I would like to further belabor my aforementioned entreaty with a posting of the rules for proposals:
that can be found at viewtopic.php?f=95&t=17556Topics formatted appropriately and supplying evidence for a particular viewpoint should be moved to Discussion regardless of the moderators' personal opinion about the topic. Their role is only to ensure that the likes "omfg sorc op pls nerf" don't make it to a discussion.
I respectfully find your 'opinion' that the nature's bond is in a fine state to be just that: opinion. However, I intend to fully cover my bases to ensure that I fulfill the requirements laid out above (as well as in your reasoning for refusal of moving) so as to see this proposal reach discussion stage as I still strongly feel it desperately needs.
Now to the meat and potatoes:
THE ISSUE:
Limited/Poor Support for Lion pets (specifically keeping them healthy and alive)
Currently there are 4 ways for a lion pet to receive healing:
-Nature's Bond: an incredibly meager HoT with no CD and no scaling (Willpower is not even a tertiary stat for WL's)
-Furious Mending: Guardian purchased tactic that adds constant regen to both pet and master
-Calming Presence: Baseline tactic that allows the lion pet to be the beneficiary of 25% of the healing pumped into its master, under the condition pet and master are within 30ft of each other during healing timestamps.
-Having another player (healer) babysit the lion pet
So first up is Nature's Bond:
Nature's Bond in it's current state might barely counteract HALF of a single dot... from a single enemy... And it even has the temerity to cost you a GCD and AP!
Second up is Furious Mending:
The tactic (and specifically it's rework) is in fine shape and serves its purpose. The only note I want to make here is that MANY WL's don't have access to this tactic, and therefore it should not in anyway be used as a crutch for not addressing the woefully meager support WL's (specifically the other 2/3 of specs or even guardian WL's who can't fit this tactic into their purchases (of which I find myself in this category)) can offer their kitties.
Third up is Calming Presence:
This tactic suffers from many shortcomings. First of all it's actual place of taking up 1/4 of your tactics if you were to be so bold to slot it... Second, its meager range. Third, its low percentage (why not 50 or 75 or even 100%??). Fourth, the nature in which the tactic works... If your pet is being focused down, (when it would desperately need the benefits of this tactic to kick in), it won't receive any windfall of healing because the master is not being healed... because, once again, the pet is being kicked in the teeth, not its master.
To be quite frank, this tactic is a shell of what it should have aspired to be. It's a part of a tactic, not a whole tactic.
Fourth up is the benevolence of other players:
-(1) Pets are low (very, very low) priority targets for healers... naturally, of course
-(2) The UI (grid/add ons) do not allow for any reasonable means for healers to target pets in the thick of battle. I can not emphasize this point enough, and I only bring this point up because this whole issue of "other players should play support to your kitty, not you as the WL, because this is a team-based game, not an individual game" was the very foundation in which my previous proposal was shot down. Well, this issue right here alone should be enough to cut the legs out from underneath that argument.
-(3) Anecdotally: I'm RR 54 (do the math on number of hours played...) and I can count on a single hand the number of times my lion pet was actually babysat by a healer. This includes my participation in premade 6 man's and premade WB's. This again circles back to point (1) above. And being vocal about the issue to teammates hasn't helped, but again, points (1) and (2). I feel this sort of thing is substantial enough to squash the rebuttal that WL's must necessarily be made to rely on the benevolence of healers to play support to their pets, given that it's something that literally happens in a blue moon/when you've coerced your brother or cousin or aunt to play a healer alongside you in this game.
