[Trialed] Magical Infusion / Shrug It Off

[noisestorm]

Like nameless said. To really make this spell viable it has to be a guaranteed Heal. But you cannot have that spell be on a 30 sec duration and 1min cd then. If the spell potentially is able to throw a 100% working clutch heal the duration of the procc needs to be reduced in my opinion. It shouldnt be a nobrainer that you just throw at someone and wait for it to show its effect. It should be a counter-tool for lets say BW/Sorc rotation or someone eating a Championchallenge for example.

But if i had to personally choose, i'd definitely take a complete rework of the skill.
(warning - random thoughts inc) Be it an AoE aura hot, a damage prevention like suggested in the OP, or maybe some form of Crit immunity for the target.

[Danielle]

The problem I encountered when using this skill, is that it's coded different than on live, which means it only triggers when the target crosses the 20% threshold . For whatever reasons (don't know whether this is a bug I wasn't able to pinpoint or working as intended) even when it's applied correctly before the target crosses the threshold it sometimes doesn't pop or takes about 2 seconds to pop. This together with the fact you stated that wounds are low due to wounds debuffs makes it a bad skill. Due to all these problems the AP cost becomes prohibitive as you don't know what you're getting for your 55AP and a GCD at a crucial moment when your defensive target is about to die.

I think the easiest solution is just to make the skill pop instantly when it's applied to a target below 20%, or pop as a buff instantly when a target is below 20%. Never mind crossing the threshold. If it works like that it is worth using. If it is to be kept as a 'crossing the threshold' skill 30% would be better. However I would still like if it popped instantly when that threshold is crossed, the current delay on its' popping means that a target either gets healed up with other heals or dies, before this skill can have its' impact. Apologies if this isn't as much about balance as about the mechanics of the skill, but I believe the way the mechanics currently work are highly related to the skills viability. I think the AP cost, cd and heal value would be acceptable if the heal was more reliable.

[Jaycub]

Wingz brings up a good point about a 25% threshold, and how anything higher could potentially have negative effects when paired with the desparation type tactics.

The reason I think the threshold is even brought up in the first place is because I at least assumed it was the reason the skill is so unreliable, but with dani's post I guess we will need some kind of clarification from Az if he is able to make the skill more reliable by possibly looking into how the skill handles it dispellation?

A 25% threshold, and faster and thus more reliable dispell by whatever means would be huge for the spell.


Edit: also looking @ this thread...

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=17680

You can see both Magical Infusion and Shrug it Off were way better abilities in the past, or at least magical infusion definitely was.

[Azarael]

The reliability can be improved with a conditional check on the handler.

The discrepancy occurs because when the ability system was written, I didn't know what the eventual threading model was going to be, so the buff system is written with the assumption that buffs might be queued on a player from a different thread than that player's. From the packetlogs, I can see that this is very likely to be a difference from Age of Reckoning. Any buff invoked on a player is queued and only activated the next time that player is ticked. This means that if MI is cast and the target is killed before his next update, MI will never trigger, but still consume AP and a cooldown.

I guess the current threading model is going to stick, so I'll have to adjust the buff system to allow both queued and directly applied buffs.

[shaggyboomboom]

Spoiler:

A mirrored 9pt ability for both shaman and archmage in their healing tree. Recent efforts by the dev team have been focusing on class mechanics and lifetaps, having some pure healing ability changes I feel could also help bring this classes further along balance wise.

Why choose this ability specifically? It's usually touted as unreliable, and letdown by it's long CD etc... It's a perfect mirror on both classes mastery trees and for the most part would effect realm balance equally.

The main problem is that the 20% threshold is far too low, destro is very stacked on wounds debuffs and it's quite often order classes will find themselves around the 4.5k HP mark. While order doesn't currently run it's wounds debuffs often, the classes it's on (knight/Slayer) are going to be up on the chopping block soon I'm sure and the result of which will be their builds running wounds debuff becoming much more viable options. While at 4.5k or even 5k HP a simple 1200 damage M1 or crit on an unguarded target can easily bypass the threshold.

My proposal is basically to open up a discussion regarding this ability in order to tweak or overhaul it to forward AM/Shaman healing reliability independent of lifetaps/mechanic which are lacking in comparison to it's counterparts.

