Feedback New Skill Talents

can someone plz translate the ranger skills

 

I got a chance to play a level 45 SW on the TS, which happens to be the class I know the most about, so...

My overall impression with the skill system is good. I like that the skill menu and the talent menu are now unified to just the "S" hotkey. I like how when you select talents, it actually shows up in the pop-up bubble for the skill itself to show that the skill was modified. I also like that if you just want to change one or two things, you can manually deselect instead of resetting everything and having to start over.


Some of the changes to SWs that I like:

• Singularity armor break is now by default, but the damage is not. I guess the devs finally realized that 99.9% of mages pick the armor break talent, and nobody uses the noisy guardian talent. Lol.
• Lightning Strike costs 60 mana to cast by default, rather than 75. This boosts the utility of the spell even without the mana cost reduction.
  
• Damage and utility of Destructor Beam boosted. This was always my favorite massive spell to cast, and it's finally getting a lot more love. It's always a risky spell to cast because you're immobilized on the spot until it's done, so I'm glad it can reduce its own cooldown time provided you use it correctly, and deal even more damage now.
• I like that there are increased options for mana regen now, that don't depend on having crazy fast attack speed. This move really supports diversifying the SW class and supports the existence of slow leg 2h SWs.
  
• There is the ability to speed up a SW after a teleport. (25% for 1 second.) Finally, SWs can move faster than whatever their gear/gems provide!
  
• Healing. On kill. By magic missile. Actually, I just like this idea in theory, pretty good chance you won't be seeing me use it because I have no attack speed and I only build glass cannon SWs. Buahahahaha.

Some of the changes to SWs that I don't like:

• Base mana regen went from 13/sec down to 12/sec. -_- So now I have to buy it back using the wisdom tree? -grumble-
• Frost Wind does not do a stun on default, unless a talent is selected. Um, I believe every other class has at least 2 stuns by default without needing to select a talent (unless that's been changed too, then I don't know). How come we lose a stun? We now only have frost nova stunning by default, which is really weird imo. Our lightning stuns were never by default, but by selection of talents. So I guess now you can have SWs with almost no stun capacity, just a lot of damage output. XD

Some changes that confused me! (Not speaking German and using Google Translate does not help much, ofc.)

• The 5 point cost talent of singularity is pretty vague. Standing in my singularity reduces active cooldown of spells? By how much? Does it vary if I'm standing dead center vs. on the edge?
  
• The basic, untalented Mind Control. What does it do now exactly? I feel like the skill description needs updating because right now it just provokes a lot of ???!!??? from me. The skill description says some random thing like "a mind controlled monster is under your control for 0 seconds" or some nonsense like that. (Can't remember exactly since I logged off before taking a closer look and now I can't get back on.) I just know that the ice explosion that is currently default must have been modified somehow because it's now a 2 point talent.

Regarding the new skill, which seems to be called something like Frost Sphere... well, I think it can be summarized in one word from initial impression: lame. It is the uber slow, super short range cousin of ice missile, that consumes 50 mana a pop and only minimally more damage for the same decreases in attack and travel speed from what I can tell. Without any customization at all, I don't see any utility in this skill. Even meteor smashes things better than it does, and I don't like that skill. XD

Now with customization, I feel like the lameness only decreased marginally, lol. I would only use the 3 point talent for mana regen. But since I have to throw out 50 mana(!!) first before I can get the regen, I think doing something else (hmm Destructor Beam maybe, then a teleport) would be better damage output. Maybe if I better understood how to use the explosion at the end of the skill, I might pick the 5 point talent for increased 66% damage, but no one in their right mind is going to pick the 2 point talent from Frost Sphere.


Overall, this update promises to be a lot of fun. Now instead of a mostly dichotomous fire/lightning SW choice, you can go for fast/slow, high dmg/high support, fire/lightning SWs. 0.o

Well, that's all my feedback about SWs on the TS. It'll be much more interesting to see it on the live server.


PS. For those who couldn't get on the TS, here's the SW stuff. It came off Google Translate, so don't ask if some of it is gibberish, lol.

Spoiler: SW talents and stuff clicky here

Magic Missile
Each hit from "Magic Missile" gives you 5 mana back.
Requires Level 4
Increases the damage of "Magic Missile" by 45%.
Requires Level 4
The death of an opponent by "Magic Missile", will heal you for 5% of your maximum health.
Requires Level 39

Fireball
Reduces the cost of "Fire Ball" by 5 Mana.
Requires Level 4
Increases the damage of "Fire Ball" by 15%.
Requires Level 5
"Fire Ball" leaves ignited for 1.5 seconds a burning area, the enemy. Burning enemies take over a period of 3.0 seconds 90% of your base damage as fire damage.
Requires Level 6

Ice Missile
Extends the duration of Frost "Ice Missile" to 5.0 (PvP: 2.0) seconds.
Requires Level 4
"Eisgeschoss" adds opponents who suffer from frost, an additional 15% of basic damage as ice damage to.
Requires Level 5
Meets "Eisgeschoss" an opponent who suffers from frost, there is a 35% chance that your active cooldowns of "Frost Nova" and "Frost Wind" islets decreased by 1.0 second.
Requires Level 9

