Melee Combat 1. Buffs.

Please consider changing the following on Certain Spells referred to as BUFFS.

1. Many Buffs last too little time when cast. Some Buffs only last a few seconds to one or two minutes depending on whether you stack the BUFF or not. One partial Buff (first part of Buff lasts 4.5 - 9 seconds) is over before you cast the next Buff. Other Buffs last 30 minutes to one or two hours based on skill and stacking. For a Melee person who uses many of these Buffs frequently it is a total nuisance to have to keep casting these Buffs over and over in just a few minutes. SUGGESTION: Make all these Buffs Equal in time or at least last through a normal PvE encounter which if in a Control Point lasts approximately one hour. At least make it 1/2 hour on all Buffs so we can actually fight instead of stopping to Re-Buff continuously.

2. Stacking Time on all Buffs is too long on some Buffs if not all. Earths Embrace has a definite difference in stacking Time. Some Buffs give you additional time if you stack, others do not. Why have so many variables to remember or require certain alignment on a Combat Bar created for casting Buffs. SUGGESTION: Reduce the Stacking Time on all Buffs. Make sure all Buffs have the same stacking time.

3. Why is there a Fizzle Chance when wearing Plate Armor on many of the Buffs that would benefit a Melee Player. It is hard enough to keep casting these Buffs in the first place but then to have them fail when they provide a useful purpose for Melee Players seems wrong to me.

Below is a chart of Spell Buffs I use.

Skill Lvl Name Of Skill Tree Time w/o Stacking Time w/ Stacking Fizzle

135 Strength Of Earth Earth 43 min 35 sec 1 hour 27 min 0.4%
100 Celestial Blessing Moon 26 min 19 sec 26 min 19 sec 41.4%
103 Shield Of Crystal Earth 3 min 20 sec 6 min 48 sec 20.2%
120 Inner Strength Heavy Armor 8 min 15 sec 8 min 15 sec 0.0%
120 Fortify Defense Tactics 30 sec 60 sec 0.0%
120 Glancing Blow Heavy Armor 2 min 4 sec 4 min 40 sec 0.0%
120 Absorbs Impact Heavy Armor 8 min 2 sec 3 min 37 sec. 0.0%
120 Bolster Balance Shield 1 min 10 sec 2 min 20 sec 0.0%
100 Earths Embrace Earth 3 min 24 sec 3 min 24 sec 20.7%

* Specialization in Pole Arms and Heavy Armor. (6 stack vs. 5)

There are other Buffs in the Mage Trees that probably have the same restrictions and issues. I do not use them and have not worked with them. Restrictions on certain spells not overlapping exist so eliminating fizzle chance could be handled in this way so that choices would need to be made.

 

5 minutes minimum would be decent, at the very least. I can accept those tiny duration "explosions" such as the dodge, parry and glancing blow buffs, since they are reactionary, but add a smaller effect, which in it's turn could last 2 minutes (static). any other buff that is not reactionary, put 5 minutes as a minimum, 100%.

The reason I say 5 minutes is that a "Normal" encounter should barely last more than 5 minutes, CPs and Bosses are not normal encounters, thus it makes sense to sometimes have to recast during those activities.

 

good input, transferring to feedback forum

 

@Elgarion
Please also have them consider increasing the duration of potions.

 

A belt artifact could do this! I've already suggested this, but make a belt with a nice boost to potions potency and duration, at the cost of Attunement for EVERY schools. This way, you could receive lets say a +30 Strength buff for 20 minutes, or a health pot that heals for 800-900 (imbued), or a +5 speed wolf speed pot, but you lost 100 attunement in all schools, just throwing random numbers there, but you get the idea!

 

5 minutes may work for certain MOBS, but when you are a Tank in one of the Encounters that last about one hour, it is a royal pain to stop Taunting, and try to rebuff oneself. 5 minutes would mean that a Tank doing Melee would have to stop, switch decks and begin the stacking process then switch back to original deck. This would have to be done at least 12 times. Do mages have to constantly Buff themselves? how about Archers? When there was a break in fighting like there was in Upper Tears, it was still a pain and a nuisance but workable even though you spent a lot of time with only half your buffs. Now with the continuous flow of MOBS a Melee is lucky to rebuff at all. Mostly you end up stopping switching decks, casting 2 Buff spells then switching back to original deck, If you are lucky you caught it just right before the MOB had your healer for lunch. A normal encounter for me lasts far longer than 5 minutes, considering multiple MOBS at one time. To me it should be art the very least 1/2 hour.

