Knight_Wolf
09-09-2009, 00:01
After observing all skill trees and trying some theoretical builds and some possible character setups i decided to make a full overview, feedback and suggestions regarding the overall classes and skills (specially after the latest changes to the skill trees), it includes skill suggestions, weapon type suggestions and some general observations and feedback i compiled.
Hope you don't mind it's length and don't find it annoying .. bear with me please.
Also if you are interested in finding a certain part or a certain class (you fav one) here is a short list of contents.
1-Regarding the Barbarian:-
-Weapons
-Skills
Overall Observations on current skills
Specific observations
New skill Suggestions
2-Regarding the Wizard:-
-Weapons
-Skills
Overall Observations on current skills
Specific observations
New skill Suggestions
3-Regarding the Witch Doctor:-
-Weapons
-Skills
Overall Observations on current skills
Specific observations
New skill Suggestions
4-Regarding the Monk:-
-Weapons
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1-Regarding the Barbarian:-
Weapons - Possible new Barbarian weapon types:
-Metal Spiked Club ------------------- (small ones that can be dual wielded are 1h/large ones are 2h)
-Heavy Samurai Blades (2h)------ (Swift, large and sharp blades made in Asian themed island Xiansai)
-Heavy Broad Swords (2h) -------- (Heavy Wide Blades that have a slight chance of blocking)
-Spiked Chain Ball (2h) ------------- (a single large metal ball attached to a long chain - has moderate range)
-Spiked Ball Hammer (2h) --------- (a long metal shaft with a large spiked ball at the end- could be a weapon type with more focus on critical-hit modifiers)
Skills:
Overall Observations on current skills:
-Some Barbarian skills feel a lacking in terms of benefits they give, and few others don't have a very clear function (more in detail in the next section)
Specific observations:
1-Stubborn (the Passive skill that reduces slowing effects) needs to have something more to it, currently there isn't enough at all to encourage people to invest in it just to counter the little possibility of being affected by some slowing effect at some point in the game, (i.e ... it could also be combined with Sprint (the Active skill that increases movement speed) and made into a passive (or active if needed) that generally increases the speed of movement and reduces slowing effects at the same time) ... in short most skills like this work way better if they have dual functions, a typical active-on-demand buff (increases movement speed) and a defensive buff for that rare-to-happen-moment (Reduce slowing effects).
2-The combination of Berserker State and Onslaught is quite awkward IMO (as far as i understand you need to be in Berserker state to be able to use the active skill Onslaught .. yet you don't have control on Berserker state since it is a passive), so unless Berserker State has a very decent chance of occurring and also must have a very clear visual and audio effects (to tell players they can use Onslaught now .. other wise they won't notice in the heat of combat and Onslaught will be just there on the skills tab collecting dust) ..... Another way to do it is to combine them into one passive or one active skill, this way IMO they will probably work better, specially knowing that Wrath of the Berserker (Active skill that increases numerous Barbarian combat stats) feels a lot like Onslaught and is also an active skill .. maybe Onslaught can be removed and Berserker state can be a passive that has a chance (between 15 and 40%) of activation and Wrath of Berserker stays an active skill the player can use at any time that gives the Barb an Overall combat boost .. in short i feel the trio (Wrath of Berserker) / (Onslaught) / (Berserker State) IMO need some revamping, there could be a lot more to them than they are now.
3-Weapon Throw is quite strange, Won't the Barb be able to use any sort of Bows or Throwing-weapons in order to need a skill like this !!? (and if he can use a bow will he be able to throw the bow itself for example if he uses this skill while carrying one), and will the thrown weapon be lost forever ? (if that's true then nobody will ever use this skill), or will it only be usable with throwing weapons ?, or will the Barb be able to throw any weapon endlessly ? (which in turn will make throwing-weapons and bows not needed for most if not all Barb builds), i can't quite grasp how this one works or what's the concept behind it, personally i hope it gets changed or updated into something more clear and understandable.
4-The Trio (Scavenge / Invigorated / Recovery) feel they need a little bit more to them (Later will mention the similar Trio of passives the Wizard has in Conjuring tree) ... i.e each one needs adding more attributes or buffs at higher levels so that not all Barb build end up having to invest in all three skills in order to gain a meaningful benefit .. in other words .. now its more of (take all three or leave all three).
