DISCLAIMER: I know 3.0 is in the works and of the utmost importance, and believe me when I say that I am more eager for its arrival than for the implementation of more tomes, but I may as well post my ideas for tomes here while they are fresh in my mind!
I am unaware as to the reason why placeholder tomes have not been implemented as proper tomes, but the sense I have gotten over the years has been that most player-generated ideas are simply overpowered in that they aim to strengthen what are already a class’s strongest points (in other words, they want make pokers poke harder, healers heal harder, tanks tank harder, nukers nuke harder, etc.). I have also come across snippets here and there that suggest some staff might regret tomes having been implemented to the extent that they were with the advent of Ikisith.
Indeed, the “ceiling” for every class and almost every aspect of gameplay was raised substantially (and overnight, at that) with Ikisith, and some once-difficult elements of the game have become trivial while others have become unrecognizable compared to SoD circa 2009. Maybe there was a lack of foresight (not anticipating that there would be those devoted—or, if you prefer, manic—enough to crank out upwards of 100 tomes well before the fabled second phase of Ikisith has even peeped its head over the horizon), or maybe change in the direction of the server was too drastic for the tastes of some, but like them or not, tomes and their benefits have taken deep root in the way the players approach the game.
Placeholder class tomes (e.g. Second Cleric Tome II, Third Shadowknight Tome IV, etc.) present many problems which probably do not need to be enumerated here. The bottom line is that some classes (such as Rogues) can pour experience into three distinct tome lines whereas others (such as the three priests) are given only one tome line; classes are given “preferential treatment” in this regard—at least on the surface. With all this said, and assuming that placeholder tomes are at least at some point still going to be implemented, I urge the staff to (re)consider filling in at least some of them. Frankly, "Third Warrior Tome I" sounds like hot-off-the-press alpha testing material, not something that has been live since February 2010--3.5 years ago!
The following ideas are deliberately "underpowered" and/or quirky in most cases because my primary interest is in evening out the options for each class when it comes to the number of tome lines each gets. My suggestions for Cleric will not improve their healing, nor is my suggestion for Monk designed to increase that class’s melee output; this is to compensate for the suspicion that the staff are wary of putting in new tomes for fear of further worsening the monumental divide between the tomes and the tome-nots. I have tried my best to imagine “flavorful” and unconventional suggestions that players and/or staff may find intriguing. If anything seems completely out of whack, unfeasible, 100% useless through-and-through, or downright OP, do feel free to call it out. I would be thrilled to hear if even a single one of the following ideas is taken into consideration by the staff, though my hopes are not especially high.
Lastly, I apologize for the excessive length of the post; my whole point was the account for every single placeholder tome!
CLERIC
Second Cleric Tome --> Twin Hammers: The Cleric's continued piety coalesces in the shape of a second animated hammer. The pet is now summoned with an offhand hammer to wield alongside the primary one. This secondary hammer progresses from a Hammer of Judgement to a Hammer of Divinity to a Hammer of Wrath until culminating in a Hammer of the Gods at fourth level.
Justification: This encourages more Clerics to consider utilizing the rarely-seen pet unique to this class. Its power is offset by the fact that the pet remains unbuffable and almost always dies within two ripostes, a single rampage, etc. Furthermore, offhand weapons are not subject to double attacks. Note that this would require adding secondary to the slot listing on all four hammers, though this will change nothing for players; Clerics cannot dual wield.- Third Cleric Tome --> Lady in the Shield: The Cleric takes up a shield in battle in imitation of his/her Paladin brothers and sisters, gaining a innate 15/25/30/35% chance to proc Ward Undead when successfully bashing an undead foe.
Justification: This develops the Cleric’s role as enemy of the undead, an aspect of the class that seems to be neglected with the limited usefulness of Turn Undead, Innate Invis to Undead, the exclusive undead-only DoTs, and so forth. The name is a reference to the deity Althuna, analogous to the name of the Paladin AA Protection of the Lady. The power of this tome is offset by the scarcity of undead, the long reuse timer on the bash skill, the potential need to “downgrade” one’s held item(s) in order to wield a shield, the Cleric’s reduced bash accuracy compared to tanks, and the fact that the proc is a mere level 5 spell.