 

And this is why 5 minutes is the minimum, Things like the stances, which can't stack anyways, things like The strength buff in the heavy armor tree, those ones I am talking about for the 5 minutes MINIMUM duration. For those buffs, right now, you are looking to recast them every minute (or less for some), so why is 5 minutes for certain ones that should be short duration buffs not make sense? You already have the Stat buffs, vision buffs, and certain shield buffs (with spec) that last 30 minutes or more, I think they could simply take all the buffs into one of their beloved spreadsheets, give them a duration stamp (Instant, Tiny, Short, Medium, Long, Eternal), and then give those duration stamps an actual duration (2 seconds, 2 minutes, 5, 15, 30, 60 minutes) and every single buff in that duration stamp would get the same duration. If every single buff had a 30 minute duration, pre-fight preparation would be less of a hassle sure, but also something you would think/plan out less. I think having to look at your encounters and determine how far you are willing to go before rebuffing is a fun part, if I go overboard, then I am looking at a dire situation.

As for control points, I mean, that is end-game content, it is part of the risk vs reward, you get INSANE experience there now, and INSANE is a soft word for it right now actually, so having the challenge of mid-fight buffing is actually part of the risk IMO, and should still exist. If you can go an entire run at a control points, or have to rebuff only 1 time, sure it is less of a hassle, but it removes a HUGE part of the challenge, and would make them a walk in the park for many many groups, just 2 nights ago, with a last minute thrown together deck with only 2 trees trained up (and everything else or close at the minimum level, I just used up a greater scroll), me and a group of 5 other people went to a control point, had 2 TOTAL deaths in an hour, and I barely paid attention. I am only Lvl 107 or 108, so I am not one of those people where 2 trees invested could potentially mean 140's/150's across them, I have 3 skills over 110...

So no, 30 minutes minimum is not desirable, it would make the game possibly way too easy for the kind of game this is.

 

What's even worse is that if you inadvertently charge up a stance then the cool-down can easily exceed the duration.

 

Here I disagree... I spend more time clicking keys playing wack a mole than I do looking at what is going on around me... I agree with Gamician on this one... I am 120 swords and tactics and these needs to be fixed??

 

It is apparent you have not built a Tank or used Taunting/Aggro to have the MOBS Leave the other members of the party alone while as a Tank you take the Bulk of the damage. Even with the Buffs you have in most cases you still need a Healer to keep you alive. That is all part of learning how to work together with the others in the party to bring down the most MOBs in the shortest period of time. Do I die? Yes, especially when there is no Healer and I take the most damage. The other day in one PUG I took 60,000 in damage without a healer while the others in the party took less than 5000. Generally that happens when they are close to an AOE MOB and myself. When I lose my Defensive Buffs every 1 - 5 minutes and that is stacked, I have to switch decks which means I am not Taunting or Gathering Aggro, allowing the MOBs to turn on others. Basically your Risk vs. Reward Argument has little application here. In my case we are not talking about a minor inconvenience, we are talking about a total nuisance. If you went to a control point with 5 other people and only had minimal damage then there most likely was a Tank in your group who kept you alive during the time you were there. We can agree to disagree but please talk to a few players who play a Tank in the game.

 

First and foremost, I've played a multitude of MMORPGs and in all of them, to be specific I've played UO, DAoC, Shadowbane, City of Heroes, World of Warcraft, Guildwars 2 and Elder Scrolls Online. I've played a tank on one shape or another. To simplify what a tank is, let me post this link-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tank_(video_games)

TLDR: A tank or meat shield is a character class commonly seen in co-op video games such as real-time strategy games, role-playing games, fighting games, multiplayer online battle arenas and MUDs. Tank characters distract enemy attention and attacks toward themselves in order to provide protection or decoy for teammates.
"Tanking" occurs when the unit's intention is to be the one taking in damage (typically by being dangerous or detrimental, or using a game mechanic that forces it to be targeted), and secondly, to ensure that they can survive this damage through sheer health points or mitigation.

To tank in this game, let me put in a shameless plug (Please pay no attention to a few opening comments in the first 5 min...most notably about me and my actions towards a pole and someone having singles for me)-


To be a tank in a MMORPG there generally is more than one way to skin a cat but in this game.... that cat is a Mexican hairless with wolverine like claws and a temperament of a woman ready to give birth but being told not to push. It VERY involving, sacrificing a lot just to ensure your role is played correctly.

• The control points and bosses in the game as it stands ARE normal encounters. CPs in this game are a place to grind exp.
• With an exception of 2 locations, Bosses in this game are easily overpowered by people with high Adventure level players with high skill caps. Because of that, no, Bosses here ARE normal encounters. They do not have any Adds (additional monsters that provide a buff to the boss), they do not debuff, they do not have any mechanics that will kill the tank. The Spider queen/mother is one that could be an exception but it is easily killed by being kited. The Lich Boss in Owl's head sewers would be my other, but its easily overpowered with players having a high Adventure level. Everywhere else is too easy to "farm."

No... simply no..... Control Points are NOT end game content. Its like people describing Upper Tears as end game content prior to the changes. No. Control Points are a place to grind experience. I know it was not their intention to make it that but lets be real here.... it is what it is. Risk vs. Reward in a control point? What are you risking outside of boredom and rewards like "OMG.... a 2 handed hammer! Epic loot!"

