Game Mechanics Transonic Warp should add Winded

Just like Gust, I think Transonic Warp should also add +1 Winded onto enemies, along with it's other effect of increasing damage as winded goes up.

The reason I bring this up is because of the revelation I had about Timelocked.
In short: Timelocked is best used as a Teleport spam dps ability, because of the fact that it turns Teleport into a sort of "Beam" or "Laser" attack, which deals good damage and dps, simply by holding right click.

This would mainly address the issue with Timelocked, being that it takes away Winded from all other players who use it, which can be annoying for other mages who are trying to get their DPS up.

TLDR: This change would make it so that you can quickly regain Winded on an enemy/boss after using Timelocked to help out your team regain lost winded from Timelocked, while still have Timelocked as a viable ability.

 

This is the most overpowered thing you can do to riftwalker.

Transonic warp works with all teleport hits, meaning both blink and explosive entrance scale with it, meaning you don't get a 16% dps boost per winded, you get a 64% boost. This is much larger than breathless thunderstorm, which does 40% (49% with max thunderstorm aspect). Optimal timelock dps is already usually centered on explosive blink, so letting it add winded is a completely unnecessary buff.

Furthermore, since transonic warp works with all hits of teleport, explosive blink with add +4 winded per hit. This means to get max winded on one target, you need to teleport 8 times. As long as you can get this within 3 seconds (more leniency with riftwalker aspect), you can PERPETUALLY LOOP TIMELOCK.

Riftwalker don't need that.

Sincerely,
a riftwalker one-trick

 

Aaaaaaannnnnnddddd Lightbenders need the ability to not die and deal more dps?
With a little balancing, perpetually looping timelocked sounds really cool without being overpowered, and (in my opinion) would be the best way to make it seen as a good ability by the community. It's like that one Glazer video, showcasing a Warp TP spam build before 2.0!

You'd also have to spec into Blink and Explosive Entrance, which means getting rid of a few other skills. To balance that out, you'd have to make Blink back into a 2 ability point skill (and maybe reduce the damage of the 2nd teleport)

I said specifically TELEPORT adds Winded, not Blink, nor Explosive Entrance, so it would only ever add +1 Winded per Teleport.

The ability point nerf would mean at the very least, you would have to get rid of Thunderstorm in exchange for Blink, and one other ability for Explosive Entrance, most likely Manastorm, since that's what most people use w/ pure Riftwalker, meaning that mana sustain wouldn't be possible. But who cares when you can perpetually loop Timelocked, which is cooler?

It also wouldn't kill the classic R-L-L, R-R-L playstyle, even if it would be a little underpowered.

Other than a few (actually, maybe a lot of) nerfs that would be needed, I would see this as an absolute win for Riftwalker!

 

Timelock is already a very powerful and fun ability. Its main issue is not that it is bad ability, but rather that it FEELS bad to use because it removes all Winded benefits after using.

Letting Riftwalkers have creative flight, no fall damage, infinite mana, and high damage spells at all times is not balanced in any capacity. But at the same time, having all those things is what makes Timelock so fun. Therefore, Timelock is balanced around having a limited duration, requiring active fight participation to charge, and having to sacrifice future damage and survivability.

My biggest concern with being able to loop Timelock in any capacity is that it removes three of what balances Timelock, debatably everything. With infinite duration, removing the need to charge, constant max damage, and creative flight to avoid most attacks and spells, none of Timelock's downsides exist (maybe not being able to use Teleport), so Timelock itself needs to be nerfed if Timelock can be looped.

Also, forgot to mention, Gust basically does what you are suggesting, except it does not do obscene amounts of damage. Simply drop to the floor and Ice Snake away while Timelocked. If Transonic Warp were to apply Winded, you lose a possible choice in gameplay: burst damage(Teleport) vs. future damage and survivability(Ice Snake), and instead narrows the decision down to: use Teleport for all benefits. (Though tbf, no one chooses the second option because big damage now is way better)

 

Fair points.

But if my suggestion for a "fix" (not really a fix, more like an overpowered buff) for Timelocked, what would be a good fix that would make it a viable ability to use?
It's fun, yes, and in solo play, it's a good ability, but in most endgame content that REQUIRES YOU TO BE IN A TEAM, it falls flat because it takes away your winded stack from other players.

So what would be a good solution to this problem specifically?

 

While I don't have a cool suggestion personally, the issue of Timelock in team settings is due to how spells and Timelock interact with Winded in the first place. More sources of Winded won't solve the issue.

The most basic, uncool idea I thought of in 10 seconds is simply putting a cooldown on Timelock, then making Timelock not consume Winded from enemies. It solves the underlying issue, it allows devs to more precisely control the frequency of Timelock, and it makes Riftwalker really really boring and uncool. But at least it works.

Another common idea is to completely rework Winded into a personal buff, then changing how Timelock scales to Winded. This will prevent multiple Riftwalkers from competing for Timelock and Winded damage. However, this makes Riftwalker much more generic and boring. Part of what makes Riftwalker fun is its absurd scaling with large hordes letting you timelock after 3-5 main attacks/Ice Snakes.

A harder solution for the devs, also boring, is to personalize Winded. For each target, different people's Winded is tracked, and only your own Winded is absorbed when casting Timelock. Each individual's Winded cap is based on their own abilities, but Winded effects are capped at the true maximum value (used to be 30, now I think it is 35 with the aspect?). Part of why this solution feels like a workaround is because of how Devitalize works. It can't exactly be touched as an ability because it is a core part of Riftwalker's survivability and small changes can make it either too strong or too weak. In any case, this solution sounds terrible to get to work, even if it is the best solution I can come up with right now.

But all in all, looking for a solution to team Timelock should be focused on how Timelock and/or spells interact with Winded. Either way, it's not easy.