Welcome to the Wizard101 Message Boards


Player Guide
Fansites
News
Game Updates
Help

Follow important game updates on Twitter @Wizard101 and @KI_Alerts, and Facebook!

For all account questions and concerns, contact Customer Support.

By posting on the Wizard101 Message Boards you agree to the Code of Conduct.

Lightning and Fire Wizard Issue

AuthorMessage
Defender
Mar 01, 2009
145
RoloX2 wrote:
LetterBee wrote:
i am a grandmaster pyromncer storm being my second
...
i also dont like that ice people have ice armor and tower shield but all fire has is the glacical shield that -70% ice and storm attacks

Then why did you pick Storm spells rather than Ice/Tower Shield? You chose all the highest offensive skills and therefore lack defense...the, "Kill them before they kill me" strategy.

seekanddestroy wrote:
i agree completely. why does a school with the most life need so many defenses?

Because it is a Tank; it is defensive in its posture.

What I don't understand is why so many people pick a school and then complain about it and laud other schools?

If you want robust defenses, pick Ice! If you don't want to be squishy, don't pick Storm or Fire! If you hate volatility, don't pick Storm!
Don't look at one thing (damage values) and pick your school on it, ignoring everything else; don't blame KI for your myopia.

at the time i never really cared what i learned but i didnt want to learn ice beetle at the time so i chose storm is that a good enough answer for you?

and were we supposed to know that fire and storm had high damaging spells low health and bad accuracy when we took that test in the beginning to see what school we were going to be? cause i didnt

Survivor
May 13, 2009
8
That's exactly what keeps happening to me!! I was playing PVP against like a level 11, and I'm level 18 and that person nearly wiped me out just because the very powerful spell kept fizzling. :(

Survivor
May 18, 2009
7
Why use fizzle rate to balance content, when this kind of mechanic is inherently irritating? Wins and Losses should be based on our decisions, not some random factor beyond our control.

The challenge should be about what spell you use and when and the ability to strategically counter-spell.

Even the hardcore developers who made EverQuest ended up changing their fizzle formula after people got sick and tired of the game revovling around it.

Fizzle rates are no different than crowd control spells. No one and I mean no one likes game mechanics that force you to lose control of your character or that remove or reduce your ability to control the flow of combat. It doesn't matter if the developers or hardcore players think it's balanced, because fun should always come first and frustration isn't something you should want in a game. Fizzle mechanics flat out are a bad way to add challenge, because they are frustrating more than anything else.

If you want challenge, then find a better way to implement it instead of using cheap tricks and labeling it as a challenge.

Defender
May 15, 2009
193
Zathrus wrote:
The other unjust thing is the fact that stormblade is 30% while other schools have higher bonuses. The less damage your school does in an attack, the better your stormblade bonus, which cancels out the extra damage storm does to supposedly compensate for the high fizzle rate. So storm is left with 30% fizzle and 30% stormblade.

Good grief I posted a spreadsheet right on topic and people ignore it.

You are incorrect, Zathrus.

Accuracy is accounted for and calculated in all values.

See right next to "Accuracy" where it says "Blade" and "Trap"? Take a guess what they do. If you said "They are there to be calculated in all damage values." then you got it.

Had you examined the numbers you would see that Storm and Fire out-damage everyone else significantly...and that--posting heresy that is--is what is unjust.


Everyone complaining is making assumptions about facts that are readily available for scrutiny. I know the pasted numbers aren't pretty but anyone can go to openoffice.org and install the spreadsheet and run the numbers yourself. Put the drama away and investigate...have a healthy curiosity...master your school. Whining to KI to fix an 'issue' you've failed to identify isn't going to accomplish anything. Less id/ego, more superego!


Defender
May 15, 2009
193
LetterBee wrote:

at the time i never really cared what i learned but i didnt want to learn ice beetle at the time so i chose storm is that a good enough answer for you?

Awww...what did the Ice Beetle ever do to you?

Except for Tower Shield, I would recommend training Ice spells.

