Shattered Kingdoms

So, the MC is, as we all know, the only faction to have both cabal and tribunal abilities. This has worked out just fine for a long time, because their access to key classes in their tribunal makeup was restricted or severely limited.

In the past year or so, this balance has been pushed - not only do they command what is generally considered the best tribunal NPC in the game, the giant legionnaire, but they were also outfitted with a sorceror, a key class for buffing.

But now, God help me, they have been given a magic-immune mentor+ barbarian. The outcry when they were given the sorceror and the giant should have tipped someone off. But magic-immune? In a cabal with a certain pitch-black ability? That is just foolish. I really fail to see the reasoning behind looking around for something to buff, and then coming up with the brilliant conclusion that, "Yeah! MC needs help! Of course they do! Let me just give them a NPC which can bash through midnight! I mean, how underpowered is that ability if they cannot even get pets to initiate combat?" Addendum: magic-immune might not entail the ability to see through midnight, but a mentor+ magic-immune barb should still be beyond the scope of the MC (just as the giant and the sorc)

Preemptive defense: No, this is not just because I happen to play a lightie, if you surf through the MC forum, you will notice posts where I argue against the giant legionnaire and against further buffs. Goodday.

Wow, if this indeed the exact case, it does sound a LOT OP...

Well you failed from the get-go because NOONE was "looking for something to buff."

That's just typical conspiracy thinking.

This is a case of the ends justifying the means. New area, all sorts of gemstone equipment (I'm sure there's a storyline behind this) and what makes sense for a primo law mobile with gemstone hide? Golem.

Instead of whining why don't you go do the tower of sage quest and buy those sand golems, then you'll be able to dirt kick through Midnight yourself.

Belxechar has been around for quite a bit longer than 1 year. Chrisheld is a hellion, not a sorceror.

The only change that needs to be made is buffing Talons.

I think the sorcerer reference is to Belxechar (sp?). I'm inclined to agree with the arguments above because of the utility and power that is within the MC skillset.

Although you may have argued for the giant legionnaire's debuffing/removal, this thread still comes to the forums after your loss to the MC. In a log where you are equally as prepared and there is visible balance and the NPCs still sway the battle unfavorably, this will have more weight. Only saying that as a suggestion to your campaign.

Can law NPCs actually leave the kingdom they come from?

(Its been a while since I was in a tribunal, I thought the law NPCs would always leave the group if they enter another kingdom)

Yes.

Assuming you're refering to the NPC I'm thinking of, I'll let you know that there are some very significant drawbacks to making use of it. I'd still be interested in knowing how overpowered you think it is after becoming familiar with them.

To Trexor: Law NPCs can now enter countries of warring tribunals. Uxmal is, of course, stille exempt.

The secretary has been around for a really really long time, and he's the only sorc in the tribunal (versus other tribs which have multiple sorcs/paladins/priests/etc.)

Giant barbarian being the most powerful trib NPC? I'm not totally sold on that, even though he is definitely among the most powerful. There's two paladins in the keepers with an absurd amount of ME in the game, one of them GM (They can holy word/BoG/cure crit all day long if you can command them) and a high level swash NPC that can take hits like nobody's business without any additional prep required that's even more nasty if you do have the resources to prep him. The giant legionnaire did own face in the last encounter with the lighties, but I'm chalking that up to the fact that we spelled him up well and had songs of sleep on our side: Which -are- totally broken. Take into account the fact that the giant legionnaire is also usually fighting against Hammer wielders and he suddenly doesn't look so hot.

But to be back on topic:

No, golems cannot see through a certain cabal skill even though the spell displays them as "unaffected."
No, having -one- sorc in the MC is not imbalanced compared to other tribs.
Yes, I think the golem was a bit much: But overall I don't think that the golem NPC is that much more powerful than other NPCs similar to his level in the MC, considering that he can't be equipped and can't be healed/spelled up. If he really is permahasted that should be removed, and looking at logs, it looks like he is.

MC has: GM barb, 2gm hellions, 2-4 mentor/master hellions, 1 crappy sorc, 1 master merc. (has had these for years)

It just got in addition to that a high level barb who is race-golem (the only current nonplayable race NPC the MC has). Obvious drawbacks to golem race are inability to be spelled up and verylikely? unable to wear equipment.

Obvious advantages are that it is immune to offensive spells and can still participate in 98% of pvp, which involves entering a gate and walking 2 rooms.

Whenever builders consider adding something into the game, they should be asking themselves: "Who does this benefit? Who does this hurt? Was the side that benefited from this change underpowered before?"

I would have ranked tribunals as far as abilities go as:

Guardians
Hand
Peacekeepers
MC
Talon

The MC don't need to have 2 NPCs to bash and tank in pvp. MC already has one, in addition to other abilities. I don't think many players believe that MC is the weakest faction. Still, I don't think this change is terribly unreasonable. The NPC isn't spectacular - it's good, but I would still bring the giant legionnaire with me into pvp.

I don't see how songs of sleep is broken, but I would be interested in hearing the explanation.