-Scavenge --- (could increase Globes drop rate and also drop rate for potions)
-Invigorated --- (could increase STR upon picking up a globe and also could slightly increase the max HP for the Barb, or DEF or AGL).
-Recovery --- (could increase the healing from Globes and also increase the Barb Regen for a short while after picking a globe).
Cause the way they are now there isn't much choice involved with them, people will always pick all three ... and removing their dependency makes will help add more variety to builds IMO cause right now it feels like i said before (take all three or leave all three) which is against build variety.
5-Revenge (Active skill that is an AoE with limited use that also heals the Barbarian) doesn't feel like it serves a specific role or a new function, the Barb already has enough Battle cries that cover most meaningful functions, i hope also this one gets an update of change of function, also Bloodthirst (Active skill that heals the Barbarian some of the damage he deals) can be combined in some way with Revenge to create something more interesting (will suggest an alternative in the next section)
Some Skill Suggestions:(focused on opening up more build options like Shield focused Barb and Ranged Barb)
-Shield Bash - Active - 5 Ranks
(Smacks an enemy with equipped shield) - 2 Fury orb - has short cool down (2-4sec)
***With Multi-Rune ------------- Swipe attack multiple enemies infront of the Barb.
***With Power Rune ----------- Stomp one enemy stunning it and knocking it back.
***With Efficiency Rune ----- down to 1 Fury Orb per use, less cool down and generates more Fury per hit.
-Savage Throw - Active - 5 Ranks
(For throwing weapons - Barbarian puts all his/her power in throwing weapons at his/her foes doing heavy damage to them) - 1 Fury orb per throw (assuming throwing weapons don't have limited supply) - has short cool down (2-3 sec)
***With Multi-Rune ------------- Throw 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 weapons (depending on rune rank) in very quick succession per one throw (Dual wielding doubles numbers)
***With Power Rune ----------- Thrown Weapon does more damage, has a hi chance of doing Critical Damage and knocking back target.
***With Efficiency Rune ----- Less Cool Down, generates more Fury per hit.
-Mindless Bloodlust - Active - 5 Ranks (replaces Revenge and Bloodthrist)
Barbarian enters a trance in which the damage he deals heals himself for 10-20-30-40-50% (depending on skill rank) of the damage dealt with every successful attack, but he is also susceptible by 30% to receiving double the damage from enemy attacks during the buff active time.
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2-Regarding the Wizard:-
Weapons - Possible new Wizard weapon types:
-Metal Magic Staff (2h) -------- (A staff type with v.good melee Dmg for melee wizards / less focus on magic affixes)
-Spectral Staff (2h) ----------------- (A staff type with low physical Dmg / heavy focus on magical affixes and effects and Will Power increasing affixes)
-Throwing Charms ---------------- (Asian themed throwable magic weapon that debuffs enemies or comes charged with elements - can be thrown at enemies or on the ground for AoE effects - found in Xiansai)
Skills:
Overall Observations on current skills:
-The Wizard does need more passives - actives to passives ratio is a little off balance (its almost 70% active skills and only 20% passives, few more passives will balance things nicely), i know many passives were removed from the previous build since their function could be done using Skill runes or probably becasue they encouraged Heavy specialization in one tree only, but still there is a great lack of passives for wizards nonetheless.
-Some skills could use a little bit more diversity either visually or function wise, and some are lacking in benefits to warrant an investment in them (more detailed in the next section)
Specific observations:
1-Ray of Frost looks like a Disintegrate with different color, and i do know they function differently but still it could use some differernt visual representation to keep wizard skills looking as visually varied as possible (i.e .... a Cold Breath like animation or a different looking beam of frost that looks completely differernt from Disintegrate ... not just color variation)
2-The Dependency between Energy Shield and Arcane weaknesses is quite limiting and strange .. some Wiz builds need Arcane weakness without needing Energy Shield so there is no reason to link the two together and force people to investing Energy shield when they don't want to (unlike in the case of Stone Skin and Magic weapon .. their link makes sense since both serve melee wizards).. maybe Arcane Orb or Disintegrate would be a better replacement for Energy Shield as a perquisite to Arcane Weaknesses and it would make a lot more sense if someone wants hi-powered Arcane magic that they naturally invest in arcane skills first.