Frost Nova
Increases the duration of the freezing of "Frost Nova" to 3.0 (PvP: 1.3) seconds.
Requires Level 7
The use of "Frost Nova" frees you from any negative effects as a anesthetic.
Requires Level 8
Hits "Frost Nova" an opponent who suffers from frost, it will set free an explosion that zufugt 80% base damage than ice damage to all enemies within 2.5 meters.
Requires Level 15

Teleport
The use of "Teleport" increases your running speed 1.0 second by 25%.
Requires Level 10
The use of "Teleport" frees you from any negative effects as a anesthetic.
Requires Level 11
The use of "Teleport" fills your mana completely.
Requires Level 12

Lightning Strike
- note: LS only costs 60 mana by default now, was 75
Reduces the cost of "lightning" by 10 mana.
Requires Level 13
Reduces the time to impact of "lightning" by 33%.
Requires Level 14
If the "lightning" a supercharged opponents, there is a 45% chance, those for 2.0 (PvP: 1.0) to stun second.
Requires Level 34

Frost Wind
"Frost Wind" regenerates 10 mana per hit opponents.
Requires Level 16
"Frost Wind" freezing any enemies for 2.0 (PvP: 1.0) seconds.
Requires Level 17
Reduces the cooldown of "Frost Wind" by 25%.
Requires Level 18

Chain Lightning
Increases the damage of "Chain Lightning" by 10%.
Requires Level 19
Increases the speed of "Chain Lightning" by 33%
Requires Level 20
If the "Chain Lightning" a supercharged opponents, there is a 15% chance, those for 1.0 (PvP: 0.5) to stun second.
Requires Level 21

Guardian
Removes the mana cost of "Guardian".
Requires Level 23
Doubles the resilience of "Guardian" and load him taunting enemies within 10.0 meters.
Requires Level 24
"Guardian" can shoot Fireballs and burns all enemies around him(?).
Requires Level 25

Destruction
Reduces the cost of "destruction" to 50 mana.
Requires Level 27
Reduces the active cooldown of "destruction" by(?) 5.0 seconds per enemy hit.
Requires Level 28
Increases the damage of "destruction" by 50%.
Requires Level 29

Singularity
- notes: Armor break by default, no damage by default.
Removes the mana cost of "singularity".
Requires Level 31
"Singularity" caused per second up to 50% of your base damage as physical damage to all opponents in scope.
Requires Level 32
As long as you in the "singularity" find yourself, reduce the active cooldown of your skills faster.
Requires Level 33

Meteor
Reduces the cost of "Meteor" to 50 mana.
Requires Level 36
Reduces the time to impact of "Meteor" by 33%.
Requires Level 37
"Meteor" inflamed any enemies. Burning enemies take over a period of 3.0 seconds to 200% of your base damage than harm.
Requires Level 38

Mind Control
Dies of controlled opponents, it explodes in a Eisnova, all enemies within 6.0 meters 5.0 (PvP: 2.0) freezes seconds.
Requires Level 41
The controlled opponents mocked all other enemies within 10 yards. Mocked enemies focus on the controlled opponents.
Requires Level 43
If an enemy successfully hit by "mind control", you are for 1.0 seconds be able to use all your skills without decay.
Requires Level 44

“Gefrorene Sphare” = "Frozen sphere"
Semi-botched skill description translation:
Summons a frozen sphere that floats targeted in one direction and 50% of your basic zufugt continuously damage as ice damage to all enemies in its path.
Any enemies suffer for 1.0 Skenunden under frost. Run your speed is reduced attack speed by 15% to 50%.
If the frozen sphere reaches its end has its maximum range, it explodes and adds all enemies within 2.5 meters 150% yours. Basic damage to the ice damage.
Cost: 50 Mana
Ess cost: 4

Prolongs the freezing effect of "Frozen sphere" to 2.0 seconds.
Requires Level 45
The explosion of "Frozen sphere" you regenerate 10 mana per hit opponents.
Erforder Level 45
Increases the damage of the explosion of "Frozen sphere" by 66%.
Requires Level 45

 

DK's have only one by default (Ground Breaker). They can select skills for 3 others. Headbutt no longer default stuns without skill. Charge can stun if the skill is selected, and Dragon Fury can do an AOE stun at the end of it's 5 seconds. I do wish they had given us our mini stun back on Rageful Swing from before the great DK nerf of R87, but alas, that was not meant to be.

The two standard heal options should be (Should=there is a skill for it) 30% of damage dealt while using Dragon Hide, and 20% of the damage done by MWS (which is broken at the moment). I'm not sure what you were talking about with Dragon Fury... it has never healed... do you mean Furious Battle Cry/Dragon Hide? If so, yes... they were taken out, but now you can get a similar (possibly even better) heal option, and that is with the new skill's 5 point option. It heals 10% over the course of 5 seconds, but also has no cool down, only a rage requirement of 60.

One problem with this. Unless something changes, the running speed skills make you drop the flag. And while there is a Dragon Hide immunity for 8 seconds, there is no skill for the 4 second immunity after a stun, meaning that a stun break is next to useless if the other player has a second stun ready to go... say hello to chain stuns.

