Cactuar Crate - Path of De'lim Edition

The day mw starts making balance calls and get heard is the day I dont log on these forums again.

 

Sok bud, I know I upset you with this behavior, but I honestly don't have the will anymore to comment on balance type of issues, sorry.
What I do know is that mw is an arrogant little kid, who thinks he a top player on this game but who hasnt been able to beat me nor BP, and these are just a couple of guys.
I wouldnt dismiss him if I didnt have to read this type of things:

So yeah, I was giving this guy a break, but this little prick doesnt know how to stay quiet. I beat him 3 times in a row using the premade FS bg while he was using a meta IS/UD bg, and it wasnt a struggle at all. A guy who cant stay top 1 when the other good players are around isnt worth my time.
Problem is that the dude is just a powercreeper, and thats it.
I do acknowledge that you have too few opinions to hear from, and at the end of the day you have to hear people who are in fact playing, since they put the money on DOG pockets.
But yeah, I have a big problem with newbs being heard, but I have a greater problem with mw being.

 

Agreed.
If I wasn't burned out, I'd be happy to discuss.
Here's to hoping other people can join and share their thoughts.

 

One thing that does seem odd, assuming the prices on poxbase are accurate, is that Dodge 2 and Elusive/Arrow Eater have only a 4 Nora gap in price. Ignoring 1 ranged attack per round and all ranged attacks is a very different thing. Of course, with Dodge 2 you have to waste an attack to break through whereas with Arrow Eater you know not to waste attacks.

 

My feeling here is that Dodge and Block could stand to be 4/8 for ranks 1 and 2 respectively. Taking Evasive as a model (I believe it's still 3/6/9?), you gain some advantage in 1 on 1 battles with Dodge 2, but you lose out pretty big on consistency. Evasive is clearly better on devoted tank champs, as it synergizes with other defensive abilities while Dodge does not. In general I'd consider Evasive 3 slightly better than Dodge 2, so if Evasive is at 9, Dodge would make sense at 8.

4/8 makes sense to me intuitively because you can activate Block/Dodge twice as often by upgrading to the second rank, but there is an argument to be made that the second rank is worth slightly less due to the higher risk of the investment being totally lost to counters like Precision, so 5/8 would be reasonable as well.

Edit: Just saw your post above, sok. Maybe 5/8 for Dodge 1 and 2, 6 nora for Absorb? Absorb effectively functions as a deterrent but doesn't get any value from forcing enemies to spend AP (unless they make a mistake). Even so, I think the fact that it largely prevents 1-rounding at range is enough to value it sliightly higher than Dodge 1.

 

I think on a greater proportion of units I would take Dodge 1 rather than Absorb, because Dodge actually applies a cost to the opponent, rather than a passive consideration -- it consumes some amount of opposing resources. Absorb does not do that, only restricts options. I think Dodge 2 is appropriate at 10, however, and that Dodge 1 is likely alright at 6. Perhaps Absorb could drop a single point. Absorb depends upon the tactical value of the possessing unit, and it therefore pays a small price for greater potential synergy, so 7-8 seems alright there as well. I think those three abilities may not have laser-accurate costing across all scenarios, but they are sufficiently close that changing seems like fiddling with absurd minutia, rather than any productive modification to cost. Yes, I would take Dodge 1 in more scenarios than I would take Absorb, but there are more cases in which Absorb would be enormously better than Dodge, while Dodge will usually be only a bit better than Absorb.

In short, they are fine how they are.

I would take Arrow Eater on A LOT of units though. That ability is way good -- hard-pressed to think of units which would not take it.

 

Would Sigil abilities be too strong if they proc-ed whenever a Sigil or Flying champion was deployed?

 

there isn't a single problamatic arrow eater champ in the game, most are already overcosted. You should really play this stuff before recommending changes like this, ireguard is almost 100 nora and vanguard is already shoebox.

 

most units would take dodge 1 because its cheaper than absorb.

 

Early impression but Ice Dragon Statue is gonna be very strong at 30 nora. 15 spot frost damage (before amp) is gonna be cray.

 

Stormreader is wayyyyyy too strong.

I suggest making it cost ap to use and toning it down.

Also it bypasses Mirrored, which is also stupid.

 

passively taking 2AP like those ST runes?

 

Any chance that the lava from Death Nova: Lava can get a decrease? 6 turns is a pretty long time, and according to Poxbase it doesn't pay that much more than the other novas.