Report 624

Report #624
Skillset: Beastmastery Skill: Battle/Aggressive
 Org: Ebonguard Status: Completed Jul 2011
Furies' Decision:
Solution 2 is approved.
Problem: Casting classes have some issues with mob shielding-- if a mob shields,
it is almost always better for a caster to wait for the mob to drop their shield
before attacking again versus using the lowmagic / highmagic abilities (if you
use them, the NPC generally re-shields before you get EQ back). Since it takes
multiple hits to kill a mob after it starts shielding, this slows down hunting
rates enormously when compared to classes that can include a shield-destruction
with their bashing attack (warriors & monks).
[A: 0 R: 0] Solution #1: When a beast trained with Battle attacks a shielded
 NPC, have it break the shield.
[A: 0 R: 0] Solution #2: When a beast trained with Aggressive (which requires
 Battle) attacks a shielded NPC, have it break the
 shield. (This takes a lot more trains and might
 encourage people to have more beast variations)
Player Comments:
---[Xenthos on 7/11 @ 00:22 writes]:
This will help by letting casting classes combine a shield-breaking attack with
their standard mob-bashing one, speeding up the process a bit. Beast balance is
a bit slow, but it will hopefully make the whole process a little less
frustrating.
---[Janalon on 7/11 @ 13:56 writes]:
I agree with the premise of this report, though I would suggest adding a new
ability (with the prereq's of battle+aggressive) that razes shields/rebounding
would be the best possible solution to this report. I believe the addition of
skill wih two prereq's is feasible considerng the kikiroru regent.
---[Xenthos on 7/12 @ 14:49 writes]:
Why would adding a new skill be better? Having it part of the ability that's
already there seems more more viable to me (don't have to deal with coding in
yet another beast attack / option based on specific scenarios-- just order the
beast to attack, if it encounters a shield it destroys it).
---[Janalon on 7/12 @ 20:09 writes]:
In my experience, skills like Lowmagic Nullify and Kata Raze removes shield and
doesn't damage. Skills that damge+raze (like Kaige, the Nekotai lunge mod) cost
power. So, it seems reasonable that either a damage+raze should cost power
(which complicates matters), or another skill that razes without damage be added
since aggressive already serves a purpose.
---[Xenthos on 7/12 @ 21:40 writes]:
Unless it's as the solutions suggest, where it destroys the shield if it
encounters it (just like mob-attacks currently to do a player who is shielded--
they do no damage but destroy the shield). That's how I'm envisioning it at
least.
---[Janalon on 7/13 @ 12:02 writes]:
Thank you for the clarification. This make a tremendous amount of sense.
---[Senna on 7/14 @ 19:35 writes]:
Either one of these would be awesome, though I'd prefer solution 2.
---[Viynain on 7/14 @ 22:02 writes]:
Yes, please. I think solution 2 for this addition would make sense.
---[Iytha on 7/15 @ 02:20 writes]:
I like solution 2, since it makes aggressive more worthwhile, but solution 1 is
also good.
---[Wobou on 7/17 @ 14:29 writes]:
Either of those two solutions sound good to me.
---[Talan on 7/20 @ 06:12 writes]:
I would like to be able to raise shield using beast balance in some fashion.
---[Janalon on 7/20 @ 13:08 writes]:
Just for clarification: "raise" or "raze." Sorry, don't mean to enforce
spelling, but the two words have quite opposite meanings.
---[Nydekion on 7/21 @ 05:37 writes]:
Not to be a devil's advocate but wouldn't this just make warrior raze obsolete
for denizen combat?
---[Ilyssa on 7/21 @ 07:57 writes]:
Warrior raze/cleave only costs a small amount of balance and is available more
often than every ten seconds. Warrior here, supporting Solution #2.
---[Xenthos on 7/23 @ 19:49 writes]:
As Ilyssa said, it would not make raze obsolete at all. It'll help casters
classes far more than it does anything for warriors, given beast balance times
and how fast raze is to recover from (just over 1s for me with my bashers).
---[Vadi on 7/23 @ 19:51 writes]:
Supporting either solution, though I hope that this report (which requires a
beast, trained in battle, and possible aggressive - expensive) doesn't shaft the
forgotten Overkill report.