Thoughts on ENERGYLANCE

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Mantorok
Posts: 47
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2010 4:57 pm

Thoughts on ENERGYLANCE

Post by Mantorok »

Been playing with ENERGYLANCE since the cost was lowered, and here are some thoughts in no particular order:

[*]Against the rare critter without resists, this discipline can hit for ~2k. Most commonly, damage is around 700-1200, which keeps me up to speed with party members in Cobrahn.

[*]The physical damage half of this discipline bypasses psi-cutters. Awesome.

[*]When not targeted, ENERGYLANCE performs a kind of AOE. Almost like POWERWORD ENMISS. It doesn't hit friendlies nor those enemies that used to be gray tagged (harpies in the fate pools, for instance). The damage seems to be cut in half, then equally divided between everything it hits. This makes it fantastically useless, but still fun.

[*]Occasionally this discipline will 'extend', draining all EP and casting twice in the same action. This sort of mimics excellent hits with weapons. Nice damage potential, and althought 100% of my EP is a steep cost it doesn't set me back much.

[*]The damage varies wildly. Full damage, ENERGYLANCE deals ~1000-2200, seemingly unaffected by quirks. I like this, as it mimics the damage variation of melee attacks. Variation makes things more exciting.

[*]More disciplines should have 'extend' effects and variation in damage. It's fun.

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Merlin
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Re: Thoughts on ENERGYLANCE

Post by Merlin »

top end healers can 'extend' their teirs, which hit for double, this is quirk based.
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Tirith
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Re: Thoughts on ENERGYLANCE

Post by Tirith »

This recent change needs more commenting on...
The facts
Previous EP cost:250
New EP cost: 70
Is this ep cost too low?

Previously very stressful, as much as MT or more I think.
Any comments on how much it ages now?

and Damage potential of Energylance, is it too high for only 70 ep
My thinking is to cut damage down a bit and drop the skill level for learning it...
Cut damage in half and let ments learn it at skill 21.
Then add boosts for Energylance damage at 24, 28, 32, 38.
Maybe at skill 32, it has stun on contact (Like energyspear but a stronger stun)

Mantorok
Posts: 47
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2010 4:57 pm

Re: Thoughts on ENERGYLANCE

Post by Mantorok »

I'm unsure about the balance of ENERGYLANCE at this point. It certainly 'feels' right when compared to killing things as other classes. I'm not dealing as much as a MA using RP, I'm not dealing as much as a barbarian when berserked (not nearly as much as a barbarian hitting 4x a round). I've done some damage comparisons with my paladin friend who is skill 18+3 with halberd, and I average slightly more damage than he does.

As far as I can tell, LANCE is not affected by quirks. Neither energy manipulation nor specialization increase the damage potential. Skill has some bearing on LANCE damage, but it's not a tremendous amount - max hit without Loriapi's staff is 1125, and with the staff it's 1225.

The damage LANCE deals is split evenly between ENERGYLANCE and MELEE type damage. The psi portion often deals damage simliar to what my ENERGYSPEAR would deal, minus the stun. The MELEE portion is what shines, dealing ~600-1200 and is not affected by psi-cutters. This is what makes the spell usable.

As far as the EP cost, I feel a small increase would not affect the usefulness of this spell - 80 or 85 maybe. Any higher and the average mentalist wouldn't be able to sustain it for long - think of a healer spamming PWD.

If the base damage of LANCE were lowered, quirks should be made to affect it.

Is the damage potential too high for 70 EP? Compared to ENMISS, no. Compared to ENERGYSPEAR, yes. Compared to FIREBREATH, absolutely not. It's all relative really.

I'm finding LANCE to be rather stressful, but probably no more than spamming FIREBREATH all day. I do age considerably faster when using it as opposed to ENERGYSPEAR.

As far as skill level goes, it would be nice for a mentalist to gain it around skill 21. 21 is incredibly difficult to get to as it is, and going up to 24 using only ENERGYSPEAR is just grounds for leeching, really. Skill 21 LANCE damage might be low enough to not worry about dropping the base damage of the skill, considering how a skill 18+3 paladin is dealing as much as my skill 25+6 ENERGYLANCE.

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