3-The Trio (Stability Control / Intensify / Mighty Impact) feel they need a little bit more to them cause right now they are a case of (take all three or leave all three) which is against build variety and variety in general(just like the similar Barbarian Trio of passives in Juggernaut Tree) ... i.e each one needs adding more attributes or buffs at higher levels so that not all Wiz build end up having to invest in all three skills in order to gain a meaningful benefit.
-Stability ------------ (Adds MP bonus and also a little HP bonus gain from Health Globes)
-Intensify ------------ (Increases critical hit chance and also increases effect of Will Power on Magic damage)
-Mighty Impact ---- (Increase critical hit damage and also directly increases damage for all magic skills)
Cause the way they are now there isn't much choice involved with them, people will always pick all three or leave all three in most cases ... also removing their dependency will help add more variety to builds IMO.
4-I feel that Explosive Charge not only seems works too similarly to skull of flames from the WD arsenal (a lobbing-grenade-type-attack) but also feels underpowered compared to the other Wizard skills, i don't see any reason that encourages players to use it and leave the other Arcane and Storm Skills and their empowering passives, i hope it gets replaced with a better skill or gets upgraded into something more distinctive and interesting specially if it was meant for melee wiz builds (maybe skill runes does make it work better)
5-Magic Missile seems to be the underdog compared to Arcane Orb, most players who played the Wiz opted to use it and ignored M.Missile altogether cause A.Orb is far more effective against mobs of enemies .. and they used Electrocute to zap fast enemies that can dodge the relatively slow A.orb, conclusion .. M.missile needs something special about it that gives people an incentive to use it (again maybe Skill runes will offer that, but will have to wait and see)
6-Expanded mind also need something more about it, it feels greatly lacking a strong reason for people to actually invest in it (i.e .. Besides increasing MP points it could also slightly increase casting rate or reduce consumption a little bit at higher levels).
Some Skill Suggestions:(with special focus on passives that the Wizard is currently lacking)
-Telekinesis - Active - 5 Ranks - Costs 4 MP per sec - rank 1/5
(A long thin Arc of lightening or Arcane energy extends from the Wizards fingers and hits one enemy .. upon that the victim is suspended 1 meter high from the ground and can't move or attack for 6-8 seconds (channeling ability), and the wizard also gains the ability to toss the enemy in any direction they please or keep that enemy hanging in mid air while other players attack it with melee or ranged attacks).
***With Power Rune -------------- Do damage over time to affected enemy, and tossing them does more damage.
***With Multi Rune ---------------- could make you hang up to 5 enemies in mid-air.
***With Efficiency Rune --------- could cost less (down to 1MP per use not sec) and last a while longer
It provides a new way to affect enemies and a new gameplay movements (like disintegrate), and is best used with Mirror Images or Hydra if there is no other party members around.
Passives:(much needed for the Wiz)
-Power Shift - Passive - 5 Ranks
(Adds +15% to physical damage and 5% to physical defense of the wizard for every 10 points in Willpower)
Great passive for melee focused wizards or those who want to make a warlock.
-Unleashed Potential - Passive - 5 Ranks
(Stun, Freezing and silence durations increased by 15-20-25-30-40% depending on skill rank)
-Reckless Arrogance - Passive - 5 Ranks
(spells have a 25% chance of doing 150-200-250-300-400% bonus damage but also have 25% chance to damage the caster by 10% of their damage)
-Magical Resistance - Passive - 5 Ranks
(increases resistance against all magical damage by 5-10-15-20-25%)
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3-Regarding the Witch Doctor:-
Weapons - Possible new Witch Doctor weapon types:
-Short Blow Dart (1h) ------------------------ (Fast rate short ranged dart weapon, focus on Poison related affixes)
-Long Bamboo Blow Dart (2h) ----------- (Slow rate long ranged Asian themed dart weapon, focus on Poison related affixes - found in Xiansai)
-Throwing Cleaver (1h) ---------------------- (Slow throwable weapon, but very damaging)
-Ceremonial feathered Spear (2h) ----- (Decorated spear weapons with focus on magical affixes)
-Ceremonial Daggers (1h) ------------------ (Daggers with focus on magical - fire and spirit - affixes)
Skills:
Overall Observations on current skills:
-Some skills have no use in PvP (more in detail in the next section).