I don't know any game I haven't played where I haven't re-spec'd, retrained, revamped the character because you don't really begin with enough information; however, you learn more as you go and you can retrain in W101, you aren't stuck with your choices. Also, you don't have to use your points when you earn them. My Death wizard has all his training points unused still (I don't have a need for non-death skills yet).

LetterBee wrote:

and were we supposed to know that fire and storm had high damaging spells low health and bad accuracy when we took that test in the beginning to see what school we were going to be? cause i didnt

My test suggested Fire also; I picked Storm. It seems like the test suggests Fire often (not implying anything, just an observation) but it didn't suggest how to use your training points. Why did you opt to train in Storm spells?


Defender
May 15, 2009
193
Vrazule wrote:
Why use fizzle rate to balance content, when this kind of mechanic is inherently irritating?

Because the game would be incredibly dull otherwise, both due to its predictability and to the lack of variety in classes.

I doubt most would agree that fizzles are "irritating". (I don't and, yes, I play Storm.)

Vrazule wrote:
Wins and Losses should be based on our decisions, not some random factor beyond our control.

It isn't a random factor, it is probabilities. These probabilities aren't hidden either, they are right on the card.

Drawing cards from a deck is also factors of probabilities (potentially mislableled as 'random'). Your logic would also dictate </raise Spock eyebrow> playing from the entire deck at once rather than drawing cards since that is 'random'.

How we deal with these probabilities is completely within our control and is a measure of our skill; the problem is, players whining about fizzles do not deal with the inevitable and fail as a result. Failure should prompt troubleshooting/self-diagnosis/seeking improvement, but instead, it drives scapegoating, such as blaming KI for one's own poor choices.

If you are using spells with a 30% probability to fail, you have to account for that. This is risk management versus gambling. If you bank on your one skill to succeed to win the battle and it fizzles, you didn't lose because of some random event or because you fizzled, you lost due to poor skill and failure to have a Plan B. "You gotta always have a Plan B." (Capt. Dylan Hunt, Andromeda)

"Do I cast Storm Shark or Pixie?" I would wager that many fights were lost because the more effective/less glorified Pixie was passed over for the more gratifying Storm Shark. *FIZZLE* You're defeated. (But you wouldn't have lost if you healed first, living to fight another round: Pixie-Storm Shark-*FIZZLE*-get-another-pip-Kraken-win. I like hearing the Storm Shark's *crunch*, but the Kraken just never gets old.)

Your wins and losses are based on your decisions: your choice in school, your training point choices, your deck composition, and finally, what you choose to play and when you play it. Decisions would be easy if there weren't contingencies prompted by 'random' events; if that 'randomness' were removed, everything would be predictable and choices would be 'no-brainers', effectively removing the decision-making process, removing skill, which, ironically, would have the opposite effect you were after.


Defender
May 15, 2009
193
Vrazule wrote:

Even the hardcore developers who made EverQuest ended up changing their fizzle formula after people got sick and tired of the game revovling around it.

EQ is a completely different dynamic with a far greater level of complexity. Being an EQ2 player, I can see how that would only annoy and not add any value to the game's dynamic.

Vrazule wrote:

Fizzle mechanics flat out are a bad way to add challenge, because they are frustrating more than anything else.

If you want challenge, then find a better way to implement it instead of using cheap tricks and labeling it as a challenge.

Again, I don't see them as frustrating and I would suggest that fizzles are the perfect thing for those who think they are: get accustomed to the idea that things don't always go your way and you can either whine about it and be the defeatist or you can adapt to the situation and conquer in spite of it; the choice is still yours.

Survivor
May 10, 2009
24
RoloX2 wrote:
Vrazule wrote:

Even the hardcore developers who made EverQuest ended up changing their fizzle formula after people got sick and tired of the game revovling around it.

EQ is a completely different dynamic with a far greater level of complexity. Being an EQ2 player, I can see how that would only annoy and not add any value to the game's dynamic.

Vrazule wrote:

Fizzle mechanics flat out are a bad way to add challenge, because they are frustrating more than anything else.

If you want challenge, then find a better way to implement it instead of using cheap tricks and labeling it as a challenge.

