Nano-Technician Changes...

Seeing as my main is a 218 NT, and no one has mentioned any feedback about the 18.7 changes, I will offer my opinions.

Taken from Genele's Testlive post, I'll go over each change individually, but I'll save Nullity Sphere for last...

"Nano-Technician's Greater Nanobot Shelter and Nanobot Shielding is now a nano line that increases the caster's nano damage multiplier by 7% and 10%."

This is actually a great idea. TL5 damage is just terrible, so anything that helps at that point gets a thumbs up in my book. Losing the insane nano damage buff from Shielding kinda sucks. Doing the quest to get Shielding probably won't be on anyone's list, because it's pretty hard and only 3% more damage isn't really worth it.

"Nano-Technician's Izgimmer's Wealth is now a nano heal restoring 20.000 of the caster's nano. The line cooldown should be 2 minutes."

I see this as a good thing, and a bad thing. My NT is in the position where I have Nanobot Shielding, but not Izgimmer's Wealth, so more thoughts on that under NS.

"Nano-Technician's Forget Me! will no longer de-taunt enemies that are not in combat. The line cooldown of this nano will be 10.00 seconds."

That makes sense.

"Grid armor nukes have been removed."

I have never used any of these, so won't miss them.

"Only two team warp nano programs remain, one for self with a 5 minute cooldown and one team with 10 minute cooldown. This nano will take you to the city that is controlled by your side. Neutrals get sent to Borealis, Clanners get sent to Tir and Omnis to Rome. The caster's side doesn't affect the destination of his teammates."

Great idea.

"Nano-Technician's Nullity Sphere" and "Nullity Sphere MK II is now a damage to nano style nano programs and will no longer put the nano-technician in Defensive Focus.

Nullity Sphere: 70% of all damage gets directed to your nanopool for 15 seconds, at the end of the duration of this nano, your nano pool will be set to 0. This nano has a cooldown of 2 minutes.

Nullity Sphere MK II: Verify that 90% of all damage gets directed to your nanopool for 15 seconds, at the end of the duration of this nano, your nano pool will be set to 0. This nano has a cooldown of 1 minute. Both of these nano programs will recast Nanobot Shelter or Superior Nanobot Shelter at the end of their duration if the nano-technician has them uploaded."

Ok... There are several things wrong with this idea.

First, because Izgimmer's Wealth will no longer buff Max Nano, NT's will not have the nano pool to support this in most situations. In my case, I've got about 23,000 nano max, however my gross nano used per minute is about 38,000 just nuking (at full def).

Also, the duration is too short. Often, we need time to land NR debuffs and a DoT, or refresh absorbs, heal, etc.

Setting nanopool to 0 once NS is up... This makes the least sense out of all of the changes to Nullity Sphere. A Nano-technician with no nano is, best case scenario worthless but usually dead very quickly. So, now with several less seconds of protection, we're left completely defenseless when NS terminates. We have perk heals, etc, but that's not really a good enough reason for this.

Looking at all of these changes makes me wonder why Soldiers would still have a 75% reflect that lasts considerably longer and has (for them at least) a much better trade-off. I find it strange that a "Nano" technician would have such a crappy defensive nano, comparatively speaking.

Now that our damage has been decreased substantially, Nullity Sphere was pretty much our last trump card... So, is there anything wrong with it just being at least 90% reflect with 9 and 18 second durations(assuming 1 sec recharge time), and not draining nano pool?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Vinkera

"Nano-Technician's Nullity Sphere" and "Nullity Sphere MK II is now a damage to nano style nano programs and will no longer put the nano-technician in Defensive Focus.

Nullity Sphere: 70% of all damage gets directed to your nanopool for 15 seconds, at the end of the duration of this nano, your nano pool will be set to 0. This nano has a cooldown of 2 minutes.

