Decree of innocence is the second paladin decree I mentioned way back in April; it's a judgement on the same prevention as Decree of Guilt (which has itself been buffed to give the paladin a solid +hit option).
The decrees each play pretty different roles. Decree of guilt is a good "anytime" skill, but it really excels when the paladin or his/her group is fighting multiple enemies; it does good damage and buffs up the paladin's combat ability.
Decree of innocence, on the other hand, is great for smaller paladins, providing a solid way to maintain health, spirit, and endurance to stay alive and keep those holy lights and spiritual attacks active. It's also a nice way to help counteract area damage and bleeds, and to help run slightly tougher areas. Perhaps its strongest component, however, is the lateral deterrence it adds. Currently, in group combat, it's almost always the correct decision to flank a single target (usually a high-offense low-defense character). Effects such as lateral deterrence help to make this less of a cut-and-dry decision.
If the paladin's group is not stopped from flanking a single target, doesn't that make everyone in that paladin's group immune to damage from all sources except the group's target (especially if that target is battle locked)? And doesn't that mean the paladin's group is then free (and logically encouraged) to do exactly what decree of innocence is preventing: dog pile on a single target?
ReplyDeleteI understand it all depends on the numbers, such as the duration and % of the the lateral deterrence buff, and the prevention on decree of innocence (which is currently pretty low as near as I can tell).
On the other hand, if the numbers are low enough to prevent this type of "auto-win group fights unless you have a paladin" scenario, is the lateral deterrence buff a sort of speed-bump in the whole process, or perhaps is lateral deterrence meant to be only powerful enough to affect target decisions in group-pk at extremely high %'s? For surely, there is ample room for improvement in training for this skill.
And if decree of innocence holds this much power for group pk purposes, how often will decree of guilt be the "right" choice, since both decrees are on the same prevention?
If it's possible, I'd love to hear from a small paladin, a mid-sized paladin, and a huge paladin. Meier, I'm looking at you.
There's not much I can really say in response when the question is "isn't this overpowered unless it isn't?"
ReplyDeleteFor your first point, it's a bit of a straw man, because it's true of most defensive skills. "Doesn't X having a counter to good plan Y mean that X is then free to implement good plan Y?" Well, yes, nothing was stopping them from implementing that plan in the first place. It also seems to assume 100% invulnerability, which is a bit presumptuous without data. =)
Understand that I'm not dismissing your questions, but I am expressing that it's really not something I can answer.
ReplyDeleteOverall, there's no single specific point I can address; however, every paragraph ends with some variation on "but this would make this overpowered." I can only assume that it's a bit of an open thought process combined with worrying about the skill's power.
However, if you take a step back and think about my position, there's not much I can really say that already isn't already implicit. "Don't worry, I tried not to overpower the ability in designing it" - that's a pretty meaningless assurance, because it's true of any ability I design.
If you have any more specific concerns or feedback, especially feedback borne out by numbers or play experience, I'm always happy to address them (I love to talk!) - I just need it in a format that I can answer. =)
The lawyers clean up all details.
ReplyDeleteAye, I realize that there's not a lot of comfort you can give, but I truly admire your work and "Don't worry, I tried not to overpower the ability in designing it" is worth something to me. I suspect you feel it should go without saying, but it's something us mortals like to hear. =P So thank you for that.
Anyway, I was mostly wanting to explore the angle of "hey, isn't this the perfect setup to do what it's preventing?", which you (Whim) are of course free to say "exactly" or "no, you're not thinking this through properly", but mostly, that kind of comments is necessarily directed at players.
I'm sure it's not kosher for you to be releasing #'s that I'm curious about (which I do understand is the difference between OP and UP), so it's really a hope that paladins or their friends will want to share their experience with your new skill.
Anywhoozle, grats on another new and interesting skill.
Oh, are poliirs going to get any lateral deterrence? If it's not ideal for balance reasons, maybe it could be attached to something like awakening of the guard?
ReplyDeleteYup, poliir are slated for a lateral deterrence ability. =) There are four abilities planned which can provide lateral deterrence across four different classes - one groupwide (Decree of Innocence), one self-only, one reliable targeted, and one semi-reliable targeted.
ReplyDelete