DPS AM viability and identity

[live4treasure]

The issue:

With the removal of Scorching Touch, the dps Archmage has lost any hope of being viable and a large amount of its ability to deal damage and kill targets. A good player will always be a good player, so he will manage to just barely keep up with something like a DPS SM, but that's just about the limit the class is currently capable of, which is pitiful for something you're supposed to take into a dps party slot.

However, I concede that Scorching Touch as a concept is likely never to return. In this scenario the best thing is to adapt and as such, I wish to make a proposal that might take the DPS AM into a different direction, that will hopefully be good enough to keep the class afloat and viable, if implemented.

The target of this proposal will in fact be Dissipating Energies and not Increased Conductivity, as it was only recently changed. The truth of the matter is that for the amount of setup time AM currently requires to get going, the amount of damage and burst it does very much leaves much to be desired, even considering the fact that Dissipating Energies deals much more pressure than it did in the past, where it was bad enough to not even be worth taking even if it was lower in the tree.

The proposal:

Shaman is established as the burstier of the two classes, it would seem and that's fine. Having sepparate class identity is definitely not a bad thing. So in order to reinforce the fact that AM might now be recognised as the DOT class, I propose that Dissipating Energies is changed to better reflect this.

What AM needs to fulfill this new identity is PRESSURE, something it really lacks despite having two rather powerful, short dots. Stopping to cast radiant lance just for pressure is also rather weak as the damage it does isn't justified by its cast time as many other abilities of many other classes either require half the cast time to achieve the same, such as spiral fletched arrow or have powerful critical damage boosters built in to make it worthwhile.

So what can be done with Dissipating Energies, our 13 pt. ability, to keep the class afloat? I believe the correct way to go about this is to make it an instant cast, single target dot, each tick of which would be able to trigger procs, just as the slayer's ID w However, in DE's case, the effect would be only single target. The damage and the period between the ticks would stay the same (1 second), however the cooldown and the duration should be modified.

A 10 second duration with a 10 second cooldown would be appropriate, meaning that if the ability would get disrupted, you would have to wait 10 seconds before you apply it again. This would synergise positively with Centuries of Training and Dispell Magic, allowing AM to achieve pressure through these additional procs and the auxiliary effect of Dispell Magic.

Secondary proposal, which I will simply voice, though I imagine it might not be the right time to ask for a change in a tactic that was changed just recently. The days where a 15% disrupt strikethrough tactic would be useful are long gone, and thus it leaves the class with a useless 11pt. ability. In order to reinforce the new Dissipating Energies, if this suggestion is taken, the amount of strikethrough could be lowered to 10% and instead an additional proc component could be added, a more powerful version to the rather lackluster Centuries of Training if you will. What exactly should this effect do? Damage, first and foremost, the thing AM is currently lacking. Maybe it could be what WP's guilty soul used to be, in other words a proc that can crit, but instead of the additional dot, you get 10% strikethrough for Asuryan abilities.

Thank you for your attention and I hope this proposal, or even plea, will be heard.