Chosen auras and some junk tactics

[Smellybelly]

First off i play a Chosen named “Swaggaton” r40 currently rr48. I have read the rules forum and i sincerely hope i followed the rules properly.
Chosen/Knight
The super cool conan-chaos-wannabee warrior of dread and slaughter, Or the peacock Ivanhoe looking Runefang knight of Order.
Wanted in all groups due to his/her auras, the bane of this class as these same auras limits the classes in other ways.
Each tank have skills that buffs stats, but not in as easy manner as chosen/knight who just need to be in group and stay within 30 feet.
This is a balance problem imo, you just exist and people around you get free candy.
Such powerful abilities need to be balanced, so the Chosens and Knights damage capability is maybe as much as 70% lower then Black Guards, and Swordmasters have even higher potential then Black Guards.
Black Orcs and Ironbreakers are not as high but still outperform Knights and Chosens by at the very least 50%.
And that’s fine i guess, if the boring auras were to remain as is. But they shouldnt, its a braindead mechanic that makes them mandatory.
At times it feels like playing an energy drink, that just walks around helping anyone in close proximity.

So i toyed with some thoughts, wrote them down and its just examples or ideas, dont get into the nittygritty saying something is OP or not, just discuss the potential if you can. If we can somehow influence or give the devs ideas or inspiration, then we have achieved something and contributed to the growth of this game wich we all have come to love.

Path of Dread tree: Base problem - Damage is lacking severely. Its ofc a tank class but even so its very very low, even compared to other tanks.
Path of Corruption: A pretty nicely balanced tank tree imo, i would suggest a few changes to tactics but not much else.
Path of Discord: This tree was originally supposed to be the buff/debuff anti magic tree but its all wierd and to ever get any useful ravage crits you then focus as much points into this tree as you can. Wich is not what the tree was about at all. Plus a healing recieved tactic...shouldnt that be in the tanking tree?
So here is some thoughts, just ideas. A vision if you will, the actual numbers are not that important. Its more the changes or possibilities i would ask you to consider. But first off...


Auras:
As i understood it, auras are locked as is until devs get client control?
Anyway…
The hippo in the room, the reason chosen/knight is mandatory in all groups.
Also, imo, the reason why these tanks have the worst damage output of all.
Problems: They are super easy to apply, just stand close to someone and they give/take away very important stats, usually Strenght/Toughness and Resist.
This combo is also a problem because most other auras are pretty bad by comparison.
One idea i had was to lower the base stat buff of each of the three base auras (str/tou/res) but keep the mechanic, except for adding a key skill that is linked to each aura, so when used the aura is buffed to a higher value, thus giving it a purpose, incoming magic dmg and you try to boost resist aura by using ...blastwave for example, or incoming melee dmg and you have to use Baneshield to boost toughness. You see where im going with this.
Its a thought but im not sure where to go with it.
Also most of the other auras you can spec for are usually a dreadfully bad (pun intended) version of other skills easily applied by the other players.
Dreadful agony is a prime example, low damage aoe pulse every 3 seconds.
It could for example be changed to a cooldown skill that acts the same, maybe pulse for 9 seconds but with higher damage and with a 25 second cooldown?
Perhaps add a secondary effect to the pulse if anyone has any good ideas.
Corrupting retribution is a group vide heal aura that activates if you defend/disrupt against any attack. It heals for miniscule values and just as Dreadful agony its only ever really useful if you farm mobs or manage to stack somewhat nice hp/sec items and manage to get 1vs1 fights. Same suggestion here, a cooldown ability like Grumble and Mutter for Ironbreakers.
Cooldown and increased healing, or plainly just buffed.
AoE healdebuff aura does fill a purpose in warbands, but its enough that one chosen in the entire warband uses it.
Increased cast times aura...once it filled a purpose but when it had an effect on instant abilites it more or less broke the game on live. If it fills any kind of purpose atm is something im kinda doubtful of.
AP aura is ok i guess, nothing more nothing less. It does negate the power of the gods tactic pretty decisively.


Tactics
First off i dont suggest all changes go into effect, its just suggestions and discussion.
Embrace the Winds = ]15% Extra healing recieved for 12 points invested into Path of Discord, compared to Ishas Protections wich is a baseline ability (free) wich grants 20% Extra healing received.
Problem: Expensive and not good enough for anyone to actually spec into.
Suggestion: Since such a high amount of points is invested i suggest some alternatives...
A) Give twice as much as it does currently (30%)
B) Give 15% + HP/SEC effect
C) Give 15% + Discord tree is all about spiritual dmg and effects, perhaps increase spirit dmg done by 5-10% overall. ← Does not fit well with the theme of the tree but is badly needed.
D) Give 15% + 5-10% less damage received from magical attacks (my least favourite suggestion).
The question remains though, with the tactic changed- would you even spec for it?
Putting it lower in the tree might entice people but it still remains difficult to replace anything out of the basic toolkit.


Dire Shielding= Baneshield lasts for 10 seconds and lashes out for 100 spirit dmg to anyone who attacks you. 30 second cooldown
With Dire Shielding tactic for 4 invested points it also applies to your group and adds 7 seconds to duration.
In my opinion this ability is garbage, no one uses it. Dreadful agony aura does more damage and even so, that is also a garbage aura by comparison.
Problem: The tactic/skill is extremly weak and no one really consistently use it.
Suggestion:
A: Lower its cooldown to X seconds, have it work for your group and also absorb on group for X amount of damage.
B: Lower its cooldown to X seconds, remove group damage but add a higher absorb to the player.
C: Extend duration to 20 seconds, add an absorb effect on group or player.


Tainted Wound = A low damage DoT that lasts for 9 seconds, with Tainted Wound tactic all direct healing inflicts 225 dmg to the healer in question.
Problem: A bad tactic for a bad skill, barely worth using ever. Goes for both the skill and the tactic itself.
Suggestion:

A: Increase DoT damage to somewhat more meaningful values, its a curse wich can still be cleansed.

B: Add a incoming heal-debuff of 50%

C: Have it silence the healer for 3 seconds, this one might be dumb due to recklessly granting immunities.

D: Make it a life leech effect, perhaps like the SM tactic Blessing of Heaven.

A dot on your target makes it heal anyone attacking that target for X over X seconds.
E: Make it proc from group heals and Hots.

Feed on the Weary = As it stands a pretty pointless AP drain effect as baseline 30 AP drained, with this tactic its increased to 40 AP and you increase your AP by 40. Problem is Chosen have much more effective ways of regaining AP, such as Chaotic Advantage, Power of the Gods or Dreadful Terror.
Problem: This tactic is simply put, not useful at all.
I suggest:
Change it to
A: A runefang “ish” effect, stat boost of some sort when parrying.
B: Withering Blow adds a 25 feet cone 40% slow attack duration 5-7 seconds, 10 second CD remains.


Thanks for reading all of my barely coherent rambling, im pretty sure the devs already have their own thoughts and plans about most of what i have written but maybe an idea or two could hopefully be spawned from this material.

[dansari]

Whew, this proposal. So many things to unpack. Instead, can you make separate proposals so we can focus on specific abilities/tactics one at a time?