"End game is anything that is restricted to being max level, all the stuff that is available when you are done leveling. Everything that can be played at max level. Or if the game is not based around max level, it would be the content that is relevant for the huge majority of players."

• Because there is NO Adventure level cap- There really can't be any end-game. Sorry, you are not correct.
• Content that is relevant for the huge majority of players- Control points are NOT that. I say again, Control Points are places for everyone to just grind experience.

I get this dude's pain. I get his frustration. If you watch the video, I'm hitting the buttons like a red headed stepchild with bacon in his mouth being chased by starving pit bulls through a field of.... never mind...

What I do to keep myself "gainfully employed" is the following:

• Keep all my defensive buffs up and on cooldown
• Do all of that while weaving taunt in between or spamming taunt when I have the time to because of high damage dealing players that can easily "pull aggro"
• Spin my camera angles around to see where the important targets are coming from
• (Because its a control point) find a spot where I can keep the mobs (bad guys for those that don't know) coming at ME consistently and predictably. I do this so EVERYONE else that is dealing damage can do so freely and to the best of their ability. When I find that spot, again because its a control point, I glue myself there and do all of the above.

That's what I do in a nutshell. Is there more to it? Abso-freaking-lutely! However, I'm not going to get in depth more than I already am.
Having buffs for "tanks" last longer than 5 freaking minutes would be a Godsend to at least lessen the more than stupid involvement needed to fill the role as a tank in the game. As it stands right now, from my perspective, one would have to be in some shape or form a masochist to enjoy filling the role of "tank" in SoTA.

If they do this simple thing, it may, just may, bring more people to take on the role that is the least appreciated, most sought after and most often disliked role in most games.

• How often do you see different tanks in this game?
• How often do you see different tanks in "Looking for group?"
• How often have you heard anything akin to "If I have to keep hitting taunt I'm not playing it" or "That's way to many taunts for me"

I fail to see how extending DEFENSIVE buffs in the game would hinder or be detrimental to the game. We do NOT have the following of the other giants out there when WE COULD have them. We need to stop crying "OMG... he pwned me with (insert spell here) nerfs PLZ!" and start looking into and finding other solutions that others may have that we can use. We need to KEEP and ATTRACT new players not drive them away with more nerfs.

 

Let me guess, @Violet Ronso , you're an archer - and yet you speak on the subject of tank buffs as tho you're familiar with their woes........
Please correct me if I'm mistaken.

 

For me it would be Wolf Speed for sure. Others? Obsidian Potions?

 

Specifically, I was thinking Wolf Speed, Deftness, Might, Acumen... but all of them could do with a duration boost.

 

I am infact an Ice Mage, and currently considering change to Bludgeon + Earth. Before the 2M attenuation limit, I actually was my guilds tank (until having a tank was no longer required for the spots we were farming). So no, your guess is wrong, and I am familiar with the role of a tank, having spent a year or so playing as one. And just to add to this, it was actually the closest I got to enjoying a challenge in this game, as it was probably one of the only few "Classes" that felt challenging to play well, compared to an archer or a fire mage.

 

This is not just a "tank problem" or a "melee problem". I'm an archer and I have exactly one deck slot for actual attacks. Everything else is buffs/debuffs or stances, potions and spells to clear debuffs and dots that I'm constantly having to recast. On top of that, every 10-12 minutes I have to switch to my dedicated buff deck to restack the longer-acting ones. Potions like resist, acumen, deftness and might, well there's a third deck just for them. I often feel super bogged down with all the things you have to monitor and recast every 30 seconds to a minute just to stay on top of everything. It's out of control for everyone, not just one playstyle.

 

A M E N @Margaritte A M E N !

 

Well then case settled. Increase all buffs to a minimum of ten minutes if not more.

I wholeheartedly agree that it is incredibly annoying to have to switch decks, go in and out of combat, change gear, etc. just to maintain buffs.

This is a QOL issue that definitely should be changed to make the game more enjoyable for all players.

 

I would consider this as working as designed.

Picking how much dps Vs healing and damage mitigation to have in a limited deck size is the choices you make. If your deck size is at a level where you can have everything with no compromise then there is no deck system. You are completely changing the combat system.

Deciding if to have a buff charged/stacked Vs a single card along with others in a dynamic "spam" slot based on its duration, action/cast time and power.

The differing duration is used to decide the relative numbers of the cards you put in the dynamic slots.

I would agree that the buff potions would probably be more used if they where upped to 30 mins or an hour. These also don't even use deck slots if you are happy to wait the cool down as you can put them in your non combat bar.


Regards
Spung

 

I disagree... We have 5 Skills that only last for a minute... 3 skills that last less than 2 minutes. So right now I play wack a mole CONSTANTLY trying to keep the 5 skill buffs up 20-25 seconds alone just for this, taunt, attack once or twice, do other 2 minute buffs, attack a couple of times, then back to the 5 skill buffs.