Did HB really just get jumped from 2 slots to 4? Is there some plans for the spell that we aren't aware of? Because in it's current manifestation, it's far, far, inferior to the other(less expensive) debilitators we possess. Which saddens me, because it used to be one of my favorite spells, both effect wise and conceptually. But it's just been nerfed to kingdom come. 4 is just a really significant spell slot cost. I would love to hear that things are in plans to make it totally worth it though.

~Van

Actually you're almost getting the pulses free of slot cost. Standard single target CC spells come in at 2 slots (See: Halt, Dazzle, etc etc) and tanking balance is generally costed at 2 slots (Not as many clean examples of this, but see Tremor or Desert Maelstrom).

-Raesh

"Ever notice that B.A.'s flavor text swells in direct proportion to how much one of our characters is getting screwed?" - Brian Van Hoose

> On top of this, you can still prep, target and cast all while webbed.

You can't target while webbed.

I was just reading some of the spells on the list, and there are a few that seem to me are like rebranded versions of other ones they essentially do the same thing. Like Skein of Shadows and Earthmeld and Blend. Then there is HB and Curse of the Wilds, do nearly the same thing. Claws of the cougar and grizzly claw pretty similar in what they can do. I just don't think there is any realy uniqueness to our spells. We can argue one debilitates this stat and not the other or one works melee weapons while the other does not. One you can move and buffs the ability while the others you can't is fine and dandy but they all seem too similar. Not to mention we run out of spells to even fill up our slots.

Then I was thinking about this while idea of 3.0 and 3.1 was supposed to bring all things in line but I kind of question it as things have been split up so much more while others combined. We have magical feats, steal has been combined but now there is bunch different magic skills to learn. It just doesn't makes sense to me. Ahh well

Arct

>>While they all interact with the stealth system, they're very different beats. One is a skill booster, one is invisibility, and the other is an armor booster that is currently one of only two ways (Thieves have the other) make armor stealthier.

I'm actually so far fairly happy with SKS and Earthmeld, as they interact with stealth in 2 different ways that stack, making rangers fairly pretty nasty with stealth.

Blend on the other hand, feels like a redundancy to me. It was moved a while back to a model that was similar to the moonmage, movable version. Before then, it was a still based, limitless duration invis, that many GMs maybe felt was either OP, or players thought was too restrictive.

However, I believe it's initial purpose served a much different niche than merely being invisible. It was originally very easy to cast, and in a way our "escape" spell. We could snap cast it whenever we found ourselves in terrible battle situations, like having been stunned and unable to retreat, or whatever. Very much like polo'izh do, or anyone using a polo cloak. You couldn't move or do anything to put yourself into an advantage, but you could regain some balance back to make your actual escape. If you were bleeding, you had to weigh how long you needed to sit there to regain. At least, this is how I interpreted the spell from my ways of using it back then. The way it is now, you just get pulled right out of invis much easier than if you just hid, so it pretty much is kind of a novelty spell. You can walk around and do actions without alerting your presence, but you're not hard to spot.

I feel HB and CotW are uniquely different. I'm happy with the way CotW works. But as I stated earlier, HB has many limitations and negations that really don't make it feel like it's 4 slot useful. I feel like it needs something that really makes you want to choose it over stunning something with complete immobility from BB. Maybe up the duration or something. I know it has a re-web effect. But I rarely see that kick in. Or like the old Hobble, increase it's chance to knock down. Or even have it administer poison again. Something that isn't damage based or non-lethal, like something that just really messes up nerves(similar to how arclight damages the head), or debuffs their reflex with drowsiness, or stamina, or eats at fatigue. Something interesting.

One redundancy that I do feel involving our spells is Swarm and Earthmeld. Stealth buff, and perception debuff both attempt to increase the disparity between the skills to make the ranger more easily able to hide. However, self buffs last MUCH longer than a target debuff does. The AoE effect is a nice perk to help off balance this. But once again, a self buff works against all eyes trying to perceive you as well. I don't know if it has a random RT inhibitor or not. That would be nice if it still did, as again this is another spell that costs a hefty 4 slots.


>>Claws of the cougar and grizzly claw

These I actually feel like, personally, are fairly different and interesting. I personally actually kind of like them. Griz for me, is a different SvS challenge that I can use against different targets, and mildly, serves as an "escape" spell with it's knockback/knockdown ability. CotC is just a melee attack boost. They just both sound very similar by name. The feature they both share I believe is the web-breaking mechanic. Griz is an active one, and CotC is passive, but however still broken I believe.




~Van

Stealth buff vs. Stealth hindrance buff: They stack. Likely far beyond what you could get from the 20% skill cap.

Invisibility: Checkless movement.

What Absolon says is true Arc.

>>Stealth buff vs. Stealth hindrance buff: They stack. Likely far beyond what you could get from the 20% skill cap.

Individually you will probably feel them to be very similar. And depending on your armor and magic skill, one may grant more of a overall steal bonus than the other. The power in these two spells is that they boost your stealth with completely different mechanics that do not conflict. Meaning, they will stack. You can make your armor less hindering, AND make yourself better at stealth.


>>Invisibility: Checkless movement.

Essentially this. The difference with invisibility vs. being hidden, is that you can do things like draw your weapon, rummage your backpack, or spin around in circles, and people will not see you doing it. Does it prevent you from being spotted? No, it has a check just like hidden. But you can do actions without alerting others unless they are actively searching for you.

So these things do differ. It may be small mechanical differences, but once you understand them deeper, you can draw benefits merely from the way they work.


~Van