There is a severe issue with the Shadow Pip Update we received a few months back. The issue being that players receive their Shadow Pips much slower. This resolves PVP but for PVE in later game areas where bosses also have access to Shadow Magic, these bosses seem to gain Shadow Pips almost 4x as fast as the players. This makes solo questing extremely difficult as the Shadow Enhanced Spells like Sand Wurm can be spammed. The solution to this I've thought of is simple. Reducing the Shadow Rating for bosses will greatly make fighting them more possible when you are on your own. I don't think it's unfair for them to gain them at a slightly faster rate, but the rate it is at right now is a bit ridiculous.
ive been experiencing this too, but actually much earlier -- in khrysalis, where bosses first start having shadow magic. in that world, the bosses with shadow magic appear to be coded to use their shadow spell as soon as they have the pip to. this was fine when the pip gain was more random & thus rare, but the change to rating means they gain and regain their pip extremely fast, often starting on the 1st round. this means whatever shadow spell they have, they use constantly. for example, ghost dog was almost always in shrike. this made him impossible to solo, no matter what strategy i tried (and trust me, i tried a lot). he would basically get his pip first round, use shrike, regain his pip in shrike, and then go right back into shrike as soon as the active shrike ran out. meanwhile id be lucky to get my pip before round 6, but usually it would come later -- not that it mattered, because i had no shadow spells (except shrike) and no gear with shadow rating to use. this problem goes for every shadow boss in khrysalis -- i recently fought warlord balor and he also constantly gained his shadow pip and thus spammed shrike, even though i had upgraded shadow rating by then via darkmoor gear.
i definitely think every boss with shadow rating (except those in the catacombs) need their rating reduced. i also think adjusting their AI would help too (making it so theyre less likely to immediately use their shadow pip once they have it).
Would just love for this "shadow pip update" to be reversed for PvE only.
No one had an issue with this prior, with this "change," it makes questing quite difficult.
You are also correct in the rate bosses gain their shadows. They gain shadows at an expeditious rate as opposed to us wizards.
For the solo player, it gets even more difficult in higher worlds with bosses having outgoing ratings, piercing capabilities, high critical and definitely high blocking stats.
Would just love for this "shadow pip update" to be reversed for PvE only.
No one had an issue with this prior, with this "change," it makes questing quite difficult.
You are also correct in the rate bosses gain their shadows. They gain shadows at an expeditious rate as opposed to us wizards.
For the solo player, it gets even more difficult in higher worlds with bosses having outgoing ratings, piercing capabilities, high critical and definitely high blocking stats.
I agree with this statement. Ever since I returned to regular play, I have been having numerous issues due to not gaining Shadow Pips like I used to. I will join this petition to revert this change for PvE.
I don't even bother using shadow spells anymore. We will ALWAYS get more regular (vs shadow), every round, barring a few specific instances (cheats, mana burn, etc), and thus they are guaranteed. With the changes to the Rank 7 spells, they make shadow spells not worth the gamble anymore.
I don't even bother using shadow spells anymore. We will ALWAYS get more regular (vs shadow), every round, barring a few specific instances (cheats, mana burn, etc), and thus they are guaranteed. With the changes to the Rank 7 spells, they make shadow spells not worth the gamble anymore.
I have to agree with you on this. I don't use them much anymore either. By the time I have a Shadow pip, my wizards have usually taking a lot of damage because of the rate the creatures have theirs.
At this rate, I am not even sure I am going to pursue Shadow spells with the rest of my wizards. If the Shadow pips aren't being gained in a more reasonable rate, there is no point in having the spells.
I'm not seeing this. I'm getting shadow pips pretty consistently every 3 to 4 rounds.
My life wizard has 100 rating for shadow pips. In some battles, I don't even get one. That says the system is glitching or the fill up is extremely low.
With a little more time to think this over, I think we should all be patient. it is possible it's working the right way, and it's possible it may need to be tweaked. I say keep reporting when you have issues, but keep your eyes open for tweaks to the system. It's a brand new system and this is its first implementation. Alpha testing is when they program it and run it internally, beta testing is when they open it up to test server and a larger audience, and gamma testing is where we're at now; it's open to the general public, but we're still testing it for balancing purposes.
I still stand behind my comment about not using shadow spells at all since they're not guaranteed to be gotten when we need them, but I will also give them time to tweak the system as needed.
With a little more time to think this over, I think we should all be patient. it is possible it's working the right way, and it's possible it may need to be tweaked. I say keep reporting when you have issues, but keep your eyes open for tweaks to the system. It's a brand new system and this is its first implementation. Alpha testing is when they program it and run it internally, beta testing is when they open it up to test server and a larger audience, and gamma testing is where we're at now; it's open to the general public, but we're still testing it for balancing purposes.
I still stand behind my comment about not using shadow spells at all since they're not guaranteed to be gotten when we need them, but I will also give them time to tweak the system as needed.
Unfortunately, it seems like we are always TESTING. Too many things don't get fixed or tweaked even after they have been reported.
Like you, I have stopped using Shadow spells. Not worth the stress when you can't rely on having that elusive shadow pip.
