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Hello Everyone, I wanted to address gear viability and longevity in game, especially with recent inclusions of set bonuses and a general shift to a more defensive playstyle influenced by the recent gear design changes, especially to Robes.
First off, I do think that it is wonderful that block has been reintroduced to gear. However, the only way to truly get a meaningful block chance percentage is to absolutely TANK your other stats. I think that by removing Block from wands, gear sets lost their main source of block. Wands and Boots used to provide block and decently defensive/offensive stats, and by both going purely offensive, have lost their initial purpose.
I also think the current design of robes is both wonderful and awful at the same time. Currently, Dragoon Armor looks amazing(!!!) at first glance. However, by using Dragoon Robes over WaterWorks/Malistaire/Tennysyn, you lose roughly:
16-27% damage bonus, and roughly 15-20% critical chance. What is gained?
Extra 1000 health ( not bad), decent resist, and a measily 10% block value. You also lose a great deal of accuracy for a small amount of pierce and extra 2% shadow pip chance.
HOWEVER, I don’t think defense-oriented robes should be gone for good. I like them in ideation: they serve a purpose, especially for PVP. However, in PVE they are all short of worthless, especially to offensive schools like Myth/Fire/Storm, or to Ice and Death if they are the designated hitters. The problem is they provide absolutely NO OFFENSIVE VALUE.
A great(!) implementation of a balanced robe in my opinion is the Turqoiuse Eagle Raiment, from the Skyvern Pack. If it gave shadow pip chance, it would likely be the best Robe in the game. It provides: Damage, Resist, Health, Accuracy, Pip chance, Pierce and a small amount of block. Its only detractor is the lack of Shadow pip chance. Why can’t Dragoon gear follow the same format? If the Dragoon Robes gave damage in a range of 15-20%, they would be AMAZING. Malistaire? Who knows her. Tennysyn? She doesn’t even go here. If you truly think Dragoon gear is fine as it is, I Propose another Alternative:
Glass Cannon Robes.
Similar to Hades Robes, Glass Cannon Robes would be PURELY OFFENSIVE, and NO PVP items. Extremely high damage and critical, at the cost of no block, resist, and a minor increase in health. This would allow players to choose what they want out of a late-game build. Safety in defensive, or Risk it for the Biscuit style gameplay with high offensive capability. This would remove the safety Malistaire robes provide in their resist, but amplify player damage potential directly as a result. For example;
( Ice) 1100 HP, 11% power pip, 10% accuracy, 4% pierce, 20% damage, 110 Critical.
(Storm) 950 Hp, 8% power pip, 15% accuracy, 5% pierce, 27% damage, 140 Critical.
(Myth) 1000 HP, 9% power pip, 12% accuracy, 7% pierce, 25% damage, 130 Critical
(Death) 1050 Hp, 10% power pip, 10% accuracy, 4% pierce, 22% damage, 120 Critical
- Providing 0 survivability, this would mean ice would average 13% resist if running a critical/damage pet, but have Myth/Storm level damage as compensation. This type of robe would be similar for every school, with Storm retaining a max of 27% damage. This allows players who wish to go fully offensive a viable route, but also facilitates the ease of high level enemies 1 shot obliterating them as a result.
- I also understand that facilitating the removal of Damage from robes lead directly to Hats and Boots as well as Wands becoming predominantly offensive Items. In theory, the damage lost from an old robe would be more than compensated for by the doubling of those offensive stats. However, it is clear the majority of the playerbase is not willing to downgrade their offensive capability in exchange for block, which is unreliable at best, and extra health. In order for newer robes to be appealing again, I think they need to undergo serious revamps.
-I Also understand that you do no wish to make Malistaire Robes 2.0, which is why I propose 2 alternating robe styles. Purely offensive, mostly defensive ( current) or a mix of both ( Turquoise Eagle Raiment). I would again like to stress short of Shadow Pip chance, that singular pack-exclusive robe is likely the best stat combination in the game. You lose a small amount of damage, all of your critical ( ;<) but in exchange would get an great all-around robe. If Dragoon Robes were more in line with the Turquoise Robe, I think people would be more genuinely willing to give up Malistaire’s. Don’t get me wrong, they are good options, but there are still so many better available.
- I generally think for any of these new gear stat changes to be relevant, we will need :
-A more reliable critical block system with significantly reduced decay.
-General Variety in itemization instead of a homogenous shift towards defensive play.
-A robe that can replace Malistaire’s without being genuinely terrible for your offensive stats
-More sources of critical block
-More sources of Critical or a lessened impact of decay
-Gear that focuses on certain playstyles, IE PvP focused items VS PVE, which would lead to branching itemization instead of the current ; Dragoon Hat, Ring, and Boots, plus everything else you got at level 100 and never found a viable replacement for because nothing is quite as useful/worthwhile.
How does everyone else feel about Robes in their current state? Would any developers care to chime in? Will we every truly see a usable robe for offensive PVE in the future, or will Malistaire/Tennysyn be the only options going forward. Will we see a rework to critical and block to make both more reliable, especially since block is neigh-useless at the moment?