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Post by FunkySwerve on Jun 20, 2006 15:34:27 GMT
For monks, the solution may be similar to an edit I made to increase monster damage at high abs - adding monster damage to their weapons, or, in this case, gloves. Not sure it'll work, though I know it works for weapons. Funky
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Post by Bakchuda on Jun 20, 2006 17:53:20 GMT
An idea I had for Shadow Daze:
At SD level 25, change to Shadow Banish.
Banish the soul of the target to the shadow plane, making them a lifeless husk.
Same effect as Flesh to Stone, but with NO save, since it's only once a day. Limited to mobs within some HD limit so it won't work on Dragons and the like. And it's only on a single target, so I don't think it's that overpowered. Great for 86'ing annyoance mobs.
Just a thought from the Department of ShadowDancer Affairs. ;D
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Post by lala on Jun 20, 2006 21:40:37 GMT
The dev crit idea is really nice, not sure what to suggest for helping AA to stand up to a mob. However, I would be concerned about EV as AA get much better offensive compared to some of the other ac tank classes such as shadow dancer. It wouldn't really be EV, it'd be a lower amount of conceal. There's no way to edit Rapid Shot, absent a hak. Funky Shame about Rapid Shot as the idea I had was to give the archer something comparable but slightly stronger than Improved Expertise (which is melee only). If Rapid shot cannot be touched how about changing Hail of Arrows to be AC related instead. This would mean that it would need to be changed to behave like expertise (unlimited use and duration, click to enable or disable). The suggestion I had was to; - Make the AC bonus type same as expertise - AC Bonus is Archer Level/2 for a maximum of 15 - Enabling it causes an AB penalty of -1 for every +1 AC bonus, capped at -10. The idea is that the hail of arrows forces others to take cover from the barrage (hence the AC and the lowering of AB to fire so many). As Rapid Shot cannot be enabled with this and it lowers the attack, AC could also be increased further in legendary levels. With a change like this combined with an improvement on their damage I may even try it
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Post by Balduvard on Jun 20, 2006 22:01:34 GMT
I don't really think Arcane Archers need an AC boost. My AA currently has AC comparable to most Str based tanks even without using a shield. They sacrifice the high AC (and peak damage at the moment) in order to maintain a higher AB. I will agree that the damage they're capable of is lackluster--though that's largely in part due to the fact that they hadn't seen any item upgrades recently like the rest of the weapons have. If you don't like getting hit as an AA, bring along a shield and grab expertise.
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Post by FunkySwerve on Jun 20, 2006 22:14:09 GMT
Can't do it. Expertise ac is hardcoded. Don't think taking away an offensive capability to help their defenses is the right way to go either. Then again, that or an item are probab;y the only available options. Funky
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Post by Bakchuda on Jun 20, 2006 22:18:46 GMT
Sounds to me like if AA's get better bows for better damage, they take the place of the 'typical' mage role of artillery: Stay back, (almost) always hit, good damage, gets smushed fairly quickly if surrounded. And being able to pick off enemy casters is great.
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Post by jillybean on Jun 21, 2006 1:37:41 GMT
After playing an AA to 40 I have the same concerns for the class as listed above: low damage output. Maybe something along the line of the RDD improvements? I.e. Focusing on a certain line of feats would grant you bonuses at certain levels, dev crit or temporary increases in dev crit performance, etc.
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Post by avatarofshadows on Jun 21, 2006 13:54:55 GMT
A good str tank can have an ac around 120 what is your AA's ac baldy i have 3 AA's and not one is even close to that. How bout the ac on your AA's fusa?
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Post by fusa on Jun 21, 2006 15:15:08 GMT
My AA's ac is at 113 with +16 items and UR robes and amulet. It has a dexterity of 64 so thats close to max for a rogue/aa build.
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Post by lobivia on Jun 21, 2006 15:18:17 GMT
Well on the mod i used to play and DM on (namingly Bardos epoa) AA's were one of the most powerfull classes. REason for that being they had kick ass arrows (with unbeatable damage stacks) and high AB bows....they hurt.
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Post by fusa on Jun 21, 2006 17:38:57 GMT
A weapon master here can have much higher ac and lots more damage than what an aa can hope to have.
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Post by Balduvard on Jun 22, 2006 5:31:19 GMT
A high AC AA is easily achievable by some work in building. I made a post in another thread outlining sources of AC for certain builds. I chose to take some monk levels (not enough for control for +4 tumble AC though) to get class AC and wisdom AC totaling +10 to my overall AC when not wearing a shield (pretty often for an AA).
If you were curious, I would max out with 121 at L60 using the best currently available gear. Creative building strategy could get an AA's AC up near 130 if you wanted to sacrifice some AB in the form of trading out AA levels.
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Post by avatarofshadows on Jun 22, 2006 5:34:27 GMT
What about giving AA's the monk's ac bonus ? Some sort of ac bump on the new bows, along the same line as the bump sorcs got on the helms?
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Post by fusa on Jun 22, 2006 7:01:22 GMT
or a additional 10% damage reduction since if the control class is aa their damage reduction will be the same as a dex build even though their ac is at best the ac of a str build. Just wondering if +7 ac is better than epic dodge and 50% conceal?
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Post by avatarofshadows on Jun 22, 2006 12:09:54 GMT
Thats true Baldy but then once again ur stuck with no choices on your AA build, you MUST take monk then.
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