So i was wondering if anyone else has noticed this? I'm guessing that from the new update, changes have been made to the critical block and critical percentages.
I have been playing on my ice wizard and have noticed that as i level up my crit block and crit go down. As an ice wizard i don't have a whole lot of crit anyway so any decrease is very noticeable. My ice is level 85 now and has a critical of 137 which used to be a higher percentage than it is now. I have kept an eye on the percentages. As she levelled up to level 85, the critical went from 15% to 12%. So if it continues to go down, will that make critical obsolete? As there isn't gear that will supplement the critical that will be lost as you level up.
As for critical block that seems to be the same. As I level up on my ice the critical block percentages go down. As an ice wizard, crit block and resistance are our strengths. I crafted three rings in Avalon, with different amounts of crit blocks. 1 for spirit schools 1 for the elements 1 for balance The percentages of the highest block used to be 37% and is now 33%. And the lowest used to be 23% and is now 19%. Not huge differences but is it very noticeable in combat. It is annoying enough that when changing rings my health goes down by 300points and mana by 200. But this change in percentages means that i very rarely crit block mob crits. Let alone boss fights where it is rare that i do crit block at all.
I am tempted to farm for the wyrd oak staff for the crit block despite that it is an ice wand. Purely just for the extra crit block. I am currently using the sidhe staff for the accuracy (13%) and power pip chance (20%) and without it i would have 68% power pip chance and 88% accuracy which is just awful at level 85. There are no jewels that could supplement the power pip chance and accuracy if i were to replace the wand for extra crit block. I would need 4 triangle slots to even come close to the same stats that my wand gives. There aren't enough pieces of gear that give triangle slots. So it's just not possible.
So basically i feel like i'm being forced to play the game a particular way. Give up my wand and i'll fizzle a lot, barely get power pips and stuff up my blades/traps because the wand will also be ice. Stick with my wand but just have less and less crit block and crit and not be able to keep up with mobs as well as bosses with their increasing hit points, crits and much higher crit block than i do.
I love to solo for the challenge but it seems that soloing isn't going to be much of a thing as i level up and my stats just continue to decrease.
TLDR: is anyone else noticing that their critical/critical block is going down as they level up? And what is the solution?
Re: Is Critical/Critical block a thing of the past?
We've all noticed it. Like you, I also love to solo and find the critical decay to be painful.
I have a Storm with Avalon/Azteca crafted gear who went through the same critical and block decay from levels 80-100 and she was truly suffering in battles. As kind of the opposite of Ice, she needed to quickly set up a single critical hit, ASAP, or be annihilated. Well, the Critical was not happening, block wasn't happening, Azteca was getting brutal.
It would be nice if I could tell you that it will get better in the end...
When she hit level 94 I crafted the Khyrsalis robe for my Storm and that helped boost up her resistances and block. At 96 I added the crafted hat to boost up her critical and added rings that block the elemental schools. That was the game changer - at least for now. Now at level 100 with the crafted gear she's critical hitting about 35% of the time and blocking many but not all hits herself. Her resistances are higher due to having a pet with spell proof and spell defy, plus two may-cast heals.
I've paused in questing to start farming so I can get her the best gear possible for level 100. Once I get the best gear her critical rate should zip back up to happy levels, at least for a while.
From my Balance and Fire, both level 120, I can tell you that Darkmoor or exalted dungeon gear boosts us back up to the levels we enjoyed at level 60 with Waterworks gear ... but then decay sets in again and we're back down to 30% crit and block by the time we hit 120. In order to boost higher than that, we have to make other sacrifices in our gear.
I also have an Ice at level 74 so I know the struggle for accuracy is real. Maybe getting accuracy on a pet can help you replace that Sidhe wand...?
Alia Misthaven, 120 Sierra Stormcaller, 100 Fiona Frostweaver, 74
Re: Is Critical/Critical block a thing of the past?
That is actually what is supposed to happen to critical and block. As you level up, your critical and block chances fall, and you will need higher critical/block gear to improve your chance to block or crit. This is largely to stop everyone from having 100% block and 100% critical, as would be the case otherwise. If everyone did have 100% block and crit it would make the game pretty unfair, unbalanced and overpowered. And pointless too, given that will 100% block no crit in pvp would ever go through.
