U61 Enhancement Tree & Class Tweaks

[willox2112]

Could we add crit range/multiplier in the Warchanter tree somewhere and make it more like other melee trees? Say 4th core or Howl of the North?

 

[Dandonk]

Could we add crit range/multiplier in the Warchanter tree somewhere and make it more like other melee trees? Say 4th core or Howl of the North?

Crit multi to bring it up to the level of at least druids would be great, +1/+1 even better. But I think that's outside the scope of this pass, sadly.

 

[TroggyTrog]

Finally seeing some love for Archmage! A good start! If I might suggest, please increase the damage of at least the Arcane Bolt and Blast SLAs, as they aren't on par with Feydark Illusionist's force damage SLAs (AM is at 1d6/level, whereas FI is at 1d6+2/level iirc). PM's bolt/blast are at 1d6+3/1d6+5 in comparison, respectively. The AM Core SLAs could certainly use a look thru as well, perhaps adding a deeper selection of spells to choose from, or at least consider swapping out some for others, as there have been several spells added to the game since the advent of the AM tree years and years ago.

Something else I'd love to see for the AM tree are clever or flavorful ways to fill in those 4 empty squares/slots in the tree. I hate seeing a tree with any spots left empty like that, but especially at tree with 4 empty slots. There are at least 2 spots that could be filled with something useful in tier 2 and tier 5 (I get that the metamagic ones have 'arrows' joining them to previous choices). Thanks!

 

[Spook]

Some other things to look at imo

Kensai tree is actually really good but many enhancements cost too much - also requiring fighter 8 to take all the T5s is not consistent with the rest of the game

Crit range/multiplier is really important to melee makes some builds not viable due to lack of them eg
Pure (melee) druid (barb/fighter/sylvanus splits shore up this weakness)
Warchanter (again needs to multiclass or use swash)
Harper agent
Warpriest (melee clerics are forced to use War Domain which makes for an uninteresting choice)

Imbues - The imbue pass was basically free damage to multiple classes and opened up new builds but some didnt get the memo here
Fighters
Druids
The advice for many multiclass builds is to splash 1 paladin instead of using the class imbue

Remove pre-req for improved trip (also improved sunder but the pre-req for this is less of an issue as a dps focussed build would consider power attack)

 

[Zaszgul]

Could we add crit range/multiplier in the Warchanter tree somewhere and make it more like other melee trees? Say 4th core or Howl of the North?

Yeah, it would be nice if Warchanters weren't forced to swashbuckle.

 

[Fisto Mk I]

pretty sure that shuri users will still use Shiradi, and gain benefit from pally splash for the imbue

Pally imbue applies only to favored weapon, so useless for shuri-throwers.

 

[RangerOne]

Could falconry capstone also get buffed? Doesn't have to be a ton, but a little love for 41 falc would be nice—right now, not many people take it past 27.

Could Falconry just get fixed. It has never given Freedom of Movement.

 

[Contessor]

Consider adding a new universal tree (Diety Tree) where we can gain extra benefits, like an extra feat, extra to hit\damage and add extra diety favoured weapons(like Shuriken)

First of all this has nothing to do with the merit of your suggestion.

But I am not sure people are staying on topic with proposal to add new universal trees. This is make balance adjustments to existing trees. Many of this have been requested to be revisited. It would be beneficial to stay on topic, otherwise it dilutes the intent of providing feedback.

If you have a suggestion for a new thing, it’s much more beneficial to start a new thread on the forum titled suggestions. Otherwise please stay on topic.

 

[Contessor]

Could Falconry just get fixed. It has never given Freedom of Movement.

I can’t even see FoM as an incentive to take at all in Falconry. I always wear an item over the spell since it never gets dispelled. Maybe if it could not get dispelled or injuncted.

