edited out

Going to have to look at how all of that works.

In the Aslaran example, I agree it is just bad coding. If you are not blacked out you should wait the .0000000001s for the prompt. I believe thats the only message you need to know it stopped it (the second line isnt mandatory and is in fact to give them a moment to mangle off of I think).

Bonedensity change was rejected remember

Wow, the Illuminati look like such an awesome class. The Transmology skillset really stands apart as something fresh. After reviewin the individual abilities through Xiel's website, it occurred to me that Transmology and Psychometabolism share one key gaming concept: transform the body through a selection of passive (and some active) abilities to custom mold a fighter with passive resistances and attack options. The main difference is that Trans's transformation comes from the outside (fleshpots) and Psymet from within (psionics).

Going back to an earlier post, I suggested moving the Double Pain skill down into psionics to address the gap of monk-friendly psionic abilities between capable and master ~AND~ introducing a new skill to integrate psionic-based damage to kata-based attacks (i.e. no kicks, grapples, or unarmed punches). See below for a recap:



Now, examine the Transmology ability of Gaunetlet:



I even believe that Gauntlets appears in a similar spot on the skill chain as Double Pain. Interesting that the Gauntlet skillset doesn't include a gauntlet for additional poison damage to parallel the set of damage type great runes of damage, or the lack of a psychic damage rune. I know someone previously commented that monks can always purchase these damage runes (and I believe guardians can't attach said runes to their "symbol" of power); however, I still believe this proposal is still viable based on the fact that another class as an ability similar to the one I want to propose and the lack of a psychic damage rune.

Recently skillflexed from psymet to acro to get a better grasp on balancing these guild skills. It was tough to leave a trans skillset, especially defensively speaking. Took some hard hits on the first few days of going acro (which was discouraging), but not my acro skill is at a respectable level... and I am dodging by a fair amount.

All this time I anticipated contort and hyperactive/tripleflash to be the bees knees of the acro skillset. Never realized how awesome just how strong the dodge ability is. Sure, I get hit harder as an acro... but I get hit less. Avoiding incoming attacks also means I sidestep some afflictions. At least for PVE (not entirely sure about PVE).

All this time I thought that improving the psymet skillset was all about fixing skills that never really worked as they should (i.e. shift). Now I realize the disparity between acro and psymet is all about how each handles afflictions. Sure, you could give psymet some more passive resists (like another bone density skill), but that is rather unoriginal.

Rather, I'd like to see the addition of a passive channel locked ability to handle afflictions. Researched psymet some from a D&D perspective. Check out http://wiki.avlis.org/Psychometabolism which is among donzens of websites out there. Also looked toward the athletics, harmonics, and transmology skillsets to see what I could pickup.



Not sure how this one works actually. Rather, I propose a psymet monk channel lock ability called that would passively cure one affliction every 20 seconds (like allheale). There would be a slight ego drain to upkeep, and each successful heal would sap a fixed amount of willpower. The ego drain upkeep would be balanced against ego regeneration through either ironwill or beauty enchantment. Could regain ego through use of introspection (or Harmony skills I suppose). Unlike harmonic emerald, this would only heal the afflictions of the psymet him/herself.

Based on Malarious' last post, thought I would refine the SHIFT idea and cross, cross my fingers that I can persuade someone to put this through an envoy report.



Main problem is that I've only encountered one wooden door in the entire game in the area of Duum. Nothing else. Of course there are some doors in manses that are wooden, also some other wooden doors within villages, but otherwise the skill is unused. Completely unused. Therefore, it stands that the skill needs to be "fixxed".

Prior to the changes in shopkeeping, a reinforced door and several runes were the only way to keep unwanteds from robbing the storeroom. With the recent changes to include a shopkeeping list, these precautions are largely unnecessary (namely the reinforced door). I say one option would be to widen the scope of the skill to also include the ability to pass through reinforced metal doors, but skill usage could still be blocked with the eye sigil.

Secondly, there was mention of widening the scope of Shift to deal with entangles. Both the acrobatics and harmony skillsets provide some relief against entangle. Consider the following options available:

HARMONY ACRO MONK
-- Akoosh (move when bound)
-- Akchu (resist entangle)
-- Contort (1s escape entangle)
-- Writhe (3s escape entangle)

HARMONY PSYMET MONK
-- Akoosh (move when bound)
-- Akchu (resist entangle)
-- Writhe (3s escape entangle)

STEALTH ACRO MONK
-- Contort (1s escape entangle)
-- Writhe (1.5s 3s escape entangle)

STEALTH PSYMET MONK
-- Writhe (1.5s 3s escape entangle)

Both the stealth and psychometabolism skillsets don't provide entangle relief, where harmony acrobatic monks have the most amount of options. Nontheless, many combatants will state that acrobatic contort is the main reason why they don't seriously take up psychometabolism. I suggest that Shift become a locked ability.

