Author's Note:
The Nightblade ultimates Death Stroke, Soul Shred and their associated morphs have had a cast time for a while, now, and I think it's safe to say that the goal of making these abilities feel well and truly balanced has been accomplished. Indeed, now whenever someone tries to cast Death Stroke on another player, it is really easy to dodge and waste, and whenever someone tries to heal themselves with Soul Shred, they can be bursted down before they have a chance to heal themselves.
However, there are other class ultimates in the game that are still overperforming, and in need of drastic changes. To make these abilities feel completely useless diverse and balanced, I propose the following changes. Enjoy!
Wardens:
Wardens have two ultimates that are overperforming currently. The Feral Guardian is basically a free DPS boost, and so to cull its strength, I believe that activating the bear's ultimate should desummon it, making players have to go through the 2.5 second cast time all over again. Sleet Storm is also incredibly strong, and should have a one-second cast time to use. After all, creating a giant blizzard takes time and effort as seen in the Morrowind reveal trailer, and the ultimate should reflect on this.
Templars:
The Radial Sweep ultimate of Templars isn't only similar to the Nightblade's Death Stroke, it is cheaper. This is an outrage, and it should be given the .4 second cast time that Death Stroke was given. Rite of Passage is also an incredibly strong heal, vastly better than Soul Shred, and should have a one-second cast time. For a player to pray to the Gods themselves for healing and immediately getting an answer to their prayers is ludicrous, so this change is justified.
Sorcerers:
The Sorcerers are known as one of the easiest classes to play, and therefore the most popular. They have access to a wide range of abilities, but their ultimates stand out as incredibly strong. The following changes are called for because of this. The Negate ultimate has the power to remove ANY placed enemy effect, and should therefore get a three-second cast time. It should also mark the player casting it, so that they can be quickly identified and interrupted by other players in PvP. The Storm Atronach is also incredibly powerful in PvE, and should therefore have 2.5 second cast time, comparable to the Warden's Feral Guardian ultimate.
Dragonknights:
Dragonknight is the tankiest class in the game, but opting for high defense should have some drawbacks. For example, off the top of my head there are two ultimates of the Dragonknight that could really use a rebalance. First of them is the Magma Armor. Magma Armor is an incredibly overpowered ultimate, which makes players completely impervious to assault. To use such an ultimate should therefore have some room for error. The best way to give players a chance to counter this ultimate, is to give it a three-second interruptable cast time. This way, players will be able to see what the player casting the ultimate is up to, and have a chance at stopping them. The Standard ability is also very overpowered, and should have a two-second cast time.
Necromancers:
The Necromancer class should be tweaked to give players the immersive feeling of what it's like to call back the dead or call upon a giant monster to kill things. Frozen Colossus, Reanimate and their morphs should therefore all have an interruptable three-second cast time.
A better option than making these changes:
Make Soul Shred, Death Stroke and their morphs instant cast again. K thnx.
The Nightblade ultimates Death Stroke, Soul Shred and their associated morphs have had a cast time for a while, now, and I think it's safe to say that the goal of making these abilities feel well and truly balanced has been accomplished. Indeed, now whenever someone tries to cast Death Stroke on another player, it is really easy to dodge and waste, and whenever someone tries to heal themselves with Soul Shred, they can be bursted down before they have a chance to heal themselves.
However, there are other class ultimates in the game that are still overperforming, and in need of drastic changes. To make these abilities feel completely useless diverse and balanced, I propose the following changes. Enjoy!
Wardens:
Wardens have two ultimates that are overperforming currently. The Feral Guardian is basically a free DPS boost, and so to cull its strength, I believe that activating the bear's ultimate should desummon it, making players have to go through the 2.5 second cast time all over again. Sleet Storm is also incredibly strong, and should have a one-second cast time to use. After all, creating a giant blizzard takes time and effort as seen in the Morrowind reveal trailer, and the ultimate should reflect on this.
Templars:
The Radial Sweep ultimate of Templars isn't only similar to the Nightblade's Death Stroke, it is cheaper. This is an outrage, and it should be given the .4 second cast time that Death Stroke was given. Rite of Passage is also an incredibly strong heal, vastly better than Soul Shred, and should have a one-second cast time. For a player to pray to the Gods themselves for healing and immediately getting an answer to their prayers is ludicrous, so this change is justified.
Sorcerers:
The Sorcerers are known as one of the easiest classes to play, and therefore the most popular. They have access to a wide range of abilities, but their ultimates stand out as incredibly strong. The following changes are called for because of this. The Negate ultimate has the power to remove ANY placed enemy effect, and should therefore get a three-second cast time. It should also mark the player casting it, so that they can be quickly identified and interrupted by other players in PvP. The Storm Atronach is also incredibly powerful in PvE, and should therefore have 2.5 second cast time, comparable to the Warden's Feral Guardian ultimate.
Dragonknights:
Dragonknight is the tankiest class in the game, but opting for high defense should have some drawbacks. For example, off the top of my head there are two ultimates of the Dragonknight that could really use a rebalance. First of them is the Magma Armor. Magma Armor is an incredibly overpowered ultimate, which makes players completely impervious to assault. To use such an ultimate should therefore have some room for error. The best way to give players a chance to counter this ultimate, is to give it a three-second interruptable cast time. This way, players will be able to see what the player casting the ultimate is up to, and have a chance at stopping them. The Standard ability is also very overpowered, and should have a two-second cast time.
Necromancers:
The Necromancer class should be tweaked to give players the immersive feeling of what it's like to call back the dead or call upon a giant monster to kill things. Frozen Colossus, Reanimate and their morphs should therefore all have an interruptable three-second cast time.
A better option than making these changes:
Make Soul Shred, Death Stroke and their morphs instant cast again. K thnx.
Anyway, let's stick to talks of builds, funny stories (like the time I got jumped by 8 AD as I rode across the bridge and they bashed me to death as I fell out of my chair laughing), map strategy, which in game snacks you prefer, and of course... Ice trebs.
" and then the person just cloaks and you just stand there like ". . .I thought we were going to fight? 