DRUID
Second Druid Tome --> The Beloved Beekeeper: When the Druid successfully casts either Crawling Storm or Relic: Doomswarm on an enemy, a much larger queen bee may appear to lend further aid to the Druid at a 3/6/9/12% chance. She attacks at twice the rate of her subjects but has half their hit points; if slain before the swarm departs, she will use her dying gasp to slip a drop of honey called Black Bear’s Envy into the Druid’s bag. This is a stackable, [NO DROP] item which serves as a “hearty meal,” granting +10 HP and +10 mana.
Justification: The Beloved Beekeper tome adds further flavor to this SoD-exclusive aspect of the Druid’s “swarm” spells. The food name is a nod to the bear pet usually seen trailing after lower-end Druids. Its power is offset by the queen’s high likelihood of dying to riposte damage, the [NO DROP] tag and near-negligible stat boosts on the food, the Druid’s already-present Forage ability, the inability to cast bee DoTs indoors, and the low likelihood that these spells will ever be cast more than once or twice during an encounter. Note that this would require the implementation of a new item.- Third Druid Tome --> Earthchild: The Druid casts down roots deeper than ever before in communion with the Earth Mother. While under the effects of Shape of the Earth Mother, all spell damage directed toward the Druid is reduced by 5/10/13/15 points.
Justification: This gives renewed usefulness to the AA Shape of the Earth Mother by offering added incentive to use it in situations where the Druid may be sustaining continual spell damage. Its power is offset by the inability of the Druid to move, the four-minute recast timer of the associated AA, and the smalltime mitigation; a nuke that would normally do 750 damage to the Druid would, even with all four levels of this tome completed, only be reduced to 735—a mere 2%.
ENCHANTER
Third Enchanter Tome --> Good Ol' Daze: The disorientation of Charm Daze is amplified. The Enchanter will mitigate 15/30/40/50% of incoming melee damage from any being who is under the effects of Charm Daze.
Justification: It seems only natural that the third Enchanter tome should have to do with charming. While my ideal tome would raise the max level cap for Word of Command by one level per rank (that would mean 59, 60, 61, and 62), I have serious doubts that the staff would be keen on that, so I have gone for something more modest here. Its power is offset by Charm Daze’s short duration. Contrary to the info on the official spell parser, I have never seen a Charm Daze last anywhere near 12 seconds; the debuff often wears off just as the Enchanter begins to realize the former pet has broken free.
MONK
Third Monk Tome --> Upper Arm Exercises: Throwing weapons from afar sends a rush of renewed energy down the Monk’s arms, healing him/her for 2/4/5/6% of all thrown weapon damage.
Justification: Throwing is rarely used by Monks except when pulling enemies or during limited encounters. This tome line would add a small incentive to utilizing throwing under certain circumstances, such as when a Monk has taken too much whirlwind/rampage damage and must back away from the fray until the healer takes notice. Its power is offset by the small heal percentages and the fact that thrown weapons almost never outperform old-fashioned melee when it comes to DPS.
PALADIN
Third Paladin Tome --> In Malath’s Name: The Paladin intones the name of law incarnate during combat, infuriating his/her attackers. Following a successful cast of Blessing of Malath, the Paladin generates 25% additional aggression for 5/9/12/14 seconds.
Justification: Paladins are in dire need of aggro generation prior to and outside of the ever-elusive Runic: Zealous Might. This aims to solve that problem by empowering a spell that they already use on a regular basis. Additionally, this tome invokes the name of an SoD-exclusive deity whose godly status is often overlooked due to his name being primarily associated with zone names. Its power is offset by the inflexible 30-second recast on Blessing of Malath and the fact that the aggression modifier is one-quarter that of the aforementioned Runic.
RANGER
Third Ranger Tome --> Quoth the Raven: The Ranger's raven companion adopts a blood-curdling call she once heard among the treetops of the Plane of Nightmare. The pet gains an innate 1/1.75/2.25/2.5% chance to proc Deafening Screech with each successful melee hit.
