Since I recently earned Phoenix on my new Fire wizard, I have noticed an issue with the way my power pips are used. Phoenix, a rank 5 Fire spell, does the same damage as Centaur, a rank 6 Life spell, however a wizard who uses Phoenix with only 3 power pips (as his/her current pip count) gets short-ended because that 3rd power pip is wasted, as if the caster used Centaur instead. Fire, as an attack school, is partially for the purpose of dealing more damage for fewer pips. However, if the system is left as it is, that purpose is forsaken because any wizard with a rank 5 spell in their school is losing a valuable pip that could potentially be used for another spell the next turn.
I propose that when an odd pip numbered spell of one's own school is used (with ex: only 2 or 5 power pips) that a power pip is "split" into one power pip that is used, leaving one power pip behind, as the value of the power pip would imply. This would ensure that Fire, Myth, Ice, and Storm wizards would get the most out of the spells they use, and for a logical reason.
I am open to any and all constructive criticism to help reshape or improve this idea, and I hope we can get something done about this. :)
Pip mangement is a part of combat. If you need to spend a power pip as a normal pip for a school spell, do it...but it might be wiser to cast a wnd spell, shield or blade boosters at zero cost, then use a normal pip the next round, etc
Well first off if you earned phoenix you are 10 levels away from getting rank 6 helephant, so it gets better. Second it does consume three power pips instead of two power pips and a pip.
Well first off if you earned phoenix you are 10 levels away from getting rank 6 helephant, so it gets better. Second it does consume three power pips instead of two power pips and a pip.
I understand that, but it is no reason to compromise the efficient use of a lower rank spell simply because a higher rank spell exists.
Pip mangement is a part of combat. If you need to spend a power pip as a normal pip for a school spell, do it...but it might be wiser to cast a wnd spell, shield or blade boosters at zero cost, then use a normal pip the next round, etc
There are plenty of problems with your suggestion. Let's use a duel for an example: maybe I don't have any blade or wand spells in my hand and my best option would be to use Phoenix and then a rank 2 storm spell or, perhaps, if I get another power pip, Fire Bird; this would be impossible if that third power pip is used, thus giving my opponent time to shield, heal, and maybe even kill me. I do understand that there are many other factors to every battle, but if nothing is done about this, then odd rank spells become a huge disadvantage. Besides, if a power pip is a pip with the value of 2 pips when used by a spell of your own school, then why should it not BE 2 separate pips when using spells of your own school, if it would maximize the efficient use of said spell? Personally, I see no logical reason why this should not be done, simply because a power pip is meant to act as 2 pips for your school of magic.
If anyone else cares to disagree with me, please do.
I propose that when an odd pip numbered spell of one's own school is used (with ex: only 2 or 5 power pips) that a power pip is "split" into one power pip that is used, leaving one power pip behind, as the value of the power pip would imply.
I was of the assumption that it worked this way as well. But I've noticed it does NOT.
I can name several spells that "steal" a power pip. I'm a balance wizard and ALL Spirit/Elemental Traps/Blades use a whole power pip even though they should just cost me one.
I've noticed that Treasure Cards and Blue cards regardless of the school will also use Whole Power Pips when it should be split instead. If this is intended, then why have those cards belong to a specific school?
If you get one, appreciate it. If you don't get one, it should be normal to you. You shouldn't actually rely on power pips. So if you use up a power pip when a normal pip could be used, then it's no difference from getting the normal pip, and it's as if you never got that lucky chance, so you can go about your combat as normal. Combat should be centered around and based on the fact that one gets a single pip every turn, and power pips be merely a nice boost along the way to be appreciated when they come.
So, if something happens that's an equivalent of not getting a power pip, and getting a normal pip instead, why complain? It's happened to me plenty of times, too, so don't use that argument on me.
Plus, a power pip is outright better than a normal pip. So would I rather get a normal pip in a turn just to feel better about casting an odd-ranked spell of my school? I don't think so. I'd rather get a power pip then. And then, if I use up that power pip as less than what it's worth, well, then that's only my fault.
Power pips are discrete things. You cannot halfway use a power pip any more than you can halfway detonate a grenade.
If you try to use a five pip spell of your class, the game will first try to use two power pips and one normal pip. It will only use three power pips if you don't have any normal pips at all. The default pip using mechanism is as smart as it could be (apart from the bug that makes pips disappear if you try to attack a target that someone else kills), and if you don't want to burn power pips that way, then don't use phoenix when you don't have any normal pips.
What you're essentially proposing is to make power pips stronger than they already are. Considering that they're already quite strong, I find that wholly unnecessary.
