Suggestion for a Confusion-reimplementation

Suggestion for a Confusion-reimplementation

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Posted by: Carighan.6758

Carighan.6758

While talking about Confusion as a counterpart to Poison in another thread, I had the thought that the comparison does indeed make sense, but that it’d be an interesting basis for a Confusion-implementation.

Poison punished healing without thinking. You lose a percentage of each heal, so you’re better off first cleansing Poison, then healing. But you also have to factor in pressure, so in some situations you may need to heal first (biting the bullet), then heal so you’re free to heal more afterwards.

Confusion isn’t all that different. It punished spamming skills without thinking. You take damage every time you press the button, so you’re better off making the cleanse your first one. Although sometimes pressure is too high and you need to first heal / port / defend, then cleanse.

But if that’s the goal, then I suggest making Confusion a duration-stacking condition:

  • Power of the sole Confusion-stack should be ~3 current stacks, maybe more. Potentially going to be quite different in each game mode. Scaling should also be increased, since it’s now only a single stack.
  • Duration stacks, base duration should probably be 3 seconds. This would help a lot with PvE Confusion since now you can apply 15s Confusion with the Sceptre, or 9s-12s with CoF.
  • Caps at ~60s total duration.

This’d facilitate Confusion as a “Think before you push”-condition because if unchecked it’ll stay on you a substantial amount of time, constantly ticking health off. Damage would need to be carefully balanced to be threatening but not inherently lethal (since that’s not the point, as with Poison), and can then be buffed for PvE to make it a PvE-useful damage source.
In the ideal case it would be enough to be more-than-just-annoying, yet not by too much beyond that point. It should pressure you into not pushing buttons if you cannot cleanse it, though.

The strength of heart to face oneself has been made manifest. The persona Carighan has appeared.

Suggestion for a Confusion-reimplementation

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Posted by: GreenNekoHaunt.8527

GreenNekoHaunt.8527

To be honest I somtimes ran with 6 stacks confusion in PvP and I have to say it’s what killed me in the end. I don’t spam many special attacks but the damage is still really heavy once stacked up. So I think it’s fine if used correctly. You can increase the damage and length with traits and equipment.

Gamer & Developer; Playing games is part of making games! Gather experience and make games!

Suggestion for a Confusion-reimplementation

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Posted by: Carighan.6758

Carighan.6758

Well to me it’s not about Confusion being too weak. I rather think it’s current implementation is unfit for it’s – apparently intended – purpose of being a “Hey, think before you just attack!”-condition.

If it’s supposed to be a simple damage condition, then it has too many ways to be avoided, and too high damage when not avoided. It’s too binary extreme, on both ends. But it seems to be more like Poison in design, something which is supposed to make the enemy react to it or lose fighting power (in this case, health), but they can actively avoid this. An offensive support condition, which just happens to also deal damage.

Yet it’d do this better if it were duration-stacking, not power-stacking.

The strength of heart to face oneself has been made manifest. The persona Carighan has appeared.

Suggestion for a Confusion-reimplementation

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Posted by: GreenNekoHaunt.8527

GreenNekoHaunt.8527

Well even if it stacks in duration you can still avoid it’s effects by playing defensive… in case you know how to. Yet confusion is supposed to bash heavy damage on the player by doing a wrong move. If stacking duration up to 60 seconds is quite a heavy time even after battle… of course this would decrease the intensity of it doing less damage.

(as if mesmer isn’t overpowered enough already xDDD)

Gamer & Developer; Playing games is part of making games! Gather experience and make games!

Suggestion for a Confusion-reimplementation

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Posted by: Iruwen.3164

Iruwen.3164

I agree with the base damage and that stack damage shouldn’t sum up, but I’d make it so that instead of stacking duration, stacks wear off on skill use as described here. That’s a more balanced approach, stacking duration would require a decrease in base duration and in the end it wouldn’t feel a lot different to burning. If the stacks wear off on use, you have the option to just burn five stacks by triggering actions quickly and taking the damage instead of using a cleanse or waiting for it to wear off automatically. If the duration stacks, you can only wait or cleanse.

Iruwen Evillan, Human Mesmer on Drakkar Lake

Suggestion for a Confusion-reimplementation

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Posted by: GreenNekoHaunt.8527

GreenNekoHaunt.8527

I agree with the base damage and that stack damage shouldn’t sum up, but I’d make it so that instead of stacking duration, stacks wear off on skill use as described here. That’s a more balanced approach, stacking duration would require a decrease in base duration and in the end it wouldn’t feel a lot different to burning. If the stacks wear off on use, you have the option to just burn five stacks by triggering actions quickly and taking the damage instead of using a cleanse or waiting for it to wear off automatically. If the duration stacks, you can only wait or cleanse.

Now I see. This is a much better approach for people who go heavily on tactics. They can decide how much duration to wait and how much damage to take.
The victim has more freedom to deal with the effect which would fit actual confusion much better.

Gamer & Developer; Playing games is part of making games! Gather experience and make games!

Suggestion for a Confusion-reimplementation

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Posted by: emon.1863

emon.1863

If you make Confusion part of Conditions, then Necro Epidemic should work for this Confusion aswell.

Suggestion for a Confusion-reimplementation

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Posted by: GreenNekoHaunt.8527

GreenNekoHaunt.8527

If you make Confusion part of Conditions, then Necro Epidemic should work for this Confusion aswell.

Confusion has always been a condition. I don’t understand what you’re trying to say?

Plus Necro needs no confusion he already gets some sort dark DoT.

Gamer & Developer; Playing games is part of making games! Gather experience and make games!