Power Nova is marked as a charm because of the charm it adds on, which is one of the basic reasons it's used. It can be very helpful in PvP, for it makes some unhappy customers who had just used many blades ^_^. But from what i've seen from the other spells that do add charms, this seems to be a glitch.
i just wonder why is balance ranked 7 spell power nova is mark as a charm?
William HawkGrove legendary in balance
There's really no good reason for it unless at the time, KI was trying to keep Balance from getting too powerful since there isn't a "balance" shield per se. Marking it as a charm spell prevents one from adding an enchantment (such as tough or gargantuan) to the spell and thereby significantly increasing damage. The other possibility is that they always intended it to be sort of like a "weakness storm", but with damage.
Having read these posts then getting my Balance power nova last night I am feeling confused. It must have been changed as mine hits all enemy with 470+ and leaves them all with a -25% for their next spell...... for 7 pips. Not giving friends 2 pips at all....
I have read the posts re Power Nova' and wonder why my one does not give all friends 2 pips - has it changed? I nearly didnt bother getting it after all the negative comments! Mine hits the enemy and leaves -25% on them. What is everyone talking about re giving 2 pips to all friends....... Mine does not do that.
When I use it with Death feint etc it is boosted as well - I like it :-)
vwmalrex - the charm they were referring to was the -25% that is placed on the enemy. The issue is you can't boost the damage on the spell with a spell like Strong.
As gtarhannon mentioned, this might have been an attempt to keep balance from becoming too overpowered as compared to the other schools. However, since Ra can be boosted, that doesn't seem likely. I think I read somewhere on the forum that it was a glitch that KI was looking into (along with the Death drain spells that cannot currently be boosted).
I was quite vexed about this. In CL everyone else gets to boost their spells with Sun school (well, okay death doesn't) but Balance can't boost Power Nova so it was pretty much useless as it didn't do enough damage. And Efreet, which also puts on a weakness, is treated as an attack spell and not a charm.
KI, this should be fixed. Either make Efreet a charm as well or, better yet, make Power Nova an attack spell. We don't use Power Nova as a charm, we have weakness for that!
Of course now that I have Ra (the best 58 spell alongside Forest Lord), I don't care as much. But for my upcoming Balance counterparts, please fix Power Nova!
Yeah, not a fan of Nova being a Charm. It's an attack, and should be able to get gargantuaned. As it is, Balance has no really good hit all spells. Even Ra could be bigger, though at least Ra can be garg'd. What bothers me most about this i think is this: I play with the same group usually, a storm, a life, and myself (balance). The life has a purpose, to heal obviously. The Storm has a purpose, to hit big, fine. But I and my balance seem to have lost our usefullness. I mean, storm can put on so many blades on his own, that he can do 1million damage. well, biggest hit I've seen him do is 980k. Still, what does he need me for? an extra bladestorm? pfft. Balance needs more... balance. Nova should be garg-able, I should be able to accu-storm as well as bladestorm, I should be able to hex-storm, i should be able to apply auras to my teammates instead of to myself only... Its almost like Balance has been kept down intentionally because of the outcry from last year about balance being too strong. Pfft, balance might actually be the weakest now. I'm going off on a tangent I know, but Nova is almost useless this way.
It's weird because I saw that too. It may be a glitch. Power nova (I call it Cheese Ball) is very harmful if used correctly. Level 32 Ice/ Magus Thermatuage Sierra Pearlsmith
While I don't want to give specifics, as we're still looking into the particulars, we are looking into some of these issues with a future release (not the one on test, but a subsequent one after that later this year). Our system has found classifying multi-purpose spells problematic, and we're working on a way to solve that without causing other fiery explosions elsewhere.
Short version - we're investigating options and how it affects balance, so keep an eye on update notes for more.
“If the Mind is like a candle, the Heart is like the sun.”
Professor Falmea
While I don't want to give specifics, as we're still looking into the particulars, we are looking into some of these issues with a future release (not the one on test, but a subsequent one after that later this year). Our system has found classifying multi-purpose spells problematic, and we're working on a way to solve that without causing other fiery explosions elsewhere.
Short version - we're investigating options and how it affects balance, so keep an eye on update notes for more.
Professor Falmea, you guys did nothing wrong. It is unfortunate that we cannot keep oursleves from complaining about every little thing. We all seem to forget that Balance is suppose to be the equilibrium of the seven schools, so in terms of power, it should fall somewhere in the middle.
From the beginning Power Nova was labeled as a "Charm" spell while Efreet was labeled as a "Damage" spell. There was never any error on KI's part vis-a-vis the classification of these spells. Therefore, the arguement that Nova should be enchanted as well, is null and void because of it's classification.
The fact of the matter is Balance is the most problematic school for PVP duelists because there are no shields against balance spells and only ICE get a resist aganist balance. Without treasure towers, none of us would have a chance at winning against balance.
