New patch

[Allison]

poopy caca poop

They changed the buff system. There are now 2 levels of buffs that can be cast, the higher of which uses more concentration. Also, the max number of buffs anyone can cast is 16. Sounds ok. Except....the higher level buffs that I already had have all dropped by 10 points or more. So my con buff that used to buff 41, now only does 29, etc.. Also, if I cast 16 of my lower level buffs, I still have conc left over, but can't cast any more, because I've hit the cap. If I cast 16 higher level buffs, I use all my concentration, but I hit the cap anyway, so why even bother with with the lower level ones??? Effectively, what's happened, is my buffs have just been reduced.

And this after they added the 60 sec timer on remezzes. Yeah yeah...better for RvR, but a nerf for my character who already doesn't get to do much.

And then....dexterity now modifies casting time. Great. I'm glad I chose a Firbolg with a dex of 40. It's bad enough that I put points in Empathy, and my empathy raises every level, and all the items for bards are mostly empathy. And guess what? Empathy does nothing for bards. But now I can't even increase my casting time with my now reduced dex buff because my dex is too low to start with.

And....now instruments degrade. I hear about 1% an hour. That's fine. But considering that I'm holding an instrument 99.9% of the time I'm playing, that's going to be a lot of repairing. And bards can't even specialize in the tradeskill to repair their own instruments.

And....2 of the spells in the bards' very limited spell line are all but useless.

And my beautifully arranged...no...make that ... ingeniously arranged quickbar is all messed up. :(

Bah. I'm just frustrated that the majority of my time is spent standing around holding a drum. They don't have to make it worse by pooping on me every patch.

[]LoL[Harm]

I feel for ya Alli, come to the dark side. Join me and Aasimon ;)

[Morety]

- Debuff spells are now very effective against enemy buffs. You'll now notice that debuff spells can "take down" an enemy buff quite well. Debuff spells are still effective against non-buffed enemies, but are stronger against buffed ones.

That's a very vague description of what happens to our debuffs.

What does it mean?

I just checked and my str/con debuff has gone from 75 to 38. My dex/qui has dropped to 36.

Little foam basketball.

[Yellow5]

Base buffs have been lowered in effectiveness. Spec and item buffs have been raised in effectiveness. Therefore, base buffs play a smaller part of the total formula than before, but spec and item buffs play a greater role.

It USED to be that each player had a cap on how many buffing points were effective. We lumped all three buff types into a pool, and said, "you can go no higher than this number." Players were hitting this cap around level 20 or so with just their base buff. This was not effective, or particularly rewarding to people who chose to spec in buffs. Not only that, but at the levels that people were getting the cool +stat items, they weren't making a lick of difference.

So NOW we have a different system. You can hit a cap in base, spec, or item (cap meaning a point past which you cannot be buffed), but the COMBINED buffs have no hard cap. (The cap is by default the three different caps added together.) The system overall IS more effective, especially at the higher levels, although people relying solely on base buffs have noticed less effectiveness. Each player has the capacity to achieve much better buffing than before the patch, and this system is more rewarding to those who chose to specialize in buff lines, or to do quests resulting in stat item rewards. I'm really looking forward to spellcrafting now, which will add stats to player made items.

The change is not terribly noticable pre-twenty, and as with most things becomes more apparent the higher you are in level. That's how it's supposed to work - let me know, as always, if this isn't clear.

I've not heard anything about the stealth classes, did rangers get a big nerf also?

[~Cobra~]

i feel ya ailia... they're re-working the whole buff system and it looks like they're doing it piecemeal... and some classes are going to get jerked at the onset...

also heard that archers crit shots have been severly reduced... which is a VERY good thing... call it a nerf or what not... but every class's damage NEEDS to be capped at a reasonable level... in order to make RvR more than a 3second battle... now all they have to do is cap melee a smidge...

i'm just glad clothcasters got some love finally... tho the af/abs shield, dex being a meaningful stat finally and the raising of the int cap were a small bandaid... it gives me hope that mythic knows at least of some of the issues and will fix them accordingly...

that said... take solace in the fact archers and the naturalist classes will still be very very very valuable in groups and RvR... roll up a clothcaster :)

[Rooster]

Here's the thing Alli --

The numbers don't mean the same thing they used to. All the numbers have changed -- but they've been given more meaning.

Sorta like pinball machines where you could score 10,000,000 for hitting a bumper and everything else was worth 15,000,000 or more. Would you be mad if you only got 1,000,000 for the bumper and only 1,500,000 for everything else? So it decreases the factor by 10. It doesn't change the relative score for that game. The same goes true here.

Item buffs went up 50% to make them worth while (whoopee! I got a +4 str cloak -- but Muri's STR buff gives me 35! --- uhh... not balanced!) and now debuffs & buffs have been brought in line.

It may seem like you're nerfed, but it's not -- it's a different scale. Sorta like getting paid in a different denomination -- instead of getting paid in $1 bills (and getting 500 of them) you get paid in $5 bills and only get 100 of them.

Harm, what are you & Aasimon doing on the darkside and what is it? :confused: :(

[~Cobra~]

hey roo... did your str cap get raised too?

[Allison]

I understand the patch, Roo. But it is still a nerf in a way because my usefulness in a group of higher level players has been decreased. Yes, if I'm buffing people at my level, it shouldn't make a difference. But before, I could buff someone higher than me and it was a decent buff. Not so anymore.

And the reason I'm frustrated is because bards have a lot of problems that aren't being addressed. And every single patch that has come out that has affected bards has been a nerf of the class. Maybe better all around for realm balance, but not much fun for the person playing the class.

This wouldn't be a big deal except that it's just one more straw on the camel's back.

[Rooster]

Actually, I think Bards still have tremendous value.

Yeah, I'm better post-patch.

Even with Muri's littler buffs, I'm better.

[Hammer]

I personnally love a Bard;) Ask Grundy how much of a difference it makes to our hunting expeditions to have that bard along. Speed, buffs, healing, wooooot. You'll just have to start sluming with your Hubby;) What I want to know is how come the Hib tanks don't get just a little bit a magical love? Seems like we would at least be given a small hit dd spell for pulling. Isn't this the magic realm?

[]LoL[Harm]

Lol, nothing, me and Aasimon just started some Alts on Igraine as Middies. =)

[~Cobra~]

heh hammer, the pure tank classes don't have magic i believe... i think there's midguard and albion version of a hero with slight differences...

[Allison]

Sorry if my tone was poopy, guys. I've been really grumpy the last couple of days for some reason. :/

[Dape]

I hope it's not cause you are gonna be 21 soon? Grumpy or not youre still the best to team with.
:D

[Boom]

/me agrees with Dape. A party just isn't a party without Ailia and her beautiful musics.

[Allison]

Awwwww. You guys are too good to me. :)