As the topic states, criticals. When I looked at my critical rating in Avalon at about lvl 75 I had a critical chance of 49%. Ok, not too bad for waterworks gear and a terrible pet. However, when I finished khrysalis part 1 I felt like I was getting nowhere near 50% criticals so I checked again and I had a 23% critical chance. Does it drop when you go to a higher level? How does the system work, or did they change it in the past 4 days (the time between ehrn i checked) because I didn’t see anything and I changed none of my gear.
You critical rating does decrease as you increase in level. It's actually known as Critical Decay. It will continue to behave like this.
Now, to counter this, you will as I'm sure you've already figured out; update your gear. You'll have to find clever ways to increase your critical rating without sacrificing any of your other crucial stats.
In your case, one thing you can do is upgrade or get a better pet. A pet with a few critical talents can be useful.
Jewels and crafted gear specializing in Critical also works well.
Alas, you have discovered "Critical Decay" the only known instance in magic where you actually become weaker as your wizard becomes more powerful.
Paired with the fact that starting at Khrysalis it seems that every boss has an insane Critical Block, Critical is useless stat at higher levels.
Concentrating on damage is far more beneficial at the higher levels.
Steven Ghoststalker 130
Christopher Ghoststalker 34
This is unfortunate. They fixed the glitch where the monsters block was calculated together, and now it's individual which is awesome. However, at the same time, they changed the way critical works, and as you correctly stated, critical becomes more and more useless as you level up. A shame, because it's this method that has me wanting them to remove critical hit and block from the game, and substitute other stats on gear that already exists on gear. I'm not trying to explain it to YOU as I know you have an understanding, but I replied to your post :) I know they won't roll back the changes, and I dont want them to, but it SHOULD be a bit more fair. The critical system is still broken, it's just broken differently. We shouldnt need 1000 critical/block in order to be effective, and this is why my builds have always been on guaranteed stats (resist/dmg/healing) versus RNG stats (critical hit, critical block, stun block, etc).
Thank you Mr. Ghoststalker. Last week I ask if pets got "stale" and the answer I got was no. This must be what I read about that gave me that idea - Critical Decay. And thank you for the next info I would need about damage, as I was looking for a stranger pet for my Fire wizard who is struggling in Khrysalis. Can you talk more about what max Damage would look like? I have been so focused on Critical this went right over my head.
I will be very honest, when it comes to pets I am still an amateur. There are wizards on this board who are much better qualified to answer pet questions.
Thank you Mr. Ghoststalker. Last week I ask if pets got "stale" and the answer I got was no. This must be what I read about that gave me that idea - Critical Decay. And thank you for the next info I would need about damage, as I was looking for a stranger pet for my Fire wizard who is struggling in Khrysalis. Can you talk more about what max Damage would look like? I have been so focused on Critical this went right over my head.
Christina Soulshard lvl 87 Death.
training pets is stale. Pets are extremely useful. I wish there was a way to gain XP through combat in a more effective way. I can post my thoughts from ages ago here if you want. I won't hijack your thread
You're good Alien. And I realized what you meant about the higher focus on damage in higher levels. Shadow. Now I need to talk to Victoria for pet/Shadow set-up.
Thank you Mr. Ghoststalker. Last week I ask if pets got "stale" and the answer I got was no. This must be what I read about that gave me that idea - Critical Decay. And thank you for the next info I would need about damage, as I was looking for a stranger pet for my Fire wizard who is struggling in Khrysalis. Can you talk more about what max Damage would look like? I have been so focused on Critical this went right over my head.
Christina Soulshard lvl 87 Death.
I can possibly assist here.
As Steven said, Damage is important. Having a 100% damage rating and dismal critical is much better than having dismal damage (say 45%) and high critical.
With damage, you're at least guaranteed that 100% of power while with Criticals, those can be blocked.
For a max damagepet, you will be looking at talents such as:
Death Dealer (Max 10%) Death Giver (Max 6%) Pain Giver (Max 6%) Death Boon (Max 3%) Pain Bringer (Max 3%) Giving a total of28% To garner the maximum % from these talents (especially the first one enlisted), your Strength, Agility and Power Stats must be within close prolixity of max.
It's also important to note that these talents can further be increased with appropriate star jewels being affixed to the pet.
