July 4, 2020  November 12, 2023

Explaining the Shadow Spell Nerfs

The Wizard101 community has exploded as the long anticipated shadow spell nerfs finally hit the test realm. Players far and wide decried the nerfs, calling them heavy-handed and unnecessary. But are they? I will take a look at the Shadow Enhanced spells, discuss the nerfs in general, and offer my viewpoint on the spells at large.

Shadow Spell Nerfs Shadow Cast

What are Shadow Enhanced Spells?

Shadow-Enhanced spells first appeared in the Darkmoor update to Wizard101 (November 2014). These spells belonged to their individual schools and dealt school specific damage. However, the spells required a shadow pip to cast as well as normal pips. As a result, these spells dealt massive damage and had amazing utility to boot. In fact, they received so much value in both damage and effects that they became the de-facto best spells under almost any circumstance. It is from this position that we come to Test Realm.

Spell Balancing Rules

Wizard101 Developers on twitter, specifically Mattnetic, have shared certain rules the developer team uses when balancing spells. The rules that are most applicable to the recent shadow spell nerfs are:

  1. Spells that deal damage and gain an additional effect = +1 pip of value
  2. The value of the effects added = +x pips of value
  3. AoE spells’ damage is set at a certain % below single target hit damage
  4. Shadow pips are being adjusted to be equivalent to +3 pips of value

Since the release of this article, these spells have been updated.

The Math of the Nerfs

I will analyze the numbers behind 3 of the most controversial nerfs: Gaze of Fate, Mystic Colossus and Call of Khrulhu. Keep in mind the spell balancing rules from above as I break down these spells step by step. First, let us calculate their PIP value:

  • Total value = 5 pips + 1 shadow pip
  • Shadow pip = 3 pips of value
  • Total value = 8 pips

Gaze of Fate Rule Application

  • +1 pip for dual effect (damage + bubble)
  • +2 pips for value of effect (balance damage bubble)
  • 8 subtract 3 (pip cost of above values) = 5 pips left for damage
  • Balance School DPP is typically around 90-100 DPP
  • 5 x 100 damage per pip = 500 damage
  • 500 damage split 2 ways is 250 damage on each end

Current Test Realm Gaze of Fate

Shadow Spell Nerfs Balance

 

Conclusion: Balanced

Mystic Colossus Rule Application

  • +1 pip for dual effect (pierce + damage)
  • +1 pip for effect applying before the damage
  • 8 subtract 2 (pip cost of above values) = 6 pips left for damage
  • Myth AoE DPP is 74 based on Humongofrog
  • 6 x 74 damage per pip = 444 damage

Current Test Realm Mystic Colossus

Shadow Spell Nerfs Myth

 

Conclusion: Balanced

Call of Khrulhu Rule Application

  • DPP for an AoE drain is 57 based on Scarecrow
  • 8 x 57= 456 damage

Current Test Realm Call of Khrulhu

Shadow Spell Nerfs Death

 

Conclusion: Overtuned

Why did the shadow spell nerfs happen?

The nerfs to the shadow spells happened for one simple reason – game balance. Surprised? Don’t be. Judging from feedback on a variety of venues, many players are convinced that the change is solely motivated by PvP. This is especially true since PvP players have been very vocal about the excessive power of these spells. However, the developers confirmed that game balance and power progression is at the crux of why these spells were modified. Here we see the developers’ thoughts in their own words.

My Thoughts on the Nerfs

When calculating the damage of the above spells and applying the balance rules expounded by the Devs on twitter, one can clearly see that the spells are fairly balanced according to those rules. In fact, in the case of Call of Khrulu-the devs were merciful and deliberately overtuned the spell. However, several problems arise when looking at spell progression, past imbalances, and the nature of PvE combat in Wizard101.

