Report 968

Report #968
Skillset: Transmology Skill: Hekoskeri
 Org: Illuminati Status: Completed Jul 2013
Furies' Decision:
We feel solution 1 and 2 would be too powerful. We are wary about solution 3 but
will go ahead with it, unless the Illuminati envoy says they prefer this
suggestion: the presence of a hekoskeri in the room reduces insanity
recovery/cure rate of all enemies by 10%-20%.
Problem: Hekoskeri gives an incurable affliction that doubles a victim's bal/eq
loss for 10s. It has a chance to fire when a personal enemy attempts to leave a
room. It does not stack with ectoplasm. The intent of this report is to re-
evaluate the purpose of hekoskeri in Illuminati given that a year has passed
since the implementation of report 784. After actively participating in PvP
since then, it has become apparent that 1. there is no reason for 2 different
skills that do the same thing (hekoskeri effect and ectoplasm), especially since
they no longer stack, 2. it is still a fact that balance/eqloss should not be an
Illuminati's forte - such things should be the domain of Nihilists, 3. Leaving
attempts are one of the smallest subsets of action (for reactive effects to
tick) available, much smaller than similar sets such as offensive actions,
heavily reducing its frequency and 4. those same effects are far too random and
do not synergize well with both the attack's effect and the overarching goal of
Illuminati combat (mental afflictions towards Illuminate). In simple terms, an
effect that gives doubled balance/eq loss when the enemy attempts to leave is
ultimately pointless and unfun for either side given that incurable effects on
important facets such as balance are dumb for the victim and the affliction
(especially now that it does not stack with similar effects) isn't much use for
the user when the kill method has nothing to do with balance loss. Lastly and
most importantly, the effect of uncurable 10s doubled balance/eq loss in group
combat is too powerful (10s is a long time in PVP time) considering there are
many ways to force movement in/out of a room via fearaura, tackle, gust, etc.
Especially since this effect ticks -regardless- of successful exit. This report
aims to change the purpose of hekoskeri to one that is more suited to Illuminati
offense yet is more balanced for both single and group PVP.
[A: 0 R: 0] Solution #1: Rework hekoskeri into a regular ent that you can
 order to attack (so it only hits 1 person at a time
 every 12s, like a normal ent). Change the sluggish
 affliction to an effect that increases both herb and
 focus balance time by 50%, which is cured by focus
 body.
[A: 0 R: 0] Solution #2: Rework hekoskeri into a regular ent that you can
 order to attack (so it only hits 1 person at a time
 every 12s, like a normal ent). Change the sluggish
 affliction to an effect that halves the amount of
 insanity cured when eating pennyroyal and focusing
 mind that is cured by focus body.
[A: 0 R: 0] Solution #3: Rework hekoskeri into a regular ent that you can
 order to attack (so it only hits 1 person at a time
 every 12s, like a normal ent). Reduce the time it
 takes to cure sluggishness down to 5-6s.
Player Comments:
---[Veyrzhul on 3/31 @ 06:39 writes]:
Are those effects intended to work on all personal enemies still or just on the
target you order the hekoskeri to attack? Since you mentioned the lack of
usefulness of sluggishness for the attack of illuminati, I have this suggestion:
Have sluggishness not affect eq/bal recovery, but instead either focus mind time
OR the amount of insanity cured (still 10s duration and uncurable). I'd
personally like for it to be single target, though.
---[Shuyin on 4/1 @ 05:43 writes]:
Hekoskeri has never been something you can order, you just summon it and it has
a chance to tick on all personal enemies who leave the room. I'm fine with that
idea too, so I remade solution 3.
---[Vivet on 4/8 @ 18:49 writes]:
Hekoskeri can also proc on failed movement attempts, ie, if you are webbed and
attempt to move in a given direction even though you cannot, it will fire. I
feel like this should be addressed as well.
---[Shuyin on 4/9 @ 01:24 writes]:
The solutions presented should address these, unless you feel like something
else is missing.
---[Shuyin on 4/9 @ 03:18 writes]:
To clarify, I mean that such issues are universal to similar effects that tick
'on exit', like carcer, slime, etc etc. It's not a special facet of hekoskeri.
---[Ushaara on 6/4 @ 13:46 writes]:
I think your solution #1 is too powerful, especially while it remains an
incurable aff for 10s. Wary of #2 when paired with new bad luck and fast mental
afflicting, but preferable to #1. Agree with moving hekoskeri away from passive
balance doubling when you have access to active ecto, but #3 is an improvement
for groups on current incarnation at least. Report 784 suggested sluggishness be
cured after 1 or 2 focuses? Would think something like that would be needed if
#1 is being considered by the admin. Or perhaps allow focus body to cure it
before 10s pass? So insanity curing through focus mind is delayed if the target
chooses to focus off the sluggishness to negate the balance doubling.
---[Enyalida on 6/4 @ 20:15 writes]:
Any of these solutions would require a cure to be sensible. 1 is far too
powerful, 2 would edge on screwing up the balance you're going for with badluck
dealing more insanity, and having flat multipliers on effects always seems to
turn out badly. 3 doesn't really fix the entire problem.
---[Shuyin on 6/5 @ 00:56 writes]:
Yeah that's fair. I like Ushaara's suggestion of making focus body cure
sluggishness and it's thematically appropriate, which should please the admin.
I've amended my solutions.
---[Shuyin on 6/5 @ 18:10 writes]:
Toned down solution 1 to 50%, all of the new effects will still be cured by
focus body.
---[Xenthos on 6/12 @ 23:52 writes]:
My understanding is that making anything that has no-cure into something with a
cure is an instant rejection (they don't want more "afflictions" that have to be
cured), so might want to rework at least one of these solutions.
---[Shuyin on 6/13 @ 00:43 writes]:
Okay. I changed solution 3 back to the timed cure, only less.
---[Synkarin on 6/28 @ 23:37 writes]:
I think solution 3 is the best
---[Rivius on 7/4 @ 03:01 writes]:
Solution 3.
---[Janalon on 7/4 @ 03:28 writes]:
Very rarely does an aff give cure hindering directly to the method of healing
out of that aff. I.e. an aff that hinders focus that can only be cured by focus.
Usually it hinders ANOTHER cure type to assist in aff stacking. That aside,
there are several ways for an Illum to passively build insanity. Adding another
passive to hinder focus curing feels over the top. Sol 1 & 2 rejected. Sol 3
appears acceptable.
---[Shuyin on 7/4 @ 17:35 writes]:
I disagree that 'very rarely' does an aff give cure hindering directly to the
method of healing out of that add, considering the existence of stupidity,
broken skull, aeon, amputates, and the like. I wouldn't say it's prevalent, but
it's definitely not 'very rare'. I understand other issue though, but I feel
like such a myth (?) ability should work towards the theme of the skillset.
---[Wobou on 7/7 @ 02:03 writes]:
How about Solution 1 where the affliction slows focus mind balance only (to help
with illuminate). This would also present an interesting choice when you get
loaded up with afflictions because focusing body would not always be the correct
thing to do.
---[Shuyin on 7/7 @ 05:33 writes]:
I am fine with that version of solution 1 too. Any version of 1 is more
interesting than 3 IMO