Again, I don't see them as frustrating and I would suggest that fizzles are the perfect thing for those who think they are: get accustomed to the idea that things don't always go your way and you can either whine about it and be the defeatist or you can adapt to the situation and conquer in spite of it; the choice is still yours.


From your posts I'm guessing you do not play a High level Fire or storm wizard and are just harping on anyone getting a accuracy boost. If you want to openly object to anything suggested that is your right, but you are harping on post that have valid points.

As it stands. Every class has a strong point and a weak point. If you look at the classes and break them down into weaknesses you will see that while most wizards (all but two) have 1 real strenght and 1 real weakness. Storm and fire are the ONLY schools who do not fit this profile. Storm and Fire wizards are the only schools who have 1 strength and 2 weaknesses

Balance- Average damage High survivability High Accuracy
Myth- Average damage High survival High accuracy
Life- Low damage High survival High accuracy
Death- Medium damage High survival high accuracy
Ice- Medium damage High Survival High accuracy
Storm- High damage Low survival Low accuracy
Fire- High damage low survival low accuracy

Notice a trend here?

The other schools are basically balanced on strenghts and weaknesses. These are just a basic run down of where they stand but it suffices to prove my point

All the schools have the ability to deal high damage with certain spell combinations, but I left those out of this. All the other schools have high survival be it from High HP, Crazy good shields (frost,balance) The ability to heal etc...

All of the schools except fire and storm have good accuracy.

Lets take the Lowest damage school and the highest damage school and average their damage over a 100 spell casts of their biggest attack.

Storm- Stormzilla 650-730
Life- Centaur 515-595

We will not take the average damage done on this spell

Stormzilla - 690
Centaur- 555

Stormzilla x 100 (casts) = 69,000 damage. we won't consider traps or blades. 69,000 X .70 ( Non-fizzle chance) = 48,300

Centaur x 100 (casts) =55,500 X .90 (Non-fizzle chance) = 49,950

Now lets throw in some blades/traps. Only 1 blade and trap per!

Storms Blade = 30% trap = 25%

Life blade = 40% trap = 25%

Once again we will use the average damage of

Storm - 690 X 1.30 (Blade) = 897 x 1.25 (trap) = 1121
Life - 555 X 1.40 (blade) = 777 x 1.25 (trap) = 971

Once again over 100 casts

Storm 1121 X 100 = 112100 X .70 (chance to not fizzle) =78,470 Damage
Life 971 x 100 = 97100 X .90 (chance to not Fizzle) = 87,390 Damage

This same thing happens to fire. Over the course of 100 rounds (used to balance the Fizzle % chance) You see that

No traps , No blades

Storm did 48,300 damage
Life Did 49,950 damage

Why is the highest damage school being out done by the lowest?

1 Trap, 1 blade school specific.

Storm did 78,470 Damage
Life did 87,390 Damage

Once again why is the highest damage school losing to the lowest damage school?


Now we see that life ( the lowest damage school) can out damage storm ( the highest damage school) but what else do we need to note.

Storm (and fire) Give up their Health and Fizzle Rate for this supposively higher damage.. the problem is they arent even doing the HIGHEST DAMAGE. We have schools with more health, better shields, absords, heals, accuracy doing more damage than the schools that sacrifice all those things for it.

Is the system broke? Maybe not. Is the system balanced? Definatly not.

Defender
Mar 01, 2009
145
RoloX2 wrote:
LetterBee wrote:

at the time i never really cared what i learned but i didnt want to learn ice beetle at the time so i chose storm is that a good enough answer for you?

Awww...what did the Ice Beetle ever do to you?

Except for Tower Shield, I would recommend training Ice spells.

I don't know any game I haven't played where I haven't re-spec'd, retrained, revamped the character because you don't really begin with enough information; however, you learn more as you go and you can retrain in W101, you aren't stuck with your choices. Also, you don't have to use your points when you earn them. My Death wizard has all his training points unused still (I don't have a need for non-death skills yet).

