Friday with Means - Light at the end of the tunnel - February 26th, 2010
With a few bad weeks behind us...and the entire team slowly returning from the grips of another bout of seasonal plague...it is great to see some light at the end of the tunnel :) (See image below!)
Progress this week has included really getting close to the finish line with transfer for the German dimension, further light implementation in the new engine, more polish applied to the daily missions (new version coming to TestLive today...assuming no disasters), and a first look at our intention "in general terms" for the hated "nemesis nanos"...with the first two to be adjusted coming to TestLive in today's version: GTH and Borrow Reflect.
The general strategy going forward for work to be done on the Nemesis Nanos is a simple one. The nanos are currently either of little use...or generally an overly effective tool against one profession. It is the intention that all of these nanos will be redesigned to be usefull against ALL professions (perhaps more effective on some than others due to the nature of professions) but NOT an overpowering factor in the outcome between profession X and Y.
Borrow Reflect:
This nano in its current state simply removes the reflect (entire defense) of the soldier and enables God-Mode for the Trader for 30 seconds (100% reflect.)
The adjusted version of this nano going to TestLive today has been altered in a few ways:
1. This nano is now usable on ANY profession who currently has more than 24 ReflectMeleeAC at the current moment. (Has reflect to "borrow")
2. The Debuff component of this nano is now -30 to all Reflect types. The Duration is now also reduced to 15 seconds. Significant...but not the complete removal of a professions defense that it was before.
3. The Buff component of the nano now grants +30 to all reflect types to the Trader for a period of 60 seconds. Again...significant and nice to have...but not the god mode the previous encounter offered. With the opening up for more professions this should be generally more usefull and less situational.
Grand Theft Humidity:
Current Live versio of this nano has the victim stripped of all nano (multiple times) for an extended period of 60 seconds. This nano can be cast repeatedly without respite for the victim. This nano ends if the Trader dies as the "Buff" and the "Debuff" are linked.
The adjusted version of this nano going to TestLive today has been altered in a few ways:
1. The victim (regardless of profession) will now be drained of 15%/second of their total Nanopool for a duration of 15 seconds.
2. The Trader will regain 10%/second of their nanopool for the 15 seconds of the duration of the effect.
3. Casting this nano will be subject to a 60 second local cooldown preventing this nano from being repeatedly cast.
4. The debuff component of this nano will stop if the Trader dies during the altercation.
These are first steps in making these nanos again more generally usefull without making them the most important aspects of combat. I look forward to sharing the progress on other members of the "nemesis nano" group as they become available. These two nanos in particular seemed to be a good place to start as they have generated the most heated conversations in this area...and were clearly an area that needed focus to restore the "fun" to certain areas of PvP content. Thank you to all who offered their views on how these nanos should be adjusted to restore overall balance in this area. While I don't expect everyone to agree with the exact direction we have taken with these I hope everyone can at least agree with the general "feel" we are going for.
Have a great weekend! I'm looking forward to seeing some of our German players on RK1 and RK2 early next week :)
