Report 237

Report #237
Skillset: Druidry Skill: Thornrend
 Org: Hartstone Status: Completed Aug 2009
Furies' Decision:
Increasing damage if thorns on.
Problem: Thornrend is easily escaped from with the ability to ignite yourself,
or others, burning off all lashes instantly for negligble damage.
[A: 0 R: 0] Solution #1: Have ignite damage scale up with the more lashes one
 burns off when ignite is used on them. Negligable
 damage at 1 lash up to heavy damage at 4 lashes. This
 makes ignite less of a 'count to three and ignite'
 and more of a "do I really want to ignite instead of
 writhe right now?" - currently damage is around 250
 +/- 50 damage when ignite is used on one's self
Player Comments:
---[Nienla on 8/5 @ 15:47 writes]:
I'm in favour of increasing the damage of ignite across the board, though
perhaps not to a huge extent.
---[Gregori on 8/7 @ 10:54 writes]:
While I wouldn't mind an overall increase in ignite damage, period, it would
have to be a substantial enough increase to make people think harder about their
options in regards to lashes. If the choice is still going to be count to three
and take a little bit more damage than before, then it is not a worthwhile
change. However, if the damage is, as my solution asks for, something like 250
at 1 lash, 500 at 2 lashes, 1000 at 3 lashes, 1500 at 4 lashes that would make
people thinkk harder about using ignite at 3 lashes. (Yes, I know I doubled up
and then dropped the increase amount at 4. As much as I would like to go up to
2000 damage at 4 lashes, I don't think it needs to be that drastic). The lower
damage at 1 lash and 2 lashes, while still able to ignite and forget also carry
the balance loss of using ignite. This is why the current practice is to wait
till 3. It affords a comfort zone of limited balance loss from curing and
minimal damage in doing so.
---[Llandros on 8/7 @ 15:06 writes]:
While I think you could make a reasonable argument for this in 1v1 combat, I
wonder how balanced it would be with multiple druids lashing a target.
---[Gregori on 8/7 @ 15:51 writes]:
Every instakill changes dynamic in group combat. This is not an unknown fact. if
I have enough druids to multilash you then I am not worried about you igniting,
because I have enough druids to lash you again anyways.
---[Ceren on 8/8 @ 03:30 writes]:
Does anyone actually use thornrend 1v1? I know the only time I ever have to
ignite is when trying to dodge the thornlash barrage in group combat. Anyway, I
agree thornrend could use a buff 1v1 and if you think this is the way to go,
just think you should make it % based instead of flat amount. Something like 100
damage + 5% health per lash.
---[Gregori on 8/8 @ 11:33 writes]:
The reason thornrend is almost never used 1v1 is due to the ease of curing it.
You can't use it on someone sapped, If you sap somone lashed it cures all
lashes. If they leave the forest environment it cures all lashes. They, or
someone else, can ignite them to burn off all lashes, They can writhe/contort
from individual lashes. This is just one step in making it something that can be
used without a swarm of druids.
---[Gregori on 8/8 @ 15:54 writes]:
P.S. I agree with the .5% per lash idea of Ceren's. Also, I have used thornrend
1v1, up until the people learned what was happening and that if they wait till 3
and ignite they can beat thornrend.
---[Gregori on 8/10 @ 23:41 writes]:
Just noticing my typo... yeah I am slow.. that should be '5%' per lash, not
'.5%' per lash.
---[Asmodea on 8/11 @ 05:04 writes]:
You could always make it so, one ignite, cured one lashed limb.
---[Gregori on 8/12 @ 17:08 writes]:
Which would make it no different than writhing 1 lash. My solution allows for
the insta curing of it still while putting a risk on doing so.
---[Alban on 8/12 @ 23:34 writes]:
Yeah having ignite only remove 1 lash wouldn't make a lot of sense. I agree
thornrend needs a buff - druid combat can get really boring since saplock is
you're only viable way to kill someone. This change sounds pretty good, but the
amount of damage will have to be balanced carefully.