What was everyone complaining about?!

[tentim]

I spent over an hour reading and organising my new spells, then some time in the new lands exploring, but after a while I was feeling like "I quite like this". So I ported into splitpaw and went in to my good old daily cash-cow, Harclave. I'm killing the stuff in about a quarter of the time! Single encounters of blue-yellow mobs are spot on. Everything is much faster paced, and you need slightly different tactics, but unless you have lost the use of your arms (or feet - depending on how you play), you cannot help but see the difference! It feels much more like real combat. It reminds me of EQ1 pace of combat. Ok, this is first impressions, and I am no big Sony fan (I've had more than my fair share of rants at them), but I have to take my hat off to the people who put the hard work into this - it feels like a REAL game again - not that crappy dumbed down rubbish we have had to endure for months. The only thing I would say is, our AE's need tuning - they are just too small to be useful in most circumstances - and I think probably not worth casting at all in raids. I will post again as I find things, but at the moment it certainly seems to be going the right direction - exciting combat! <div></div>

[contexum]

Great minds think alike I guess LOL .. see a happy wizard postLorathena 50 Wizard Permafrost

[goboy]

<P>Most of us complaining were complaining about changes that were later changed to what you see now.  You are not seeing what we had to play with over the weekend.</P> <P>Now, their last patch on test was misleading.  It said the variance was decreased and damage increased.  Damage was not increased, it was also decreased.  </P> <DIV>Overall, I am not dissatisfied.  However, there is still room for improvement.</DIV>

[Traldan Omegafyre]

We were complaining that they made a large nerf on beta/test about 3 days before launch.  It decreased our total damage by quite a bit.  I was REALLY enjoying playing before the nerf. Spells hit harder, etc.  I was actually seeing a good spell damage reward for  my high int, not having Ice Comet ad3 hit for 2-3k most of the time.  Now that's what it hits for most of the time. So no, it's not the end of the world, and it's better than the nerf that happened 3 days ago, but there's still large room for improvement, IMO. <div></div>

[tentim]

<span><blockquote><hr>goboy wrote: <div>Overall, I am not dissatisfied.  However, there is still room for improvement.</div><hr></blockquote>I have been reading your posts throughout beta and you have been very informative. I too see room for improvement re AE spells, reuse timers (linked), and DOTs. But generally I'm fairly happy with the most important thing - a change in gameplay <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> </span><div></div>

[Jadr]

<span><blockquote><hr>tentimes wrote: It reminds me of EQ1 pace of combat. <div></div><hr></blockquote>You know, that might be half the issue right there. I found EQ1 combat, Boring, tedius and downright unpaltable and came here to get away from it. ;o)</span><div></div>

[Stavenh]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Jadrax wrote:<BR><SPAN><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> tentimes wrote:<BR><BR>It reminds me of EQ1 pace of combat. <BR> <BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE>You know, that might be half the issue right there. I found EQ1 combat, Boring, tedius and downright unpaltable and came here to get away from it. ;o)<BR></SPAN> <BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR>Same here, part of the reason I quite EQ1 long before EQ2 came out.

[Rukar]

<DIV>I did notice the changes on my soon-to-be wizard alt (level 1<img src="/smilies/b2eb59423fbf5fa39342041237025880.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />, and noticed that I've got spells in my book I've never had before. I think we were supposed to get them long ago but they either weren't working or just weren't there for whatever reason. Spells like Accord and Lightning Shock. I can't say I'm all that thrilled with the change to the invis spell at that level though. It looks like they increased the speed decrease on it. Well, at the App 4 level anyway. I know they added a speed decrease to my monk's invis. It used to not work against 40+ mobs at App 4, but now it's a level-less spell with a 29% speed decrease. Once I get a UI that works I'll be able to test it much more, but so far I'm still kind of undecided.</DIV>

[TheKraken]

Judging the rest of the game by Harclave's is a mistake.  Harclave's is a joke.

[BlitzDog]

Group with a bruiser and fights go to fast . Bruisers are mini gods. Any type of non heroic mobs they can drop before we get BoFL off. I was actually waiting for guildmate to target then Id cast so I was getting the target not alive message.