LetterBee wrote:

and were we supposed to know that fire and storm had high damaging spells low health and bad accuracy when we took that test in the beginning to see what school we were going to be? cause i didnt

My test suggested Fire also; I picked Storm. It seems like the test suggests Fire often (not implying anything, just an observation) but it didn't suggest how to use your training points. Why did you opt to train in Storm spells?


didnt i already give you my answer of not wanting to learn ice beatle at the time and my sister didnt get the suggestion of fire hers was ice and she picked that

Survivor
Dec 14, 2008
28
I may be wrong, but I think we are getting a little off subject. Nobody is denying that Storm and Fire have low accuracy percentages compared to the other schools. I think the issue is that fizzling occures more frequently than it should. Several months ago, my Pyromancer would fizzle at inconvenient times and it was frustrating. With a 75% accuracy rate and a 11% boost from equipment, I would think that I would have an 86% accuracy rate. But what if accuracy rates are not accumulative? What if there is a multiple calculation of accuracy per each cast, for example: A 25% chance of failure, and the equipment accuracy boost is calculated that out of that 25% that casts unsuccesful, 11% will convert to being successful? I really don't know. However, I must have fizzled 1 out of 5 times on the average meaning that it actually was about 80%, which would seem to fit that hypothesis.
After the latest patches, my Pyro fizzles like a mad man, which makes me frustrated. So I stopped playing him. I just take him out for a joy ride once in a while. But this fizzle trend seems to have drifted over to my Necromancer. With an 85% accuracy rate (not including the 6% given by my equipment), I am fizzling at 1 out of 4 attack/heal spells on a good day. It has gotten to the point that after casting buffs, I am praying that my spell doesn't fizzle.
So, I don't believe it is a matter of perception, I believe it is a fact: Fizzling is ocurring more frequently than it should.

Survivor
May 31, 2009
1
DarthNexus wrote:
true, fizzling is very unjust for storm wizards, there have been many times where i have been killed by a boss due to me fizzling.

i think kings isle should increase accuracy by at least 5 or 10% in PvE incounters but leave it the same in PvP


I just watched my wife in a PvP 1on1 she had her opponent down to 200 hp then the fizzle started 7 times back to back and she lost,and fighting monsters she fizzles 2-3 spell before she gets one off she ends up with next to no Hps or dead.

I know storm hits hard but how can you if you cant hit because you fizzle most of the time, where is the fun in playing storm(or any school) if you cant cast spells because you are fizzling most of the time?

since grizzlehelm it seems as if the fizzle rate has incresed all 3 of my schools fizzle more often then before,i notaced because my wife an I play often togather and we both see it I thought it was just me but after watching her 1on1 i dont think so no more.

Please look in this thank you very much.


Survivor
May 18, 2009
7
You know what, the only times I ever see people gripe when I'm playing are when they fizzles or talk about the new boss mechanics, especially the interrupts and that bosses don't need pips to cast.

Every single group battle that I have been in has had someone comment negatively about fizzles. If I, as an adult, find this mechanic extremely irritating, how do you think a child would view it?

I don't care about balance, I care about having fun. Game balance MUST always take a back seat to the fun factor. There must be a reason why other MMOs don't use fizzling as a primary mechanism of balance or challenge.

Defender
Mar 01, 2009
145
zzat wrote:
DarthNexus wrote:
true, fizzling is very unjust for storm wizards, there have been many times where i have been killed by a boss due to me fizzling.

i think kings isle should increase accuracy by at least 5 or 10% in PvE incounters but leave it the same in PvP


I just watched my wife in a PvP 1on1 she had her opponent down to 200 hp then the fizzle started 7 times back to back and she lost,and fighting monsters she fizzles 2-3 spell before she gets one off she ends up with next to no Hps or dead.

I know storm hits hard but how can you if you cant hit because you fizzle most of the time, where is the fun in playing storm(or any school) if you cant cast spells because you are fizzling most of the time?

since grizzlehelm it seems as if the fizzle rate has incresed all 3 of my schools fizzle more often then before,i notaced because my wife an I play often togather and we both see it I thought it was just me but after watching her 1on1 i dont think so no more.

