Guide 2.0.2 Updated Ability Tree Changelog

Hello again everyone!

2.0.2 was just pushed to the live servers, and there are a few changes to the ability tree that happened during the week the beta server was up, so I'm posting an updated version of the changelog. But first, I've got an exciting announcement!

For those who aren't aware, I was given the opportunity to be the interim lead for the Ability Tree the past two patches (2.0.1 Blizzard Festival and 2.0.2 Guild Housing), and due to how well those patches went, I'm now the official Lead Balancer for the Ability Tree! It's really exciting for me to be able to continue managing this project and I hope you all have been pleased with the direction I've been taking things c:

Now! If you're only here for what is new since the first 2.0.2 changelog post, I've got that short list right here:

Spoiler: What's changed since the beta?

• Arcane Transfer and Timelock now lock each other out on the ability tree
• Crepuscular Ray will now reset Escape when cast
• Adjusted Whirlwind Strike's vertical hitbox nerf (now 2.5 blocks below the player)
• Bamboozle now costs mana to cast
• Bamboozle will no longer trigger Satsujin
• Main Attacks will no longer trigger Satsujin (Powder Specials will still trigger it, however)
• Adjusted Diversion's cooldown nerf (now 6.5s)
• Reverted the nerf to Bullwhip

And if you'd rather check out the changelog in full, here we go! Strap in, it's a long one even if you already saw it last week!

Spoiler: Assassin

Assassin

Spoiler: New Assassin Tree Layout

Quality of Life Changes

• Stronger Clones is now a yellow node
• Echo now works with Shurikens
• Fatal Spin now works with Lacerate
• Adjusted Black Hole to be somewhat more consistent
• Fixed an issue where Blazing Powder would not buff Lacerate
• Fixed an issue where Smoke Bomb would slide across the ground after landing
• Fixed an issue where Ragnarokkr would overwrite Delirious Gas

Tree Layout Changes

• Last Laugh is now an optional node connected to Mirror Image
• Reduced Last Laugh’s ability point requirement (2 -> 1)
• Dancing Blade is now an optional node connected between Shurikens and Far Reach
• Reduced Dancing Blade’s ability point requirement (2 -> 1)
• Dancing Blade now has the Acrobat affiliation
• Psithurism is now an optional node connected to Wall of Smoke
• Psithurism is no longer affiliated with any archetype
• Psithurism no longer has an Acrobat requirement
• Stronger Vortex no longer has a Shadestepper requirement
• Increased Diversion’s Trickster requirement (11 -> 12)
• Devour is no longer affiliated with any archetype
• Better Ricochets is no longer affiliated with any archetype
• Ambush no longer has a Shadestepper requirement
• Death Magnet no longer has a Shadestepper requirement
• Marked now connects to Ambush on the left and Death Magnet on the right
• Death Magnet has been moved up and to the right, and now connects to Cheaper Dash II on the right and Cheaper Multihit II below
• Increased Satsujin’s Shadestepper requirement (12 -> 13)

Balance Changes

• Reduced Echo’s damage bonus with clones active (-60 -> -65%)
• Reduced Stronger Clones’ damage bonus with clones active (20 -> +15%)
• Added a new optional Even Stronger Clones ability connected to Diversion, which increases the damage bonus with clones active by +10% and costs 1 Ability Point
• Reduced Forbidden Art’s cooldown bonus (20 -> +15s)
• Increased Shurikens’ travel speed (2 -> 4)
• Reduced Shurikens’ lifetime (3 -> 1.5s)
• Reduced Shurikens’ delay between attacks (5 -> 3 ticks)
• Reduced Dancing Blade’s damage (Neutral: 80 -> 70%, Air: 20 -> 10%)
• Reduced Wall of Smoke’s damage bonus to Smoke Bomb (Neutral: -20 -> -10%)
• Reduced Marked’s damage buff per mark (8 -> +6%)

Reworked Abilities

Clones from Mirror Image are now guaranteed to block damage for the player

• Clones from Mirror Image now die after blocking two hits
• Reduced Mirror Image’s resistance bonus when a clone blocks damage (80 -> 60%)
• Reduced Mirror Image’s cooldown (20 -> 15s)

Death Magnet now pulls enemies towards where you enter Vanish instead of where you exit Vanish

• Increased Death Magnet’s horizontal pull strength (2 -> 3.6)
• Increased Death Magnet’s range (16 -> 20 blocks)

Diversion now triggers when hitting lured enemies instead of when killing lured enemies

• Reduced Diversion’s overhealth bonus (40 -> +15%)
• Increased Diversion’s cooldown (3 -> 6.5s)

Removed Satsujin’s remaining health requirement (70 -> 0%)