Re: Is Critical/Critical block a thing of the past?
Freshta on Oct 17, 2017 wrote:
We've all noticed it. Like you, I also love to solo and find the critical decay to be painful.
I have a Storm with Avalon/Azteca crafted gear who went through the same critical and block decay from levels 80-100 and she was truly suffering in battles. As kind of the opposite of Ice, she needed to quickly set up a single critical hit, ASAP, or be annihilated. Well, the Critical was not happening, block wasn't happening, Azteca was getting brutal.
It would be nice if I could tell you that it will get better in the end...
When she hit level 94 I crafted the Khyrsalis robe for my Storm and that helped boost up her resistances and block. At 96 I added the crafted hat to boost up her critical and added rings that block the elemental schools. That was the game changer - at least for now. Now at level 100 with the crafted gear she's critical hitting about 35% of the time and blocking many but not all hits herself. Her resistances are higher due to having a pet with spell proof and spell defy, plus two may-cast heals.
I've paused in questing to start farming so I can get her the best gear possible for level 100. Once I get the best gear her critical rate should zip back up to happy levels, at least for a while.
From my Balance and Fire, both level 120, I can tell you that Darkmoor or exalted dungeon gear boosts us back up to the levels we enjoyed at level 60 with Waterworks gear ... but then decay sets in again and we're back down to 30% crit and block by the time we hit 120. In order to boost higher than that, we have to make other sacrifices in our gear.
I also have an Ice at level 74 so I know the struggle for accuracy is real. Maybe getting accuracy on a pet can help you replace that Sidhe wand...?
Alia Misthaven, 120 Sierra Stormcaller, 100 Fiona Frostweaver, 74
Hi Freshta, thanks for your reply.
I took screenshots of my stats but can't work out how to post them here. Just wanted to be as clear as possible. At level 86, my stats are currently: 39% damage, (9% coming from my pet) 74% fire resist 41% ice resist 79% storm resist 41% myth resist 41%life resist 41% death resist 41% balance resist 41% shadow resist (13% resist coming from my spell proof and defy pet, as well as an additional 9% storm resist) Accuracy for ice is 21% (13% coming from the sidhe staff, i love that i can't fizzle) Everything else is 13% except for life which is 16% due to the wildgrave striders) Critical for ice is 137 which is now at 12%, everything else is 0. Critical block, the highest is now 32% and lowest at 19%. The elemental and spirit rings i made, i focused towards having higher ice crit block and myth block as they can leave some nasty after effects like stuns. But i'm barely crit blocking the mob fights so that purpose has kinda gone out the window. Armour pierce is 2% ice, due to a jewel i crafted. 0 stun resist healing in/out 55%/7% (7% from pet) 88% power pip (20% from wand)
As a crafter, when i looked up azteca and the gear you could make, i was really disappointed. For an ice, the gear has less overall resist and overall crit block. Which is not what i was expecting for the world. In my opinion avalon crafted gear has better stats than waterworks. But it is a bit disheartening to know that what i have now is the best i will have until krysalis. Or rather until i unlock the area where the crafters are. Can you recommend anything in particular to craft in krysalis? I did look up some stuff yesterday and there are a varying degree of items for each school. So just wondering from your opinion which ones are worth to craft?
Also what dungeons other than darkmore are best to farm? which exalteds as there are many.
Re: Is Critical/Critical block a thing of the past?
Freshta on Oct 17, 2017 wrote:
We've all noticed it. Like you, I also love to solo and find the critical decay to be painful.
I have a Storm with Avalon/Azteca crafted gear who went through the same critical and block decay from levels 80-100 and she was truly suffering in battles. As kind of the opposite of Ice, she needed to quickly set up a single critical hit, ASAP, or be annihilated. Well, the Critical was not happening, block wasn't happening, Azteca was getting brutal.
It would be nice if I could tell you that it will get better in the end...
When she hit level 94 I crafted the Khyrsalis robe for my Storm and that helped boost up her resistances and block. At 96 I added the crafted hat to boost up her critical and added rings that block the elemental schools. That was the game changer - at least for now. Now at level 100 with the crafted gear she's critical hitting about 35% of the time and blocking many but not all hits herself. Her resistances are higher due to having a pet with spell proof and spell defy, plus two may-cast heals.