Spell Progression

Currently Wizard101 operates under several different DPP (damage per pip) tracks. For simplicity’s sake we will focus on the original damage per pip track and the shadow and lore spell damage per pip track. The lore spell damage per pip tracks are valued at a much higher rate than the original (classic DPP) charts. You can see an example from the spells Skeletal Pirate and Headless Horseman. Skeletal Pirate is a rank 5 spell that deals an average of 470 damage – a value of about 94 DPP. However Headless Horseman aligns to the new DPP track at an average of 560 damage- A value of about 140 DPP. As can be seen the values for these 2 DPP tracks are vastly disparate.

This leads to the issue seen with the shadow enhanced spells. Currently the 4 pip and most (Rusalka is currently not but will be fixed) of the 6 pip shadow spells are valued along the new DPP chart. However, the 5 pip shadow spells are valued along the classic DPP track. As the new DPP track is vastly superior to the old DPP track- the 4 and 6 pip shadow spells are receiving much more value than the 5 pip shadow spells and the 5 pip spells seem incredibly weak by comparison.

Past Imbalances

The issue is further complicated because of several past imbalances. According to Developer Mattnetic on twitter: KI’s old policy used to be that when they made an overtuned/overpowerered spell by accident- they would simply leave it in the game and adjust the game around it. However, several years of leaving imbalanced spells in the game and adjusting the game around it has left the developers at an impasse when it comes to designing future content.

Right now, if the Developers have to design content to fit the Old Shadow Spell’s values- monsters would have to become even beefier, with more damage and probably more cheats in order to compete with player growth. The monsters/bosses in the catacombs are tuned to hardcore players but if game progression is allowed to continue along current trends, then bosses like the Greggor’s will become the norm. That is not sustainable for the player base, especially not for casual players who already struggle to compete in the current game environment.

Shadow Spell Nerfs BugsPast imbalances do not only affect monster growth but also spell potential. Right now, a common complaint is that Glowbug Squall is perfectly fine because we get it 50 levels after Storm Lord. Live realm Bugs represents a 62% damage increase on Storm Lord without accounting for utility. If player’s expect power progression to follow along this curve then at level 150 we would have a Storm AoE as cheap or cheaper than Bugs, with more utility, that deals a whopping 1814 damage at base. With an epic enchant that would be a spell dealing 2114 points of AoE damage without accounting for gear boost, buffs or any other stat.

Shadow Spell Nerfs ReactionWhat kind of monsters would KI have to design to compete with players capable of dealing 2114 damage in the first or second round of battle? What kinds of spells would KI have to design to be competitive with this insane standard? Keep in mind that level 150 is a mere 20 levels away. That’s 2 world updates. The problem with power creep isn’t some far flung future issue, it’s literally right at our doorstep.

PvE Combat

Wizard101 PvE combat revolves around the concept of Alpha striking. Alpha striking refers to blading/buffing up until a player can take out enemies in one shot. As most Wizard101 fights involve multiple enemies, this means that players are motivated to gravitate towards AoE (Area of Effect or Attack on Everyone) spells. What this means from a gameplay perspective is that Wizard101 PvE effectively revolves around 3 types of spells: blades, feints and AoEs.

The emphasis on dealing one shot damage means that the utility of a spell is often irrelevant in a majority of PvE encounters. This leads to the issue where PvE players do not value the utility of a spell (except against rare bosses), even though that utility is an innate part of the spell and must be accounted for. That leaves the devs in the awkward position of having to balance spells without accounting for utility (leading to even more overpowered spells such as lord of winter), or stripping the spell of its utility to increase its damage (which also overpowers the spells, such as the case with Storm Owl).

Solutions

In an ideal world, the solution to these problems would be a full spell audit, using a consistent DPP scale and consistent balancing rules. A full spell audit would allow all spells to be balanced along a standard- reducing discrepancies and outliers- and allowing for consistent growth throughout the game and a more transparent balance scale for all classes. Mechanics that are over/under powered would be easily visible along the standard and could be buffed or nerfed as necessary.

