The Champions Dev Diary was released today. Jonathan “RockX” Steady once again graces us with his notes on what changes Turbine will be making to the class in Riders of Rohan.
First off the skills:
- Horn of the Champions
- Improved Bracing Attack
- Level 80
- Adds a HoT effect
- Both the Heal and HoT will always trigger
- Improved Wild Attack
- Level 83
- Adds +5% critical hit chance buff for 6 seconds to the Champion
Overall my thoughts are that the new skill, Horn of the Champion is great for Glory, but I’m curious about it’s use in Ardour and Fervour. This is because I didn’t get much opportunity to group on my Champion, so please let me know if you Champs out there will find it useful. Now, to me the Improved Bracing Attack HoT is a nice addition, as heals always are. And of course an additional percentage to crit buff is good as well.
In addition to these changes, there have been some tuning Merciful Strike. While the amount of damage still depends on the number of Fervour pips, its damage has been “heavily increased”.
With 3 Fervour, Merciful Strike will deal about the same damage as Brutal Strikes. With 5 Fervour, the low end of the Merciful Strike damage will be right around the high-end of Brutal Strikes.
There have also been some changes to the Deadly Storm Trait Line focusing on the cooldown of certain skills, Fight On’s Exhuastion effect has been modified, and several Legendary Item legacies have been replaced with new ones.
Admittedly, it’s been a while since I’ve played my Champion. After I leveled him up to 75 I ended up spending the majority of my time on my Guardian since he’s my main., but I do miss playing him. These changes have me starting to think about sharpening my axe and mowing down some orcs Gimli-style. But, as always we want to know what you all think about the changes coming, so leave a comment below!
August 2, 2012 at 5:36 pm
not sure if it’s WAI, but Merciful Strike GIVES 2 fervour unless you’re using Fervour stance, so would this damage buff only apply to the Fervour version?
August 2, 2012 at 5:56 pm
yes, it says in the dev diary “While in Fervour stance…”
August 2, 2012 at 7:00 pm
I like the legacy changes, bracing attacks upgrade, and the new skill, but i dont like the buff change, ok no, i like the buff, im in AoE, meaning deathstorm. I use blade-wall and swift blade for my fervour generation, but i dont use wild attack when in deathstorm, so id like it better, if the buff went with the stance, ardour is my AoE stance, so id like the buff to be applied to my blade wall, and if i was in fervour, it would effect wild attack.
August 2, 2012 at 10:38 pm
I love the fact that Bracing Attack can no longer “Miss” on the heal.
Aside from that, as a Champion main, none of the rest of these changes really excite OR upset me… Just kind of ‘meh’. Not much else going on here for us. Not saying that’s BAD necessarily, just a bit underwhelming.
August 3, 2012 at 2:52 am
Yeah, all of them have seemed like this at this point, but it’s why they’re the first dev diaries. The ones towards the end are going to be the ones with the biggest changes.
August 3, 2012 at 5:58 am
One thing that is in the diary but not in the article is changes to LI legacies
- “+Hamstring Range” Legacy has been replaced with “+Champion Skill Bubble Strength” Legacy.
Monster players are going to be pissed!
August 3, 2012 at 10:04 am
Can someone explain what a “bubble” is in MMO context? I see it on the forums, but I have no idea what the heck it refers to
August 3, 2012 at 12:34 pm
A “bubble” is short for a morale bubble which is mostly equivalent to D&D temporary hp, in other words it is a skill that when you use it you gain an amount of morale that lasts only for a certain amount of time but any damage you take eats away at the temporary morale before it starts going towards your real morale.
August 3, 2012 at 1:57 pm
Ah, so like that purple segment in your morale that some RK skills make.
Thanks!
August 5, 2012 at 1:26 pm
Since I like to tank 3 mans or solo things on my champ I have always wanted bracing attack to give a HoT I was maybe hoping for a trait to do it but this is even better I also love the sound of the horn ape threat and the new +X% bubble legacy will be a must have for my tanking LIs
August 13, 2012 at 3:22 am
I think that the new bracing attack is gunna be a great addition to all champions. ALTHOUGH, getting up to lvl 80+ isnt easy and does take some time. i think champions deserve a -non missing- bracing attack once they are able to learn the skill in lower lvls.