Update 69 Preview 3: New Feats

[in4theride75]

Oh well. Devs, please buff the feat it is trash tier ?

No, the feat is trash and needs to be reworked from scratch. It should never be possible to nerf a build by taking a feat. Even skill focus: disable device on a fighter won't decrease the builds strength it will just be a worthless feat.
A great option might be increase all dmg dealt by attacks by 10%(like a personal crusade buff) and decrease attack speed by 10%. Although it would not be a DPS increase it would make active attacks more powerful without nerfing anyone.

 

[Putti]

I personally don't see myself using any of these. I appreciate that new feats are being added, especially ones that aren't just for the new level cap, but too many of them are temporary boosts that I don't feel are fun to maintain.

• Patience
  • Seems like it would be a DPS loss for most. I reckon you'd need to have like atleast 15-20 threat in order to gain any DPS. I just feel like this is going to end up being one of those feats where it's impossible to judge whether it's any good. A feat should always make you stronger, it shouldn't make most builds weaker.
• Eerie Aim
  • I don't really know if this is useful. Do mobs usually have dodge or deflection? I'm unqualified to judge.
• Paranoid
  • I'm a bit confused about this one. So what it does is make you able to sense nearby traps without any points in Spot?
• Inspiring Bond
  • I like this. The more stuff for summons we can get the better. Gods know they need it. Every 3 minutes seems a bit long, though. That's like twice per dungeon.
• Defensive Tumble
  • Seems nice.
• Trick Shot
  • Just seems a bit annoying to upkeep, but some will probably find it fun.

New Epic Destiny Feats

• Titan's Blood
  • I don't like that it has a type. Feats are supposed to stack with everything.
• Guarded Actions
  • DDO's gameplay isn't really reminiscent of other MMOs where there are tank-busters and the like, so super short defensives like this doesn't seem that fitting. Some people will probably find it useful, though.
• Arcane Actions
  • This seems very short when you consider how the game actually plays. With the delays between abilities you'll hardly get anything out of 3 seconds.
• Channel Power
  • Seems very niche to me unless you need the extra DC to land anything. It could be useful for dot builds since you can still do damage while blocking, but if you're a burst build then best case scenario you're just sacrificing 3 seconds of damage to do double damage for the next 3 which even outs. If it was possible to move while blocking I could see this being great to ramp up while moving to the next pack of mobs.
• Reverberating Shout
  • Seems fine.
• Face Me
  • A bit short and not a fan of mini boosts, but this is probably more a case of "not for me".

 

[Lotoc]

Patience I feel is aiming for a playstyle more focused on active attacks and things like adrenaline, big boost to the value of Unbridled Fury.
However certain ranged styles are beyond the attack speed cap like throwers and will be able to take it with effectively no penalty.
I think this feat should probably be a toggle with say a 30 second cooldown to prevent people just toggling it on before each adrenaline use.
Additionally some melee/ranged power could help the trade off feel better.

If the goal is to make players prioritise rate of attack less (because obviously a raid full of two weapon fighter melee dps all popping haste boost at once does cause a strain on the server) it may be time to buff every action boost besides action boost: haste.
Attack speed of current is the only stat that really truly scales with all the damage we gain and keeps scaling,
+30 melee power from power doesn't contribute as much overall when we're at 300+ melee power and could stand to be an outright % modifier on outgoing damage.
Doublestrike boost falls off because doublestrike caps at 100%, if for the duration it could push us over the cap that would maybe be interesting.
Attack and Damage boosts are just overall low values for endgame, maybe add 1/2 character level or epic+legendary levels to the values.

 

[Shear-buckler]

It should never be possible to nerf a build by taking a feat.

Why not? That seems like an arbitrary and bad limitation for design space. More feats with trade-offs that are worth it only if you lean into it would be amazing and very interesting. It works great in other games.

 

[Dreadsnought]

Yes, but if you train 20 ranks, and take mobility you'd have 5 charges. You can have the +40 RP at all times, that is so busted.

At least for my characters, if you are wearing medium or heavy armor , even if you have 10 skill ranks in tumble, you still do not get more than 2 tumbles. And no my overall tumble is not less than 10, more like 20 with attributes, etc... If I switch to light armor it jumps up to 3 charges.

 

[Shear-buckler]

There are **two** ways that a decrease in attack speed influences active attacks. Not only is their animation speed relevant, but also their cooldown because it influence the active attack/noactive attack ratio.