[Conequis]

Aye, so far I am very happy with the changes I have seen.  Yes, of course, none of us like to see the perma root for 36 sec go away, however, I can easily manipulate any single (as so far up to 3 single grouped mobs) just fine. Ice comet is now a great knock out punch, while paralyze and ball of flames now provide a fantastic one-two punch. And with the recast times of the 2 roots, I havn't had EXTREME difficulty yet. <div></div>

[Karioki]

I am very pleased with the changes for my level 37 wizard.  Yes, it took me a long time to roganize.  Found some previously useful spells now useless and visa versa.  Had to test in the field and found some shared timeers I didn't like but it wasn't unreasonable.  Most of dd is much higher and they fixed Tether so that now I will actually use it instead of Frozen Manacles.  Most of my buffs are now good until cancled.  All in all, I am very happy with the changes.

[Magus_Bl]

<DIV>I seriously don't understand what the big deal was, either.  I am completely happy with the changes.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>And a big thumbs up to SOE devs on the expansion, as well!!</DIV>

[Stavenh]

<blockquote><hr>Magus_Blue wrote:<DIV>I seriously don't understand what the big deal was, either.  I am completely happy with the changes.  </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>And a big thumbs up to SOE devs on the expansion, as well!!</DIV><hr></blockquote>Well, when Ice Comet was doing 1900-5800 range, it's not as good at you may think. The average is 2900 damage, which is the low end of old Ice Comet Adept 3. A 3,900 range of potential damage wasn't good. And we all know that the Random Number Generator is very streaky, and more likely you would get lots of low end damage. The idea that a spell costing 300+ mana does 1900 sometimes really is stinky.But they changed alot of that at the very last moment. If you looked at the boards over the weekends, it's quite clear, everyone at Sony spent their weekend at work, and come Monday, they had to push the update back a day.I haven't had a chance to look at the final live update, I worked and then play D&D on Tuesday nights.It should be interesting to see when I get home tonight.

[brow27]

They didn't push the update back a day, it was planned to release on the 13th (tuesday) for a LONG time now. <div></div>

[BlackAdderDr]

Hi first post and thought I would add my 2c.  I have a 34 wizzy on nek ... mostly adept I spells adept III Icy coil and master II BoF and Icy WInd with a 204 int.  SO she is no twink but not a bad mid lvl wizzy.  My first impression of running around whacking orcs in zek was good.. (con blue one arrow) I dropped them easily, when BoF hit for over 1k I was giggly.  That was nice...   now I noticed in this revamp comparing mob to mob is not going to work.  So I join a group for rat bashing in RV.  35 Bruiser who was twinked.. all adept IIIs and legendery gear, and an average conjuror  (lvl 34) for DPS.  I had to spam using all spells, surge of flames, and dots  to stay on top of DPS and that was only by a fraction, when I was on top .. the conjuror did more DPS than I by 10dps per sec usually.   Compared to other DPS classes this one group experience tends to put me in the camp that we are still underpowered relative to other DPS classes.  I will do more testing and can submit logs but I shouldnt have to spam spells to get that 1dps per sec .. putting me on top of charts.   Thought I would share my experience.   I am not crying nerf but we are not where SOE says we should be on the food chain(at least at this lvl).   fyi .. once I started posting to the group the DPS results it was a DPS [Removed for Content] contest.  I rarely got an HO as Bruiser would steal them all for most part.  Not sure what to do other than post my observations.  I was looking forward to this revamp to revisit my Wizard but I am disappointed where we are on the DPS foodchain.  Please someone tell me Im wrong ...  but I am afraid once you get into groups with other DPS you will see that you are avg ... no better than a scout class. <div></div>

[Zachatan]

<DIV>One big problem was people that complained didnt bother to do there homework... OR for the past i dont know how long seem to be in a void deprived from hearing that htere was going to be a big combat revamp patch </DIV>

[AtomicPenguin]

<span><blockquote><hr>BlackAdderDrop wrote: I was looking forward to this revamp to revisit my Wizard but I am disappointed where we are on the DPS foodchain.  Please someone tell me Im wrong ...  but I am afraid once you get into groups with other DPS you will see that you are avg ... no better than a scout class. <div></div><hr></blockquote> Wait until you get a few more levels, your damage will spike considerably from 37-44.</span><div></div>

