SS and AC (in General)

Lets look at some figures here, these are taking from the spell/skill popularity page.

If you look closely you'll see how many minions have something trained and how much EXP is in it.
Lets look at DM and SS for a minute, I've taken all option and checked active users only.

Popularity Dispel Magic 11.8% exp trained Dispel Magic 12.4%

The popularity of dispel magic is a tad less then AMF but has far more exp trained in it. This means concentrated DM's across the game, making it for me the most used EO of them all.

Popularity Steel Skin 2.7% exp trained Steel Skin 0.2%

Now the popularity of SS is pitiful and the exp even more so, this means IMO that almost no one trains it and the exp in it is far less than that of DM

Anyone seeing where I'm going at here?

If you look at who trains DM and why is simpel, all character across CB to reduce GA damage or nullify it. Many tanks/archers and mages use it.

Now AC here is supposed to stop damage from these three, but in a lesser effect for mages. But as we all know, AC's effectiveness has been reduced a considered amount. Some people felt after this change that AC was OP before it.

Well SS does raise the effectiveness of AC back to its original levels. Great! It only needs 1/8 of the EXP you pump into HP. Super!
But then DM rears its ugly and nukes all SS. And as we read earlier, almost half CB uses it and in far greater EXP concentration than SS.

So fighting with SS is pretty much useless as SS is to boost AC and AC is to stop damage. But without SS AC doesn't stop that much damage. So AC and SS now don't do what they are designed to do. That is to stop damage.

So what is the point in having a spell like SS? Why was AC nerfed so hard? Why hasn't this system been overhauled after the nerf? Why doesn't AC do what it is designed to do?

AC isn't even as close to useless as you seemingly make it out to be.

A mere 10m NW can halve (Yes, HALVE) physical damage, WITHOUT SS. SS is simply just the icing on the cake; it's not necessary, but it makes it that much better.

Aside from that, the reasons for low amounts of XP trained into SS are many. It only requires 1/8th of your HP, which is a very small amount when compared to what you need for something like AMF to be really effective (enter Ranger his 'NSC are overpowered'). A lot of people rely on AS for HP, so any SS they have can be base. Trying to fight DM by training more SS is like attempting to get an answer from your calculator by bashing it repeatedly with a sledgehammer after it does not give you the answer when you try to get it in a normal fashion. Heavy AC isn't exactly the most prevalent thing in the game.

If the SS change (either the one that created SS, or the one that changed it from a skill to a DE) were to be reverted, AC would likely be too strong. As it is, I think AC is fine. It works exceptionally well against teams that don't use DM, and still has a function against DM teams, especially when you combine it with PL, TSA, and other forms of damage reduction.

because of DM most spells seem to be useless indeed, most useless indeed..we have gone the way of spending on weapons and training our XP into "whatever"...if you know what I mean..because it really doesn't matter..

AC...I think it just looks good for the most part all nice and shiny.

my idea of using SS is when it casts it helps, when it doesn't cast it DOESN'T hurt you like dependance on other spells do...


If it cast I get now 36 to 40 AC extra...woo hoo...exactly..if it doesn't cast woo hoo I'm out 36 to 40 AC

Intrinsics have 100% popularity! Overpowered!

Personally I think that SS and AC are about where they should be. If you want to focus on it it works quite well.

I'm with nemerizt. SS is only useful in some fights, but when it doesn't get dispelled, it's a big boost to AC. With a RoS, at least token amounts of DM don't do anything.

I, too, agree with Nem on this one.

As a Republican, I have to again disagree with Obama on this one. :)

Things are fine just the way they are.