Imagine an active ability that takes 1.5 second, with a 10 second cooldown. and regular attacks taking 1 second.
So in 100 seconds, you get 10 active attack (15s). And 85 regular attacks. Now say the active attack has +100% dmg, for simplicity. So that is '105' damage in 100 seconds.

Now there are three "10% slower" scenarios imaginable:

1. active attacks don't get slower but regular attacks do (this is NOT the case for many active attacks). Were that the case, you get 10 active attacks (15s) and 77.3 (85s) regular attacks . That results in 97.3 'damage' in 100 seconds.

2. active attacks do also get slower (as far as I know how many active attacks work). You get 10 active attacks (16.5s) and 75.9 (83.5s) regular attacks . That results in 95.9 'damage' in 100 seconds.

3. active attacks do also get slower *and their cooldown is increased by 10% to 11 seconds* (this will NOT be the case). Would this be the case, you'd get 9.1 active attacks (15s) and 77.3 (85s) regular attacks. That results in 95.5 'damage' in 100 seconds. now **this would be the only true 10% dps loss**.

Maybe people are pointing out the difference between 1 and 3. And you point out the slower animation speed, so the difference between 1 and 2, which although true is not complete. there is still a difference between 2 and 3, so an attack speed reduction and equal damage increase does indeed favor active attacks (that are worth it, dps-wise) slightly.


(for those good at math who have spotted the difference between 10% slower and 10% longer animation, read all this with 11.11% slower in mind but it's symmetrical in all scenarios, the point is that because of cooldowns a slower attack speed and more damage is actually slightly favorable)

There is also the gameplay to consider. The more damage your 100-500% increased damage aoe attacks does the less time you have to spend attacking with the less efficient single target auto attacks and can let the cooldowns lapse on the way to the next pack.

 

[VinoeWhines]

Earlier on there was going to be an emphasis on looking over older heroic feats and boosting them up so they could be taken, and so far this hasn't happened.

Attack

Active

This is the standard attack for all characters. It can be toggled on to attack repeatedly until your target is defeated, or activated once by right-clicking the mouse. Advanced: You have further trained your mind and body to focus. When unconscious your incapacitated body has reflexively trained to continue to attack once every four seconds, memorizing your trained attacks. ​

Defensive Fighting

Active - Defensive Combat Stance

While using Defensive Fighting mode, you gain a 5% bonus to AC and -5% penalty to-hit. Casting a spell ends this mode. Advanced: You have further trained your Defensive Stance. When activated you gain a 15% bonus to AC and 0% penalty to hit. Casting more than one spell ends this mode. You gain one extra tumble charge. ​

Sneak

Active

The character becomes invisible to all enemies that fail a Spot and Listen skill check, opposed by Hide and Move Silently skills. Advanced: You have further trained your stealthy ways. Gain 10% to dodge and 5% max dodge due to being at a lower targeted zone. You no longer loose sneak stance on attacking or casting. You are able to pull levers and traps in stealth. Getting hit more than once will put you out of Sneak mode. You gain one extra tumble charge.​

Sunder

Active

This melee special attack, when successful, results in a -10%AC and -25% fortification to the target for 6 seconds if it fails a Fortitude save (DC 10 + Str mod + Sunder Bonus). Some creatures may be immune to the sunder effect. Advanced: You have further trained your Melee special attack, when successful, results in a -20% AC AND -50% fortification to the target for 10 seconds if it fails a Fortitude save (DC12 + Stat mod + Sunder Bonus) Creatures immune to sunder effects take 5% more damage for 6 seconds. ​

Sap

Active - Special Attack

This melee feat has a chance to render the target briefly senseless, though it will become active if damaged again. Some creatures may be immune to the sap effect and sap is more effective when performed as a successful sneak attack (whether or not your character can normally perform sneak attacks). Advanced: You have further trained your Melee special attack, when successful, you are able to reach enemies in an arc (Greater Cleave Range). They are considered Helpless until damaged.​

Advanced Feat

Passive - Special Ability

Advanced: You have further trained your mind and body to focus on secondary abilities. Choose a secondary main ability and automatically gain the benefits of it's secondary progression as if you have further trained in the feat. ​

As others have stated, adding a Feat to increase 2-3 Universal Enhancement Tree points spent.
A Legendary Feat that gives +1 Stat per Core of Epic Destiny Trees.

Quiver with an augment or Minor Artifact Quiver.
Lesser Minor Artifact item with only 1 fillagree and one augment.

 

[Fisto Mk I]

You will see it on endless fusillade or no holds barred builds only. Since those abilities are actually not affected by attack speed.