However, player reaction and the logistics of a full spell audit probably render the idea nonviable. When it comes to the Shadow enhanced spells that leaves several viable solutions. One solution is to value all the Shadow Spells along the same scale- either bringing the rank 4 and 6 spells down to the rank 5 spell’s scales or buffing the rank 5 spells to the DPP scales that the rank 4 and 6 spells follow. Another solution is to universally increase the cost of the spells while giving PvE some compensatory mechanic. This would allow the developers to rein in Shadow Spell’s values, adjusting PvE monster difficulty along a more sustainable scale while still making PvE “feel” powerful. We know the Developers are hard at work modifying the spells and I can’t wait to see what adjustments they make when Test Realm reopens.

What Are Your Thoughts on the Shadow Spell Adjustments?
Let us Know in the Comments Below!

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Eric Stormbringer

A Wizard101 player since 2009, Eric has always enjoyed PvP at the level cap. Known for his contributions to Storm PvP, Eric is nonetheless knowledgeable about all max level schools, tactics and gameplay styles. Eric loves analyzing the nitty gritty of spell and game mechanics, particularly as they apply to 1v1 PvP and can often be found offering feedback and suggestions on a variety of platforms.

    37 COMMENTS

    • person who plays w101 frquently Reply

      i really don’t care for 90% of the utilities that come with an otherwise very powerful spell for PVE. i just wanna do damage and kill enemies quickly instead of spending 20 minutes to do it. balance will really suffer from this update. they were already weak on their own with their school gimmick being that they support more powerful schools and hardly do heavy hits. ra is a prime example. it was meh before, but it was one of the best offenses in higher worlds such as avalon. sandstorm is good, but even with enchant and critical and let’s say 100% damage boost, it might just do upwards of 2000 damage. that sounds pretty good in zafaria maybe, but i’m doing azteca on my death wiz and lemme just say that it sucks. death and balance do similar damage and my death with ~90% damage is struggling to finish mobs quickly even with +275 enchanted deer knight. i can’t even imagine what will happen with balance if i can even get past avalon.

      tl;dr – balance will become the new ice but with less resist and health so ty kingsisle

    • Chiraux Reply

      I can’t believe it took me so long to find this article. This so accurately and completely expresses all of the rebuttals I’ve had to dispense whenever I try to talk to random people on the internet about the rebalancing. (With the bonus of talking about power creep, a term that’s a lot faster to say than the concept that the word stands for. Vocab +, learning is fun) Also mentioned things that I didn’t think about, like the fact that most PvErs don’t really use the utility of their spells. That bit didn’t come to me within the past 2 weeks, so I’m glad you brought it up.

      I do both PvP and PvE, so if me saying this counts for anything, I don’t think this update is inherently broken. I was incredibly frustrated with the first iteration, because I thought it did a poor job at balancing the damage with the utility as the player would expect it, and I’m not completely satisfied with this most recent iteration, as there are still a lot of things that aren’t quite right, like comparing forest lord’s raw damage output to the lackluster damage of life’s king artorius, which sacrificed some damage in favor of utility that, to put it bluntly, isn’t at all useful. I can say, though, this latest iteration has been a wild improvement to both the first iteration of the update and the game’s balancing before this update was announced.

      • Dakota TitanHeart Reply

        I think that like others, I was a little scared about the changes, but overall, the changes worked out for the best 😀

    • esmee Reply

      I’m confused, I thought shadow pip doubles the pip count not adds 3. Just look at the mana used. If this is the new ‘rule’ will the mana consumption and xp rewards change also?

      • Cody RavenTamer Reply

        Technically it is now valued at 3.6 pips. Mana consumption has changed a while ago on the live game (Bugs = 5pips) and not sure what you mean by XP rewards?

    • Andrew J Osborn Reply

      You do a great job explaining why the changes are being made. Kingsisle going back and re-balancing spells is something I think we should congratulate them on, as this will likely lead to a better foundation for the game. One thing confused me. You referred to the dominate PvE strategy of building up buffs until you can take out all the enemies in a single hit, caused by the multiplicative effect of blades and traps, as Alpha Striking. However, that term does not make sense. Looking it up online, it seems to be used to refer to a highly aggressive strategy of wiping out enemies before they can become a threat, much like a zerg rush. Such a strategy is infeasible in Wizard101 due to mob damage boosts and starting pips.