Fifth up is the interactive-ness of Lion pet and player character, specifically a pet's inability to be guarded:
I bring this point up to ensure that my proposal(s) here qualify for consideration based on the merits that I bring forth a topic salient to team-play and not solo play (see previous proposal rejection). The issue of pet survivability extends beyond just the healing realm, but also the inability for it to be guarded. If a WL is unable to sufficiently support their pet, and their pet is the crux of their rotation or damage or ability to harass/pressure, then they can not sufficiently fulfill their duty in a group's dps slot (team play). This shortcoming is glaringly obvious against premade/coordinated groups that ensure the kitty cat is dug an earthen grave with all haste the moment it is resummoned (notice I said 'resummoned' because it is in fact a weary state of affairs that the WL is relegated to more of a 'summoner' role than a pet class role against these intelligent/coordinated efforts).
SOLUTION(S):
I'm taking a shotgun approach at this in hopes that perhaps one (or more) idea(s) finds footing.
Nature's Bond Proposals:
(1) Increase healing portion by 100% (At R40, it's currently a 15s HoT for 785 --- that's beyond atrocious)
(2) Increase the base heal amount by some reasonable number and additionally have it scale with a given stat of the WL based on what stance they're using (Str for Hunter, Str/WS for Axeman, Toughness/Wounds scaling for Guardian stance).
(3) Allow the HoT to be stacked up to three times, costing the WL 3 GCD's and 90 action points if they are so inclined to play support to their lion. This would still probably need implementation of the stat scaling portion of proposal (2) above.
(4) Each activation (not HoT ticks) of a Nature's Bond removes a debuff/ailment from kitty (add an Internal CD on this secondary effect?). Still would desperately need stat scaling and/or base bump in heal amounts.
Justifications for increased heal amounts: Individual healing has always outweighed individual dmg numbers (even despite the ubiquity of 50% heal debuffs in game) as evidenced by metrics such as scenario charts or the simple fact that combatants are often kept alive through a swarming of multiple enemies. This is in large part due to healing's role to stymie focused fire. WL pets have no reasonable way to avoid or even delay getting tucked in the earth from any sort of concentrated fire.
Calming Presence Proposal:
Honestly, this tactic needs an entire overhaul because of its fundamentally flawed design. The only (very very specific) circumstance in which this tactic will have the impact it was intended to have is when both pet AND master are being focused by enemies, in which case this tactic requires bad play/bad focus by the enemy to be of any merit. A rework can go any number of directions, but we want it to fulfill its current intended role in keeping kitty alive.
(1) Keep current effect, but make it so that your pet is being guarded by you, the WL, when this tactic is slotted. This would be treated precisely as 'guard' is implemented in the game.
(2) As above with respects to adding 'guard' effect, except heals used on a WL that slot this tactic are now 10% less effective, but the pet now benefits from 55% of what WL receives (up from 25%). Note that 55% translates to ~50% (or double the current tactic value) of the heal value had it not been reduced 10%. Further translation: A 1k heal would net the player 900 points of healing; pet would net 500 points of healing (90% & 50% of original value, respectively).
Benevolent Healer Proposal:
If there exists any power to do so: Implement some way for pets to be better targeted without resorting to finding them amidst a heap of frenzied combatants and trying to click on them.
Guard Proposal:
Allow lion pets to be have guard placed upon them by tank archetype classes.
OR: Allow pets to see some sort of benefit in damage splitting when its master is being guarded
This way guard can be floated to 'Fluffy' when he or she is being bullied upon by those pesky destro.
Also: See Benevolent Healer Proposal
CONCLUSION:
If the numbers presented are not to satisfaction, then the community/balance team can tweak them as is deemed fit, but in order for such a thing to happen, this novella must survive to discussion. I do not present anything, my numbers included, in stone.
I have, however, highlighted some fundamental problems as well as the most egregious offenders: Nature's Bond, Calming Presence, Benevolent Healer Priority, Benevolent Healer Targeting Issues, Un-guard-ability of the class' most fundamental feature, general unavailability of pet support features (or even railroading of the entire population of WL players if we are to deem the furious mending tactic the holy grail and blanket fix to pet support, of which a counter to focus fired offensives - it is not)
I appreciate your time and consideration, and look forward to some lively discussions on the matter when this gets put through to the discussion stage
