Combat Medic Archive

I realize that many of you are still upset at the +1HAM thing. I also realize that people may not wanna discuss this yet, but I want to try. If nothing else, the best lesson out our current dilemma is that the easiest time to craft the solution is before a dev tosses it on TC (by that time they're already leaning in that direction).

So, I want to talk about what I think the the poison/disease/DOT landscape is going to look like a month from now. In the next pubilsh we are going to see many changes affecting us, but I want to focus on a few:

• ARCs are fixed, increasing both potency (lowering resistance) and increasing duration. This will tacticly increase damage as we can divert exp points from potency to damage (or range).


• Change to CM subcomponent exp points. We will have 10, and our strength will increase on average.


• Change to CM subcomponent formulas. Stats will increase.


• AOE Disease. To the best of my knowledge, these are stackable whereas poisons are not. Blackened ham bars will markedly increase.


• Creature handlers will be able to explicitly call poison/disease attacks of their critters. The incidence of biodamage is going to skyrocket.


• Many of our 'issues' will now be fixed.

Let us presume for the sake of this thread that the +1HAM change goes live.

While+1HAM will grant us cm-specific nerf armor, the fact that CHs will have it bio-attacks, will again, make this issue more than just CMs, and thereby reduce the effect of the (we just took a nerf defense). Typical defenses of it being our only weapon and get a doc will have less impact when the most popular class in the game wields our weaponry and outstrips our intended balance (docs) severalfold.

I believe that the easiest solution for the devs will also be the type of solution thatmany willscream for...an adjustment to damage or potency across the board as they can kill 2 birds with one stone (CMs and new CH pets). Given recent PvP dominance, our range, and our new mindheal ability, we can expect 0 sympathy from the community as a whole. A plain vanilla fix is the odds on favorite, and that is exactly what we don't want.

The dev response to the doc's latest 5 top 5 suggest a willingness to look at new multi-state/wound cures, aoe cures and possibly even bio resistance buffs. They were all caveated as in time, but that time will come due soon after next publish. Some constituencies are already putting their ideas on the table (not in this specific forward looking framework), but as general wishlists. It is reasonable to think that the devs will cull from the short-lists of thigns other classes already want to answer the question, and if we don't have a response, we're at the mercy of those who do.

We need to get out in front of this. I tried about a month ago to open a similar discussion, and on average the reaction was either let's wait and see, or can't we get fixed first? I think a lot of you who are angry about +1 HAM now see why reactive wait and see doesn't work so well. And most of our 'issues' are now fixed. Our defensive position will now rely on just taking a 'nerf' in the minds of some, and I am convinced that that argument will not be enough.

Without a tacit admission of defeat on the +1 HAM issue, I would like us to all start discussing what our move should be if the scenario I have described comes to pass. I have seen and could see any of the following brought up:

1. Make the 75% damage reduction to poison/disease in PvP. This is the one we must avoid at all costs, IMO, and I think the devs will never put a 75% on. However, an across the board damage nerf is the easiest thing for them to do, and what the largest chants will be for.


2. Put a timer on bio-attacks like KD moves have. I think this change is ugly, as a MD has near assured victory, but it's more palatable than a damage nerf. This is also fairly easy to code and will be, in a reactionary environment, favorable for devs.


3. Give Docs bio defense buffs. They're asking for it, and getting a somewhat favorable reaction. I don't think I care for this one either. Damage resistance is armorsmith land or maybe SL, but not docs. They buff pools and cure states, but to provide resistance buffs I think encroaches on other classes.


4. Give docs point blank AOE cures. I think this one is very viable and even accepted by the devs...just time.


5. Make cure poison/disease provide a lingering increased resistance for x seconds (could be a couple min). I find this one reasonable, but this thing is like having a number near zero in the denominator. If the timer is too low or the resist increase too low, then CMs are near guaranteed to win a war of mind pool attrition (ineffective change). If it's too high on either one then MDs effectively sideline CMs as being one shot offense in a battle.


6. Bio-suits or bio-plating in armor. I think this one is vary viable and one we should champion when the time comes as it forces player to make choices, and is a boost for armorsmiths. More to the point it forces enemies to reallocate defense and choose. It's not an across the board nerf because they'll open more weakness to a group mate.


7. Squad leader bio-defense bonus. This could either be for the SL himself, or that the SL is able to grant some defense to his group based on a formula of his power coupled with a Doc/CM power. In other words, the SL can't do anything unless a Doc/CM is in the group, and then imparts a potency resistance based on his ability and the Doc/CM. This is a situational nerf that I think most of you PvP soloists should jump at because in many of your fighting situations you are not affected, and because politically if you craft a solution that is also a boon to one of the most fubar'd classes it has a higher chance of success.

There are likely others, and I'd love to hear them, as well as your thoughts. I'm not asking anyone to roll over on the current issue, but rather to realize that this one is coming, and that we need to start crafting an answer. I firmly believe that we have a lot more at stake 1 month from now than we do today...and I'd believe that even if I was against this +1HAM change (which I'm not).

Thanks for your time, and I'm really looking forward to some constructive debate here.

Jacore MD/MCM, Tempest

Jacore said:

• ARCs are fixed, increasing both potency (lowering resistance) and increasing duration. This will tacticly increase damage as we can divert exp points from potency to damage (or range).
  
• Change to CM subcomponent exp points. We will have 10, and our strength will increase on average.
  
• Change to CM subcomponent formulas. Stats will increase.
  
• AOE Disease. To the best of my knowledge, these are stackable whereas poisons are not. Blackened ham bars will markedly increase.
  
• Creature handlers will be able to explicitly call poison/disease attacks of their critters. The incidence of biodamage is going to skyrocket.
  