The stat boosts for the XP level increase is still there, but the 1% HP/Damage for the knowledge level is gone. Instead, you'd need to apply 15 points to both the HP and damage categories to get it back. The issue I have this this is that a 2H DK that is built around 2H Master would have to spend 15 points to get that back, and then another 15 points to get the damage lost from the removal of the 1%HP/Damage, but that will use up all of my Knowledge points until I level up even more. This means that I will lose 15% of my HP and 20% of my attack speed (Because my existing 2H has 1.05 attack speed, but will be adjusted down to 0.95 and the -10% attack speed that comes with the new 2H talent) when the update hits for only a gain of 10% weapon damage... And if I must say, I'm ticked off! This may even be what convinces me to go back to 1H, as sad as it is to say.

 

New Skill Talents Bug for DK :

1. --------------------------------------

-
Explanation :
should create bleed damage 25% x 4 times (4 Sec.) = Total 100% bleed damage.

Actual :
bleed damage only create 25% x 3 times (4 Sec.) , Total 75% bleed damage



2. --------------------------------------

-
44% -> 55% is increase 25% damage , not 22%
※ This bleed damage create have 4 times (4 Sec.) is right.


3. --------------------------------------

-
Redundant description ?



4. ---------------------------------------

-
If used continuously Charge , Sometimes directly Cooldown ,
even the enemy was still bleeding state .



5. ---------------------------------------

-
Explanation :
Should create heal 2% of your maximum HP x 5 times (5 Sec.) = Total heal 10% HP .

Actual :
Heal only create 2% of your maximum HP x 4 times (5 Sec.), Total heal 8% HP .

 

Good Spots! And then there is also the fact that the heal for MWS is broken too.

 

Hello all! The following is a rough translation of the new skill system for all classes (aside from DK, as it has already been done by the Doctor). This is complements of REVENGE on Agathon. Some (or all) of these translations may be inaccurate and are subject to change by the Dev team at any point in time, this is purely here for those who have been interested in the new skill system and haven't been able to take the time to translate this much at once. ENJOY!

Mage:

Magic missile - 69% damage
2 - 5 mana regen
3 - +45% damage (100% damage)
5 - 5% hp heal on kill

Frost Nova
2 - stun 3s longer
3 - clear negative effects (liberation)
5 - +80% damage

Frost Wind - cooldown 20s, slow enemy travel speed by 50%, attack speed by 15%
2 - 10 mana regen per effected enemy
3 - stun 2s
5 - frost wind cooldown -25%

Destruction - 100 mana, 500% damage
2 - mana cost -50
3 - reduce cooldown by 5s per enemy hit
5 - 50% more damage (750% damage)

Mind Control
2 - Ice explosion
3 - Mind controlled monster aggro
5 - Astral phenomenon

Fireball - 40 mana, 110% damage
2 - Mana cost -5
3 - +15% damage
5 - 90% burn damage for 3s


Teleport
2 - Increase travel speed by 25% for 1 second
3 - Clear negative effects (liberation)
5 - Mana restore

Chain lightning - 44% damage
2 - +10% more damage
3 - Increase projectile speed by 33% (Faster missles)
5 - Adds 15% chance to stun for 1s (PvP 0.4s)

Singularity - No longer causes damage. 85% armor break by default
2 - Removes mana cost
3 - +50% pysical damage
5 - Reduced cooldowns in singularity (unspecified amount, currently being tested)

Ice Sphere - 50% damage, 150% explosion
2 - +2s longer slow effect
3 - 10 mana regen per enemy hit by explosion
5 - +60% damage on explosion

Ice Missile
2 - +5s longer slow (2s in pvp)
3 - 15% more damage on slowed enemies
5 - 35% chance to descrease frost wind/nova cooldown by 1s


Lightning Strike - 60 mana,
2 - Reduces mana cost by 10
3 - Faster lightning strike by 33% (like magical virtuoso)
5 - Adds 45% chance to stun for 2s (PvP 1s)

Watchman
2 - Remove mana cost
3 - Watchman will now pull aggro from nearby enemies
5 - Watchman will now deal fire damage

Meteor - 100 mana, 400% damage
2 - Reduces mana cost by 50
3 - faster meteor hit by 33% (like magical virtuoso)
5 - 200% burn damage for 3s (meaning over 3s it will total up to 200%)

Ranger:

Hunting Arrow, 60% damage, 30% slow
2 - pierce first target
3 - no concentration cost
5 - +10% damage (66% damage), hunting arrow does poison damage

Hunting trap, 8s cooldown, mark 6s (3s pvp)
2 - reduce cooldown by 10%
3 - no concentration cost
5 - The enemy who triggers the trap will be stunned for 3s (PvP 2s)

Scatter Shot - 60% damage, 25 concentration
2 - 1 concentration regen per enemy hit
3 - +15% damage
5 - 50% chance to Stun an opponent below 33% health for 1s (0.5 pvp)

Blade Dance - Causes 75% base damage as physical damage. Marked enemies suffer double damage. Cost 50 concentration.
2-MArks enemies for 6s(PvP 3s)
3-Reduces Concentration cost by 13
5-For each enemy hit with a crit, all active cooldowns are reduced by 1s

Thicket of Thorns - Unchanged
2-Reduces cooldown by 10%
3-Removes concentration cost
5-Same Poison Cloud ability

Precision Shot - Unchanged
2-Reduces concentration cost by 3 points
3-Using PS will increase your movement speed by 20% for 2s (Likely to not stack)
5-Increase PS damage by 20%

