Doc balance idea

[polyclanic]

I have the following ideas to enhance the role of docs and their playability.

* More to cure
- add teamnano's to cure all various debuffs, dots, roots/snares
- add more damage debuffs and other nasty stuff to most mobs
- add various curable effects to certain area's
- add antidote nano's to give team immunity or resistance to various nasty effects

* Change damage output
- add nukes - working better with one or more dots running
- have dots and nukes working like malpractice - keep getting better if one can keep it up
- give option to use two of various cyberdecks, allowing several setups.
Possible mods are:
> boosted dots and/or nukes
> requirement for dots and/or nukes
> boosting cure-chance or increasing resistance chance of antidote
> requirement for using certain cures or antidote
> boosted healing, nano init, nanocost reduce and/or skills
- have several dots/nukes work partially on tradeskills (chemistry/pharmacy/nanoprogramming) and partially on nanoskills
- add some nice tradeskillable stuff to the game based on high stats of these skills

* Add a minor pet
- even though docs are already the best pet-class in the game (5 pets, and wow they can be ubah!), one more is always nice
- a small flying sort of drone comes to mind
- other option would be some mutated labexperiment vaguely resembling a leet. A poison cloud working as a pet could also work
- various options to to give docs even more dilemma's (healing, various curing versions, an offensive drone)
- pet could have a certain tradeskill, cyberdeck or perkline as requirement

These changes could give a doc a more tech-oriented feel. It should also challenge docs to balance time and nano spend on healing, curing and damage. Last but not least it should give docs a chance to adjust their playstyle and setup to the encounter.

[srompu]

Docs already manage time between healing and damage. I worry that balance = love for many people.

[Drooown]

God i hope this is a joke...

If its not, i think u got it wrong...

Balance isn't same as "make my profession more OP"

[polyclanic]

Imho docs don't really need to manage much healing and damage, they just press buttons. Heal when needed and do some pityfull damage with pistol in meantime. Dots can add up, if you have several running, but still no where near a DD even when you go chaindot several mobs. In such a situation a doc is unnecessary anyway. Most of the time mobs are shredded way to fast for dots to do any significant damage.

I don't want docs to keep their current healing duty and just add damage, far from it. I want docs to be usefull. Indeed more damage would be nice when docs have nano/time to spare, but that's not they main idea. I didn't specify what kind of damage a doc would do, so a bit lame to shout OP at first glance. My point would be that damage would depend on how a doc is played.

If a setup would require for instance that you need 2 cyberdecks to be able to cast all cures or antidotes, it would even mean far less damage (no pistols...). Like one antidote to keep a tank from being stunned, one to cure a damage-nerf on a DD, etc... Without the right cyberdecks you would not be able to cast em (or only inferior versions), have lower chances/effectiveness or something like that.
When needing to cure all sort of mayhem thrown at a team, a doc would actually make a difference. The damage from dots/nukes increasing stepwise was just a fun way to replace the gun damage and make it scale with nano/time spend on em. To be sure docs don't just stand around dotting almost dead mobs. That way in a non-healing/non-curing situation docs would still be able contribute to a team.

I wrote the idea in the light of the new balance discussion where every profession and game mechanic will be rewritten. There won't be a current status-quo, as all guns, specials and perklines will work differently. I fear they'll just add some healing (which docs don't need) and some damage (still to little to matter).

[Phylicity]

Originally Posted by polyclanic I have the following ideas to enhance the role of docs and their playability. * More to cure - add teamnano's to cure all various debuffs, dots, roots/snares - add more damage debuffs and other nasty stuff to most mobs - add various curable effects to certain area's - add antidote nano's to give team immunity or resistance to various nasty effects * Change damage output - add nukes - working better with one or more dots running - have dots and nukes working like malpractice - keep getting better if one can keep it up - give option to use two of various cyberdecks, allowing several setups. Possible mods are: > boosted dots and/or nukes > requirement for dots and/or nukes > boosting cure-chance or increasing resistance chance of antidote > requirement for using certain cures or antidote > boosted healing, nano init, nanocost reduce and/or skills - have several dots/nukes work partially on tradeskills (chemistry/pharmacy/nanoprogramming) and partially on nanoskills - add some nice tradeskillable stuff to the game based on high stats of these skills * Add a minor pet - even though docs are already the best pet-class in the game (5 pets, and wow they can be ubah!), one more is always nice - a small flying sort of drone comes to mind - other option would be some mutated labexperiment vaguely resembling a leet. A poison cloud working as a pet could also work - various options to to give docs even more dilemma's (healing, various curing versions, an offensive drone) - pet could have a certain tradeskill, cyberdeck or perkline as requirement These changes could give a doc a more tech-oriented feel. It should also challenge docs to balance time and nano spend on healing, curing and damage. Last but not least it should give docs a chance to adjust their playstyle and setup to the encounter.

The problem doctors have right now is that everything in PvM apart from a select few encounters when using only one doctor, has become rather easy due to the introduction of the DB and APF nanoprograms. The heal nerf that is incomming will make it more of a challenge and force docs not just to spam 1 button every few seconds but actually work to keep their nanopool at a stable level

The cure perks are fine as they are, you've got 4 of them, 3 individual and 1 team. Damage debuffs are not a doctors role at all really, -20 from ubt is peanuts and makes me think that they shouldnt even bother having the damage debuff part in our init debuffs toolset, leave the damage debuffs to other proffessions. As for antidotes, the whole point of having certain affects in the game is so that people require genuine teamwork to achieve their goals and it gives more proffessions a role to play in certain situations. As much as its annoying to have to use a keeper/fixer in a 12 man instance raid for example, it makes sense to promote variety.