1) address a new threshold %
2) address the CD/frequency of use
3) Possibly change the utility/function of the ability, example (change the heal component to a last stand type mechanic where it buffs the target for 3 seconds when the hp % threshold is met where their HP cannot be lowered past 1)[/img]

1) Yes and No. This is due to the synergy that this ability has with Desperation/Shammy equivalent tactic. But having it proc when under 20% will be good enough. (Let's say heal target gets bursted from 35% HP to 15% -> BOOM! MI heal bomb!)

2) CD cut to 20/30 seconds. But the timer on the ability hanging around cut down to 10 seconds. MI/SIO is a filler for heal burst when you are casting your 2 second heal. We shouldn't have to wait 1 minute for it to be used again.

3) I see no need for a change in the ability. This is a triggered instant heal equivalent in numbers to the 2 second heal. You use it only to fill the gap in between your cast time of BoH/Shammy equivalent.

A change I would like to see is a cut in AP cost from 55 to 40.

[Azarael]

An alternative suggestion floated internally was to make MI and SIO work as the D&D spell "Contingency" can be made to. If the target's HP falls below a certain value, the target is immediately teleported to the location of the AM/Shaman, with suitable effects.

[Jaycub]

An alternative suggestion floated internally was to make MI and SIO work as the D&D spell "Contingency" can be made to. If the target's HP falls below a certain value, the target is immediately teleported to the location of the AM/Shaman, with suitable effects.

I'd take that over a perfect proccing 25% threshold of the current version any day. It also fits in the theme of the skill in that it saves a target from near death.

But at the same time, I see it benefiting order more with WL pounce (in it's current state) and slayer going near suicidal into backlines for shatter limbs with little risk. But both things I am assuming will be balanced eventually?

[Azarael]

That's correct.

[Jaycub]

Does anyone have any objections to a 25% threshold? It's still an increase without effecting possible synergies.

And if the heal remains the same with the new threshold and I assume tweaks by Az for how it dispells, then is the 60 sec cooldown fair? Or should it be a lower cooldown, but with a lower buff time?

I think it's important to first figure out what would need to be done to the ability if we don't fundementally change what it is so we don't get too off track this early in the thread.


Personally I'd like to see...

>25% threshold
>30 sec cooldown
>10 sec buff time
>heal remains the same

If it becomes a too powerful insta cast heal possibly it could have an "arming" period where the buff doesn't activate until x seconds have past, though I highly doubt this will become the case.

[Danielle]

An alternative suggestion floated internally was to make MI and SIO work as the D&D spell "Contingency" can be made to. If the target's HP falls below a certain value, the target is immediately teleported to the location of the AM/Shaman, with suitable effects.

I like this suggestion since the game is missing a friendly teleport/pull as a utility. The one thing to be careful about with that is that a friendly pull is a just a great save and a skill that is almost too good in my experience from other games on defensive/support characters. Therefore if the skill were to be like that it would require a 3-5 minute cooldown or even longer and should probably not break roots. I would also suggest in that case, that the pull is a physical pull (speed can be adjusted) rather than a teleport. It could still be a nightmare to get such a skill working properly with bugs, jumping of cliffs and other 'clever' use. Potentially such a skill could replace the useless Shaman M3 AP Drain, because it would be on a morale strength level.

Does anyone have any objections to a 25% threshold? It's still an increase without effecting possible synergies.

And if the heal remains the same with the new threshold and I assume tweaks by Az for how it dispells, then is the 60 sec cooldown fair? Or should it be a lower cooldown, but with a lower buff time?

I think it's important to first figure out what would need to be done to the ability if we don't fundementally change what it is so we don't get too off track this early in the thread.


Personally I'd like to see...

>25% threshold
>30 sec cooldown
>10 sec buff time
>heal remains the same

If it becomes a too powerful insta cast heal possibly it could have an "arming" period where the buff doesn't activate until x seconds have past, though I highly doubt this will become the case.

I feel like a 30s cd is almost making it too strong, but then again Shaman and AM are kind of in a bad spot. It would likely mean a target could be saved by using it and then saved again, if they went down again, especially when using the Ain't Done Yet/Desperation tactics. I kind of see the skill as an emergency skill rather than something that should be available most of the time, just like the Zealot/RP wounds buff that has a 3 minute cooldown for comparison (it's also stronger ). I would rather see a heal value increase than a cooldown decrease. A 25% threshold won't change much, but it will help. If changes are coming to how the skill is handled as a buff I would wait for that and then re-evaluate if it needs further buffs. Due to how that skill is people are just not using it on Shamans/AMs (At least I am not), so it's hard to say if it's strong enough or not.