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  1. #81
    Elite Master Team Kaos's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ogornomus View Post
    Ok, I must comment on this. I find stamina drain on shadows stupidly powerful. Seriously, shadows are loaded with total damage mitigation skills like Uncany Dodge and Riposte, all the while they only have to Spectral Touch you two times. I feel that anything not a full offensive rage has no chance against them. Because it looks like percentage based stamina drain to me, nothing realy matters agains them (like health or how much stamina you stacked).

    Maybe I just see the differnece between a well equipped HoL shadow gladiator and my non HoL slaves with ok equipment. Most of my gladiators struggle to hit them while they get their stamina drained.

    I know this thread is about shadow skill and strenght, but what is the counter to them (the stamina drain ones)?
    First off, you are correct. Most of the Shadows are HOL glads, so they will be a tough nut to crack with a run of the mill slave anyway. However, from the 4 Shadows I run and the Shadows I go up against the best bet to take them out is to do it early and hard.

    2H Wars and Rages can do well against certain Shadow builds but those with both Uncanny Dodge and Riposte are difficult for them as the can and will avoid getting hit with the big DFA or Rampage while landing multiple hits and draining endurance each round. So a Shadow that utilizes Uncanny Dodge and Riposte well are a bad match up for 2H.

    Shadows vs tanks will all but drain them out, however with a good strategy and going tank/active on opposing rounds can lead to neutralizing Spectral Touch at times. Sometimes a Spectral Touch will not drain on a Tank everytime and that can be the bout changer if the tank go active at the right time.

    Shadows are very different from all the other specialties so there is no 1 specific way to beat them. But getting to them fast and early seems to work best, but then again that works against most.
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  2. #82
    Aspiring Master Stormcloak's Avatar
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    I may be in agreement with Ogor on Spectral Touch, in relation to Shadow vs. War, taking into account it's based on my experience, and a good portion of the shadows are HOL's from well established Stables, and that we only have one shadow in Blood Gods for endgame comparison and Zyn doesn't use that skill.

    I tend to run my war's fairly aggressively and they still struggle against Spectral builds. Having your endurance cut down 35% in the first round really limits the ability of a war glad to leverage his endurance in his fight strategy. War's take a little longer to get going and take an opponent down (by attacking health) - add in that damage mitigation that the shadows have and they are incredibly difficult to take down. I can appreciate that there are various rock-paper-scissor elements at play in the game, but at this point war's seem to be very limited on options against functioning Spectral builds.

    I mentioned previously that I think a worthwhile option to look at would be if the effectiveness of Spectral Touch was somehow linked in to the length of the battle (such as maybe a certain percent times the round number). That would give the slower builds some time to get going, but still penalise the really, really slow builds that just sit around. At the same time though, I have seen Spectral Touch hit and do next to nothing, but whether that's from being defensive at the right time, a natural chance to fail in the skill, or a low training level in it, I can't say.

    Nate - if you're around, would you mind sharing your thoughts on the balancing? I'm curious how a Spectral build fares against, say, defensive war, offensive war (maybe faster dual wield and a slower 2H or sword-n-board), the rage builds, the theatrics builds...
    Stable: Stormcloak
    Current Glads: Lachdanan (human war), Ecthelion (human war), Kedro (rage elaar), Acheros (war elaar), Tsiroth (war elaar)
    HOL Retirees: Rauthreygo (human war), Farkas (rage elaar), Vilkus (theatrics elaar), Thalvric (war elaar), Gamling (war dunder), Kresjack (theatrics elaar), Percivus (war spite), Agravaine (war elaar)

  3. #83
    The Overlord Nate's Avatar
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    Nate - if you're around, would you mind sharing your thoughts on the balancing? I'm curious how a Spectral build fares against, say, defensive war, offensive war (maybe faster dual wield and a slower 2H or sword-n-board), the rage builds, the theatrics builds...
    Many new and interesting possibilities in the pits with a lot of different situations to think about and respond to. An exotic animal has been introduced into the environment and it will take some time for the other species to adapt and adapt they will. Some have already started.

