Astrology.

Here we have a skillset that is based almost entirely around buffs and debuffs that are more or less random from day to day. Now with the changes regarding stat weighting as well as Astrology not stacking with other buffs, what remains in this skillset as useful? Nothing really. You can get all the beneficial buffs from another Astrologer, and don't actually have to be one yourself, so why take it? You can put a negative sphere on an enemy, potentially costing you power, only to have it not actually even reduce a stat point, due to weighting. Or maybe instead, due to alignment, you can decrease their resistance to a damage type that you can't even do.

The planet ray afflictions you can give to a foe are random from person to person, and there is not a large variety, and due to their only being 5 per person (four really, since ego/mana/health reduction aren't cureable) there isn't really any meaningful combinations.

In addition to the Spheres and Planet rays, you have Sign rays. They are nice in theory, but here is the annoying aspect: You spend all this time learning new abilities... however at any given point in time, at least 6 of the 12 sign rays do absolutely nothing, and up to 11 of the 12 sign rays do nothing at other times. Yay? Also they tease us with mention of the Syzygy in the AB help files, but I was dismayed to learn that it happens once every 8 and a half real life years, and it has already passed.

You have a transcendent ability that gives 2 afflictions for 5 power (unless there is a Sign that has two planets in it, and one is in retrograde, I'd say about once every 1-2 weeks you get 3 afflictions out of the deal, and you can't even choose what). None of the afflictions are masked in the entire skillset.

The entire skillset is extremely limited in the afflictions it can give, and the buffs/debuffs seem to have been the greatest draw, despite them being entirely random. However now they may have absolutely no effect at all, and you can already get positive spheres from another Astrologer. Why take it? Why take a skillset that is based entirely on buffs/debuffs that the majority of now have no effect most of the time?


What should be done with this skillset?

I should post a log of a spar, showing how pointless it is to be alternating between dizziness, pox, and love, and asthma, because that's all the afflictions you can give... basically means you rely entirely on your other skillsets.

Let's fix runes first, eh? The transcendent skill allows you to hit with two unmasked afflictions at once, omgnerf.

Hey! Sounds like astrology! Only ours costs 5 power. And you can't choose what it is! OMGNERF!

Not to mention, Runes at least has better synergy with Demesnes of all types, versus Astrology combined with Moondancers/Shadowdancers/Celestians/Nihilists.

Runes also has at least a wide variety of afflictions, most of them useful.

Why not just kinda scrap runes all together and turn it into archery.

Because archery is boring. Though it would be very interesting to see archery as a mage skill and not a warrior one. Hrrm...

The thread isn't about runes/archery/mages. And you seemed to have missed where I said the transcendent astrology ability is a worse version of the transcendent runes ability.

The only reason I'm astrology right now is for Astrosense since I don't feel like wasting enchants. I'm also not active in raiding or a war, just sparring and such, so it doesn't really matter. Though if I do jump back into combat I'll drop Astrology for Hexes (Hell, even Healing is better for offensive combat, and you get all that instant curing too...)

I can see druids arching, I can't see mages doing it. Especially not those freaky Merian.

And while I agree with you, why are you complaining? You owned when you had Healing, somehow.

I've never had healing. Ever. Hexes from day one. Even before they buffed it with Hexaura/Hexsense/Whammy/Doublewhammy. Hexes wasn't particularly much of a skillset either without those abilities, but it still worked well enough.

I was the one who suggested Hexsense and the blackout on afflict of vapors though and a few other miscellaneous changes... Hexaura and Whammy/Doublewhammy was entirely their idea however.

Am I mixing up you and Narsrim again, or am I totally imagining things?

Narsrim owned with Healing as a Pre-nerf Dwarf.

Yes.

And Narsrim eventually picked up Hexes, once people learned how to cure (they had some trouble curing one affliction every 12 seconds from the crone apparently back then).

I thought positive spheres had a greater effect on yourself than others?

Its not supposed to be an amazingly powerful offensive skillset, I don't really think its that bad given the variety of buffs you can gain... the aapek or whatever it is that often gives aeon is also pretty nifty.

No, they only have double duration, the effect is identical. Otherwise that would have been godly before, I don't need afflictions to go mugwump and +4 int myself.

I do agree though, I've just come to accept that the rays are supposed to be for team combat or some other use I'm missing (and the faster aeon is still nice when someone can have it used on them), and not ALL the spheres are stat buffs (my physical damage resistance, when it's available, is still fine) so whatever.

Astrosense is nice too, muaha.

I always thought astrology was somewhat about preparation... you'd have the astrological maps of whomever you're fighting beforehand, and you'd know what's effective.

Yea, but it isn't effective either way.

I think astrology needs a fix even before *gasp* warriors, or runes, or anything else, really.

Runes could be so cool if they fixed it up a little bit...

Honestly, Astrology has always seemed like a gimmick to me. Too luck based for my liking.

Runes > Astrology.

Astrology is really, really hard to use effectively, because there's a 2/3 chance (at a guess, can't be bothered to look through) that what you'll be able to do will either have no synergy with itself or with the rest of the skillset, and will just be throwing random afflictions at them. Outside of the rought time of the syzygy, I've used the stellium skill once (at least to any effect), the rays I've only used effectively to aeon someone, or do stupidity, and the offsensive capabilities of the spheres have just been majorly nerfed. Preparation won't help when there's no effective way to use what you have to hand.

If you think Astrology is bad now, you should have seen it before the Envoy changes. Sensitivity was Ignite and Reckless was Justice. And Stellium, the trans skill, needed 3P and the only use for it was when papaxi or some other useless planets were in the same sign as aapek, so you Stellium to make sure aapek hit.

My suggestion for Constellation was that all planets from two spheres, regardless of retrograde or not, would hit together, hence, justifying the 5p cost. As it is, the best possible combination for 5p is Aeon/Stupidity, and only if you are very lucky.

The other problem with Astrology is the third affliction for Aapek. When you can't give Aeon, or even Anorexia, you get Pox. Effectively making the whole skillset pointless during those times. Then there are the changes to buffs.

I must say Astrosense and Astroglide (for wiccans) are nice though.

Runes needs a lot of work. Honestly, it needs a full revamp.

It needs to give benefits to the user (I mean, if you can force the rune's meaning on an enemy, why can't you bring them onto yourself? And not all runes are bad)

Also, it needs to be different (just the rune names) for Mages and Druids. Druids should get runes based on the real Druidic Ogham, which is the drawing of tree branches with various number/direction of shoots... and it just fits. While Mages would keep the current nordic rune set.

And if some of the crap afflictions were gotten rid of and replaced with things a bit more synergetic, that'd be great too.