Thoughts about the Channeler class

[Chase]

The other few threads which briefly mention channelers and their setups made me finally break down and make this post. Im not trying to go down other chars because they may or may not have killed me recently. I am just showing how I feel channelers are currently. Everyone is playing channelers. On any given time, I can say that usually half the who list is a channeler. Even people who have been playing channelers have got to agree with me that it is rediculous. The quality of pk has gone down the drain since the huge influx of channelers.

The real problem I see, however, is that almost anyone with little pk experience can walk around and spam k otherside, channel weave. There are no big limits to the channeler class in general. Yes, they only get certain stats. They also can only wield 16 lbs or less. But they can still bash almost as well as anyone with those weapons, and put people out of a fight in 2 bashes due to free weave time. So I think the best way to solve this is look at pracs. Ive seen channelers who can afford 1h weapon, bash, dodge, shield parry, shield block, and then all the other required pracs. Channelers then can stick in a fight and go head to head vs other bashers, and have an even fight. Toss in weaves and its over.

Speaking of weaves.. I am not sure why unclanneds get the full collection of weaves anyway. Its getting pretty annoying where a char that is created in 1 day can wipe the floor with me (due to channie setup) because they get the full weaves once they level up. Not to even mention channie pracs. You can affort to get all weaves to 85+ except one, atleast with my prac setup. Why is that? Shouldnt there be some sort of pick and choose which weaves, instead of just ALL of them?

I think the removal of gate except from certain ranks is a good step in the right direction. Already pk was a little better because *insertcritchannie* can't spam to a random room, using all mvs, and just gate away while the other side rushes to track them down before the weave can finish.

So in summary, what I feel needs looking at is:
- Pracs (specifically the feasibility of the dodge/bash setup)
- Weave pracs
- Self casting regen

Thoughts?

[Guest]

honestly, ive noticed 95% of the channelers dont know how to pk as a channie, and the others are on the legends list.

and i kinda support needing clanned rank before gate, but regen should still be self castable, and they should make more powerful weaves for master ranks, keep the current fighting weaves for low-mid ranked clan members, and make some low-power weaves for unclanned people

perhaps every 3 days played in game, counted on the score cmd, would let wilders who are unclanned / in an unusual clan, gain a mid-power weave on random since wilders find random things out on their own.

[Fogel]

Your points are valid. We've made several steps to help decrease the power of bashing channelers recently (1:1 strength to wield weight ratio, strength modifier on bash), and it is possible we may change pracs around to make this more difficult to pull off in the near future. Self casting Regen will probably be nuked soon. Weave pracs will also be changed in the near future: we have a large influx of new weaves planned, and will be increasing max elements when these are added.

[Koradin]

I agree with the fact that there are way too many spell pracs floating around, and I think if we made a small modification in this area, without changing a lot of other areas, that channies would be way more balanced.


My proposal is this:

1. Cut spell pracs in half for all channelers. This will force them to make a decision about practicing certain elements vs others, and gaining certain weaves.

2. Make weaves based on Fire and Earth have advantages for male channelers, and make weaves based on Air and Water have advantages for female channelers (do more dmg, have lesser casting times, whatever). This will spread channelers out a bit more so everyone isn't using the same weaves over and over - variety is key!

3. Lastly, have weaves based on Fire and Water be weather-dependent. This will render some channelers useless in some areas at certain times, which will put the entire class at a disadvantage. Hence, we won't have as many uber tank channelers running around.



As for the other stuff - regen self-castable, regular prac tweaks, etc... I think there are changes that need to be made, but they PALE in comparison to the actual WEAVE setup for channelers that needs fixing.

[Dakeyras]

Get rid of gate while have no-quit.
Starve them for pracs so they can't effectively stab/charge/bash just like a normal character alongside their channeling.

[Sonea]

So, you're taking away pracs, you're taking self regen, you took away gate. Where did the fun go in this game again?

So where exactly is the fun going in the game?

[Guest]

loc is now WAY too high a cost of use, i honestly think this is a good weave, but shouldnt be nuked, it was fine the way it was, self regen i really want, since it puts ls channies on ALMOST a fair footing against ds, since we have to spend sp's to keep moving when they have troll moves, and i think dg's can use horses (yes? no?)

[Alder]

That's what horses are for Corbin. And Dreadguards cannot use horses.

[Guest]

that doesnt help when they kill the horses alder

[Defish]

Ok, I think the answer is actualy more simple.

It appears to me that weaving while bashed does maybe 1.5 times the damage of weaving unbashed. My testing is limited, but this is what it appears to be. Hence bashing channies are at an advantage over non bashing channies.

[Alder]

So channelers should be able to regen themselves when their horses die while other humans cannot? Still unfair.

[Guest]

thats part of being a channeler... we're more resourceful then other classes, and have a bit more options but lack physically

[Fogel]

Ok, I think the answer is actualy more simple.

It appears to me that weaving while bashed does maybe 1.5 times the damage of weaving unbashed. My testing is limited, but this is what it appears to be. Hence bashing channies are at an advantage over non bashing channies.

Interesting, I will take a look at this.

So, you're taking away pracs, you're taking self regen, you took away gate. Where did the fun go in this game again?

So where exactly is the fun going in the game?

Having to fight overpowered channelers can take the fun away from people trying to play the game's other 3 classes. One class should not make the others obsolete.

Anyway, wait a bit before you pass final judgement on channelers. We are far from finished with the class, and hopefully you all will be more than pleased with what we have in store. In the meantime we welcome your continued feedback on the class's current state.

[Chase]

So, you're taking away pracs, you're taking self regen, you took away gate. Where did the fun go in this game again?

So where exactly is the fun going in the game?

