post 1.62 skald tl report and response from mythic.

[Drutt-myth]

thought you skalds may like to see this.

Feedback from our 1.62 Skald Report
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Here is the feedback I received. If there's something you disagree with, please make a rational case. I will send any and all rational comments back in. I have several of my own, so I am collecting them and putting together a rebuttal.

I am officially stating that I do not want this post copied to other boards, though linking to this thread is perfectly fine. I want to keep the discussion in one place so we can get a good response, and make sure nothing is taken out of contect and blown out of proportion.

Mythic gave us feedback on our reports, let's not make them regret this decision. Regardless if you like or dislike their feedback, we have been listened to and responsed to. Now we know where their thinking is and we can respond accordingly, or maybe put some longstanding requests to rest.

Thanks,
Rosey

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Skald Report - Post 1.62

Overview

Skalds suffer from the lack of definition. The result of this is that the Skald has watched their damage output scale downward as changes in the game are implemented, and their group support abilities overshadowed by other classes within the realm. Currently the perception is that we have become little more than a speed dealer for RvR. This is a far cry from the original Skald which was able to front-load damage to make a difference in battles. All damage dealing/group abilities have remained unchanged since the game was released while the game itself has changed drastically.

Concerns

Damage Adder range and DPS
Given that the Damage Adder was considered the primary in-battle group ability of the Skald, it would stand to reason that it would be a worthy chant. With it's 700 range and the pulse dropping bug, it has become less valuable. The Skald DA, at the very least, needs to have the bugs fixed and the range increased to 1500. Increasing the DPS would be well received too. Please note that this chant is also available to Wardens and Paladins, and in both cases, this song is not their "first choice" in battle (in fact, they are rarely used in RvR groups with only one Warden/Paladin), which is a good indicator by itself of the perceived valuability of this song, yet it is our top combat support song ... a bit weak if we were to be categorized as a "support" class, thus explaining our lower melee performances.

Direct Damage Shouts
Both the War and the Battle DD shouts are on seperate 20 second timers, are body resist, and have 700 range. Since spell success/resists are based on the Spell level vs Target as opposed to Spec level vs Target, and the War line of DD shouts caps out at level 34, the chance of landing the spell successfully is rather low. These shouts are duplicates of the Minstrel's shouts (which are on 15 second timers) and the Bard's single shout (Same as our lines, except combined into a single shout, 10 second timer). Also note that Skalds who wish to follow the "offensive" Skald route (50 weapon) will have to rely on a level 26 Battle shout, which, with the lower level damage add, considerably weaken the "battlesong" source of damage for that kind of spec. But even for a 46/44/17 Skald (or a 50 BS Skald), the low level on the second shout is a hindrance.

Feedback
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Given the changes to DAOC over time, I don't think it's unreasonable to ask that we look at increasing the range, lowering the time, or adding a higher level shout to this line. We'll look into what makes the most sense here.
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Skald Defense
Chain, evade I, 1.5 spec points, parry, unspeccable small shield, low Dex and Qui which don't raise with level, and no spell or innate ability that directly add to our defense or hits. This is the worst defensive skill set among the classes that are required to go to melee to be effective. Most melee hybrids, among other magical abilities (Paladin AF buff and chant, Thane/Champion's Str/Con buffs), can benefit from 2.0 spec and speccable shield; Minstrels have better evade with same armor type and an ablative song; Wardens have scale, parry, and has the advantage of the PBT; Friars, light tanks and assassin classes have, among other things, high to very high evades scores to more than make up for lighter armor types. On paper, Skalds have a bit better direct melee defense than Bards and healing classes ... but those classes are effective and useful at range, and not required to melee to fulfill their roles.

Feedback
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This is a very slippery slope. At this time, we're not planning on adding any more defense to skalds, although we do want to keep a close eye on this aspect and understand the concerns.
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Group offerings
The other support/melee classes among the realms offer a lot more to the group than the Skald, either within or outside of battle. A single Skald within an RvR group can supply the means to transport the group to battle, which is truly the only thing we excel at. During the battle the Skald can provide their DA chant if the members of the group stay close together (allowing them to be AoE suceptable). If you have a second Skald in the group you can add one of the single resist chants. We can use our Mez ability on a single target in close range(700) and we can use our DDs to interrupt, although at 700, melee is just as useful and has less downsides. The Skald is only considered needed in RvR for their speed.

