Alacrity, Shield Block, and Defender Set bonus
Disclaimer: The ideas presented herein are not solely mine. They are thoughts and ideas germinated in conversations on Discord (plug) with both the community at large and Developer (@red) when I am able to get a hold of. Props to @Red in particular to entertain my sometimes off the wall ideas.
Alacrity's issues were already discussed in a previous post (See unnerf AR). To lessen its impact on the whole cooldown reduction (where currently I estimate it's worth 75+% while the actual stat that directly impact CD Ability Rate is the remaining 25-%) and preserve the randomness alacrity brings to the game, I think the proposed fix of making alacrity reduce cool down of a SINGLE ACTIVE SKILL each time it triggers is a fantastic start. With 3 active skill slots currently, this will effectively reduce alacrity impact on the whole cool down aspect from 75% to about 50%, or on par with AR itself. In the future, when we get our 4th skill or even 5th skill, AR will actually become more important than alacrity.
With this fix to alacrity, I don't think the nerf to AR (1500 AR does 50% CD vs 1000 AR does 50% CD in non beta) need to be kept.
Let's do the math on the BR skill that has caused so much grief with this proposed change in Alacrity in mind. 1500 effective AR, 8 attacks/s
BR has an unmodified CD of 33 secs (this is my best guess, it seems to vary slightly depending on AR).
Under old AR, BR has 11 sec CD, Under beta AR, BR has 16.5 sec CD
Alacrity triggers 2.4 times per sec based on 8 attacks/s. It produces a raw 4.8sec reduction. However since the fix has it reduce one of three skill slots at a time, BR on avg will see 4.8sec / 3 = 1.6sec CD reduction per sec.
Under old AR, that translates to 0.533 sec CD reduction per sec. Which means the actual CD for BR is 33 Unmodified, 11 after AR, 7.15 sec after alacrity.
Under beta AR, 1.6sec CD reduction per sec by Alacrity is actually 0.8sec CD reduction (50%). Which means the actual CD for BR is 33 Unmodified, 16.5 sec after AR, 9.15 sec after alacrity.
If Devs is aiming for BR to be up around 50% of the time given how powerful it is (40% dmg boost plus 20% LoH boost, 20% alacrity boost and 20% proc trigger increase), I think BR's CD needs to start at 40sec instead. This will translate into 20sec after AR, 11.1 sec after alacrity. Under old AR, that would be 13.333sec after AR, 8.65 sec after alacrity.
Let's leave the actual fine-tuning to the capable hands of the developers.
Shield Block is still an underused skill because its utility is less than the skill that competes with it for skill slot (shockwave). It requires significant gear investment (6 piece defender set) to maximize effectiveness. Yet even when done properly, it doesn't seem competitive with the more typical BR, SW, DT build at high trial levels. Just need to take a gander at the top of the warrior leader board for confirmation.
Devs are wary to up DT damage or the proc DT ranking as a solution for fear of making it OP. I propose that we add some additional, non dps focused benefits to shield block. The fantasy archetype of a shield warrior using shield block (rather sad that the one skill that most exemplifies the build is the one being discarded for lack of utility) is the stout defender who can stand there and take a pounding while giving some back.
Let's add the old defender 6piece set bonus 700hp on block to shield block. This will further enhance a SB using shield warrior's tanking ability, setting it apart for those that wants it. Let's also add an on block trigger for alacrity to shield block. This will shave a few precious secs as the warrior is there taking a pounding and be able to get that next DT out just a little quicker.
Shield Block skill benefit while active:
2400 block value
Rank 1 DT proc once per 6 secs
15% chance to get healed for 700 Hp after blocking
10% chance to trigger alacrity after blocking, internally capped at 4 triggers per sec.
This naturally leads to the boost for defender set 6 piece bonus:
Improve Shield Block skill:
Lasts 2 secs longer
Rank 1 DT proc once every 4 secs
25% chance to get healed for 700 hp after blocking
20% chance to trigger alacrity after blocking, internally capped at 4 triggers per sec
There you go, for those defensive minded and skill spamming aficionado, I present to you Shield Blocking shield warrior 2.0 decked out in the full Defender Set.
