Developer's Diary – Warden Updates from OnnMacMahal

[Thurallor]

Dear DEV, what would you think of this?

1) No animation or delays on builders ever, and also no immediate dps from them. They just queue.
2) All the results occur when the fully built gambit is finally fired off.
3) When stunned you can still build a gambit; but the stun delays you from firing the gambit.

Gambits could be built very fast, faster than now, which makes it feel responsive.
The cooldown on the fire-gambit button becomes the controlling factor that devs can adjust.
It probably means that masteries are not even needed since the basic builders just queue.

I think this would help in several areas:

1) Feels less sluggish overall.
2) A more fair form of stuns which is on par with what other classes experience.
3) Reduced network I/O since builders are just queued in the client and the network I/O is deferred to when they fire.
4) Less impact from lag that causes missed keystrokes and gambit mistakes.
5) Simpler gambit logic in the code.

I like this idea a lot.

[Hadrigar]

Dear DEV, what would you think of this?

1) No animation or delays on builders ever, and also no immediate dps from them. They just queue.
2) All the results occur when the fully built gambit is finally fired off.
3) When stunned you can still build a gambit; but the stun delays you from firing the gambit.

Gambits could be built very fast, faster than now, which makes it feel responsive.
The cooldown on the fire-gambit button becomes the controlling factor that devs can adjust.
It probably means that masteries are not even needed since the basic builders just queue.

I think this would help in several areas:

1) Feels less sluggish overall.
2) A more fair form of stuns which is on par with what other classes experience.
3) Reduced network I/O since builders are just queued in the client and the network I/O is deferred to when they fire.
4) Less impact from lag that causes missed keystrokes and gambit mistakes.
5) Simpler gambit logic in the code.

I really like this idea for the most part. I would keep masteries in the game, increase the AOE radius of the AOE gambits (minus war-cry , RRC , RC ect. )
I feel like builders not having any damage will feel harsh to the flow , but is worth considering.

[Plidak]

? Gambit Sequence: Precise Blow through Spear of Fate (Fist-Spear Gambits)
Gambits in this sequence will apply Light-damage DoTs to your current target. These DoT effects will pulse at a slightly faster rate than your other DoTs, and will not be cleansable, so monster players will not be able to remove them by using potions or skills.

This should be made for bleed dots not light dmg one.
The entire red line dmg is based around Lasting Impression talent.
(Your Spear Gambit Bleeds deal burst damage when they expire.)
So make this talent work for all warden DoTs, or revert the change to "bleed dmg not dispelable in pvmp"
This is the only spike dmg warden have /even after the update/ so removing it will let us be pure dot class in pvmp, which will turn us from meme yellow line javeling spamer, to The Meme

[Krissy]

Any chance of Reveral (Corruption removal) to be an always available ability with a cool down timer?
Taking damage with a damage reflect corruption while sorting the gambit for it, then having the mob instantly recast it is annoying and takes away from the fun.

4 buttons to cast an ability other classes have as an instant cast by default seems odd.

[Perks]

Let me guess...your crit rating was low?

in the trait tree it it is specc'd to proc 1 out of every 2 crits on ranged gambits... get your finesse and crit maxxed you can reliably ( and not RNG dependant ) build your rotation around it procc'ing

Ranged resounding challenge followed by the the small ranged 2 quick sweep gambits ALWAYS procc'd StM for me.
then i change to melee stance to get the 20% damage buff and fire off 3 quick gambits and swop to ranged stance and carry on
so, no Yello ward was not about STAYING in range and yes you can count on it procc'ing regularly. You just need to crit regularly

its not a guaranteed proc so idk what ur saying... u can heavily influence a proc yes but its still up to rng whether it procs or not

[Plidak]

BPE is still very valuable, but yes, Determination wardens are going to get a little love outside of BPE in some of their shield gambits, traits, and skills.

My goal is not to strip the class of BPE in part because we can attack this from multiple angles. Most tanks rely on BPE stats and effects to some extent, so we shouldn't just call the whole BPE system a lost cause.

Most ? Like which one ? I recall one= guardian. And his BPE triger a second effect and use of skills. What warden BPE helps vs boss special attacks ? Nothing.
And guardians dont rely on bpe, just get some benefit from it. There is no tank who focus on BPE at all.

[Halphast]

its not a guaranteed proc so idk what ur saying... u can heavily influence a proc yes but its still up to rng whether it procs or not

True it's not guaranteed but it works most of the time. People are talking about STM like it's totally unreliable, but in practice it's pretty rare for it NOT to work.

[Balan64]

what I miss most about Wardens is Wardens Threat being tied to Gambits. I loved Wardens during the Rise of Isenguard days

[JLotro]

what I miss most about Wardens is Wardens Threat being tied to Gambits. I loved Wardens during the Rise of Isenguard days

Yes, having a good single target and AOE threat on a couple gambits when in blue build would be appreciated.
Precise Blow, and War Cry are decent choices since they are short/quick - and when you need threat as a tank
it should not take too long to generate.

[Halphast]

Any chance of Reveral (Corruption removal) to be an always available ability with a cool down timer?
4 buttons to cast an ability other classes have as an instant cast by default seems odd.

I really hope they don't do that. With potency you can use it twice in a row, when many other classes can only use it once then wait for a cooldown- and of course it's faster to use masteries than builders. Certain fights like Morloth are really easy for a Warden because you can remove the corruptions so fast. It's also nice in Delvings when you're so often fighting 2 enemies at once that both need corruptions removed- just use Potency and remove from both. If they switched to a one-click skill with cooldown it would be bad news.