Weapon of Light (sunpal)

[Sundance]

Good augment and in character but...

Why does it have an on hit cost (3 positive energy)?

Weapon folding (TW) is better and has only a sustain cost.
Ruin (Reaver)is better and it has no extra cost.
Arcane Destruction is a passive, so no cost at all.

It's rather annoying have to cycle through other, lesser skills (bathe in light) mid combat to keep my positive energy up.

I just don't see it justifiably costing more than other weapon enhancements, all but one of which has superior effects (healing, apr).

[Final Master]

Do those other classes have an ability to innately increase the damage with other skills [chant of light]? Do they have other talents that directly synch with dealing light damage? Plus, that's just the nature of that resource. You use it, it actually gets used.

[bricks]

Do those other classes have an ability to innately increase the damage with other skills [chant of light]? Do they have other talents that directly synch with dealing light damage? Plus, that's just the nature of that resource. You use it, it actually gets used.

Actually, I'd say that Reaver's Ruin (Blight damage to attacks, scales with spellpower), Bloodlust (increased spellpower), and Vim (resource strongly associated with Blight) is a pretty close analogy, without the obnoxious resource drain. I don't think Temporal Wardens get a +temporal damage talent, but they can increase magic with Quantum Feed to make Weapon Folding more powerful, and again, this doesn't use up resources on hit (increasing Paradox or decreasing Stamina).

I agree that it's a very tedious arrangement. The Positive cost on hit is just enough to be noticeable, though not so much that you would actually consider changing your playstyle to cope with it (apart from casting the occasional throw-away Positive-generating spell). If Weapon of Light actually generated Positive on hit, it would be a much more interesting effect, perhaps even a class-defining mechanic.

[Sundance]

If the issue is "use" then why not just bump the sustain up in cost. The annoyance factor is stopping before a new level and throwing out 4 different random skills just so I can hit some people harder next map. As it is, when I hit things my sword gets less shiny when it hits things. Hitting people with an extra dimension folded around your weapon seems like it would up the paradox, but it is just a moderate sustain cost.

bricks' point on Reaver is quite on point with my train of thought as well.

In all honesty I don't understand how Positive Energy is supposed to work, at least as far as Sun Paladins are concerned. Anorithil's +/- resource system makes sense. However, in the Sunpal's case, one explosion of light (sunburst) replenishes my positive powers, and another (brandish) uses it up. Though that is all rather off topic.

The only change I want is the cost of Weapon of Light to change from an on hit to a higher sustain. It is annoying and useless. Adds nothing to the character concept or the playstyle. In fact it detracts from it. Instead of throwing down with my sword and shield, I shoot a beam of fire at point blank range so I can do a little more damage later.

[SerPounce]

It is quite a bit of headache for a pretty questionable resource management mechanic. It doesn't really force you to make many tough choices just to remember to bang off a recharging spell every now and again.

[bricks]

A quick thought on how Sun Paladins could work:

Weapon of Light generates Positive energy on melee. This is the primary way of regaining the resource. Defensive and offensive talents consume Positive (like before). Healing spells only recover Positive energy proportional to the actual healing done; i.e.; overhealing gives less Positive, and healing at max life gives no Positive. Barrier changed to yield Positive energy when the shield is damaged. Providence recovers Positive only when negative effects are removed, plus a small amount for the regeneration (again, no over-healing).

[Rectifier]

Yeah but this would affect how Anoritihils manage positive energy because they share many trees.

[greycat]

As long as we're on the subject, Shield of Light drains 2 Positive every time you take damage. This means that, for example, if you take damage 15 times in a single round, you can lose 30 Positive that round. Being hit 15 times in one round is not even an exceptional event in the late game. It's actually quite common.

Therefore Shield of Light becomes pretty useless in the late game. If you dare to activate it, you'll lose all your Positive energy extremely quickly, leaving you with a greatly reduced set of choices at a time when you really need all of them.

[Grey]

One problem with making them simply a sustain cost is that they become instantly boring. There's no reason not to have them active. By the same token I'd say Weapon Folding and Ruin are incredibly boring talents. I agree there should be some changes though, especially to Shield of Light (why should maybe on trigger for physical damage).

[SerPounce]

One problem with making them simply a sustain cost is that they become instantly boring. There's no reason not to have them active. By the same token I'd say Weapon Folding and Ruin are incredibly boring talents. I agree there should be some changes though, especially to Shield of Light (why should maybe on trigger for physical damage).

But it's not like it presents a lot of interesting tactical choices right now, and it's alright to have some "boring" abilities. A sustained talent can still be interesting in the sense of how many points you dedicated to it, equipment you pick to synergize with it, if/when you turn it on, etc.

And yes, weapon folding is kind of boring in itself, but temporal Wardens have tons of activated skills, so it's not like they're overall suffering from a lack of tactical options.

[Aquillion]

Weapon Folding is vital to the Temporal Warden gameplay -- it's what allows them to use both bows and melee effectively in the same build, and it's what make their flurry so lethal even early on. It's not nearly as dull as it seems, since it really changes their gameplay in the long run -- try playing a rogue like a Temporal Warden, and it won't work; Weapon Folding is a big part of the reason for that.