      • Cody RavenTamer Reply

        I think it is as close to alpha striking as wiz can get. In a team scenario, wiping the enemy before they can become a threat can pretty much happen as easily as round one or two. The longer you wait, the more the threat increases.

        The initial pips are an issue, yes. However, if people were to adopt a spam strategy (like we do with Belloq / Shane von Shane) it would pretty much be unproductive and the negative of alpha striking.

    • Kevin SkyBreaker Reply

      Well I thought higher level spells supposed to be stronger than lower ones? Not just the same dpp just stacked into one spell, and the only difference between using for example a spell that deals 800 dmg + remove one blade for 9 pips and using 8 1 pip spell that deals 100 dmg + a 1 pip disarm is that we got time to blade/trap. If the only advantage we got from being higher level spell just to do that, I’d say it’s pretty unbalanced.

      • Eric Stormbringer Reply

        Spells at higher levels are stronger than spells at lower levels. However, the magnitude of the increase needs to be looked at. Players are expecting absolutely massive(and unsustainable) power increases when the increases should be modest and consistent.

      • esmee Reply

        don’t forget you have more powerful gear at higher levels. I think it makes perfect sense that all level spells should have the same school based dpp. Big boss need bigger spells with more blades and traps to be effective. a single large spell with the exact same dpp but many more buffs will do much more than many small spells with that same number of buff spread across all of them. As for high level vs low level, a high level wizard will do more damage due to their gear.

    • a Reply

      You can’t just say that Balance has spells with 90-100 damage per pip on average, so gaze is balanced. Not only does it require a shadow pip, but all spells with multihits are inherently weaker than single hits, due to blades and traps.

      The devs are balancing the game in reverse. You don’t nerf spells and then say “we’ll adjust mob hp”. You make cohesive, purposeful changes to the entire game at the same time, or you don’t at all.

      Imagine if WoW had patched stat squishes and then just said, after the fact, “we’ll reduce mob hp xD”. That doesn’t address damage or secondary effects/cheats, and it’d show they were more concerned with the nerf than the supposed reason behind it.

      Which brings me to my last point: the idea that this wasn’t primarily for PvP is a lie. They wouldn’t be doing this makeshift and half-hearted change otherwise.

      • Eric Stormbringer Reply

        As stated, the logistical challenges of a full revamp all at once makes this practically impossible. In an ideal world most of the changes would come within a fairly close interval. However, KI’s devs has to work within limits that are sometimes out of their control. The devs and this article have already explained how and why this change is mainly a PvE oriented one. Denying that reality does not change the facts on the ground.

    • Sinseer Reply

      In the nerfing of shadow spells is their any thought on increasing the shadow pip percentage, I will get a gold pip every time, I have had to wait several rounds in battles because I dont have a shadow pip. I know you can farm for jewels that increase your shadow percent but for a casual gamer, is that how I want to spend my time?

      • Cody RavenTamer Reply

        Shadow pip generation is one of the stats under testing currently on test realm. I guess we will see soon.

    • Kane GoldenFlame Reply

      And ty Eric your subject given me a clear view of why this nerf was needed.

    • 9x5rt7p Reply

      This “multiple dpp tracks” explanation is too easy and excuses too much imbalance. It’s one thing if there is a track for trained/quest spells and another for lore/pack/shadow spells, but the usefulness of the concept breaks down when we start having 4 or 5 different tracks for dpp. The more I hear from the devs and the more I think about it myself the more I start to think that the entire system was made up after the fact in order to justify the specific changes they made, rather than being their reasoning for making the changes from the start. Look at the system objectively and think about the thought processes that are most likely to have resulted in it. 4 and 6 pip shadow spells are valued at the same dpp which is for some inscrutable reason different from the 5 pip shadow spells which also happens to be the same as the lore spells but only some of the lore spells because the other lore spells are valued closer to the trained spells but not exactly so, which is also sometimes a different scale from the quest spells, which are often much stronger than the trained spells but weaker than the shadow spells except for the 5 pip shadow spells. Does this honestly look to you like the description of a system that was intentionally devised and executed with forethought? You’re taking the initial numbers and multiplying them together and they all come out just so, but the initial numbers themselves are arbitrary.

