I feel at this point that ZoS has gotten the idea that we aren't happy
.
I think we really need to start being constructive and provide feedback on what we think are solid changes to make the 2H skill lines more productive. And I apologize ahead of time for the length..but it was necessary, as My feelings revolve around almost a complete reworking of the skill tree to bring it up to the level of the magick based trees. it IS a huge read, but it IS worth it IMO. feel free to not read it, but if you disagree with my ideas, please read them first before responding off the cuff, or you will get ignored.
Stamina skills in General:
Problems:
Stamina skills in general are too expensive for the utility and damage they do. comparative magick skills tend to do allot more damage point for point. the reason is multifold:
1) Stamina skills simply have little to NO synergy.
most magick trees synergize well with each other. Stamina skill lines do NOT. as an example...look at the sorcs proc for crystal shards. it procs with ANY magic skill to make it cheap and instant cast. i can spam cheap resto staff heals all day long and hit crystal shards only on proc, and i can do that regularly and consistently. There are currently NO stamina skills that synergize so well with class skills.
2) Stamina skills are expensive.
individual cost reductions in each tree don't seem to be enough, or aren't working as intended. And example of this is the 2h passive that should reduce skill cost by 20%...but people are getting results anywhere from 0% to 20% on their LCS.
3) Stamina skills use a resource that is already taxed by other GAME CRITICAL functions.
Dodge, block, and interrupt are critical to survival, ESPECIALLY for melee players. This robs you of the same resource that you need to do damage. Magick based setups do not suffer from this...in all actuality, they benefit MORE from being in melee range then a melee user does, as they have 100% of their stamina to interrupt, block, and then have a full resource bar for damage. even with full medium armor, it still uses your damage resource as a stamina based build, whereas it doesn't touch your damage resource as a magick user.
Solutions:
1) Reduce costs.
simple as that. across the board. we can add ideas for individual skills, but even with that, the stamina line could easly get a 30% cut in resources across the board, and still need individual tweaks to the skills to be on par with magick.
2) Increased damage
again, across the board. the fact that melee users almost NEED to open with stealth to do as much damage as a caster is telling. Some skills would need individual tweaking to come in line, but I feel its allot easier to simply up the damage across the board, then bring a few skills in line with the rest.
3) Separate action movements from Stamina as a resource.
Create a new resource. call it energy, call it gumption, call it wheaties...whatever. Stamina levels SHOULD impact its level and regeneration - This is very logical, and it would give stamina the additional impact it needs. Then it would be far easier to balance stamina skills against magick skills as we would no longer be working from a variable disparity.
At this point we'll discuss individual skill and possible ideas for individual trees. keep in mind that the above general concepts still apply to all of them.
biggest issue with 2H at this point (aside from stamina issues above) is that there isn't enough variation and synergistic impact in the tree. each skill should be able to stand alone, on it's own, comparably to other skills in other trees, but at the same time, work with one another to give you reason to use more then one.
Plus, the skill line needs to have more identity. it really isn't the burst line...unless you count the fact that it "bursts" your stamina down...hehe...
and while it has AoE elements, it's certainly not an AoE king. as a matter of fact, one single AoE from templars does what it takes 3 skills in the 2H line to do. SO, here's my ideas:
Passives:
Forceful - splash damage should be Heavier. 20/40 wouldn't be a bad split. if it sounds excessive, keep in mind that the whole time a 2H player is cocking back that heavy hit, they are in melee range, getting pounded on. Risk = Reward IMO.
Arcane Fighter: Not a bad idea, but not very impacting IMO. I think it should be "25/50% increased chance of applying enchantment effect on weapon...when this occurs the proc does NOT use charges from the weapon" This would increase our base damage (weapon damage procs going off more often) AND reduce the need to constantly recharge them.
Battle rush: Should be direct Stamina return instead of increase in stamina regen. most of us are already hitting regen caps on an already badly itemized stat (stamina). the direct return would avoid this softcap, giving us much needed stamina back. Perhaps a small amount on a "per hit" basis.
Skills:
Cleave:
base damage is too low. 136 on my current VR1 templar (purple level 50 weapon) is less even then a Templar's Puncturing strikes, and PS hits a single target as well for twice as much...and knocks it back. In order to get this skill up to par, we need to increase base damage. using an equivilant setup, it should be around 200 +, with a 200 DoT (10 second is a lifetime in VR). that would roughly be around 40% increase on overall damage. If were increasing damage across the board slightly, it would simply be less...say, 10% from overall buff, and 30% directly to this skill.