Alacrity's issues were already discussed in a previous post (See unnerf AR). To lessen its impact on the whole cooldown reduction (where currently I estimate it's worth 75+% while the actual stat that directly impact CD Ability Rate is the remaining 25-%) and preserve the randomness alacrity brings to the game, I think the proposed fix of making alacrity reduce cool down of a SINGLE ACTIVE SKILL each time it triggers is a fantastic start. With 3 active skill slots currently, this will effectively reduce alacrity impact on the whole cool down aspect from 75% to about 50%, or on par with AR itself. In the future, when we get our 4th skill or even 5th skill, AR will actually become more important than alacrity.
With this fix to alacrity, I don't think the nerf to AR (1500 AR does 50% CD vs 1000 AR does 50% CD in non beta) need to be kept.
Let's do the math on the BR skill that has caused so much grief with this proposed change in Alacrity in mind. 1500 effective AR, 8 attacks/s
BR has an unmodified CD of 33 secs (this is my best guess, it seems to vary slightly depending on AR).
Under old AR, BR has 11 sec CD, Under beta AR, BR has 16.5 sec CD
Alacrity triggers 2.4 times per sec based on 8 attacks/s. It produces a raw 4.8sec reduction. However since the fix has it reduce one of three skill slots at a time, BR on avg will see 4.8sec / 3 = 1.6sec CD reduction per sec.
Under old AR, that translates to 0.533 sec CD reduction per sec. Which means the actual CD for BR is 33 Unmodified, 11 after AR, 7.15 sec after alacrity.
Under beta AR, 1.6sec CD reduction per sec by Alacrity is actually 0.8sec CD reduction (50%). Which means the actual CD for BR is 33 Unmodified, 16.5 sec after AR, 9.15 sec after alacrity.
If Devs is aiming for BR to be up around 50% of the time given how powerful it is (40% dmg boost plus 20% LoH boost, 20% alacrity boost and 20% proc trigger increase), I think BR's CD needs to start at 40sec instead. This will translate into 20sec after AR, 11.1 sec after alacrity. Under old AR, that would be 13.333sec after AR, 8.65 sec after alacrity.
Let's leave the actual fine-tuning to the capable hands of the developers.
Shield Block is still an underused skill because its utility is less than the skill that competes with it for skill slot (shockwave). It requires significant gear investment (6 piece defender set) to maximize effectiveness. Yet even when done properly, it doesn't seem competitive with the more typical BR, SW, DT build at high trial levels. Just need to take a gander at the top of the warrior leader board for confirmation.
Devs are wary to up DT damage or the proc DT ranking as a solution for fear of making it OP. I propose that we add some additional, non dps focused benefits to shield block. The fantasy archetype of a shield warrior using shield block (rather sad that the one skill that most exemplifies the build is the one being discarded for lack of utility) is the stout defender who can stand there and take a pounding while giving some back.
Let's add the old defender 6piece set bonus 700hp on block to shield block. This will further enhance a SB using shield warrior's tanking ability, setting it apart for those that wants it. Let's also add an on block trigger for alacrity to shield block. This will shave a few precious secs as the warrior is there taking a pounding and be able to get that next DT out just a little quicker.
Shield Block skill benefit while active:
2400 block value
Rank 1 DT proc once per 6 secs
15% chance to get healed for 700 Hp after blocking
10% chance to trigger alacrity after blocking, internally capped at 4 triggers per sec.
This naturally leads to the boost for defender set 6 piece bonus:
Improve Shield Block skill:
Lasts 2 secs longer
Rank 1 DT proc once every 4 secs
25% chance to get healed for 700 hp after blocking
20% chance to trigger alacrity after blocking, internally capped at 4 triggers per sec
There you go, for those defensive minded and skill spamming aficionado, I present to you Shield Blocking shield warrior 2.0 decked out in the full Defender Set.