Question on cause of nanoskill debuff uselessness in PvM

[Xtremtech]

Just updating this with a few quotes from the Trader Bugs and Balance report. These are official FunCom communications made in mid-October of this year with regard to trader debuffs:

• "It was never our intention that skill drains would have an effect on the MOBs. These nanos are meant to counter the effects of wrangeling your team. We may look at the possibility of having the drains effect MOBs in the future."
  
  "Trader nanopool drains are not meant to shutdown MOBs from being able to cast nanos. They are meant to help the Trader recover from the large amounts of nanopool their nano formulas require. We are not looking into lowering the nanopools of MOBs."
  
  "Mobs still hit for the same and cast same nanos when they are debuffed by a trader.
  
  It was never our intention that skill drains would have an effect on the MOBs. These nanos are meant to counter the effects of wrangeling your team. We may look 1at the possibility of having the drains effect MOBs in the future."

While these are trader specific, they do give some insight into the intentions of FC regarding debuffs in PvM. As far as I'm aware the only debuffs that now work effectively in PvM are Init Debuffs and Runspeed Debuffs (snares). Damage debuffs are generally seen as working - but ineffective due to the very low values that they debuff at higher levels.

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[Xtremtech]

And here's a quote from the MP Bugs and Balance Report of the same time:

• Question
  Skills Debuffing: Skills debuffs seem to have very little effect in PvM. There have been many reported cases of Mobs continuing to cast after successful casting of Nano Shutdown. For MP's this renders a large portion of our potential arsenal ineffective in PvM. Tie this to the taunt factor of the debuff and many MPs find the risk/effect balance to be completely out of kilter.
  
  FunCom Official Response
  Although we are looking into the debuffing of MOBs (to see if they are changing damage/initiative enough after being debuffed) it is unlikely they will be totally affected by Nano Shutdown. Nano Shutdown is orientated more towards PvP, where other debuffs can be used equally as well in PvP and PvM. The reason for this is the very powerful nature of Nano Shutdown and the issues it can cause in PvE that would make it unbalancing. But, let me know what you think. Is there a way for this to exist responsibly in PvE?

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