Report 342

Report #342
Skillset: Necroscream Skill: WrathfulCanticle
 Org: Cacophony Status: Completed Mar 2010
Furies' Decision:
Solution 1
Problem: Ashtorath's Canticle in Necroscream gives an affliction from a set
based upon the total number of plague afflictions on a target. If the target has
zero plague afflictions, it gives chills/freeze. This doesn't do much for
Cacophony 1-on-1, but it does make it possible to quickly and constantly keep
someone frozen when stacked with archlich's coldaura. In the case of abilities
that knock off balance (crucify, knockdown, wind, akogh, umubah, etc), this adds
an additional balance penalty making it quite brutal. While this is a great
benefit in group, we'd like to see it made into something more friendly 1-on-1
even if it was less useful in group situations.
[A: 0 R: 0] Solution #1: Change Ashtorath's Canticle to give a random plague
 affliction if the target suffers from 0 plague
 afflictions instead of chills. This would help
 Cacophones "build" plague afflictions.
[A: 0 R: 0] Solution #2: Change Ashtorath's Canticle to give a random, broken
 limb if the target suffers from 0 plague afflictions
 instead of chills.
Player Comments:
---[Viynain on 3/2 @ 23:20 writes]:
I disagree on the proposal that exchanging out the freeze would make the ability
less useful in groups in favour of a bump to one-on-one combat. Considering with
groups and the first solution, a single tic of contagion and a song would bring
a target to three plague afflictions already (and thereby opening it up even
more quickly for the worse afflictions in WC), and changing it to a passive limb
break for a group with Sacrifice as an instakill (on top of a Geomancer meld
which already breaks and stuns), would just make such a situation worse, in my
opinion. And, with rigormortis already doing a passive break anyway, the second
proposal isn't needed.
---[Estwald on 3/3 @ 07:38 writes]:
I'm not sure you understand how Wrathful Canticle (WC) works Viynain. If a
target has a plague affliction, WC will never afflict with the zero affliction
component of WC. Sickening Plague (SP) always fires before WC. Therefore if a
target is hit with Sickening Plague, fails to cure the plague affliction, and
then is hit with WC he or she will ALWAYS gain recklessness as the song
affliction is entirely based upon the number of existing plague afflictions. The
only way someone would bounce up to three plague afflictions in the instance you
are describing is if they cure sickening plague, fail to cure WC, fail to cure
contagion, and then get hit and fail to cure Sickening Plague. This would
require almost 10 seconds of not curing any plague afflictions. Given how easy
plague afflictions are to cure, I don't see how this would be all that bad.
---[Estwald on 3/3 @ 15:54 writes]:
As for Sacrifice, the method you describe isn't very practical. In group combat,
why would we depend upon passives with a -chance- to afflict with a broken limb?
In this instance, it would require the target have no plague afflictions and
then get hit by WC THEN get hit by a demesne with a 33% chance to break a random
leg, etc. Why wouldn't we just use the newly improved trample (4 limb break on a
single target) or just shieldstun to buy enough time to double shrivel? Also as
far as Sacrifice goes, it seems easier if you can pull off an ectoplasm/crucify
while frozen since that has a significantly longer off balance time vs. the
situation in question. I'm not certain how a potential broken limb that you can
instantly cure makes Sacrifice "easier" vs. holding you immobilized and unable
to cure whatsoever. I would also note that the two best afflictions a Nihilist
is going to dish out from their demon to stick Sacrifice are scabies and
epilepsy, both of which count as plague afflictions so WC wouldn't hit with a
broken limb if the target had them.
---[Fillin on 3/27 @ 18:21 writes]:
Solution 2 is the way to go in my opinion. I can't see anyone planning a
sacrifice off a passive limb break that may or may not be a limb break depending
on plagues.