-Lack of passives for fire and poison skills.
-Some slight overlapping of skills.
Specific observations:
1-Grasp of the dead could have a more interesting use if it not only damages the enemy but also slows them down and stuns them (due to being graped), all in all i just hope it offers some interesting uses and doesn't get overshadowed by Wall of Zombies (same case with M.missile and A.Orb of the Wiz) which could end being a more effective version of it that stops the enemies in their tracks and damages them at the same time (still runes could offer a solution but since they are usable on both skills W.of Zombies could still be superior and does the job better), other than that all the skills in Zombie skill tree are very interesting and seem very useful they don't really need any criticisms or changes IMO.
2-Haunt - could use a little bit more of a twist besides doing damage over time, as in lowering the damage of the hosts it occupies, or silencing them or both (still will wait to see what skill runes can add here)
3-Soul Harvest - Could be used in conjunction with Haunt in an interesting way, you send out multiple spirits (one by one) to occupy a number of hosts (damaging them slowly, lowering their damage and silencing them) using Haunt ... and upon activating Soul Harvest (all the spirits shed the bodies of their hosts violently and return for the Witch Doctor replenishing his mana depending by a percentage that depends on skill rank and on how much time they spent in the hosts bodies) .. just a suggestion i found interesting that adds a little bit more depth to skill use IMO .. and leaves pure damage dealing to Spirit Barrage.
4-Horrify and Mass Confusion - both are very nice skills for Single player, but fact is it is hard to grasp what they will do or how they will work in PvP (maybe it is a little early to talk about this but it is a valid concern), that's why i think it is better to give each more effects than just what they do in order to still be usable in PvP.
-Horrify ---------------------- (Besides its main effect, it could also lower targets magic resistance)
-Mass Confusion -------- (Besides its main effect, it could also lower enemies physical defense)
Maybe skill runes could play a role here still they should be useful in PvP even without runes ... fact is... giving multiple functions to skills is favorable.
5-Death Pact and Spirit Walk could be combined and offer more depth, by making it an active skill/buff (the player activates it when he feels he is cornered and upon reaching 10% of HP -while the buff is still active- it automatically triggers invisibility/phasing for a limited time to escape dire situations (of course cool down is a must)) .. this way it is more under the player control and feels more interesting IMO.
6-Hex would be a lot more interesting if it is an actual summon that stays for a while and actually have HP bar and AI not just pseudo-summon who pops up do a task and vanish.
-(Plague of Toads / Corpse Spiders / Acid Cloud) .... feel a bit similar to each other so players will just pick up the most effective poison skill and simply ignore the rest, maybe they can be reduced to two skill and a couple of poison based passives to make things more interesting or as usual wait and see what skill runes might offer here (which might be the case).
Some Skill Suggestions:(focuses on fire and poison passives)
-Totem - Active - 5 ranks
(Witch Doctor chooses a spot from which to erect a magical Totem that enhancts enemies and attracts them towards itself for a period of time while also blinding them).
-Plague Doctor - Passive - 5 ranks
(Increases the Witch Doctor Poison Resistance, increases damage for Poison skills).
-Fire Dancer - Passive - 5 ranks
(Increases the Witch Doctor Fire Resistance, increases damage for Fire skills, makes fire attacks do 150% more damage against the undead)
-Flame and Venom - Passive - 2 ranks
Slightly increases damage for fire and poison attack types and makes them both have more chance to do criticals and increases the duration the critical side-effects last for)
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4-Regarding the Monk:-
Weapons - Possible new Monk weapon types:
-Three Part Staff (2h) -------------- (A staff that can be detached into three chain-linked parts - has decent range)
-Steel Spiked Nunchaku --------- (Can be Dual wielded) (short range but very fast weapon)
-Steel Tonfa --------------------------- (Can be Dual wielded) (A defensive weapon type that has a slight chance of blocking)
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Phew, congrats, you finished reading one prettty long post, give yourself a pat on the back and go eat some cookies or drink a cup of coffee :coffee::coffee::coffee:
****No Barbarians, Wizards, Witch Doctors or Monks were harmed during the making of this list**** :scratchchin:
Ahm ... also ... feel free to discuss, bash, point out anything you think is wrong or far fetched, this list of observations and suggestions is far from perfect and has a lot of guessing and lack of information behind it .. so share your thought if you feel inclined to :thumbup:
Hope you don't mind it's length and don't find it annoying .. bear with me please.