Nullity Sphere MK II: Verify that 90% of all damage gets directed to your nanopool for 15 seconds, at the end of the duration of this nano, your nano pool will be set to 0. This nano has a cooldown of 1 minute. Both of these nano programs will recast Nanobot Shelter or Superior Nanobot Shelter at the end of their duration if the nano-technician has them uploaded."

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I'de just want to comment on this, since Genele clearly made an error on either the nano or the description in the patchotes of it.

https://tl.aoitems.com/item/150502/

By looking at the nano (MKII) it's clear that it reduces 80% of the damage, not 90% as stated in the patchnotes.
One can also see that it's very expensise to recive damage based on the 250% nano-to-damage ratio.

We should be able to do much better than that, master of nanotechnology and all....

I was also about to comment on the time it last, from 19sec to 15 sec, but i don't think this will be an issue since your pool will be empty by the time it times out with that damage-to-nano ratio if you hit it when you really need to, both in pvp and pvm.

RIP NTs.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by nanoforcer

https://tl.aoitems.com/item/150502/

By looking at the nano (MKII) it's clear that it reduces 80% of the damage, not 90% as stated in the patchnotes.
One can also see that it's very expensise to recive damage based on the 250% nano-to-damage ratio.

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That seems to be correct, but there's also something "funny" happening when the nano terminates: Your current nano pool is set to 0, and it automatically casts the better of (Superior) Nanobot Shelter on you, depending on which you own.

I've been playing around with my tl5 nt on testlive and it's definetly inferior to before, I really hope the new nt nukes supposedly coming somehow makeup for this change or I'll probly never login my nt again.

Based on a 23k nanopool and 250% conversion rate that means NS/NS2 are a 9200K HP shield.

It used to be in the 29000 HP equivalent, if you were nanomage : 43000 pool / 1.5 = 28600

With my atrox NT I had in the 20K HP shield at 200% conversion ratio and that was very small.

Drastic change !


Well, that's a heavy nerf, let's hope our other defensive tools makes up for it, but once again we need the big picture to figure out if it works out or not. Edit : I just saw that superior shelter will be 25% DtN at 110% conversion rate, that s better than before and will make a great difference !

If we gain heavy nano heal capabilities beside this 20k nano heal (which is not better than a 20k nano pool buff, really, so let s not count it in positive changes), maybe…. I m doubtful ….

So this nano could work out if other stuff happen and well, we have no idea what kind of DPS will be coming at us in the future… But if it is comparable to today's standard we definitly need more defensive capabilities...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Djiax

Based on a 23k nanopool and 250% conversion rate that means NS/NS2 are a 9200K HP shield.

It used to be in the 29000 HP equivalent, if you were nanomage : 43000 pool / 1.5 = 28600

With my atrox NT I had in the 20K HP shield at 200% conversion ratio and that was very small.

Drastic change !

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QFT.

And even if you take away the massive loss in total damage mitigation, you're still looking at only 15sec duration. After 15 seconds most folks aren't even halfway through their alpha when talking endgame.
Maybe FC figured we'd use the new Nano Heal "Izgimmers Wealth" in the middle of NS2 instead of using it after one in two NS2s to be able to do anything at all...

And seriously, what is it with setting the Nano Pool to 0? Sols with TMS? No real penaltiy. Acrobat? No penalty. Bio Cocoon? No penalty. DtB? No penalty. CiB? No penalty. New Dmg2Pet Nano? No penalty. (MPs deserve a good nano, don't misunderstand me).

I wish I could understand why NTs should have their nano set to 0 after using their major defensive tool? Are we still the punching balls? Is this still payback for LE nukes and NBS CC gnaks? I mean, it's been years since fumbles were removed from the game, yet the perk Program Overload can still "fumble" and completely disable to NT. No other perk does that. Some may only trigger partially or not at all (e.g. Weapons Bash or Opportunity Knocks), but no single other "player buffing" perk actually disabled or harms the player.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Djiax

Well, that's a heavy nerf, let's hope our other defensive tools makes up for it, but once again we need the big picture to figure out if it works out or not. Edit : I just saw that superior shelter will be 25% DtN at 110% conversion rate, that s better than before and will make a great difference !

