Rune-keeper Q&A with your host, Zombie Columbus

[ChocoBird]

I am glad you have finally satisfied your taste for brains and come back to the world of the living! ... For now...

Q1
Epic for the Ages:
What on earth are you going to do, what to do, are thinking of doing or just plain dont care about it? As I truly only heal on my rk I find this skill more of a worthless waste of space than anything else. Ive used it rarely as all of my other skills are by far better. Perhaps you could make it a hot, that is based on all the other hots active? Only reason i say this is because, Epic Conclusion is made better by buffs, and Essence of Flame does more damage while you do more fire. So would you turn this into a fourth hot, that's duration is increased and/or heal value and/or power value increased per healing buff active on the person?
Q2
Increased Neutral Attune for our skills:
Why? Simply why? Looking at the new traits the only way to get good results from healing or killing is based on full traiting one way. Is this more a penalty for trying to do more than just pressing the nuke or heal button or an incentive to switch mid fight, which would not make a lot of sense.
Q3
Could you please consider consolidating "Do Not Fall to wound/poison", and add in a disease effect as well? Increase power cost obviously, but it would make it well worth the high power cost and high Neutral attune.
Also the potential for consolidation of "Do not fall to x" to "Do not fall to Elements"? We can justify it that as we have leveled we have begun to master all of the written words, we have mastered the dual or triple meanings of words in order to create more powerful prophecies. Please consider it?
Q4
Would offering you baked goods get you to interact with us more? I make some mean muffins.

Other than those, no matter what i'm sure we will all appreciate all the hard work you have done for our class.

[Ixinix]

My biggest annoyance with my RK is the huge number of resists. I have been grinding rep in enedwaith the last couple of weeks and I've had fights with single deserters (humanoids) where 4 attacks got resisted, 2 got missed and 1 even got blocked. This has taken a lot of the fun of the RK away for me. I am not sure yet how Finesse will affect tactical attacks but I hope we will see more attacks land because when so many attacks fail it makes me want to stop playing.

I think I will make a fire build again in RoI so with Mystifying Flame it may not be so bad anymore.

[Gilean-EU]

I have only one question: Will my mainly soloing rune-keeper be less effective in PvE than I used to be compared to other classes? I have heard lightning traitline is going to be about just as effective as wet noodle, and because of long inductions of fire skills, lightning skills have been kind of the only way of soloing. Have you forgot soloers completely? (okay, that was second question )

[Sandgorgan]

so have you been on beta to try it out? I have, and I love the fire changes.

Yes I have. I parsed the dummy at 65 with the same gear as my copied rk after our "awesome" month of... Guess what? Dps was down on both storm and fire in comparison to the old parse. That's why I'm asking if we're doing the one step backwards one step forwards method again. I know you "feel" more powerful but it's really not progress...

[Alad.]

Q3
Could you please consider consolidating "Do Not Fall to wound/poison", and add in a disease effect as well? Increase power cost obviously, but it would make it well worth the high power cost and high Neutral attune.

Hi. Are you asking for a combined skill that sets you back 6 attunement? I personally would love a combined skill at the cost of 3 attunement, no more (i.e. 1 more than the current cost of 2 per skill). These skills are very commonly used, and for the single negate they offer, are not worth a combined 6 attunement in my eyes. I would be ready to pay 4 attunement for a skill that negates Wound, Disease, Poison and Fear, independently (i.e. a poison negate will not remove the other 3 buffs).

[ChocoBird]

Hi. Are you asking for a combined skill that sets you back 6 attunement? I personally would love a combined skill at the cost of 3 attunement, no more

Oh good lord no, I meant at three it would be totally worth it, not six.

[interactii]

Here are a few of my questions:

1. Why is the Writ of Health version applied by Improved Rousing Words not the one that tiers down, and is the one that just disappears?

2. Why can't anything be done to address Epic of the Ages?

3. What was the logic behind increasing attunement costs without giving the skills additional benefits? I believe this decreases our effectiveness as healers compared to Minis.