Also if you are interested in finding a certain part or a certain class (you fav one) here is a short list of contents.
1-Regarding the Barbarian:-
-Weapons
-Skills
Overall Observations on current skills
Specific observations
New skill Suggestions
2-Regarding the Wizard:-
-Weapons
-Skills
Overall Observations on current skills
Specific observations
New skill Suggestions
3-Regarding the Witch Doctor:-
-Weapons
-Skills
Overall Observations on current skills
Specific observations
New skill Suggestions
4-Regarding the Monk:-
-Weapons
---------------------------------------------------
1-Regarding the Barbarian:-
Weapons - Possible new Barbarian weapon types:
-Metal Spiked Club ------------------- (small ones that can be dual wielded are 1h/large ones are 2h)
-Heavy Samurai Blades (2h)------ (Swift, large and sharp blades made in Asian themed island Xiansai)
-Heavy Broad Swords (2h) -------- (Heavy Wide Blades that have a slight chance of blocking)
-Spiked Chain Ball (2h) ------------- (a single large metal ball attached to a long chain - has moderate range)
-Spiked Ball Hammer (2h) --------- (a long metal shaft with a large spiked ball at the end- could be a weapon type with more focus on critical-hit modifiers)
Skills:
Overall Observations on current skills:
-Some Barbarian skills feel a lacking in terms of benefits they give, and few others don't have a very clear function (more in detail in the next section)
Specific observations:
1-Stubborn (the Passive skill that reduces slowing effects) needs to have something more to it, currently there isn't enough at all to encourage people to invest in it just to counter the little possibility of being affected by some slowing effect at some point in the game, (i.e ... it could also be combined with Sprint (the Active skill that increases movement speed) and made into a passive (or active if needed) that generally increases the speed of movement and reduces slowing effects at the same time) ... in short most skills like this work way better if they have dual functions, a typical active-on-demand buff (increases movement speed) and a defensive buff for that rare-to-happen-moment (Reduce slowing effects).
2-The combination of Berserker State and Onslaught is quite awkward IMO (as far as i understand you need to be in Berserker state to be able to use the active skill Onslaught .. yet you don't have control on Berserker state since it is a passive), so unless Berserker State has a very decent chance of occurring and also must have a very clear visual and audio effects (to tell players they can use Onslaught now .. other wise they won't notice in the heat of combat and Onslaught will be just there on the skills tab collecting dust) ..... Another way to do it is to combine them into one passive or one active skill, this way IMO they will probably work better, specially knowing that Wrath of the Berserker (Active skill that increases numerous Barbarian combat stats) feels a lot like Onslaught and is also an active skill .. maybe Onslaught can be removed and Berserker state can be a passive that has a chance (between 15 and 40%) of activation and Wrath of Berserker stays an active skill the player can use at any time that gives the Barb an Overall combat boost .. in short i feel the trio (Wrath of Berserker) / (Onslaught) / (Berserker State) IMO need some revamping, there could be a lot more to them than they are now.
3-Weapon Throw is quite strange, Won't the Barb be able to use any sort of Bows or Throwing-weapons in order to need a skill like this !!? (and if he can use a bow will he be able to throw the bow itself for example if he uses this skill while carrying one), and will the thrown weapon be lost forever ? (if that's true then nobody will ever use this skill), or will it only be usable with throwing weapons ?, or will the Barb be able to throw any weapon endlessly ? (which in turn will make throwing-weapons and bows not needed for most if not all Barb builds), i can't quite grasp how this one works or what's the concept behind it, personally i hope it gets changed or updated into something more clear and understandable.
4-The Trio (Scavenge / Invigorated / Recovery) feel they need a little bit more to them (Later will mention the similar Trio of passives the Wizard has in Conjuring tree) ... i.e each one needs adding more attributes or buffs at higher levels so that not all Barb build end up having to invest in all three skills in order to gain a meaningful benefit .. in other words .. now its more of (take all three or leave all three).
-Scavenge --- (could increase Globes drop rate and also drop rate for potions)
-Invigorated --- (could increase STR upon picking up a globe and also could slightly increase the max HP for the Barb, or DEF or AGL).