Morphs are fine if you increase their base effects. so bigger damage shield. it needs to be able to last at bare minimum 3/4 of a hit per target. right now in VR its barely one hit per 2-3 targets. which means its gone the second i bring it up. it's almost a waste when i could be doing something else to cause damage. so it has to be worth it to choose this morph over the other.
Ultimate gen is OK, could use some buffing, but IMO its a meh morph. An alternative to this would be to have the ultimate morph instead increase DoT damage against all targets affected by Cleave bleed. this would be a great group based buff that we sorely need. I could go either way on this one, input from those using the ultimate morph would be appreciated.
Reverse Slash:
Probably our best base skill. cheap, does it's job...except other execution skills are more flexible, and have better Morphs. we either get to do a little bit of damage to 2 other mobs (piddly in comparison), or we get to increase our damage with other skills when a target is under 25%...which is a waste, since we will usually kill that same target with one RS...
Reverse slice splash damage is weak...It could be buffed. considering that by DEFAULT Puncturing Strikes (templar skill) hits 2x or more additional targets for 50% the damage of the main target, I think this morph would be fine buffing the damage to 2 secondary targets by 50-75% bare minimum. In other words, morphed, it would do MORE damage to 2 additional targets, but PS would do MORE targets with LESS damage. balanced tradeoff IMO.
Second morph is also weak. I'd prefer a passive morph that increases damage from other 2h skills the lower the mobs health is. This can be very minor at first, and build linearly until you hit the 25% mark, where it shoots up to the current value. This would provide incentive to use this morph on ALL setups (not just raid bosses), AND give 2h a much needed passive damage boost.
Critical Charge:
Probably our most balanced skill out there. Gap closer, solid damage (with the appropriate morph) and an option to immobilize (probably great for PvP, never use it in PvE myself). for the cost I feel that it's worth it. The only thing that I think we could benefit from is to add to the "immobilize" morph the ability to interrupt. that would actually make the immobilize morph viable in PvP and PvE. Other then that it should also be impacted by the new momentum changes below.
Uppercut:
love the look of this skill. Damage isn't bad (if we can take advantage of splash damage from skills like my new momentum), but the cast time kills it.
Wrecking ball: since we put the damage morph on reverse, this needs to be different. keeping in line with other skills (and to synergize), we should make this morph "Uppercut does 30% more damage against foes with a bleed effect on them". this would tie in to cleave, and give us a reason to have both on our bar. and it would turn it into a serious haymaker if we decide to risk the cast time.
For Dizzying Swing instead change it to the new Morph, "Instant gratification: 40% chance upon execution of a stamina based ability to make the uppercut cast time instant, and hit one additional target." so...less damage on a single target, but instant and hits 2. worth losing the damage for that IMO.
This would give us procs to use during those nasty situations where you are too busy dodging to get in a cast. I can't even BEGIN to tell you now many times having an instant cast crystal shard on my sorc has saved my hide in tight fights. in those same tight fights, or biggest damage dealer is an almost guaranteed death sentence. these changes would fix that, or at least make it worth using it.
Momentum:
Great idea...bad execution. the damage boost from this is so needed in 2h builds, that many take it by default. problem is...with our synergies sucking so badly, we don't have enough slots to equip this AND equip enough skills to cover the variables we encounter in play. So because this is taking up a slot that would normally be either a utility or heal spell, it should cover both of those adequately. here's my re-iteration of Momentum:
base skill "WHEN SLOTTED, increases splash damage on all stamina based attacks by 10% on up to 2 additional targets. When this skill is TRIGGERED, it provides a 10% DR shield, and for the next 10 seconds, all your stamina based abilities have a 15% chance to stun the opponent for one second." Stamina cost should be doubled.
Morphs should be changed. Forward momentum should add an additional snare immunity for X seconds (short, but viable. 3 seconds or so) with an internal CD of 20 seconds, give or take. just being able to break free of a snare doesn't really feel like forward momentum... but being able to juggernaut for 3 seconds or so does.
Rally should be changed. 23 seconds is TWO lifetimes in Vr content. it should instead be a percentage of current healing Every time you do damage while effect is up. in VR content I don't normally need healing 23 seconds later...I need it NOW. because those 3 mobs are hitting me NOW. 23 seconds is usually the time frame that i need a rez....
At any rate, there you go. Please feel free to add whatever you think would work with the skills, and ill update the original thread with them (or delete some of my spam above if the general populace thinks it's horribly ***).