The upcoming changes to the city siege system may be the most exciting part of 1.3.5, but it is not the most important. Mythic will be changing the way classes benefit from the weapons they use. In the process, they will be taking a look at damage across the board. So, what does this mean for you?
Under the current system, all careers benefit from the stats (+20 wounds for example) given by the weapon. The problem is that only a few careers benefit from the weapon's DPS value. Melee classes get the benefit of both, while healers only use the stats. As more powerful weapons get introduced, the melee careers benefit more than others.
In 1.3.5, Mythic has proposed applying the weapons DPS value to all careers. In the case of a healer, the DPS value would increase the power of their healing spells. This also applies to the damage abilities of other careers.
As a part of the process, abilities may have their abilities base damage reduced. The Bright Wizard and Sorcerer would become even more powerful with this change otherwise. Due to their class mechanic, they get a large damage bonus. Hopefully this will be taken into account when adjusting their abilities. If there is one thing Order and Destruction agree on, it is that they put out enough damage.
One lingering question is what will this do to Damage over Time abilities? Increasing the base damage will result in a small increase per tick. DoT heavy classes may fall behind even more when compared to BW's and Sorcs.
Here is an example from the thread:
Rune of Restoration, with 750 Willpower
- Current (1.3.4 Live) - 1575 healing
- 1.3.5 with a 68 DPS staff - 1767 healing
- 1.3.5 with a 101 DPS staff - 1906 healing
Overall, it is a change that had to be made. All classes should benefit from their gear. How much of a difference will this actually make? We'll have to wait for it to go up on the PTS to find out. Balance is pretty good right now, so I'm hoping they go conservative.