• Main Attacks will no longer trigger Satsujin
• Increased Satsujin’s mark requirement (3 -> 4)
• Reduced Satsujin’s damage bonus (150 -> +100%)
• Reduced Satsujin’s cooldown (20 -> 15s)

Parry now also grants a 30% damage boost for 1.5s when triggered

New Abilities

Spoiler: Mage

Mage

• Fixed Sunshower not requiring Heal to be unlocked
• Thunderstorm and Ophanim now lock each other out on the ability tree
• Psychokinesis and Ophanim now lock each other out on the ability tree
• Arcane Transfer and Timelock now lock each other out on the ability tree
• Fluid Healing and Orphion’s Pulse now connect to each other
  
• Gust and Better Ophanim now connect to each other
• Increased Arcane Speed’s duration (3 -> 4s)
• Fixed an issue with Arcane Speed not applying the correct walk speed bonus
• Reduced Lightweaver’s rotation speed (20 -> 40 ticks per rotation)
• Reduced Lightweaver’s attack rate (4 -> 8 ticks between hits)
• Increased Lightweaver’s damage (Neutral: 70 -> 150%, Fire: 30 -> 50%)
• Reduced Devitalize’s damage per winded (-1 -> -0.5%)
• Increased Gust’s extra damage for Ice Snake (Neutral: 0 -> +20%)
• Sentient Snake now adds extra damage to Ice Snake (Neutral: 0 -> +20%, Water: 0 -> +10%)
• Snake Nest now adds extra damage to Ice Snake (Neutral: 0 -> +35%, Water: 0 -> +15%)
• Increased Ophanim’s damage per orb (Neutral: 50 -> 60%, Water: 20 -> 30%)
• Reduced Divination’s damage bonus to Ophanim (Neutral: -30 -> -20%, Thunder: -10 -> -5%, Water: 0 -> -5%)
• Reduced Thunderstorm’s total hits (6 -> 3 hits)
• Increased Thunderstorm’s damage per hit (Neutral: 15 -> 30%, Thunder: 8 -> 15%)
• Reduced Meteor’s vertical knockback (0.7 -> 0.4)
• Reduced Meteor’s horizontal knockback (0.6 -> 0.5)
• Rebalanced Breathless to add different amounts of damage per Winded depending on the abilities the player has chosen:
  Breathless with Meteor (Neutral: 4 -> 21%, Earth: 2 -> 9%)
  Breathless with Thunderstorm (Neutral: 4 -> 7%, Earth: 2 -> 3%)
  Breathless with Ophanim (Neutral: 4 -> 3%, Earth: 2 -> 1%)
• Added a new optional Stronger Ophanim ability connected to Orphion’s Pulse, which increases Ophanim’s damage per orb and costs 1 Ability Point (Neutral: +20%, Air: +10%)
• Added a new optional Stronger Sunshower ability connected to Gust and Better Ophanim, which increases Sunshower’s damage per pulse and costs 1 Ability Point (Neutral +50%, Water +20%, Fire +10%)

Spoiler: Archer

Archer

• Reduced Frenzy’s walk speed per arrow (6 -> 5%)
• Reduced Frenzy’s walk speed cap (160 -> 120%)
• Reduced Grappling Hook’s travel time (7 -> 6 ticks)
• Increased Stronger Grapple’s pull strength (0.3 -> 0.5)
• Arrow Hurricane now reduces Arrow Storm’s damage (Neutral: 0 -> -3%, Thunder: 0 -> -4%, Air: 0 -> +2%)
• Reduced Precise Shot’s damage buff (30 -> +15%)
• Increased All-Seeing Panoptes’ extra damage to Guardian Angels (Neutral: 0 -> +2%)
• Reduced More Shields’ damage bonus to Guardian Angels (Neutral: -15 -> -18%)
• Changed Geyser Stomp’s damage conversion (Neutral: 0 -> +50%, Water: 80% -> +30%)
• Crepuscular Ray now requires the player to be airborne to be cast
• Crepuscular Ray will now reset Escape when cast
• Reduced Crepuscular Ray’s vertical launch strength (0.8 -> 0.4)