Dive - Concentration cost has been removed
2-Activating Dive regenerates 25 concentration points
3-Dive can be used to debuff negative skills
5-Reduces Dives cooldown time by 25%

Deadly Blow - Base damage of 100%. Marked enemies suffer double damage.
2-Killing an enemy with DB recovers all your concentration
3-Hitting a marked enemy with DB will increase your attack speed by 7% for 1s. Stacks up to 3 times
5-Killing a marked enemy with DB will recover 10% of your maximum HP

Adrenaline - Replenishes all of your concentration, however reduces your damage by 40% for 4s
2-Reduces Adrenalines cooldown by 10%
3-Adrenaline can be used to debuff negative effects
5-Increases movement by 60% for 5s

Explosive arrow, 150% physical damage, marked targets suffer double damage, 150% damage 3.2 meters on explosion
2 - +33% damage on arrow
3 - +33% damage on explosion
5 - armor break 85% on explosion for 3s (pvp 2s)

Death sweep - 50% damage, 35% per second for 3 seconds
2 - +43% damge on DoT
3 - Marks for 6s (3s in pvp)
5 - Reduce attack speed by 25% for 3s

Bird Of Prey - Deals 250% of base damage as physical damage. Stuns enemies for 4s
2 - Increases skills damage by 20%
3 - Skill now marks enemies for 6s (PvP 3s)
5 - Reduces skills cooldown by 20%

Wolf Pack - Unchanged
2 - Wood Wraith is summoned instead of Wolves
3 - Wolves/Wraith now heal you for 60% of their damage
5 - Reduces skills cooldown by 20%

Net - Cost increased to 25 concentration from 20
2 - Removes concentration cost from Net
3 - Net now marks enemies for 6s (PvP 3s)
5 - For each enemy hit you have a 40% chance to not activate the skills cooldown

Steam Mechanicus (Dwarf)

Quick Shot - No Change
2 - Each shot increases attack speed by 5% for 1s (Max 25%)
3 - Each shot regenerates 4 steam
5 - Increases skills damage by 10%

Oil Slick - No Change
2 - Increases slowing effect by 25%
3 - Increases the skills duration by 65%
5 - Reduces the skills cost by 10 steam

Heavy Shot - Deals 250% of base damage as physical damage
2 - Adds explosive charge that causes 100% of your base damage as physical damage in a 2.5 meter range
3 - Splits shot into 3 salvos that deal 85% of your base each
5 - Increases the skills damage by 20%

Dwarf In The Box - Remains in position for 3s and explodes when it expires for 100% of your base
2 - Increases the explosions damage by 20%
3 - The explosion will stun enemies for 1s (PvP 0.5s)
5 - Reduces the skills cost by 5 steam

Iron Dwarf - Time reduced to 12s from 15s
2 - Removes the steam cost from the skill
3 - Each enemy killed while in Iron Dwarf increases the skills duration by 1.5s
5 - While in Iron Dwarf, you are immune to negative effects

Mechanical Turret - No Change
2 - Increases the skills damage by 20%
3 - You can now place 2 turrets at once
5 - Each enemy hit by your Mechanical Turret will reduce your active cooldown times by 1s

Rocket Pack - No Change
2 - Increases the skills range by 30%
3 - The skill can be used to reverse a negative effect
5 - Removes the skills cooldown, however it now costs 30 steam to use

Steam Conductor - No Change
2 - increase travel speed by 25% for 1 second
3 - Using the skill will recover 5% of your HP
5 - Reduces the skill cost by 5 steam

Bombs - 90% fire damage, 2.5 meters
2 - 20% faster bomb travel speed
3 - +20% damage
5 - reduce opponent travel speed by 50%, attack speed 25%

Machine gun - 175% damage, 10s
2 - reduce enemy damage by 25% for 3s
3 - 2 turrets at the same time
5 - +33% damage

Rocket - 75% damage, 85% armor break for 5s (3s in pvp)
2 - +100% damage
3 - 25% rocket travel speed
5 - Stun for 3s (2s in pvp)

Shrapnel Shot
2 - 40% slow
3 - 11% chance to stun per shot
5 - reduce skill cooldown of 20%

Special thanks to Voidfury!

A few of these skills were not translated accurately, if you would like to see what all the new skills are fully translated, please check the test server. Thanks!

 

Thanks to IDNotFound and the team for the heads-up.

The relative strengths of the classes will change under the new system. Rangers will be much stronger, Steam Mechanics some better, Dragon Knights will lose a little, and Spell Weavers will lose a lot. Whether those changes are justified or not will be a major discussion; there is already lots and lots of heat.

Personally I find the changes to Spell Weavers to be the most troublesome. I don't mind losing something, if there is a trade up for something better. But here, a lot of power and ability simply disappears; they go bye-bye in the math; spellweavers are penalized. The changes in mana especially cripple some very effective moves. Tactics and strategy take a very big hit for all spellweavers. The change to group play will be drastic.
This needs to be fixed before release from the test server. I do hope feedback will enable meaningful changes in time.

 

https://board-en.drakensang.com/threads/ask-the-cms-in-english.64836/page-10#post-628061

On a more serious note:

Given: All classes have same base damage.

Zero incentive to play as mage because ranger is tankier (better defensive stats and better/more heals) with higher ranged damage. In addition, higher burst damage means you can spend more time kiting avoiding damage.