SHIFT will still consume a 3s balance time to actively move past icewalls and wooden doors. This keeps balance time in line with evade, somersault, handspring, etc. SHIFT on it's own would be widened to allow the psymet to escape an entangle; balance time should be the middle ground between contort and writhe. Whether shifting in a direction, or to escape an entangle, the skill should consume ego upon usage.


-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

So, the three possible proposals for change to the skill include:

A ) Keep SHFT as-is, though allow psymets to pass through wooden doors and reinforced metal doors

B ) SHIFT becomes a channel lock defense. SHIFT passes through wooden doors and icewalls with a 3 second balance loss. SHIFT alone will enact a "writhe" whose balance time is the middle ground between contort and writhe that regains balance and escapes entangle at 2s.

C ) SHIFT becomes a channel lock defense. SHIFT passes through wooden doors, reinforced doors, and icewalls with a 3 second balance loss. SHIFT alone will enact a "writhe" whose balance time is the middle ground between contort and writhe that regains balance and escapes entangle at 2s. (combination of option A and B ).



EDIT: made some corrections. First, writhe regains balance in about 1+s, but takes 3s to escape entanglement. I believe contort is 1+s balance AND escape entanglement.

Every door in a village is pine, for starters. Reinforced doors are meant to be unpassable, that's the entire point of them. That's why they're used to gate quests and such.

I dunno, you give psymet contort or something, then what's the point in taking acro?

Also raises two questions... Why do you have stealth psymet writhe listed as 1.5 seconds, instead of 3? And shift doesn't work on ice walls?

I think it even works on stonewalls. So it's an awful version of leap that takes a much worse balance and can't avoid blockers or some other stuff leap does.

OH?



EEP! Yeah. This is my point.



Alright. . . how about wooden and metal doors (baring reinforced doors).

OOPS. My bad. I did have writhe as a 3s action. . . though a last minute clarification through a clan channel had me change the balance time (missed the one). Can anyone clarify the average balance times on writhe and contrort?

My point was to give psymet some advantage. . . but not a clear advantage over acro. FOR EXAMPLE, (hypothetically speaking) give psymet shift a 2s balance loss writhe was a 3s balance loss, and acro contort was 1s balance loss. Under my proposal, you still have to lock a channel (thereby not being able to use another locked defense or active ability) and it still isn't as fast as acro contort. People will still go acro for a faster contort AND hyperactive/tripleflash (especially balance bonus types, like aslaran and faeling).

The gates of Ankgrag, Southgard, and Rockholm are metal, yes. Check the doors in Delport, Stewartsville, Estelbar, Acknor, etc. The interior doors of the mining villages are probably wood too.

I don't know how much of an advantage it really is one way or the other, and I think shifting through anything that you can otherwise batter down is fine (i.e. non-reinforced).

Only found one door in Ankrag.



Meh. Agreed. Not sure how much (if any) of an advantage this gives; hence, why I am really advocating for option B. On a side note, I edited the Shift Envoy post based on all of the feedback provided.

I dunno, I always thought the main purpose was to shift through walls.

Stealth evade and harmony akoosh already have that covered. Not to mention acrobatic somersault works to that effect. If the purpose was to shift through walls (and by that, I only have icewalls in mind). . . well, that ability is well duplicated in other skillsets. As I've attempted to argue, shifting through wooden doors is meh.

I'd still go back to the main argument that stealth psymet monks have no treatment for entangle.

Does Psychometabolism outclass Acrobatics by a decent margin when it comes to bashing?

Not really. It's a bit more of a race in bashing, but I think acro still wins out.

So the Acro dodging is better even than elemental resistances and regen? Wow.

Acro dodging is probably a bit OP.

So for an illithoid monk who wants to someday bash the Undervault, Acro is still the better bet. Gotcha.

Yes and no. In a nutshell, psychometabolism is mostly about the passive defenses you can setup prior to bashing/combat. Let's see what defenses I have running at this particular moment:



From my count, there is 20 psychic, 42 physical, and 25 elemental (which can be stacked with another 20 from psionic biofeedback). Psymet bashing is greatly enhanced through the passive stacking of DMP, or Damage Modification Points (HELP DMP). Couple that with a slight health regeneration, broken bone resistance, greatly diminished bleeding, and strength bonus.

Acrobatics gives far, far less passive resistances: just a slight one to prone, 20 DMP to physical, 10 DMP to asphyxiation, slight dex bonus, and quicker movement. Dodge is their alternative to the psymet's stacked DMP. Acro dodge allows you to sidestep incoming attacks (also sidestepping damage and afflictions). Sure, you get hit harder, but also get hit less. Some will say springup is meh; contortion is where acro's really shine.

So, what's better? Psymet excels when the mobs do heavy physical and/or magical damage (i.e. gorgogs). Acro excels with mobs that prone, entangle, and hinder through afflictions (i.e. UV).