Snipe 06/14/2014 01:56 AM CDT

So I have been thinking about this for awhile now. Vivisection has always had issues and about 6 months before 3.0 dropped it got some love and started working from inviz and was always intended to like normal snipe. It also did not have any room messaging for prep or targeting it. I really started liking this spell. But for over a year now it has been utterly broken. It does much less damage then any other TM spell we have. It automatically brings you out of inviz every time. Just targeting the spell causes people with 700 perception to see you target with nearly 1500 stealth (Thus ruining any stealthy snipe idea this spell once had). I just don't see how this spell has any special place at all on our spell list. Let alone as an esoteric spell.

I know it was stated that some day this spell would get reworked when the new snipe system gets reworked.

That being said, would it just be easier to give necromancer's actual snipe? As a survival prime perk?

Also Amifer we spoke awhile back on test about blood burst and how luck luster it was for such a high cost (vitality).

We spoke about an idea you ran by some people of blood burst continuing to burn the same location it struck on impact. Has there been any further talks about this? Just curious.

-Zerreck Arkarm
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Re: Snipe 06/14/2014 06:32 AM CDT
I was actually poking at Vivisection yesterday. It's a problematic spell the fix, but I am not going to abandon it outright.

>>We spoke about an idea you ran by some people of blood burst continuing to burn the same location it struck on impact. Has there been any further talks about this? Just curious.

Its been approved but requires more work.

-Armifer
"In our days truth is taken to result from the effacing of the living man behind the mathematical structures that think themselves out in him, rather than he be thinking them." - Emmanuel Levinas
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Re: Snipe 06/14/2014 01:51 PM CDT
Spending some more time on Vivisection...

>>It does much less damage then any other TM spell we have.

Could you help me understand this complaint? I just spent the past few minutes tracing Vivisection through the entire TM contest and couldn't find any instance where it's set to do less damage than normal. The only spells that are doing less damage than baseline are DFAs.

I know it's popular wisdom that Vivisection is doing sucky damage, but I'm having trouble substantiating that as a stand alone statement.

-Armifer
"In our days truth is taken to result from the effacing of the living man behind the mathematical structures that think themselves out in him, rather than he be thinking them." - Emmanuel Levinas
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Re: Snipe 06/14/2014 02:08 PM CDT
I think its just the damage types the spell is assigned. Most of our other spells deal energy damage, which is usually better then pure physical damage when it comes to armor.

Elusive
mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiatur
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Re: Snipe 06/14/2014 02:25 PM CDT
>>I know it's popular wisdom that Vivisection is doing sucky damage, but I'm having trouble substantiating that as a stand alone statement.

Just wondering about this, but...

1) Since it's slice/puncture damage, would that create a disadvantage to the damage spells that are elemental/elemental or physical/elemental can pull off? I know player armors tend to weigh heavier toward physical defenses than elemental ones, and I don't know if that would also apply to critters. So it's not that VIV is weaker stat-wise, but just that defenses are better set up to protect/absorb against it.
2) I don't know exactly how TM damage scales from min to max, but a minimum prep of VIV is roughly 27.5% the mana you might put into STRA or ACS and something like 10% of the mana you could put into BLB total. Would that kinda/sorta penalize the damage scaling it could do, in relation to how much you'd be able to do if you just pumped the base + 10-25 more mana into ACS/STRA/BLB?



Uzmam! The Chairman will NOT be pleased to know you're trying to build outside of approved zones. I'd hate for you to be charged the taxes needed to have this place re-zoned. Head for the manor if you're feeling creative.
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Re: Snipe 06/14/2014 02:27 PM CDT
So here's where I am in my Vivisection investigation.

1) Damage is probably not changing, but I won't completely close the door on that.
2) However, Necros are severely behind the curve in getting away with a "snipe" compared to Rangers, let alone Thieves (who have a sickening, global caps busting bonus currently). I'll think of something.