4. Why can't we have a dread removal skill?

5. Lighting DPS has been reduced substantially at 75 as a result of loss of tat crit multiplier and the loss of critical rating, to the point where fire can often out-perform it, especially with more than one target. Why was this done? "PVMP balance" is not an answer. Part of what made RKs fun was seeing an occasional 5k hit.

6. Why is the second set bonus on the RK raid Armour (FR reduces the cool down of essay of flame by 3s) so bad? Why have RK set bonuses never been good?

7. Can you explain why Improved Prelude to Hope was implemented? RKs do not have power management issues, even at high level. It seems like a throwaway of a new skill.

I'm generally pretty depressed about the RK changes, except for Improved Rousing Words, which is pretty epic, and some of the improvements to fire.

[SYF1209]

While it's nice to see you pop your head in, considering other classes have had communication with their devs since as early as May, being it's 3 weeks from RoI going live, it's too little, too late IMO.

Having said that, what is the vision for the class in regard to healing. I rolled my RK back on day one of MoM to be a main healer and feel that with each update, the class is falling further and further behind the mini in terms of output and desirability to raids. Even currently in OD, the mini's bring more to the table and mini's are getting yet another major overhaul.

[Fin.]

Why have RK set bonuses never been good?

I would argue that BG and OD(the one with improved AFE) offer brilliant set bonuses.

[timmyloo22546]

Why is Epic for the Ages not on my quickslot bars even though I heal 95% of the time?

Any chance All Fates Entwined could be maintained easier? Reapplying linnod of peace will cause all fates entwined to toggle off which is silly. Using the rez or many other neutral attunement skills will cause the same issue. My idea: Add a 5th set bonus to benedictions of peace changing all fates entwined to 6 or 7 healing attunement requirement instead of 9.

[Sulthern]

My question is are you really answering questions this weekend?

[mobegod]

Pull up a chair, friend. It's been a while since we talked. Yes, yes, I know I should have been here sooner. I'm sorry, it is my nature to sit back and listen when perhaps I should talk. But no matter, you are not here to hear of my personal problems, are you? No, you want to know more about your precious, don't you...

NDA has been lifted, but Dev Diaries are not all out yet. You've heard about all the fantastic and frightening changes to items and stats. You've read about what overpowered things that vile other class received and some of the hideous nerfs the hated ZC is forcing on you, hmmm?

Well, I can't promise you the sun and stars, but I have been and will always try to be transparent. During these dark times before the expansion hits and you see first hand what the future brings, there is the unknown. And the unknown is scary, isn't it? Of course it is, it's our nature to fear the unknown, to fear change! And rightly so. For all the good it can bring, change also bring closer the entropy that ends all, eh? As beings of order in a universe of chaos, we all must strive to maintain the world about us! We are not horrible creatures from beyond the veil of... eh... what was i talking about again?

Right, MMO classes. Rune-keeper changes in Rise of Isengard. Philosophies of the class you know and love. Intentions for the future. Regrets of the past. My shoe size. Ask anything you wish, but be ignored at your own peril! I'll be on and off over the weekend, chatting when I can.

This is the best troll post I've seen in awhile....

[Valkyrielady]

Guys/Gals,

Seriously, don't put alot of effort into your posts here. There is an exact copy of this first post on the hunter forums. The only word changed is "runekeeper" to "hunter." ZC can't even take 5 minutes to type up a unique and appropriate post for either the hunters or the runekeepers. Both classes are seriously upset with changes, and for good reason. But, don't kid yourselves. We won't see any substantive input from any dev. They don't care, come on. Stop wishing, hoping, and venting. Trust me, you're only talking to yourself and friends in the community.

Hunter Thread

Notice any similarities?

[Louvre]

Why is Epic for the Ages not on my quickslot bars even though I heal 95% of the time?

Any chance All Fates Entwined could be maintained easier? Reapplying linnod of peace will cause all fates entwined to toggle off which is silly. Using the rez or many other neutral attunement skills will cause the same issue. My idea: Add a 5th set bonus to benedictions of peace changing all fates entwined to 6 or 7 healing attunement requirement instead of 9.

