A big olā list!
Now, before reading this, I would like to reiterate that I donāt expect the game developers to use ALL of my suggestions, if any. In fact, some of the changes to follow are a bit excessive or unnecessary, for example my Scout suggestion, or some of my Swordsman suggestions. However I do believe they are all well thought out and reasonable changes, both individually or together.
Also, before reading the Swordsman section I would like to preface/disclaimer with:
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My main is not and likely will not be a Swordsman. I am not trying to become a FotM. I strictly believe they need some serious loving.
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I do believe that the Swordsman class is actually very well rounded and in general a very good class as it is, and am scared that too many or too large of a damage buff will make them too strong in PvP just to balance them in PvE, which needs to be avoided. This is why a lot of my suggestions are indirect buffs, such as a range increase and cooldown decrease on Cyclone, as the skill is naturally strong without being overpowered, it just offers low sustained DPS due to limited range and such a long cooldown.
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Despite point 2, which I do firmly believe, the Swordsman classes lack the large % damage modifiers that both Archers and Wizards several of in their more important and/or later ranks is a large part of why they are so easily out damaged by Archers and Wizards. I feel adding a couple of these to each potential Swordsman build will fix that without making them hit too hard in PvP.
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I do realize there is an incoming Strength modifier buff for Swordsman, and understand it is much needed and once implemented my suggestions may be a bit much, however I believe a base strength increase is the lazy way to go about balancing this class and could quickly result in some silly-overpowered builds in both PvE and PvP.
With all that being said, here we go!
#Class Balance Changes
###General
- Allow Overheat charges to begin cooling down without the use of all charges.
For example, if the cooldown of the ability Heal is 25 seconds and it has 2 Overheat charges, allow the first charge to begin itās 25 second cooldown independant of the use of the second charge. This will allow for more dynamic group play instead of making players feel the need to dump all overheat charges immediately so the cooldown can begin.
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Increase the base health pool of all companions by 100%
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Reduce the amount of health gained while mounting a companion from 25% to 15%
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Make all pets (Companions, Sorcerer summons, Necromancer summons, Zombies, etc.) smarter.
I realize the above suggestion is vague and I apologize for that but the unfortunate truth is the pet AI in this game is disappointing. Some possible ideas could include:
a. Making pet attacks auto-target instead of directional, so that they always hit at least their primary target. To do this you could consider keeping the petās range the same, so for a melee companion it would still have a range of 5 or 10 units or whatever melee range is, but instead of administering an actual melee attack they launch an invisible projectile that always hits (but can still be dodged), while leaving their melee attack animation unchanged.
b. Making pets much faster (primarily movement speed but some companions and other pets could likely use a small attack speed increase as well) and drop target to follow the player after X amount of distance
c. Making all pets teleport to the player after a certain distance, like Companions do
etc.
###Swordsman
####1. Swordsman Class
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Increase the base duration of Gung Ho to 180 seconds, up from 65 seconds.
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Increase the amount of charges gained per level of Concentrate to 5, up from 1/2.
ie. Concentrate will grant 25 charges at level 5 instead of 11, 50 charges at level 10 instead of 19, and 75 at level 15 instead of 26.
- Increase the duration of Concentrate to 60 seconds, up from 45 seconds.
####2. Highlander Class
- Increase the damage modifier of Cartar Stroke to 300%, up from 100%.
This will help better justify casting it, as it is a hard hitting attack, but the cast time is painfully slow, especially at higher levels.
- Allow players to move at 50% of regular movement speed while casting Cartar Stroke.
The reduced movement speed will stop Cartar Stroke from being too strong in PvP while making it more reliable in PvE.
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Increase the damage modifier of Skull Swing to 200%, up from 100%.
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Increase the damage modifier of Vertical Slash to 400%, up from 100%.
These two changes, though at first glance they may seem extreme or too strong, realistically they simply make Highlander C3 less of a mistake and more appealing. These abilities will not produce better sustained DPS over the other class advancement options, however they will make Highlander better at what itās intended to do; combo bad guys for really large numbers.
####3. Hoplite Class
- Change the attribute Finestra: Physical Damage to add 20% of your DEX to physical damage while Finestra is active, instead of 10% of your INT.
####4. Barbarian Class
- Allow Frenzy to accumulate stacks through abilities, rather than only through basic attacks.
Iām not sure if this is a bug or working as intended but it simply does not synergize well with the ability spamming most Barbarian builds tend to do.
- Allow Giant Swing to be cast on enemy players.