Also, if you solo most of the game content, I don't recommend using a pet that has pure damage talents while giving up vital talents such as Resistances. This will lead you wide open to some devastating attacks, especially when the enemy lands a critical (which is not uncommon in Khrysalis).
This is unfortunate. They fixed the glitch where the monsters block was calculated together, and now it's individual which is awesome. However, at the same time, they changed the way critical works, and as you correctly stated, critical becomes more and more useless as you level up. A shame, because it's this method that has me wanting them to remove critical hit and block from the game, and substitute other stats on gear that already exists on gear. I'm not trying to explain it to YOU as I know you have an understanding, but I replied to your post :) I know they won't roll back the changes, and I dont want them to, but it SHOULD be a bit more fair. The critical system is still broken, it's just broken differently. We shouldnt need 1000 critical/block in order to be effective, and this is why my builds have always been on guaranteed stats (resist/dmg/healing) versus RNG stats (critical hit, critical block, stun block, etc).
The problem with Criticals (though I love the idea of being able to crit as I played paper and pencil RPGs in my youth, scratch that, I STILL play paper and pencil RPGS) is that as my wizard becomes more powerful, my ability to Critical actually decreases. W101 is the only game that I am aware of where that is a mechanic. It's the equivalent of a sniper not being able to hit his target as frequently the more experienced he is.
I can understand Bosses having a greater ability to dodge a critical hit (don't like it but I can understand it) but nearly ALL the time? I worked hard to get the best critical gear and actually had my critical above 50% only to watch that ability fade as my wizard became more powerful.
It is also important to note that the actual Critical Rating differs in percentages for each school.
What do I mean?
It's something I've observed, not sure if anyone else has.
To give a random scenario, a storm with 500 Critical Rating at level 100 may have say a 70% critical chance. An ice's will be lower at around 56% or so.
So the numbers really do differ depending on the school you're using.
The problem with Criticals (though I love the idea of being able to crit as I played paper and pencil RPGs in my youth, scratch that, I STILL play paper and pencil RPGS) is that as my wizard becomes more powerful, my ability to Critical actually decreases. W101 is the only game that I am aware of where that is a mechanic. It's the equivalent of a sniper not being able to hit his target as frequently the more experienced he is.
I can understand Bosses having a greater ability to dodge a critical hit (don't like it but I can understand it) but nearly ALL the time? I worked hard to get the best critical gear and actually had my critical above 50% only to watch that ability fade as my wizard became more powerful.
All that said, KI has a pretty amazing game here.
S Gs
Personally, I think they should eliminate RNG for spell damage so you KNOW what you're getting. Crit/block is RNG based and it just leaves too much to chance. I agree with you that as we level up, we SHOULD get stronger, and we dont. Our GEAR gets better, but the spell itself, and stock damage, doesn't. They of course would have to nerf all monster health/gear stats if they did this, which would take a lot of coding.
TTRPG (D&D specifically) mages have spells that can do more damage when you cast them at higher rank, OR get more damage if your character is a higher level. Critical hit is ALWAYS an option (if your DM uses that optional rule) and everybody knows when you get it; 20 on the hit die GUARANTEES critical without a chance to block. It's not just transparent, it never changes! Some options allow for criticalling on 19 or 18, but those are specialist options. NONE of your opponents have critical block at all barring special abilities that allow you to have them reroll the attack die, but that's not the same thing as critical block.
I would like it if they just got rid of critical all together. It's another way to stack the deck against you. When PvE crits on you 4 times in a battle, and you don't block it, you're toast. My life blocks critical sometimes, but I make sure her resist is high enough that I can take the hit and heal up after. SOME monsters in fights have criticalled every single round and I blocked none, and there's times my questing buddy criticalled every round in a fight and they blocked it every single time, on every monster.
I dont mind monsters attacks getting stronger, and I dont mind their strategies getting harder, but to have them score unblocked critical hits at will, unless you pour every last stat into crit block, that's unfair. However, this is all part of KI's brute force strategy against the player that I have commented on for years.
training pets is stale. Pets are extremely useful. I wish there was a way to gain XP through combat in a more effective way. I can post my thoughts from ages ago here if you want. I won't hijack your thread
There is an accelerated learner jewel that does just that, your pet gains XP as you battle :)
Boy you guys gave me a lot to digest. I think I'm coming out with at least one thing that gelled quickly - I need to change the focus of my jewels to damage as I rise in levels. My possum is doing great and with 4 critical talents I'm gonna keep him this way for a while. I will change some jewels though in some of my gear.
