출처 -  http://www.lotro.com/gameinfo/devdiaries/1829-update-6-developer-diary-warden-changes-

 

Wardens have had their share of difficulties in the past few months. With Update 6 being prepped, it is time to take a look at the changes that are set to come to the Warden. We have made certain to keep the advanced nature of the Warden intact. This has been a hallmark of the class since its inception and we had no desire to diminish the complexity and flavor that the class provides.

Our goals with this revision were as follows:

 

To get to our goals, we needed to make some significant changes to the Warden. First amongst these changes was an alteration to the stances. These changes were made to clearly define and alter the playstyle of the Warden.

Determination remains the tanking stance. It will increase morale and power regeneration while in combat, increase critical defence and the stance will also increase block, parry and evade. Additionally, Determination alters a majority of the gambits to take on a decidedly tanking flavor.

Recklessness remains the melee damage stance. While in Recklessness the Warden’s block, parry and evade are reduced, melee damage is increased and attack duration is reduced. This stance will also increase your in-combat power regeneration. Lastly, a majority of the gambits are altered to take on a decidedly melee flavor.

Assailment replaces conservation and becomes the ranged stance. First of all, the stance will decrease block, parry, and evade. The stance will also convert all spear gambits to javelin gambits, going so far as changing the builder from a spear to a javelin. Power regeneration is improved while in combat and a small addition to ranged damage is applied while in the stance. Lastly, a majority of gambits are altered to now have ranged flavor and added utility for the fellowship.

Yes, there is a new gambit builder. It looks like this:

This is the brand new Javelin builder and it replaces the spear when you are in the Assailment stance. This means that any gambit that requires a spear to be part of the build now require a javelin. It also means that the number of gambits has gone up instead of down. I am not 100% happy about this, but it is the way that I needed to handle the addition of the ranged stance.

You will need to train the new javelin gambits at your trainer as they will not automatically convert from spear to javelin when you move into the new stance. To offset this problem, we have lowered the cost of learning the javelin gambits significantly. The javelin gambits are in their own section of the Gambit skills tab so that you can look at them at your own leisure.

These new gambits are named according to their base gambit with the Ranged moniker to make certain that you understand the difference. The icons have been altered slightly to set them apart and make them clearly defined as a ranged type of skill. The range on most of the skills using javelins has been increases to 25 meters. This places the Warden in a mid-range style of gameplay until the legacy to improve range is maxed. At that point, the Warden will reach the same range as hunters. However, Wardens do have a minimum range for using their new ranged gambits. Before you’re able to fire them off, you must be a minimum of 5m away from your enemy. This is decidedly different than the hunter.

This is a little difficult to really explain without seeing the skills in action, but bear with me.

Most of the gambits now have bonus effects that are determined from the stance that the player is using. These effects are made to compliment the stance that the player is currently using – think of it as “flavoring.”

The Determination stance focuses on a variety of improvements to threat gain or threat transfer, defensive capabilities, healing, crit defence and armour rating and, lastly, the stance offers a small chance to daze. Now, these effects are spread throughout the different gambit lines and breakdown as follows:

Fist: Threat Increase, Threat over Time, Evade and partial Evade Bonus Shield: Block and Partial Block Bonuses, Healing, Threat Transfer, Crit Defence and Armour Rating. Two skills, Shield Up and Shield Mastery, hit all three of Block, Evade and Parry.

Spear: Threat, Daze Chance, Parry Bonus

In all cases the bonuses follow a new pattern of stacking effectiveness and duration. Lower length gambits provide smaller magnitude bonuses at longer term. Stacking a longer gambit on top of a shorter gambit will increase both the magnitude of the bonus and the duration of the bonus. Of course, while I can write this out in a technical manner, an example is probably helpful.

While Determination focuses on defense, the Recklessness stance focuses on offense. Recklessness focuses on applying bonus damage through effects. This comes in the form of damage-over-time effects, lifetaps (drains), improvements to physical mastery, and reflective damage shields.

Fist: All of the fist bonuses are related to critical strikes. They add damage-over-time effects and lifetaps.

Shield: Increases to Physical mastery, damage-over-time effects, reflective damage shields that have a chance to slow targets combat and movement speeds for short periods of time.

Spear: Damage-over-time effects, pulsing lifetaps, bonus damage when DoTs are present, and even a reflective damage shield with a chance to restore the warden’s power.

Boar’s Rush also has a chance to knock an opponent down and refreshes critical strike to maximize the damage output.

Damage is clearly the focus of Recklessness, and this is likely going to be the best soloing option for the Warden.

Assailment focuses on dealing damage from afar and supporting the fellowship. Effects are along the lines of reducing warden’s generated threat, reducing the fellowship’s threat, increasing the fellowship’s ranged damage or tactical damage, increasing the warden’s ranged damage, providing lifetaps to the warden, adding some damage over time and bonus damage for stacking those DoTs in order.

Fist: Threat reduction, increasing ranged and tactical damage dealt by the fellowship in a stacking manner.

