All right, continuing with the patch notes analysis here. I may skip many notes, especially ones pertaining to classes that I have no personal experience playing. If something really jumps out at me, I will address it. Otherwise don't be surprised if I skip your class or bug entirely.
Chosen:
* Dire Shielding: This Tactic will no longer cause Bane Shield to stack when multiple Chosen in the same group use the ability.
This comes as a welcome change to AoE-based classes, especially Engineers. There have been reports of this ability stacking so much that Engineers and Bright Wizards would drop some AoE's down, only to get nearly backlashed into the ground as the stacking proc on all affected targets hit them back. It also looks like Bane Shield got a cooldown to only trigger once every 2 seconds per character.
Ironbreaker:
* Stone Breaker: This ability's % armor debuff has now been replaced with a flat value armor debuff.
Same deal as the BO with this tweak.
Marauder:
* Terrible Embrace: This ability's build time has been reduced to 1 second, and its cooldown time increased to 30 seconds.
* Terrible Embrace: This ability's cost has been reduced. Additionally, it will now continue to build while moving.
Fetch: This ability's range has been reduced to 65 feet, and its cost has been reduced. Additionally, this ability's cooldown has been increased to 30 seconds. (White Lion)
This is both a slight nerf, and a decent buff. Yes the Marauder will not be able to pull as often, but being able to move while using the ability in order to keep the target within range is a huge deal. The White Lions are up in arms about this, especially combined with the range nerf to Fetch.
Shadow Warrior:
Bug Fixes:
* Split Arrows: You can now hit keep doors with Spiral-Fletched Arrow while this Tactic is slotted.
* The bonuses from Scout, Assault, and Skirmish Stance will now stack with other bonuses.
Balance Changes:
* Eye Shot: This ability can now be used while moving.
* Fell the Weak: The build time for this ability has been reduced to 0 seconds, but the cost has been increased.
The Split Arrows fix is a huge deal for Skirmish SW's, especially during keep sieges. Previously if this tactic was slotted, Spiral-Fletched Arrow wound not hit keep doors, which I'm sure you will see is a big problem. Now Skirmish SW's don't have to use different abilities other than SFA when bringing down a keep door.
Eye Shot now working when you move is a fix that has been asked for since beta, as it was the only Skirmish ability that required the SW to stand still. Now it is more consistent with the other abilities in the tree.
Fell the Weak becoming instant is great. The ability was previously very difficult to use effectively, due to the requirement that the target be below 20% health to get maximum damage, and that it was a 2 second cast. Now a Shadow Warrior will be able to use it on reaction, and won't have to gauge the travel time as much. I'm stoked about this myself.
Swordmaster:
* Balanced Accuracy: This Tactic now affects all strikes of Ether Dance, Dragon's Talon, Crashing Wave, and Whispering Winds
SM's are getting a good amount of buffs and bug fixes in the patch, but I wanted to point this out in particular. This tactic is a mirror of the Blorc tactic Gork Smash! which is a 10/20% buff to critical strike rate when in the two higher stances. The SM version now affects all hits from their combo, while the Blorc version still only affects the first hit of the five from their T'ree Hit Combo. I'm pretty disappointed with this, I had hoped Mythic would have noted that the functionality of this tactic was mirrored on both factions and buffed both, instead of just one version.
* All chapters throughout the game within Tiers two through four have received a pass on Public Quest difficulty, much like what was previously done within Tier one. All affected Chapters now have an "Easy", "Normal", and "Hard" Public Quest. Public Quest points on the map have also been updated to reflect these difficulty levels as well as suggested player numbers to successfully complete.
* Numerous epic quests within the Dwarf vs. Greenskin pairing have been modified to be more immersive and rewarding. For many this means that the length of the quests have been increased in order to tell a grander story. The experience and coin rewards have been adjusted to account for these changes.
This is pretty cool to see that we are getting more difficulty options with the PQs. As many people know, I love solo farming PQs to grind up my influence for that chapter. I like this a lot. Also, good to see that the Dwarf/Greenskin quests are getting looked at. This is my favorite pairing, I mean who doesn't like to kill gobbos and stunties. As the Dwarfs and Greenskins are my favorite races, this is a cool change for me. I hope that there is an uptick in the overall experience for this tier.
Crafting:
We have introduced a number of improvements to crafting in version 1.2. The focus of these changes was to better pair-off specific gathering skills with specific production skills, making it easier for crafters to be self-sufficient. In addition, we have made a concentrated effort to improve the leveling curves of all trade skills as well as reduce the number of different materials needed to make various items. In addition to these changes, we have also introduced a number of new player-crafted products. Please refer to the sections on each trade skill below for more specific information.
General
* The Apothecary production skill will now receive the majority of its materials from the Butchering and Cultivation gathering skills.
* The Talisman Crafting production skill will now receive the majority of its materials from the Scavenging and Salvaging skills.
* Players can right-click on crafting items in the backpack to auto-move them to the appropriate slot when their crafting window is open.
* The Ctrl-Right-Click user interaction has been added for item conversion, e.g. plants being converted back into seeds.
* Salvaging will now display the percentage chance of success on the item tooltip.
* Talisman crafting no longer removes materials from the crafting window if there are more left in the stack.
* Apothecary ingredient subtypes (Gold Dust, Essence, etc.) are now reflected in the item list view and item tooltips.
This is pretty sweet stuff overall. I'm glad to see that they are clarifying the Crafting system and laying out the best pairing for gathering and production professions. I'm a bit miffed by the slight nerf to Scavenging, now that Scavenging no longer produces as many items for multiple professions. Used to be you could procure materials for Cultivation, Apothecary and Talisman making. Now it is tied more closely to Talisman making, with Cult and Butchering being tied to Apothecary instead. I had Scavenging purely as a money-making profession on multiple characters. Looks like I'll be picking up Butchering or Cultivation in the future.
There are quite a few more tweaks to crafting being added as well, including new components being introduced and some new systems being implemented. For example Cultivation now gets something called Reaping.
Plant Reaping:
Plant reaping is a new skill given to Cultivators. This allows the Cultivator to harvest most plants for seeds as well as for Apothecary stabilizers.
* Reaping a plant will consume the plant and produce 2 - 4 seeds for that plant type
* Reaping a plant will also produce 1 - 2 stabilizers that can be used in Apothecary.
Guild Crafting Merchants
We have made adjustments to the guild merchants who sell crafting supplies. These changes represent adjustments needed after we refined many recipes and skill-up progressions. In addition, we have added the first of many "Guild Exclusive" crafting materials that can make unique crafted items that are not available any other way.
* Crafting materials from skill 0 - 74 will appear on guild merchant at Guild Rank 7.
* Crafting materials from skill 75 - 149 will appear on the guild merchant at Guild Rank 21.
* Crafting materials for skill 150+ will appear on the guild merchant at Guild Rank 28.
* A new, exclusive Skill 75 Apothecary main ingredients are available at Guild Rank 7.
* A new, exclusive Skill 150 Apothecary main ingredients are available at Guild Rank 21.
* A new exclusive Skill 200 Apothecary main ingredients are available at Guild Rank 28.
The above is another great incentive for guild advancement. It's good to see Mythic offering more rewards for the guild system, while simultaneously NOT rendering player-acquired ingredients sold on the Auction House obsolete.
Next post, we'll take a look at the itemization improvements currently planned. These are some long notes, so bear with me here as I slowly get through each section.
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