 

[Contessor]

Some other things to look at imo

Kensai tree is actually really good but many enhancements cost too much - also requiring fighter 8 to take all the T5s is not consistent with the rest of the game

Crit range/multiplier is really important to melee makes some builds not viable due to lack of them eg
Pure (melee) druid (barb/fighter/sylvanus splits shore up this weakness)
Warchanter (again needs to multiclass or use swash)
Harper agent
Warpriest (melee clerics are forced to use War Domain which makes for an uninteresting choice)

Imbues - The imbue pass was basically free damage to multiple classes and opened up new builds but some didnt get the memo here
Fighters
Druids
The advice for many multiclass builds is to splash 1 paladin instead of using the class imbue

Remove pre-req for improved trip (also improved sunder but the pre-req for this is less of an issue as a dps focussed build would consider power attack)

I took a 6 month break, but I seem to recall the math to take PA over precision was not beneficial, unless you were a Barb (maybe HORC) or THF?

 

[QuantumFX]

The changes appear pretty good. But, I'd really like it if you guys changed the crit range/multiplier aspects of each of the Monk PrE's to just be "While centered" rather than limiting a class with a limited subset of weapons to a limited subset of that limited subset. You aren't obligated to continue with the poor design decisions of your predecessors.

 

[Edrein]

Could we add crit range/multiplier in the Warchanter tree somewhere and make it more like other melee trees? Say 4th core or Howl of the North?

I've been hoping for this for years. Even if it has to be something like crit for non-swash weapons.

I secret crave being able to viably use Eidolon of the Shadow on a warchanter without lacking normal crits.

 

[atJCOM_TO]

Lamania hopefull, +Linabel +Cordovan, is there a day where we rid the game of odometers, xp, renown, and just live!
_would it kill the game no, wana have fun (level 164 TAXES Ghallanda, want see improvements update 70) From The TAXED airship JCOM thank you for your Valliant efforts in gaming industry.

 

[DBZ]

The sorc sla change looks good but they also need to be boosted by evoc dcs like the one guy said

So you don't have to take tier 5 ek or feydark

And if your handing out fixes then fix dragon breath augmentation to work on alch breath attacks thanks

 

[Hephaestas]

I enjoy this approach if it's in addition, not instead of, previous methods of updating trees! Plenty of trees have way too high cost reductions, so really enjoying seeing those come to Bard, Wizard, etc.

Want to say this is a fantastic suggestion and should be entertained!

Since Arcane Bolt is considered a Level 2 spell, and Arcane Blast is level 4, can we see the dice on these abilities increased to 1d6+2 and 1d6+4, respectively, to match the progression of other spells/classes? Blightcaster is the nearest approximate caster (possessing many untyped Thorn spells), and they all do 1d6+[spell level] damage.

Additionally, as you are looking as small number tweaks, I'd be remiss if I didn't bring up some of the odd numbers in Artificer's Arcanotechnician tree.

Specifically the following:

Tier 2's Shocking Vulnerability which at a 3AP investment remains only a 5% chance at 1d3 vulnerability stacks.​

​

Tier 5's Master Defender which again, at 3AP and a tier 5 ability only grants 3% dodge (no cap increase) and +6 to three of the dog's stats? Could this be bumped in some way or better yet, improve on it to aid in the dog surviving a bit better? Like say, +10 to stats and saves for the dog doesn't seem like overkill to me.​

Just my 2 cents requests, but overall love these changes, keep things like this coming to keep the game fresh and fun!

 

[BuckGB]

• Vistani
  • Kukris now function with this tree, with the exception of the core 12, which only gives +1 multiplier (this keeps them in parity crit-wise with daggers as they naturally have +1 threat range over them)

Thank you for this - a relatively simple change that opens up a whole new weapon group for a lot of players.

Now that Kukris are viable, can we fix the Legendary Midnight Greetings so that it's no longer a downgrade from the Epic Midnight Greetings by losing Clever Strike and changing the damage from 1d6 to 1d4? The damage change might be acceptable now that Kukris have a dedicated enhancement tree, but why take away Clever Strike? That was a unique/interesting enhancement that's not found anywhere else, and we could certainly use more variety in weapon enhancements.

 

[Sophie The Cat Burglar]

Thank you. The changes listed in the original post will help many of my characters, specifically my Ice Bards, Dagger Rogues, and Archmage Wizards.

 

[owl]

I would like to see more of this. Specifically small tweaks to help underpowered classes/builds vs. big nerfhammers.