I've paused in questing to start farming so I can get her the best gear possible for level 100. Once I get the best gear her critical rate should zip back up to happy levels, at least for a while.
From my Balance and Fire, both level 120, I can tell you that Darkmoor or exalted dungeon gear boosts us back up to the levels we enjoyed at level 60 with Waterworks gear ... but then decay sets in again and we're back down to 30% crit and block by the time we hit 120. In order to boost higher than that, we have to make other sacrifices in our gear.
I also have an Ice at level 74 so I know the struggle for accuracy is real. Maybe getting accuracy on a pet can help you replace that Sidhe wand...?
Alia Misthaven, 120 Sierra Stormcaller, 100 Fiona Frostweaver, 74
Also, is farming any of the aquila related dungeons worthwhile, like gladiator or cronus?
Are there particular items i should be looking out for with the exalted duels? Just wondering what duels i should be farming for, i have a few of them plonked about. As in, krok, meow, rattlebones, etc? Just for something in the meantime as darkmoor is a while away.
Also would a life or balance amulet be a better choice for an ice? I don't have either, from farming waterworks, i will continue to farm :) but was just thinking it'd be either of those.
It is nice to know though that the stats do eventually, get better lol.
And the trouble with ditching the sidhe staff, is not only the accuracy that is lost, which i can live with, but the power pip chance. While fizzling is painful, especially when it's a healing spell and i can be worked around. Having my power pip chance go down to 68% at level 86 is really, really awful. When i had unlocked my woolly mammoth spell, that's when i got the wand. Just so i could actually get the spell out. Because otherwise i would have a line of all white pips and it would not be possible for me to have the 9 pips needed.
I too have a storm wizard. I started ice originally just for the complete opposite and a new way to play. While it is nice to do big hits on storm, storm is also very fragile. Having little defence, little hit points. I also did storm solo, so worked on a little more defence and getting a bit of incoming and outgoing just to try and balance things out a bit. And last a little longer.
Re: Is Critical/Critical block a thing of the past?
GibberingTwelve on Oct 17, 2017 wrote:
That is actually what is supposed to happen to critical and block. As you level up, your critical and block chances fall, and you will need higher critical/block gear to improve your chance to block or crit. This is largely to stop everyone from having 100% block and 100% critical, as would be the case otherwise. If everyone did have 100% block and crit it would make the game pretty unfair, unbalanced and overpowered. And pointless too, given that will 100% block no crit in pvp would ever go through.
Hi GibberingTwelve, thanks for your reply.
I'm sure it is supposed to happen, i just didn't notice it decreasing until the early 80 levels. And then it continued to decrease. I crafted the robe when i could at level 74 i think and the hat and boots at level 76. I have stuck with the winertusk athame and ring as the stats are still the best in my opinion, even now at level 86. And it was so nice to be able to crit block. Crit blocking now is very rare. Which is a shame.
I'm wondering from your reply that you may have not read all of my post. I don't want it to be the case in any situation to have 100% crit or crit block. That would just be 1, extreme and 2 absolutely ridiculous. And yes, pointless and not fun at all.
One reason i love to solo is for the challenge but for it to also be fun.
The purpose of my post was that i am in a dilemma and can't find a solution, so was asking if others had some insight they could share.
To my knowledge there is nothing, crowns or otherwise that can keep up with the worlds being presented. Like you, I want the game to be fair. For example, when doing a dungeon, versus 4 creatures, 3 minions and 1 boss. To have all of them crit almost every turn and to not be able to crit block one of them, not even the minion attacks. Is clearly not fair. As ice i need to stack before i hit, as my damage isn't very high. The constant crits and complete lack of crit block means that i need to scramble for a heal instead. Which is annoying. Not having any gear that can keep up with the declining stats, as well as the creatures being consistent in crits and having no defence is highly unbalanced, unfair and overpowered.
I wasn't expecting getting to azteca and the crafting to be such a disappointment. Or for the game to be directed towards teaming up and not soloing. I like to team up but i also like a choice in my gameplay.