Feedback
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The range on the DA seems very low and really limits the utility of this chant. We are looking into changing this (and other song/chant ranges) to make them more viable in RvR.
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Specline Issues

Battlesongs- This specline is required for the Skald to do their damage and bring what group ability they have to a group. It is the primary Spec line to spend points on. It does need to be looked at as the return on investment on the defacto Spec line is not up to snuff. Typical Skald Spec is 46 so that the Skald may receive the final Damage Adder Chant.

Feedback
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We're not planning on adding anything specific to this line at this time, with the exception of the above mentioned changes.
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Weapon - Like all Midgardians, we have 3 weapon Specs to choose from. This is usually the second thing for a Skald to raise since they have to raise Battlesongs to be effective. Typical Skald Spec is 44 so that the Skald may receive the level 44 weapon style.

Feedback
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What is the issue or concern here?
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Parry - The only Speccable means of defense for the Skald is relegated to getting the leftover Spec points. A typical Skald will end up with a Parry of 17.

Feedback
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This is common for many classes and not specific to the skald. With the recent block/parry changes, players should explore the options of making trade offs to raise parry if they want more in the area of melee defense.
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We would like to also note that an alternative specialization template is gaining popularity : 50 weapon (almost always axe for the 50 style), 43 BS, leftover in parry. This spec line basically throws away most of the benefits of the Battlesong line, with the exception of speed 5 (notably : the "strong" battleshout is effectively destroyed, and the damage add song is a substandard one). However, the fact that some Skalds still decide to go this route to scrape a few more points of weapon damage is a testament to both Skald woes in melee combat and to the poor state of the battlesong line.

Feedback
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Alternate templates are a good thing. We don't want there to be one single "best" template, so we'd look at this as a positive.
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New Issues

Damage Adder changes - With Patch 1.58, Damage Adders were changed to prevent the usage of the spell for power-levelling. This effected a Skald's DA spell in a negative manner, although the Skalds DA could not be used outside of a group, and therefore not as a levelling tool. This change also effect our unique realm ability, Fury of the Gods.

Feedback
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This is a change that affected all DAs. As far as the realm abilities, we'll be reviewing all the underperformers at some point in time, but have no plans to adjust the skald's specifically.
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Melee defense fixes - While the fix is a nice one for the general health of the game, like many changes that were done in the past year, it just scales down even more the Skald compared to most melee classes.

Feedback
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This helps skald defense as well. While it makes it more difficult for everyone to attack targets with such defenses, it has no affect regarding skalds and "softer" targets.
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Resist rates - A current problem expressed by most casters, it both affects Skald damage output (shouts) and CC.

Feedback
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We are reworking the resist system and are paying special attention to the effect of the block/parry fix on CC resist rates.
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Other Issues

-The value of +Battlesong items

Feedback
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The value is very low. Not sure when/if this will change.
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-6 single resist chants

Feedback
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Combining them all into one would be too much. With the upcoming resist changes, we'll look into this as well.
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-Fury of the Gods Realm ability

Feedback
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No plans to address this specifically at this time.
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-Design of Skald Epic armor

Feedback
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Noted for the art team.
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-Lower level resist songs overwrite higher level resist buffs and nullify them

Feedback
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This is a bug, please /appeal it on live.
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Item Problems

Skalds can not spec in shields but have access to 2 handed weapons. The offensive bonus granted by a two handed weapon is much more significant than the chances to defend with an unspecced small shield. So skalds use two handed weapons 99% of the time, keeping a fast one hander for specific situations only (essentially, dealing with PBT).
Yet, a significant number of "Skald" weapons (weapons with Charisma and/or Battlesongs) are one handed, and there are also Charisma/Battlesongs small shields.
It is nice that a few of those situationals items exists ... But 3 known one handers and one small shield in the epic dungeon vs 2 two handers that I can think of ... it is not appropriate with the real use of those weapons.

Feedback
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Noted for item team.
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+ Battlesongs bonus.
This issue is just an eternal source of misunderstanding, which sometimes just breeds ill feelings. To sum the issue up : yes, it works, but no, it isn't worth it.
We know that it does something (has a small impact on shout damage), and as such, we understand that it should be put on some RNG and hand made items. However, understand that, with the limited total number of imbue points all over a Skald body, +battlesong bonus is so low a priority that it is not commonly found on any template. As an exemple, maxing out charisma adds a lot more damage to shouts than maxing battlesongs. As such, we kindly request you to keep +battlesong bonus out of "epic" loot, high-level/high-end loot, and quest rewards.

Feedback
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Noted for item team.
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Feedback
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Nice report. Feel free to keep pushing the defensive issue. But right now, we really want to proceed with caution when evaluating any changes to the classes defense.
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