The Forum

[quote="NITE"]I've been really dreading making this thread because I know the kind of answers people will reply with and on top of that I don't want to be called "ungrateful" But here it goes never the less. The big issue with Mages both in Hsoma and Dsoma is that the class it self is only viable if you can cast. For example I was informed that in Dsoma you get 10 seconds of free casting with 4th aura but with a 60 second cooldown, so you get a 10 second pvp window then you have to run or die (in hsoma you don't get this choice so you either tp or die twice for the invul) which means there is no fighting chance for neither of us. Secondly 3rd and 5th axe auras remove any auras so if you cast 4th staff and you get 5th axed, you're pretty fucked, and you still have to wait for your cooldown and by the time you can use 4th again their 5th is back before your 4th so its really pointless trying to fight as a mage. Now in hsoma the problems are pretty much the same if not equal, we can't cast because of the vast amount of archers in the game, a level 100 could easily stop a level 120 mage from casting. Everybody has super noob with a machine gun bow these days with less than 100 INT, the reason behind this is very simple, they see that mages are not a threat and choose not to level INT at all. They could argue that they just want a high dex char blah blah blah but they don't care that they have low INT because if they lock on a mage with their bow they have to run and precast so they can at least cast one spell before they are locked on again. So to put it very simply, we have a class which is not viable and also unplayable for both races, no one is leveling their mage because it''s not worth spending 1k hours on a class that wont be able to fight and do damage in a pvp environment. I know of a lot of mages that have stopped playing because of this and of some mages that play very little because the grind isn't worth their time and effort to end up with a char only useful for bosses. And If anybody thinks dex mage is a viable option, it isnt. You loose dps, it makes MA rings pointless to make because you'll have to wear dex acces / evasion in order to cast against 170+ dex archers with 220+ str. Now I would like to name a few mages that I would like to hear from. Dsoma Merlin, Monster, Bevan, Psychotix, Wezzek, Lazarus, Ibex, Hsoma Yagudo, Rocky1, Brave, Paparas, Papapilas, Yomi, Malycon, Devula. Shailo I'm Sorry if I've missed your name But I would also like to hear from everyone else. Thank you for reading.[/quote]

[quote="NITE"]Forgot to say that every GVW I've been to I've merely been a meat shield, nothing more, nothing less.[/quote]

[quote="ULTIMATE"]I agree to some extent, you ranted though with no indication on how you think this can be rectified? If you say remove cast inturruption though, I’d call you a fool. I know for a fact high int mages in hsoma are feared.. they have to be targeted first, otherwise it’s night night. I don’t think the problem is the mages in general, the problem is how this game has become the ‘Myth of Archers’[/quote]

[quote="KEKKET"]in my opinion dsoma mage is more of a support class then a solo class. it dos huge dmg but cant do anything propperly but die if its alone. you will need a team that takes the aggro so you can sneak in to take the kill. As for 4th staff it could use a lower cooldown as its too long in my eyes. if it was up to me id remove 4th staff completly and make magic un interruptable but it isnt so i love 4th staff for that even if i get stoned straight away on WOTW. i want to add to your list its a verry lonely existance as a mage as you will be hunting alone most of the time and you will be begging to your guildies for hunting barr along the road. ive seen and helped a lot mages start and see them drop out as its a hard class to play. also on devil side there is a lack of spells that can be upgraded like heal is still the same as you get @ lvl 1 and takes ages to heal u from low hp to full. If you ever have any questions about mage feel free to pm me and i will try to answer them. [/quote]

[quote="NITE"]Ultimate, I didn't mean it to come across as a rant and I also knew If I said "remove cast interruption" people would comment "you're dumb" without any thought into why it should be done. But honestly how do you make a class Viable and playable?. No mages can go out seeking a bit of pvp because they will be targeted and made useless by the fact that they get nullified by being attacked by a melee attack. But the reason mages do a lot of damage is because no one in hsoma that is an archer levels int past 100. if they did, they would find out that you can actually tank a mage without weaken. And I can honestly say that I would rather have a 4K hour Archer instead of a 4k hour mage. All of your upgrades are countered by the simple fact that if there is anyone attacking us with melee and interrupting us then we cant play. [/quote]