Re: Is Critical/Critical block a thing of the past?
I know it doesn't really matter, but i'm not using the wintertusk gear anymore. I mentioned that in a comment but forgot that i'm in all avalon gear. My brain is still waking up but it was annoying me that i had that in there.
Re: Is Critical/Critical block a thing of the past?
Okay, going to try to chime in here.
As addressed earlier, your critical ratings and block alike will continue to decrease as you increase in levels. Ironic, but this is the mechanic the game developers has decided to implement. How do you combat this? Gear of course. Personally, I stopped caring about block. So, with this in mind, I need to always be prepared for when the enemy may land a critical on me. As an ice, you should be able to withstand massive damage while preparing to counter. To do this, as highlighted earlier, you'll need high standard gear.
You mentioned you've the crafted WT ring and athame. That's fair for your level, but you should consider crafting the Courtly Dirk, it's a level 76+ athame (recipe available from the leprechaun in The Wild) that can carry you to level 90 when you can upgrade to another athame called Blade of the Titan. As for your ring, I guess the one you've is fine for now.
Your wand.. I suggest you replace this quickly. Don't worry about your pips too much, at this point in the game, like you said, your critical ratings serve an importance as well, especially since these bosses are having 20,000 + health. Hence, a wand which gives both these will be good. Do you have crowns? The ones in the a few of the packs are really good as they not only increase damage, but also your critical ratings.
If you haven't already, the crafted level 76 hat from Avalon serves wonders. Utilize it along with the level 84+ crafted robe from Azteca. Lydia's shoes from the Professor Hoard Pack is excellent, or you can get the crafted shoes (again from the leprechaun) in The Wild. I suggest getting the Ice/Life boosting ones.
Your pet seems fair enough as well. You may need couple jewels to correct your pip problem. I mentioned it's not too bad, but, when it comes down to the get go, Power Pips are really handy.
Re: Is Critical/Critical block a thing of the past?
PurpleSpikyOmellet... on Oct 18, 2017 wrote:
Hi Freshta, thanks for your reply.
I took screenshots of my stats but can't work out how to post them here. Just wanted to be as clear as possible. At level 86, my stats are currently: 39% damage, (9% coming from my pet) 74% fire resist 41% ice resist 79% storm resist 41% myth resist 41%life resist 41% death resist 41% balance resist 41% shadow resist (13% resist coming from my spell proof and defy pet, as well as an additional 9% storm resist) Accuracy for ice is 21% (13% coming from the sidhe staff, i love that i can't fizzle) Everything else is 13% except for life which is 16% due to the wildgrave striders) Critical for ice is 137 which is now at 12%, everything else is 0. Critical block, the highest is now 32% and lowest at 19%. The elemental and spirit rings i made, i focused towards having higher ice crit block and myth block as they can leave some nasty after effects like stuns. But i'm barely crit blocking the mob fights so that purpose has kinda gone out the window. Armour pierce is 2% ice, due to a jewel i crafted. 0 stun resist healing in/out 55%/7% (7% from pet) 88% power pip (20% from wand)
As a crafter, when i looked up azteca and the gear you could make, i was really disappointed. For an ice, the gear has less overall resist and overall crit block. Which is not what i was expecting for the world. In my opinion avalon crafted gear has better stats than waterworks. But it is a bit disheartening to know that what i have now is the best i will have until krysalis. Or rather until i unlock the area where the crafters are. Can you recommend anything in particular to craft in krysalis? I did look up some stuff yesterday and there are a varying degree of items for each school. So just wondering from your opinion which ones are worth to craft?
Also what dungeons other than darkmore are best to farm? which exalteds as there are many.
Hi! First, I misspoke - apparently Fiona is still level 73. I thought she was 74 because I already crafted her Avalon robe but oops! She can't quite wear it yet.
Anyway.
Fiona is currently wearing a combination of gear and I can swear that I worked it all out on paper to give her the best stats possible in most areas. She has the Waterworks Frostbit hood, Tunic of Upper Zigazag (House of Scales top tier robe), Lydia's Frozen Footwraps (level 60, Professor's Hoard), Aquilan Secutor Lance (Immortal's Hoard, level 60 Ice/Myth wand), Garnet Bear Claw (crafted Wintertusk 56 athame), House of Scales Iceband (House of Scales top tier ring), and the Life Mastery amulet.