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Unless I missed something neither Blinds nor Layers have been touched. And blinds are already a non-topic in most endgame pvp scenarios. Meanwhile everyone gets more attack rating, stronger weapons, etc...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Djiax

If we gain heavy nano heal capabilities beside this 20k nano heal (which is not better than a 20k nano pool buff, really, so let s not count it in positive changes), maybe…. I m doubtful ….

So this nano could work out if other stuff happen and well, we have no idea what kind of DPS will be coming at us in the future… But if it is comparable to today's standard we definitly need more defensive capabilities...

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Again, QFT.


Oh, and on that note, FP NT was pretty much killed with that, too. Used to be fun on my 150agent. After this? Not anymore.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sannz

And seriously, what is it with setting the Nano Pool to 0? Sols with TMS? No real penaltiy. Acrobat? No penalty. Bio Cocoon? No penalty. DtB? No penalty. CiB? No penalty. New Dmg2Pet Nano? No penalty. (MPs deserve a good nano, don't misunderstand me).

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I do believe that having your pet killed, so that you have to recast & buff it, should count as a penalty.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by sannz

I wish I could understand why NTs should have their nano set to 0 after using their major defensive tool? Are we still the punching balls? Is this still payback for LE nukes and NBS CC gnaks? I mean, it's been years since fumbles were removed from the game, yet the perk Program Overload can still "fumble" and completely disable to NT. No other perk does that. Some may only trigger partially or not at all (e.g. Weapons Bash or Opportunity Knocks), but no single other "player buffing" perk actually disabled or harms the player.

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I don't understand that either. NTs are already severely crippled by being 100% dependent on nanos and the way nano execution mechanics work there's really no need for more crippling side-effects. Every other profession can both attack and defend at the same time with the combination of weapons, perks and nanos. NTs only have 1/3rd of that, having no weapons and NT perk actions are extremely weak.

There was mention of cyberdeck becoming an actual weapon, any news on that ?

CD seems to work as a weapon on test, i don't have any of my accounts activated for obious reasons so i can't test it since it requires SL.

Can't seem to find it on the databaserip atm, but here is the info on it:

Worn Cyberdeck
NODROP UNIQUE
Rarity: Normal
Quality level: SPECIAL
Requirements:
Use:

On Self:
Not male
Wield:

On Self:
Must have expansionset: Shadowlands and
Nano-Technician and
male

Damage: 10-30(1)
Dps: 3.0-8.9(0.3)
Speed:
Attack 2.00s
Recharge 2.00s
Equip delay: 15.00s
Initiative: Nano Execution Init
Location: RightHand
Range: 35m
Attack skills: Matter Crea 100%
Defence skills: Nano Resist 100%
Modifier:
On User:
Modify Matt.Metam 5
Modify Bio Metamor 5
Modify Psycho Modi 5
Modify Matter Crea 5
Modify Time&Space 5
Modify Sensory Impr 5
On User:
Spawn Item if
On Self:
female
Spawn Item if
On Self:
uni

Damage type: Radiation AC

A lot of the changes Funcom is making gives me the impression they are trying to chuck out old buggy code (trying to look at the positive side) Still, NT's were just bludgeoned by the FC nerf bat, and we're still feeling that pain, even with GIVA.

Even if other future changes would make this make more sense, (which I personally don't see in the nano document thread) why do we need another nerf right now? I mean, I was out damaged by an Advy in a team mission, and I was trying to push damage as hard as I could... that hurt.

I don't see what's wrong with this staying a reflect and having no downsides. This damage to nano stuff just isn't going to work currently.

Speaking of GIVA... (Garuk's Improved Viral Assault in case anyone isn't familiar)

What issue would changing the damage tier dependencies cause? Throw NT's a little love, and change all the values from 3XXX to 2XXX. Example, every NT that can cast GIVA is casting it with base damage currently at 6000-12000 because the requirement for the next tier is 3101+ MC. In my case, if the values were changed, I would currently fall into the middle tier which would raise that up to a base of 6400-12800. That doesn't sound like much, but with the changes to Greater Nanobot Shelter, and gearing for +% Nano Damage, we'd start to see numbers closer to DM once in a while at least.