My shuri-monk with 35 RA and 68 TA take it no brain. 8)

 

[Refutor]

Wow people are really underestimating this one. Even for just auto-attacking it's a strong DPS feat for many builds. But the real point is that for adrenaline and active attacks (like SDK chains) attack speed doesn't really matter and this feat will be a massive increase to burst DPS.

this is what i was thikning...for my SWF shadarkai i don't do many non-active attacks and if i am, it's normally hasted. i will have to get on lamannia to confirm, but i think that this is a niche feat, not like overwhelming critical....it will be usable for some builds.

 

[Contessor]

Wow people are really underestimating this one. Even for just auto-attacking it's a strong DPS feat for many builds. But the real point is that for adrenaline and active attacks (like SDK chains) attack speed doesn't really matter and this feat will be a massive increase to burst DPS.

A single crit multiplier is just no where worth it...adrenaline or not. Your not doubling your crit damage, you are adding at best 17% crit damage with x6 or 12.5% with a x8. While full time, you are losing more than 10% of your attacks because of the way the game calculates stuff.

This likely is a huge penalty for even builds that currently exceed attack animation speed, especially if it is based off of base attack speed, which it likely is, since haste would just bypass it otherwise.

 

[Shear-buckler]

A single crit multiplier is just no where worth it...adrenaline or not. Your not doubling your crit damage, you are adding at best 17% crit damage with x6 or 12.5% with a x8. While full time, you are losing more than 10% of your attacks because of the way the game calculates stuff.

This likely is a huge penalty for even builds that currently exceed attack animation speed, especially if it is based off of base attack speed, which it likely is, since haste would just bypass it otherwise.

Zombie attack speed penalty is not multiplicative in the way you describe so I see no reason this would be.

 

[Livmo]

I personally don't see myself using any of these. I appreciate that new feats are being added, especially ones that aren't just for the new level cap, but too many of them are temporary boosts that I don't feel are fun to maintain.

• Patience
  • Seems like it would be a DPS loss for most. I reckon you'd need to have like atleast 15-20 threat in order to gain any DPS. I just feel like this is going to end up being one of those feats where it's impossible to judge whether it's any good. A feat should always make you stronger, it shouldn't make most builds weaker.
• Eerie Aim
  • I don't really know if this is useful. Do mobs usually have dodge or deflection? I'm unqualified to judge.
• Paranoid
  • I'm a bit confused about this one. So what it does is make you able to sense nearby traps without any points in Spot?
• Inspiring Bond
  • I like this. The more stuff for summons we can get the better. Gods know they need it. Every 3 minutes seems a bit long, though. That's like twice per dungeon.
• Defensive Tumble
  • Seems nice.
• Trick Shot
  • Just seems a bit annoying to upkeep, but some will probably find it fun.

New Epic Destiny Feats

• Titan's Blood
  • I don't like that it has a type. Feats are supposed to stack with everything.
• Guarded Actions
  • DDO's gameplay isn't really reminiscent of other MMOs where there are tank-busters and the like, so super short defensives like this doesn't seem that fitting. Some people will probably find it useful, though.
• Arcane Actions
  • This seems very short when you consider how the game actually plays. With the delays between abilities you'll hardly get anything out of 3 seconds.
• Channel Power
  • Seems very niche to me unless you need the extra DC to land anything. It could be useful for dot builds since you can still do damage while blocking, but if you're a burst build then you're just sacrificing 3 seconds of damage to do double damage for the next 3 which even outs. If it was possible to move while blocking I could see this being great to ramp up while moving to the next pack of mobs.
• Reverberating Shout
  • Seems fine.
• Face Me
  • A bit short and not a fan of mini boosts, but this is probably more a case of "not for me".

3 seconds is an eternity for me in DDO.

Generally speaking I wouldn't call attention to these changes until after they're live

 

[Purr]

Devs, please, short duration buffs tied to tumble are a hell for micromanagement and just UNFUN to play. We already have 8 keys average to look for in the middle of combats.

Please, consider changing this to smaller, passive buffs.

Totally agree. Especially for any players with disabilities, tons and tons of extra button clicking can be not fun. I'm not sure why some of these can't just be passive buffs.

 

[Contessor]

Zombie attack speed penalty is not multiplicative in the way you describe so I see no reason this would be.

3 seconds is an eternity for me in DDO.

Generally speaking I wouldn't call attention to these changes until after they're live

But if, like most of these abilities, counts at the beginning of the animation, you get less than two seconds.

