Talk to the Team: Knight of Creation

[flamefeniks]

Brandish I've noticed is indeed only useable by being X meters from an enemy and targeting it, though it DOES NOT give the buff to the enemy, it gets applied onto you. Though I indeed find it rather weird why it has to select an enemy to use + it even pulls said enemy without doing any damage, I wonder if this is an agro pull ability too?

And for the abilities that change everytime you switch, you could make a layout for your KNOC, and at most, like really at most, you'll have around 15 hotkeybars, that's 5 more to fill up ;)
so you could put 1h & shield onto hotkeybar X & Y, while 2h onto hotkeybar Z then when you switch, one will become grayed out, the ohter will become available :)
Could also change through layouts... but doing that mid-fight seems not so smart (due to the freeze you experience).

[Malicore]

Brandish I've noticed is indeed only useable by being X meters from an enemy and targeting it, though it DOES NOT give the buff to the enemy, it gets applied onto you. Though I indeed find it rather weird why it has to select an enemy to use + it even pulls said enemy without doing any damage, I wonder if this is an agro pull ability too?

And for the abilities that change everytime you switch, you could make a layout for your KNOC, and at most, like really at most, you'll have around 15 hotkeybars, that's 5 more to fill up ;)
so you could put 1h & shield onto hotkeybar X & Y, while 2h onto hotkeybar Z then when you switch, one will become grayed out, the ohter will become available :)
Could also change through layouts... but doing that mid-fight seems not so smart (due to the freeze you experience).

This is what I already mentioned about needing more hotkeys, so you need to set all up by switching to each weapon, so you can have them all hotkeyed for when you change shield/sword so you always have them ready. Depends on how many other schools you have, (you mentioned tops 15 hotkey bars) I am already at 17 bars filled with abilities and spells I use all the time. so it's gonna be even more annoying to add another 2 bars for new abilities if I choose to play KNoC. Now I do see what you mean (Brandish) that the blocking does go onto yourself but the fact still remains, it should not require using on an enemy to activate it but thanks for informing me of this. Helpful to know. I can not keep watching my own buff window, it's too distracting when I need to watch health and such of myself and enemy, plus watching for additional adds in certain high traffic area's. All in all I do like the concept, it's a nice change, but a lot of fine tuning needs to be done first.

Literally needing to watch your buff window constantly, if you wish to use your shield slam is a complete nuisance. as you only have a total of 3 seconds to use your point if one appears. This is about the worst feature I've seen, needs to be changed as I mentioned in my first post

[AmonGwareth]

There are no plans to adjust how Shield Slam works. Its a neat mechanic and does require more active participation than many in Istaria are accustomed to. However, it is not an unknown mechanic in the MMO space as other games have similar reactive abilities. My suggestion would be:

1) Create a separate loadout if you are going to be playing KnoC so that your ability icons are front and center. If you switch to something else, change to a different loadout.

2) While playing KnoC, put your buffs window somewhere convenient so you'll notice it. We will have proper icons for the abilities so you can watch for that one in particular.

Thanks for the feedback to this point!

[Malicore]

well, how about at least a few added seconds, so you can have "some" time to react. by the time I see it and find my hotkey, it's gone. 3 seconds isn't nearly enough time. Shield slam is nice add in. but pointless if you don't actually have a chance to use it

Otherwise, I am liking what I see. Nice changes and a lot more useful to this class now

[Guaran]

I tried all three specializations. I liked the shield spec. The buff for the blocked attack was popping pretty often, I didn't see any issues with using that and shield slam.

I would suggest that one attack from each specialization was a guaranteed hit. Maybe the stun attack in each (including shield slam).

I didn't play too much with the abilities that are not part of the three specializations, so might not have noticed, but does one of the abilities draw aggro? Maybe since this will be a tank class now, there could be an aoe aggro, aoe intercept attack type abilities. Maybe even one that intercepts 100% of damage from a single target for x time. This would make for some interesting player tactics for some bosses.

[Malicore]

battle roar is for aggro, and believe me, it grabs everything in sight :) There is also an ability called absorbtion shield (I believe) it gives you ability to save others from damage, or protect yourself from damage. does 30% of normal damage, removed after 2300 damage taken, duration 10 seconds

[Daulnay]

I've been trying out KnoC on my mid-20s KnoC/Conjurer. At that level it's pretty nice, definitely fun. With the stun (or a root from Ice) you can swap summoned weapons mid-combat. A big improvement over the old KnoC.

[Quiiliitiila]

Perhaps leave Absorption Shield as is and simply add Istara's Shield as an ability the summoned Shield gets? Currently the Shield gets Defensive Wall, Brandish and Advanced Blocking; but I think Brandish could easily be replaced as it's main function is to grab aggro and that is done quite effectively by Battle Shout. Defensive Wall is still nice, actually a much better tanky option than Absorption Shield, even if it is only against one target. (From Discord)

[AmonGwareth]

Absorption Shield has been given some improvements for the next content update

[Quiiliitiila]

Absorption Shield has been given some improvements for the next content update

You're such a tease Amon, any chance you could drop a hint about the changes? :)

[Quiiliitiila]

I'm back once again, and once again looking to discuss the Absorption Shield ability line.

As I've said before, many times, the ability is so ridiculously dependent on guesswork and dumb luck that it's rendered virtually useless. At it's heart, absorption shield looks like it's supposed to be a powerful defensive ability that the KNoC can use in order to better tank for their team. However, the reality of the situation is that an incredibly short uptime and a long cooldown make absorption shield an ability that is best used to guard against large, damaging attacks. The problem with this, is that there are virtually no "tells" or animations which would clue a player into knowing when to use the ability in order to get the most bang for their buck. I have often (as I said before) only used Absorption Shield as a panic button, to try and get away from something or as a last ditch effort to survive long enough for my team to get away or heal me. The two minute cool down makes it incredibly difficult to justify using casually in a fight, and the ten second uptime makes it even more difficult to use it at all. Ten seconds equates to only two or three attacks at most if fighting one on one.

I was playing around with the new Cleric ability "Istara's Shield" and I fell in love with it. It is PRECISELY what I believe Absorption Shield should be. A Quick CD, infinite uptime until the damage "pool" is depleted and a block bonus? Somebody get me a ring. This ability is PERFECT for the KNoC, a class which is (according to the lore) Istara's Chosen warriors, so it would make sense that they could have access to this ability, or something like it.

PLEASE consider doing something, anything, to Absorption Shield in order to bring it on par with Istara's Shield. I've said it before and I'll say it again, Absorption Shield right now is virtually useless. I almost never use it and I exclusively run KNoC and actively adventure with a group of four.

[Wvolf]

I just became a Knight of Creation myself and I very much agree that the absorption shield falls miles short of what it seems like it was intended to do. It's short duration (10 seconds I believe) is barely enough time to block a single attack, unless the target has a very fast attack cycle, in which case perhaps two attacks can be blocked if the activation was timed perfectly. And the short duration also means that the player who uses the skill needs to know exactly when to activate it in order to block special attacks. The problem then becomes that there is no way of knowing when a creature is going to use a high damage attack, there are no telegraphed abilities that can be easily identified from more mundane attack animations.

Could the skill remain active until the damage pool is depleted? That is still pretty quick in high intensity combat, especially if the knight has grabbed aggro from multiple opponents, as the class has been designed to do. When you've got three enemies all beating on your character, 500 damage will go fast.