Zero incentive to play as DK because ranger can tank equally as well from 10% HP recovery from deadlyblow on every kill and ranger have higher burst ranged area/pierce damage from precision arrows. DK was only a tank for bosses because of the high cost of 65% premium potions. Now they will drop in world and with 10 second cooldown between consuming potions, they will be easily farmed and widely used. Healing skills no longer matters as much in boss fights. In large quantity mob farm, 10% HP recovery on kill (RA) is equivalent to 20% damage heal from wild swings (DK). A fully upgraded deadlyblow is nearly equivalent to fully upgraded smashes (damage-wise) because of speed boosts, but most importantly, smash requires rage, deadlyblow does not require concentration. In boss fights, RA wolves will recover full hp if the ranger have good damage, similar to dragonskin but only 48 sec cd vs 60sec. Every class will receive 50% additional blocking talent. DK's unique tanking advantage is gone. 10% more armor is around 400 armor for an average DK of 4000 armor rating. 400 more armor rating is hardly noticeable when you exceed 3.5k armor.

Zero incentives to play dwarf because ranger kills much faster. Steam regeneration prohibits dwarf farm speed. Ranger can 100% refill after every kill.

Ranger with test server release has the best damage, best armor break skill, most number of escape moves and stun debuffs, lowest cooldown on escape/debuff (9s jump & 18s adrenaline & spammable bladedances), and can tank equally as well as knight class (with exception of 10% less armor) while remain as a class capable of dealing most damage from distance.

PvP will be a joke. I do not need to elaborate on that when you give a class 800% damage area armor break skill without cooldown and 50 concentration cost (then there is precision arrow and bird vs broken armor, and most number & lowest cooldown escapes & debuffs). 50% more damage with speedy shortbow & quiver (5 additional gem slots) is worth much more than mage's 50% more damage on 2h in PvP. I'm sure most mages will agree they would rather have 50% more damage with wand+book than 50% more damage with 2H in PvP.

You gave ranger class the strengths of every class but without any of their weaknesses.

 

When I didnt have lvl40 fame I also hated Dk's who had it running around for regen and I also hate currently endless matches between DKs, but that skill has been taken away :

Supernatural Regeneration: When falling below 33% HP regenerate 33 % fury instantly and 33% hitpoints over 10 seconds.
Cooldown: 1 minute

So DKs cant do that anymore , but as a person who only plays the DK class I find it totally unfair, when a complete re designing of skill system has been done, to be given a skill almost as if they didnt want to give anything and gave us a skill as a second thought. That skill however much regen it does, wont be useful a single bit at the highest level of pvp. However much they say Dk's are OP when 2 highest category of say a ranger class and a dk class fight there is a very fine balance maintained by the current skills, I see that balance being broken wayyy to much by the new skill distribution. The only thing it will manage to do is make Dk's run around chasing the player and then die. Plus I dont even know if the current points would be enuf for us to invest in all the stuns. Plus crit rate being nerfed I dont see Dk's. specially 1 handed Dk's one-hitting anyone, and god forbid the opponent ranger/sw/ steam mech has chosen the 50 % block rate skill.

 

Though i can't particularly disagree with the new-found hate for what has been given to rangers, there is still no need for so much drama about it. For years the ranger class has been left in the dust, especially when DSO buffed two-handers for every other class and longbows (even with the aid of quivers) were left completely useless. Previously you had to be in a very specific situation for any longbow to be used, best example would be a ranger running a flag with the help of the aegis bow, since it raised armor and resist, however, the new adjustments will make longbows useful in PvE, and MAYBE PvP.

There are a few notable things that need to be mentioned. Before I continue, a lot of you may not know me, so I'll say that i have pretty extensive experience in all classes, with special attention to both mages and rangers, and I don't just look at something and spew my thoughts across a webpage, I consult other facts and opinions first. Back to what's important:

Ranger's new skill system. No, it is NOT OP, it just needs adjustments before it is released.

Deadly Blow. What can I say, this skill would be amazing to see at this level of pure awesomeness. When these changes were made I doubt the Dev team realized just how fast some rangers attack speeds are. It is not the concentration regen or the HP regen that makes it a killer skill, it is the speed buff. Rangers should be able to tank things, and it was a major struggle for them to do so without the aid of a heck of a lot of potions and (probably) some cash. Being able to spam this skill at high speeds is what makes those who specialize in other classes fear it so much. The best ways I have to make this less horrifying are to reduces the speed boost to 3% and make it stack-able up to 5 times, or to reduce the damage to 75% (still dealing double damage to marked targets). For those who still say the healing makes rangers OP, why? It's not 10% for every hit, it's 10% for every kill. If you've played a ranger you would know that in a group the odds of your melee skill dealing the finishing blow to more than a handful of enemies in a run is very low.

Explosive Arrow. Everyone please calm down, rangers have never had an armor break before and this one has a very short active time, as well as being able to be debuffed by literally anyone, since all characters have access to a debuff skill by the time the skill can even be used. What i DO agree with is the damage of the skill, it's.... a lot. The damage of the arrow should not be doubled on marked enemies, however the the arrow should be increased to 200% damage, and the explosion should be increased to 250% damage. Don't freak out, the arrows are avoidable, as with all new skills, you will have to figure out how to dodge the attacks, this is nothing new. The explosion will not be included in the armor break by the way, the break will come after it.

