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[AM/Sham] Lifetaps

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Dabbart
Posts: 2248

[AM/Sham] Lifetaps

Post#1 » Thu May 17, 2018 3:15 am

After July 20th 2018 patch, this proposal is redundant and unnecessary. -Dabbart
Spoiler:
Howdy, my AM is Dabbartam 40/50, my sham is Dabbartgob(Formerly named: Ididntdoit) 40/45.

This is an extensive change-list. However, its extremely difficult to break up into chunks to change separately, as the spec either works fully, or it doesn't. Also, please if Torque or similar already have something laid out, cool. Hopefully there is a nugget in here that could help. But it has been long enough since the removal of .ab ex that I figured no reason not to try this.

The Issue: Currently, life-taping is so lack-luster, that it fails to outheal x4 r40 Mobs. Case in point, I died multiple times while testing out some numbers for this(with HoT up as well, kinda wanted to see). The main issues, in my opinion, ranked as follows:

1, Amount of heal returned vs. Int investment
Spoiler:
Tested damage/heals with my AM on r40 mobs using This spec(obtainable at 40/30) All damage/heals shown when casting with at least 1 mechanic point.

Note: Debuffed Mobs with 114 toughness debuff from Law of Age. I did not use DF, simply increase all numbers by 25% if you want those.

196 int(0 bonus, IE full heal build)

Balanced Essence: 298(64 mit)damage heals 447 Crit: 436(95 mit) 656
Energy of Vaul: 295(67 mit)damage (Each individual EoV hit can crit. So I'll just work with the per target numbers)after 5/17 changelog. No longer heals for 150% of all damage done, now heals for 100% of damage.

850 int(damned near pure DPS)

BE: 499(152 mit)damage heal 748 crit 762(240 mit)damage heals 1143
EoV: 510(155 mit)damage crits for 770 after 5/17 changelog. No longer heals for 150% of all damage done, now heals for 100% of damage.

Full DPS looks like it can give some "decent" heals, but with 246 WP my Boon of Hysh heals for 1128 crits for 1680. And this is on Mobs, not players attempting to be defensive. These numbers are simply too low to have any real impact, regardless of Stacks(which seems to bug out when you have 5stacks, but that might be on my end) and CT reduction.
2, Avoidance rates(for Sham mostly)
Spoiler:
AMs have a strike-through tactic. Whether it is worth taking or not doesn't negate the fact it exists for AM only. However, with the reworked avoidance checks, the previous number of 450 INT to be decently assured of a cast, has been increased to nearly 800(in my experience). This precludes Healers/tanks using HtL. Those are supposed to disrupt at high rates.

One of the base tenets of .ab ex was that you "have to have a reasonable chance of getting a heal for your cast". I disagree with the implementation of excessive strike-through with 1 stack however. But the argument is valid, if you aren't 90%+ that ability will provide any heal, you wont use that ability most of the time.
3, Lack of a Mechanic Wipe
Spoiler:
This might be an entirely seperate issue. If so, I will gladly make a separate post for it. However, currently you have to use every stack to remove it. This can be nice, in that you can spam 5 fast grp heals after setting DoTs. Or possibly run 5quick Life-taps. But anyone who played the .ab ex version of AM/Sham has felt the awkwardness of having to drop 3 heals so you can build 1 heal stack.

This is more than a QoL issue however. If you want to Hybrid, being able to drop and pick mechanic stacks allows far more intelligent play and cast chains than the 1 heal/1 lifetap system that the .ab ex basically required.
Thoughts and pure opinion:
Spoiler:
I don't believe that range/LoS to enemy, squishiness of the classes, or similar issues bare any part of any "weakness" in the abilities, as those are inherent to the classes and basic gameplay risk/reward mechanics. In regards to the "you have to neuter your build for this" arguments or variations there of, Spec and playstyle are choices. If you want to require a specific spec for your grp/WB healers so be it. I want to balance life-taps for all Competent play settings, and not just for the Meta groups.

I do not wish to rehash the .ab ex, but I do wish to see portions of it return. The issue with .ab ex was that you got 90% of the benefit from having 1 stack(ie cast on movement, AoE healing, strike-through, healing through guard damage etc). I believe this was tied to the fact that we had no way of wiping our mechanic points(an ability that was "promised" by Aza way back when, not a dig). The .ab ex was extremely powerful, and I don't wish to propose a system in which Life-tapping exceeds base healing to the point of being the cookie-cutter spec. I just wish for it to be moderately viable. After reaching that point, it could be tweaked to fit the Niche it is supposed to. But if no one will ever run it, it's damned hard to balance.

