Prodigy Balance Discussion

[b0rsuk]

I think the problem is with very low cooldowns, not Eternal Guard. Low level shields are more tactical, you need to think more carefully about when to block. With high level shields, you spend more and more of your time blocking.

As for 1 turn block, the only thing that makes it tactically useful is the bonus damage. Otherwise it's just "reduce cooldowns by 1". It is useful, but nothing to write home about.

I have a similar issue with high level bows and ammo. The use of these becomes less tactical as the tiers go up. You can shoot from far, far away, you don't have to approach enemies somewhat carefully and always have some cover nearby, reloading stops being an issue. Don't get me wrong, I don't want ranged combat to be mostly about spamming the "reload" key as it is on low levels - something more sane could be used as the base. But tiers should, in my opinion, affect just damage and accuracy. Not make things less tactical.

[HousePet]

I'm surprised to agree with HousePet. But he has a point!

The ability to block more than one hit per turn would make Blocking much more useful.
At the moment its a bit like grappling, only sensible versus one enemy.
I'd be happy with the block value being per block action, rather than per strike as well.
Eternal Guard could make it last until all of the block value is used up.

[Thasero]

I would add that it's very tedious to deal with enemies that use shield blocks, because you have to either closely read the combat log or mouseover your target each and every turn to see if the armoured skeleton/Bulwark rare/etc. is blocking right now. It's optimal to never attack when the target is blocking, but there's no sound or graphic that lets you know whether that particular skeleton is blocking this turn. On top of that, the AI tends to have a poor idea of whether it's actually tactically wise to block on a particular turn, even if the player is too bored by the UI tedium to check every turn and never attack when the AI blocks. In git, the AI has been changed to only block in melee, but that's still sometimes a mistake if the player is running away and the pursuing Bulwark decides to block instead of hitting for the player's last 10 hitpoints, or if the player is an archmage and won't inflict blockable physical damage no matter what.

Making shield blocking an automatic, passive chance to block some number of attacks each turn - the way parrying and counter-attacking are currently implemented in git - would not only help solve problems with Eternal Guard, Spectral Shield, and Bulwarks, it would also solve a UI problem and help the AI make better tactical decisions.

[b0rsuk]

I'm not sure only blocking in melee range is a smart idea!!! Counterstrike works for ALL melee strikes. If there's a ghoul adjacent to you, and you cast a spell at Skeleton Armoured Warrior, you will suffer a counterstrike from the ghoul. Which makes little sense as far as realism goes, but is a smart use of game's mechanics. And don't forget the Block, Rush trick.

[Sandman25]

Block is very powerful as is. You can attack twice in 2 turns or you can block and then attack dealing the same amount of damage thus you get less damage for free, with high tier shield "Counterattack" status lasts more than 2 turns and it becomes even better. After block you can use talents like Assault or Overpower, that's like having cooldown 0 for the abilities while spending stamina only once. Block combines well with Step Up - you block, then deal 6 attacks (4 criticals) by Assault and retreat or go for next monster.
I was surprised how powerful Block is even vs many enemies, my first bulwark killed everyone in Ambush easily because it effectively decreased cooldown for regeneration infusions due to Block and could get more stamina because the fight lasted longer.

[sehnsucht]

I Can Carry The World

How about +20 str?