[quote="NUCLEAR"]Uninterrupted casting isn’t such a bad idea tbh, as long as cast time was nerfed (maybe upgradeable?) would take some testing for the right balance mind you[/quote]

[quote="NITE"][quote="KEKKET"]in my opinion dsoma mage is more of a support class then a solo class. it dos huge dmg but cant do anything propperly but die if its alone. you will need a team that takes the aggro so you can sneak in to take the kill. As for 4th staff it could use a lower cooldown as its too long in my eyes. if it was up to me id remove 4th staff completly and make magic un interruptable but it isnt so i love 4th staff for that even if i get stoned straight away on WOTW. i want to add to your list its a verry lonely existance as a mage as you will be hunting alone most of the time and you will be begging to your guildies for hunting barr along the road. ive seen and helped a lot mages start and see them drop out as its a hard class to play. also on devil side there is a lack of spells that can be upgraded like heal is still the same as you get @ lvl 1 and takes ages to heal u from low hp to full. If you ever have any questions about mage feel free to pm me and i will try to answer them. [/quote] I think it's just simpler to make 4th staff uninterruptible forever and making the cooldown 30 seconds instead of 60 because if you get stonned you have to either die or survive then run around to wait for your staff cd to come bk so you can use it. [/quote]

[quote="LG258"]+8 weapons are to blame but they can't be removed now. Limit the new weps that drop from Negamare to +5[/quote]

[quote="NITE"][quote="NUCLEAR"]Uninterrupted casting isn’t such a bad idea tbh, as long as cast time was nerfed (maybe upgradeable?) would take some testing for the right balance mind you[/quote] I really think it would encourage the making of smarter characters and on top of that i'd make you carry more syrums and less pots meaning more pvp and more stone deaths. Not to mention that support classes would finally be viable too, healers, weakers, slowers, blinders, poisoners etc[/quote]

[quote="NITE"][quote="LG258"]+8 weapons are to blame but they can't be removed now. Limit the new weps that drop from Negamare to +5[/quote] Honestly I wouldnt complain about an 8+ weapon hitting me if I could cast, Obv I woudlnt stand there and take hits because I'd honestly rip but at least I would be able to slow (If I was a white mage) or if I had slow proc. [/quote]

[quote="QIANG"]Imo, remove weaken, remove cast interruption (and maybe make int/wis like a dex hit/miss version for magic but does dmg/gets absorbed, since I dont think the miss animations for magic can be done and also its just easier) Cast interruption only exists because of weaken. Weaken makes the game so polarised its bad for both sides, Archers think mages are op and mages think they are so weak, and both are right from their own point of view as the majority of each sides experience dealing with magic are so bad. Archers can shut down magic so well that the only time they experience it being hit is when they are stoned or overrun and thats when the big one shots happen and its bound to leave a bad impression thinking its op. Likewise mages experience the other side of magic, the majority of the time as the ones who are getting shutdown, staggered and have to precast dance in and out of range which is no fun either. If weaken was removed, the dmg taken and given wouldnt be so variable and the gm's wouldnt have to worry about balance being so out of line across 1v1, 1vX, XvX situations since the idea of a designated weakener wouldnt mess things up.Not being interrupted allows more use of support spells in fights too and then its just number tweaks across spell dmg and cast times instead of big mechanic changes to keep in line with melee.[/quote]