-Armifer
"In our days truth is taken to result from the effacing of the living man behind the mathematical structures that think themselves out in him, rather than he be thinking them." - Emmanuel Levinas
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Re: Snipe 06/14/2014 02:30 PM CDT
>>2) I don't know exactly how TM damage scales from min to max, but a minimum prep of VIV is roughly 27.5% the mana you might put into STRA or ACS and something like 10% of the mana you could put into BLB total. Would that kinda/sorta penalize the damage scaling it could do, in relation to how much you'd be able to do if you just pumped the base + 10-25 more mana into ACS/STRA/BLB?

Damage is first based on template, then modified by Potency. The roof and ceiling doesn't matter except for practicalities of casting. A 100% Potency cast is treated as a 100% cast, whether it's a 70 mana difference or a 700.

-Armifer
"In our days truth is taken to result from the effacing of the living man behind the mathematical structures that think themselves out in him, rather than he be thinking them." - Emmanuel Levinas
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Re: Snipe 06/14/2014 02:47 PM CDT
>>Damage is first based on template, then modified by Potency. The roof and ceiling doesn't matter except for practicalities of casting. A 100% Potency cast is treated as a 100% cast, whether it's a 70 mana difference or a 700.

So a min prep of VIV does more damage than a min prep of ACS, since it's min prep is notably higher?

That's the only thing I'm really wondering about. If I'm looking at things right (and I might now be...), if my potency/etc/etc was 100/100/100, VIV cast of ~68 would put it at 50% it's capability, and a cast of 51 would put ACS at 50% of its capability. VIV cast at min would put it at... whatever the base level of capability counts as (1%?), while casting ACS at VIV's min (28) would put it at something like ~25% of its capability.

The numbers normalize once everything hits 100%, because the spells both cap around 100, but the starting points are notably different and, at least in my experiences, I'm not putting that much mana into most TM spells. I normally prep at something like 1-5 and pull in 10-20 extra via harness.

Honestly, my biggest issue with VIV is the minimum prep. I know it's just my perspective, but 28 seems like a lot for the snipe factor of it. That makes me go to ACS/STRA/BLB a lot faster than VIV if the damage is all on the same general playing field and I want my mana to last.



Uzmam! The Chairman will NOT be pleased to know you're trying to build outside of approved zones. I'd hate for you to be charged the taxes needed to have this place re-zoned. Head for the manor if you're feeling creative.
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Re: Snipe 06/14/2014 02:49 PM CDT
>>Honestly, my biggest issue with VIV is the minimum prep. I know it's just my perspective, but 28 seems like a lot for the snipe factor of it. That makes me go to ACS/STRA/BLB a lot faster than VIV if the damage is all on the same general playing field and I want my mana to last.

I might budge a bit on the min prep, but it'll remain high. Right now I think my focus for Vivisection is getting Necromancers on a somewhat even playing field on getting the "snipe" off and see where we're after that.

-Armifer
"In our days truth is taken to result from the effacing of the living man behind the mathematical structures that think themselves out in him, rather than he be thinking them." - Emmanuel Levinas
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Re: Snipe 06/14/2014 03:00 PM CDT

>Could you help me understand this complaint?

I suspect like others have said that it is most likely the slice/puncture damage combo. But even in in PVE It takes 5 max cast SV 7 BLB and 10 VIV. This is against moths. Now i didn't kill 50 with each spell to check the averages. Just 3 times each. But same number each time.

The real thing's that changed in 3.0 that ruined this spell completely are
1) we used to be able to prep the spell with no perception contest.

2) we used to be able to target the spell with no perception contest (in and out of hiding/invizo)

3) we used to actually get away with casting it on people with perception similar to our unbuffed stealth before obfuscate.

4) we could cast from JUST eyes of the blind and not be pulled out if we succeeded. Now we have to HIDE even though we are already in stealth per say.


The damage was never award winning, But there is absolutely no reason to use this spell over others now.

Also recently tested with a ranger who has 500 stealth aimed at me with a bow from invizo, I did not notice the actual aiming with my 1200+ perception.