The Wolf Pack is not OP, literally have no idea what the big deal is there. Even with longbows, ranger will still be outmatched by all the other classes in base damage. the Knowledge skill increases weapon damage, not base damage. Some of the best bows out there only have 300 damage (yes I've seen more, they are more rare than predator), while a good "Tall" Staff (it seems DSO is calling 2H staffs Tall and 1H wand either staffs or wands now) can easily get 600 damage at level 45, who knows what level 50 will bring.

I will post my thoughts on what is happening to mages at a later date, my guildies and I have been testing pretty hardcore to give better feedback than what was given before the Myrdosch expansion, and we are hoping to help minimize the insanity before it arrives. I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

 

well when im in test server i cant read wht the skill are. i have no idea what im upgrading

 

Scroll up! I have already made that information available!

 

1. What are your overall impressions?

Primarily negative as far as the skill system for mages goes.

I play lightning build mage with a staff and i have to say that i was mildly optimistic prior to the release.

Now i'm rather pessimistic and not even because other classes seem to be getting interesting new skills or talents on existing skills, but more because there is very little that mages have gotten to make me reconsider my current play-style or consider incorporating different skills in it.

For a lot of skills it seems i had to spend a lot of talent points just to have the build that i already have, which didn't leave enough points to try out new things.

2. How intuitive is the new system? Is it easy to understand or too complicated?

I suppose the system is intuitive enough since i was able to figure out how to use it even though it was in German, which is not my native language. Though i have been playing the game for a number of years, so not sure how intuitive it will be for new players.

There are still some things that are confusing. For example, Frost Nova description states
"For targets hit, it reduces travel speed by 0% and attack speed by 0% for 0.4 seconds" does that mean the effects have been removed from frost nova? Will there be a talent to add them back? Or is the description and the skill are broken?

Also, Frost Nova seems to do 80% damage by default. So i take it that will be removed, since there is a talent for it? Which means mages will have to spend 5 more points when the talent points are already in short supply.

3. Do you prefer the new system to the old system?

I actually prefer the old system. I think in the old system i would have an additional talent by level 50, whereas right now i'm not sure i'll have enough talent points at level 50 to have the same build as i have in the old system at level 45.

Here are my thoughts on talents:

Magic Missile
5 point talent - i'm still not sure mages should to have a healing skill, but if they are. then i have to say 5% heal on class with lowest base health is too low to invest points. It might be worth considering if it was 10% like rangers will get on deadly blow, but i doubt i would use it even in that case.
Maybe if it was on something like frost nova or another skill then i would consider spec-ing for it.

i imagine most mages would prefer to have quicker missiles modifier back on magic missile rather than additional heal on kill. At least i would and i wasn't even spec-ed for it.

Frost Nova
The loss of slow on frost nova is significant and there is no way to get it back as far as i can tell.

Frost Wind
3 point talent - Although it was entertaining to watch Greg try to use Frost Wind without being spec-ed to freeze having to spend points, which are already in short supply on the talent that was already present in the old system is a problem.
(Even at the level Frost Wind is acquired it can't freeze.)

Destruction
2 point talent - in the old system destruction cost 75 so it was possible to double cast it with astral phenomenon, whereas with the new system it is required to spend points on the talent to do the same.
3, 5 point talent - in the old system destruction cool-down reduction and increased damage for the skill were under one talent.

So for destruction specialization available under old system it is necessary to spend 10 points in the new system.

Mind Control
2 point talent - Frost explosion was already available on mind control in the old system. Now it is necessary to spend talent points on it.
3 point talent - Mind controlled minion already has aggro so the talent is as useful as the modifier on watchman at least in my opinion.

Fireball

Loss of quicker missiles on fireballs is pretty huge for fire mages. And while i might benefit from it in pvp it is a significant loss to the mage class nonetheless. I was considering spec-ing for both lightning and fireballs just to try it out, but without quicker missiles fireballs pretty much a no go for me.

Teleport
2 point talent - An interesting idea, but 1 second is not significant enough. Rangers get 2 second travel speed boost on precision shot skill, which has no cool-down. Dwarfs have travel speed boost on steam-conductor, which has no cool-down.

The modifier could have been added to new ice sphere skill since it would make mages move faster while slowing down opponents and it would still not be as good as ranger's precision shot modifier since ice sphere moves fairly slowly. It would at least be a good utility talent for the ice sphere i think.

Chain lightning
3 point talent - The talent was available to mages as quicker missiles fame modifier and was available for magic missile, ice missile, chain lightning and fireball. The fact that it is necessary to spec for it is bad enough, but that it is no longer available on other skills is a significant loss for mages. It cannot possibly be said that mages gain new options in the new skill system and do not lose anything that they already have in the old system.

i didn't spec for quicker missiles i was certainly hoping to in the new system, however i don't even have enough points to spec for it as things stand.

Singularity
2 point talent - one of the few talents that are good to spend points on in my view. And if i had some leftover i'd consider putting them into the skill.

Presently i do not and once i get some extra points i would be spending them on trying to recreate the build i currently have, since i expect to have to spend points on frost nova damage talent.

3 point talent - yet another skill that used to be available on singularity in the old system that has to be speced in the new system to have the same build.