-Recovery --- (could increase the healing from Globes and also increase the Barb Regen for a short while after picking a globe).
Cause the way they are now there isn't much choice involved with them, people will always pick all three ... and removing their dependency makes will help add more variety to builds IMO cause right now it feels like i said before (take all three or leave all three) which is against build variety.
5-Revenge (Active skill that is an AoE with limited use that also heals the Barbarian) doesn't feel like it serves a specific role or a new function, the Barb already has enough Battle cries that cover most meaningful functions, i hope also this one gets an update of change of function, also Bloodthirst (Active skill that heals the Barbarian some of the damage he deals) can be combined in some way with Revenge to create something more interesting (will suggest an alternative in the next section)
Some Skill Suggestions:(focused on opening up more build options like Shield focused Barb and Ranged Barb)
-Shield Bash - Active - 5 Ranks
(Smacks an enemy with equipped shield) - 2 Fury orb - has short cool down (2-4sec)
***With Multi-Rune ------------- Swipe attack multiple enemies infront of the Barb.
***With Power Rune ----------- Stomp one enemy stunning it and knocking it back.
***With Efficiency Rune ----- down to 1 Fury Orb per use, less cool down and generates more Fury per hit.
-Savage Throw - Active - 5 Ranks
(For throwing weapons - Barbarian puts all his/her power in throwing weapons at his/her foes doing heavy damage to them) - 1 Fury orb per throw (assuming throwing weapons don't have limited supply) - has short cool down (2-3 sec)
***With Multi-Rune ------------- Throw 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 weapons (depending on rune rank) in very quick succession per one throw (Dual wielding doubles numbers)
***With Power Rune ----------- Thrown Weapon does more damage, has a hi chance of doing Critical Damage and knocking back target.
***With Efficiency Rune ----- Less Cool Down, generates more Fury per hit.
-Mindless Bloodlust - Active - 5 Ranks (replaces Revenge and Bloodthrist)
Barbarian enters a trance in which the damage he deals heals himself for 10-20-30-40-50% (depending on skill rank) of the damage dealt with every successful attack, but he is also susceptible by 30% to receiving double the damage from enemy attacks during the buff active time.
---------------------------------------
2-Regarding the Wizard:-
Weapons - Possible new Wizard weapon types:
-Metal Magic Staff (2h) -------- (A staff type with v.good melee Dmg for melee wizards / less focus on magic affixes)
-Spectral Staff (2h) ----------------- (A staff type with low physical Dmg / heavy focus on magical affixes and effects and Will Power increasing affixes)
-Throwing Charms ---------------- (Asian themed throwable magic weapon that debuffs enemies or comes charged with elements - can be thrown at enemies or on the ground for AoE effects - found in Xiansai)
Skills:
Overall Observations on current skills:
-The Wizard does need more passives - actives to passives ratio is a little off balance (its almost 70% active skills and only 20% passives, few more passives will balance things nicely), i know many passives were removed from the previous build since their function could be done using Skill runes or probably becasue they encouraged Heavy specialization in one tree only, but still there is a great lack of passives for wizards nonetheless.
-Some skills could use a little bit more diversity either visually or function wise, and some are lacking in benefits to warrant an investment in them (more detailed in the next section)
Specific observations:
1-Ray of Frost looks like a Disintegrate with different color, and i do know they function differently but still it could use some differernt visual representation to keep wizard skills looking as visually varied as possible (i.e .... a Cold Breath like animation or a different looking beam of frost that looks completely differernt from Disintegrate ... not just color variation)
2-The Dependency between Energy Shield and Arcane weaknesses is quite limiting and strange .. some Wiz builds need Arcane weakness without needing Energy Shield so there is no reason to link the two together and force people to investing Energy shield when they don't want to (unlike in the case of Stone Skin and Magic weapon .. their link makes sense since both serve melee wizards).. maybe Arcane Orb or Disintegrate would be a better replacement for Energy Shield as a perquisite to Arcane Weaknesses and it would make a lot more sense if someone wants hi-powered Arcane magic that they naturally invest in arcane skills first.
