Make mage PVP not bυllshit?
Posted: Sat Jul 24, 2021 1:30 am
Okay, get this, every other class in the game now has to avoid getting damaged, traverse environments, and implement quick strategies to deal as much damage as possible. Warriors have to...well, NOW they have to think of how to get close and personal without dying, Archers have to set up homing arrows and find the perfect spot for an arrow hoard (not bυllshit anymore), Gunmen have to set up grenades (now that they aren't garbage), clamps and flares to perfectly trap their opponent in a barrage of bullets...mages have to spawn a protection field and use storm cloud. No risk whatsoever, you CAN'T DIE!
This is a complete antithesis of the rest of the class setups in the game. Somehow the MAGE is the class that gets to be tankier than the warrior (since he LITERALLY can't be damaged when he activates the shield), with STORM CLOUD, an aimless, ranged attack, that locks you in place, for easy kills with the mp bubbles, the one INTERESTING part of the class since it actually requires the mage to run for once.
See the problem? The mage gets to reap all the benefits of the classes with none of the problems that come with them in PVP. This also becomes a problem in PVE where their best strategy is to spawn clouds and afk until the next batch of enemies appears, the most BORING possible grinding style is the most broken PVP class in the game, since it literally doesn't require you to actively try as much as other classes.
How do we fix this? How do we make mages NOT obnoxious to fight and boring to grind as? Simple, make the shield ACTUALLY IMMUNE TO DAMAGE, make it nonspammable (perhaps a cooldown where the mage has blue sparks around him representing his inability to use it?), and perhaps make it emphasize healing more than protecting? Probably a complex change that requires some thought, but perhaps lessen the defense given (aka DEFENSE GIVEN, as an actual defense stat), to make the shield heal the mage more from the damage he actually gains. This way attacking a mage is no longer a hopeless waste of time where you don't even know if you're damaging him, the bubble, or both, you ARE doing something, the mage is simply healing and mostly avoiding your shots because this can't last forever, nor should it.
To not just nerf the shield, let's think at what the mage needs...ah right, actually good ATTACKS! As of right now, the mage's mp bubbles remain as his most INTERESTING mechanic but at the same time the most polarizing for some. This weird MAGIC SUMO move has become infamous for being the last thing "rc_na_coke123" sees coming down the sky, before promptly spawning back in templar. It's INTERESTING, I like it, it's DEADLY, but I LIKE it that way. That's why I don't want these things to lose their prowess like that. These things should keep their defensive attribute, but we should ENCOURAGE more aggressive, non obnoxious mage play. The mage bubble rework proposed here makes the mage less, YA KNOW, immortal, so actually running up an enemy is going to be a bit difficult, yes? WELL, how about the frankly useless melee attack mage has, having a special attribute when using the move? When clicking, it'll fire forward, then if it doesn't hit anything, promptly fly back to the mage again. This will increase the range of this now ACTUALLY DAMAGABLE mage, and allow for more creative play, think trapping a player inbetween alternating bubble shots, while slowly coming closer, until you can finally unleash a barrage of storm clouds? That's COOL, it's aggressive, and it's fun for everyone since while this is happening, the mage is NOT tanking damage like a dbz character who hasn't given goku enough zenkai boosts to advance the plot.
I know that such a rework is probably TOO AMBITIOUS or whatever, but it has been in my mind for probably a month or so since mages are both depressing to watch grinding and OBNOXIOUS to fight. Nobody likes to fight something that doesn't seem to respond to damage, not even with ZEROS like how noobs see really high level players. This isn't even always when dying, sometimes just having a mage NOT DIE because he is simply better than everyone by admission that he's IMMORTAL is tedious on it's own!
tl;dr the current mage encourages campy gameplay with no risk that actively rewards mage with better stats than any other class. We should, in turn, make mage more aggressive, less durable, and more INTERESTING, so that we can improve the PVP space for EVERYONE on it. I mean, even WARRIORS are getting to be good in PVP for once with ninja slash, that means everything is possible, even if not done in the same way as I described, simply following the general direction of this suggestion will in my opinion improve the class dynamic.
This is a complete antithesis of the rest of the class setups in the game. Somehow the MAGE is the class that gets to be tankier than the warrior (since he LITERALLY can't be damaged when he activates the shield), with STORM CLOUD, an aimless, ranged attack, that locks you in place, for easy kills with the mp bubbles, the one INTERESTING part of the class since it actually requires the mage to run for once.
See the problem? The mage gets to reap all the benefits of the classes with none of the problems that come with them in PVP. This also becomes a problem in PVE where their best strategy is to spawn clouds and afk until the next batch of enemies appears, the most BORING possible grinding style is the most broken PVP class in the game, since it literally doesn't require you to actively try as much as other classes.
How do we fix this? How do we make mages NOT obnoxious to fight and boring to grind as? Simple, make the shield ACTUALLY IMMUNE TO DAMAGE, make it nonspammable (perhaps a cooldown where the mage has blue sparks around him representing his inability to use it?), and perhaps make it emphasize healing more than protecting? Probably a complex change that requires some thought, but perhaps lessen the defense given (aka DEFENSE GIVEN, as an actual defense stat), to make the shield heal the mage more from the damage he actually gains. This way attacking a mage is no longer a hopeless waste of time where you don't even know if you're damaging him, the bubble, or both, you ARE doing something, the mage is simply healing and mostly avoiding your shots because this can't last forever, nor should it.
To not just nerf the shield, let's think at what the mage needs...ah right, actually good ATTACKS! As of right now, the mage's mp bubbles remain as his most INTERESTING mechanic but at the same time the most polarizing for some. This weird MAGIC SUMO move has become infamous for being the last thing "rc_na_coke123" sees coming down the sky, before promptly spawning back in templar. It's INTERESTING, I like it, it's DEADLY, but I LIKE it that way. That's why I don't want these things to lose their prowess like that. These things should keep their defensive attribute, but we should ENCOURAGE more aggressive, non obnoxious mage play. The mage bubble rework proposed here makes the mage less, YA KNOW, immortal, so actually running up an enemy is going to be a bit difficult, yes? WELL, how about the frankly useless melee attack mage has, having a special attribute when using the move? When clicking, it'll fire forward, then if it doesn't hit anything, promptly fly back to the mage again. This will increase the range of this now ACTUALLY DAMAGABLE mage, and allow for more creative play, think trapping a player inbetween alternating bubble shots, while slowly coming closer, until you can finally unleash a barrage of storm clouds? That's COOL, it's aggressive, and it's fun for everyone since while this is happening, the mage is NOT tanking damage like a dbz character who hasn't given goku enough zenkai boosts to advance the plot.
I know that such a rework is probably TOO AMBITIOUS or whatever, but it has been in my mind for probably a month or so since mages are both depressing to watch grinding and OBNOXIOUS to fight. Nobody likes to fight something that doesn't seem to respond to damage, not even with ZEROS like how noobs see really high level players. This isn't even always when dying, sometimes just having a mage NOT DIE because he is simply better than everyone by admission that he's IMMORTAL is tedious on it's own!
tl;dr the current mage encourages campy gameplay with no risk that actively rewards mage with better stats than any other class. We should, in turn, make mage more aggressive, less durable, and more INTERESTING, so that we can improve the PVP space for EVERYONE on it. I mean, even WARRIORS are getting to be good in PVP for once with ninja slash, that means everything is possible, even if not done in the same way as I described, simply following the general direction of this suggestion will in my opinion improve the class dynamic.