Let me begin this post by saying that the way Trion is handling the Free-to-Play transition is one of the biggest Epic Fails I have ever seen.
Free to Fail
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Author Archives: Dunsparrow
Suck it Warriors
Small nerf to warriors today.
Riftblade
* Rift Spear: Now an Area of Effect ability, due to this it will be affected by any damage bonuses and penalties to AoE attacks.
This really only affects PvP and Hardmode Kain, but it shows that devs are aware of the problem. I also much prefer the cautious approach to balancing of doing slight nerfs, compared to the wild swings in power they’ve done in the past.
So Warriors are on the right track. Now if they can take a look at Pyromancer.
MM Getting a Boost
There are a few MM changes on the PTS which will equate to a slight buff to the soul. Not sure if it will be ahead of Ranger again, or not. These are were posted by Ailion in a couple threads on the rogue forums. They haven’t made it in the PTS notes yet.
Rapid Fire Shot reduced to 16 Energy
Decoy is now off-GCD
(source)By Ailion
The damage of Deadeye Shot is already increased by approximately 10%. You should be able to parse it on PTS.
(source)
These changes could potentially put MM above Ranger again, and could result in Rogues actually using Deadeye Shot again. That would let MM do a bit more damage while sacrificing some mobility. Worth it?
The problem with this, of course, is if MM is more DPS than Ranger, people will start complaining about Ranger being worthless again. Sound familiar? Can’t make everyone happy.
The 9 Raid Mechanics Every Boss Shares
When leading raids, you can learn the encounter faster if you note that bosses share a pool of mechanics. Normally a boss will pull from this pool and then have 1 or 2 unique abilities as well. Learn these:
Red Stuff – Don’t stand in it. e.g. Gelidra
Beam Stuff – Just like normal red stuff, but there’s a rotating beam inside of it. It won’t hurt you unless you touch the beam, but the beam will kill you. e.g Hard Mode Zaviel
Rogues as 2nd Class Citizens?
For a long time now, its seemed like Rogues get the short end of the stick in terms of class balance. Typically a major balance patch will do a decent job of class balance, and then hotfixes will progressively buff warriors and mages again.
When its gotten bad in the past, I’ve remarked on it. And now the discussion is taking place on the Rift forums once again. With Pyromancer as the undisputed #1 ST DPS and Riftblade right behind with strong cleave, where does that leave Rogues? We have some good options for melee with Bladedancer and Nightblade, but we aren’t going to beat the powerhouses.
Are Rogues considered 2nd class citizens, forever doomed to a life of mediocrity? Or am I just making a mountain out of a molehill?
Fairness is a Myth
I’m starting a new section here to talk about leadership. This is not to be self-aggrandizing, but simply to impart some lessons I’ve learned in my years of leading raids and later a guild. It’s also to crystallize some things in my own mind.
The first and most important thing I’ve learned is that fairness does not actually exist. When I was a kid, I experienced all kinds of mistreatment. Sometimes my brother got a better Christmas present than me. Sometimes my dad took a bite of my McDonald’s ice cream cone, sometimes my coach would make me run laps because I made a joke. My response to all of these breaches of my sense of justice was to claim “That’s not fair!” and my father or coach would reply “life’s not fair.”
Ranger Too
The changes I mentioned yesterday also affect Ranger but I didn’t really mention it. Most notably, the Raptor is getting a charge. Other stuff is just quality of life improvements that won’t affect DPS.
However, more Ranger changes may be coming and we’ll have to keep an eye on it going forward. Right now, there’s really no point using Ranger in a raid. Its like a harder-to-play Marksman, but without an interrupt or purge. Zzz.
Bladedancer Changes
Ailion posted some Rogue changes on the forum and they look good. Bladedancer is finally getting some crucial ability changes to help it better fit its defined role: a single-target focused soul with good cleaving ability.
From Ailion
Just a heads up, some Bladedancer and Ranger changes are already up on PTS. Patch notes haven’t been posted yet.
1) Bladedancer: Dauntless Strike: No longer increases the Critical Hit chance of group members. It now applies a debuff to the target, increasing the target’s chance to be critically hit by 5%.
2) Bladedancer: Blade Hustle: An additional effect has been added. You now gain Blade Hustle every 3s, increasing the damage of your next Quick Strike or Precision Strike 3-9%. Stacks up to 10 times.
3) Bladedancer: Disengage: Can now be used anytime. Now on GCD.
4) Bladedancer: Dancing Steel, Hundred Blades: Now on a 30s cooldown, down from 60s.
5) Ranger: New ability added to the Blood Raptor. The Blood Raptor can now charge at the enemy, dealing physical damage.
6) Ranger: Escape Artist: Cooldown has been reduced to 1 min, down from 2 min.
7) Ranger: Fleeting Instinct: Effect can now be applied both in and out of combat.
I’m excited about the speed that the devs are responding to the community. It wasn’t long ago that the discussion began on the forums about Bladedancer having no place in a raid.
It wasn’t competitive in DPS with NB/Sin, suffers horribly during disconnects. To top it off, the AOE channeled abilities didn’t fit well with rotations and weren’t up often enough to be used when needed on cleaving encounters.
These changes seek to address those issues. It certainly won’t make BD the best for every raid encounter (or even most) but for a few, it will be the perfect spec.
MM updated again
Status
Updated MM to 61MM / 10 Sin / 5NB which for me is parsing the highest.
MM Buffs, Hybrid Dead
Status
Updated my 61MM spec/rotation for the new patch. Looks like 40/36 MM/Ranger is dead. Full MM should be top ranged and with utility, it will be the standard.