Well, I've been worried about this for a while, but as there haven't been any great numbers of Dreamweavers it hasn't been an issue. Even now that there are more and more popping up, the strategy hasn't been used yet, but I'd like to canvas some ideas before it becomes a problem.

Currently, a single dreamweaver really isn't that dangerous if you are prepared and know what you are doing. They're hard to kill defensively, but that goes together with their difficulty in killing others.

However, let's fast-forward to a time when it will be possible for Seren/Celest or Mag/Glom to combine dreamweaver forces and send out teams of say, 4 or 5 weavers. I can envision this as being a big problem. If each one was to deepsleep once, most people are instantly at exhaustion. Then they need only sap the person continuously of health (with that many easily overwhelming sipping), and eventually they will be close enough for a single nightmare to go through when they fall asleep. Shield will not affect this, metawake can be taken down by multiple channeling if necessary, and the ability to combine slumbers/deepsleeps will nullify the kafe defence.

Now, like all things, teams are meant to be powerful. However, the distinction here is that dreamweaving teams can attack anyone who is standing outside their guildhall, even in home territory. This is particularly a problem in the Ethereal plane. They also cannot effectively be harmed even while raiding, and unlike a single dreamweaver, in this case their ability to kill is significant.

So... my question to everyone is - what is the solution? Am I exaggerating the potential might dreamweavers could have? Or is there a way of changing the skill so that dreamweaver teams aren't as deadly - without obliterating the effectiveness of single dreamweavers?

Hmm... you can only attack if you link to somebody, and only one dreamweaver can link? (The follow thing)

That's a good idea.

The only problem I could see is that it would make using dreamform in face-to-face combat much, much harder. That's not too bad, though.

It would also mean shielding makes you immune to dreamweavers, completely.

Go in the trees *sagenod*

That's not enough of a defence against DW teams, in my opinion. Aside from cities not having access to it, it is also easy to link to someone and follow into trees.

Can you communicate to other dreamweavers while in dreamform? I thought not.. if that is the case, then coordinating a team is going to be damn hard. Which of course means that they'll communicate across AIM which will throw up some difficult issues.

I'm growing irritated with the number of causeless attacks on ANYONE at the Megalith. There are a number of scrofulous low-level Aquamancers who find that sort of thing amusing.. I'd like there to be some sort of Nexus power that causes Dreamweavers to Coallesce.. or perhaps a guard who will attack if a dreamweaver performs a hostile action within range.. I dunno. Maybe a guard that can attack dreamweavers if ordered to... so that we'd still have to CHOCKMAH to find the bastard's name first. Trouble is.. it would be so easy to nerf dreamweaving and that would be bad.

Aye, you can speak normally in dreamform and any other phased people in the same room will hear you. You can't tell, however, or even receive tells.

I'd personally find forced coalescing/guards/etc would be pretty devastating on the skillset, and if dreamform becomes much more pointless, I'll be switching to the superior tertiary skills. (That would be Ecology and Psionics for Druids/Mages, clearly better offensively, defensively and utility-wise than Runes/Weaving.)

It's just teaming that I would find a problem, but admittedly we haven't had too many successful dreamweaving raids in Serenwilde yet (aside from the odd idiot who wants to steal from some random lowbie).

Maybe make a nexus ability which creates a ripple of energy which, reveals any dreamweavers in the area of the nexus for a short period of time, as in like proper bodies, like being able to be attacked by guards, for like 5 seconds or so, with a decent power cost?

Well, you might as well call it the Ripple of Instadeath.

It just reveals you, you still have time to go O dear time to run. Remember dreamweavings ment to be sneaky you get in and get the kill before anyone notices who is really there. If people know a dreamweaver is comming they should have no problem fighting it off.

Sounds like a venegence bomb-ish attack combo.

i want achaean necromancy in lusternia.

Mass group vengeance bombs set off by thunderclap, WOOO with lichdom would be delightful

Meh vengeance bombs dont hurt anymore, they did about 400 damage to me last I looked.

Do really have any kamikaze type skills here?

Some would argue trans druidry/-mancy are kamikaze cause if they don't kill, you are likely hosed.

Well, if you did that, you would have to move link to, for all intensive purposes, a starting skill, seeing as it would make the whole dreamwalking aspect of it pointless to someone who hasn't learned a lot of dreamweaving...

Aye.

My preference would be to redo a few dreamweaving skills so it isn't quite as offensive, even in teams, but I know that isn't going to happen.

I'm up to epilepsy in dreamweaving and it is close to impossible for me to do any real damage in dreamform, why? Because you can't puncture in dreamform, everyone has insomnia, and no one sleeps outside of a guildhouse. Nerfing dreamweaving in any way really makes it kind of pointless, of course I can see where your coming from but do you know how many weavers have deepsleep? Not a whole lot. Also how much damage does nightmare actually do?

So....is sap/the manadrainthing percentual based off of the attacker?

And I nearly only use motes in dreamweaving...I only go into Dreamform if another 'weaver attacks, everything else is pretty pointless for me. Wait, Deepsleep is neat, and the only other ability I normaly use in fights. Even though it's hard on my power and all, but after 5 deepsleeps, most people die...

ZOMG NERF DREAMWEAVING!!!!!

We were talking about dreamweaving, right?