Spike shields/thorn potions ("game design decisions")

[darkhosis]

https://github.com/WarEmu/WarBugs/issues/1962

I did several searches on the forum (and github) and couldn't find any debate or reasoning for this design decision.

Is it outlined anywhere?

Thanks

[wargrimnir]

No, but essentially it came down to, what's the point of having these? Largely, AFK farming stuff while playing a tank. They didn't do any significant damage in RvR, therefore, it wasn't made a priority to get working.

Also, AFK farming is considered by staff to be botting anyway, so it's probably for the better they don't exist.

[darkhosis]

No, but essentially it came down to, what's the point of having these? Largely, AFK farming stuff while playing a tank. They didn't do any significant damage in RvR, therefore, it wasn't made a priority to get working.

Also, AFK farming is considered by staff to be botting anyway, so it's probably for the better they don't exist.

They're a significant source of damage for some classes (speeding up XP, craft supply farming, etc) & also allow you to win in encounters that otherwise may not be winnable. I can recall a few lair bosses where throwing out any offensive spells could lead to death & the thorns provided the damage in these cases. Tanks benefit much less from this than healers.

I'd also occasionally use them in scenarios depending on circumstance, though armor was usually a better choice. Cases to use thorns would be if enemy team had large # of DPS classes (fast attacks) and insufficient healing. While typically I wouldn't even bother with offense in a scenario (maybe a few auto attacks), in these scenarios where the thorn pot was active this number could reach 25,000, if enough fools decided to swing at me.

Unsure if any of the people I used to mess with from destruction on Volkmar are still around, but, well, I guarantee the thorns are even more effective in RvR. If I'm running around all by my lonesome & stumble upon some solo witch elf with a thorn potion up, they can either run off or kill themselves on my thorns. If I'm running with an armor pot, my ability to deal damage is greatly reduced (and costs me this time that could have been spent healing myself, instead). Benefits in arranged one on one combats should be self explanatory.

there is this; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxTZ_QU6V70

AFK farming? It seems like some excruciatingly slow method of progressing (or farming items?), thorns or not. It seems to me that if someone is going to run a script to quaff a new thorn pot every 60 minutes, wouldn't it be much smarter than just sitting in one location and relying on thorns only to kill things? Boggle it.

I never AFK farmed in Warhammer & fail to see how that should be a significant concern w/ the thorn potions. To even consider them an enabler vs all the other options out there is just a bit boggling ...

ed: I'm pretty sure that armor and thorns couldn't both be used at once, but I'm not positive on that as it has been too long. In that youtube video, I may have also stacked a ton of thorn potions (that was a neat 'feature'... well, I assumed it was a feature after reporting it multiple times and nothing happening! laugh). Regardless, even if you had every single thorn potion stacked, the 40 by itself would contribute some 35% (at least) of the total.

ah; the stacking = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7B8j4g9SUA ... but this can serve as some example of a lair boss, where it simply wouldn't be possible to waste any time on offensive spells & just need to concentrate on defense. In this case, the mob enraged, so it took too long to beat it anyway.

[Nidwin]

Thorn pots didn't stack with armor pots as they were considered from the same type.

[darkhosis]

Thorn pots didn't stack with armor pots as they were considered from the same type.

Yeah, was 98% sure about that but not totally positive (that it replaced armor, vs stat line).

re; mentioning decision between thorn and armor at a few points.