General

Icelightningarchmage

Have the I/L Arch Mage Changes Made us Stronger or Weaker?

Hey guys, I would like to discuss the I/L Arch Mage changes that have been made. Do you think it makes us stronger or weaker? To be honest, in terms of our main attack, which is chain lightning, I think it got nerfed. This is because of the damage being reduced from 300% to 255%. In addition, they also nerfed chain lightning reinforced. I know we get the extra line on chain lightning from the new changes, but I don't think it's enough to compensate. What do you guys think?

December 5, 2015

17 Comments • Newest first

Saru79

@Jacob9874, oh right I forgot the hyper. I think the hyper is multiplicative though (300*1.2) and not just (300+20). But I may be wrong on that. Regardless, what I was getting at was that the buff to Lightning Orb more than makes up for it.

Reply December 8, 2015 - edited
jacob9874

@star909 @saru79
Both of your dmg% calculatons are off, I believe.
Including the hyper, which used to be +20%dmg on Chain Lightning, the old dmg was 320 x 6 = 1920, while the new dmg is (255+10) x 7 = 1855. Dmg nerfed = 1920 - 1855 = 65%
So our damage was reduced by 65%.

Reply December 7, 2015 - edited
grawp77

It was an amazing buff
idk who would think otherwise
but i don't wanna get my hopes up cuz im expecting the elemental decrease fiasco

Reply December 7, 2015 - edited
trumpet205

@king2123: F/P mage get 40% total damage boost instead of 50%. Cygnus Knights get 10% attack with 0% elemental resistance ignore. WA also has some % boss damage.

Reply December 6, 2015 - edited
Saru79

The chain lightning nerf is so minimal it shouldn't bother you, we only lost a total of 15% damage. That's over 8 hits so just think each hit is doing about 2% less damage technically. Our buff to lightning orb is amazing, I'm having more fun with my IL than I ever have before. Boss runs are significantly faster for me now so it was surely an overall buff. For the time being anyway.. the elemental decrease nerf will be devastating.

Reply December 6, 2015 - edited
FunkyFlame

It's easily a buff if you cap, obviously. If you're unfunded, still not that bad (yet) anyway. All these "nerfs" coming to I/L are amazing if you're funded. Love 'em<3

Reply December 6, 2015 - edited
Momijii

@trumpet205: which is such a stupid reason since if they hadn't made PDR in the first place, they wouldn't have had this problem.

Reply December 6, 2015 - edited
Star909

@king2123: It's all mage classes that had a elemental ignore, also chain lightning isnt that much of a nerf % wise, you lose about 15% damage from the skill itself but I guess the hyper is slightly more concerning. I havent played an I/L in a while so I cant really judge (and I cant afford to turn my bishop into a I/L atm)

Reply December 6, 2015 - edited
king2123

@trumpet205: I see! Although I think the chain lightning nerf was very unnecessary to the scale they did it to. Also, you said "New changes to elemental resistance for I/L." Does that mean that it is different for F/P mages, and other classes that also use elements?

Reply December 6, 2015 - edited
trumpet205

@king2123: Their reasoning is basically other classes don't have them so the fact that classes that have them is a huge and unfair advantage.

New changes to Elemental Rest for I/L would be 10% elemental resistance ignore and 50% total damage boost. If you max out one of your profession traits (forgot which one at the top of my head), you get another 10% elemental resistance ignore.

They did nerf some OP classes, just look at Zero (I think Zero's nerf is overkill).

Reply December 6, 2015 - edited
king2123

@trumpet205: Does anyone know their reasoning for having such a nerf? The amount of resistance that these bosses have against me when I don't have my elemental resistance buff on is horrible. Why are they not focusing on OP classes, and not realizing that they are making already un-played classes worse?

Reply December 6, 2015 - edited
trumpet205

@king2123: 100% elemental resistance ignore is being removed across all classes that have them as part of the balancing patch (will come to GMS very soon). Meaning for bosses that have elemental resistance (Hilla, Gollux, etc), you will now start to do less damage just like classes that don't have them in the first place.

Reply December 5, 2015 - edited
king2123

@juniormage: I guess, but I am concerned about our damage output for mobbing. I mean, although lightning sphere is significantly stronger, its cool down is so big that depending on it for mobbing just isn't a good idea. I feel like with our skills that we mainly use for mobbing we are weaker now. I am somewhat annoyed about this because other classes are already so strong, and then there are the I/L Arch Mages, who are not even commonly played, and then they get a damage reduction. Btw, what are you talking about when saying ele resist nerfs later on?

Reply December 5, 2015 - edited
JuniorMage

It's such a minor damage change that you shouldn't be worried, cap or no cap. Ice lightning mages got a great buff with lightning sphere, but watch out for those ele resist nerfs later on...

Reply December 5, 2015 - edited
king2123

@star909: Yes, but don't you think designing a class for people who hit cap damage isn't the best?

Reply December 5, 2015 - edited
LulzMudkipzz

The Lightning Orb changes are really damn satisfying, and the CL damage difference doesn't feel too bad. I like the quicker buff times, and Thunderstorm feels a bit more useful than it was before.

Reply December 5, 2015 - edited
Star909

I think with your hyper change (the level 170 one) its a buff, and a nice one at that. Plus the extra line is more for people that hit cap since it goes from 1800%>1785% (I think).

Reply December 5, 2015 - edited