About 80% of the population has finally been heard. It took several years, but better late than never...

So, let's recap on the new updates that the DAoC Gods have decided to lay down upon us that are worth mentioning. I shall, of course, also express (in depth) my personal opinion on each item... All in the spirit of VN ;-)

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1. Personally, my favorite.. The Slam Nerf. Not only does this make Scouts' slam/PB obsolete (especially if you have a damage shield up, which interrupts for another 3-4 seconds), but it has also minimized the frustrating anytime "overpoweredness" of reavers, paladins, slam-mercs, melee tics, wardens, slam-blademasters, valkyries, and thanes. I completely agree with this change. It's a bit stupid that you can have 6 scouts run at you and all spam slam, because they know they will win if it lands - having a paladin slam you and whip out the 2hander and beat on you for what feels like an eternity WITH celerity - having a warden slam you, strip all your buffs, then proceed to drain all your power or endurance - etc, etc.. Not really sure what scouts are worried about anyway... How often do you see a solo scout? It won't really matter if they have a minstrel with them anyway (which, most scouts these days do). I would say that I feel sorry for the few solo scouts out there, but the GOOD ones are losing very little in that department - now you have to learn to get that positional stun or block-stun in, just like the rest of us archers, and your defenses will still be quite a bit stronger. For this particular change, you have my eternal love. (Side note - I **LOVE** all the scouts screaming that they will cancel their account. I doubt this. If you're really that sadly under-skilled and useless, go play Rift.)

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2. Players who fall through the ground in RVR zones WILL take falling damage - THANK GOD! FINALLY a fix to the useless Labyrinth "elite" who hop through walls anytime they start to lose. Face your fights, 'cuz you just lost your most important tool ;-)

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3. All players who are wielding two weapons will now reduce their target’s chance to block or evade by 25%. - Once again, I agree with this, though not completely. DW used to give 50% penetration, so I think 25% is a fair mid-point to meet the requests of the majority of players. I DO, however, think that this should not apply to assassins, as they have received MUCH love over the past few years to make up for the loss of penetration (i.e. DD poison, etc.). I also think that the penetration rate should be affected by SPEC'D level of dual wield, not by composite amount as some have suggested - this would require people to choose either high dual wield for defense-penetration, or points in other lines such as parry. For rangers, this change is well deserved - the melee damage a ranger can dish out is nothing short of pathetic, and has been ever since Physical Defense and defense penetration from DW was removed. It all makes sense, really... If you have a ninja running at you with one sword and you have a shield, it'd be much easier to block or avoid a blow from that one blade than if he were swinging 2 :-P - (Once again, the scouts that say they will quit if this goes through are just sad and useless. You will still have better defenses -vs- ANY class than rangers or hunters, so suck it up.)

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4. Caltrops – This ability, granted to Infiltrators, Nightshades, and Shadowblades, will now affect all enemy realm targets, and not just characters that are mounted - Eh, don't agree with this at all. God knows I have MORE than enough toys on my nightshade, so another free tanglesnare doesn't seem necessary. IMO, take this away since we're getting the dual wield bonuses. Most people don't even think of this as a major change, but just wait... you will. After all, a free perf is a free perf. If it must stay, it should be put on a 10sec cast speed, so assassins can't just use it as basically another vanish (snare, sprint away, drop a caltrops and get away. That's why they spec in Vanish.) Not to mention, all those caster shades will just trap you, run, and nuke.

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5. New savage rr5 - Eh, might as well... you already gave them charge and more common dual/triple/quad wields.

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6. Warlock spreadheal will now COST POWER! - Excellent. No class should be able to heal that much with no power cost, unless it's a druid/cleric/healer instant-cast heal.


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Now, before I get flamed for "hating" on any one realm, let me state that I play all 3. In fact, I myself have/play a scout, valkyrie, warden, savage, and ranger. I'd like to think I'm seeing all this from a pretty neutral point of view. I think what's happened to scouts is by far the most deserved chande - ever tried to hit a scout, and end up just beating on his shield until he slams and spams PB shot? It's frustrating! And Valkyries should have never received slam, nor should Wardens. I think the 5 sec. stun time is perfect for anything other than the pure tanks (arms, warrior, hero), and anyone who think that their slam should also be reduced is just bitter.

All in all, best update since Player Housing! Now if only they'd take away glass and bounty points being used to buy artifacts and master levels, or at least make the credits, scrolls, and glass not trade-able - maybe then every RR1 I fight won't be ml10 and perfectly templated yet!

 

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P.S. - Nightshade RR5 is a good change - I'd rather have a 5 minute timer on a slightly less effective ability than a 10 minute timer on a stronger one.

 

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obvious troll is obvious

 

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Slam duration should have been set to shield size. I don't see being stunned as long when hit with a frisbee compared to a barn door. Return hybrids and light tanks to meduim shields with a 7 second duration, 5 for small shield users.

Totally agree about DW, about freaking time and yeah, set it to specced level, not comp.

Don't see any reason to do anything with caltrops but since it's useless as is maybe change it to an aoe realm speed stripping trap and/or a momentary speed chant/song interupt.