Vaslin 
Moderator
(4/25/00 6:05 am)
Reply
|
Kendrick's Comments on Kunarkian Rogues
Many, many thanks to Kendrick for this bit of Insight to what to expect for level 51+ rogues coming up! I posted it here in the Library to keep the flamers away.
-- Vaslin
Higher skill caps This, as you would expect, adds a lot more punch to the Rogue all by itself. More damage, more attacks, etc.
Bonus HP More hitpoints per level, starting at 51st. This is still based on Stamina, and is not exclusive to Rogues.
Increased HP regeneration 1 extra hitpoint per tick standing starting at 51st, maxing at 4hp/tick at 60th. Not Rogue exclusive.
Faster Sneak Starting at 51st, you begin to move faster while sneaking. By 60th level, you are at a full run, and this combines with any speed spells. SoW sneaking, anyone?
Bind Wounds After you skill past 201 in Bind Wounds, the hp percentage cap is raised from 50% to 70%. In addition, the formula for calculating hp gained per bandage changes. At 201 skill, you will do 75 hp per bind. This can be used on yourself OR others. Don't underestimate the power of this upgrade, shared with Warriors.
Damage All three pure melee classes get a new damage table at 51st, and continue to get better tables as they level. This table is not shared with Hybrids, and means that at a given level and skill, a pure melee class will out damage a hybrid with the same weapon. Significant improvement and advantage for pure melee.
This does not by itself increase max or minimum damage, but instead affects the distribution of damage in the middle range, in effect moving the damage curve upwards.
Double Backstab Yes, Double Backstab. At 54th level, you have a chance (based on your double attack skill and level) to backstab twice. This applies to frontal attacks with the BS skill as well, allowing you up to 6 attacks per round. Don't underestimate this one either. Combined with the higher skill caps and the raised damage curve, one round from a rogue can be simply devastating now.
Double Backstab. This is simply a tackon to the Double Attack skill you've had for 40 levels already. Your chances of doing a double BS are identical to you chances of swinging twice with your primary weapon in normal melee. A better than 50/50 chance, btw.
New minimum backstab calculation At 51st, the new minimum backstab damage is Level*3/2, rounded down. 76 is the least you will hit for at 51st, and it goes up. At 60th, the minimum backstab is Level*2 (120)
Higher haste cap All classes get a raised cap for haste effects, but pure melee have the highest of all, post 51st level. It's a significant combat advantage.
Assassinate At level 60, you get a chance, via backstab OR thrown weapons, to do 32000 hit points of damage to a humanoid target 48th level or lower. This does not destroy the target; it simply does that much damage.
This sounds somewhat weak at first, but you'll find there are plenty of things you'll be killing in Kunark and elsewhere that fall into this category, and it has one hell of a nice message when it goes off. Really impresses folks.
Compare to Ashen Hand for Monks, which is a timed discipline, and has the same restrictions, though a guaranteed damage component, you'll see Assassinate is much more powerful.
At 60th level you'll be backstabbing roughly every 2-5 seconds, with spells and items boosting attack speed. Then factor in doubles. That's a lot of chances to cream a mob, and hey, even if you don't assassinate it, you lose nothing, you're still doing an amazing amount of backstab damage.
Yes, it has a very low percentage chance of working. But with haste and double backstab, you get so damned many chances, you will see it a lot.
Disciplines All disciplines are time restricted in duration and recycle, and unfortunately, share a single timer. Using one discipline means you can't use another until the timer has reset. This timer is variable based on the discipline you use and the level at which you use it. Death also resets it.
There was no question on the desirability of each discipline having its own timer, and what would have been implemented, but this could not be done short of a full player wipe and a rework of the code. This is the best that could be done within the existing framework.
