ArenaNet:Skill feedback/Dervish/Vow of Strength

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Vow of Strength

Archive 1

Shoyon's Issue -- 0:01, 10 August 2008

Discussion

Issue

The update on 8/7/08 to this skill makes it USELESS in PvP since conditions are what win games, and you have no way of insuring that your teammates in RA and AB are not carrying condition heavy builds. Sacrificing conditions is also bad. Yes you can use attack skills but it makes no difference if you're getting the +41% dmg 0% of the time.

Suggestion

Make it similar to shield of force in that it would sound like "Your next attack does +5...41% damage." And give it something like a 5 sec recharge. This way it can still be used with attack skills, encourages the use of mysticism since it will be continually cycled, and allows for diverse builds.

User:WeHeartKatamari

Issue

This skill is rubbish because it requires a condition-less team not just build. It is true it's very possible to create a build not involving conditions, but coordinating your whole team so that you can work efficiently instead of just bringing an elite scythe skill is far fetched.

Suggestion

Making it something to do with an element the player can control with himself would be better for an elite skill. It would see more use and be more effective in general. Something like:

10 ¼ 10

"Elite Enchantment Spell. For 20 seconds, your attacks deal 5...29...35% more damage if you are free of conditions."

This would at least make it more viable, but you'd have to bring more protection if you want to be independent. A possible variable would be to add "...if you are free of conditions and hexes." to the description. This would mean the player would have to prepare accordingly.

Highly conditional

Issue

The skill is too conditional, and will very rarely actually give you the damage bonus. Also, while the bonus is significant, compare it to the power of Deep Wound and Cripple and it starts to look like maybe it's not worth an elite slot after all.

Suggestion

I would give it a functionality more like its old one, but a bit friendler, like this:

Vow of Strength. 5 1/2 12 .

Elite Enchantment Spell. For 20 seconds, your attacks deal 5...29...35% more damage. Whenever you use an attack skill, all your attack skills are disabled for 5 seconds.

Or something. Might be a bit OP like that.

New Suggestion

After thinking a bit, I figured something called "Vow of Strength" sounds like you're vowing to be strong, and if you fail you should suffer a penalty (kinda like the original version made you only use normal attacks, since you were "too 'ard" for attack skills or something). I thought about maybe Weakness when it ends or making it end if you get weakened or something, but then settled on this:

Vow of Strength. 5 0.75¾ 15 .

Elite Enchantment Spell. For 15 seconds, your attacks deal 10...22...25% more damage and you have +5...17...20 armour. If you use a skill which targets yourself, Vow of Strength ends and you are Weakened for 10 seconds.

The idea behind this is that if you fail to be strong and start using self-heals et.c. you break your vow and so lose your super-strength. To compensate for this, I added an armour bonus, firstly so that you don't need defensive skills as much, but also to fit the theme as you're supposed to be strong enough to withstand attacks. Increasing maximum health would be another way to do this (armour, health or both would all be good). In essence, this skill turns you into a warrior (but with caster energy) 'cos of the extra armour and more damage (being similar to Strength's armour penetration)... the only problem is that being in Earth Prayers, warriors themselves, assassins or even rangers and paragons could also use it (maybe changing the damage to armour penetration which doesn't stack with strength would help, but it still wouldn't stop assassins from abusing it) so maybe it would need some testing and some tweaks et.c. but it's the idea not the details I'm trying to convey here.

Note that I lowered the damage bonus and duration, and raised the recharge (there's no point in it ending early if you can just re-apply it) to try and balance it out a bit.

Comment

That is a really good idea, so good i couldn't help, but comment and voice out an idea. Just do what is above

Vow of Strength. 5 0.75¾ 15 .

Elite Enchantment Spell. For 15 seconds, your attacks deal 10...22...25% more damage and you have +5...17...20 armour. If you use a skill which targets yourself, Vow of Strength ends and you are Weakened for 10 seconds.

Olny move it from Earth to Mysticism so that Assassins and such couldn't abbuse it.

Sneaky's Suggestion

Issue

NO DW.

Suggestion

Vow of Strength. 10 0.75¾ 60 .Mysticism

Elite Enchantment Spell For 0...36...45 your attacks do Holy Damage and have 10% armor Penetration.

like conjure and Judges insight combined

Now Nerfed is Useless

Issue

The update on 8/7/08 to this skill makes it almost alowes useless. Even in PvE its hard not to use conditional.

Suggestion

Change it back to the old Vow of Strength, as sacrificing attick skills for greater damage is a good balange