      None of this is necessarily the current devs’ fault. They inherited a collection of hundreds of spells designed by several different groups of people follow different scaling and design philosophies. They are in the wrong, however, for misleading the playerbase on how these decisions are being made. It is obvious that the “multiple dpp tracks” explanation they are giving is not the logic they’re using to balance the shadow spells. This is clear because the track system as it has been described is nonsensical both in its derivation (lore spells belonging to 2 different tracks, some trained/quest spells much stronger than others) and its application (4 and 6 pip shadow spells on a different track than 5.) The only way to move forward is to be honest and transparent with the playerbase. Either standardize dpp across all spells, or create a small number of CLEARLY DEFINED dpp tracks.

      • Eric Stormbringer Reply

        As you stated, this is probably due to several different developers and design philosophies throughout the years. This was compounded by the fact that KI’s old balance philosophy was that if something OP snuck into the game it would be better to leave it in and adjust the game around it rather than trying to justify the nerfs to the players. A standardization of sorts is in the works. The fear with this is that the logistics of such a standardization is daunting and the Devs still have to account for player perception in some way.

    • Wolf L Reply

      I feel like I’m missing something here.
      – Earthquake does similar damage to frog, which is 4 pips. It then adds an effect (+1 pip), and the effect seems to be worth considerably more than 1 pip – it’s shatter and enfeeble combined. So shouldn’t it be nerfed too?
      – And Bugs isn’t the only Storm spell with issues. Storm Lord is 7 pips. That’s 5 pips, once the stun is accounted for. It then deals 690 damage. For comparison, Stormzilla, which is 5 pips and has no utility effects, deals 650-730 damage, or 690 damage on average. That doesn’t look balanced.
      Sirens is no better, since 880 is as much as an 11-pip Tempest, with three effects added: Disarm twice, then Smoke Screen. So it’s a spell with a minimum of three pips (+1 for the effects, +1 for the double Disarm, +1 for the Smoke Screen) already accounted for. It then deals 880 damage to all enemies for 6 pips. First, this is at half the cost of a Tempest which would do similar damage. Second, Triton is a 6-pip Storm attack, dealing 795-875 damage. In words: Even with the cheapest logical allocation of pips for effects, Sirens is ridiculously strong for its cost.
      – As you displayed above, the shadow spells have been nerfed to the standard presented. It just seems to be the wrong standard, if they’re meant to fall in line with existing spells.
      Personally, I’d assume that the double-effect cost is factored into the cost of the effect. It doesn’t fit the Shadow nerfs, but it makes the existing spells make a little more sense, with the exception of Sirens (Quake is then basically frog, plus two pips for the effects (which makes a little more sense), Storm Lord is 690 for 6 pips (115 DpP), and Sirens is 880 for 7 pips (125.7 DpP)).

      • Eric Stormbringer Reply

        Yes and this too has been addressed on twitter(I apologize for referencing you to that but there is a lot of info there that couldn’t make it into the article). Several older spells are probably overvalued according to spell balancing rules(Sirens is the most obvious example). A full spell audit would probably be needed to bring things to a consistent value.

        • Jeffrey Zents Reply

          Twitter is not a viable source. It is not easy to go back that far to find this in Twitter, at least I do not know how, and it should not be done in that kind of environment anyway. Twitter, do to length etc. should not be used for anything serious. The developers should know that, even if our previous president didn’t. I find it disconcerting that they would engage in an important discussion like this on Twitter. Are there any more serious and accessible sources?

    • Noah Reply

      Absolutely well done! I knew these nerfs were not going to be an easy pill to swallow for the community- even I was a little disappointed. But, the power creep needs to be addressed and eventually the player base will understand. Here is my only issue: using rank 4 AoE spells for a DPP reference is not exactly accurate. For example, Myth’s AoE DPP is 73.75 based on frog, but Life’s AoE DPP based on Forest Lord is 72.5. Myth is supposed to be just below fire damage-wise when it comes to spells and If Life is at 72.5 at rank 8, we can assume that Myth would have increased from 73.75 if it too had a rank 8 AoE. So maybe something like 85 DPP would be better when calculating Colossus’ damage? 85 DPP would bring the base damage to 510 which I think is a reasonable number still. To add to that, I think the removal of one ward before damage is being valued at too high a cost. Maybe make it worth one pip and at 85 DPP Mystic is doing that same base as Khrulhu.
      Thanks for taking this time to work all these numbers out!