Dridsuzy you maybe bugged. All of my blue cards that belong to my wizards' primary schools use pips appropriately. Like the triton on the robe example,on my storm wizard it used 3 power pips but on my balance gal it will burn 6 even if they are power pips.
What you're essentially proposing is to make power pips stronger than they already are. Considering that they're already quite strong, I find that wholly unnecessary.
NO. I'm proposing that Power Pips work the way they are SUPPOSED to work.
Uune,
Are we playing the same game? Power Pip aren't random. There is a percentage chance to get one. I know that I'm probably not alone when I say that I sacrifice health and mana on gear to raise my Power Pip percent chance. People become instant Accountants when it comes to Pip management. It's basically the strategical base of this entire game. Now you say I should just be happy when they pop and even happier when they work correctly?
Power Pips provide two pips of power for your main school. TWO. Not one and maybe another. TWO. Not only two if cast on a single spell. TWO.
Bladestorm costs my Balance Wizard ONE pip. Apparently if I'm "lucky" enough to have a power pip, then the spell costs me TWO pips and that Locust Swarm I was gonna cast next round will just have to wait.
Seriously, this is not working as intended and I'll tell you why. Because it DOES actually work most of the time. It's just a few random spells I've found that don't split pips. I shouldn't have to second guess the most basic mechanic in the game. It may not mean much out in PvE, but it's the difference between winning or losing in the Arena.
Combat should be centered around and based on the fact that one gets a single pip every turn, and power pips be merely a nice boost along the way to be appreciated when they come.
No, Power pip percentage is one of the most important stats your wizard has and Power Pips should be able to be counted on and used strategically as is their intended purpose. Entire Decks and combat rotations are designed around them. They are not a happy random burst of energy. They are often times the very basis of your School and your Talent Point choices.
Bladestorm costs my Balance Wizard ONE pip. Apparently if I'm "lucky" enough to have a power pip, then the spell costs me TWO pips and that Locust Swarm I was gonna cast next round will just have to wait.
Seriously, this is not working as intended and I'll tell you why. Because it DOES actually work most of the time. It's just a few random spells I've found that don't split pips. I shouldn't have to second guess the most basic mechanic in the game. It may not mean much out in PvE, but it's the difference between winning or losing in the Arena.
So if you have a power pip and you also have a normal pip, and you use a 1 pip spell, it uses the power pip rather than the normal pip? I've never seen that, and I've cast quite a lot of different spells. If that behavior is restricted to one particular card, then it's a glitch and should be fixed. That would take really weird coding to create that glitch, though. Furthermore, I don't see what that has to do with "splitting" power pips.
No. If I only have a power pip and I cast a one pip spell of my main school it uses the whole power pip instead of leaving me with one pip.
Bladestorm does this, the Elemental/Spirit Trap/Blade cards from the tree in Krokotopia also do this. Those are Balance cards and my wizard is Balance.
There are other Balance spells that do this to me at weird times.
I don't understand why you assumed I had a power pip and a normal pip to start with.
As far as I've observed, every 1-pip spell, whether your primary school or not, will use a white pip if one is available. Every 1-pip spell, of every school, will use up an entire yellow pip if no white pip is available.
An out-of-school spell of any size will try to make up its number out of white pips first. If there are not enough white pips, it will take some of your yellow ones.
An in-school spell greater than one pip will try to make up its number out of yellow pips first, with one exception: if its number is odd, it will use one white pip for the odd one if it can. If there is no white one, it will use up an entire yellow pip for the odd point.
Another view: Out-of-school spells "waste" yellow pips if you cast them when there aren't enough white pips. Odd-pip in-school spells "waste" half a yellow pip if you cast them when you don't have any white pips. Even-pip in-school spells never "waste" yellow pips. In-school spells may "waste" white pips when there aren't enough yellows, if you could have gotten higher damage-per-pip from an out-of-school spell.
I put "waste" in quotes because it isn't always a waste; it's a trade-off to be considered. Sometimes the out-of-school spell or odd-pip spell interacts better with the current buffs or shields, or with your teammate's plans. Sometimes an out-of-school spell or odd-pip spell you can cast immediately outweighs an in-school even-pip spell you have to wait for. Sometimes getting 100 points heal out of a yellow pip is more valuable than 200 points damage (or vice versa). On the other hand, sometimes you want to use up the white pips even if it means less damage-per-pip, because you need more space for yellow ones you're planning to use later. There is lots of opportunity here to gain a tactical edge; I don't see that any of the spells' behavior toward pips is inherently bad.
Power pips are discrete things. You cannot halfway use a power pip any more than you can halfway detonate a grenade.
