Wait.. are we supposed to feel sorry for you that a fight you're in might have to last longer than 2 minutes for you to win?

Against the high-tier combatants, it's quite hard to survive 2 minutes. In fact, it takes them way less to dispose of a lil' ole' mage.

Is that why we hear about Narsrim and the other top tier fighters going for almost an hour?

If you want to last against a top tier fighter, you have to BE a top tier fighter. Its a stupid argument to say "Well, I can't kill a top tier fighter with this skill, so pity me!" and the reason for not being able to kill them is only that you don't have the skill to last long enough.

You should have no problem killing anyone your own skill level with burst as it is now. And that, in my opinion, makes it a useful skill. Its when you can only kill people crappier than you with it that you should complain--not when the top tier fighters don't die to it. There is a reason they are deemed the "Top Tier"

Illusions and Demesne effects, stop talking as if Psionics is all you Mage have for fighting, you have two other skillsets with a ton of passive effects, I don't see why you are thinking all you have going against an opponent is your Psionic abilities.

Mederrach-

Your calculations look good but I don't see what the problem that you're trying to convey here. If you perform the exact same calculation but instead got 4 bursts in a row with 3 vessels each you're looking at 12 burst vessels within less than 23 seconds.

3/4t = t/4.5 + 12
t = 22.74

43 seconds is extremely short period of time as you stated, and 108 isn't all that long, merely over a minute and a half. I'm sure it disappoints you that you can't kill your enemies within less than 45 seconds anymore, but combat is supposed to be balanced. With Hearburst there is a chance, regardless of how small it is, of being able to kill someone in less than 25 seconds. If you think that is remotely fair then I don't see any more points in discussing this.

P.S.- Let's not forget there is almost nothing that prevents Psionic abilities as it bypasses all magical barriers and the Mage can do it in virtually any state except sleeping or stunned.

As I said, the chances of 3 vessels being burst 4 times in a row is less than 2%. As for 108 seconds, I'll make do, and I'll still kill. However, a 250% nerf, I feel, is just a tad much. It's like nerfing, say, wounding to take two and a half times longer to inflict the same number of wounds. I'm sure there'd be an uproar then!

With proper parrying/stancing and hindering you could completely negate a warrior's offense. There is virtually nothing you can do to deter Psionic attacks, I honestly don't see why you are even comparing the two.

Sorry about the ignorance here... if you sip healing to cure burst vessels, does it interfere at all with the amount of actual health healed?

Do you know how lame that argument is?

It was too fast. Everyone knew it. When you're dealing with such small increments of numbers, an increase of 1 is going to be big %-wise, but at the same time, its not in reaity.

108 seconds is NOT that much longer than 43 seconds. Stop acting as if 250% means ANYTHING when you're dealing with such small times.

Also, it isn't a 250% increase, its a 150% increase.

I mean, if you could use a skill once-per-hour, and they changed it to once every 2 and a half, that would be something. But when you're dealing with seconds.. precenteges are decieving and meaningless.

No, it doesn't.

My bad, a 150% increase, 250% the original time. Two and a half times longer.

43 seconds was definitely too fast, but the question is, is 108 seconds just right? Only time will tell.

99% of the time I'm outside my demesne. I don't use them that often. Even when I do, they really don't add that much as they don't hinder any healing.

Illusions.. I don't use them often personally, but they can be effective for throwing off systems. Mederrach, Murphy, and others use them quite effectively.

You deserve to lose every fight you're involved in, Forren.

"Yeah, I don't use most of my primary skillset, since it doesn't mindlessly win me fights. I really don't use my main secondary skill either, but I know it has lots of potential."



Wow. Just wow.

Mages and druids are properly balanced considering the availability of a fully timed demesne. The extra time it takes to prepare for even 1-on-1 PvP is offset by the fact that it can affect a larger group.

Who the hell cares about vessels, you dont need them to kill people. I'm just glad they didn't nerf Forcefield

Play a demesne-owning archtype for a fair amount of time, and try real combat with it.

Then let's see if you'll say the same thing.

Until then, you really don't understand the dynamics of it.

Hi. Blacktalon champion. And you are?

No, it does not interfere with a person's normal healing. So you can heal health damage and a burst vessel with one sip. The case should be the same with Sparkleberry too.

There are multiple ways to use telekinesis to aid in killing someone. Even with the decreased effectiveness of burst vessels, a telekinetic mage is still very potent in and out of his/her demesne.

I guess this goes back to my statement at the envoy summit. People seem to have this desire to have abilities that allow them to win no matter how well the target mounts his/her defense. My view on it is that if two people of equal combat savvy and equal skill levels fight, the outcome should be determined by who made the most mistakes. Having skills that allow you to kill anyone not matter how skilled you personally are or how much greater the skill your opponent has amounts to having an "I win button" in my opinion.

I'm Mederrach.

Blacktalon doesn't count.

You can ONLY kill with Sap anyways, so, you have no choice BUT to use your wyrd.

Blacktalon combat: *sap sap sap*

Wow, that's a little harsh.

Of course I use the skillsets. However, there's a time and place for it. Let's say we're camping on earth plane for combat. No demesne (can't flood). Just waiting to have a little group on group action. I can't even make a demesne there. If I am jumping someone randomly, I can't make a demesne really. I have to attack them on the fly. Usually I use demesnes in the arena and when defending Celestia and such.

I admit, I've been too lazy to write up illusions to use in combat. Would probably help. However, the rest of the illusions skillset doesn't help all that much in the type of combat I do.

Bottom line... mage combat is really different from what people expect. It's not mindless. It's not about overpowered skills. It's about choosing a strategy that works.

And Kharvik - of course you don't need heartburst, you can damage kill, you Demigod you!

Acrune and I were in a freeforall earlier. We're pretty evenly matched health wise and all. Without bursting, we could not damage kill each other. At all. So I heartstopped when I had around 5,000 willpower left.

I believe pyromancy has been released early. Brace yourselves.

That's not entirely true. If I'm picking off little people, cudgel and swoop make more sense.

For people my size, yes, I only seriously use sap, because that's my only serious option. Trust me, I would love to have more options. But I don't. Similarly, I don't gripe about it, and I don't gripe about the knowledge that sap's going to get downgraded as soon as a workable solution is proposed. Also, there are options for working in sap--while you're sapped, it's a serious test of your curing ability and my timing and affliction tracking. While I won't deny for one second that it's overpowered, a saplock ultimately comes down to who makes the most mistakes.

Compare this to heartburst (both your reaction to a needed change and the differences in implementation), and I think you'll understand why you're coming off as a little silly right now.