I'm sure as a lot of Sorcerers know, it's a real struggle to solo as Balance. Weak blades, no prisms, blades being universal (complicates weakness removal), lack of a damage global spell (w/o requiring a Shadow Pip). While the gear that Balance has does give great damage, that damage is short-lived because the blades are so weak. It's understandable because they're meant for support, and while they're OP in that sense, that isn't the case when soloing.
I do have a solution for this though, simply give Balance a Balance damage specific blade & trap. Here's what I have in mind:
The "Sandblade" +35% Damage The "Sand Trap" +25% Damage
These would really aid Balance Wizards like myself who are trying to solo the game. Since Balance's damage is roughly on par with Myth, especially in terms of Sabertooth vs Calander, there's no real need for a +40% Blade or +30% Trap.
Just to compensate for this increase in Balance's killing power, it would probably be best to decrease their accuracy to 80% from their current 85% with maybe knocking off a small notch of their health.
As for when Balance should acquire these spells, best to put "Sandblade" in with the Balanceblade quest and same for "Sand Trap" with Hex. The item spell card "Stone Wall" which spawns three -35% shields has proven that creating Balance-specific charms & wards are possible to make. I urge you all at KingIsle to look into my idea and hopefully implement it into the game at some point.
I'm sure as a lot of Sorcerers know, it's a real struggle to solo as Balance. Weak blades, no prisms, blades being universal (complicates weakness removal), lack of a damage global spell (w/o requiring a Shadow Pip). While the gear that Balance has does give great damage, that damage is short-lived because the blades are so weak. It's understandable because they're meant for support, and while they're OP in that sense, that isn't the case when soloing.
I do have a solution for this though, simply give Balance a Balance damage specific blade & trap. Here's what I have in mind:
The "Sandblade" +35% Damage The "Sand Trap" +25% Damage
These would really aid Balance Wizards like myself who are trying to solo the game. Since Balance's damage is roughly on par with Myth, especially in terms of Sabertooth vs Calander, there's no real need for a +40% Blade or +30% Trap.
Just to compensate for this increase in Balance's killing power, it would probably be best to decrease their accuracy to 80% from their current 85% with maybe knocking off a small notch of their health.
As for when Balance should acquire these spells, best to put "Sandblade" in with the Balanceblade quest and same for "Sand Trap" with Hex. The item spell card "Stone Wall" which spawns three -35% shields has proven that creating Balance-specific charms & wards are possible to make. I urge you all at KingIsle to look into my idea and hopefully implement it into the game at some point.
as a balance wizard who has soloed most of the game, i am all for this, especially since the implementation of stone wall/school-specific shields for balance.
sure, they're rare and only come for the one card pack, but they exist. how long before we'll be able to craft these, or they'll drop from some cheat dungeon or other?
previously, tower/legion were the only counters and it made sense that we wouldn't get school-specific traps and blades. but, under the current meta, we're being outclassed by schools like life and ice, who previously weren't known for damage.
Much like how you get both Elemental & Spirit Defuse at the same time from the Grizzleheim spell quest, I only found it best to put these buffs in alongside getting the regular Balanceblade (Lvl 12 Spell Quest) and getting the Hex (Finishing Tomb of Storms).
Also, what are your proposed level(s) for learning these new Charms and Wards?
Much like how we get both Elemental & Spirit Defuse at the same time, the only real position I see for these spells is putting them alongside the regular buffs and their respective quest lines. "Sandblade" would be earned alongside the regular Balanceblade from the Lvl 12 Spell quest while "Sand Trap" will be given finishing Krokotopia which is the quest you get Hex from.
Also, what are your proposed level(s) for learning these new Charms and Wards?
He answered this question in his post:
"As for when Balance should acquire these spells, best to put "Sandblade" in with the Balanceblade quest and same for "Sand Trap" with Hex."
Balance Blade comes at level 12, Hex is earned at the end of Krokotopia (roughly level 20 or higher).
I do like the idea, but personally think these specialized blades should come at a higher level. Maybe around the end of Avalon? That's where Alia started having a lot more trouble soloing. At that point she had to rely on Chimera (which can't effectively use traps & feints) or Judgement (which doesn't work well against Balance bosses), and it was rather ugly until she got Gaze of Fate and Nested Fury (levels 100 & 108, respectively).
"As for when Balance should acquire these spells, best to put "Sandblade" in with the Balanceblade quest and same for "Sand Trap" with Hex."
Balance Blade comes at level 12, Hex is earned at the end of Krokotopia (roughly level 20 or higher).
I do like the idea, but personally think these specialized blades should come at a higher level. Maybe around the end of Avalon? That's where Alia started having a lot more trouble soloing. At that point she had to rely on Chimera (which can't effectively use traps & feints) or Judgement (which doesn't work well against Balance bosses), and it was rather ugly until she got Gaze of Fate and Nested Fury (levels 100 & 108, respectively).
