request for changemonth (in General)

Can we get 30 rounds for battle now?

Reason: The HOC takes 1 round away from melee users in almost all battles.

There are some high level TOE's out there combined with high AC makes battles take longer in some cases.

Yes, one could go with a VB, but since the VB nerfage, that is not a good all around option now.

Seconded!

Good idea Sir Ranger.

Reasonable request. I'll support it. Makes sense.

It will be fine again once the ToE nerf is finalized ;)

TOE nerf?

I had not heard there was one in the pipeline.

Does RD know something we do not?

/me patiently waits for the change month to end to start rants :)
/me is still kinda disappointed that no AOF + junction change....
/me would like to see 30 round battles too ;)

I sure hope he does Ranger...

Since most of my fights last only 5 or 6 rounds, I have no problem with expanding it to 30 rounds if it will help out people at the top.

On a side note: how about instead of a ToE nerf, we have a familiar boost (training evasion or endurance)? Nerfing things doesn't usually insure that other items still don't suck.

Well said Mian!

I disagree

I think massive AC/ToE will eventually become a problem, it may well allready be to a small extent - although there isn't a huge amount of evidence at the moment. When it does become an issue it will be because of the massive damage reduction the combination gives relative to any other options. In this case increasing the number of rounds will just be a bandaid solution - will we just keep increasing the number of rounds as the damage reduction from the AC/ToE combo increases to crazy levels?

The real solution will be in nerfing AC, the ToE or both so that it doesn't reduce a ridiculously large amount of damage (at 420AC + ToE you're looking at about 97% physical reduction thats 3 damage per 100 getting through).

Let increases in the number of rounds be reserved for fundamental game changes (e.g. the 20 to 25 round increase was due to new CB2 things such as familiars creating a 5th minion and the ToE introduction). I do not consider a one round decrease in melee rounds or the VB nerf to be significant enough to warrant a round change (Total rounds are still the same in the HoC case and the introduction of the VB did not cause a round change in the first place so IMO a nerf of it should not either).

As for your situation Ranger, there's a couple of characters getting close to stalemating you, (The Alchemist and to a lesser extent The Lega) and a few more rounds to beat them would be handy you must admit. Whether this is the real reason you want more rounds or you genuinely believe it to be a solution to the AC/ToE problem is open for debate.

Interestingly neither of those characters have particularly high AC and only one uses a ToE. Additionally the two characters that can beat The Alchemist do not have a problem with battle length, winning in around 5 or 6 rounds.

You have a passive character - you have maybe 30-40% xp in EC, use a ToE and have Evasion and no DX on your main damage dealer. Stalemating problems occur in passive characters, sure high AC + ToE aggravates the problem but the real root of the problem lies in not doing enough damage in the first place.

Let's look at your situation with The Alchemist, I can think of several things you could do to cut down battle duration to about ten rounds or less, heres a couple..

1) Switch Evasion to Bloodlust - that's a 60% increase in damage just like that - if after this the few tanks that actually have positive ST against you are hitting you too much switch back from EB's to DB's.

2) Train DX up so it's slightly higher than his EC effect (it's less than 500k) so you get the full CTH bonus from the Dex gap (I assume you reduce his Defensive DX to 0). So with only a relatively small amount of DX added (400k or so) you could probably add almost a full extra hit per round.

I agree with SacredPeanut, increasing the amount of rounds wont really solve anything, except help passive characters and that has nothing to do with the game its a question of strategy. Im not saying thats Ranger's real reason, but yeah cant get a much more passive character...

I think the simple solution will be on the way and while I dont think itll be a ToE nerf, itll be a ToE modification or removal, for example something along the lines of a TSA type effect.

Just remove the aura of the ToE. Good luck getting 420 AC on the character actually wearing the tattoo. (People don't do that, do they?)

I personally like the aura but would have the ToE effect calculated before AC, that would nerf the AC/ToE combination by removing the "synergy" element i.e. increasing AC when combined with ToE is more beneficial than without the ToE since AC helps get damage under the ToE cap.

Without the aura, the TOE would be less useful then a RBF.

*smiles* If there's a ToE nerf in the pipeline, I sure hope there's a ToA nerf squeezing along right there beside it! =)

If the primary purpose of the 25 round cap was to stop infinite stalemates, then I agree.

If the primary purpose of the 25 round cap was for _any_ other reason (for e.g. the reason BA is capped?) then probably no.

Personally, YES :)

There is no reason why a genuinely finishing battle should see stalemate just because not enough damage has been dealt :)