I attempted to build my solutions with Pure healers, Hybrid healers, Pure DPS, and DPS kinda healer specs/playstyle in mind. I have zero intention of making DPS AM/Shams outheal healers, nor do I wish pure healers to gain free "viable" dps.
Solutions:

1,
Spoiler:
Rework ST Life-taps to function similar to WPs Sigmars Radiance/DoKs Transfer Essence. Give them a Base heal of 232+mastery lvls when cast with Healing Mechanic point, plus the normal 150% of damage done. Altering the 3pt Life-tap Tactics to increase the overall heal/% of the ST lifetap.
Alter AoE/Grp life-taps similarly, but with an increase of 116per target+mastery lvls when cast with Healing Mechanic Points, plus the normal 150% of damage done.(potentially increasing the CD to 10s to compensate for the increased strength, but I wouldn't want to see that) and create new tactics to replace the worthless 11pt tactics with similar increase tactics for the AoE/Grp life-taps. The increase should be similar to SR/TE(+20% base heal, +25%(additive) of extra damage conversion) AoE life tap would stay at 100% damage returned as it is now.

1B, Rework Life-taps to function similar to WPs Sigmars Radiance/DoKs Transfer Essence. Give them a Base heal of 232(116per target for AoE/grp)+mastery lvls, plus the normal 150% of damage done. Leaving all tactics as they are. Again, staying at 100% for AoE)
2,
Spoiler:
Add a 3%(maybe 4%) base Block/Disrupt strike-through per healing Mechanic point for life-taps only. For 15% or 20% at max mechanic.

2b, Add to the 3pt life-tap tactic a 3% strike-through per healing Mechanic point for all life-taps.
3,
Spoiler:
Create an Ability to drop all mechanic points. 0AP, insta-cast, 5s CD. Based on BW/Sorc mechanic drop and BO/Sm stance dance. Insta-cast but still takes a GcD, as it causes no damage no need for a CT or long CD. Note: I would LOVE to have it the same as SM/BO and not take a GcD, but that seems too much imo. But I am the one who asked for AM M1 to be nerfed so maybe my OP meter isn't normal :D

Edit: In hindsight, it's possible that returning to the Old AM/Sham mechanic system would be preferable/far easier than creating this ability. But that depends on how much other AM/Sham players enjoy the current 5 cast system.
4,
Spoiler:
Instead of any of the above, return the old .ab ex in it's entirety. I add this after conversations with a couple other players. I initially left it out, as I wish to give Life-taps a platform to begin balancing from, but this should be here. It would entail Raw damage returning as heals(IE before damage is split with guard or mitigated), 15% strikethrough on lifetaps with mechanic, AoE heals on your 3pt tactic, etc. I am not inherently in favor of this.
Conclusion:
Spoiler:
Personally, I would like to see 1a, 2a, and 3(with the new ability) all input together. However, I included the others for what I believe would be the minimum required to make it even worth specing for. Note:1b and 2a together wouldn't actually require the 3pt tactic for anything at all(besides increased AP and redundant reduced CT), thus opening up tactic slots for more specs.

The base heal increases will open up life-taps for AM/Shams that aren't 100% stacking intelligence. The base 450 Intelligence I mentioned earlier would provide 850ish ST lifetaps depending on target squishiness. The AoE/Grp heal will be substantially more powerful, however with it currently being weaker than a 2dps stack Grp heal(similar cast times to a 1stack EoV) and the CD attached to EoV I see it being at the functional lvl. Neither would be particularly "strong", but they would definitely have their place.

Increasing strikethrough via mechanic, allows Life-taps to be used defensively during Kiting or Emergency situations by a pure-healer. Anyone mechanic juggling to maximize life-taps will receive negligable gains, but still enough to assist in increasing their reliability. Still going alongside the 450ish Int build w/o investing in strikethrough tactics and wanting reliable life-taps.

I do not want to see brain-less Life-tap juggling for full grp heals every 5s. I don't want to see the ridiculous splash AoE from a ST ability outhealing your group heal. I doubt that even with these changes "most" AM/Shams would wish to run full Life-tap spec. But the changes would open up the abilities to be worthwhile to have on your hotbar for every one instead of the waste of GcD/AP they currently are. For those that wish to spec directly for Life-taps, they sacrifice other abilities (AM AP tactic, and ST heal, Sham 2nd HoT), but will find Mechanic Juggling worthwhile as they can dump mechanics and build what they need whenever needed.
Thanks for reading! I know it was long. And a friendly reminder, if you Quote a long post, put it in spoilers please:P

Edit: After 5/17 changelog. Fury of Da Green/ Energy of Vaul now tap for less and area of effect of heal radius reduced
Azarael wrote: It's only a nerf if you're bad.

(see, I can shitpost too!)
Secrets wrote: Kindly adjust your attitude to actually help the community and do not impose your will on it. You aren't as powerful as you think.

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dansari
Posts: 2524

Re: [AM/Sham] Lifetaps

Post#2 » Fri Jul 20, 2018 11:27 pm

Closing per OP request
<Salt Factory>

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