +10 Armor vs Physical (if in a stance)
Sentinel's +20 Armor vs Elemental (if Strength is 13)
Very interesting choices there.
Not really. Knight's isn't really a choice, since in PvP, you won't get hit by warriors unless they're using elemental weapons. In PvE, you'll be taking damage from too many different choices to justify the -3 vs Physical.
Well, I'm surprised that this thread hasn't been merged with the update thread. Since it's not being merged, I suppose there is merit to mentioning this here since the armour is being discussed elsewhere as well.. Some people are complaining about the 'nerf' to Knight's Armour.. It's not a nerf.
I am really happy that Knight's Armour has been fixed, finally. That has been a pet peeve of mine for some time. If you like the skin and wear a full set, you either deal with the 'noob' comments as well as people trying to 'explain' to you why you shouldn't wear a full set, or you shut off the all channel (which is no good when looking for a group). Now there's a reason to wear it. I know quite a few people who wanted this fix. In fact, I went out of my way to bring it up every chance I could just in case they had missed it,
So, don't blame ANet for trying to find a way to nerf warriors. They did this because it was a bug that has existed since release as well as because some of their players specifically asked for the fix. If anyone is to blame it is those of us that wanted it fixed. I know I have talked about it with quite a few people in other threads (including the lt helm threads - if you remember Ensign :-), and I have seen other people bring it up as well.
The runes, however, are something of a mystery. Their very nature is magical (magical runes) so I don't know why they made them vs physical only. That one escapes me. Perhaps it was a mistake by the person fixing the armours (maybe he/she just kept going lol).. As far as elemental damage and the shields, there seems to be a conflict. A shield should not stop an Icy Dragon Sword or Fiery Dragon Sword as there is no physical component to their 'blades'.
However, that is not the case with arrows (which seems to be a big gripe amongst people I have talked to). A fiery/ignited arrow has a physical shaft and arrowhead of some sort, surrounded by fire, which means it should indeed be hit by and slowed down by a shield. I think the problem lies in the fact that the game does not distinguish between an arrow that is on fire and a fireball. They probably should be two different things.
The damage reduciton on runes is magical so should protect against magical. The damage reduction on Knight's Armour has always seemed to exist because of its crafting/quality as opposed to anything magical, therefore it should indeed only be more useful against physical damage. Maybe they will fix the runes. I don't think the shields need to be fixed, but rather fix the exception to the elemental damage rule (arrows). They can be modified somehow since they are really exceptions to the elemental damage class of attacks. This would probably apply to all melee weapons and not just arrows (swords - except IDS and FDS, hammer, and axes), but NOT to stuff like fireballs which are true elemental creations.
Mods: If this thread is merged with the update thread (if there is a reason for it), then please feel free to delete this post.
The only thing I don't like is them changing the global damage reduction. I heard someone say that this has been a glitch all along, but then my question is: Why didn't they figure out how to fix it a year ago? Why wait all this time to nerf something so big? That is the only problem I have with the update.
It's possible that it took them that long to solve the glitch, or that they prioritized fixing it fairly low and its number came up.
Not really. Knight's isn't really a choice, since in PvP, you won't get hit by warriors unless they're using elemental weapons. In PvE, you'll be taking damage from too many different choices to justify the -3 vs Physical.
It's true that Knight's isn't a valid choice (other than for troll/grawl farmers that will see only physical damage), but I think the locational/rune/shield adjustment will really make those with other armors reconsider their choices.
In other words, I currently have a warrior decked out in gladiator's other than the boots.
With the loss of -10 damage versus elemental attacks protection (i.e. knights boots/superior absorption/-2 -3 shield), I'm very worried that the vulnerability of my warrior to those attacks may not warrant the extra energy any further.
So, I may wind up looking at one of the other armor choices that provide more protection versus elemental attacks because of this.
I'm just pissed that I have to go out there and buy armor again. Yay for no money..
I use 15/-5 weps on my Warrior (who wears Gladiators armor and a piece of knights) because i never needed that much energy after the nerf of gale. Now if I want to get new armor, it will probably mean new weapons T.T
I agree somewhat, you can always improvise and adapt, but when you have to do it so much and so often that the game stops being enjoyable for you, that isn't good news.