Alia Misthaven, 121
Hmm, true...it would be a bit odd to get such blades so early.
Sure. Balance can have a buff for questing, but we would have to get a balance shield in return as said above. We don't need any more buffs for balance pvp wise (Even though this wouldn't really effect much of pvp). Balaance is already great anyways. No real buffs needed although balance questing can be a pain sometimes
It was mentioned from the latest KI LIve that KI will Improve Balance wizard starting with a new AOE spell. I think in the next big update; not sure.
A new aoe? You can't be serious. That is all balance and storm gets. If that is true, Life needs a crazy good aoe to make up for having to rely on our only aoe in the game. I have no idea why some schools just get handed aoe cards like there is no tomorrow.
Anyways, back to the topic. I also forgot to mention that the blade and the trap shouldn't be for only balance spells and switching them out with hex and balance blade. Balance is also a support school who is able to blade and trap for the team to hit. Not just meant to set for themselves. That is why they are called "Balance"
Only issue with that is what school would it be converted to? Only option I can really think of is , and even that wouldn't really make much sense.
Just like some balance spells, the prism should convert the balance prism into a random school of it's own choice. No harm there really, and it suits it.
Just like some balance spells, the prism should convert the balance prism into a random school of it's own choice. No harm there really, and it suits it.
Out of all the ideas floated in this thread, your suggestion of a Balance prism shifting incoming damage into a random school may be the best one yet. That's very much in keeping with how the school operates.
Another possible version that plays with the literal meaning of 'prism,' would be to split the incoming Balance damage into six equal hits covering all the schools. The drawbacks are that it wouldn't work well with feint and hex (which would hopefully tame it for PVP), and it could be a disaster in a team setting if not timed just right. But on the plus side, it would give a solo Balance another option for removing debuffs and shields, and/or doing damage to a Balance boss with high resist.
A new aoe? You can't be serious. That is all balance and storm gets. If that is true, Life needs a crazy good aoe to make up for having to rely on our only aoe in the game. I have no idea why some schools just get handed aoe cards like there is no tomorrow.
Anyways, back to the topic. I also forgot to mention that the blade and the trap shouldn't be for only balance spells and switching them out with hex and balance blade. Balance is also a support school who is able to blade and trap for the team to hit. Not just meant to set for themselves. That is why they are called "Balance"
You forgot to mention the part about soloing. I never said they should swap out the current blade & trap for the specific buffs I talked about, I said to put those "alongside" the current ones. Balance will still remain a support school with the regular blade, Bladestorm and Hex, but they'll at least have that extra sustained damage to be able to hold their own if no one's with them.
A new aoe? You can't be serious. That is all balance and storm gets. If that is true, Life needs a crazy good aoe to make up for having to rely on our only aoe in the game. I have no idea why some schools just get handed aoe cards like there is no tomorrow.
Anyways, back to the topic. I also forgot to mention that the blade and the trap shouldn't be for only balance spells and switching them out with hex and balance blade. Balance is also a support school who is able to blade and trap for the team to hit. Not just meant to set for themselves. That is why they are called "Balance"
0h, my bad. Didn't see the first statement you posted.
Out of all the ideas floated in this thread, your suggestion of a Balance prism shifting incoming damage into a random school may be the best one yet. That's very much in keeping with how the school operates.
Another possible version that plays with the literal meaning of 'prism,' would be to split the incoming Balance damage into six equal hits covering all the schools. The drawbacks are that it wouldn't work well with feint and hex (which would hopefully tame it for PVP), and it could be a disaster in a team setting if not timed just right. But on the plus side, it would give a solo Balance another option for removing debuffs and shields, and/or doing damage to a Balance boss with high resist.
Freshta
That sounds interesting, but if you're in a team, I wouldn't choose to prism because then it would just use up all of the elemental traps, and spirit traps, and all of the elemental and spirit shields if done so xD
You forgot to mention the part about soloing. I never said they should swap out the current blade & trap for the specific buffs I talked about, I said to put those "alongside" the current ones. Balance will still remain a support school with the regular blade, Bladestorm and Hex, but they'll at least have that extra sustained damage to be able to hold their own if no one's with them.
as a balance wizard who runs primarily solo, i second this.
i'm fine with supporting a team, if that's what i'm needed for. but i should also be self-sufficient, if it's late at night and there's no one online (as is often the case, with my time zone and playable hours).
the prism idea makes me think of how gaze of fate works, where the first hit is balance but the second one deals damage from a random school. i'm interested to know how something like that would work with, say, nested fury or spectral blast~ would the prism effect only be triggered by incoming balance damage, or by the next balance spell?
I've not found balance hard to solo. Don't try to play it like other schools. I wouldn't mind a damage or pierce bubble, especially since Power Play has so few applications, but a balance prism would be wrong for many reasons.
Damage 
, and even that wouldn't really make much sense. 
