QA R89 Post-release updates

Discussion in 'Player Test Environment (QA Server) Feedback' started by Violet Ronso, May 6, 2021.

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  1. Violet Ronso

    Violet Ronso Avatar

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    Here are my observations with bard

    QA Patch 1184 info (May be subject to changes)

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    Things I have noted while testing :

    Concussive Canticle now once again takes away your focus instead of the targets focus. (This removes the Torpid Torment interaction)
    Being in the "Play" state did not increase song power.


    In my opinion, these changes are very nice. Savage Sonata becomes more of a pure bard song, as not many will want to sit for 9 or more seconds casting that for the Buffs, Bards will be a hot commodity! (I'm for hire BTW :p).

    Concussive's Focus drain is a very good thing to bring back to the bard. It generated weird interactions with mobs, and the focus drain is the same as casting a regular spell for a mage, which seemed fair.

    The damage nerf to Atonal Aria seems to be quite hefty, but it makes sense. I had insane DPS numbers with only that, so I think this will probably be a fair spot.

    The cast time effects are very nice! Adding in Spellbinders stance, or Chaotic feedback if you arent using Concussive will be much faster and could compensate the Atonal Aria nerf. something weird is that is doesn't affect 2 of the songs (refrain of resistance and Psalm of Stagnation).

    All in all, I think this will help push the bard tree into an even more challenging but much more engaging direction, so I like these changes very much!


    Other things to note,

    Shield of Crystal's buff seems to be more health than before, not a huge change, but still appreciated.
    Shield of Ice gained a 20% Spell critical damage buff, I expect to see MANY mages try it out!
     
  2. Violet Ronso

    Violet Ronso Avatar

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    Just went back on live, and to compare, my 6 stack Atonal does 122-367, which seems to be about 40% decrease on the lower end and about 25% decrease on the upper end of the song, which seems fair!
     
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  3. Violet Ronso

    Violet Ronso Avatar

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    Adding to this after testing/confirming with Coswald and Seth Aeva,

    Shield of Crystal gains 2 health/level bonus instead of 1 health per level and with specialization, you will now receive an Armor effectiveness bonus.

    These 2 changes make Earth shield much more attractive to tanks, although there are other sources for armor effectiveness, this one is more on the cast and forget side since you have Specialization, and I find it to be a very interesting buff for it, one that I will enjoy playing with!
     
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  4. Duke Gréagóir

    Duke Gréagóir Legend of the Hearth

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    What is the damage of a 5 stack of Atonial Aria on a Razorback destroyer now in QA? (I am not bard spec) @Violet Ronso
     
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  5. Violet Ronso

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    @Duke Gréagóir the damage remains unresisted, which means in my case, at AA lv150, it will do 66-242 (as seen in the 2nd spoiler tag).

    In my opinion, pure Bard for higher level targets such as destroyers will not be enough, bringing either a physical weapon or a Tamed beast will be a huge benefit.
     
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  6. Duke Gréagóir

    Duke Gréagóir Legend of the Hearth

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    Thank you. That pretty much kills the bard as a main skill and only as a support skill. Sad.
     
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  7. Violet Ronso

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    This had always been the original intention, and if you look at my latest video (feel free to jump from bits that interest you, it's a long one!) But I can still clear pretty much all I did previously, just slightly slower in some cases. The only thing that took a hit was "Boss" mobs because their regen counters my damage in most cases, but I still clear the Panopticon just fine!

    I think Bard is finally being brought back to its support role it was supposed to have, and in my opinion is a very good move, add in a destroyer level pet and you should deal with destroyers just fine!
     
  8. Duke Gréagóir

    Duke Gréagóir Legend of the Hearth

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    I already use destroyer level pets and it took 5 minutes to kill a 30k boar with healing and the bard skill speced. If it locks onto me I am so squishy with my taming armor arties , it if almost game over on my part. Then if I die my pet goes poof. Game over and 1- boar heals back to full health as if the battle never happened. 2- someone else steps in and continues the battle and takes the rewards.

    I had to drop bard spec and pick up fire spec to compensate for the constant loss of dps to,get the fight done with sooner. It my fire is still not at max damage due to me not being able to spec in sun for the enlightenment spell crit bonus.

    The limit of two specs means all trees should be primary. Taming is a secondary skill already. Due to my taming spec I cannot be a powerful caster as I cannot spec sun for the enlightenment spell crit bonus. I cannot be a powerful fighter tank as I cannot spec Tactics and heavy armor trees. I cannot be a powerful archer as I cannot spec in the air tree and another tree bringing its power up so much.

    the bard tree on its initial inception was the perfect companion to the taming tree. I was a bard tamer in Ultima Online, so I know what can be with a bard tamer. Sadly SotA refuses to let bard and tamers have the same power as an archer, fighter/tank, or pure mage.

    The bard tree should be brought back to it original power only if you have 100 in bard spec.

    Thank you @Violet Ronso for making this thread and your great feedback so all of us can make our build the best we can!
     
    Last edited: May 10, 2021
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  9. Cora Cuz'avich

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    Mixed feelings. Bard was supposed to be a support class, so this makes sense. But I also felt it was a nice "force multiplier" for tougher episode 2 content, so I'm bummed it's going to be so much less useful. Ah well.
     
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  10. Bramble Riversong

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    I would be happy if bard became a pure support build and lost the 2 damage songs altogher if it meant the other songs no longer produced the aggro.
     
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  11. Time Lord

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    Forgive me for saying this, I'm a very simple game minded person which is one reason why all my character builds generally s#%k, but I just want to see bard bands and full orchestras playing concerts in extremely dangerous places with the crowd going wild.

    Dance parties are one of the oldest traditions in our game with the only thing that could make them better being dancing in true danger while relying on the non-stop music being played all bathed in blood.

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    ~TL~
     
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