It's a BIG change in PvE. Wars will be much more delicate in mid-game and have a much harder time farming elemental critters. I wonder if single mod +10 vs element shields will be valuable now?
time for new green shields/collector shields then... +30hp +10AR vs fire/cold/whatever, cos othervise price on shields with armor bonus vs elem is going to sky-rocket.
feel bad now about getting rid of my old shield with +9AR vs lightining
edit:
Jetdog r u trying to say that sup absorbtion rune is locational now
Last edited by Y.T.; Jul 14, 2006 at 06:45 PM // 18:45..
I dont qutie see how it is that big...3 dmg from absorb rune, 2 from shield? It isnt that big a deal as far as I can tell...
It's a huge deal in PvE, when you're being pounded by 7-8 opponents at once, especially from ranged distance by the casters.
For many of us, the bonus from Knights/Rune/Shield combo was -10 damage versus all sources.
Now, if you're getting hit by seven opponents with elemental damage (e.g. in the IDS cave), that's an additional 70 damage per second you're taking. Ouch.
I'm so mad at this update...I just got a 15k Luxon set for my Warrior earlier in the day that the update was put into effect...I had to spend another 23k or so for crafting and materials for new boots...and now Sup Ab Runes aren't that useful anymore...
My guess is that the change to damage reduction has more to do with trying to make Elementalists more useful in PvP, than it does with nerfing warriors. Although, if that was the case, they should have boosted elementalist's damage, than nerf damage reduction.
I like how people mentioned this nerf to warriors has created a balance, buffing the elemental potential. As if 90% blind from Flash, 50% AOE miss from Blurred Vision, and 50% evasion with their melee wards wasn't putting the warrior to shame enough as it was. Not to mention the slows eles have to offer and new Ward of Stability to counter what every warrior brings in PvP (Shock or Hammer build). So now eles can also do much more damage to warriors (up to 10 more per attack) and this is balance? Ele spikes just got that much more disgusting, and who said eles should have an easy time taking down the Tank Class? It should be hard to kill them by nature.
There were already various counters to take out a warrior's entire offensive--in the elementalist skills alone. That is not even taking into account monk prot, ranger traps/cripples/dirt/conditions, mesmer empathy, SS necro, Rit spirit spammers (holding/balled teams), and many more.
After that the only real thing they had going for them was their incredible tanking ability, and it just got rocked--Big Time. 3 Nerfs were made to their armor. One knight piece is no longer globally beneficial. All knight pieces are now physical reduct only--which a warrior never should worry about over elemental damage, and makes the Knight/Ascalon sets entirely useless. And then shields--which could offer 2 to 5 constant -damage used in the right situations (stanced/enchanted+stanced/stanced+hexed/+5 20%).
Edit: Eek excuse me, 4 nerfs to armor--forgot to mention Absorption Rune: Still global reduction I believe, but also -3 to physical damage only.
Damage reduction applied to almost everything that threatens a warrior, and now it applies to almost nothing. Physical harm should never be a warrior's concern, and if he knows it will be--he has stances up the wazuu to equip and assist him. To top it all off, the warriors got hardly any buffs in the skill updates. Oh, and another "already amazing" counter to wars, Enfeebling Blood, just got a huge buff:
Enfeebling Blood: increased the area-of-effect to "nearby".
Warriors just got destroyed on a grand scale last night, for PvP and PvE players alike. It doesn't take a warrior player to decipher that out.
Last edited by Brutaniu Mason; Jul 14, 2006 at 08:18 PM // 20:18..
Change is good its stops the game becoming stale with the builds being used by everyone.
If the "change is good" cliché phrase so many love to throw around in life is ridiculous trite rambling.
Lets see someone step in front of a speeding car and enjoy the change.
Point: Change is change and it is not always good, though good things can come. However, worse matters can often come by way of change as well, which might be why human nature's natural tendency is resistant to change more often then not.
Game seemed far from stale from what I have observed over the last year, though I see quite a few noobs doing nothing but standing around in town saying they are bored.. BUT.. no change there