Here are three things that I think are true about Animists:

A). Animists have very little range or utility, therefore they need something solid to rely on from 1500 range. Arboreal spec has this, but Creeping and Verdant do not.

B). The class defining ability for Animists lies in their wisps more than in their pets. The new mobile pets should be helpful, but Creeping and Verdant should still be able to backload DPS via wisps; however, they should have much less damage than the 225 delve that is currently in Arboreal.

C). Verdant and Creeping specs should be brought more inline with Arboreal with regards to effectiveness in RvR.

So, with regards to "A", I think the following two changes are balanced (if "B" is ignored):

1. a) Give Creeping a specline lifetap. This is not a very major change, it's just an upgrade to the current baseline version that they already have.
1. b) - OR - Give creeping access to a DD/snare, similar to the one on a Mana Eld, with either Energy or Body damage. I think you will notice that a Mana Eld should still outshine a Creeping Animist, but this would be a welcomed change to Creeping spec.
2. Also, give Verdant a 1500 range DD. Since the spec focusses somewhat on group support, I suggest replicating the Mentalist's DD/grp heal, with 199 damage and 130 group heal. Again I think that a Mentalist would outshine the Animist, but this will make Verdant spec a little better in RvR.

If the above changes are not implemented, then with regards to B), I think that some of the following changes should be considered. In every case, things like cast time, and damage should obviously be adjusted to maintain balance.

1. For Creeping, a lifetap wisp. For example, 2.8s cast, 170ish damage, 60% lifetap.
2. For Creeping, a DD/snare wisp.
3. For Verdant, a DD/grp heal wisp.
4. For Verdant, a single target healing wisp? If this is too powerful, then maybe take the HoT from a Mana Mana Mentalist, add in a 150ish delve, 30% magic/melee ablative, attach it to a wisp that takes time to travel to the target, and it could be an interesting spell. Probably still wouldn't see much use in RvR, though it would put Verdant Animists completely over the top for PvE. If anybody cares about PvE then you might say its a bad idea.
5. A specline long range wisp solely for the purpose of interrupting, 2000 range maybe? Or perhaps a 1800 range mainly for interrupting but with a secondary effect like disease or a debuff.
6. Energy debuff wisp. Or maybe even consider a 15-20% global magic debuff wisp. Albs and Mids might complain that they don't have this ability elsewhere, but they also won't admit that they have an easier time running debuff assist trains, whereas Hib has a wide variety of damage types, and not very good access to body/energy/spirit debuffs.
7. Change the current baseline DD/body debuff to a DD with 10% global magic resist debuff.
8. In some spec line, add a 1650 range DD wisp (about 199 delve)? Any advantage you gain in range is offset by having a long time until impact and not being able to back-load unless your opponent is running towards you.
9. If all else fails, at least give Creeping and Verdant access to a (lower delve) DD wisp. If even this fails, give them a better 1500 range DD than the current baseline options.

So all I will say from here is that some of the abilities on their own might not be balanced, and it may depend on how Animists fit in RvR after the mobile pet changes. Also, I am only suggesting one or two of the above changes, just one other spell for Verd and/or Creeping that will make those specs better in RvR.

 

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tl;dr

 

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your post is bad you keep saying do this and if you wont do this then maybe do this instead

chicks dig confidence dude

 

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lol, sorry but I wanted to try my best to avoid all of the whining which might result from asking for improvements to Animist. Have to be really careful what you ask for...

 

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well this is vn so you're going to get that no matter what you post

 

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srsly people, dont you know how much time I spent writing this?

I mean srsly come on.

 

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I LOVE the idea of a damage/snare wisp.

ALTHOUGH, the new pets could make the Verdant PBAoE spell useful.

Animists have a ton of utility in their poop lines but the whole poop line problem still remains. The other two lines just need a reliable damage ability of some kind. Doesn't have to be huge, just reliable.

And I disagree that all three lines should have backload potential. That should be an Arb thing.

 

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I'm not sure I think all three lines should be open field viable. Maybe verdant could be the "defence" spec. Upgrade the FnF abs and ablative buff mechanics to be AoE or something, but make it a really bad spec for open field. Bomber spec (arb?) doesn't need to be changed, it's back-loading is like a theurg but DD based instead of interrupt based. I'd like to see the last spec made sort of a combination. I think a spec lifetap or immunity clearing snare would be a good call. Let it be for people who want to defend AND 8v8, but not as well as focusing on one or the other.

Should be about trade offs, not about making every spec viable in all situations.

Note: I base this on FIGHTING hibs; hib is so cliquey I never was able to 50 RvR there.