      • Eric Stormbringer Reply

        Yes indeed! Several shadow spells need value changes and we will likely see that as early as midweek!

    • Christina Reply

      I understand that this nerf is important in preventing power creep, and the mathematics make sense. However, I feel that the rules applied to shadow spells don’t make sense – why does utility factor in to pip cost? Also, although lore, normal and shadow spells have different DPP tracks, lore spells can be obtained at almost any level as long as you have the resources (although it’s much easier at higher levels), and those spells aren’t essential because there are viable alternatives. Applying different rules to shadow spells, and especially when these spells are pretty crucial at higher levels, can only be strictly obtained at 100+ and is framed as a reward for completing parts 1 and 2 of Darkmoor completely wrecks players’ sense of progression and achievement. A good gaming experience doesn’t solely rest on how logical the numbers are presented. This update should have come with much more adjustments (mob health, dmg/resist systems, all spells) if KI was truly invested into preventing power creep instead of tampering so carelessly with a core mechanics and introducing a potential paywall for upgrading spells. Players are justifiably angry at developers.

      • Eric Stormbringer Reply

        I believe on twitter Matt had stated that in order to adjust past mobs they would have to come to an agreeable valuation for shadow pips. That’s why they put the changes out there to get-player feedback and to make adjustments. We must remember that this Test Realm is only 2 days old and these first iterations of the shadow spells are probably not the last. Once they can come to a good valuation that fits both player expectations and game progression needs-then they can adjust past mobs to fit around that power curve. Utility factors into pip cost because it does add value to the spell. Obviously in PvE the value of utility is relatively small(which was covered in the article)- so that leaves the devs in a really awkward position. How do you balance a spell that has mathematical value but doesn’t factor into most players viewpoint because of the way players optimize PvE(alpha strikes). It’s an ongoing question.

    • BreakCloud Reply

      Absolutely well done article Eric. I tried spreading this opinion across twitter and reddit only to receive major backlash. The problem with the playerbase at the moment is that they’re so focused on the low damage numbers without understanding the “why”. They see that their favorite spells no longer deliver those high damage values and are blinded as to why the devs chose to take this route. Power creep is something that happens in every MMORPG, but there are ways to slow it down and balance it. The current lvl 100 shadow spells has made every shadow then after unbalanced as well. This change fixes the core issue ever since 5 pip shadow spell were released in an effort to revert the damage it has done. This IS a step towards the right direction, and I hope more and more people see that as we move forward.

    • Zachary Reply

      I agree with PseudoRidge, Why does fire and storm stun?, Why does fire have the most deffensive school spell?, Why does storm remove blades with so many spells and other schools don’t use their abilities so much?, Why so many useless spells for myth?, Why isn’t life the only healing school?. Nerfing Abominable Weaver ice shield from -75 to -50 was made by someone who did not play the game at all and didn’t know ice strongest ability was to defense himself.

      Remember not everyone in game is a tryhard and european servers don’t need a nerf, they probably will die if this update goes live. Shadow spells were made to be the strongest spells in game, don`t nerf harry potter to make a new movie.

      • Eric Stormbringer Reply

        Those are great utility distribution questions! There is a good argument to be had about school uniqueness and it’s function in todays PvE environment, perhaps I can cover that in a different article!

    • ChoGath Reply

      Nice article, Eric. I’ve actually came back to the game after, I listened to the balancing video interview. If KI is going to take a serious look at the big picture, then I’ll give them 6months subscription to see what they do.

      • Eric Stormbringer Reply

        That’s great to hear ChoGath! Let’s see what the future holds
        -Ni!