5 point talent - it's a neat idea, but i'm not sure whether it is worth the points yet. It does have potential since after using astral phenomenon standing in singularity for its duration did completely refresh mind control, which would make it 3.75 ticks a second cooldown regen on skills, which is pretty good.

It still can't beat ranger's no cooldown armor-break modifier so that would be preferable as a 5 point talent for mages as well. Throwing out the suggestion since rangers are getting no cool-down armor break on explosive arrow. Would be nice if mages got one as well. Or how about no cool-down on a singularity if a mage is standing in their singularity?...would need to change 2 point talent of course, but then mages would be able to travel down a singularity road in the new maps. (j/k)
It would make up for at least some of the talents mages lost.

Ice Sphere

This skill appears to be pretty useless. As far as i can tell it doesn't really syneryze with any existing mage skills for either fire or lightning build and its talents do not seem to be particularly useful either.

That is quite a shame considering the skill actually has potential. I think the skill could easily have 2s or 1s freeze on explosion and still wouldn't change the balance with other classes considering how slow it travels. If it had a high chance of freeze it might be useful. As things stand i don't think i would use the skill with all the talent modifiers on it even if i didn't have to spend a single point on it.

Then again maybe i'm missing something here.

Ice missile

2 point talent - this is actually a good modifier. One of the few mages get in the new expansion.
3 point talent - pretty useless. Maybe if this was a DoT that did 15% extra ice damage on targets that are slowed with ice attacks it might be more attractive. i don't believe it will be useful in the current state and i don't think mages will spec for this. Ice missile isn't used for damage more for utility as a slow.
5 point talent - it's interesting, but i don't think it is useful or worth 5 points. I think this would be more worthwhile as a 3 point talent and the old frost bringer talent would be worth 5 points. Which makes me wonder where is the old frost bringer?

Mages have been forced to choose between mana regen magic missile and frost bringer for some time now, so i was hoping that wouldn't be the case anymore and we'd be able to spec both. Like dwarves that don't have to choose between heavy shot modifiers. Guess frost bringer like quicker missiles are gone for good as far as ice missile goes??

I was certainly hoping that they would be still present in the new skill system especially in light of the promise of all classes gaining skills and talents and not losing existing ones.

If the idea is that the new skill ice sphere is supposed to be a replacement for ice missile + frostbringer then it clearly doesn't measure up, considering ice sphere is slow and requires mana.

Guardian

2 point talent - it's not bad, but not good enough to spend points on.
While i do not spec for guardian i use it all the time so i was hoping that it might have some interesting talents. For example, it says that it fires lightning shots. Would be nice if the shots actually marked enemies with lightning i think that would be more worthy of 2 point talent. or 3 point talent than the aggro watchman. The 3 modifier is not very popular and i don't think that will change. I think the aggro modifier would be better used on mind control then on the watchman anyway.


4. Do the prices for talents seem fair and balanced or too low/high?

For quite a few talents prices seem quite high, since i still haven't been able to replicate my build in the old system with the new system. I was hoping that i would have a few points left over that i would be able to spend on some new talents, but so far it doesn't look that way.

5. s it alright, that sometimes you will have a talent point you can’t spend until you gain another level?

It would be if i had more points at level 45 i suppose. Right now it feels like mage class has lost ground.

6. Does your favorite class feel more or less powerful?
Less powerful.

7. What do you think of the new skill level 50 for your favorite class?

I presume the question is about the new skill, which is ice sphere for mages. So far it looks like the most useless skill out of all the new skills.

8. Do you need a lot of consideration to decide between talents, because they are equally useful, or do you find it easy to choose between talents, because some of them are obviously more powerful and more important than others?

The choices are fairly straightforward. It's not that the new talents are equally useful it is more i have to figure out what skills and talents that i already use that i'm willing to give up for some of the new talents or other talents that i used in the old system.

9. Does the new system give you enough freedom to customize your character and your play style or do you feel limited in your choice?

The new system feels pretty limited to me, so if i was given a choice between new system and old system + 1 new talent of my choice i would probably go with old system + 1 new talent.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

This is my current impression so far.

Voidfury - Lvl 45 Mage - Agathon

 

People need to realise that every class is going to have to change their playstyle and more to the point, there will be a variety of different builds within each class now. It's easy to highlight what your class is losing but not as easy to take a holistic view and see all classes loss/gains and how they balance.

SW loss of power-except perhaps for that guaranteed one-hit kill Destruction?
Dragonknights tanking ability will indeed go down a bit, although it's hard to argue that they're not already completely dominant as far as PvE goes
Rangers won't improve much if all, as far as I can see they've removed the effectiveness of some skills and boosted the ineffective ones.
however it's going to heavily encourage the 'runner' playstyle
SM getting a much needed boost, until now they've been a semi-novelty class but now their effectiveness will be boosted in pvp and pve

 

DK, Mage and Dwarf's armor breaks are hard limited by cooldown timers among other limitations (melee, static or slow air speed) and resource costs.

Ranger armor break is only limited by resource cost of 50 concentration.

When fully upgraded:
DK has 2 debuffs: 11 sec cd jump & 23 sec cd battle cry.
Mage has 2 debuffs: 10 sec cd teleport & 20 sec cd ice nova.
Dwarf has 1 debuff: 10 sec cd rocket jump.