Please look in this thank you very much.


its the same here ever since grizzleheim i am fizzling more and more especially when my card can kill them

Defender
May 15, 2009
193
Tgrable wrote:
From your posts I'm guessing you do not play a High level Fire or storm wizard and are just harping on anyone getting a accuracy boost.

I solo with Storm and duo with my wife with our Death wizards.

I have +accuracy gear but do not use +accuracy spells (if they didn't trigger on 100% accurate spells, I would probably use them; I do think that should be changed).

Tgrable wrote:

As it stands. Every class has a strong point and a weak point. If you look at the classes and break them down into weaknesses you will see that while most wizards (all but two) have 1 real strenght and 1 real weakness. Storm and fire are the ONLY schools who do not fit this profile. Storm and Fire wizards are the only schools who have 1 strength and 2 weaknesses

I already pointed out the flaw in that argument (it could have been in a different fizzle thread; there are many).

You over-simplify by merely counting strengths and weaknesses; that is quantitative, not qualitative. That's the same as saying I had more money since I had three bills in my wallet and you only had two, ignoring the fact that mine are ones and yours are fives.

Tgrable wrote:

Storm- Stormzilla 650-730
Life- Centaur 515-595

Wow, you really borked that one! You can't compare a 5-pip spell against a 6-pip spell and call it an even comparison. Storm's 6-pip spell is Triton, 795-875 damage; Life has no 5-pip damage spell.

Additionally, you cannot take only one data point 100 times and call it a representative sample. Why did you ignore the more thorough spreadsheet I posted which compared damage output of the schools? To wantonly ignore facts readily available? (Which was one of my points I "harp" on.)

Tgrable wrote:


Storm did 48,300 damage
Life Did 49,950 damage

Why is the highest damage school being out done by the lowest?

1 Trap, 1 blade school specific.

Storm did 78,470 Damage
Life did 87,390 Damage

Once again why is the highest damage school losing to the lowest damage school?

It doesn't.

Taking your pip disparity into account, Storm did 96 and 157 damage per pip and Life did 83 and 146 damage per pip.

Had you correctly compared using Triton, you would have found that Storm does 68,450 and 94,981 damage vs. Life's 49,950 and 87,390 damage (or 97 vs. 83 damage per pip; 158 vs. 146 with traps and blades).

DeejMaster wrote:
I think the issue is that fizzling occures more frequently than it should. ... However, I must have fizzled 1 out of 5 times on the average meaning that it actually was about 80%, which would seem to fit that hypothesis...., I am fizzling at 1 out of 4 attack/heal spells on a good day. ...
So, I don't believe it is a matter of perception, I believe it is a fact: Fizzling is ocurring more frequently than it should.

You haven't demonstrated that, only discussed your perceptions and how it feels. Nobody has documented occurrences that fizzle rates aren't what they should be.

You said, "I must have fizzled 1 out of 5 times on the average meaning that it actually was about 80%", accepting your perception as fact. You need to provide evidence; had you said, "I cast 500 Life spells this week and 100 of them fizzled.", you may have a point (but see my post on Law of Large Numbers). Until then, you haven't made a case.

Vrazule wrote:
Game balance MUST always take a back seat to the fun factor.

That is an impossibility; a game without sound mechanics won't be fun. If its out of balance, a minority would play the portions at a disadvantage and the majority will flock to the advantaged mechanics. Additionally, the minority would [legitimately] complain about game imbalances and subsequently, the majority would complain about the Nerfs to fix it. How is that fun?

Vrazule wrote:
There must be a reason why other MMOs don't use fizzling as a primary mechanism of balance or challenge.

That's equivocation. 'Dis ain't Everquest.
There must be a reason why other vehicles don't have four wheels <points at Harley>, I don't think my car needs four wheels, just give me two!

If they don't use accuracy to keep Storm/Fire in balance, what should they use?

Survivor
May 08, 2009
31
I have a fire/storm wizard a life/death wizard and a death/myth wizard. I find my life wizard fizzles just as much even 3 or 4 times in a roe and this is suposed 90% accuracy? last time I check 1/5 hitting isn't even remotely close to 90%. Anyway, I think the point isn't what school is better, but who would actualy WANT to play under theese current conditions.