Fun? Try not playing a channeler. I have plenty of new and mediocre pkers tear me to pieces. You have to agree that channelers are rediculously easy to kill anyone. They have no weaknesses bc they can pull off bash to shut down bashers. Only way to do well vs them is have more numbers. And I suggested reducing weave prac bc its stupid you can practice everything. If thats fair let my warrior be able to practice every warrior skill to full too.

[Sonea]

What you don't understand, Chase, is that we have a limited amount of weaves in game and compared to that other mud I have the same amount of weaves.

[Guest]

i want a 240 sp weave, that does 420 damage, that has a chance of gentling the male channeler, only usable when you are holding an angreal .

weave would be called Volcano!

[Guest]

On a more serious note,

TV Weave suggestion for rank 7+ Witches,
Suffocate, *-._.-*-. 60 damage, 30 sp, weave on+while engaged, timer cancells when hit, can hit targets currently engaged, like most weaves, requires maxed air and spirit.

Shock, *-._.-*-._.-*-._, 180 damage, 80 sp, weave on engage, timer cancels if hit, can hit fighting targets, requires maxed air water spirit and earth

Air Staff, *-._.-*-._.-*-._.-*-._.-*, creates a staff of air, tied off for fourty eight tics, must not have a weapon when casting, 100 sp, 0 damage, 80 max ob (99 prac), ten pb more at 95% prac staves then vine covered, but on succesful hit, it instantly hits the target with an air scythe, at no cost to the wielder.

[Koradin]

That air staff idea is awesome, except it is way too overpowered the way you suggested. Maybe make it have a % chance of doing the air scythe upon successful hit, and have crap damage otherwise.

[Trysstianna]

That airstaff thing sounds like it'd break the third oath if used during same side, not thatit'd effect anyone but aes sedai, but just saying is all

[Guest]

the third was not to make weapons to harm, that weapon looks like its to defend, your channeling to defend yourself, since the weapon itself cant harm anyone.

That air staff idea is awesome, except it is way too overpowered the way you suggested. Maybe make it have a % chance of doing the air scythe upon successful hit, and have crap damage otherwise.

theres no damage and horrible ob, but considering lvl 30s get 50ish ob off the bat, i'll drop my suggestion down to 40 ob on the staff

[Blark]

[Guest]

*agree's* self regen was very nice, i hardly consider it op, since most of the channie attacks rely on sp, and regenning ourselfs makes it lower, so less damage we can do. and then if you run out of sps ... your kinda screwed in a 1v1 and especially more then that

[Racyn]

u no if i relied on regn self i wuld be unkilable

[Evilina]

Racyn relies on his uber warrent to get him kills, damn hand holding mud!

[Trin]

After playing Trin the last few days I have come up with this.

Nothing is wrong with the channeler class. You just need to learn how to fight them. Maybe it's because I'm not fighting the right channelers but it seems to me everything is fine. There are so many no channel rooms to fall back on that completely devastates their pking skills it's ridiculous. They have so little hp that they die very quickly. Here's an example of channeler hp.

HP:Critical MV:Fresh >
n
A Twist in the Mountain Ridge
[ Exits: e s ]
You see very recent tracks of a critter leaving east.
You see fairly recent tracks of a critter leaving east.
A black warhorse is standing here, being ridden by you.
Chase Maravin is here, fighting *Surka*!, riding A black warhorse.
*Surka* is here, fighting Chase!.


HP:Critical MV:Fresh >
c
You try to smite *Surka*'s body, but miss.

HP:Critical MV:Fresh - Surka: Wounded --- Chase: Healthy>
b
HP:Critical MV:Fresh - Surka: Wounded --- Chase: Healthy>

*
Chase sends *Surka* sprawling with a powerful bash!

HP:Critical MV:Fresh - Surka: Wounded --- Chase: Healthy>
- % Cancelled...

HP:Critical MV:Fresh - Surka: Wounded --- Chase: Healthy>

You smite *Surka*'s legs extremely hard.
Chase slashes *Surka*'s head into bloody fragments!

HP:Beaten MV:Fresh - Surka: Battered --- Chase: Healthy>
sc
You have 76(443) hit and 163(163) movement points.
You have scored 232620172 exp, 225 total quest points
You need 3379828 exp to reach your next level.
You have been playing for 4 days and 4 hours.
You have gathered 108 Weave Points so far.
This ranks you as Trin Skye (level 41)
You are in the following clans:
Borderguards : 225 Quest Points, rank 5, 75 Quest Points to rank.
Your mount is full of energy.
You are riding A black warhorse.
You are fighting *Surka*.

HP:Beaten MV:Fresh - Surka: Battered --- Chase: Healthy>
#TICK!!!
c
You do the best you can!

HP:Beaten MV:Fresh - Surka: Battered --- Chase: Healthy>
c
A glistening rattlesnake slithers in from the east.
You do the best you can!

HP:Beaten MV:Fresh - Surka: Battered --- Chase: Healthy>
c
You do the best you can!

HP:Beaten MV:Fresh - Surka: Battered --- Chase: Healthy>
c
You do the best you can!

HP:Beaten MV:Fresh - Surka: Battered --- Chase: Healthy>
c
You do the best you can!

HP:Beaten MV:Fresh - Surka: Battered --- Chase: Healthy>
c
You do the best you can!

HP:Beaten MV:Fresh - Surka: Battered --- Chase: Healthy>
c

You smite *Surka*'s arms into bloody fragments!
Chase slashes *Surka*'s legs into bloody fragments!

HP:Beaten MV:Fresh - Surka: Critical --- Chase: Healthy>


The only thing I can think of is I think there should be more hp regen for higher con. Waiting 15 minutes to regen is ridiculous.