Ranger can fire 2 explosive arrows, wait 2-3 sec, fire another with 125% base concentration from talent tree (more shots if you include +5 concentration gems in helmet and other special gears such as dragan set & conc. regen items).

Then cast adrenaline for full concentration and repeat another 3 explosive arrows.

Then drink a concentration potion for full concentration recovery and another 3 explosive arrows.

What is that? 9 explosive arrows almost consecutively (more if you include dragan set and +5 conc gems). And repeat. Compare that to the amount of debuff skills available to other classes.

Your explosive arrow does 400% damage unmarked and 800% damage marked. It flies at the same speed as hunting arrows/precision shots. Your opponents, when marked, move 40% slower making it difficult to dodge shots (near impossible at melee distance for DK because of reaction time). Arrow speed is fast. Rangers with shortbows have fast attack speed, many exceed 2.00. With new talent from quiver (knowledge tree), rangers will receive an additional 50% MORE damage.

Duration of explosive arrow armor break is 3 second. Dwarf and DK's are 3.5 sec. Mage is 8s. Explosive arrow is area of effect and can instantly reapplied from distance.

Other classes can surely dodge all my explosive arrows with relative ease. After all, even with mark, you can still move at 60% of your original move speed right? DK can surely tank 9 explosive arrows at melee distance with their armor broken because .. hey.. they have 10% more armor than me.

This is totally not OP.

 

Hi,

new RA skill tree is soo OP. Now we have everything we ever wanted. Only thing that i dont like is new Adrenaline, im agree to spend 5 point to remove negative effect. Dmg reduction 40% for 4s is too much this is 6 green arows for normal RA at dmg that is more than 2000 dmg for a normal/weak RA. But overall we will be soo strong.

 

today, i found bug for skill fireball with talent point 5, skill fireball do 6 time of fire burning ( or more (not sure because monster die after 6x burn)) instead of 3 second

 

I just looked around, and it looks like the 10% better drop talent is gone for steam mechs.

 

Only the actual shot will be double damage on marked targets; the explosion will not be affected by mark.

I'm also not entirely sure how soon after the shot hits will the explosion be triggered. There could be a delay which could allow characters enough time to escape.

It's been too long since rangers received any love from the developers, hence why they were the second most underpowered class. People either played SW for pure dps or DK for pure domination, no one cared for rangers since the class did not really excel at anything.

Now that the developers have brought rangers up to par with all the other classes, I hope a lot of rangers who "took a break" long ago will be come active again, myself included.

Also, it looks like the SWs received lots of love as well. The upgraded Destruction will definitely be the hallmark of SWs now, being deadly in both PVP and PVE. Not to mention the developers also removed the mana cost of singularity and added 25 mana restore per target to frost wind. Combined with 125% upgraded mana pool and +10 mana regen from wisdom tree, it seems like now SWs will never run out of mana. Kind of scary...

 

Your definition of up to par is interesting. Ranger is currently the second most played class after dragon knight.

Current game population is ranked from most popular/played to least: Dragonknight, Ranger, Mages and Dwarves.

It is not just explosive arrow OP, other skills are OP as well.

Deadly blow is equivalent to DK smashes (main damage skill) damage-wise and it gives back full concentration and HP. If developers gave DK smash 10% hp recovery on kill (and full rage), there will be endless people crying it is OP. Now with ranger deadly blow, you can spam it endlessly because it requires 0 concentration, DK smash needs 20 concentration.

Wolf pack RA is equivalent to DK dragonskin, during bossfights, in the sense it recovers full hp for the player upon use. Wolf pack RA 48 sec cooldown, Dragonskin DK 60 sec cooldown.

DK's main advantage at tanking is more block rating. Now rangers and everybody else got it.

Many people do not understand the OPness of 9 second escape/debuff move Jump and lowest secondary debuff timer of 18s on adrenaline. Put it this way, all stuns ingame with exception of mage's chain lightning (15% chance of stun) got longer cooldown than ranger's jump (usually by over 20-25%). Rangers got spammable displacement skill: bladedance, with 0 cooldown. Displacement skills are crucial in PvP for dodging projectiles and evading DK. You expect DKs to kill you with basic attacks and spins because you're unstunnable/uncatchable? Adrenaline is also the best movement speed buff by 60%, the second fastest move speed buff by DK is only 40% with much longer 23s cooldown (a distant second in comparison).

In term of 50% more damage, ranger got the best again. Quiver allows 5 more gem slots and its own stat rolls. Shortbow + quiver will outperform 2h of mages and DK in PvP by a HUGE margin. You simply can not compare 0.85/0.95 base speed to 1.05 base speed once you factor in the sapphire gems.

Current balance is reasonable but not perfect. Each class has a disadvantage:
DK: melee fighter
Mage: low survival : no heals, 1 teleport/displacement skill
Dwarf: limitations of turrets in aiming moving targets and slow steam regen.
Ranger: lack of armor break

With new test server release:
Ranger is the only class without disadvantage. Well, 10% less armor than DK, so I guess that's enough right?

Name me 1 disadvantage of ranger if you can.

Lol in term of stuns, ranger's net has a 40% chance of not triggering cooldown; bird stuns and deals 300% damage. No other stuns ingame even come close. Opponents who face ranger will constantly be slowed by 40% movement speed.

To put things in perspective, unmarked precision shot is 150% and fully upgraded fireball is only 126% damage.