Now I'm not a big fan of the way they are degrading focus but lets get real people are kind of exagerating the problem and misrepresenting the relationship between how casters and melee get their power.
You keep acting like cleave fero dodge parry etc are where melee's get the bulk of their power from. The reality is that melee will have to loot new weapons before we recieve the full boost from the expansion on our offensive power and a full kit of gear for the defensive boost while casters will get the bulk of their upgraded power just by going to a vendor and purchasing some spells. So while casters are front loaded melee are back loaded. Melee get a little bit of a boost from leveling in the form of skill caps increases and higher damage tables etc and the bulk of their increases through itemization. Casters are exactly the oposite recieving the bulk of your power increase in the front end through spells and minor increase's later through gear.
Consider if you are using a CoA heal focus for example 45% it will loose 4.5% effectiveness for every level above 70th so on a 71st it will be worth 40.5% on a 72nd level it will be 36%, 73rd 31.5%, 74 27%, 75 22.5 that is a far cry from not working at all.
For Demi foci its even better since they are higher base and start degrading later. So 60% heal would be 60% up to 72 then 54% on a 73rd level spell and 48% on 74 and finally 42% on a 75th level spell so it's not as if you are going to take a huge hit in power. Now there may be a few specific cases where you might be somewhat more effective using an older spell than a newer one with the old focus depending on how Prathun set up your spells. It would have to be a very small improvement however for you to really end up in a situation where you would get no improvement using a newer spell.
Oh and while all casters get pretty identical upgrades with regard to their spells so they get a rather uniform power boost across the board, Melee who aren't at the very top end of the raiding game will still be using weapons of a level that were available for the last several expansions while you are using brand new shinny spells. Those of us who are raiding at the highest levels will most likely be waiting until the end zones before we see a significant increase in weaponry over what we are using today. But you get to go to a vendor and get 90% of the spell you'll have once you are fully upgraded to the new expansion.
So bitch all you want about the way they are degrading the foci but the whine about how great melee have it just doesn't fly.
Focus effect reduction and TSS
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by Grendalkhan » Fri Sep 22, 2006 12:22 pm
<a href="http://www.magelo.com/eq_view_profile.html?num=586374">Teesa Zjoquor</a>
<a href="http://www.magelo.com/eq_view_profile.html?num=453758">GrendalKhan Rose</a> (Retired)
"The general shaman consensus, however, is that the lead spell designer is so wedded to his self-delusional notions of godhood, that he refuses to admit any error unless someone up the food chain from him stuffs a change down his throat."-Chutoi Dogslobber
<a href="http://www.magelo.com/eq_view_profile.html?num=453758">GrendalKhan Rose</a> (Retired)
"The general shaman consensus, however, is that the lead spell designer is so wedded to his self-delusional notions of godhood, that he refuses to admit any error unless someone up the food chain from him stuffs a change down his throat."-Chutoi Dogslobber
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by Tugela » Sun Sep 24, 2006 1:12 am
If they were do do what some are suggesting, and degrade weapon performance after the player exceeded a particular level, it would only be fair to do the same thing with spells, ie your current spells would do less as you leveled. Also, to be fair, spells would have to drop in the same places weapons currently do. It is interesting that all of the people that suggest these things for melee surprising do not suggest similar things for themselves. In fact, if they were to do such a thing it would generate a howl of protest since leveling up would make a character weaker - and they will not do that.
The bottom line is that itemization is done differently for melee classes compared to caster classes, because of the way in which they play. When a new expansion comes out part of the upgrades a class recieves comes up front through immediate or easily obtained means, and some comes later through itemization in one form or another. And this is where all these foci arguments totally miss the point, since this basic rule applies to all classes. When playing my warrior in a new level increase expansion, sure, I can hit a bit harder, and take hits a bit better, but the plain fact is that the bulk of new power comes from played content, in my case directly from raids. If I don't raid the new conent my power increase is minimal. Correct me if I'm wrong, but is that not exactly the case with a raiding caster? Here is the issue - you think that melee should LOSE power as they level up, because you dont get your initial power increase up front is modest.
The melee equivalent of a spell is their weapons. Where do you get your new spells? Where do melee get there new weapons? Are these of equivalent difficulty? The answer of course is no, as you all are well aware. Because of that obvious disparity, the "focus" effects on respective armor are treated differently. In both cases an element of power improvement comes through itemisation, in one case through weapon drops, and in the other case through focus effects. Now, they could make caster foci like melee effects, and not have them degrade, but that would mean that spell upgrades would be much more modest than they are now, and you would have to raid to get gear with bigger focus effects to increase your power (and in some cases, some foci types would not improve at all).
There is only a "disparity" between the classes, because people who make arguments about foci degradtion only look at a small part of the picture rather than the picture as a whole.
The bottom line is that itemization is done differently for melee classes compared to caster classes, because of the way in which they play. When a new expansion comes out part of the upgrades a class recieves comes up front through immediate or easily obtained means, and some comes later through itemization in one form or another. And this is where all these foci arguments totally miss the point, since this basic rule applies to all classes. When playing my warrior in a new level increase expansion, sure, I can hit a bit harder, and take hits a bit better, but the plain fact is that the bulk of new power comes from played content, in my case directly from raids. If I don't raid the new conent my power increase is minimal. Correct me if I'm wrong, but is that not exactly the case with a raiding caster? Here is the issue - you think that melee should LOSE power as they level up, because you dont get your initial power increase up front is modest.
The melee equivalent of a spell is their weapons. Where do you get your new spells? Where do melee get there new weapons? Are these of equivalent difficulty? The answer of course is no, as you all are well aware. Because of that obvious disparity, the "focus" effects on respective armor are treated differently. In both cases an element of power improvement comes through itemisation, in one case through weapon drops, and in the other case through focus effects. Now, they could make caster foci like melee effects, and not have them degrade, but that would mean that spell upgrades would be much more modest than they are now, and you would have to raid to get gear with bigger focus effects to increase your power (and in some cases, some foci types would not improve at all).
There is only a "disparity" between the classes, because people who make arguments about foci degradtion only look at a small part of the picture rather than the picture as a whole.
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