Right now, Ailments have a fixed Base Damage amount. For example:
Bleed: 53 physical
Ignite: 37 fire
Poison: 20 poison
etc.
Ailments stack to deal more damage, so right now, the only logical way to deal Ailment damage is to attack as FAST as possible. This really limits build options (weapon choices, mainly) and makes ailment affixes on those weapons pointless to roll.
My idea: Add a new stat to each weapon base (and unique) called “Ailment Modifier”.
This modifier would increase the above listed Base Damage. For example, a fast weapon might have a modifier of “1” meaning, no change to base damage at all (Base damage x 1 = base damage). Whereas a large 2handed mace (Eber Head, for example), might have an ailment modifier of 1.8 or 2.2, multiplying the base for a higher amount.
This would allow ailment affixes on large, slow weapons to have meaning and allow players to choose those weapons for ailment builds, while also de-emphasizing attack speed as the only build option.
Faster weapons… more stacks, less damage per stack
Slower weaponse… less stacks, more damage per stack
End result… roughly similar ailment damage per second irrespective of weapon…
Not sure if this works thematically - i.e. rogue fast hitting ailment stacking… vs rogue slow hitting harder ailments… but I dont think its generally a bad idea…
Am wondering:
if this could inadvertently help with performance issues considering the way that ailments are separate entities… i.e. less stacks, less performance hit.
how this would balance with skills that apply faster attack speed bonuses irrespective of weapon… i.e. you could possibly get a 2h doing damage at a 1h speed if your skill supported it (e.g. flurry/rive)…
All you’d be doing is, effectively, adding an ailment application modifier that’s 1 / attack speed to normalise the ailment application rate. Then no weapon would be better than any other & yes, you’d be able to use whatever weapon you want, but you’d loose out on flavour. Would you then do the same to crit chance or flat damage? Should slower/faster weapons be better at some things & worse at others or should they just all be as generically bland/effective as any other weapon thereby robbing them all of theme?
After skimming some of those other older posts I must admit that I am on the fence …
Technically balancing the ailments so that its even damage no matter what weapon used, sounds ok in theory but I am struggling with the concept from a design perspective (I alluded to this above in the thematic approach)…
Do I want every class to be able to apply ailments equally? Even if the ailments are aligned to the classes (bleed/poison/shock etc…) I.e. its just a cosmetic thing when you look at?
Is it appropriate from a design perspective for a 2h tank to be applying the same bleed damage as a glass cannon fast rogue?
Which got me thinking on a less technical level and on a serious tangent…
If a 2h tank applies ailments, shouldnt the ailment be more appropriate to the theme of the class… i.e. a 2h high damage attack that lopped off an imaginary leg, would apply a Slow /stun ailment and a healing debuf… a dual wielding rogue hitting 5 hits causes an ailment of Bleeding and crit vulnerability…
Do we want all classes to be able to do the same thing with just a cosmetic difference in the type of damage? Or do we want classes to be fundamentally different in the way they are designed/played?
It doesn’t have to be dead even, which is why I suggested not using a formula, but instead adding a new stat on each base, and on each unique. This lets the EHG devs alter the effect based on the specific weapon.
Maybe “Eber Head” has a 1.5 Ailment modifier, but a “Lucerne” is 1.8, and a “Spiked Maul” is 2.
Maybe “Obsidian Dagger” is 1 (no bonus) but “Chitin Dagger” is 1.1 (because of its poison implicit).
etc.
Still not sure on this… When I first started playing LE I wanted to create a Void based Rogue or Non-elemental Spellblade… and then I realised that the game didnt want you to do this… It was a dissapointment but then I realised how the devs wanted to separate the classes and I accepted it…
I now have the same feeling with Ailments and I am wondering if they shouldnt actually be as “open to any” build as they are and some of them shouldnt actually be that easy to implement in any build like they are… but instead have more ailments that match classes like damage does…
which then potentially conflicts with making more room for variety in builds… something I also like…
I am talking about the design of the class not weapons or anything like that… and how changes to ailments would affect the concept of the character…
a Rogue is a fast hitter that applies ailments for DoT and moves rapidly around combat to avoid damage
vs
a slow moving Paladin wielding a 2h hitting for hit single shots, stunning and absorbing damage as it cleaves enemies…
My question is - should they both be applying ailments in the same/similar way? Should they both be applying the SAME ailments with the same effectiveness?
Its purely a conceptual thing… Its like not wanting a Mage to rage across the battlefield with a two handed maul decapitating enemies… could you do it? yes, but it doesnt fit in the fantasy…
Well, to me, Ailments for Classes is more about which ailments and how they are supported.
Rogue has higher poison + bleed support than a Paladin. Paladin has higher Ignite (and to some extent, Time Rot/Doom from Void Knight).
But in both cases (classes), if you’re making an Ailment build, you WILL use Hummingbee or some other fast-as-possible weapon with low damage, because there is no benefit to choosing that larger slower weapon right now.
But in both cases (classes), if weapons had an Ailment Modifier, then both classes could choose a different weapon to wield depending if they want a slower attack style (and spend points/item affixes on other stats) or a faster attack style (and spend points/item affixes on attack speed).
Choice for both classes. I don’t see that diluting class “flavor” at all, I see it as expanding it.