    Good luck in the Pit!

    -Nate-

  4. #84
    Pit Master Dainoji's Avatar
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    Spectral Touch isn't much different than rampage and rampage has been in the game for a long time without being OP. Both work on a percent basis, both can be blocked, and both have cool downs to prevent them from being OP. Usually 2 successful rampages will take a glad out, for spectral touch it takes 3. Chances are good a defensive glad will block one or more of those attacks and stop the drain just like you'll see a tanking war reduce a rampage down to 1 damage sometimes. Most managers haven't built their glads and strategies to handle stamina drain yet. I know I'm already paying more attention to stamina in anticipation of the shadow tidal wave.
    Stable: Pirate Booty
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  5. #85
    Legendary Master Cynaidh's Avatar
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    Ya i agree Dainoji, its a very similar skill to Rampage.

    My final opinion on the Shadow class is they are very very fun, i think they are fairly balanced since speed based glads can take them out fairly easy, while they have the upper hand vs tanks and slow swinging glads.

    But unfortunately i think i am going back to the shadows myself, this 50-55 grind has totally ruined this game for me, Zynaidh who hit 50 over two months ago is still not even halfway threw 53, i just don't have the patience for this slow level of advancement with basically nothing to do with your glads for 4-5 months while you go from 50 to 55 (really what is there to do tavern missions? The Gauntlet and Conquests make no sense due to you just going to eventually out level the gear you'd get if you do them before 55, arena fights aren't fun as your matched up again level 55 glads in level 54+ gear), it seems crazy to me its possible to hit 50 in 3-4 weeks and then your going to spend 5 months to get 5 more levels. The thought of the next class doesn't even interest me cause it will again be 6 months to get one to 55 to see how they really compare with the established glads. Re-rolling glads is now out too due to the same 6 months to get fully leveled again, re-rolling glads was one of the things i enjoyed the most about Pit of War, but soul bound gear put a nail in the coffin of doing that and the 50-55 grind is the hammer that nailed that coffin shut.

    I for one miss the days of Primus where we would see a new gladiator idea made and then come up and completely change the meta in a matter of weeks (Bloody Lady was a great example of this), it kept the game fresh and exciting, now it just seems stale. Even with a new class coming out and it will take HALF A YEAR before we can see how they will really do against the top glads..... odds are the next class coming out will not even contend in blood gods till 2016, if they are released in the next month or two. I just don't understand how this design is "fun".
    Manager of the Gold Stables: Ab and Ba Gold

  6. #86
    Aspiring Master Stormcloak's Avatar
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    The past two weeks, it's been better with spectral touch - I'm seeing the armour actually stop some of them from landing now, so it seems a lot more reasonable.
    Cyn - I'm sorry to hear that you're taking a break. Hopefully we'll see you back here soon, refreshed and ready to kick some butt. Have fun!
    Stable: Stormcloak
    Current Glads: Lachdanan (human war), Ecthelion (human war), Kedro (rage elaar), Acheros (war elaar), Tsiroth (war elaar)
    HOL Retirees: Rauthreygo (human war), Farkas (rage elaar), Vilkus (theatrics elaar), Thalvric (war elaar), Gamling (war dunder), Kresjack (theatrics elaar), Percivus (war spite), Agravaine (war elaar)

  7. #87
    The Overlord Nate's Avatar
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    Thanks for the feedback Cyn. As always, glad to have you back for a spell and all the best to you and yours if you do decide to slip back into the shadows! There is a planned update in the near future that will enable Pit Masters to boost their Blood Gods' XP faster than is currently available for those who enjoy the destination more than the journey. Each player has their own level of happiness when it comes to progression speed, some like to take it slow and some like to race to the end. Perhaps you'll enjoy the new boosts when they are introduced. In case you aren't already aware of it, simply logging in each day awards your Blood Gods with a 2x XP boost in addition to any stable memberships you may already be using.

    Good luck outside the Pit!

