Feedback:User/Atanna Charta/Spinal Shivers Rework
Spinal Shivers Rework
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|---|---|
| User | Atanna Charta |
| Categories | Skill feedback → Necromancer → Curses Skill feedback → Necromancer → Soul Reaping |
Spinal Shivers, in its current form, has absolutely no point. Not only does it have an exact duplicate, but it's not used in any but the most obscure builds. I propose it's changed to a form of necromancer self defense. In particular, I propose it's made into a better version of Mantra of Frost, but limit it to necromancer only by changing its attribute to soul reaping.
Why? It gives necromancers the opportunity to participate in build centered around the use of winter, which alone opens up the door to many new builds. Immediately viewable is the prospect of necros in DoA frostway. The thought of a winter synergy opens up the doors to many other builds applicable to any area. Giving necromancers a little defense, which only becomes amazing with a synergy, won't do any harm, opens up a lot of doors to team builds, and gives a nearly unused skill at least a little usage. Being linked to soul-reaping would prevent widespread abuse.
I'll also note that I'm only talking about the PvE version of this skill. PvP may or may not need to be a toned down version.
For reference, here is Mantra of Frost:
Mantra of Frost 10
, 20 
Stance. For 30...78...90 seconds, whenever you take cold damage, the damage is reduced by 26...45...50% and you gain 2 Energy
Possible suggestions:
Higher Energy Return
Spinal Shivers 10, 20
Stance. For 30...78...90 seconds, whenever you take cold damage, the damage is reduced by 26...45...50% and you gain 2...4...4 Energy.
Higher Damage Reduction
Spinal Shivers 10, 20
Stance. For 30...78...90 seconds, whenever you take cold damage, the damage is reduced by 26...61...70% and you gain 2 Energy.
Interupt Nearby Foes
Spinal Shivers 10, 20
Stance. For 30...78...90 seconds, whenever you take cold damage, the damage is reduced by 26...45...50%, you gain 2 Energy, and Spinal Shivers has a 0...26...33% chance to interrupt all nearby foes.
- This would keep the spirit of the original skill, but may be too powerful. On the other hand, if the chance isn't high enough the player won't feel like it's really doing something (or feel it's better than the non-primary linked MoF). Reducing the size from nearby to adjacent would be a better choice. Playtesting probably needed to find a happy medium.
Condition to Nearby Foes
Spinal Shivers 10, 20
Stance. For 30...78...90 seconds, whenever you take cold damage, the damage is reduced by 26...45...50%, you gain 2 Energy, and all nearby foes suffer 0...2...2 random conditions.
- Maybe add a percent chance to the application of conditions, or make it 0...1...1.
Damage to Nearby Foes
Spinal Shivers 10, 20
Stance. For 30...78...90 seconds, whenever you take cold damage, the damage is reduced by 26...45...50%, you gain 2 Energy, and all nearby foes take 0...20...25 cold damage.
- As with the interrupts, I'm not sure how this would balance out. The damage would need to be high enough to feel useful to the player, but might be too abusable. There's also the fact it's cold damage, which is affected by armor and quickly reduced in higher-level areas.
Energy Loss to Nearby Foes
Spinal Shivers 10, 20
Stance. For 30...78...90 seconds, whenever you take cold damage, the damage is reduced by 26...45...50%, you gain 2 Energy, and all nearby foes lose 2 energy if your Soul Reaping is greater than 5.
- I worded it this way, because energy steal would mean the skill quickly loses effectiveness as a fight goes on.
Health Steal from Attacker
Spinal Shivers 10, 20
Stance. For 30...78...90 seconds, whenever you take cold damage, the damage is reduced by 26...45...50%, you gain 2 Energy, and you steal 0...8...10 health from your attacker.
Finally, you could have any combination of the above! Up both the reduction and energy gain for example. You could even have an air-of-superiority like effect which gives you a chance for any of these effects! If anything, I think having some sort of negative effect on nearby foes fits best in the spirit of spinal shivers. When I hear the skill name, I think of something like nails on a chalkboard. Everyone around it cringes from the noise!
While some of these may seem to be pretty powerful, you have to remember that it's linked to a primary attribute, has a similar non-linked skill, and requires a specific type of damage to trigger (with cold being one of the less common damage types). At best, you need a synergy from a separate profession.