Survivor
Mar 28, 2009
36
RoloX2 wrote:
LetterBee wrote:
i am a grandmaster pyromncer storm being my second
...
i also dont like that ice people have ice armor and tower shield but all fire has is the glacical shield that -70% ice and storm attacks

Then why did you pick Storm spells rather than Ice/Tower Shield? You chose all the highest offensive skills and therefore lack defense...the, "Kill them before they kill me" strategy.

seekanddestroy wrote:
i agree completely. why does a school with the most life need so many defenses?

Because it is a Tank; it is defensive in its posture.

What I don't understand is why so many people pick a school and then complain about it and laud other schools?

If you want robust defenses, pick Ice! If you don't want to be squishy, don't pick Storm or Fire! If you hate volatility, don't pick Storm!
Don't look at one thing (damage values) and pick your school on it, ignoring everything else; don't blame KI for your myopia.
that being said, i agree. But the thing is, to a new player, looking at fire and storm you see power. you have no idea of their hitpoints until you progress, even the little tour in the beginning with all the schools doesnt fully explain the properties of each school. Now, the 'kill them before they kill me strategy' you expect this to even work when faced with the odds against you? lets say its ice vs storm, ice isnt weak, lots of people say this but it has a good attack power, coupled with accuracy and life, how is this a school based on defence? A storm wiz can dish out the power, but when he fizzles continuously and lets not forget the high defences of ice (that being ice armor and the tower shield plus 3200-3500 life) how can a storm wizard expect to kill an ice wizard? Especially when it has strong attacks and barely a fizzle rate. The kill before being killed strategy doesnt work here simply because there is a high fizzle rate for power and none for the all rounded school. It isnt solely a defensive school, it is a tank, being capable of taking damage and also dishing it out. No new player can guess the pros and cons of a school with out first playing. New players dont know about the hit points of ice nor their defensive capabilities, so they have all right to complain, this is what there are message boards for. Fire and storm, all the power in the world, no potential to live long enough or accurately cast powerful spells.

Survivor
Mar 28, 2009
36
LetterBee wrote:
seekanddestroy wrote:
You all want the truly powerful school? Its very well balanced and its name is ICE. Amazing health and good power. I dont care what people say about its attack power. Helephant does 620- 6something and colossus does 600- 6something (cant remember right now)Whats wrong with that? Sure its not as strong as helephant but its accuracy makes up for that. Also ice wizards are tanks. Unless you got tons of buffs, ice wizards are hard to one hit, unlike us poor storm fire wizards. Remember all players, fire and storm were'nt intended to be main schools. I'm sure anyone would fare better with fire or storm as a second. Its quite a shocker form KI honestly. If you diagree with me, play as a fire or storm wizard. You'll feel godlike for a time then you get used to almost dieing, fizzling with the same spell continuously in one battle and being one-hit in pvp. yay. I would really like to hear from one of the teachers about this. As too why we cant live too use our spells or why we have low life. Sacrifice power for life maybe? is that what was done to fire and storm? why wasnt it done to ice?
actually helephant does 620 to 700+ damage but i am not sure bout colossus and they are very good questions and should be answered by at least one of the teachers
oh, thanks. kinda forgot :) the colossus is correct though. i really want to hear from a teacher about this.

Survivor
Mar 22, 2009
23
This is all ever so true. As a storm grandmaster and hitting high as ever I don't think the fizzle percentage is fair. What I do have to say though is go fo the good armor. Most of the best worldly drops for you classes provide an evident boost to your accuracy, strength, resist, and health. The problem though is in the arena I don't have enough time to Buff for my attack before I'm wiped off the playing field with an evident one hit K.O. from the ever so reknowned balance wizards. Either they shield up while I buff, then waste my buffs on removing a shield. By the time they're removed it's time for the undoubted kill of Judgement. It's evident that fire wizard and storm wizards lack the power for there low health. I'm a Grandmaster storm and have 1,928HP. In the arena the hits I make don't come close enough for a kill. I feel that eihter storms HP should be raised or Attack power raised. This is only my opinion but I fell I have made my point. Another thing I have to say is my balance wizard, Valdus, is a level 32 going against grandmasters but winning every single time by what speel? Here is your obvious answer: Judgement. What I'm saying is there should be some sort of penalty to Judgement. It's too powerful. Balance, they don't have a downside to thier attacks, they have weakness, Black Mantle, Elemental Shields, Spirit Shields, all to use 'While' buffing for attacks. They can prevent anything from you and then it finally comes. The hit. Your dead and gone.