3-The Trio (Stability Control / Intensify / Mighty Impact) feel they need a little bit more to them cause right now they are a case of (take all three or leave all three) which is against build variety and variety in general(just like the similar Barbarian Trio of passives in Juggernaut Tree) ... i.e each one needs adding more attributes or buffs at higher levels so that not all Wiz build end up having to invest in all three skills in order to gain a meaningful benefit.
-Stability ------------ (Adds MP bonus and also a little HP bonus gain from Health Globes)
-Intensify ------------ (Increases critical hit chance and also increases effect of Will Power on Magic damage)
-Mighty Impact ---- (Increase critical hit damage and also directly increases damage for all magic skills)
Cause the way they are now there isn't much choice involved with them, people will always pick all three or leave all three in most cases ... also removing their dependency will help add more variety to builds IMO.
4-I feel that Explosive Charge not only seems works too similarly to skull of flames from the WD arsenal (a lobbing-grenade-type-attack) but also feels underpowered compared to the other Wizard skills, i don't see any reason that encourages players to use it and leave the other Arcane and Storm Skills and their empowering passives, i hope it gets replaced with a better skill or gets upgraded into something more distinctive and interesting specially if it was meant for melee wiz builds (maybe skill runes does make it work better)
5-Magic Missile seems to be the underdog compared to Arcane Orb, most players who played the Wiz opted to use it and ignored M.Missile altogether cause A.Orb is far more effective against mobs of enemies .. and they used Electrocute to zap fast enemies that can dodge the relatively slow A.orb, conclusion .. M.missile needs something special about it that gives people an incentive to use it (again maybe Skill runes will offer that, but will have to wait and see)
6-Expanded mind also need something more about it, it feels greatly lacking a strong reason for people to actually invest in it (i.e .. Besides increasing MP points it could also slightly increase casting rate or reduce consumption a little bit at higher levels).
Some Skill Suggestions:(with special focus on passives that the Wizard is currently lacking)
-Telekinesis - Active - 5 Ranks - Costs 4 MP per sec - rank 1/5
(A long thin Arc of lightening or Arcane energy extends from the Wizards fingers and hits one enemy .. upon that the victim is suspended 1 meter high from the ground and can't move or attack for 6-8 seconds (channeling ability), and the wizard also gains the ability to toss the enemy in any direction they please or keep that enemy hanging in mid air while other players attack it with melee or ranged attacks).
***With Power Rune -------------- Do damage over time to affected enemy, and tossing them does more damage.
***With Multi Rune ---------------- could make you hang up to 5 enemies in mid-air.
***With Efficiency Rune --------- could cost less (down to 1MP per use not sec) and last a while longer
It provides a new way to affect enemies and a new gameplay movements (like disintegrate), and is best used with Mirror Images or Hydra if there is no other party members around.
Passives:(much needed for the Wiz)
-Power Shift - Passive - 5 Ranks
(Adds +15% to physical damage and 5% to physical defense of the wizard for every 10 points in Willpower)
Great passive for melee focused wizards or those who want to make a warlock.
-Unleashed Potential - Passive - 5 Ranks
(Stun, Freezing and silence durations increased by 15-20-25-30-40% depending on skill rank)
-Reckless Arrogance - Passive - 5 Ranks
(spells have a 25% chance of doing 150-200-250-300-400% bonus damage but also have 25% chance to damage the caster by 10% of their damage)
-Magical Resistance - Passive - 5 Ranks
(increases resistance against all magical damage by 5-10-15-20-25%)
------------------------------------------
3-Regarding the Witch Doctor:-
Weapons - Possible new Witch Doctor weapon types:
-Short Blow Dart (1h) ------------------------ (Fast rate short ranged dart weapon, focus on Poison related affixes)
-Long Bamboo Blow Dart (2h) ----------- (Slow rate long ranged Asian themed dart weapon, focus on Poison related affixes - found in Xiansai)
-Throwing Cleaver (1h) ---------------------- (Slow throwable weapon, but very damaging)
-Ceremonial feathered Spear (2h) ----- (Decorated spear weapons with focus on magical affixes)
-Ceremonial Daggers (1h) ------------------ (Daggers with focus on magical - fire and spirit - affixes)
Skills:
Overall Observations on current skills:
-Some skills have no use in PvP (more in detail in the next section).
-Lack of passives for fire and poison skills.
-Some slight overlapping of skills.
