Damage Shields & Dispels on NPC Creatures

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Jack Oat
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Damage Shields & Dispels on NPC Creatures

Post by Jack Oat » Wed Mar 20, 2019 10:53 pm

Remove them outside of bosses.

They don't present a real challenge, they're just stupid and lazy.

Make mobs more interesting with stronger abilities and stuff, instead of just "lol if u hit me u taek dmg" and "lol lemme sequence dispel u with absolutely no counterplay"

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Re: Damage Shields & Dispels on NPC Creatures

Post by Basementfellow » Wed Mar 20, 2019 10:57 pm

just counterspell their mord's, bro...
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Vincent
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Re: Damage Shields & Dispels on NPC Creatures

Post by Vincent » Wed Mar 20, 2019 11:03 pm

Stronger spells aren't going to do much considering the dozens of spell immunity granting wards players will have that the NPCs can't dispel if changed.

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Re: Damage Shields & Dispels on NPC Creatures

Post by Jack Oat » Wed Mar 20, 2019 11:18 pm

Vincent wrote:
Wed Mar 20, 2019 11:03 pm
Stronger spells aren't going to do much considering the dozens of spell immunity granting wards players will have that the NPCs can't dispel if changed.
Firebrand, IGMS, ILMS, Horrid Wilting, Mestil's Acid Arrow, Flame Arrow, Incendiary Cloud, Acid Fog, Cloudkill, Meteor Swarm, Fireball, Delayed Blast Fireball, Scintillating Sphere, Ice Storm, Cone of Cold, Evard's Black Tentacles, Wall of Fire, Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, Mestil's Acid Breath, and I'm sure some others I'm missing are all damage spells that don't care about your Death Ward/Freedom of Movement/Negative Energy Protection/Mind Blank (the common common ones that can be kept up for any duration) and will still inflict damage. A lot of these are strong spells for damage values. The only way to mitigate them would be Spell Mantles (rounds/lvl) or Globes of Invulnerability (rounds/lvl).

I don't see why players who have to use magic to play (i.e. basically anyone outside of PMs if you want to tank, but especially Clerics/Paladins/BGs/Bards/Spellswords for melee ones) should get violently and rigorously screwed out of being able to go to 3/4 of the dungeons on the server because there are constant enemies who spam Dispels.

I also don't see why lower-HP characters (i.e. anyone in a d8 or lower melee class, but especially Monks, Rogues, Assassins, Bards, Spellswords, and Clerics) have to get The Big Shafting from damage shields that sometimes do more damage to the person than they're able to kick out, meaning they either have to have a breach (which would be viable if players weren't running into 1-3 mages per spawn, but rather maybe 1-4 in an entire dungeon... Like bosses). This especially punishes DEX builds and lowbies, moreso than anyone else, further just making the Grind cancerous.


Overall, it has nothing to do with immunity-granting wards. It's just lazy mob design. There are definitely ways to bypass this. I also said Dispels, not Breaches which strip FoM, Mind Blank, and NEP. Greater Spell Breach would still be viable and a powerful threat, rather than blanket stripping every ward off a lowbie who's just trying to get to level 11.


Edit: There also aren't """dozens,""" there are about six. NEP, FoM, Death Ward, MB (and its friends Clarity & LMB), Globes of Invulnerability (and its friends Ghostly Visage/Ethereal Visage), and Spell Mantles. All of them except Death Ward are on the Breach list.

"You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

Garrbear wrote:

quite bluntly we can't balance the server around people who don't play well

Irongron wrote:

My main takeaway from this is that Jack is apparently personable


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Re: Damage Shields & Dispels on NPC Creatures

Post by Kuma » Thu Mar 21, 2019 9:10 am

Can we please add dismissal to this list? There's especially no counterplay when it comes to that. I can't protect my summons from dismissal.

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Re: Damage Shields & Dispels on NPC Creatures

Post by Shadowy Reality » Thu Mar 21, 2019 9:34 am

Kuma wrote:
Thu Mar 21, 2019 9:10 am
Can we please add dismissal to this list? There's especially no counterplay when it comes to that. I can't protect my summons from dismissal.
Doesn't dismissal affect an area around the caster and not actually the place it targets? You can technically move the summon away.

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Re: Damage Shields & Dispels on NPC Creatures

Post by Kuma » Thu Mar 21, 2019 9:48 am

Shadowy Reality wrote:
Thu Mar 21, 2019 9:34 am
Kuma wrote:
Thu Mar 21, 2019 9:10 am
Can we please add dismissal to this list? There's especially no counterplay when it comes to that. I can't protect my summons from dismissal.
Doesn't dismissal affect an area around the caster and not actually the place it targets? You can technically move the summon away.
No, it's an instant effect aoe, that's never been a thing. And the area warding prevents you from summoning anything to replace it for a while, so it kinda screws you over HARD in areas with that. There's no counterplay.

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Re: Damage Shields & Dispels on NPC Creatures

Post by Vrass » Thu Mar 21, 2019 7:48 pm

Dismissal is why you always prepare multiple summons... that way if a mob does manage to make your summon go byebye you can just summon another one and laugh in their face.

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Re: Damage Shields & Dispels on NPC Creatures

Post by SilverCrow » Fri Mar 22, 2019 2:16 am

Vrass wrote:
Thu Mar 21, 2019 7:48 pm
Dismissal is why you always prepare multiple summons... that way if a mob does manage to make your summon go byebye you can just summon another one and laugh in their face.
you try summoning another summon during the 30-60 second ward that is up. Not to mention the mobs running at what I assume is a squishy mage.

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-XXX-
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Re: Damage Shields & Dispels on NPC Creatures

Post by -XXX- » Fri Mar 22, 2019 3:28 pm

...is this the right thread to bring up the Beholder dispel cone? :cry:

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Re: Damage Shields & Dispels on NPC Creatures

Post by magistrasa » Fri Mar 22, 2019 5:07 pm

Probably not but since you brought it up I'm going to take the opportunity to complain about how beholders can dispel nonmagical summons with their anti-magic cone. What the heck is up with that!

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Re: Damage Shields & Dispels on NPC Creatures

Post by Ecthelion » Wed Mar 27, 2019 8:48 am

I would say this depends of the areas targetted ... Most epic dungeons are already too easy, if speaking of 30 content. I'll agree dispels and shields at each corners are not the best way of providing difficulty, though, sure. But there is need of something else instead if removed. Beholders are cool because they are scary.

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