      • BreakCloud Reply

        From knights who say ni and stormy knights? Huge fan and welcome back <3

    • Evan MythShield Reply

      The biggest issue with the “balancing” is that they are taking away powerful aoe spells and not providing a replacement. Specifically for myth, mystic was the only viable hot in many situations. At some point frog, which you get at level 22, just won’t cut it. Now, every school has a more powerful aoe than myth. If shadows are now worth 3 pips, than ice has frost giant which does more damage than mystic for 1 less pip and arguably has a better effect. Far too much value is being placed on the removal of one shield before hitting. If a mob does not use a shield it is useless. If a mob uses multiple shields it is useless. If a mob uses spirit shield it is useless. For this to be worth 2 pips is just silly. In pve pips don’t matter and damage does. They are taking away damage and giving a pip advantage which is near useless.

      • Eric Stormbringer Reply

        I agree(this was addressed in the article where I pointed out that PvE values damage over all). One potential solution is to give myth a 6-8 pip pure dmg AoE. The fact that myth has to wait 78 levels to receive a higher damage AoE is itself an imbalance. This is best addressed by a new spell rather than modifying mystic to emphasize damage over utility. Ofc the devs might decide to do one or the other, or both. We will have to wait and see.

      • Jeffrey Zents Reply

        So are you happy with what they did to Orthrus! We did not need that! I am in Avalon and Spamming Enchanted Frogs works fine. Hate what they did to Orthrus. Not so say I have everything. But I do not think they were awake all the time. The damage reversal between Fire Dragon and Rain of Fire is a case in point.Nerfing was one thing, and I do not think it was done as carefully as I would have liked. But even at the cost of losing my Balance bubble, I wish they would have just stuck to the nerfing and not changed things like Orthrus. Currently very depressed about my Myth. I agree with you that those nearly useless utilities added to spells, particularly Storm, are what should have been nerfed off, rather than keeping the utilities and left the damage alone. I am willing to be that the damage delt by Ice mobs in Celestia and above was not nerfed, hope I am wrong about that.

    • PseudoRidge Reply

      The community isn’t mad that the nerfs don’t follow the devs‘ arbitrary/nonsensical balancing guidelines, the community is mad about the devs’ arbitrary/nonsensical balancing guidelines and their general lack of concern for PvE gameplay.

      • Eric Stormbringer Reply

        This reply is confusing to me. I just showed the math of the spells and how it was applied- proving the change wasn’t arbitrary. I also explained in the article why addressing the power curve is in the interests of future PvE content. The change itself is motivated by a concern for PvE gameplay.

        • Kane GoldenFlame Reply

          Hi,
          First of all, my coment reflect only my point of view i don’t have played all school and so i can’t give an objective point of view.
          i’m a main storm who agree with the shadow nerf and who maybe done a pvp 5 years ago (feel free to curse me).
          Decreasing damage of these spell affect boss too so the fight will be a little more complexe and longer no more reduce to “boost until the shadow show”.
          If thats just damage more blades or hitting another time is the answer so playing more défensive.

          As i readed myth wizard are the most harmed cuz a lack of strong aoe but i often hear complaint about myth so i don’t think the problem is just the shadow but more a resurgence of old problems hidden by the colossus.

          Ty for reading that i just wanted to share my feeling about this (after a discussion with a max myth friend who want more challenge).
          😉

      • Cody RavenTamer Reply

        I don’t follow what you mean. However, I don’t see this as a general lack of concern for PvE gameplay at all. An argument can be made that this was intended for PvP, but its not the intention. Yes, it does help PvP of course. However, the intention wasn’t to make PvE harder at all. It has been addressed (also depicted in the article above) that creatures at higher levels (Khrysalis and above) will be receiving a balance update too in order to compensate for the spell’s new power level.

        This is something that will help the game on a long time basis and allow room for improvement in the future. Unless we always want to keep depending on these set of spells, this needed to be done and better sooner than later. Also, keep in mind that the changes are not final and devs are trying to somehow increase the spell’s power even though they’re actually balanced.

        Sincerely,
        A PvE only player

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