Report 258

Report #258
Skillset: Highmagic Skill: Binah
 Org: Geomancers Status: Completed Sept 2009
Furies' Decision:
Solution 2.
Problem: Binah currently afflicts with a -2 weighted con debuff for 2p, and is
cured by focus spirit. It receives virtually no use due to a few problems.
First, the buff weighting system blunts binah to a -1 real con loss for anyone
with a con buff over +2, -1 being almost nothing for a skill which is already on
the borderline of being worth it to focus spirit or not (depends who you're
fighting: against guardians probably never worth it, against a warrior may as
well). Second, the classes that are required to take highmagic (guardians and
mages) have damage attacks that all scale heavily to a person's max health,
which is a little odd, but since warriors and monks can take highmagic too it's
acceptable if need be. However, one aspect of that issue is less than palatable,
that being that since magic attacks scale to a person's max health and binah
drops a person's max health below their current health, binah can actually make
a person take longer to kill in the short run.
[A: 0 R: 0] Solution #1: Boost binah to a -3 weighted con debuff, which will
 eliminate most (though not all) possibilities of it
 giving a -1 real con debuff, and create (more
 realistic) possibilities of it giving a -3 real con
 buff, which'll give it a stronger punch. If binah
 gives someone a lower current health than his max
 health, it'll also automatically drop his current
 health to his max health.
[A: 0 R: 0] Solution #2: Make binah a -2 racial (unweighted) con debuff, which
 will eliminate the possibility of it giving a -1 real
 con debuff. If binah gives someone a lower current
 health than his max health, it'll also automatically
 drop his current health to his max health.
[A: 0 R: 0] Solution #3: Change binah to some sort of passive ticking effect.
 Either int based magic damage every 10 seconds, or a
 flat 10% health/mana drain every 10 seconds, or 10%
 health/ego drain, you get the idea.
Player Comments:
---[Ilyarin on 9/21 @ 13:11 writes]:
I do think Binah could use a small buff, though I think solution #3 might be
excessive. I favour #2.
---[Akui on 9/21 @ 15:29 writes]:
I'm not sure what the intent of 3 is, but it seems quite exessive. Regarding
the problem, I like solution 2 as well. It is simpler, and won't be too harsh
on, say, faelings without a lot of con bonuses up. As a lower key alternative
to any of these, the abilty should, at the very least, drop total health down to
the new max to avoid the oddity of doing less damage with scaling attacks to
someone heavily padded with above max hp.
---[Ceren on 9/21 @ 17:21 writes]:
I hear ya, just remember this costs 2p and is completely curable with focus
spirit. Since highmagic is a common skill and binah lasts quite a long time if
left uncured, the effect shouldn't be quite as strong as its sister 2p focus
spirit cure, Omen, but the comparison is something to keep in mind.
---[Xenthos on 9/28 @ 19:07 writes]:
I'm happy enough with 2-- just an unweighted -2 con.