So please people, hop off this nova wagon already and allow Falmea and her team to focus on the real issues that are plaguing us.
The Nova issue has been long redunant. I am not sure why we have to resurrect a question that has been long resolved.
KI is upgrading and changing things as they go along. They cannot tell us every little detail about everything because frankly they don't have the time and most of us wouldn't read it or understand it anyways.
Bottom line: Nova is a charm spell so its effect can be cleanse. Efreet is a damage spell so its effect CANNOT be cleanse. Now shall we move forward to more pressing matters?
--- snip --- From the beginning Power Nova was labeled as a "Charm" spell while Efreet was labeled as a "Damage" spell. There was never any error on KI's part vis-a-vis the classification of these spells. Therefore, the arguement that Nova should be enchanted as well, is null and void because of it's classification.
The fact of the matter is Balance is the most problematic school for PVP duelists because there are no shields against balance spells and only ICE get a resist aganist balance. Without treasure towers, none of us would have a chance at winning against balance.
So please people, hop off this nova wagon already and allow Falmea and her team to focus on the real issues that are plaguing us.
The Nova issue has been long redunant. I am not sure why we have to resurrect a question that has been long resolved.
It would appear you have no idea of Power Novas history. Somehow you think Frost Giant and Storm Lord being able to be ENCHANTED and increased in power while adding a STUN, which is a manipulation is ok but allowing the same thing for Power Nova and Scarecrow should just be dropped?
This has been a long running issue that has yet to be resolved fairly to all schools. Just because you can not defend yourself against Balance in PVP means others must not be able to either? Funny, I see other wizards defending themselves quite well against Balance. Maybe weakness should only effect the wizard it is put upons main school only, as in Weakness to your school regardless. Than other schools would not be able to remove it so easily using off school wands. Weakness is a Balance spell that works best against Balance. Maybe if it effect other schools in a similiar fashion costing them their blade setup it would be ok to you than?
This is not an issue to just be forgotten. Would you let the idea that Efreet adding -90% Weakness makes it a CHARM spell for the same reason Power Nova is now. It seems you think that is wrong yet Efreet is much more like Nova than you seem to realize.
Thank You Falmea for still looking into the Power Nova issue. I hope a solution can be found that works to maintain game balance and displeases the fewest number of players.
vwmalrex - the charm they were referring to was the -25% that is placed on the enemy. The issue is you can't boost the damage on the spell with a spell like Strong.
As gtarhannon mentioned, this might have been an attempt to keep balance from becoming too overpowered as compared to the other schools. However, since Ra can be boosted, that doesn't seem likely. I think I read somewhere on the forum that it was a glitch that KI was looking into (along with the Death drain spells that cannot currently be boosted).
Thanks for they reply. To clear ithings - I was actually refering to all the posts around April 2009 that I read before getting the spell - nearly didnt bother with it. All referring to giving 2 pips to friends, nothing about it doing any damage. This is why I wondered what they were talking about once I had the spell - mine does not give pips to anyone.
Nico, do you have a Balance wizard? If so, I am quite surprised you don't understand the issue: We don't USE Power Nova as a charm! We never have!
If you don't have a Balance wizard then please don't belittle the issues of others. Thanks.
I happen to have a level 60 Balance wizard thank you very much. I had more challenge on my fire wizard and pretty much breezed through wizard101 on my balance which is evidence to suggest that balance do NOT need more power than they already have.
And as for Hildrac or whatever your name is. I have seen the same tired old strategy used by balance wizards in PVP and i know how to guard against it. So don't make assumptions about my PVP skills which you know nothing about.
Doesn't matter whether you used the spell as a charm or not. The fact is it was intended as a charm spell. End of discussion.
To date, despite the constant whining and complaining KI have NOT made any statements to say that labeling Nova as a charm was a mistake. So we have to take it that Nova is a charm and was intended as such, until KI says otherwise.
We keep forgetting that only ONE school has a resistance against balance and that's ice. And with the advent of critical, a tower shield will not save you from a powerful balance attack. Hop off the nova wagon people; it's a run-away train to no where.........
If balance feels so disenfranchised, then I will charter a new course and petiton KI to have balance shields and trust me, there are hundreds of people who already hold this view. Balance cannot expect to get more power when we have no defenses against them. And don't even mention unbalance because no one is stupid enough to cast a spell with a dispel hovering around them.
Oh, please, Prof. Falmea, don't do any changes like get rid of Judgment or make it weaker or anything like that! I know a lot of folks complain about Balance being too strong in pvp, and if you make changes in pvp, I would be ok with that, as that would not affect my questing--which is 75% of my gameplay (I also play with my pets and garden and house). As a Balance student, I feel that it the school's spells are just fine (unless you want to increase their power, in which case I would be delighted). But PLEASE don't make detrimental changes to Balance just because of a few players who complain.
Not giving friends 2 pips at all....