Justification: The Ranger pet is often bemoaned as being little more than an obnoxious formality of the class. Paradoxically, giving this pet the ability to emit a Deafening Screech may alleviate the obnoxious factor by giving the pet additional utility. The Poe name fits because this proc carries a 3-tick silence component. Its power is offset by the small proc percentages and by both the raven’s abysmal melee performance and questionable survivability.
SHADOWKNIGHT
Third Shadowknight Tome --> Heart of Darkness: From dusk until dawn, the Shadowknight’s in-combat mana regeneration is boosted by 1/2/3/4 points per tick even above any cap.
Justification: Shadowknights often show up in raid parses as being those who cast the most spells out of everyone during a long encounter. This would slightly extend their “fuel” in long fights or intensive exp grinds. The name is a roundabout reference to the SoD-exclusive deity of all Shadowknights, Marlow; Charles Marlow is the protagonist of the well-known novel Heart of Darkness. Its power is offset by the small numbers, being active only from 8 PM until 6 AM (which is beyond player control), and the fact that Shadowknights do not often seem to be in dire need of mana.
SHAMAN
Second Shaman Tome --> Shaman’s Best Friend: After spending so much time in the presence of shamanic magic, the Shaman’s lupine companion begins to channel a primitive magic of her own. Each time the Shaman successfully casts Chloroshock on any target, the pet will mimic her master by casting the lower-level Chloroblast on herself 15/25/30/40% of the time.
Justification: This serves to boost the Shaman pet’s survivability and hence usefulness very slightly. The aloof Shaman with his trusty wolf companion is an association that could do with strengthening in SoD, as many Shamans simply see no need to summon their pet because of its poor survivability and lack of utility. This tome’s power is offset by the weak heal output of Chloroblast (especially considering the pet gets no foci or other bonuses to bolster heals), the stipulation that it may only trigger when the Shaman casts a very specific spell generally used only in emergencies, and the fact that, speaking practically, it only benefits a pet who has taken riposte, DS, PBAE, etc. damage.- Third Shaman Tome --> Ursine Hibernation: While under the effects of Form of the Great Bear or Form of the River Keeper, the Shaman’s metabolism slows to a near standstill. The rate at which food and drink are consumed is decreased by 10/20/30/40%, and 10/20/30/40 (hidden) points of cold resist are conferred.
Justification: This draws attention to another often-overlooked aspect of the Shaman class—their knack for taking on the form of a bear. Its power is offset by the fact that it confers no direct benefits to healing output, damage output, efficacy of debuffs, or anything else relating to the Shaman's efficacy as a Shaman; incidentally, two of the six Shaman races innately consume food at an accelerated rate, which serves as an additional minor balance.
WARRIOR
Third Warrior Tome --> Rally the Battle-Priests: The Warrior’s boisterous taunts inspire nearby priests to take up arms against a common enemy, increasing the critical hit rate of any meleeing Cleric, Druid, or Shaman in the Warrior’s immediate group by 1/2/3/4%.
Justification: This adds incentive for any priest grouping with the Warrior to pick up his/her weapon and engage in some old-fashioned melee fun. It strengthens the symbiotic relationship between Warrior and healer and has the added bonus of improving group output by a minute amount without doing a thing to boost any of the Warrior’s own numbers whatsoever. In this respect, it is much like a Warrior’s version of the Enchanter’s Shared Mind AA. Its power is offset by the limitation that the priest must be within the Warrior’s group (which, practically speaking, limits the recipients of this bonus to no more than two players at a time even in most raid circumstances) and by the fact that raw priest melee is generally unimpressive.
WIZARD
Third Wizard Tome --> Wind Queen's Smile: Shiritri, known for her impulsiveness, bestows a larger-than-expected gift of mana upon you when she feels like it. You are able to reap a “critical harvest” at a rate of 1/2/3/4% upon successfully casting Ancient: Shiritri’s Harvest, thereby receiving double the normal mana.
Justification: Improvements to the harvest line effectively end upon level 60 despite its continued usefulness into the high-end game. This could potentially be implemented as an innate chance to autocast a second round of Ancient: Shiritri’s Harvest right as the Wizard completes his own cast, thereby conferring two helpings of mana. Its power is offset by the combination of the puny percentages and the 10-minute recast on the spell.
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