 

[Ahpuch]

Your math is correct but conclusion is not. It is ~4% increase in DPS from purely physical sources. Anyone with ancillary effects like lightning strike, 3rd degree burns, sneak attack, fire imbue dice, etc. Would have a DPS decrease if that part of their damage was more than 4% of their total damage. Meaning that for almost all builds in the game it is a automatic don't take it by default.

Not to mention the analysis indicating its strength don't take into account fortification on mobs and crit immune mobs. Fighting in cases when crits don't always register make the feat even weaker. Is this a toggle that can be turned off?

 

[RobShow]

Hmmm... my math was 36 seconds with 5 charges.


Can we have summons in raids?

No!
It's just a coincidence, but in RAID the summons take and keep the aggro like they never do in quests.

 

[Contessor]

Not to mention the analysis indicating its strength don't take into account fortification on mobs and crit immune mobs. Fighting in cases when crits don't always register make the feat even weaker. Is this a toggle that can be turned off?

What like the new content that doesnt even allow crits?

 

[Phoenicis]

• Paranoid
  • You automatically Spot almost all traps as you approach them.
  • (Note: This is Spot, not Search.)

How does this differ from the existing epic feat Watchful Eye?

On a guess, watchful eye lets you actually see the trap. Paranoid you get the trap symbol over your head.

 

[Muadib]

The caster focused feats seem rather unappealing to me.

Channel Power does not align with my playstyle. Having to use an Orb/Staff AND waiting 3 seconds seems like a bad decision and would slow down my play.

Arcane Actions won’t affect me at all since I rarely use action boosts on my casters.

Some of the other options are great though for Melee and Ranged. So once again, it seems SSG is catering to the Melee/Ranged crowd and casters get subpar options.

 

[Purr]

• Patience
  • Your attack speed is reduced by 10%, but you gain +1 Critical Multiplier with all weapons.

Would rather see "but you gain +20 melee and ranged power" or "your movement speed is reduced by 10%, but you gain +1 crit"

• Eerie Aim
  • You gain +5% Dodge Bypass and +5% Deflection Bypass.

Sure.

• Paranoid
  • You automatically Spot almost all traps as you approach them.
  • (Note: This is Spot, not Search.)

Not sure who this is for. Would rather have "untyped +20 bonus to search and spot checks"

• Inspiring Bond
  • When your Hirelings or Pets die, after 2.5 seconds they are automatically resurrected and heal to full health. This can occur only once for each creature every 3 minutes. In addition, your Hirelings, Pets, and Summons gain +25 Physical Resistance Rating and Magical Resistance Rating.

Sure, but if this is epic, you gotta add in a lot more, mayb also +200 HP, +2 Ability Scores, etc. At the same time, change improved augment summon to +10 ability scores. (that stacks with the +4 from regular)

• Defensive Tumble
  • When you Tumble, for the next 3 seconds you take 20% less damage from all sources (except Bane). In addition, the bonus to Reflex Saving Throws you receive while actively Tumbling is now also applied to Fortitude and Will saving throws while Tumbling.

Sure. I guess people like tumble. Maybe we could just add "you gain +1 to AC/PRR/MRR" for every 5 ranks in tumble?

• Trick Shot
  • When you Tumble, you gain +40 Ranged Power for 4 seconds.

bleh. Maybe change this to +20 RP when using improved precise shot?

New Epic Destiny Feats
These are all Minimum Level 21 except for Titan's Blood, which is ML34. These can be taken with Destiny Feat Slots, which you get at 22, 25, 28, 31, and 34.

• Titan's Blood
  • Minimum Level 34. You gain a +10% Legendary Bonus to Maximum Hit Points.

sure. but maybe just make it "+500 HP" instead?

• Guarded Actions
  • Whenever you use an Action Boost, you take 20% less damage for 6 seconds.

seems like it incentivizes zergers.

• Arcane Actions
  • Whenever you use an Action Boost, you gain a +100 Competence Bonus to Universal Spell Power and +2 to Spell Penetration for 3 seconds.

same

• Channel Power
  • After blocking with an Orb or Staff for at least 3 seconds, you gain a +100 Competence Bonus to Unversal Spell Power and +4 to all Spell DCs for 3 seconds.

why not just "when using an orb or staff" and "+20/+1"?

• Reverberating Shout
  • Activate to shout at all nearby creatures, Intimidating them unless they make a Will Saving Throw (DC equal to your Intimidate skill). This works on all creature types, including those normally immune to Intimidate.

sure

• Face Me
  • Whenever you use an Action Boost, your threat generation is increased by 200% for 6 seconds.

Would rather just see a stacking +40%