Report 301

Report #301
Skillset: Telepathy Skill: PsychicVampirism
 Org: Ebonguard Status: Rejected Jan 2010
Furies' Decision:
We do not find this to be necessary.
Problem: Psychic Vampirism is a skill which saps an immense amount of ego from
the victim, and there are not really skills which mitigate this loss (unlike
with damage). The percentage of ego sapped is quite a bit larger than with
mana-drain skills. Further, Telepathy has Mindburst which instantly kills
someone with 50% ego or less, all of which stacks together to make a powerful
combination. This is (theoretically) supposed to be balanced by the longer
balance time (6s) on the Superstratus channel. However, more than one telepath
can psychic vamp at once, leading to the so-called "Telebomb" because it is
pretty much an unavoidable instakill with a relatively small number of people
versus other similar kill-methods (high-burst ego damage, even with slower
balance, means the target is insta-dead).
Solution #1: Make it so that PsyVamp has a cooldown (such as with Laetitia).
 It can only be cast on a person once in a period of 3-4 seconds
 (which will not affect it in 1v1, but will nerf the group
 telebombing).
Player Comments:
---[Nienla on 1/13 @ 21:40 writes]:
Sounds good if you're looking for reduced returns if multiple people do it at
once. It only takes three Telepaths to ensure that someone dies which is pretty
outrageous.
---[Ciaran on 1/17 @ 05:02 writes]:
I support this solution (1).
---[Ceren on 1/20 @ 21:20 writes]:
As much as I sympathize with the pain of multiple telepath mindrape, the problem
with a solution like this is how to be fair and where to draw the line. In other
words, is it really the magic number 3 that justifies this nerf, or should the 3
ritualists plus absolver team who can do the same thing on any target with 6248
mana or less receive the same nerf? Should warriors, who with proper use of
puissance and power attacks can also instantly behead/bashbrain in a group of 3
receive the same nerf, or does the fact that it has a chance of failure or that
it might run into rebounding justify it? Hell, two runes users can supersling
haegl to bring anyone below half mana for a third person to absolve or
toadcurse, and that mana drain isn't even close to a 6 second balance.
---[Nienla on 1/21 @ 01:49 writes]:
Disagree. Psyvamp is a straight 33% drain based off of the maximum mana whereas
Amissio is not even close to that. No mana drain ability comes close to that.
---[Nienla on 1/21 @ 01:49 writes]:
Pardon. Based off of the maximum ego, not mana
---[Jael on 1/23 @ 23:09 writes]:
Supersling Haegl does actually come to close it. In fact, depending upon the
target's mana, it can exceed 33% of maximum. Haegl drains 10% + 300 mana per
hit. Therefore, supersling drains 20% + 600. Using basic math, we know at 6000
mana, the target will lose exactly 30% of their maximum. Anyone under 6000 mana
will lose more. With 5000 mana, for example, you would lose 32% max mana per
supersling. With 4000 mana, you would lose 35% max mana. I also feel it is very
important to note that Haegl is almost 2x faster than PsychicVampirism and it
can be infused into a demesne to fire passively. Haegl immunity anyone?
---[Xenthos on 1/24 @ 05:05 writes]:
If you want to do something with Haegl in a report, feel free! Ciaran asked
that this be looked at because 1) It is too much, and 2) He wants to do some
other tweaks with the skillset that first require this to be fixed. And he is
already using his slot.
---[Jael on 1/24 @ 05:35 writes]:
If you read the problem Ciaran reported, you will find that it applies to a
variety of skills when we consider the context of group combat. My point is much
like Ceren, I question: Where do we draw the line? It's a poor use of resources
to address symptoms and not causes. If the problem is that 3 people can
instantly "bomb" someone then it needs fixed in all similar circumstances (like
haegl). This would imply that there should be cooldowns for all forms of mana
drain, ego drain, etc. This would be a poor route to follow - I see no reason
for the change suggested.
---[Xenthos on 1/24 @ 18:05 writes]:
I would say that the line should be drawn on forms of drain that are intended to
be slow but heavy-hitting ("balanced" by being slow, but when it's a heavy-
hitter if it is used by more than one person the balance time doesn't matter).
Which this one fits admirably well.
---[Jael on 1/25 @ 01:37 writes]:
There isn't any reason that Psychic Vampirism should be balanced around multiple
telepaths, but Haegl, Warrior wounds, and a whole host of other problems
oughtn't be balanced around a similar number of people. It's rather unfair to
penalize certain classes, yet allow different classes to do similar things.
---[Krellan on 1/25 @ 22:46 writes]:
There is a difference between the telepathy bomb and the other ones. The other
ones tend to rely on ping and have factors of luck involved in them. Also, the
other ones except for double haegl, require more people than 3. By ping, I mean
if the target has better ping than any of your 3 group members for double haegls
or ritual mana draining, then they will be able to sip, sparkle, and scroll.
Ceren has stated the warrior example. In a telepathy bomb, Three people get 9
attacks in. Two of those obviously being psyvamp and a third being mindburst.
Now this combination can negate any involvement of ping and that is what I see
as the bigger problem with this. This combination is more of a guarantee than
the other ones because the telepathy bomb group can use 3 active dominates to
force sip, force scroll, and force sparkleberry. This consumes all those curing
balances and gives the target no chance of sipping via faster ping and through
stupidity and amnesia (which is likely to be given as well).
---[Krellan on 1/25 @ 22:48 writes]:
Not saying I agree completely with the solution. I just feel telepathy bombing
is more of a problem. I don't know where to draw the line at X second cooldowns
and maybe my thing above might help us think of the source of the problem behind
all of these combinations