Black Orc balance change feedback

[Culexus]

I was going to wait for the tank changes to be done to post a full version of this but since the balance patches seem to be on hiatus I’ll just go through what’s been done so far.

We’z Bigger/Linecracka!

Feedback: Great change and has finally made We’z Bigger usable. Linecracka! is pretty much mandatory, but the skill is good enough that it would still function without it. This change has given snb BO a purpose in a wb again. The only problem with this ability is the animation, which is just a random weapon swing and doesn't fit at all with a buffing charge ability like We'z Bigger.

Proposed Solution: Change the animation to match that shield bash of Da Toughest!. Just as Waaaagh! shares the animation of the other bellows. Will finally give a suitable animation as the BO leads the charge to war!

Big Brawlin’

Feedback: I’ve tested this a lot as adding a aoe snare to the BOs limited group cc seemed like it could be great, but the fact is that increasing the cooldown to 20sec is just a flat downgrade to Big Swing. Nobody uses Big Swing for the tiny amount of damage or minor debuff, but rather to get through the the da’ Gud plan! to da Best Plan!! as it’s the most efficient skill for doing that as it’s spammable and requires no target. I get you want all aoe snares cds to be 20sec, but having to give up a tactic slot that makes one of our core abilities worse just isn’t worth it. It’s shame as the aoe snare feels really good to use as you feel like you’re contributing to the fight in a visible way.

Proposed Solution: Remove the cd increaser and lower the cd to 10sec. No one cares about the cd increaser as it’s so minor it basically does nothing and has no synergy with the snare. Lowering the cd to 10sec stops the ability from being spammable while still allowing Big Swing to be used as a filler.

Can’t Hit Me!

Feedback: Adding a cd destroyed the skill’s primarily use as a body blocking skill for defence or as an ‘oh crap’ button for high damage pressure. With all the interrupts flying about in RvR not being able to instantly re-apply it makes it useless in most situations. The 60% movement speed debuff was already enough of a downside to the ability and emphasised it’s purpose of making you an immovable wall.

Proposed Solution: Just revert the change and remove the cd.

Walk It Off!

Feedback: Good ability. Nothing more than that to say about it really as it’s good without being op or making the other morales pointless in comparison. Good job.

Git Out!

Feedback: BO finally gets a punt! Except it’s not really a punt, it’s an interrupt that requires a tactic to make it a punt. The purpose of a punt is to separate targets, this fails to do that without the tactic as it only knocks targets back a few feet. No ability should require a tactic to make it do what it’s supposed to already do. I know we’re not the only tank that suffers from this weird design choice and this is true for all all them.

We also suffer from this ability being tied to the mechanic so it can’t be used on demand. Da’ Gud plan! is the hardest of the stances to use due to the cd on Changin’ Da Plan. You also always want to apply a snare before punting, which we can’t do unless Changin’ Da Plan is off cd as both the snare an punt are in the same stance. So to get a successful snare>punt you need to go: No Plan ability (have to use an ability as need to save Changin’ Da Plan) >snare>Changin’ Da Plan>Punt. That’s 4 abilities to stance dance to do what any other tank can do in 2, this takes away precious seconds from the snare duration and if you have a cd increaser on you or Changin’ Da Plan is on cooldown it doesn’t work at all. Why would you take BO over Chosen or Blackguard for 6v6 again?

Proposed Solution: Make the punt an actual punt by giving it the kb range as if it was equipped with the tactic as standard. Change the tactic to make the punt apply a snare on use. Keep the cd decrease for 2h.

Treat all cc like Where You Going? and remove the stance requirement. No cc (including Down Ya Go) should be tied to the mechanic as the timing of them is too important to be restricted to stance dancing and is a major reason why BO will always be last pick for a 6man group. Having the punts tied to da’ Gud plan! offers no upside to it’s downside as the middle plan does nothing besides acting as a barrier to da' Best Plan!!. If you’re really set on keeping the punts tied to the plan, move it to da’ Best Plan!! and make it a super punt. Yeah you can’t then go punt>kd, but at least then it actually offers something for being in the mechanic and you can easily go snare>punt.

Overall thoughts.

SnB BO is finally useful in a wb again after all the dark years after the Waaaagh! Nerf. Our new abilities feel good to use and are visibly doing something to buff the group (unlike the powerful but passive Chosen auras for example) or cc the enemy. Some of them are not quite where they need to be, but as this is the first round of changes they can be tweaked. BO still has a lot of fundamental problems with the class with many abilities/tactics being trash or anti-synergistic, the mechanic not offering enough upside to compensate it’s downside and generally not having a ‘niche’ to fulfil in the same way that Chosen or Blackguards do. The team is moving in the right direction though, and I’m optimistic about the future of the class and look forward to the seeing how everything comes together once the tank balance changes are finished.

And if there’s one ability change you make, please make Ya Missed Me work on Block AND parry (or just parry and move to Brawler tree) so 2h finally get a decent, unique debuff. A great st skill for smallscale that can only be used by snb which is never brought to smallscale. This change would be a nice buff to 2h BO and go towards making him more viable in a 6man where it currently struggles for a spot.

[Dawe]

Hear Hear!
Absolutely agree.
Punt abilities at the moment are there but being useless, unless you are using a tactic and it ties you to 1 play style.
An SnB Borc should have a decent crowd control as well. Can't hit me was not necessarely worth it before the CD compared to shiled wall, but now... Takes extra space on the interface as it is rendered useless:( Big swing CD plus right in the jibblets CD makes it a hastle to move forward from Da Gud plan. If we want to make an affect in WB we have to use Change plan every rotation, and just every 3rd rotation we can do a natural fluent full circle. It affects fluency of gameplay, and the general usefulness of the class.

Dadumbest LVL 60+ BO