Shield: Threat Reduction of fellowship, increased personal ranged damage, minor lifetaps. This requires a little movement on the Warden’s part and is clearly not an optimal method for play.

Javelin: (Remember! Spear becomes javelin in Assailment stance.) DoTs, bonus damage from stacking the DoTs in order, and roots.

Stacking for Assailment gambits is much the same as the Determination gambits, but only the magnitude of the buffs increase. The durations of these buffs remain the same.

Gambit building will change somewhat too. The reason for this is to maintain consistency with the different stances.

Each of the builders maintains the increase to partial block, parry and evade. The duration is short and can stack three times. Each application of the builder “boost” adds 2% to the partial block, parry and evade, capping at 6%. Each application refreshes the boost effect so that it does not tier down.

Each builder also has a chance to apply a bonus. These bonuses begin at a 5% chance to apply to the warden when the builder is used.

Quick Thrust: Slightly decreases miss chance for a short time.

Shield-bash: Increases Block Rating for a short time.

Warden’s Taunt: Increases threat generated against targets.

Each of the builders increases ranged damage by 1.5% for each application. These can stack up to three times for a total of 4.5% bonus to ranged damage and is duration of these buffs is short. Each application refreshes the boost so that it does not tier down. Each builder also has a chance to apply a bonus. These bonuses begin at a 5% chance to apply to the warden when the builder is used.

Quick Toss: Chance to add a nominal DoT effect.

Behind the Shield: Lowers Warden’s threat.

Warden’s Aim: Increases chance to crit with skills.

Each of the builders increases melee damage by 2% for each application. The duration is short-ish and can stack up to three times for a maximum of 6% bonus melee damage. Each application refreshes the boost so it does not tier down.

Each builder also has a chance to apply a bonus. These bonuses begin at a 5% chance to apply to the warden when the builder is used.

Quick Stab: Increases damage of Warden DoTs.

Shield-blast: Increases the damage dealt by lifetaps.

Warden’s Scorn: Increases the chance for fist gambits to crit.

Battle Preparation can only be used outside of combat. When Battle Preparation is activated you can use your builders and your masteries to build gambits and execute them out of combat. Right now, so long as the gambit executed does not put you into combat with your target, you can then prep another gambit. This should give the Wardens prepping for that big fight the ability to have some bonus defenses ready at the outset. The drawback is that you will receive no benefits for boosts of bonuses from builders when using Battle Preparations.

At level 20, we now tease you. How, you ask? You can train your masteries. I thought a lot about this one and, ultimately, it made more sense to allow you to train them than to hold them back as something that was tied to a trait. Now, the fact that you can train them does not mean that you get to use them right away. In fact, they can only be used when you specialize into stances and, even then, they open up on an unlocking schedule – more on that in the section covering the traits and trait sets.

You will be able to get full access to your masteries by being 5 deep in any of the mastery lines or combination that allows for full access.

Big changes are coming to Defiant Challenge. First, this is no longer a gambit. Due to the changes I’m making to this skill, the gambit aspects no longer made sense. The skill is now a true “Oh Bleep!” button.

Mitigations are increased by 40% (additive, not multiplicative) for a short time. A reactive damage bubble is applies to the Warden and up to 10 targets immediately around the warden must attack (forced attack) for 5 seconds. This is on a generous 450 second (or seven and a half minute) cooldown!

Calling out some of the improvements or alterations seems like a good idea. This one was a bit of a no brainer. DBD no longer requires you to be at 50% morale to use. Instead, it restores about 50% of the power it once did and applies a pulsing power restore that will restore ~2% of your power every 5 seconds for 20 seconds. This makes the skill a little less effective, but no less potent.

Glad you asked as these undergo a pretty significant overhaul.

Per usual dev diaries that I write, I am only including the aspects of trait lines and the traits that have actually changed.

Master of the Shield: Gambit Masteries beginning with shield will now apply their base Gambit Builder Boosts when used. This means that the +2% BPE, +1.5% Range Damage and +2% Melee damage will be added when using your Shield Masteries.

Never Say Die: Decreases the cooldown of Never Say Die by 60 seconds. Increases the Power and Morale restore by 10%. The 10% is to the total percentage not an increase of only 10%.

Wary Blocks: All Warden Block Buffs are increased by 10 seconds.

Shield Trickery: Increases the chance for the Shield Gambit Builders (Shield-bash, Shield-blast and Behind the Shield) to add their bonuses when used by 10%.

Ward of Justice: +3 Goad Targets.

Perseverance: +2 Pulses to Heal-over-time Effects.

Skillful Blocking: +600 Block Rating; on a successful Block or Partial Block 1% of the Warden’s Morale is restored.

Two-set Bonus: Increased Block Rating and grants access to use Shield Masteries.

Three-set Bonus: Increased Evade Rating; +25% increase to potency application from Goad, Deft Strike and Defensive Strike; Shield Tactics Immunity becomes Immunity to Daze, Stun, and Knockdown.

Four-set Bonus: +2 Pulses to Heal-over-time effects; Increased Crit defence, after receiving a critical hit the warden becomes immune to critical for 6-7 seconds; Access to Fist Masteries; Goad, Deft Strike and Defensive Strike will now always apply Potency to the warden.

