Shattered Kingdoms

I tend to agree with Gilgon here. I have witnessed the pole axe thing first hand, and we have now changed the game to make hellions perform an instant kill on most spell casters behind their pet. Saw a grand mastered heavy armored priest (with a HP train) get hacked to 25%, so that means slightly weaker pet dependant caster classes are dead meat. Guaranteed. It is too much of a silver bullet. I hate to go against the Hellion trend here, but please change it back.

Give it a chance. Its a recent change so people are going to try it out more at first than usual and notice it more than other cleaves. Give some comparisons for the average damages. A one time cleave that takes a priest to 25% doesnt mean jack if it happened to be a good hit with the modifier and given a pole axes accuracy, a lucky one. Whats the average damage compared to other reach weapons like the landskneckt? Also what would a good hit compare as, Im willing to bet it will drop a priest with 1 hp train to 25% as well.

well, I guess it will all depend on how big of a difference the pole axe does compared to the other poled blades. If it adds even a 10% damage to the equation that is already deadly to spellcasters, then it will change the game dramatically. Everything is such a fine balance in this game of numbers. Those of us that play spell caster classes know that quite often in this situation you escape somewhere in the 15% of your life, this makes it even less likely one will have those already narrow escapes.

What could happen instead, is that all of the narrow escapes that we depend on, will turn into insta-slays. That will change how spell casters operate and participate in the game, (groups, PK, CRS) and thus change the game significantly.

Not to mention the large number of obtainable ranged cleave weapons we just infused into the game. Now, not only higher probability of instant death for pet dependant classes, but now more oftern.

True if warrior vs. warrior. But most spell casting classes have horrid dex.

So, who's this gonna effect? Necromancers? Nah, if they aren't buried behind at least six wraiths they're dead meat anyways, and besides, they're supposed to be on the same side. Sorcerors? Oh, wait--etherealform. Warlocks? I think we can all agree that warlocks are badass, and that if they can handle a landsknecht cleave, they can handle a pole-axe cleave. Priests? Pole-axe does not equal super-duper landsknecht--same as above. Shamans? Oh, wait, Shamans are the big bad tanks. That would be all the spell-casting classes. The only classes that might possibly be taken down a notch are priests and warlocks, both of which pack a pretty serious punch. This isn't a big deal.

This change affects every class - hellion opening damage has just been raised.

Note, however, that I never said that hellions were too strong already and didn't need the help or that they were too weak and desperately needed the change. I just think that before changes are made the consequences should be examined.

Pole-axes are absolutely horrible weapons. I tested them out on slayne and was disgusted when I saw that they couldn't cleave. Past the initial cleave damage they are totally useless...provided you even hit. Their accuracy is just idioticly bad.

I'd probably never use one over a landy. There's a round of lag after you cleave and you need something with high accuracy to be able to defend yourself with parries and the like in case your target can reach you or someone else can reach you.

Adding cleave is the only thing that makes a pole-axe worth using ever for anyone even remotely interested in using one.

Scythe needs it added to.

Since there is no energy pole-axes that I am aware of. If a warlock ever, ever even takes damage from a cleave with a pole axe, they should die.

"Saw a grand mastered heavy armored priest (with a HP train) get hacked to 25%, so that means slightly weaker pet dependant caster classes are dead meat."

I saw that all the time with a landy. I was the one doing it. No one complained then.

Hell, I took a fully armored and spelled up fist shaman to that with a landy.

What's your point really?

Great axe does far more btw.

Oh yeah, landys come in cold iron, I don't believe pole-axes do and that alone makes landys the superior reaching cleave weapon.

really everyone, stop getting your collective panties in a wad over something so insignificant.

There is a cold-iron pole-axe.