Thanks, Beauxarts
-Luke FireGlade
-Valdus

Explorer
May 31, 2008
54
ok, i will comment on this.

firstly, i have read many of the posts in this thread(about all of the first and second page).

Storm is Powered up, no doubt about that, with my gear it has 79% accuracy. and my death spells 94% theoritically this means that with each spell there is only a 6% chance of fail. It is a single instance percentage, there(theoretically) is nothing to stop me fizzling 10 times in a row, But, logically, by the time i get to the 4th try, it has to be near impossible on the odds of fizzling again - Probably around 1%. Now this can keep on going, until the odds are 0% chance of fizzle because, practically its impossible. now all of the math brains will counter me on this, because theoritically its possible.

now 70% isn't all that bad, neither is 75, and even if i get a 12% accuracy boost there is STILL a 13% chance of fizzle. sometimes, there might be a slight glitch in the percentage, which can explain the fizzles or it might just be a justifyed outcome.

note: I MIGHT BE WRONG. I am not saying that what i am saying is 100% accurate - i make mistakes. :P

Survivor
May 18, 2009
7
RoloX2, you think you're being logical, but it falls flat.

These games sell perception, not game mechanics. You and the developers can go on all day on how you think the mchanics are solid and balanced, but if players percieve it not to be and it ruins the fun for them, then what you and they think really doesn't matter.

I see posts on this board all the time, complaining about fizzles and their high rates. I see it in game everytime I log in, whether it's in my group or when I run by one. I don't care how balanced the numbers are, people percieve them as unfair and not fun, therefore something must be done to alleviate it and bring it to that sweet spot that is acceptable by the player base.

Games are about having fun, so yes, FUN trumps balance and mechanics every single time.

Survivor
Jan 16, 2009
1
seekanddestroy wrote:
I know exactly what you mean because i am a fire storm wizard, *sigh*. Balance has the killer spell judgement, the infamous one hit wonder in pvp. The card has a better accuracy than the most powerful fire and storm cards. Its a horrible thing. Why choose one of the two most powerful schools if you can be outdone by a balance wizard or any other. We fizzle a lot, we have low health what is the point? we have no power if we cant live long enough to use it. Its unfair. Ok so they have power, how about we give them a high fizzle rate and the potential to be one hitted by a less powerful school? where is the truly invincible school? I love my wizard, but i try not too sacrifice life for power. Luckily i got my best gear in DS but still fall on the 2500 mark. wow. All the power in the world and no potential to live long enough to use it. i'm a grandmaster pyromancer, storm second. I just went for power. I truly feel sorry for all you storm wizards. TOO ALL wizard 101 players, DONT choose fire or storm if you want a powerful school. Its not worth it, dieing so much. Choose a school that was given everything like myth or balance death etc. In truth, fire and storm have no power. sorry but that is how it is.


for one thing the plus 10 percent accuracy is only for storm class and it sucks only people o low lvl storm would use and i disagree with stormlord but i do agree should higher the accruacy cause i love the spell but the spell triton just isnt working for me now i am lvl 48 storm and i also use myth but dont have any in deck cause i can kill with storm lord before can use earthquake. and this person storm is better is got right clothes

Defender
Mar 01, 2009
145
seekanddestroy wrote:
RoloX2 wrote:
LetterBee wrote:
i am a grandmaster pyromncer storm being my second
...
i also dont like that ice people have ice armor and tower shield but all fire has is the glacical shield that -70% ice and storm attacks

Then why did you pick Storm spells rather than Ice/Tower Shield? You chose all the highest offensive skills and therefore lack defense...the, "Kill them before they kill me" strategy.

seekanddestroy wrote:
i agree completely. why does a school with the most life need so many defenses?

