Aside from all the back and forth between tamers, dexxers, and mages, there's actually some good feedback here which I think everyone can agree upon. All in all, bolas should get a nerf. But I think the crux of the issue lies in the mechanics:
If you're able to time a dismount to avoid a bola, isn't that kind of messed up for a balanced game? I mean, ok, nerf bolas, nerf whatever you want, but if you aren't going to fix legal mechanics problems, let alone speedhacks et al, then...yeah lol. So I'm in that camp, I really don't see the point of changing
dismount. Moving shot, on the other hand, is one of the most ridiculous additions to the game. It's absolutely toxic IMO.
Special moves in general are rather outdated. We're rewarded at 70 and 90 of a 120 skill. There's a lot to do there, and I'm not sure if the vVv is going to touch it as suggested in the thread, but it would be nice to see some kind of an upgraded system. I'd like to see a system which is a little more modern, and tied to timers rather than mana usage for weapon specials. The current way of how people can spam special moves does not make them special IMO. If the process of killing someone involves dismount, moving shot, moving shot, moving shot, or dismount all kill, there needs to be some hard measures.
If a dexxer/archer can just spam specials to kill someone, something needs to change. When specials were introduced they were 100% random. A lucky dexxer would para lock someone. Then they were tied to stamina. The good ol' wrestle mage days, when roach mages roamed. Then they were tied to mana, which, in theory, should have limited dexxers/archers due to the necessity of STR/DEX over INT/MANA. Of course, add Elves with bonus mana, add tons of item mods post Shame re-vamp (and even before), and you have dexxers/archers who simply never have to worry about running out of special moves. Then again, one of the things which made old dexxers fun to play--old school Magic Resist--was also stripped, so I understand it isn't really a black and white problem, or that nerfing specials will yield in "the answer." Even so, you should not be able to chain four or more specials in a row, on four consecutive swings/hits.
Tamers should not have the easy out of mounting their pet or logging out and back in to save their pet. I know the log out was to help people not lose their pets in case of a drop out, but it's game breaking. I started playing when people had no stable limit and could control an infinite amount of tameables at one time. It was balanced because our biggest counter was we could cast a moongate, and all of those tameables would go through it if they crossed in front of it while pursuing us. Simple times despite seemingly OP situations lol.
If a player targets another player or their pets with his/her pet, the player's pet ought to have no-recall timer set in place in which the pet cannot be re-mounted again. Likewise, a player should not be able to retrieve their pet with log in/log out. Instead, have the pet pop back to where it
originated upon re-entry to the game, not go poof. I'm sure there could be a way to exploit that, as well, but I'd rather a tamer have to make the choice. Do I let my pet die, or do I log out and take myself out of the game for five minutes until maybe it's clear. It'll still be lame to anyone other than a tamer, but it would be a vast improvement.
As for mages, they're fine obviously. [Like I said, we should be able to agree bolas need a nerf, and give me a reason to not have a mage weapon (IE: wrestling being worth 240 skill points) and I'm on it).
120 wrestling is a huge joke. First thing I'd say about wrestling is it shouldn't require HCI for hits. Maybe it should operate on its own combat system, like (Attacker's Wrestling) / [(Defender's Parry+Defender's Tactics)/ 2] = hit chance, on any Wrestling skill that's 100 or above. Leave special moves parryable, of course, but throw hit chance a bone. Do something to break the mage weapon meta. Eh, maybe the Wrestle buff would be too OP, but still. Something. Second, make this game sandbox again. Aside from true bosses, 120 wrestling deserves a fair chance to both para and disarm anything in the game.