I actually think that All Fates Entwined should be a skill out of the healing attunement process. For example, make it require a +1 healing attunement just to make sure we don't use it while DPSing. It's not a skill that powerful to have it locked to 9.

[Belaeren]

Any chance All Fates Entwined could be maintained easier? Reapplying linnod of peace will cause all fates entwined to toggle off which is silly. Using the rez or many other neutral attunement skills will cause the same issue. My idea: Add a 5th set bonus to benedictions of peace changing all fates entwined to 6 or 7 healing attunement requirement instead of 9.

I like Askir's idea here a lot. I often find myself avoiding AFE simply because I know it's going to turn off shortly anyway because I have to reapply Calming Verse for the major boost to healing. We shouldn't be penalized in our healing skills by using other skills to help healing.

[Sezneg]

My idea: Add a 5th set bonus to benedictions of peace changing all fates entwined to 6 or 7 healing attunement requirement instead of 9.

That's a really good idea.

[Ruintheliel]

DPS
- First of all, and to repeat some of what others have been asking, where do you wish RK performance should be, compared to hunters and champions? Just as good or slightly inferior?

- Secondly, if Lightning is supposed to be inferior to Fire for group DPS, have you thought about situations where DoTs are not viable, such as the twin trolls in Dar Narbugud, where DoTs do not transfer to the other target, just like with Brutes in Sammath Gul?

Healing
Healing output:
- In two consecutive updates, we have seen Mending Verse losing ground to Epic for the Ages, though still remaining our best heal. A worry of mine, which in no doubt is shared by others, is that we are being pushed towards a heal that is not viable for more challenging content, due to the very long induction of Epic for the Ages. It is also a gamble to rely on such big heals, due to the fluctuations in morale-levels of the healing-target. What is your current design intent of this skill and Mending Verse?

- The new, big upgrade in Isengard for healing, Improved Rousing Words, seems to be less than we hoped for in the sense that it does not apply the traited version, according to rumours. Is this true? And if so, is it a bug?

Utility:
- Perhaps my main gripe about RK healing, is our lack of group utility. While Do Not Fall to X has served us well so far, this skill is now being changed (Read: Nerfed). At the same time, Minstrels will have their damage-buffing ballads all rolled into one, single anthem. To make the difference even greater, they will have their former self-buffing Ballad of Swiftness (-10% attack duration) now included in an Anthem that affects the whole fellowship. Ignoring Telling Mark, Minstrels will soon be able to buff the damage of their fellowship by at least as much as a Captain (To Arms + War-Cry), but healing RKs are left without any buff/debuffs of significance whatsoever. Have you ever considered adding similar skills to healing RKs?
Some ideas ontop of my head:
= +2% Critical Chance per tier of Writ of Health
= -x% Induction time and Attack Duration from Wondrous Foreshadowing
= Fall to Our Wrath not being removed when triggered if used at a certain healing attunement, but rather lasts for its entire duration and keeps being triggered. Perhaps also with your own addition - incoming damage or reduced mitigation, whichever it was.

[Raven-EU]

Okey, I'll try and condense my thoughts into questions that will hopefully be answered... If any of these questions get the full explanation in the Dev Diary, please just make that note and skip it.

Impact of Stats changes on our class

1) It's a no-brainer that the changes to the core Stats mechanics in the game affects all classes and skills to some degree. Could you give a small exposé on how the Stats changes affect Rune-Keepers specifically and how this has molded the changes you've imposed? (e.g. increased crit rate means base damage needed to be reduced for RK's to not become OP) etc

2) When reading the change note, what mental shifts should we make? I.e. if the change note says "Ceaseless Argument, damage reduced" should we think "Hmmm, yeah but I'll crit more often and will have at least 10% higher Tactical Offence Ratio"? Elaborate please.

Some general questions

3) Why the increase in attunement penanlty for using neutral skills?

4) In Orion's post we got told that Champs and Hunters share the DPS throne in the game. That tastes bad in my mouth... How far behind, in your testing, are Rune-Keeper DPS?