• Many of our 'issues' will now be fixed.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Is this confirmed?

Going live in next patch?

I'm not that concerned with the +1 HAM...A CDEF pistol from a faction mate can take care of that. We just need to learn to change our tactics. It's really hard for me to criticize anything without seeing how it works.

When is this stuff going live? Anyone know?

Thoth,

Half of this is already on TC, and the CH and +1HAM appears to be due in the next publish.

I know that many are still worked up over the +1 HAM, but I'd really like to see some discussion here about what our response will be when all of this goes live in about a month.

I realize that many of you are still upset at the +1HAM thing. I also realize that people may not wanna discuss this yet, but I want to try. If nothing else, the best lesson out our current dilemma is that the easiest time to craft the solution is before a dev tosses it on TC (by that time they're already leaning in that direction).

So, I want to talk about what I think the the poison/disease/DOT landscape is going to look like a month from now. In the next pubilsh we are going to see many changes affecting us, but I want to focus on a few:

• ARCs are fixed, increasing both potency (lowering resistance) and increasing duration. This will tacticly increase damage as we can divert exp points from potency to damage (or range).


• Change to CM subcomponent exp points. We will have 10, and our strength will increase on average.


• Change to CM subcomponent formulas. Stats will increase.


• AOE Disease. To the best of my knowledge, these are stackable whereas poisons are not. Blackened ham bars will markedly increase.


• Creature handlers will be able to explicitly call poison/disease attacks of their critters. The incidence of biodamage is going to skyrocket.


• Many of our 'issues' will now be fixed.

Let us presume for the sake of this thread that the +1HAM change goes live.

While+1HAM will grant us cm-specific nerf armor, the fact that CHs will have it bio-attacks, will again, make this issue more than just CMs, and thereby reduce the effect of the (we just took a nerf defense). Typical defenses of it being our only weapon and get a doc will have less impact when the most popular class in the game wields our weaponry and outstrips our intended balance (docs) severalfold.

I believe that the easiest solution for the devs will also be the type of solution thatmany willscream for...an adjustment to damage or potency across the board as they can kill 2 birds with one stone (CMs and new CH pets). Given recent PvP dominance, our range, and our new mindheal ability, we can expect 0 sympathy from the community as a whole. A plain vanilla fix is the odds on favorite, and that is exactly what we don't want.

The dev response to the doc's latest 5 top 5 suggest a willingness to look at new multi-state/wound cures, aoe cures and possibly even bio resistance buffs. They were all caveated as in time, but that time will come due soon after next publish. Some constituencies are already putting their ideas on the table (not in this specific forward looking framework), but as general wishlists. It is reasonable to think that the devs will cull from the short-lists of thigns other classes already want to answer the question, and if we don't have a response, we're at the mercy of those who do.

We need to get out in front of this. I tried about a month ago to open a similar discussion, and on average the reaction was either let's wait and see, or can't we get fixed first? I think a lot of you who are angry about +1 HAM now see why reactive wait and see doesn't work so well. And most of our 'issues' are now fixed. Our defensive position will now rely on just taking a 'nerf' in the minds of some, and I am convinced that that argument will not be enough.

Without a tacit admission of defeat on the +1 HAM issue, I would like us to all start discussing what our move should be if the scenario I have described comes to pass. I have seen and could see any of the following brought up:

1. Make the 75% damage reduction to poison/disease in PvP. This is the one we must avoid at all costs, IMO, and I think the devs will never put a 75% on. However, an across the board damage nerf is the easiest thing for them to do, and what the largest chants will be for.


2. Put a timer on bio-attacks like KD moves have. I think this change is ugly, as a MD has near assured victory, but it's more palatable than a damage nerf. This is also fairly easy to code and will be, in a reactionary environment, favorable for devs.


3. Give Docs bio defense buffs. They're asking for it, and getting a somewhat favorable reaction. I don't think I care for this one either. Damage resistance is armorsmith land or maybe SL, but not docs. They buff pools and cure states, but to provide resistance buffs I think encroaches on other classes.


4. Give docs point blank AOE cures. I think this one is very viable and even accepted by the devs...just time.


5. Make cure poison/disease provide a lingering increased resistance for x seconds (could be a couple min). I find this one reasonable, but this thing is like having a number near zero in the denominator. If the timer is too low or the resist increase too low, then CMs are near guaranteed to win a war of mind pool attrition (ineffective change). If it's too high on either one then MDs effectively sideline CMs as being one shot offense in a battle.


6. Bio-suits or bio-plating in armor. I think this one is vary viable and one we should champion when the time comes as it forces player to make choices, and is a boost for armorsmiths. More to the point it forces enemies to reallocate defense and choose. It's not an across the board nerf because they'll open more weakness to a group mate.


7. Squad leader bio-defense bonus. This could either be for the SL himself, or that the SL is able to grant some defense to his group based on a formula of his power coupled with a Doc/CM power. In other words, the SL can't do anything unless a Doc/CM is in the group, and then imparts a potency resistance based on his ability and the Doc/CM. This is a situational nerf that I think most of you PvP soloists should jump at because in many of your fighting situations you are not affected, and because politically if you craft a solution that is also a boon to one of the most fubar'd classes it has a higher chance of success.

There are likely others, and I'd love to hear them, as well as your thoughts. I'm not asking anyone to roll over on the current issue, but rather to realize that this one is coming, and that we need to start crafting an answer. I firmly believe that we have a lot more at stake 1 month from now than we do today...and I'd believe that even if I was against this +1HAM change (which I'm not).

Thanks for your time, and I'm really looking forward to some constructive debate here.

Jacore MD/MCM, Tempest