Counterattack (Level 53) 9 seconds of 100% riposte to targets in your forward arc. You become a porcupine of death when this is in effect, and cannot be touched by any foe facing you. You may have seen this in effect on higher-level mobs, with the warrior version of this discipline. Recharge time: 60 minutes
Deadeye (Level 54) 14 seconds of 100% hit probability. You cannot miss when this is in effect. Damage is calculated normally. Recharge time: 30 minutes
Nimble (Level 55) 12 seconds of 100% dodge activation. During the duration, you cannot be hit by melee attacks. Recharge time: 30 minutes
Kinesthetics (Level 57) 18 seconds of 100% dual wield/double attack (which applies to the double backstab check as well). Not overpowering, but it does add to the damage potential. Recharge time: 30 minutes
Blinding Speed (Level 58) 15 seconds of a LARGE attack speed increase that will stack with items and spells. Recharge time: 30 minutes
Duelist (Level 59) 12 seconds of a LARGE melee damage multiplier. This is assessed BEFORE the backstab skill multiplier kicks in. With this in effect I've backstabbed well in excess of 700 points. We have double backstab. Do the math. Combine this with the increased damage tables, and higher skill caps, it's easy to see how deadly it is. Strong stuff. Recharge time: 30 minutes
Smart use of Disciplines can have a strong impact on the outcome of a melee. They add a new aspect to higher-level combat, and are just plain fun to use. They reset fast enough to use them several times in a gaming session, but not fast enough to be unbalancing.
Not one of the above enhancements is overpowering, alone. Taken as a whole, they add up a great deal. Pure melee are now clearly the melee damage masters, and with double backstab, Rogues can take the undisputed crown of maximum damage potential in a group environment.
Another change not so evident is the availability of many new weapons; generally more powerful than the Old World weapons we've become familiar with. Ykesha, Glomwaters, SBDs, all should plummet in value sharply. And we catch up or pass pets handily in damage output with the help of the new toys.
The bulk of the new weaponry is tradable, so the trickle down effect is a good thing even for Rogues under 51st level. Just don't neglect your 1hs and 1hb skills; there are some nice items for rogues in both those classes.
Locked doors are not scarce in Kunark. In some of the choice dungeons, a Rogue is CRUCIAL to proceed (or escape!). A bard can't unlock many of the doors; he simply won't have the skill. For this reason alone, Rogues will be sought after much as Wizards are needed for Hate and Sky runs.
Scouting Combine faster sneak with uncharted territory and more randomized spawning of monsters in a dungeon, (and the rarity of see stealthed NPCs), and scouting is going to be an important aspect of any successful dungeon delve.
Pulling Once again, faster sneak allows rogues to make a more than fair puller. The layout is important, it won't work everywhere, but I can go into a crowded room, and tag my target with a backstab, and he is the only one that follows, if done properly. Monks can't pull that clean, nor can they do as much potential damage right off the bat. Tie that in with Evade, and it's another aspect of the class for you to explore.
You asked for Damage per second? At 60th level, with a Crys Spear primary and a Bone Razor secondary, I averaged 86 damage per second over the course of a 5 hour session, with the help of an enchanter's new augment, Cloak of Flames, and buffed STR to 255.
5000+ damage per minute, with weapons that are in circulation NOW. I exceeded that a great deal with the new Kunark weapons.
--Bind wounds DOES skill beyond 100, once you hit 51st.
--Rogues have the SAME base hitpoints as Bards and Monks. Rogues also have a HUGE hit avoidance bonus compared to other classes besides Monks, so the EFFECTIVE hitpoints we have is closer to what a hybrid has. And then there's Evade.
--There are dozens of Crystaline spears in the game now, as well as bone razors. As time goes on, more and more will be availible, that's a fact. By the time folks reach 60th level, they should be fairly commonplace, and like I said, many of the new Kunark weapons put them to shame. The gear on my 'real' character is mostly second rate, in my opinion, and it includes the above weapons.
--My thinking on a game session was around 4 hours. In four hours, you can have as many as 16 discipline activations.
--There will be NO spell to unlock doors. There will be NO, and I mean ZERO, GM assisted corpse recovery for bodies behind locked doors. You want in, you get a Rogue. You want out alive, you get a Rogue. You want out dead, you get a Rogue or Necro.
Camping for items Buhbye campers! Every mob in an adventure zone has a chance to drop nice loot. The deeper in you go, the better the loot and the better the chances.
There are no static spawns to farm. If you can get in the zone and can kill something, you have as much chance for an item as Joe Camper...since Joe has nothing to camp.
In addition to the 'everymob' drops, there will be rare spawns with exceptional loot, and Boss spawns with Ohmygod loot.
The rares, well, they're just that, no telling when or where one will show up. The Boss mobs are similar to dragons and gods..respawn times measuring from a day all the way up to a week.
Vaslin Slickfinger
Scout of Tunare
Tarew Marr Edited by: Zato  at: 11/29/00 2:09:51 pm
|
Email This To a Friend
Topic Commands
Click to receive email notification of replies
Click to stop receiving email notification of replies