5) Itemization is usually something done late in your projects (or so I've understood) so this may be a moot question; how will the removal of Tactical Critical Multipliers from most level 75 gear affect Rune-Keepers and why was that change made?

I love healing on my Rune-Keeper

6) Although I don't personally agree with the complain that RKs lack utility skills it is still something I need to be able to defend against in order to be a viable choice as main/co healer in instances and raids. If our raid leader says "I rather bring a minstrel because of buff X" I would like to be able to reply with "Yes, that's a fair argument but remember that I bring utility Y which is equally usefull in instance Z". What is your viewpoint on the polarity between Minstrels and Rune-Keepers with regard to being viable as main healers?

6b) The same argument can be seen with DPS Rune-Keepers vs. Hunters.

7) What is the reasoning behind not giving Rune-Keepers a dread removal skill? We never go to Durin's Bane in Ost Dunhoth without at least one Minstrel. Why? Because we want to be able to remove dread if we wipe... Taking only Rune-Keeper healers is just not an option at this time. I would be fine with locking it behind a 4-set bonus or even tie it to the healing cap-stone.

8) Epic for the Ages... What to say... It's a nice heal, BUT ... Even traited it's not really viable as a main healing skill in a raid situation where damage comes often and hard. I find myself wanting to use it but not really daring because of the long induction. Do you have any plans of changing it somehow or do we healing Rune-Keepers just need to figure out how and when to use it?

I want to burn our enemies to cinders!

9) In your testing, how does Fire DPS compare to Lightning DPS? For instance, will Fire DPS be more consistent, producing higher DPS over time with lower thread while Lightning DPS is spiky but average DPS is lower and generated thread higher?

[Bradegor]

DPS
- First of all, and to repeat some of what others have been asking, where do you wish RK performance should be, compared to hunters and champions? Just as good or slightly inferior?

- Secondly, if Lightning is supposed to be inferior to Fire for group DPS, have you thought about situations where DoTs are not viable, such as the twin trolls in Dar Narbugud, where DoTs do not transfer to the other target, just like with Brutes in Sammath Gul?

Healing
Healing output:
- In two consecutive updates, we have seen Mending Verse losing ground to Epic for the Ages, though still remaining our best heal. A worry of mine, which in no doubt is shared by others, is that we are being pushed towards a heal that is not viable for more challenging content, due to the very long induction of Epic for the Ages. It is also a gamble to rely on such big heals, due to the fluctuations in morale-levels of the healing-target. What is your current design intent of this skill and Mending Verse?

- The new, big upgrade in Isengard for healing, Improved Rousing Words, seems to be less than we hoped for in the sense that it does not apply the traited version, according to rumours. Is this true? And if so, is it a bug?

Utility:
- Perhaps my main gripe about RK healing, is our lack of group utility. While Do Not Fall to X has served us well so far, this skill is now being changed (Read: Nerfed). At the same time, Minstrels will have their damage-buffing ballads all rolled into one, single anthem. To make the difference even greater, they will have their former self-buffing Ballad of Swiftness (-10% attack duration) now included in an Anthem that affects the whole fellowship. Ignoring Telling Mark, Minstrels will soon be able to buff the damage of their fellowship by at least as much as a Captain (To Arms + War-Cry), but healing RKs are left without any buff/debuffs of significance whatsoever. Have you ever considered adding similar skills to healing RKs?
Some ideas ontop of my head:
= +2% Critical Chance per tier of Writ of Health
= -x% Induction time and Attack Duration from Wondrous Foreshadowing
= Fall to Our Wrath not being removed when triggered if used at a certain healing attunement, but rather lasts for its entire duration and keeps being triggered. Perhaps also with your own addition - incoming damage or reduced mitigation, whichever it was.

Good sum up. If we dont get utility as healers, we will be outpaced by minstrels - who had power issues but seem to be resolved. RK healers utility is simply mediocre compared with minstrels, and while RK DPS utility is fine, we might need some healing skills that bring more things than simply healing, without nerfing even more our healing.

Is that possible, or we will see soon every RK as fire spec on raids?

