Patch Notes 21/06/2024

[Culexus]

One thing I am confused about is the aura rework. It hasn't been mentioned yet, and now the tank phase rework is over. In my opinion it is the strongest class mechanic in the game, and needs to be toned down.

Yeah I'm curious about this as well. I presumed it was going to be left until the last patch but, nothing. No changes to bellows/blade enchantments either.

Are auras deemed to be balanced and left as they are or does their rework fall outside of the scope of the initial balance patches? It would be great to get some clarification from the team on this so we know what does/doesn't fall within the scope of these patches.

[Fenris78]

Not sure about auras being strongest mechanic, while I agree them being undefendable is strong by itself, the power of auras and inherent limitations (by value as by limit of 3 at any given time), and the perfect mirror between Chosen and KotBS auras looks like enough to balance out by themselves.

As for patch, not sure about Sl/Choppa rework of Retribution/Bring it on, since damage reflect is still a channeled skill (wich implies no AA and no other skill used in the meanwhile, and being interruptable in a game filled by AoE CC/interrupts), I see far less value to this skill now, especially since it's better used after a detaunt - it will break detaunt I imagine - and it means dropping rage and dealing mediocre damage overall.

The parts for tank bumps were misleading (I also thought tanks are now able to ignore immunities, thanks Sigmar its still reserved to Zealot, BO and SH but still no Order class with punt ignore ability nor AoE hard CC...).

I somehow expected a rework for KOTBS Unbalancing Attack wich is still pitifully weak for a 13 pts skill, and To Victory aura wich need to be something else entirely (why not a light snare or speed proc (20% ?) - on being hit, to escape slightly better ? - like CoC, wich currently Order still badly lacking in regards to Destruction Kiting potential).

Overall, some disappointment on Tanks rework, while IB / BG are still missing their healing skill back...

[tsyuryu]

being able to use punt on a target that is punt immune is a nerf plz revert the change !

[Culexus]

Not sure about auras being strongest mechanic, while I agree them being undefendable is strong by itself, the power of auras and inherent limitations (by value as by limit of 3 at any given time), and the perfect mirror between Chosen and KotBS auras looks like enough to balance out by themselves.

Balance talk aside, selecting 3 abilities that are always on and require no interaction or condition is not really a mechanic. I'm sure it was said the team where looking to change this without going back to twisting. Although that may have come from a member of the team that is no longer involved which would explain why nothing has happened with it.

[Zxul]

Not sure about auras being strongest mechanic, while I agree them being undefendable is strong by itself, the power of auras and inherent limitations (by value as by limit of 3 at any given time), and the perfect mirror between Chosen and KotBS auras looks like enough to balance out by themselves.

Balance talk aside, selecting 3 abilities that are always on and require no interaction or condition is not really a mechanic.

Except that part about no interaction or condition is wrong, unless someone sucks as chosen/kotb that is. Part of playing chosen/kotb is knowing which auras to use in which situation, and switching them when the situation changes. Which is actually more tactical compared to other tanks, where lot of time most of gameplay is applying the same long brainsless rotation without having to make a tactical choices.

[Culexus]

Except that part about no interaction or condition is wrong, unless someone sucks as chosen/kotb that is. Part of playing chosen/kotb is knowing which auras to use in which situation, and switching them when the situation changes. Which is actually more tactical compared to other tanks, where lot of time most of gameplay is applying the same long brainsless rotation without having to make a tactical choices.

Selecting which ability needs to be used depending on the situation is not a mechanic, that was my point. Every class in the game has to do that with its abilities. Once the ability is selected there is no interaction with it beyond that point and no condition for it being on or off.

If my BO aoe punted when the situation called for it would that be a mechanic? Of course not. The fact that i'd have to interact with the stance mechanic to hit the condition of being in the best plan to use the ability is the mechanic. The mechanic then rewards that interaction and condition with the ability costing 0ap. The same applies the grudges/hate generation with ability usage/strength.

This is why the auras used to have to be twisted, they were really powerful but had the condition of an uptime that needed interaction to maintain. This is what kept auras balanced. Twisting was a terrible mechanic though so it deserves to stay dead.

[Zxul]

Except that part about no interaction or condition is wrong, unless someone sucks as chosen/kotb that is. Part of playing chosen/kotb is knowing which auras to use in which situation, and switching them when the situation changes. Which is actually more tactical compared to other tanks, where lot of time most of gameplay is applying the same long brainsless rotation without having to make a tactical choices.

Selecting which ability needs to be used depending on the situation is not a mechanic, that was my point. Every class in the game has to do that with its abilities. Once the ability is selected there is no interaction with it beyond that point and no condition for it being on or off.

If my BO aoe punted when the situation called for it would that be a mechanic? Of course not. The fact that i'd have to interact with the stance mechanic to hit the condition of being in the best plan to use the ability is the mechanic. The mechanic then rewards that interaction and condition with the ability costing 0ap. The same applies the grudges/hate generation with ability usage/strength.

This is why the auras used to have to be twisted, they were really powerful but had the condition of an uptime that needed interaction to maintain. This is what kept auras balanced. Twisting was a terrible mechanic though so it deserves to stay dead.

Except that the mechanic is exactly the selecting which aura is most beneficial, vs the specific conditions and opponents at the moment. Is your chosen fighting a slayer? Str aura is a good option, both for self dmg buff/parry bypass and for the debuffs on slayer. Now the situation changed and there is an am around? Magic reflect suddenly became good. Is resists aura usually good? Yes, but not when the only dps which you are facing are slayers.

Compared to for example bg, where you might have a long ass rotation to fit everything in, but realistically its the same brain dead rotation- you use same abilities in same order, starting with those which don't require hate following by those that need a high hate.

I have both chosen and a bg, and bg long rotations might be more annoying, but its the chosen where you need to actually think more and react more to changing conditions. Assuming you actually know how to play chosen, instead of leaving the same 3 auras on and hoping for the best that is.

[Culexus]

Except that the mechanic is exactly the selecting which aura is most beneficial, vs the specific conditions and opponents at the moment. Is your chosen fighting a slayer? Str aura is a good option, both for self dmg buff/parry bypass and for the debuffs on slayer. Now the situation changed and there is an am around? Magic reflect suddenly became good. Is resists aura usually good? Yes, but not when the only dps which you are facing are slayers.

Once again, selecting which ability to use in different situations then pressing a button to active that ability is not a mechanic. Every class in the game does it, it's the only way that any class can play.

A WL gets in range of a SH so the SH uses squig armour for extra protection. Does the SH share a mechanic with the CH/KoBS?
A Choppa was attacking a healer then gets attacked by a WL so the Choppa uses detaunt. Does the Choppa share a mechanic with the CH/KotBS?
A WE is having a 1v1 in the lakes then a group appears so the WE uses her re-stealth to get away. Does the WE share a mechanic with the CH/KotBS?
The BO was using stat steal bellow when in the lakes then switches to resist bellow when in a funnel. Does the BO share a mechanic with the CH/KotBS?

Anyway, I don't want to get into a discussion about this and I'll say no more about it. I'm just curious if the team didn't look at auras because they are fine as they are or if there're more plans to tackle this larger stuff after this wave of patches is out. Same goes for the return of the IB/BG heal and bellows/blade enchantments as it seems odd that these were all missed out.

[Ysaran]

Where is Grumble and Mutter?

[jafh123]

Where is Grumble and Mutter?

We can always grumble and mutter about how good grumble n' mutter was.