    -Nate-

  8. #88
    Legendary Master Cynaidh's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Nate View Post
    Thanks for the feedback Cyn. As always, glad to have you back for a spell and all the best to you and yours if you do decide to slip back into the shadows! There is a planned update in the near future that will enable Pit Masters to boost their Blood Gods' XP faster than is currently available for those who enjoy the destination more than the journey. Each player has their own level of happiness when it comes to progression speed, some like to take it slow and some like to race to the end. Perhaps you'll enjoy the new boosts when they are introduced. In case you aren't already aware of it, simply logging in each day awards your Blood Gods with a 2x XP boost in addition to any stable memberships you may already be using.

    Good luck outside the Pit!

    -Nate-
    Yup i was aware of the boost, i have tried to log in every day (i know i've missed some especially this past week as i have just lost interest) but really that just shows that there is an issue, the thing you can do to make it be a 5 month level instead of a 10 month level is "log in every day". I don't know, maybe the rest of the players like the slow grind, i honestly had not even thought about how it must be if you don't have all of the stable buffs going, as i normally play with all of them on, so without them is it a year to go from 50 to 55?

    As for paying for a boost, i'd probably do it if brought the 51-55 leveling back in line with the leveling from the first 50 levels of the game. Right now its just too depressing watching that exp bar slowly move from 52 to 53. It's just not fun. What's even more amazing to me is I started logging in again what back on Oct 21st when you suggested i log even to keep my team active so they would level up and my existing glads still haven't hit 55.
    Manager of the Gold Stables: Ab and Ba Gold

  9. #89
    Elite Master Adoede's Avatar
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    I certainly understand what Cynaidh is saying...and let's be honest, the reduced activity in the forums lately indicates he's not the only one less engaged these days.

    The slower pace doesn't bother me so much because I have so many guys in blood gods to keep me entertained while my newbies are developing. But I can see how a team with no maxed glads would feel like an awfully slow grind. If Nate wants to speed leveling up, that's fine by me. Speeding up gearing too would be "A-okay" with me as well. And while we're at it, let me just chime in that it would be nice if the incentives for performing well in the seasons were a bit more "incentivizing". I, for one, think the prizes for the blood games are waaay better than the prizes for seasons. Maybe merge the two together? So a top-1% win in seasons counts as a 1st place finish towards the blood games achievements? Etc... As it is now, once you've got the extra HOL prize, there's nothing to shoot for in seasons anymore...other than pride for a day before the next season starts.

    As for the gear issue - Nate has said before that lvl 55 gear might not always be the best for your build design. Something I've been doing casually is keeping track of armor pieces with the boosts I like from each different level of gear (I refresh blacksmith everyday to look through the inventory in case anything catches my eye - so I can know to look for it at the end of the season). And let me say that, for example, if I wanted to maximize stamina and block on my build - some of the best gear for that is lvl 52 and some others are lvl 53 or 54. Maybe one piece is lvl 55. So if you plan your gear purchases well, you should be gearing up well through levels 52-55.

    Cynaidh, if helping you gear up even while you're in the 50-55 level grind will help keep you in the game, PM me about what you are trying to accomplish with your gear design and I'll see if I happen to have any of those pieces on my "wishlist" to share with you.
    Last edited by Adoede; 04-26-2015 at 05:42 PM.
    Adoede | Tevrosin

  10. #90
    Elite Master Team Kaos's Avatar
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    I understand the lulls of going from 50-55, but Zynaith also, rocketed up the ranks in a pretty absurd fashion. As of today there are only 3 Shadows in Primus one of them being another of Cyn's. The majority of Shadows that started up around the same time are working through Maximus still. I know everyone wants to level up as fast as they can, but in my mind whats the fun of any game if i can blast my way all the way to 55 in just a few weeks especially in a game like this.
    It would cheapen the upper brackets of Primus and Blood Gods and especially the Blood Games in those brackets. It's supposed to be hard to attain those brackets not to just be able to run full throttle and go from 1 to 55 in a month. If that was the deal then Blood Gods and HOL would be meaningless because everyone would do it and do it very often.

    Thats my 2 cents.
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