A few passive node ideas for spellblade, with three playstyles in mind : only attacking / using attacks that proc spells / weaving attacks and spells. I think the first playstyle has plenty enough in the tree, and the two other ones that use spells one way or another are the most interesting and could use a reword of their existing passives and/or some new ones. I think there are a few ideas to expand with mana playstyles as well to support mana strike’s “% of total mana”, and I dont mean simply +X to max mana, thats just generic raw power and uninteresting
Right now there’s combat mage(+9lvl % spell dmg if attacked in past 4sec) and spell weaver(+4lvl % spelldmg per attack in past 4sec).
Suggestions :
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Combat mage rework : +25 or 30% spell damage per point if you’ve attacked in the past 4 seconds, with a 3sec cooldown (in the line of the +30% dmg to next attack from sentinel). This would fit the “manual weaving” better, attack and cast a few potent spells with good timing
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Spell Weaver : upgrade from the 4% spell dmg per attack, up to 6/8/10ish, but only if you’ve attacked in the past 2 seconds or even 1second. This would also make it a bit more niche and specifically for spellproccing builds.
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Spell-related defense ideas :
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[insert name] If you’ve used a melee attack in the past 4 seconds, your next spell gives +x ward on hit (with a cooldown, else spellproc builds would have a fieldday with 46543 spells a second). Alternatively, give it +ward retention or a mix of both.
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[insert name] +x% spell damage for 4 seconds when your mana goes below half/third of maximum value. Not very convinced on the +%spell damage, but Im sure a lot of other effects could be interesting. Perhaps a spell proc? Other ideas include : cast a spell when you reach below half/third mana. Or maybe activate some kind of buff?
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Elemental Feedback : Pretty fun but seriously underpowered. If compared to, for instance, the sentinel’s counterstrike (30% chance when hit, and a follow-up passive for up to 100% crit), having a bland elemental nova every 3 seconds a bit meh.
Way worse even, whereas sentinel’s skills and playstyle suits getting hit all the time, mages and spellblades have a lot of defensive tools and way to stay ranged (think of both melee skills having range options, flash freeze and teleport to name a few), so “when hit” is very unsatisfying. A few suggestions :
*make it a big ass cooldown, 10 or even 15 seconds but make it use the passives from elemental nova. Would be balanced by cooldown and weight of choice (there’s already SO MANY skills to spec in as spellblade… (most often both flamereave and manastrike, ice guard is a must, often fireshield, sometimes flash freeze, and if you want any spell on the side that takes a slot aswell, and perhaps fireballs for flame reave, etc…)
*change the activation condition : make it when you use a spell and and attack both together in a small window for instance, or “when you’ve lost more then 100 ward in the past 2seconds”
*change the spell : casting a ranged spell when hit is fine as a countermeasure against ranged ennemies, so there’s still a use/niche there. Its the combination of “when hit” and “close range nova” on a class that tries its hardest to stay afar and/or control ennemies thats a bit lackluster. Spell suggestions : chain lightning, lightning strike, or anything lightning (because theres counterattacking fireballs on flameshield, and same for cold with ice guard)
*lowering the cooldown : dont remove it but something like 1second? If you think of ice guard’s ice proc and all the associated passives, I dought this one would be overpowered with one cast a second… if you’re melee and taking damage nonstop. Least elegant/fun solution to my mind though