Aion

I'm off playing Aion. You can read my Aion Blog over at www.divideddestiny.com

Lineage 2 ToDo List

I completed some big items on my Lineage 2 ToDo List recently. What a pain in the butt.

I figured I'd make this post on a lazy Friday. I have been in training all week and my brain is too fried to do any actual work so I figured, what better time to create a blog entry.

So upon my return to L2 in the first week of C3 I had some things I wanted to acomplish in L2. Granted as new content is added my list grows or changes but I'll throw down the key items.

Complete 2nd class change and become a Warlock.
Get B grade gear. I went Doom light and swapped weapons several times. If I did it over, Kris w/ focus for the whole 9 levels.
Get to 62 for Servitor Blessing.
Get A grade gear. I started with DC Light and an Elysian Axe. I now use DC Robes, SoM w/ Acumen and Bloody Orchid w/ Focus.
Get to 70 for UD2.
Get to 75.
Complete Subclass Quest.
Get to 76.
Complete 3rd class quest.
Get to 77.
Get Subclass to 75.
Become Noble.
Become Arcana Lord Hero.


So now that I have the subclass quest complete, I spent atleast 2 weeks thinking about what to sub. I came down to a decision between TH/PW and Tyrant. Since I already have a PW alt in the 50's I decided to go Tyrant. So far I'm glad I did. It's pretty fun and human female mystics look decent doing tyrant skills.

Although my primary focus is my subclass, I'm still working on getting Arcana Lord to 77.

C5 Spellbook Drops

I did not make this list, the credit goes to the OP of this thread.

Frozen Labyrinth
Elder Lost Watcher 54
Spellbook: Magical Backfire
Spellbook: Erase

Frost Buffalo 61
Spellbook: Greater Shield
Amulet: War Chant
Amulet: Earth Chant

Frost Iron Golem 59
Spellbook: Surrender to Wind en masse
Spellbook: Greater Might

Frost Tarantula 58
Spellbook: Surrender to Water en masse
Spellbook: Surrender to Fire en masse

Frost Yeti 63
Spellbook: Mana Storm
Spellbook: Major Group Heal
Spellbook: Summon Cursed Bones
Spellbook: Clarity

Massive Maze Bandersnatch 54
Spellbook: Betray
Spellbook: Trans

Panthera 56
Spellbook: Arcane Disruption
Spellbook: Turn Undead

Pronghorn 57
Spellbook: Magic Curse Fear
Spellbook: Magic Curse Gloom

Ursus 62
Spellbook: Holy Resistance
Spellbook: Unholy Resistance

Lost Gargoyle Youngling 56
Spellbook: Major Heal
Spellbook: Mana Burn

This is the way the world ends

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.
—T.S. Eliot, "The Hollow Men" (1925)

That is a rather dark view of things, however on the surface, it is probably true. Looking only at the facts at hand, the end of summoners as we know them may be at hand.

Any opponent will see a summon's HP bar. Gone will be the days where an oponent runs away because they think they have lost. They will now be able to see that a summoner's weapon is 1 hit from death.

Ok, that isn't so bad; what about this?

All nukers have basically lost the use of sleep in pvp, however it has been replaced by a much more dangerous pvp spell. One that can not be cured or removed. FEAR. Fear has always worked on summons, however it is rarely used because of it's somewhat poor land rate and slow cast. As it turns out, the cast time and cool down have been reduced. The land rate has been increased and if that isn't enough, the defensive spell, Mental Sheild(Aegis) effectivness has been reduced. With those changes, fear is annoying but probably isn't an "I WIN" button. Now lets consider the last fact. Transfer Pain has had a range limit introduced. I have not seen any offical word about the exact range but it seems to be around 900. Now fear is an extremely powerful spell when used on a summoner, probably that "I WIN" button that nukers simply do not need. To drive the nail a little deeper, a pet can not be unsummoned while in-combat i.e. feared.

The other frustrating skill added to the game which is considered a nerf to summoners is Erase. I am waiting for C5 to go live before I decide how bad this really is. Based on the cooldown and the fast cast speed, this spell is very much a spamable spell. I expect it will be more of a griefing tool in clan wars then a major pvp tactic. Of course people will abuse it in some way or another but it is no worse then fear, probably not as bad as fear because you can resummon immediatly and it will not bring additional aggro like fear can.

I know many summoners have and will quit over these changes. I have considered quitting, however I still enjoy playing with my clan. The thing that also keeps me going is the fact that I am 75, working on getting my subclass quest completed and trying for 76/3rd class.

I'll post my thoughts and opinions of how these changes have effected me once C5 goes live and settles in a bit.

C5 PTS First Impressions

My setup is this:
No Tattoos
SoM w/ acumen
BW Robes
Sealed Majestic Jewelry
Full 75 prophet buffs on me and Kai

I haven't tested erase as carefully as others but I was watch a bishop friend of mine use it quite often on other players. By our estimate it's success rate is somewhere between 25 and 50%. 35% is definatly possibly. I will spend more time testing erase.

I only saw Betray fail once. I used it atleast 20 times on panthers and golems. I didn't catch many summoners around openly fighting around giran. Its a fun griefing spell at best. I suppose it would give you the edge fighting a dwarf or DA in a 1v1 but the time you take to cast betray you aren't healing. I did see betray trigger binding cubic.

Binding cubic seems to be just as crappy as in C4. It didn't land once in about 5 triggers.

I only managed to cast arcane disruption twice, failed once landed once.

Regarding pet damage. It feels way less. In 3 hours of pvp using Kai I only managed to get 3 killing blows. It felt like I was beating on archers for ages before they died or I got killed. Mind you, everyone was in B or A grade. I plan on doing my own tests on the damage reduction issue. I could very well be as low as 9-10% but it sure felt more like 25% last night.

C5 PTS and my test plan

About my testing intentions:
I am ONLY making a Warlock summoner. I will not be able to answer ES or PS speciffic questions. If you have a general summoner question or a warlock question, please send me a message here or at L2pets.com. I will attempt to answer the questions I receive before the first round of testing ends.

My test plan includes:
Erase
The landing rate of fear.
I will also attempt to get a sense of PVP damage changes but I'm not sure how to do this yet.
New C5 Warlock skills
Binding Cubic land/trigger rate and effect duration

Robes for PvE!?!

I don't see robes directly effecting xp gain, but they can indirectly effect xp gain.

I have suggested BW Robes to people recently because they are the healer robes. A summoner is a healer for their summon.

I'm not saying don't DD with your summon in PvE. Heck, with TP4 or 5 you can even tank in robes if you really want to, especially robes that give a PDef bonus.

Why I changed my mind and went robes in C4 robes. In C3 I used DC Light, I recently switched to DC Robes. +7 run speed ('m around archers a lot), para resistance (I fight a necro zerg) and +15% cast speed, as well as the fact I already had a DC helm are my reasons for DC Robes:
1. Faster casting with out using a gimp mage weapon

2. As a warlock, I don't have a summon with VR so it's all on me to heal if I'm unbuffed. I frequently xp off stunners so I don't want to tank. I can't heal if I'm stunned. Summon deaths in pve are almost non-existant for me now. In light I'd ocasionally lose one during bad aggro, even with UD.

3. My opinion is that cast speed is king in pvp. I think you can get pretty close with an acumen weapon in light armor but I prefer the look of my DLE over any mage sword.

4. Pets do tons more damage then pre C4. Even if I pull with a curse and wack first the pet still pulls aggro with in a hit or two.

5. Larger MP pool so I can hunt harder stuff for longer with Kai.

I believe if I were playing a PS, I would use Majestic light for A grade. Stun is always a big problem for a DE.