On the damage subject, i was rather annoyed recently at the suggestion/decision that Pistol perklines recieving a nerf due to the overpowerment of ranged adventurers. Its wrong to punnish 4 other proffessions for the sake of trying to keep 1 in balance. If having ranged adventurers using pistol perks in conjunction with their other damage dealing perks is overpowered, then how about just nerfing that proffessions % chance of landing? MPs, engineers, docs and crats all have the same IP cost for pistol skill while adventurers have 160 more points maximum in pistol skill, thus it makes them less likely overall to land those pistol perklines in PvP and PvM situations as a result.

I dont like the idea of nanodecks or poison clouds, thats more for an NT really, i dont want doctors to be called "the nt class without absorbs but an active defence in their heals".

I like the current suggestions to altering the doctor perklines apart from the pistol perk landing % change, and close call not being bumped up to 30% of your hitpoints, everything else i've looked at seems to be alright for now, the only way of telling if things are balanced is by giving them a go in practice otherwise everyone will get their calculators out, and play a mathematical game of rock paper scissors...

[Kazeran]

Originally Posted by Phylicity The problem doctors have right now is that everything in PvM apart from a select few encounters when using only one doctor, has become rather easy due to the introduction of the DB and APF nanoprograms. The heal nerf that is incomming will make it more of a challenge and force docs not just to spam 1 button every few seconds but actually work to keep their nanopool at a stable level

I hope you mean it became easy because everyone else got a huge defensive boost. APF/DB nanos didnt change healing much at all other then team heals which we managed without just fine.

[omegahealer]

Originally Posted by Phylicity The problem doctors have right now is that everything in PvM apart from a select few encounters when using only one doctor, has become rather easy due to the introduction of the DB and APF nanoprograms.

I do agree that ICH and the other DB nanos made certain encounters alot easier. But the APF nanos have nothing to do with healingpower... a pvp only nuke and an alternative to the rare and expensive improved nano init crystal...

[Hacre]

People talking about healing nerfs seem to be assuming that they'll apply outside PvP gas...

[mainframe]

Means has said that the heal change will affect pvp and pvm. It´s somewhere on the forum.

[Doniger]

Remove CH, both for doc and advs. Suddenly lots of problems are fixed.

[Kazeran]

Originally Posted by Doniger Remove CH, both for doc and advs. Suddenly lots of problems are fixed.

CH

What doctors really use.

[Remedie]

Am I the only one that feels like this is a step backwards? I've been playing 7 years, and now I'm going back to the way things were with my nanopool when I wasn't 220, when I wasn't LE70, when I wasn't AI30, when I didn't have all alphas equipped? Maybe I'm missing something here.

[notcrattey]

Originally Posted by Remedie Am I the only one that feels like this is a step backwards? I've been playing 7 years, and now I'm going back to the way things were with my nanopool when I wasn't 220, when I wasn't LE70, when I wasn't AI30, when I didn't have all alphas equipped? Maybe I'm missing something here.

Adapt or die, it's that simple.

[MajorOutage]

Originally Posted by polyclanic Imho docs don't really need to manage much healing and damage, they just press buttons. Heal when needed and do some pityfull damage with pistol in meantime. Dots can add up, if you have several running, but still no where near a DD even when you go chaindot several mobs.

Come again?

I just killed Xark solo in 22 mins and change. Mostly thanks to the damage I can pump out of those 'pitiful pistols'.

[polyclanic]

I'd like to set a few things straigth:

- these ideas are about HOW a doc does damage not how much
- i assume the adjustments to specials and general overhaul of profs will turn the game upside down anyway
- i assume each profession will be nerfed, overpowered and nerfed again until there will again be a new sort-of-balance between profs

That being said, what do you people think of making the role of healer more broader? Cures and antidotes could give more variety to the way docs can help a team. Like the trader adds damage to the whole team, removing nasty stuff is a nice way of contributing to team damage.

For this to be a relevant aspect of the game you'll need more mobs (or area's) to have these damage debuffs and other nasty stuff. The few perks docs have are nice, but i'd rather have nano's, items or a cure-pet for that. Of course - in addition to this - some other profs should have immunities or cures to certain things as well. And there could be places in the zone that cure you (like in DB1), or give you an antidote for a certain time, etc...

[polyclanic]

Oh and about damage:
I'd like it if it would vary more [without overpowering docs]. With nano's stacking or dealing more damage in combination FC can adjust the range from very low (while healing/curing) to whatever they have in mind for doc going full throttle. Btw, i don't hate pistols, but wouldn't miss em either as lots of professions use pistols already. Good point of not making this nano-damage to similar to NT's.

I also like that docs have several setups to swap between, i'd like more of that. Adjusting gear for each situation would be part of playing a doc well. I haven't bothered getting lots of stuff for years, because of the little gain for the trouble. With plenty healing and health i didn't feel maxing out would increase fun.
Don't care much for damage usually, except when soloing. It's fun to be able to solo mobs like LotV, Anansi's hands and such, but it takes lot of time. Indeed - look at major's setup - a doc does have room for a little more damage when maxed out for it. [good job, 22 minutes!]. But i bet the doc will pale besides your engi's damage, right major?
Even so - especially with upcoming heal-nerfs - i might get some more pande/LoX-gear after all .

[Grafter]

Originally Posted by Majoroutage_ Come again? I just killed Xark solo in 22 mins and change. Mostly thanks to the damage I can pump out of those 'pitiful pistols'.

it took you 22 minutes solo, with all that damage gear?
were you tri-dotting too or?