Specific observations:
1-Grasp of the dead could have a more interesting use if it not only damages the enemy but also slows them down and stuns them (due to being graped), all in all i just hope it offers some interesting uses and doesn't get overshadowed by Wall of Zombies (same case with M.missile and A.Orb of the Wiz) which could end being a more effective version of it that stops the enemies in their tracks and damages them at the same time (still runes could offer a solution but since they are usable on both skills W.of Zombies could still be superior and does the job better), other than that all the skills in Zombie skill tree are very interesting and seem very useful they don't really need any criticisms or changes IMO.
2-Haunt - could use a little bit more of a twist besides doing damage over time, as in lowering the damage of the hosts it occupies, or silencing them or both (still will wait to see what skill runes can add here)
3-Soul Harvest - Could be used in conjunction with Haunt in an interesting way, you send out multiple spirits (one by one) to occupy a number of hosts (damaging them slowly, lowering their damage and silencing them) using Haunt ... and upon activating Soul Harvest (all the spirits shed the bodies of their hosts violently and return for the Witch Doctor replenishing his mana depending by a percentage that depends on skill rank and on how much time they spent in the hosts bodies) .. just a suggestion i found interesting that adds a little bit more depth to skill use IMO .. and leaves pure damage dealing to Spirit Barrage.
4-Horrify and Mass Confusion - both are very nice skills for Single player, but fact is it is hard to grasp what they will do or how they will work in PvP (maybe it is a little early to talk about this but it is a valid concern), that's why i think it is better to give each more effects than just what they do in order to still be usable in PvP.
-Horrify ---------------------- (Besides its main effect, it could also lower targets magic resistance)
-Mass Confusion -------- (Besides its main effect, it could also lower enemies physical defense)
Maybe skill runes could play a role here still they should be useful in PvP even without runes ... fact is... giving multiple functions to skills is favorable.
5-Death Pact and Spirit Walk could be combined and offer more depth, by making it an active skill/buff (the player activates it when he feels he is cornered and upon reaching 10% of HP -while the buff is still active- it automatically triggers invisibility/phasing for a limited time to escape dire situations (of course cool down is a must)) .. this way it is more under the player control and feels more interesting IMO.
6-Hex would be a lot more interesting if it is an actual summon that stays for a while and actually have HP bar and AI not just pseudo-summon who pops up do a task and vanish.
-(Plague of Toads / Corpse Spiders / Acid Cloud) .... feel a bit similar to each other so players will just pick up the most effective poison skill and simply ignore the rest, maybe they can be reduced to two skill and a couple of poison based passives to make things more interesting or as usual wait and see what skill runes might offer here (which might be the case).
Some Skill Suggestions:(focuses on fire and poison passives)
-Totem - Active - 5 ranks
(Witch Doctor chooses a spot from which to erect a magical Totem that enhancts enemies and attracts them towards itself for a period of time while also blinding them).
-Plague Doctor - Passive - 5 ranks
(Increases the Witch Doctor Poison Resistance, increases damage for Poison skills).
-Fire Dancer - Passive - 5 ranks
(Increases the Witch Doctor Fire Resistance, increases damage for Fire skills, makes fire attacks do 150% more damage against the undead)
-Flame and Venom - Passive - 2 ranks
Slightly increases damage for fire and poison attack types and makes them both have more chance to do criticals and increases the duration the critical side-effects last for)
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4-Regarding the Monk:-
Weapons - Possible new Monk weapon types:
-Three Part Staff (2h) -------------- (A staff that can be detached into three chain-linked parts - has decent range)
-Steel Spiked Nunchaku --------- (Can be Dual wielded) (short range but very fast weapon)
-Steel Tonfa --------------------------- (Can be Dual wielded) (A defensive weapon type that has a slight chance of blocking)
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Phew, congrats, you finished reading one prettty long post, give yourself a pat on the back and go eat some cookies or drink a cup of coffee :coffee::coffee::coffee:
****No Barbarians, Wizards, Witch Doctors or Monks were harmed during the making of this list**** :scratchchin:
Ahm ... also ... feel free to discuss, bash, point out anything you think is wrong or far fetched, this list of observations and suggestions is far from perfect and has a lot of guessing and lack of information behind it .. so share your thought if you feel inclined to :thumbup: