Shattered Kingdoms

I know this quote is from a while ago, but it really caught my eye. Items is SK is a part of ITEM balance, not individual CLASS balance.

Take a merc non-specced with a long sword and shield, and a hellion with a long sword and shield. Hellion can use all of it's spells/skills, as can the merc. That's just one part, though.

Take a merc non-specced with a long sword and shield, and give the hellion a cleave weapon, and let the hellion start the fight with a cleave. The hellion gets some advantage there, but the classes are still pretty balanced as a whole. Why? Because, even though the hellion gained an advantage with a cleave weapon, the merc can specialize, and gain an advantage there, keeping the CLASSES roughly balanced with each other.

Any and all items are irrelevant to the true nature of the balance of classes. Some say that allowing sanctuary to be used by anyone makes paladins and priests a little less powerful, because, if they, and only they, could use sanctuary, then they, and only they, would get the "balance" points for having it for their CLASS balance.

So, once we balance the CLASS, we can then worry about ITEM balance. Right now, class balance is off, and is being supplemented by items, which is why you think nothing is wrong. From the view way up top, nothing is wrong, because the overall balance looks to be fine. They are diving deeper, looking into each aspect of the overall balance.

P.S. this is never going to happen because it's essentially a rewrite of almost everything SK has become, and with that said, I demand this thread locked, as it serves no purpose.

Who made you the thread police?

hey rodwen says this thread is over guys

let's pack it in

This thread is so stupid, but there's a small part that I would like to throw my two cents towards.



There is no class except sorcerer who can go around with mirror image up all the time, and there's no reason to nerf scripted MI. They are obscenely hard to get and come with inherent drawbacks.

There are only two scripted items in the game that can allow someone to have mirror image up on a constant basis: One is hellion-only and is on the second hardest NPC in the game to kill that takes an hour or two to reach with an accomplished group and comes with a decent chance of getting fully wiped in PvE. The other is a necklace that is in a very dangerous area and on an extremely buff NPC, that takes a very large group to kill and also has a decent chance of getting multiple people killed. It's also a jewelry item with crappy enchantments on it and no one in their right mind would consider adding more enchants on it.

Both of these items have an extremely high manacost to use.

If you're going to nerf items, then nerf the ones that need to be nerfed: Items which give access to high-level powerful spells with little drawback and without any risk required in gathering them. There's no reason to nerf items from the Grand General Infernal. If anything, the scripts on his and the Dreamscapes' items should be looked at to make them -more- useful, since there's hardly any reason to go to those places anymore anyway now that builders have gone so insane adding in high-level mithril, adamantite and diamond with sick starting enchants in easily accessible areas.

thumbs up

Jesus Christ, don't you guys remember the time when there weren't all these god damn scripted items and staves that cast all this crap on your characters?

Spoiled brats.

thumbs up

No, thumbs down.

DOWN

It's difficult to use "risk in gathering them" as a balancing factor, because getting them from the NPC is really a one-time thing before the item, invariably, winds up in the general player population for a very long time (either because one character holds it or because it gets caught up in Loot Warz™). That said, certain items that are "difficult" to get are severely overpowered regardless of difficulty (ahahahahahaha trio), and certain buffs should probably have more constraints regardless. Mirror image is a really, really good spell in what it does for targeting and is supposed to be more difficult to get than other buffs because of what it entails, in the same way resist elements is supposed to also be a complete [REDACTED] to get (it isn't).

RE is easy to get because of staves, not because of scripts. (Not counting the trio, since we all already know it needs to be wimped. y u so lazy, sargas)