Her stats: 4464 health 60% Ice damage 40% universal resistance, & 45% Ice 18% Ice accuracy, 6% universal 33% Ice critical (217 Ice), which is getting lower as she levels up. 5% universal critical (60 universal critical from wand) 13% universal block (83 universal block, mostly from wand) 5% universal armor piercing (from wand) 0% stun resist, but could have 6% with a different amulet. 19% heal in / 14% heal out 76% power pips 0% shadow pips & pip conversion.
One of the choices I made was to select the Zigazag robe for its higher damage, critical chance and the Mass Ice Prism card, in exchange for 2% less resist, no block, and only 494 health. When I switch to the Woodland Tribal coat (level 74 Avalon crafted), I'll gain back some resistance and block, plus increase her critical but lose 5% of Ice damage.
The Lydia's Frozen Footwraps gave me 15% damage, 7% power pips and 340 health, at a cost of 27 critical block from Waterworks.
It's painful having such low critical block, but Fiona gets by with a Winter Owl that has spellproof, Ice shot, and may-cast Tower Shield, Unicorn, & Fairy. The owl spams heals and shields, reducing Fiona's need to heal herself.
Re: Is Critical/Critical block a thing of the past?
PurpleSpikyOmellet... on Oct 18, 2017 wrote:
Also, is farming any of the aquila related dungeons worthwhile, like gladiator or cronus?
Are there particular items i should be looking out for with the exalted duels? Just wondering what duels i should be farming for, i have a few of them plonked about. As in, krok, meow, rattlebones, etc? Just for something in the meantime as darkmoor is a while away.
Also would a life or balance amulet be a better choice for an ice? I don't have either, from farming waterworks, i will continue to farm :) but was just thinking it'd be either of those.
It is nice to know though that the stats do eventually, get better lol.
And the trouble with ditching the sidhe staff, is not only the accuracy that is lost, which i can live with, but the power pip chance. While fizzling is painful, especially when it's a healing spell and i can be worked around. Having my power pip chance go down to 68% at level 86 is really, really awful. When i had unlocked my woolly mammoth spell, that's when i got the wand. Just so i could actually get the spell out. Because otherwise i would have a line of all white pips and it would not be possible for me to have the 9 pips needed.
I too have a storm wizard. I started ice originally just for the complete opposite and a new way to play. While it is nice to do big hits on storm, storm is also very fragile. Having little defence, little hit points. I also did storm solo, so worked on a little more defence and getting a bit of incoming and outgoing just to try and balance things out a bit. And last a little longer.
thanks again for the reply :)
At level 90 you definitely want to farm for the Alpha & Omega ring (Gladiator) and Blade of the Felled Titan (Cronus).
The crafted options for Ice in Khrysalis are dismal. It would be better to go ahead and farm for Hades gear, frankly.
The best wands are Crowns wands, currently - but there are farmable options listed on the Swordroll blog.
Having taken three wizards through Azteca/Khrysalis so far I can say, in all honesty, that Azteca is the HARDEST phase of the game. The extremely high health on bosses, no critical block and waiting to charge up our 10-pip spells just ... *insert your favorite expletive here*
After getting past the first few battles in Khrysalis, we get some companions that make battles vastly easier. And the level 100 gear is truly a game-changer. So yes, it does get better.
Re: Is Critical/Critical block a thing of the past?
Thank you guys so so much for all the information :)
It is good to know there are greener pastures so to speak.
Not looking forward to getting through atlantea to get to hades but there ain't anyway to get around it :)
Thanks again for the replies, i'll stick be looking stuff up until i get to 100 level, but at least by then i should have a clearer picture of what i'd need.
Re: Is Critical/Critical block a thing of the past?
For those who had strong Critical gear and Crit blocking gear, I can see how you wouldn't like that to decrease. That said, gear is not the only way. I found Vengeance, the Star school spell helpful, and there is an ice shadow spell that helps defensively.
Alia Misthaven, 120
Sierra Stormcaller, 100
Fiona Frostweaver, 74