Also, are we able to compete with hunters for a DPS spot? what % of a hunter DPS will a RK have?

I really hope that devs don´t forget that we´re not taken in raids for our ability to DPS or heal. We´re taken by our ability to DPS OR heal. If we DPS, we must do it as good as hunters, even being squishier. If we heal, we must bring same healing AND utility as a minstrel, or we will be a 2nd rate healer as we have been before RoI.

The real question is. Is there any hope for the class?

[Fin.]

I really hope that devs don´t forget that we´re not taken in raids for our ability to DPS or heal. We´re taken by our ability to DPS OR heal. If we DPS, we must do it as good as hunters, even being squishier.

Well dps runekeepers offer more utility than dps hunters(currently), so if they do same dps, there is no reason to bring hunter to raid.

[revoked]

Building on responses to the mysteriously disappearing post by Fin, but also addressing utility related to healing for Z_C's reponse:

Originally Posted by Fin.
debuffs
+24% skill inductions
+15% attack duration

The debuffs to attack duration and induction are good and generally underestimated. But they are only available to DPS RKs except at very high power cost even with a riffler specifically for Master of Writs equipped. The cost will be even higher if current beta changes go through since MoW is no longer a toggle if you are healing traited, and the power cost bonus for the Writs riffler has been decreased. Power costs for the chill of winter skills may be being reduced however, so it might balance a bit. What's the intention?

Originally Posted by Fin.
-1040 tactical resist rating

In current beta version, fall to x skills no longer reduce resist rating. They only increase damage of the skill type, so if you are using a lightning stone, it only increases damage by lightning attacks...same for fire.

Fall to Our Wrath will increase damage of all types (not sure if it is ALL types or only tactical) but again, only available if you trait the legendary. Effectively, only available to dpsing RKs unless they want to give up martial training or one of their legendary healing traits...

Also as has been mentioned, blade/wound/Dnf skills will no longer fully negate an attack according to original beta notes...

[Syntastic]

ah, gotcha.

Deleting mine as well then, as it wasnt exactly on topic for the thread anyway

[Alad.]

Also as has been mentioned, blade/wound/Dnf skills will no longer fully negate an attack according to original beta notes...

The beta patch notes don't say that The Blade shall not Wound/The Fang shall not Poison will no longer fully resist/negate the next attack. They only talk about the added resistance to Wound/Poison that those skills also perform, saying that the resistance is being changed from a rating to a flat %.

[dpbevan]

On the off chance that anything we say will be given credence so short before release (.0001% hope) here goes:

It seems to me that the squeeky wheel has gotten the grease in regards to RK:

those wanting fire to be at least as great as lightning got their wish - through what appear to be a large portion of fire buffs and a large portion of lightning de-buffs (PC version of nerf) .

Those creeps posting REPEATEDY about nerfing EC 'cause i got one shotted' are dancing around singing that the tasty morsel of RK can now be killed 90 times better now that we don't have our once every half hour big shot going off...(how many times have i been ghenked by wargs with that long ol knock out and my 'high' morale of 5k was whittled down to a couple hundred with multiple bleeds on me before i even woke up..if that isn't their version of a one shot (due to cooldown, luck, etc), I don't know what is...)

Is that really all it takes? How much noise needs to be made before these tender loving debuffs we are being given get distributed to everyone else?

I don't to do that...I don't wanna hurt everyone's game experience because I can't come to grips with one or two gripes I have....that is not how I roll....so instead, I am going to roll with these wonderful changes, and I am gunna make the best of this less-than optimal situation that I can.

Understanding why the changes to debuff us SOOO far instead of letting the other classes catch up through their series of buffs, will make the bitter pill go down slightly better...please some rationale...or at least some rousing words to hang my hat on, or rather a prelude of hope that makes me wanna continue down the path of the glass water gun...

[revoked]

The beta patch notes don't say that The Blade shall not Wound/The Fang shall not Poison will no longer fully resist/negate the next attack. They only talk about the added resistance to Wound/Poison that those skills also perform, saying that the resistance is being changed from a rating to a flat %.

Oops, see below.