[DEVELOPER PREVIEW] Armor Set Redesigns
Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2016 5:18 pm
Good morning, community!
tl;dr:
I wanted to share something with you that I've been working on the last couple of days, before it goes live. This is an opportunity to collect some feedback, but more importantly, this is a large change that would be unfair to spring on people with no warning.
In short, I've designed new sets for Tiers 1, 2, and 3 to complement the existing RvR sets in the same way that Sovereign had two different sets for each class. Additionally, the existing RvR sets have been redesigned to eliminate useless stats, and make their intended playstyles more clear.
Okay, But Why?
While reading through a thread about Warrior Priest's melee healing inferiority, one of the biggest problems that stuck out to me was their gear struggles in the lower tiers, and their Multiple Attribute Dependency. Items are my thing, so I volunteered to design an alternate set for them that would specifically promote melee healing. Then I decided that one class and its mirror having a completely separate set just to compensate for their bad design is both unfair and silly.
A brief history lesson: There was once a huge outcry as the first players slogged their way to RR75+, and started learning that Sovereign gear was underwhelming, and favored some specs more than others. There was a larger outcry when Land of the Dead revealed the Tyrant set, a "lesser" set which worked much better for some classes than Sovereign did for others. Mythic responded by completely redesigning the sovereign set for every class, and also introduced a second set that supported an alternative specs.
The relative power of those Sovereign sets aside, the decision to support multiple specs with sets that are equal in power was a good one. The problem in the lower tiers is that there is only one top set, the RvR sets, and those have the same issue Sovereign used to - little flexibility to play your class how you want. Tier 3 has Stalker, Mayhem and Redeye, but the itemization on those sets is distinctly inferior to Devastator. Stalker, case in point, has almost 50% the stat points and armor values of Devastator. There are arguments to be made that these sets should be less powerful, because they are "easier" to get, involving varying degrees of PvE. So instead of buffing these sets (which may still be an option in the future), I made alternate sets for every class at the same power level of the RvR sets.
Once I started though, it became very obvious that some of the existing sets needed a complete redesign altogether. Runepriests for example, did not get their gear adjusted after they were given the ability to convert all Intelligence to Willpower, or vice versa. Bright Wizards and Sorceresses have more Willpower on their gear than Slayers have Weapon Skill. Speaking of Weapon Skill, why do Archmages need it? Etc. Etc. Etc. I decided to just redesign the existing RvR sets for every class too.
Blah blah blah, what did you actually do?
Last Update: Jan 13th, 2016
A visual guide to the Duelist set Special thanks to RyanMakara for these appearances!
Let me know what you think!
As an aside, the 5-piece passive abilities WILL work when these sets go live! Other passives will be added back to RvR influence weapons and armor as we implement them.
For anyone wanting to see a rundown of what they will do, see below:
tl;dr:
Spoiler:
In short, I've designed new sets for Tiers 1, 2, and 3 to complement the existing RvR sets in the same way that Sovereign had two different sets for each class. Additionally, the existing RvR sets have been redesigned to eliminate useless stats, and make their intended playstyles more clear.
Okay, But Why?
While reading through a thread about Warrior Priest's melee healing inferiority, one of the biggest problems that stuck out to me was their gear struggles in the lower tiers, and their Multiple Attribute Dependency. Items are my thing, so I volunteered to design an alternate set for them that would specifically promote melee healing. Then I decided that one class and its mirror having a completely separate set just to compensate for their bad design is both unfair and silly.
A brief history lesson: There was once a huge outcry as the first players slogged their way to RR75+, and started learning that Sovereign gear was underwhelming, and favored some specs more than others. There was a larger outcry when Land of the Dead revealed the Tyrant set, a "lesser" set which worked much better for some classes than Sovereign did for others. Mythic responded by completely redesigning the sovereign set for every class, and also introduced a second set that supported an alternative specs.
The relative power of those Sovereign sets aside, the decision to support multiple specs with sets that are equal in power was a good one. The problem in the lower tiers is that there is only one top set, the RvR sets, and those have the same issue Sovereign used to - little flexibility to play your class how you want. Tier 3 has Stalker, Mayhem and Redeye, but the itemization on those sets is distinctly inferior to Devastator. Stalker, case in point, has almost 50% the stat points and armor values of Devastator. There are arguments to be made that these sets should be less powerful, because they are "easier" to get, involving varying degrees of PvE. So instead of buffing these sets (which may still be an option in the future), I made alternate sets for every class at the same power level of the RvR sets.
Once I started though, it became very obvious that some of the existing sets needed a complete redesign altogether. Runepriests for example, did not get their gear adjusted after they were given the ability to convert all Intelligence to Willpower, or vice versa. Bright Wizards and Sorceresses have more Willpower on their gear than Slayers have Weapon Skill. Speaking of Weapon Skill, why do Archmages need it? Etc. Etc. Etc. I decided to just redesign the existing RvR sets for every class too.
Blah blah blah, what did you actually do?
- I designed new PvP sets for each tier. They will be bought with scenario emblems:
- Tier 1 : 110 Recruit's Emblems : "... of the Braggart"
- Tier 2 : 220 Scout's Emblems : "... of the Challenger"
- Tier 3 : 490 Soldier's Emblems : "... of the Duelist"
- The new sets are designed to allow alternative specs and playstyles to the existing RvR sets:
- Tanks: DPS
- Healers: [RP/ZE] Survivability; [WP/DK] Melee Healing; [AM/SH] DPS
- MDPS: Survivability
- RDPS: Close-range encounters
- I also redesigned the existing RvR sets for each tier. These sets have had less-useful stats merged into more useful ones, and they have become more focused toward the playstyles they promote. That focus is generally:
- Tanks: Defense
- Healers: Healing
- MDPS: DPS
- RDPS: Long-range encounters
- EDIT: There may be an exchange merchant in the future to swap your already purchased RvR sets for the new sets. There will likely not be one when these sets go live.
Last Update: Jan 13th, 2016
A visual guide to the Duelist set Special thanks to RyanMakara for these appearances!
Spoiler:
As an aside, the 5-piece passive abilities WILL work when these sets go live! Other passives will be added back to RvR influence weapons and armor as we implement them.
For anyone wanting to see a rundown of what they will do, see below:
Spoiler: