making ninjas great again
Posted: Thu Jul 30, 2020 11:24 pm
Hey Bear's BBSers!
So I'm rocking a lvl 75 ninja and just started looking ahead in the edited realm to see what excitement is in store for the next 50 levels or so <egrin>. So what was I looking for? Well, what makes ninjas awesome?
- Awesome backstabs
- Crazy dodge
- Great damage for a sneaking/backstabbing class (after all, they get all weapons, not just 1H)
- Cool ninja-specific items because most silk gear is designed for casters. (After all, thieves, gypsies, missionaries all get leather, and mystics have their kai spells)
Well - in short, what I found was that at least from 90-120:
- Ninjas have by FAR the worst backstabbing bonuses of sneaking/backstabbing classes. (Based on stock, they should be 2nd only to thieves, right?)
- Ninjas don't have any weapons that outperform the rest of the sneaking/backstabbing classes, since the gap's been closed between 2h and 1h weapon damage (black adamantite, socketed, forged weapons are basically equal damage for 2H and 1H.)
- Ninjas have no solid ninja-specific items that mitigate the above...
Basic bonuses of high lvl sets:
Level 90 & 120 leather sets: +30/30/20 BS min/max/accuracy, +50-100 hp. Rangers also get nature's camo for an *extra* 10/30/50 BS upgrade, and gypsies/missionaries get all kinds of buffs.
Level 90 & 120 silk sets: no BS, no HP. (Mystics get big mana regen and damage bonuses though, and +20 dodge from old man)
As you would expect, silk > leather for dodge and leather > silk for AC, which I think even out. But ninjas get left in the dust when it comes to damage.
*Another key point: remorhaz gauntlets give *divine breathe* and mystics have their own healing. Ninjas are dramatically worse off, as the only sneakers without all these easy sources of dodge, healing, or HP.
At 100, ninjas get Erevis Cale gear. But currently this a major step down from their lvl 90 gear: -25 dodge, -9 ac, still no BS damage. But most importantly: no set bonus! I think Erevis Cale ninja gear predated a lot of the more recent armor and it probably needs a substantial upgrade to be comparable to other sets (remorhaz, taer, charred blue leather).
So what to do about it? Well, I figure there are a few options:
(1) Upgrade Erevis Cale set to be competitive with other high level sets. +HP, +dodge, some serious +BS to catch up (like +50 min/max/acc), some kind of healing or lifedrain, and maybe a +damage bonus to make ninjas the hard-hitting, backstabbing, dodging glass cannons they were intended to be? I guess in this case, it would replace taer fur as the endgame ninja gear. Give it a set bonus? Make it upgradeable? I think something like this is probably the right balance of easy & worthwhile.
(2) Add +BS or +damage to the taer fur and black & blue silk. (This might make mystics way overpowered though...)
(3) Expand high-level ninja-specific items in edit (!). This is a really fun option to think about, and I could imagine all kinds of coolness. Smoke bombs that could be held in the off-hand & used to decrease opponent AC? Backstab-bonus ninja-only bracers? A worn item that gives lifedrain to attacks? Ninja-only 2H weapons that actually do really solid damage or lifedrain? I'm sure it'd require some careful thought to get this just right.
Anyway, love to hear suggestions, particularly from ninjas & other sneakers! If you want, I can try to spec out what new Erevis Cale gear might look like...
So I'm rocking a lvl 75 ninja and just started looking ahead in the edited realm to see what excitement is in store for the next 50 levels or so <egrin>. So what was I looking for? Well, what makes ninjas awesome?
- Awesome backstabs
- Crazy dodge
- Great damage for a sneaking/backstabbing class (after all, they get all weapons, not just 1H)
- Cool ninja-specific items because most silk gear is designed for casters. (After all, thieves, gypsies, missionaries all get leather, and mystics have their kai spells)
Well - in short, what I found was that at least from 90-120:
- Ninjas have by FAR the worst backstabbing bonuses of sneaking/backstabbing classes. (Based on stock, they should be 2nd only to thieves, right?)
- Ninjas don't have any weapons that outperform the rest of the sneaking/backstabbing classes, since the gap's been closed between 2h and 1h weapon damage (black adamantite, socketed, forged weapons are basically equal damage for 2H and 1H.)
- Ninjas have no solid ninja-specific items that mitigate the above...
Basic bonuses of high lvl sets:
Level 90 & 120 leather sets: +30/30/20 BS min/max/accuracy, +50-100 hp. Rangers also get nature's camo for an *extra* 10/30/50 BS upgrade, and gypsies/missionaries get all kinds of buffs.
Level 90 & 120 silk sets: no BS, no HP. (Mystics get big mana regen and damage bonuses though, and +20 dodge from old man)
As you would expect, silk > leather for dodge and leather > silk for AC, which I think even out. But ninjas get left in the dust when it comes to damage.
*Another key point: remorhaz gauntlets give *divine breathe* and mystics have their own healing. Ninjas are dramatically worse off, as the only sneakers without all these easy sources of dodge, healing, or HP.
At 100, ninjas get Erevis Cale gear. But currently this a major step down from their lvl 90 gear: -25 dodge, -9 ac, still no BS damage. But most importantly: no set bonus! I think Erevis Cale ninja gear predated a lot of the more recent armor and it probably needs a substantial upgrade to be comparable to other sets (remorhaz, taer, charred blue leather).
So what to do about it? Well, I figure there are a few options:
(1) Upgrade Erevis Cale set to be competitive with other high level sets. +HP, +dodge, some serious +BS to catch up (like +50 min/max/acc), some kind of healing or lifedrain, and maybe a +damage bonus to make ninjas the hard-hitting, backstabbing, dodging glass cannons they were intended to be? I guess in this case, it would replace taer fur as the endgame ninja gear. Give it a set bonus? Make it upgradeable? I think something like this is probably the right balance of easy & worthwhile.
(2) Add +BS or +damage to the taer fur and black & blue silk. (This might make mystics way overpowered though...)
(3) Expand high-level ninja-specific items in edit (!). This is a really fun option to think about, and I could imagine all kinds of coolness. Smoke bombs that could be held in the off-hand & used to decrease opponent AC? Backstab-bonus ninja-only bracers? A worn item that gives lifedrain to attacks? Ninja-only 2H weapons that actually do really solid damage or lifedrain? I'm sure it'd require some careful thought to get this just right.
Anyway, love to hear suggestions, particularly from ninjas & other sneakers! If you want, I can try to spec out what new Erevis Cale gear might look like...