Cyzaine
Staff Emeritus
I'm hijacking the thread, it's now about a new spell line that we've discussed, tested, and that will go live soon*. We'll be having some people test it out in test server in a semi controlled manner before that occurs. The spells are obviously very experimental, and are subject to change after an observation period. It's part one of a multi-step plan, but warrants some solo time to see how it plays in a live environment.
The Shadowknight being the sly and manipulative tank that he is, calls upon Dis/Marlow to veil his comrades in a dream like illusion. In the eyes of his enemies his team mates look just like him confusing the enemy, making it unsure who it should attack.
Veil of Dis
Level 30
Store Bought
Group (not raid) buff
.5 second cast time
2 minute recast
3 Tick duration
Redirects 20% of the hate generated by the group to the Shadowknight
100 mana cost
Veil of Marlow
Level 60
Dropped in a similar fashion to Taraztu's Healing Flames
Group (not raid) buff
.5 second cast time
2 minute recast
3 Tick duration
Redirects 40% of the hate generated by the group to the Shadowknight
300 mana cost
Both spells function under the same cool down, so you may not use them in tandem. Both spells take up a real buff slot, including on the SK himself, though the code skips over him in reality.
A working example.
Pre Buff: The shadowknight pulls in a mob. He casts a terror which generates 675 aggro. The Shaman in the group decides to cast a slow, that geneates 700 aggro. Mob runs off shadowknight attacks Shaman. Shaman is sad.
Post Buff: Shadowknight casts veil of marlow. Shadowknight pulls a mob. He casts a terror which generates 675 aggro.Then the Shaman in the group decides to cast a slow, that now generates 420 aggro. The shadowknight gains the remaining 280 aggro, putting him nicely at 955 aggro, assuming his timing was solid.
This has obvious implications on groups of mobs being pulled. While it may not help much if just an SK and a shaman are duoing, if everyone in the group throws out some hate, the bonus hate the SK receives for each mob should give him enough of a buffer over everyone else to get the situation under control. For those having trouble visualizing it.
5 party group
5 mobs
If everyone usually generates 100 hate, and all the mobs pick up pieces of that 100 hate, the mobs should scatter and attack various group members. The paladin would of course at that point AE blind, and pull the mobs all on him.
If the shadow knight casts the Veil of Marlow slightly before the mobs arrive, everyone is now generating 60 hate, and the extra is going to the Shadowknight, who in this example is still doing his 100 hate, likely on just 1 mob. This means on most mobs the SK will have 40*4 hate, as he is getting hate from each of his group members, for each mob. At that point if he wants to hold it for much longer he'd have to tab and terror, as the 2 minute cool down prevents him from using this as a primary hate generator. But at least he has time to get the situation under control.
I think this nicely solves the issue with SK's on multi pulls, while not harming the paladin roll as the AE tank. It takes up a buff slot, so even if it was raid wide, wouldn't be that useful for a fully buffed raid. It is not as reliable as a real AE, as it depends on your group mates acting enough to generate some hate to leach, but a group with good communication should be able to create some new and interesting opportunities with this spell.
Discuss. And standby for a volunteer call on test in the next day or two.
The Shadowknight being the sly and manipulative tank that he is, calls upon Dis/Marlow to veil his comrades in a dream like illusion. In the eyes of his enemies his team mates look just like him confusing the enemy, making it unsure who it should attack.
Veil of Dis
Level 30
Store Bought
Group (not raid) buff
.5 second cast time
2 minute recast
3 Tick duration
Redirects 20% of the hate generated by the group to the Shadowknight
100 mana cost
Veil of Marlow
Level 60
Dropped in a similar fashion to Taraztu's Healing Flames
Group (not raid) buff
.5 second cast time
2 minute recast
3 Tick duration
Redirects 40% of the hate generated by the group to the Shadowknight
300 mana cost
Both spells function under the same cool down, so you may not use them in tandem. Both spells take up a real buff slot, including on the SK himself, though the code skips over him in reality.
A working example.
Pre Buff: The shadowknight pulls in a mob. He casts a terror which generates 675 aggro. The Shaman in the group decides to cast a slow, that geneates 700 aggro. Mob runs off shadowknight attacks Shaman. Shaman is sad.
Post Buff: Shadowknight casts veil of marlow. Shadowknight pulls a mob. He casts a terror which generates 675 aggro.Then the Shaman in the group decides to cast a slow, that now generates 420 aggro. The shadowknight gains the remaining 280 aggro, putting him nicely at 955 aggro, assuming his timing was solid.
This has obvious implications on groups of mobs being pulled. While it may not help much if just an SK and a shaman are duoing, if everyone in the group throws out some hate, the bonus hate the SK receives for each mob should give him enough of a buffer over everyone else to get the situation under control. For those having trouble visualizing it.
5 party group
5 mobs
If everyone usually generates 100 hate, and all the mobs pick up pieces of that 100 hate, the mobs should scatter and attack various group members. The paladin would of course at that point AE blind, and pull the mobs all on him.
If the shadow knight casts the Veil of Marlow slightly before the mobs arrive, everyone is now generating 60 hate, and the extra is going to the Shadowknight, who in this example is still doing his 100 hate, likely on just 1 mob. This means on most mobs the SK will have 40*4 hate, as he is getting hate from each of his group members, for each mob. At that point if he wants to hold it for much longer he'd have to tab and terror, as the 2 minute cool down prevents him from using this as a primary hate generator. But at least he has time to get the situation under control.
I think this nicely solves the issue with SK's on multi pulls, while not harming the paladin roll as the AE tank. It takes up a buff slot, so even if it was raid wide, wouldn't be that useful for a fully buffed raid. It is not as reliable as a real AE, as it depends on your group mates acting enough to generate some hate to leach, but a group with good communication should be able to create some new and interesting opportunities with this spell.
Discuss. And standby for a volunteer call on test in the next day or two.