Again, Iām not sure if this is a bug or working as intended but due to this abilityās impractical use and low damage itās a āFor Funā ability. Allowing it to be used in PvP would at least give it some value.
####5. Corsair Class
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Increase Dust Devilās damage modifier to 150%, up from 100%.
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Increase Double Weapon Assaultās base duration to 50 seconds, up from 36 seconds.
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Increase Hexen Dropperās damage modifier to 200%, up from 100%.
####6. Cataphract Class
- Increase Rushās damage modifier to 150%, up from 100%.
####7. Doppelsoeldner Class
- Increase Punishās damage modifier to 400%, up from 100%.
I realize at first glance this sounds too strong, and perhaps it is. However it does need a major buff, due to itās restrictions. I believe this much of a buff is fine as itās impractical in most group PvP situations, making it a strong solo and dueling ability, as it should be.
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Increase the radius of Cyclone by approximately 50%.
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Reduce the cooldown of Cyclone to 30 seconds, down from 45 seconds.
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Increase the damage modifier of Zornhau to 200%, up from 100%.
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Increase the damage modifier of Redel to 150%, up from 100%.
####8. Dragoon Class
- Increase Gae Bulgās damage modifier to 200%, up from 100%.
####9. Shinobi Class
- Increase Mijin no Jutsuās damage modifier to 400%, up from 100%.
Another buff that seems a bit ridiculous at face value but considering it requires melee range, deals damage to the user, still does less damage than other abilities such as Meteor, and the class quest to become a Shinobi is rather testing, I would say this buff is both balanced and much deserved.
- Reduce the cooldown of Katon no Jutsu to 15 seconds, from 29 seconds; also reduce the duration of stealth granted from the attribute Katon no Jutsu: Stealth to 1 second per attribute level, down from 2 seconds.
This change will result in shorter stealth bursts but similar potential stealth duration, while increasing the sustained damage potential of the Shinobi class.
The exception on abilities would only be extreme and unfair abilities, such as Mijin No Jutsu.
###Archer
####1. Scout Class
- Cloaking should only end if the player attacks or jumps, as indicated.
Dealing damage and attacking should be two separate actions. Players should be able to use Cloaking and remain hidden while abilities such as Wugushi poisons and Sapper traps continue to do damage. Only new actions should break Cloaking.
###Cleric
####1. Cleric Class
- Change Healās Additional HP Recovery equation from (((50 + (35 + INT)) x 1.5) x 1.1) ~ (((50 + (35 + INT)) x 1.5) x 1.3) to (((50 + (INT2)) x 1.5) x 1.1) ~ (((50 + (INT2)) x 1.5) x 1.3)
Currently it feels like full support healer builds have no real need for any stats, unlike most classes with a clear stat priority, making most healers dump a lot of points into Constitution simply because thereās little viable alternatives. Where as this wonāt entirely change that, and thereās not necessarily anything wrong with the way it is, this will give healers a bit more incentive to pick up some intellect.
####2. Bokor Class
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Increase the damage of zombies by 15%.
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Increase the movement speed of zombies by 5.
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When a zombie kills a monster, that monster spawns a zombie, regardless of if Zombify is under them.
####3. Paladin Class
POTENTIAL MINOR CLASS REWORK
The paladin class is currently situationally strong, however itās primary use is to be paired with Pardoner for the production and use of Barrier scrolls. Where as I donāt want that to change, as Iām sure many donāt, I do wish the Paladin class was useful for more than Rank 1 minor filler buffs or Rank 3 scroll selling.
That being said, I suggest turning the Paladin Class into a secondary tank class.
I believe the Paladin Class, should it be slightly reworked to be a secondary tank class, should never be better than any well built Peltasta class at threat holding, damage dealing, or damage mitigating. However, should have other perks to the class (such as being paired with Cleric and Priest ranks to be a self-sustained tank).
That being prefaced, I would like to recommend adding the following abilities and attributes to the Paladin Class:
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Paladin Rank 3 should have an ability similar to Peltastaās Swash Buckling, however due to required Rank 3 Paladin it would have to start with stats similar to that of Rank 5 or 10 Swash Buckling. Said ability could be named āRighteous Cryā or something of the sort.
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Paladin Rank 3 should have an attribute that allows it to actively block through the use of the secondary weapon key/button, similar to the Peltasta Rank 1 attribute.
IF you decide to make Paladin a potential tank class, things to avoid would include:
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Any kind of HP buff. Paladins should be faced with the difficulty of balancing Spirit and Constitution based on whether or not they wish to better buff a group or increase their own health pool.
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Changing or removing any current abilities, allowing the Paladin class to remain a potential support build