If you try to use a five pip spell of your class, the game will first try to use two power pips and one normal pip. It will only use three power pips if you don't have any normal pips at all. The default pip using mechanism is as smart as it could be (apart from the bug that makes pips disappear if you try to attack a target that someone else kills), and if you don't want to burn power pips that way, then don't use phoenix when you don't have any normal pips.
What you're essentially proposing is to make power pips stronger than they already are. Considering that they're already quite strong, I find that wholly unnecessary.
Hmm, well, I suppose you didn't thoroughly read my posts. It is not always a simple decision to just NOT use a card, and that decision shouldn't have to be made if the true value of power pips was given its worth.
Also, power pips contain no strength in themselves, they simply fuel the spells you use them with, and make THEM strong. It is honestly as simple as this: as Diego taught us around level 7 during the dueling tutorial, power pips are worth 2 pips for spells in your own school. If I purchase a 1 dollar item with a 2 dollar bill, I still receive my 1 dollar back in change, even though the 2 dollar bill is more than I needed and also a rare item.
No. If I only have a power pip and I cast a one pip spell of my main school it uses the whole power pip instead of leaving me with one pip.
That's working the way it is designed to work, and the way it ought to work. You cannot halfway jump off a cliff. You cannot halfway pop a balloon. You cannot halfway derail a train. And you cannot halfway use a power pip. It's a discrete, binary thing.
As I understand it, what you're asking is that if you have only power pips and no normal pips and use a spell of your school that uses an odd number of pips, it should use the power pip as normal, and then give you a normal pip back at the end. That doesn't make sense.
Suppose that the game worked that way. You have only one power pip and no normal pips, and use a one pip spell in your school. It uses the power pip and returns a normal pip. The next round, you get another normal pip, so now you have two. You use a two pip spell outside of your school, which uses two normal pips.
That shouldn't be possible. That makes it so that the other half of the power pip essentially counts double even if used for a spell outside of your school. Power pips are only supposed to count double in your school, but you're asking that they sometimes count double outside your school, too. Using the two pip spell outside of your school should take two rounds worth of pips and leave nothing left over. You shouldn't then have leftover pips to use a one pip spell in your school.
Power pips are quite strong as it is. You acknowledge that yourself when you say you give up health and mana to focus mainly on power pip gear. Making them stronger yet is unjustified.
Hmm, well, I suppose you didn't thoroughly read my posts. It is not always a simple decision to just NOT use a card, and that decision shouldn't have to be made if the true value of power pips was given its worth.
Also, power pips contain no strength in themselves, they simply fuel the spells you use them with, and make THEM strong. It is honestly as simple as this: as Diego taught us around level 7 during the dueling tutorial, power pips are worth 2 pips for spells in your own school. If I purchase a 1 dollar item with a 2 dollar bill, I still receive my 1 dollar back in change, even though the 2 dollar bill is more than I needed and also a rare item.
In the two-dollar-bill analogy, that two dollar bill is only a two dollar bill for your school, and not for others. If you spend one half of that bill, you should do just exactly that: spend one half of it.
This means cut ALL of its aspects in half; in other words, it's only half a dollar for other schools (i.e. unusable). LEaving you with a dollar left is NOT splitting this two dollar bill in half, because it leaves you with still one dollar for another school; exactly what you started with.
From above reason, the two dollar bill analogy can get misleading. Let's stay in pips.
IF a power pip can be split in half, it would have to be a half-power pip, not a normal pip: it CANNOT be usable by any other school but your own.
That makes it so that the other half of the power pip essentially counts double even if used for a spell outside of your school.
This is a very valid point. Nevertheless, it does not explain why sometimes Power Pips split and sometimes they don't. That's the real issue here. I really don't care either way. I'm just looking for some consistency.
This is a very valid point. Nevertheless, it does not explain why sometimes Power Pips split and sometimes they don't. That's the real issue here. I really don't care either way. I'm just looking for some consistency.
Power pips never get cut in half, do they? Can you give an example of what you mean by saying that sometimes they split?
Lately - not sure which update changed this - the power pip splitting has stopped working correctly. Previously, when you used a spell IN YOUR PRIMARY SCHOOL that didn't need all the pips you had, if it only needed half a power pip, you were left with a normal pip for next round. For example, if you were Death and had two power pips, casting Banshee for three pips would have left a normal pip for next round.
Now it seems that Primary school spells no longer manage power pips, so spells requiring odd numbers of pips 1/3/5/7 will consume all of a power pip if no normal pips are available, resulting in consumption of 2/4/6/8 effective pips. This should be fixed unless the change was intentional by KI.