Five-set Bonus: Access to Way of the Shield; access to Spear Masteries.

Master of the Spear: Gambit Masteries beginning with spear will now apply their base Gambit Builder Boosts when used. This means that the +2% BPE, +1.5% Range Damage and +2% Melee damage will be added when using your Spear Masteries.

Force of Personality: +2 Pulses to all Warden DoTs

A Keen Response: Increases Parry rating granted by Spear/Javelin Skills; on a successful parry or partial parry the warden recovers ~1% of their power.

Veteran: Increases the chance for the Spear Gambit Builders (Quick-toss, Quick-stab and Quick-thrust) to add their bonuses when used by 10%.

Find Weakness: Increases the critical rating of The Boot, Power Attack, Mighty Blow and Unerring Strike.

Two-set Bonus: -5% spear Gambit power cost; access to Spear Masteries.

Three-set Bonus: +25% increase to potency application from Goad, Deft Strike and Defensive Strike; +10% Spear Gambit Critical Multiplier.

Four-set Bonus: +5% Spear Gambits Damage; +5% Spear Gambit Critical Multiplier; access to Fist Masteries; Goad, Deft Strike and Defensive Strike will now always apply Potency to the warden.

Five-set Bonus: Access to Way of the Spear; access to Shield Masteries.

Master of the Fist: Gambit Masteries beginning with fist will now apply their base Gambit Builder Boosts when used. This means that the +2% BPE, +1.5% Range Damage and +2% Melee damage will be added when using your Fist Masteries.

Expert Hurler: -15s Javelin Skill Cooldowns (except Javelin-toss).

Know Your Enemy: Increases Critical Chance for Fist Gambits.

Confidence: Increases the chance for the Fist Gambit Builders (Warden’s Taunt, Warden’s Aim and Warden’s Scorn) to add their bonuses when used by 10%.

Deadly Insult: Increases damage dealt by Fist Gambits.

Strong Voice: Reduces Fist Gambit Resist Rating

Terrible Visage: Increases the efficacy of Threat over time effects while in Determination; increases the damage of DoTs while in Assailment and Recklessness.

Two-set Bonus: +5% Ranged Damage; access to Fist Masteries.

Three-set Bonus: Increases Ranged Critical Rating; +25% increase to potency application from Goad, Deft Strike and Defensive Strike.

Four-set Bonus: Increased Ranged Critical Rating; Access to Spear Masteries; +2 pulses to DoTs; Goad, Deft Strike and Defensive Strike will now always apply Potency to the warden.

Five-set Bonus: Access to way of the Fist; access to Shield Masteries.

Again, only the changes are listed here.

Conservation ICPR: Revised to affect ICPR in all stances.

Dark Before Dawn Power Restoration: Revised to Fist Gambit Critical Rating.

Celebration of Skill Healing: Warden Heal Bonus.

Restoration Morale Healed: Fist Gambit Line Buff Duration Bonus.

Dance of War Evade Rating: Fist Gambit Line Evade Bonus.

Safeguard Healing: Spear-Shield (gambits starting with Spear-Shield or Javelin-Shield) Damage Bonus Legacy.

Power Safeguard Gambit Line: Spear-Shield (gambits starting with Spear-shield or Javelin-shield) Power Reduction Legacy.

Forced March Power Penalty: Forced March Movement Bonus Legacy

Warden’s Triumph Duration: Defiant Challenge Cooldown Duration

Exultation of Battle Threat: Fist-Spear Gambits Threat Up (Gambits beginning with Fist-spear or Fist-javelin that generate threat increase the amount of threat generated.)

Mighty Blow Damage: Spear Gambit Damage.

Wall of Steel Parry Rating: Spear Gambit Parry Rating.

Piercing Strike Threat Up: Shield-Spear Gambit Line Threat Reduction (Gambits starting with shield-spear or shield-javelin that reduce threat will do so better).

Spear of Virtue Threat Up: Gambit Lifetap Damage Legacy.

War-cry Threat Up: Shield Gambit line Buff Duration.

Power, Fierce Resolve Gambit Line: Fist-Spear Gambit Line Power Reduction.

Spear of Virtue Damage: Resolution Damage.

Power, power Attack Gambit Line: Power, Shield-spear Gambit line.

Onslaught Damage: Shield Tactics Tactical Mitigation bonus.

It is. These changes were expected to fall into a difficulty and scope between Minstrel and Champion and ended up exceeding them both. These are just big, big changes. Testing, so far, has proven that the Warden is now far more survivable in raids and capable as DPS. I am looking forward to all of you getting your hands on the changes.

One thing not yet called out here is that the actual Advancement of the class has also been updated. Not really worth going over here, but it should be called out that the class receives the thematically altering skills and abilities at earlier levels: potency at 40, Assailment at 30, Determination at 20, Recklessness at 10 and Battle Preparation at 24. This should ease newer wardens into losing their R’s that much sooner.

I look forward to feedback!