Because it is a Tank; it is defensive in its posture.

What I don't understand is why so many people pick a school and then complain about it and laud other schools?

If you want robust defenses, pick Ice! If you don't want to be squishy, don't pick Storm or Fire! If you hate volatility, don't pick Storm!
Don't look at one thing (damage values) and pick your school on it, ignoring everything else; don't blame KI for your myopia.
that being said, i agree. But the thing is, to a new player, looking at fire and storm you see power. you have no idea of their hitpoints until you progress, even the little tour in the beginning with all the schools doesnt fully explain the properties of each school. Now, the 'kill them before they kill me strategy' you expect this to even work when faced with the odds against you? lets say its ice vs storm, ice isnt weak, lots of people say this but it has a good attack power, coupled with accuracy and life, how is this a school based on defence? A storm wiz can dish out the power, but when he fizzles continuously and lets not forget the high defences of ice (that being ice armor and the tower shield plus 3200-3500 life) how can a storm wizard expect to kill an ice wizard? Especially when it has strong attacks and barely a fizzle rate. The kill before being killed strategy doesnt work here simply because there is a high fizzle rate for power and none for the all rounded school. It isnt solely a defensive school, it is a tank, being capable of taking damage and also dishing it out. No new player can guess the pros and cons of a school with out first playing. New players dont know about the hit points of ice nor their defensive capabilities, so they have all right to complain, this is what there are message boards for. Fire and storm, all the power in the world, no potential to live long enough or accurately cast powerful spells.

ice wizards are even harder to kill when they have life has their secondary school
and strength isnt better then accuracy

Survivor
May 10, 2009
24
I think if they want to make fire and storm have high fizzle rate.. then they need to atleast put a diminishing return on fizzles.

Say I have 30% chance to fizzle, I cast I fizzle. Diminishing returns kick in and reduce my chance to fizzle by 15% (50%) So now I have a 85% chance to hit. If I fizzle again Diminishing returns kicks back in and reduces that 15% chance to fizzle to 7.5% or 8% (rounded) to fizzle. Now i have a 92% chance to hit.

This will help cut down on back to back fizzles and will help keep things balanced. As far as the diminishing returns goes... it can either reset after a successfull spell hit or it can go back in reverse order for each successfull cast. Exp, I cast a 70% chance spell and fizzle diminishing returns bumps my chance to hit to 85%. I fizzle again diminishing returns bumps my chance to hit to 92%. My spells hits and my accuracy is dropped back to 85%, I hit again and my accuracy is back down to 70%.

With the streaky nature of random number generators or "dice rolls" I think this is something that needs to be done. I will point out and wild bolt would need to be left out of diminishing returns, because they would buff it too much.

Survivor
Dec 21, 2008
7
Fire is my main school and i love it. The accuracy might be bad in the lower levels but you get gear that will enhance your accuracy. Right now i am a grandmaster pyromancer with all the best fire clothes on me and i get a boost on accuracy by 10%. So i basically have a accuracy of 85% which is not so bad at all. It is as much as a death students accuracy and a balance student. So once you get to the higher levels you will experience less fizzling determined by the gear that you have. My only problem though is with the storm accuracy. Their attacks are more powerful than fire attacks but yet they get as much accuracy as we pyromancers do. Some of my friends that have the best storm clothes, have the same accuracy than me and they also have a better attack power than us ( the last time i checked i think they have a 34% attack boost with there best clothes on) . While us fire people have a 25% attack boost with best fire clothes on. Fire is a good school and it can be very powerful once you know how to use it properly.

Michael Flame Grandmaster Pyromancer

Survivor
Jun 21, 2009
2
I do not get why people dont like fire ! If you give fire a chance you would like the wizard.I also like storm wizards.they also do good damage. I know that there % rate isnt as good as some but,the spells still go through enough to do really good damage. 8)
lol i love faces!