Right. Aeon is such a powerful affliction to have that, because of it, I can see why Researcher isn't getting any support for offensive buffs. But it's such a lame crutch affliction, would support to divorce it from the class (and any class that has it, to be honest). Maybe keep affliction as a special class that only very few people could access.
Well, Researchers don't get a lot of support for offensive buffs because they have a fantastic kit overall, even if aeon was suddenly removed from the game. Some of the best afflicting potential, the best mobile room damage that isn't reliant on a meld, great survivability, access to the best tertiaries for groups in the game (healing and Tarot), etc.
What they lack is a really effective 1v1 kill method, but that complaint has always rung a little hollow. The meta moved away from 1v1s a long time ago, and most of Lusternia doesn't have a realistic 1v1 kill method at the meta.
(Not to say they shouldn't or couldn't, it's just the reality of the game as is. Researchers also stand to benefit the most from the healing proposal, so maybe that'll be a thing.)
Moondancers are a bit of a derail, though. The bananas reports that have been repeatedly submitted were not appropriate in any iteration of Lusternian balance except maybe when perma stun was considered fine. Copy/pasting that doesn't really change that the reports have been terrible ideas, and thoroughly vetted in detail by the envoys.
You've had people (like me) pointing out in envoy reports that we don't balance for 1v1 for RL years... because we don't. Anything that's balanced for 1v1 has a very high chance of being broken / OP in a group environment, which is Lusternia's combat meta. Not sure why we need to copy/paste anything in, that's been the default stance on envoy reports for ages (and generally accepted / agreed with by the Admin).
Balancing for 1v1 is important. Balancing for groups is important. It's important to strike a balance between them.
MD's for instance, have a tough time sleeplocking in groups. That doesn't mean it's an okay mechanic for 1v1 and they should be given even more weapons and tools to use because sleeplocks are not as potent in groups (which isn't really true, they are potent, just much much much harder to pull off).
My point was less that we shouldn't be concerned about 1v1 and more that when the choice is present (like it is with aeon), we have generally erred on the side of group balance over solo balance for many years. We also err on the side of underpowered over overpowered. Incrimental changes over sweeping changes. These are practices that aim to impact the smallest number of players to the smallest degree.
Yes, in a perfect world you aim for both, but viability in both is a difficult concept. There's not always a "middle ground" compromise that leaves both solo and group combat viable. If that choice is present, the trend is to support group combat as it engages more players than solo combat does.
That being said, MD reports have been nutso in all scenarios and never passed beyond the "is this a good idea" phase of the discussion and into the realm of group vs solo compromise.
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