ArenaNet:Skill feedback/Paragon/HOW-TO:Preventing Stacking

Spura's Issue -- 00:39, 13 March 2008 (UTC)
Discussion

Even though Paragon is supposed to be a buffer type of class, it rarely is. After all most Paragon skills are not buffs, even though they appear so at first glance. Guild Wars has a system in place than prevents buff stacking. It simply won't allows 2 copies of same buff to be active on the same person. Having 2 monks cast Shield of Regeneration on same player accomplishes nothing.

A buff is a spell that provides benefit while in effect, and since you can't have more than 1 in effect on a player in any one time, bringing more, than enough to make combined durations match recharge, is a pure waste. Unfortunately most paragon chants are the opposite. They provide no benefit while applied, only when they end. This is the gist of the problem. Most chants end on attack skill or spell, at which point they provide their benefit. Because of that, they are more like a standard party-wide spell with a delay than a party-wide buff. For instance Song of Restoration might as well be named Heal Party with 3 sec delay. And that whole 3 sec delay thing makes these things stackable. Chants end few seconds into their duration, which means that several charaters with same chant won't have problems with overlapping. Multiple characters with Song of Restoration act like multiple characters with Heal Party rather than multiple characters with They're on Fire.

To discourage stacking, chants have to be changed so that they provide benefit while in effect, not ending on a skill(unless this plays into balancing) and so that their duration matches recharge(or closely enough to not make people bring 2 copies of the skill).

Here's Song of Restoration with these concepts applied:

Song of Restoration: 5e 1c 15r

"Elite Chant: For 15 seconds, all party members within earshot are healed 1..X..11 health each second."

This skill would be something like ritualist's Rejuvenation, except it is not a spirit and is (as a trade-off) an elite. This skill would be impossible to stack, bringing more than one copy is pointless.

Other skills could be modified in a similar manner. For instance:

Ballad of Restoration: 10e 1c 10r

"Chant: For 10 seconds, each time a party member takes damage, that party member is healed for 1..7..8 points"

This may look a lot, but currently Ballad of Restoration heals each person for 75, this would actually heal less per person(do the math). Again, stacking is impossible.

Zealous Anthem: 10e 1c 20r

"Chant: For 20 seconds, each time an ally uses an attack skill, that attack skill costs 0%..20%..40% less"

Again, might look powerfull, but for 5 en attack skills that brings reduction of 0..1..2 energy, which means that someone would have to use 5 energy attack skills to gain more than current 8 energy gain. In current incarnation allies only need to use 1 attack skill, even adrenaline ones. Basically...if your allies are not seriously loaded on energy attack skills, this will be less powerful. And once again, it is totally unstackable.

Using similar redesigns, it would be possible to make skills more tailored to single paragon. Another positive effect would be that with these chants that don't end on X, we wouldn't have as much problems with Finales.