-Zerreck Arkarm
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Re: Snipe 06/14/2014 03:07 PM CDT

>1) we used to be able to prep the spell with no perception contest.

By this i mean there was no room messaging in or out of stealth. allowing us to fully target anyone, without being spotted.

-Zerreck Arkarm
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Re: Snipe 06/14/2014 03:20 PM CDT
>>I might budge a bit on the min prep, but it'll remain high.

I'd be happy if VIV's min was around where SV is.



Uzmam! The Chairman will NOT be pleased to know you're trying to build outside of approved zones. I'd hate for you to be charged the taxes needed to have this place re-zoned. Head for the manor if you're feeling creative.
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Re: Snipe 06/14/2014 03:32 PM CDT
>>I'd be happy if VIV's min was around where SV is.

That might work. Let me think about it and talk with a few folks back here.

-Armifer
"In our days truth is taken to result from the effacing of the living man behind the mathematical structures that think themselves out in him, rather than he be thinking them." - Emmanuel Levinas
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Re: Snipe 06/14/2014 11:07 PM CDT
>>2) However, Necros are severely behind the curve in getting away with a "snipe" compared to Rangers, let alone Thieves (who have a sickening, global caps busting bonus currently). I'll think of something.

And how do you figure this? It's merely a skill check isn't it? Assuming there are no mathematical compensations or anything in place. Stealth is stealth.


~Van
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Re: Snipe 06/14/2014 11:14 PM CDT
>>And how do you figure this? It's merely a skill check isn't it? Assuming there are no mathematical compensations or anything in place. Stealth is stealth.

I think Armifer covered this in his VIV update, where Thanatology takes the place of Tracking and Backstab, right?



Uzmam! The Chairman will NOT be pleased to know you're trying to build outside of approved zones. I'd hate for you to be charged the taxes needed to have this place re-zoned. Head for the manor if you're feeling creative.
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Re: Snipe 06/14/2014 11:21 PM CDT

>And how do you figure this? It's merely a skill check isn't it? Assuming there are no mathematical compensations or anything in place. Stealth is stealth.

When comparing the stealth bonus from Eotb to silence I am guessing that the thief invizo was giving a larger bonus overall. At least that seemed hinted at.

That being said, I test stealth with the new and improved eotb bonus and it is very cool. Felt stealth was finally working. I was testing against people likely a 200-300 ranks below me. But they were unable to see me as I chatted away and went in and out of hiding. These are the same people that in 2.0 could not see me. Then 3.0 could regularly. So it is a cool change.

Now to get a stealth hindrance reducer like ranger and thieves and we will be set =)

-Zerreck Arkarm
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Re: Snipe 06/14/2014 11:27 PM CDT
>>And how do you figure this? It's merely a skill check isn't it? Assuming there are no mathematical compensations or anything in place. Stealth is stealth.

There's a part of the Snipe code that reads, roughly, "If Thief then double down on Khri bonuses." There's no equivalent for Rangers or now Necromancers.

-Armifer
"In our days truth is taken to result from the effacing of the living man behind the mathematical structures that think themselves out in him, rather than he be thinking them." - Emmanuel Levinas
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Re: Snipe 06/14/2014 11:34 PM CDT


If you don't mind sharing, What does the Backstab/scouting/Thanatology actually do in the snipe contest?

-Zerreck Arkarm
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Re: Snipe 06/14/2014 11:37 PM CDT
>>I think Armifer covered this in his VIV update, where Thanatology takes the place of Tracking and Backstab, right?

Ah, I guess I didn't check the timestamps on those posts. I kind of assumed this was already kind of factored in from the get-go.


~Van
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Re: Snipe 06/14/2014 11:38 PM CDT
>>If you don't mind sharing, What does the Backstab/scouting/Thanatology actually do in the snipe contest?

Provides a bonus to the stealth check.

-Armifer
"In our days truth is taken to result from the effacing of the living man behind the mathematical structures that think themselves out in him, rather than he be thinking them." - Emmanuel Levinas
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