Spoiler: Warrior

Warrior

• Counter now has the Battle Monk affiliation
• Fixed the broken tree connection between Uncontainable Corruption and Radiant Devotee
• Moved Ambidextrous to between Flying Kick and Stronger Mantle
• Fireworks and Comet will no longer trigger instantly on enemies with knockback immunity
• Increased Heavy Impact’s damage (Neutral: 100 -> 120%)
• Increased Flyby Jab’s damage (Neutral: 20 -> 100%, Air: 40 -> 20%)
• Reduced the mana cost Generalist would set (5 -> 1)
• Increased Whirlwind Strike’s Battle Monk requirement (5 -> 6)
• Whirlwind Strike now only reaches 2.5 blocks below the player
• Reduced Ragnarokkr’s damage buff (30 -> +20%)
• Reduced Ragnarokkr’s duration bonus (90 -> 15s)
• Reduced Enraged Blow’s damage cap (120 -> +80%)
• Added a new optional Better Enraged Blow ability connected to Cheaper War Scream II, which increases Enraged Blow’s damage cap by +60% and costs 1 Ability Point
• Precise Strikes has returned to being optional, between Spear Proficiency II and Cheaper Uppercut I
• Reduced Precise Strikes’ damage buff (30 -> +15%)
• Precise Strikes' previous position has been filled with the new Cheaper War Scream I ability, which reduces War Scream’s mana cost by 5 and costs 1 Ability Point
• Increased Discombobulate’s stacks per hit (3 -> 5)
• Increased Discombobulate’s cap (80 -> 100)
• Reduced Blood Pact’s health cost per mana spent (0.6 -> 0.4%)
• Reduced Haemorrhage’s health cost per mana spent (0.3 -> 0.25%)
• Reduced Haemorrhage’s ability point requirement (2 -> 1)
• Haemorrhage is now a white node

Spoiler: Shaman

Shaman

• Mask of the Lunatic, Mask of the Fanatic, Mask of the Coward, and Mask of the Awakened now all lock out Blood Sorrow
• Fixed the broken tree connection between Chant of the Fanatic and Stronger Tether
• Vengeful Spirit and Mask of the Fanatic now connect to each other
• Increased Totem’s damage over time (Neutral: 5 -> 6%, Air: 5 -> 6%)
• Flaming Tongue no longer changes all elemental conversions to fire (Neutral: -50 -> -15%, Earth: 0 -> -30%, Thunder: 0 -> -15%, Fire: 0 -> +10%)
• Increased Crimson Effigy’s damage per hit (Neutral: 30 -> 55%)
• Reduced Crimson Effigy’s attack speed (6 -> 10 ticks per hit)
• Reduced More Effigies’ damage bonus to Crimson Effigy (Neutral: -5 -> -10%)
• Reduced Invigorating Wave’s attack speed buff to summons (50 -> 30%)
• Reduced Invigorating Wave’s duration (3 -> 2.5s)
• Increased Invigorating Wave’s mana gained from Aura (3 -> 5)
• Increased Chant of the Coward’s vertical knockback (0.8 -> 1.2)
• Increased Chant of the Coward’s horizontal knockback (1.4 -> 1.8)
• Increased Blood Sorrow’s blood cost (60 -> 70)
• Reduced Blood Sorrow’s overhealth per hit (4 -> 2%)
• Double Totem now works multiplicatively, reducing Totem and Aura damage and Regeneration and Sacrificial Shrine healing by 40%
• Triple Totem now works multiplicatively, reducing Totem and Aura damage and Regeneration and Sacrificial Shrine healing by 50% (overriding Double Totem)

Spoiler: Global Changes

• Overhealth now decays properly (Diversion/Blood Sorrow)
• Cone-shaped spell hitboxes now start slightly behind the player to reduce inconsistency (Uppercut/Multihit)
• Updated many ability descriptions to include icons for various status effects
• The colours of many status effects have been updated to be easier to distinguish
• Rewrote various ability descriptions to be less confusing
• Some ability descriptions now include previously missing information

Till next time, cheers c:
- Xavier

 

let him cook

 

What was the point of the timelock/arcane transfer lockout?

 

No more OP shade heavy melee without quake :(
Good change for ls and ms, though.

 

Just fixing and clarifying existing behavior; if you have Arcane Transfer, you can never actually cast Heal to active Timelock. Similar to the Blood Sorrow/Mask lockouts on the Shaman tree.

 

Is there any chance there will ever be functionality to allow you to do shift uproot with no mask to cast uproot (Would let you play hybrid ritualist summoner)

 

no because that would buff shaman which is anathema to the CT's overall design philosophy for the class

 

Actually it sounds interesting but would require dev time, so it might not happen, counter to what you seem to think our logic is

 

why isn't better enraged blow a fallen node...

 

Cool warrior changes but damn wwind

 

Don't all changes require dev time?

 

Changes to systems require dev time, changes to configurations don't (are done by CT).

 

And giving Uproot a shift-cast is a system change, not a configuration change.

 

So this is something I've wanted to say since the 2.0.2 came out.
While I agree Whirlwind Strike was way too strong, and honestly carried Warrior almost single-handedly as a skill, I do think there was one major issue in nerfing it in this way:
It was fun.

Now, I'm not saying it isn't fun at all anymore, but it sure is less fun.
I realize there are only so many ways to balance a perk, a lot of which have been tested, but with enough thought maybe a balance could be found here; I would like it to decrease Warrior's base defense if you take it, but that's just one idea, I'm sure something could be thought up.

 

Thats... A lot of eyes.