ninja_ardith wrote:
Rennus_Dragonsbane wrote:
There used to be an apothecary in the game that had a list a mile long of pills that changed each tick. Among them was an ethereal form pill. However this shop was removed because EVERYONE who was a twink could kill a sorc without even needing to think about it.
Sorc's have received many buffs since then but Ethereal form is the only REAL form of defense a sorc has.
Hasted mercs / furied barbs can cut through 4-6 of a sorcs MI in 1 round leaving them exposed for a bash.
There were etherealform pills after the apothecary was removed.
The sorcerer weakness is compensated for by group formation. I don't see it as a valid argument, especially while under the effects of something like taunt that you'd be level headed enough to go, oh, if I can zap etherealform, I can escape.
I would move for a broader spectrum look at magical devices. I don't think that it is necessarily the problem of a wand or scroll of etherealform, but a broader picture that caster classes are able to get hold of spells in another form that easily increases their capabilities beyond the norm.
I'll posit this: is it necessarily a good thing to have scrolls that respawn, if a player fails to effectively use a scroll, in other words, to land a kill with it, is it acceptable for them to wait for a scroll to respawn to take a second chance in 10-30 minutes.
It's an inherent problem with caster classes, they are so generously rewarded for having lower hps, and less effective armor (questionably) that it has become absurd. Melee classes depend on things like haste and giant strength to become more effective, yet must suffer through a penalty in the form of fatigue, while a spellcaster who can increase his potency through the use of art, and magical devices (staves/scrolls/wands) suffers no perceivable penalty when they increase their abilities.
It's just odd seeing a sorcerer use spirit horde or finger of death when it doesn't come in their skillset, while there is no way for a class such as a barbarian to somehow learn how to trip.
However, personally I do believe something needs done about the use of escape means. If, for example, someone is taunted, and are unable to use a word of recall potion to escape from combat, then why is it then acceptable for them to use a wand of etherealform to escape? This is how the code currently works.
It needs changed so that PK will not revolve around PK attempts to bag kills. As the old adage goes, a player can wreck another player 100 times, but all that matters is that one time that they die. In other words, a player can be losing by being sent packing 100 times by another player, but all they need is the 1 time they actually kill someone. Where is the risk and reward in this system? It doesn't involve people stepping up their game or devising better strategies, it just rewards the mentality of, "well, I can escape and I'll get him *eventually*".
All of this is a really good point, especially given the consideration that a well-prepared sorceror will have 2 rows of melee for your typical warrior to chew through before they even get close to the sorceror, and those levels of melee are going to be buffed as well, if not better, than the warrior class engaging in PK with said sorceror. The only cost to the sorceror is recharging the magical devices they use and any fatigue encountered by the NPC charms is completely disregarded since they can be easily replaced.
Now, the question is do you replace or simply eliminate wands of etherealform as the simplest solution, and force sorcerors to utilize their skillset and scribe the etherealform, thereby limiting it to a single use without reequipping a new scroll? Or do you provide more utilities for the warrior classes to counter these accessible devices, which takes more effort on the part of the IMMs, but create more dynamic enrichment in player combat?
I personally think the former is a better solution, rather than the latter, because forcing sorcerors to scribe their etherealform allows other classes like rogues and bards to obtain the scrolls from them and utilize them. Necromancers would still have access to the scrolls, and the only class I could see losing out would potentially be warlocks, but their defensive capabilities are easily countered by other means, especially in regards to facing warrior classes.
In summation for those that felt this was tl;dr, simply remove all wands of etherealform, things remain balanced and you solve a potential problem very quickly and efficiently, with the least amount of "collateral damage" in the process.
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