[quote="PROWLER"]You only appear to be discussing PvP …. Of course, PvE is a large and significant part of the game and Mage’s have their own abilities to compete against the environment. Similarly, non-mages are likewise able to build their character and interact within Soma. Each of us can build characters as we like; some people like to balance attributes while others prefer to excel in just one. Equally, we all have our own preferences on how we would like our “end character” to be built. In doing so, many people think pre-dominantly about the PvE aspect. Of course PvP is also a considered factor, sometimes it is the primary factor. As a player not interested in PvP, I created a character (Jackelpup) that wasn’t particularly good at anything. During this time (3 years+) I learned a tremendous amount of “things” including (albeit too late) what “not” to do. I was especially fed up with being PKed. I decided to start over (Prowler) and having learned what life in Soma is like, I built this character in a different manner. Principally, I looked to create a character I could enjoy with PvE and which could resist PK attacks. The only defence I have available against Mage PK attacks is the dexterity to interrupt a cast. If that is removed then my character would be a sitting duck which is the precise opposite to the intended design. Of course, I cannot stop an attack from two mages at the same time but this is the game mechanic. Additionally, there is nothing to stop a mage gaining some dexterity and equipping evasion gear to combat interrupts. The reason I have explained this is simply that we are all masters of our own destiny within the game and the choices of character build are available to us all in equal measure right from the start. I was unhappy with my first character and so I started again (after level 100). Anyone else can do the same. 8) Prowler [/quote]

[quote="NUCLEAR"]I kinda hear what your saying prowler, but the problem with that is, if you go for extra dex as a mage, or likewise extra int as a melee, you end up with a middle of the road char that isn’t very effective against either class and, ultimately, pointless?[/quote]

[quote="NITE"]I think the weak problem is only a problem if its casted instantly from a proc and you have no time to syrum it, Syrums are there for a reason and should be used in PVP. Prowler, a dexy mage has too many disadvantages to even build a dexy mage. Most Melee characters will have 160+ dex by the time they reach 120 (if they went for a heavily focused melee char and not balanced). So they will have high dex and possibly capped str, therefore a lot of DPS potential as you can make attack sets and A++ weapons. Now for a dexy mage you are looking to heal to 100 INT to get a head start then possibly start on dex and level to the 151 str slowdown, frm there you can either level INT or pick up an axe and level str till 171 then go back to dex till you get the dex you want, by this time you are probably level 100+ so you can choose to do 5 levels of dex and the rest on INT (15 levels) which in turn might leave you with roughly 150 dex 180str and maybe 200 INT at a push at level 120. Now how do you gear a dex mage? EVA/DEX access? > you will do very little damage, Mage hero 2 herlm/top and INT PADS and BOOTS with MA access? > you will get interrupted because melee characters have 10-20 more dex than you and most of them already have +5 accuracy sets which they will pop on if they see a mage attempting cast. Disclaimer, I just pulled out those 120 stats out of my arse because I'm not about to do some mathematical equation to calculate how much stats a decent dex mage char will have. I just know It wouldnt be worth it in the end. We'd be back to square 1 were said mage cannot cast but now he might be able to cast sometimes but the damage wont be enough to kill anyone, specially a tank on the stone. So I disagree completely, everyone is going for the same character for pvp nowadays, you heal to 100 then dex with the stat bonus, you guys know the deal. It's the best kind of char you can make and no one can deny that.[/quote]

[quote="IBEX"]Hi, Am currently not playing soma for lack of spare time and motivation so i dont know of any changes that have happened recently. DSOMA Pros - Mage has INSANE damage and with procs make it more insane i can potentially 1hit everyone. Certain mobs give you the potential for faster XP with the upgrade to stats per mob when Aoeing. Not to bad to level seem to keep up with most melee when new patches were released Drop files are pretty decent on the standard path for grinding If someone (archer/knuckle/low geared other classes) dont run when you pop 4th staff they die Cons - If you are pvping against someone who is thinking straight and not stupid you cannot win...Ever going from EGF decent % easy 7/8 AOE to DD decent % 2/3 aoe is a slowdown and very noticeable majority of capped mages havent ever levelled on a mage mob Cannot fund a mage without a main or a friend from scratch ie 500k exp-x 1mil hfire 2mil chain lightning 4th staff is countered by a 5th axe, you get a 5th axe at any point in this game and you will die I havent played hsoma enough to run comparisons to be honest. My char has 168int and nightmares alone are what killed my motivation =( Anyone can run a mage equiv build on dsoma and have the same effects and potentially insta kill everyone with procs and as much as i think Dan and Fin are amazing at what they do, updates, knowledge and balance patches, the game has turned into a bit of a 1bomb fest in the majority of scenarios. Hope this input helps =) Sam [/quote]