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Originally Posted by Demoder

I do believe that having your pet killed, so that you have to recast & buff it, should count as a penalty.

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True that, but then again, the pet can be recast right away (unless lockout).
And more importantly, the new Sacrificial Shielding transfers 100% dmg at a 100 ratio to the pet. Meaning for every 1 dmg prevented on the MP the attack pet gets hit for 1 dmg.
Considering that Rhiwen has 55687 HP and that the nano lasts for 20sec then yes, I suppose you could loose your pet to the dmg. Tho I somewhat doubt that one single (non-shade) player could manage that kind of dmg bearing in mind that as/fa/sa swaps will be a thing of the past...

Well Rip to nt's once agein, i wonder if the dev team of funcom plays ao at all.
nt's are more or less useless for duels then, i would like to see a person from the dev team come out in rk and duel the 13 diffrent profession we have and show us in the current toolset we already have to win.
i would like em to log a keeper to show us aswell for that matter.

but ns II should work as it has always done and shield from inf should not have a nanodrain when cooldown kicks in.

Haven't logged my NT since the first blow from the nerf bat with the removal of DM, except to aoe for others :/ wish I could have the time and creds back that went into him

On a positive note...

The new startup Cyberdeck (https://tl.aoitems.com/item/297665/) acting as a legit weapon dealing damage now seems to work pretty well in the startup zone.

The animation that it makes is a bit confusing, though. My character stood there for about 1 second, then made the casting animation for about another second, then stopped. Her hands didn't glow and there wasn't any type of projectile animation. I wasn't even sure it was hurting the mob at first.

My guess is that it isn't totally done yet, but glowing hands and an actual projectile would be nice.

I can get behind the idea of chucking out old buggy code, and I do really like the fact that the basic cyberdeck is now a ranged weapon like a pistol with no specials. Team warp sending people to their own capital is fair, even though I will miss the hilarity that otherwise ensued ina mixed team.

What I just cannot grasp the reason for is the NS changes. So you have 15 seconds in which you can do precisely jack and squat after a few of those seconds because your nano has been blasted down to 0 by the incoming damage. So the glass cannon prof gets to hop around like an idiot for the remaining 10 seconds completely unable to do anything - assuming you had enough HP in the first place to survive 30% incoming damage you can't do anything else about for 15 seconds. Then NS falls and your likely 0 nanopool is set to 0 - just in case a NoT tick had come in. NT with 0 nanopool is, well, dead.

Basically if you've had to press your NS buttons you have already lost the fight and you're just prolonging the reclaim.

I think the cyberdeck should work like..

You know the hedgehog SL Omni mobs?

the way they grab their arm like a shotgun and "shoot"

Like that.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ophiuchus

What I just cannot grasp the reason for is the NS changes. So you have 15 seconds in which you can do precisely jack and squat after a few of those seconds because your nano has been blasted down to 0 by the incoming damage. So the glass cannon prof gets to hop around like an idiot for the remaining 10 seconds completely unable to do anything - assuming you had enough HP in the first place to survive 30% incoming damage you can't do anything else about for 15 seconds. Then NS falls and your likely 0 nanopool is set to 0 - just in case a NoT tick had come in. NT with 0 nanopool is, well, dead.

Basically if you've had to press your NS buttons you have already lost the fight and you're just prolonging the reclaim.

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I spent last night gearing up a 220 NT on test, and I'm going to give NS2 it's fair try in PvM. IS, various Dyna's, etc. Basically, things i know my 218 NT on live would have a good fight against. Maybe some PVP, but i haven't really PVP'ed much on Live, so i don't really have anything to compare it to.

I already know how it's going to go, but I'll give it a try nonetheless.