 

[Curupira]

With Update 61 we have embarked upon a slightly unusual kind of balance pass where instead of targeting a specific gameplay feature and overhauling it top-to-bottom, we are instead going wide. This means that we've changed and adjusted 13 distinct features across 7 classes and 2 universal trees to provide a larger holistic set of changes meant to intrigue character builders and shore up some statistical weakness. These adjustments include AP cost reduction, cooldown reduction, or generalized buffs largely meant to bring up underused specs and add some excitement across the board.

• Harper Agent
  • Cores 1, 6, and 18 now give +1 hit and damage and not just hit/damage vs evil
  • Core 20 now gives +2 to all ability scores, +1 hit/damage, +5 hit/damage vs evil, and +20 universal spell power
  • Weathered Traveler t1 now gives 2/4/6 energy resist
• Swashbuckler
  • Battering Barrage cost reduced from 2/rank to 1/rank
  • Thread the Needle now gives +5% to-hit (percentage bonus based on precision) while precision is toggled on
• Warchanter
  • Spinning Ice, Frozen Fury, and Skaldic Scream now use the highest of dex, cha, or str for their DCs
  • Their DCs are now (0x bard level / 1/2 bard level / 1x bard level) and (10/12/14) (Skaldic Scream is 1x bard level and 14)
  • Spinning Ice is now a 3/4/5W cleave
  • Northwind cost reduced from 2/rank to 1/rank
• Sorcerer Savant
  • T5 Actives scale with highest of Cha or Con and not just con
  • Earthen Armor (t4 earth savant) is now +3/+6 AC
• Nature's Warrior
  • fix natural armor stacking thing in t2 to just be bonus to AC
• Ninja Spy
  • Tier 2 and Tier 4 Dark Ki upgrades now grant +1 to hit and +2 to damage to match similar enhancement lines
  • Tier 5 Touch of Despair now grants +3 to hit and +3 to damage to match similar enhancement lines
• Shintao
  • Tier 2 and Tier 4 Light Ki upgrades now grant +1 to hit and +2 to damage to match similar enhancement lines
• Henshin Mystic
  • Lighting the Candle now applies the fire portion of its imbue to Ki Spells
• Class: Monk
  • Quivering Palm has a new DC formula: DC 10 + monk level + highest of Dex or Wis mod + assassinate bonuses
• Assassin
  • All of the active poison attacks up the line are now +3W, use full rogue level for their DCs instead of half, and now make certain enemies that would be immune to poison, weak to poison.
    • Ice Chill = Undead
    • Heartseeker = Elementals
    • Soulshatter = Outsiders
• Vistani
  • Kukris now function with this tree, with the exception of the core 12, which only gives +1 multiplier (this keeps them in parity crit-wise with daggers as they naturally have +1 threat range over them)
• Archmage
  • Master of Magic (Core 20) now also grants +20 Universal Spell Power, and increases from +2 INT to +4 INT
  • Efficient Metamagics have their AP cost reduced from 2 to 1, since AM having metamagics be good seems flavorful
    • also bug fix: heighten no longer requires level 12 for no reason
  • Spell Penetration has its AP cost reduced from 2 to 1
  • Energy of the Scholar has its AP cost reduced from 2 to 1, matching other trees
  • Cores 12 and 18 now grant a generic +1 to caster level and max caster level
• Vanguard
  • Stunning Shield cooldown reduced to 45/30/15 seconds
  • Shield Rush cooldown reduced to 40/30/20 seconds
  • Shield Specialization line's damage bonus is now visible to the player

Let us know if this kind of balance pass is something you'd want us to do again in the future! This is a relatively new approach for us so any feedback on the specifics of the changes or of the structure is very welcome.

Very nice overall. The assassin poison attacks needs to add tactics or assassinate bonuses otherwise nothing will fail the save at endgame. Also, will the immunity strip be independent from the save?

 

[somenewnoob]

While you're doing stuff in Swash, any chance to remove the RIDICULOUS animation for Cutting Jibes? It is beyond useless with that long animation.

(Apologies if that has been changed, been a long time since I was a bard!)