[Stavenh]

<blockquote><hr>AtomicPenguin wrote:<span><blockquote><hr>BlackAdderDrop wrote: I was looking forward to this revamp to revisit my Wizard but I am disappointed where we are on the DPS foodchain.  Please someone tell me Im wrong ...  but I am afraid once you get into groups with other DPS you will see that you are avg ... no better than a scout class. <div></div><hr></blockquote> Wait until you get a few more levels, your damage will spike considerably from 37-44.</span><div></div><hr></blockquote>While I know that all classes have certain levels where they spike, peak, or come into their own, but really, I'm so tired of that.It was like that in EQ1, wizards really came into their power at 50, people would say. What about those other 49 levels then? How stinky to go through 49 levels to get to the fun level.Same with this, the game and class should be fun through all levels.

[brow27]

I had fun through all the levels myself.  When did you get so jaded, Stavenham?  You used to be such a supporter. <div></div>

[Nightwo|f]

<div></div>I didn't try to set any expectations for the patch and wasn't too disappointed really. And while up close battle sucks (as it really should for casters) I can still take out stuff a distance with liberal usage of roots since RoC now breaks (the quicker reset of Truss helps immensly, though having two roots instead of three since Frozen Manacles wasn't linked previously sucks). I also agree our AoEs could be nicer. Scorching Flash is kinda crappy though Icy Wind rocks, and it is nice to have a non-encounter AoE for those situations where it would come in handy. At first glance I reall miss the debuffs of Icy Wind+Piercing Icicles+Icy Coil, but then again if they redid resists it may not matter so much. I was hitting near full damage with Ice Comet (5580ish damage @Master1 with 294 int) without a debuff, I'm just so used to debuffing first then going blast crazy. I miss descry too, especially with the int damage buff. <div></div><p>Message Edited by Nightwo|f on <span class=date_text>09-14-2005</span> <span class=time_text>04:52 PM</span>

[Bucksno]

<P>I miss Descry too <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></P> <P>I've found a replacement though for those debuffs. I spend that time casting Fiery Surge, Chillshield (don't have Frostshield quite yet) and Frostbound Gift. They go off all the time so its extra added damage through a slightly different channel than what debuffs provided. But hey, added damage is added damage.</P> <P>By the way, I love watching the mobs get zapped by Chillshield when they try to melee me. HA! That'll teach them. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></P>

[Sotha]

<DIV>Personally i am overall happy with the changes that have occured.</DIV>

[Zyphius]

<P><SPAN><FONT color=#ffffff>I'm not satisfied. They linked all the mini-nukes, so the only usable nukes I have are Ball of Flames and Flamestrike. So, overall, damage output doesn't seem much better than before. I am still getting interrupted A LOT. Invis sucks. Intel was lowered (this one really pisses me off). Wisdom was cut in half. Resistances were cut in half. Manafeeds taken away, but spells cost more... nice tradeoff there. Buffs either don't exist or have pathetically useless durations.</FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN><FONT color=#ffffff></FONT></SPAN> </P> <P><SPAN><FONT color=#ffffff>And I also miss Descry... a lot...</FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN><FONT color=#ffffff></FONT></SPAN> </P> <P><SPAN><FONT color=#ffffff>Oh.. and if you haven't purchased Word of Force in Splitpaw yet, don't bother. It's useless since it is tied to the mini-nukes.</FONT></SPAN></P> <P><SPAN><FONT color=#ffffff>When I said all, I meant all...</FONT></SPAN></P> <P> </P> <P>Message Edited by putergod on <SPAN class=date_text>09-15-2005</SPAN><SPAN class=time_text>09:22 AM</SPAN></P><p>Message Edited by putergod on <span class=date_text>09-15-2005</span> <span class=time_text>09:22 AM</span>

[Articulas]

<DIV>i'm quite enjoying it <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> I duoed with a few different classes last night along with soloing and its not bad. i'm 42 and was taking out 45 and i think i took our a 46.  when i got with my pally friend we really rocked the joint. I even hooked up with a warlock and we tore up the place in the new expansion on yard trash <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></DIV>