EtoilePirate
06-09-2005, 06:33 AM
<DIV> <DIV>As all the developer-types undertake further combat changes, spell changes, and class balancing, I'd like to take a moment to comment on what it's like to play a scout class. In my case, the Assassin. I sincerely hope that this comes off as commentary that can create solutions, rather than as whining. It's not my intent to whine. I adore playing a scout-type and I just want to see it get better. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>1.) As Odbal has often mentioned, the scout HO starter maxes out at level 15. I was parsing my combat today in Combat Stats. Over the course of an hour's hard fighting in the Feerrott, Ringing Blow, the extra-damage scout solo HO, did an average of 100 points damage each time it was completed successfully. Considering that the average HP of the mobs I was fighting (white 36 and yellow 37, 3<img src="/smilies/b2eb59423fbf5fa39342041237025880.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> was 2000-2600, that's not really much.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>2.) Other skills also fail to scale. Take the case of the two we are given in the IoR: Cheap Shot and Evade. Evade begins at 25 and (recently?) went to "unlimited" mastery. Good. As a scout, being able to encourage a mob to hit the tank instead is A Good Thing. However, Cheap Shot has been greyed out for... phew. I can't log in right now to check, but I don't even know how long. Shouldn't it also be unlimited, or have an upgrade?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>3.) The gaps between skills are too large. I had the Adept I of Vex, a skill that (1) is useful for the first round of the scout HO completion, and (2) reduces enemy resistance against the types of damage I am likely to do. The mastery level of Vex is 143. Its replacement, Torment, is a skill I was awarded at 183. I can't really count how many levels I was playing with a grey skill there, because I'm not terribly good at math offhand, but it's Way Too Many.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>4.) The play style that Assassin skills seem to describe, and that I enjoy -- stealth stealth stealth stealth POUNCE KILL stealth stealth stealth recover recover repeat -- is not generally feasible. The majority of my skills are stealth-based and positional. Unfortnuately, when I solo there's no time to go into stealth mid-battle, so I have to use the same few skills over and over, wasting critical moments on re-use timers unless there's a long stretch of clear ground for kiting. (Interestingly enough, my ranged skills consistently do more and better damage than my melee skills -- sensible for a ranger, but out of place for an assassin.)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>What's worse is group play. Nearly every other class in the game de-stealths me with their skills. AoE effects used by mobs de-stealth me. AoE effects used by group mates de-stealth me. Wards and heals seem to (though I'm not yet sure, it's hard to get groups for experimentation) de-stealth me. I have a skill that lauches a rear positional attack against an opponent, and then puts me into stealth immediately after. In theory, this is good for group play: a tank attracts the attention of a mob, I stab it in the back, go into stealth instantly, and immediately rejoin with one of my high-damage rear positional stealth attacks. And when this works, it works beautifully. Unfortunately, it only works about 30% of the time. More often than not, I use the skill but after making the attacking motion, I make the stealth sound and shimmer but don't actually go into stealth.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The bigger the group, the less likely I am to be able to stay in or get into stealth during combat -- and I have two skills specifically designated in-combat stealths, with the pinkish background and everything. Without being able to go into and remain in stealth mode during a fight, I am essentially rendered a gimped tank rather than an efficient scout. I just stand there poking a mob with a few mediocre DoTs and hoping my poison hits. (Speaking of which, can poisons please show the number of procs remaining, not just the time? Maybe on buff-examine, if it's too much for a hover. I hate suddenly finding myself without poison after four hours with no idea why.) An assassin is not designed as a group-friendly class, I realize; I'm okay with that. We have no group buffs whatsoever except basic scout's pathfinding. Disarm and Escape are skills any scout can perform. Our major function is damage, damage, damage, and I'm okay with that... as long as it works.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I don't like to complain about a character or class type. Usually I assume that if I can't do something, it's my fault as a player, and I look for another way. But playing more often in groups, and leveling a fighter, a mage, and a priest into the teens has shown me that even in the low levels, those toons are all much, much easier to play and can do things I, as a scout, would never dream of. I feel like it would only take a few fixes -- have skills level appropriately, make stealth stick when it's supposed to -- to make my class viable and fun-to-play again. I've been assured by the server's only level 50 Assassin that once I hit 38.6 it will get a lot better. That's nice and all, but there shouldn't be multiple levels of, to be blunt, total and utter suckitude. I hope some fixes make it in in the future.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>[/soapbox]</DIV></DIV>