Report 980

Report #980
Skillset: Skill: Protection
 Org: Sentinels Status: Approved Apr 2017
Furies' Decision:
We will analyse the role of protection as discussed for the mage rework slated
for October/November
Problem: With the completion of report 1574, the difference in what effects are
blocked or not blocked by protection has become more exacerbated. This reports
seeks to outline a general principle for what should be blocked and standardize
the various melds to match that. Namely, that hindering effects should remain
unblocked, while damage should be blocked. For reference, the list of currently
blocked effects is this: Thunderclouds, miasma, firestorm, heatstroke, ashfall,
spores, pollen, treelife, poison, duststorm, sickening, needlerain, currents are
all blocked.
[A: 4 R: 5] Solution #1: Change the list of blocked effects to the following:
 thunderclouds (damage only), northwind, flashfire,
 firestorm, firerain (damage only), rockslide, poison,
 stillwater, currents, whirlpool, typhoon (damage
 only) treelife, storm, thorns. - Some melds get hit
 harder than others here.
[A: 3 R: 6] Solution #2: Change the list of blocked effects to the following:
 thunderclouds, eastwind, firerain, smokehaze,
 lodestone, duststorm, poison, jellies, currents,
 whirlpool, treelife, swarm, pollen, squirrels,
 spiders. - Instead of blocking damage, block passive
 hinder effects, aka stun, paralysis, blindness, as
 well as cure blocking affs (asthma).
Player Comments:
---[Shedrin on 4/12 @ 03:25 writes]:
So I'm not really happy with my solution here, but I think it's the best I can
come up with right now.
---[Shuyin on 4/12 @ 17:11 writes]:
Can you put up what is currently blocked again for comparison
---[Enyalida on 4/12 @ 20:22 writes]:
I think that (while longer) the list of UNBLOCKED effects is more important
information than the list of blockd effects.
---[Shedrin on 4/12 @ 21:16 writes]:
Updated the problem statement with what's blocked. It's a shorter list than
what's unblocked. Also, Falaeron and I were talking about potentially
reorganizing effects across specs to make it easier to balance, but pending that
I'll keep up the current solution.
---[Lerad on 4/13 @ 07:06 writes]:
Could you explain some of the rationale behind the choice of effects? I see that
dust-storm was taken off the blocked list, but currents remain on it - both are
movement hinders, right, or am I missing something?
---[Shedrin on 4/13 @ 13:41 writes]:
Duststorm only blinds and blocks MAP. Currents is a forced movement on tic.
Aquas movement hinder is due to needing to swim, which is a combination of
deluge, and needlerain stripping waterwalk.
---[Wobou on 4/16 @ 01:36 writes]:
I'm leaning towards blocking the hindering effects (sol 2) but I think if we go
this route that pyros and aeros should probably gain some sort of parity for
actual area control (rainbowclouds/ashfall is much less effective than
swimming/rubble/briars).
---[Demartel on 4/16 @ 16:22 writes]:
I am not in support of either of these solutions. I understand the intent of
them, but feel they are both a bit heavy handed and would prefer to see how the
latest report involving protection plays out before we slap melders with another
massive nerf.
---[Shedrin on 4/16 @ 19:18 writes]:
I don't think Solution 1 is a nerf, the major hinder for each spec remains
intact. Damage on the primary target remains intact with dissolve, but on other
targets is harder to maintain, which is less important anyway unless spamming a
lot of aoe. Solution 2 is a nerf, but was requested by quite a few people.
Ultimately I want a mechanic different than protection, but considering the
small timeframe, I think this is needed to make sure each meld function
correctly.
---[Shuyin on 4/16 @ 20:03 writes]:
Is it even possible to block only the damage? I'm concerned that if you block
firerain for pyros, then there's nothing stopping an enemy team from just
waltzing through the meld.
---[Auriella on 4/16 @ 23:56 writes]:
Just fyi, Whirlpool is not a demesne effect so I do not believe this should be
blocked by protection. Plus from your solutions you're blocking half of an
Aquamancers effects in solution 1, which is hardly fair. Blocking some instead
of all would be preferrable, if the aim is to lessen the damage they can output,
rather than nullifying it completely.
---[Auriella on 4/16 @ 23:57 writes]:
Solution 2 is preferable, but without whirlpool.
---[Falaeron on 4/18 @ 04:03 writes]:
I think it's worth just leaving this on hold until we can sort out the effects
to be better grouped into the various skills available to melders that Shedrin
mentioned earlier. For example, pyromeld has 4 effects that give burns when
there is really no need to have more than 2 (or even just 1, if we want to just
say it is either all blocked by protection or all not blocked).