Ok experts. Since we're on a roll here. Not sure what I'm thinking is really happening but is it easier for me to crit depending what school I'm fighting? Seems like, if I'm fighting Life I'm always critical. Ice though? Way lower chance. Am I imagining this?
Personally, I think they should eliminate RNG for spell damage so you KNOW what you're getting. Crit/block is RNG based and it just leaves too much to chance. I agree with you that as we level up, we SHOULD get stronger, and we dont. Our GEAR gets better, but the spell itself, and stock damage, doesn't. They of course would have to nerf all monster health/gear stats if they did this, which would take a lot of coding.
TTRPG (D&D specifically) mages have spells that can do more damage when you cast them at higher rank, OR get more damage if your character is a higher level. Critical hit is ALWAYS an option (if your DM uses that optional rule) and everybody knows when you get it; 20 on the hit die GUARANTEES critical without a chance to block. It's not just transparent, it never changes! Some options allow for criticalling on 19 or 18, but those are specialist options. NONE of your opponents have critical block at all barring special abilities that allow you to have them reroll the attack die, but that's not the same thing as critical block.
I would like it if they just got rid of critical all together. It's another way to stack the deck against you. When PvE crits on you 4 times in a battle, and you don't block it, you're toast. My life blocks critical sometimes, but I make sure her resist is high enough that I can take the hit and heal up after. SOME monsters in fights have criticalled every single round and I blocked none, and there's times my questing buddy criticalled every round in a fight and they blocked it every single time, on every monster.
I dont mind monsters attacks getting stronger, and I dont mind their strategies getting harder, but to have them score unblocked critical hits at will, unless you pour every last stat into crit block, that's unfair. However, this is all part of KI's brute force strategy against the player that I have commented on for years.
Agreed.
It's almost like someone at KI thought that adding Critical to the mix was the most wonderful idea.
Then someone realized that Wizards were stocking up on critical and making short work of mobs and bosses (or PvP). Critical decay and block were added to the mix to level the playing field. Now instead of a cool random feature we have a mess.
Mind you now. I love W101. I am an old school video gamer (Atari 2600) and have never quite figured out modern controllers. Most MMORPGs don't "do it" for me. W101 and to a certain extant P101 are perfect for what i enjoy doing. There are just certain aspects like Critical Decay that irk the stuffing out of me.
There is an accelerated learner jewel that does just that, your pet gains XP as you battle :)
yes, but not only is there a cooldown period, but it gives you soo little experience it's not worth wasting the slot for it, at least that's how I understand how that jewel works.
It's almost like someone at KI thought that adding Critical to the mix was the most wonderful idea.
Then someone realized that Wizards were stocking up on critical and making short work of mobs and bosses (or PvP). Critical decay and block were added to the mix to level the playing field. Now instead of a cool random feature we have a mess.
Mind you now. I love W101. I am an old school video gamer (Atari 2600) and have never quite figured out modern controllers. Most MMORPGs don't "do it" for me. W101 and to a certain extant P101 are perfect for what i enjoy doing. There are just certain aspects like Critical Decay that irk the stuffing out of me.
S Gs
We also know that the head management changed hands, and there has been a decided change since then. What's worse is that the gear they've released in arc 3 has been junk, and monsters critical more, and the only option for better gear is to farm the insane arc bosses. It's like they've lost their way in relation to risk/reward balancing. Those people who always find the fastest/best strategies wont be affected by this, but the other 95% of the people who play the game will be.
Ok experts. Since we're on a roll here. Not sure what I'm thinking is really happening but is it easier for me to crit depending what school I'm fighting? Seems like, if I'm fighting Life I'm always critical. Ice though? Way lower chance. Am I imagining this?
Christina Soulshard lvl 87 Death
This is a sound observation.
I haven't realized something like this until you brought it up.
Generally will have a higher block rating due to the school specializing in Defenses while the block rating ofmobs should be lower.
I'm not sure if this mechanic has been fully implemented across the breath of mobs within the game as I happen to land my criticals easily on a majority of them through Empyrea.
If this is something the game should implement is another story.
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