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Hi all,

As many spellcasters have observed, there have been a number of recent changes
to how the magic system works. The latest change - focused around the rollout
of global magic resistances - has caused a stir as it has considerably impacted
spell damage output.

I just want to reassure spellcasters that this is not the end state. The
updating of the magic system is an iterative process, and over the next few
weeks you will experience a rollercoaster of changes.

In hindsight I should have been clearer on this iterative process -
particularly what spellcasters could expect. I'll try and provide that clarity
for you now.


The first stage of the update to the magic system was bringing all guild
magical spells in to the new mana system. This system was a move from a static
mana cost to a dynamic mana cost, and has a greater focus on mana cost for
maintained spells, while a greatly decreased cost to instant cast spells.  This
stage also standardised the effectiveness and duration of spells based on the
spell's "class" (which is largely dictated by the type of spell and tax paid
for it).


The second stage of the update was to introduce spell enhancers. The
effectiveness of harms and heals in particular are now impacted by the items
spellcasters wield/hold - its 'spellpower' - in the same way melee guild
specials are impacted by the weapons they wield. That code is now live, and a
considerable number of items have been converted over to be spell enhancers.
This change will have impacts on all casters... for those that don't use
weapons or items that are enhancers will notice a reduction in their harms and
heals effectiveness. This is something magic guild members will need to be
mindful of as they will have to weigh up spellpower in their decision making
for equipment to use. It has come as a surprise to some layman magic guild
members... but just be aware spell enhancers are not restricted to your
traditional wands, staves, and daggers. Spell enhancers can be any weapon, so
worth appraising/divining existing items to see what may now have additional
utility to you.

I expect more items will be created or converted to support this new system.
Some magic guilds will have spells which allow them to draw on the magic power
of their wielded weapon and use that power as a spellpower proxy.


The third stage of the update was the introduction of global resistance. One of
the big issues with the old magic system was how spell damage scaled very
differently to the melee system. It had two main issues... the first was it
capped out at a certain stat value, so at some point a caster's stats played
less and less a role in the damage output. The second was magic had minimal
damage mitigation in the game that did not scale with the challenge. So coders
over time have attempted to resolve that issue with their own resistance values
for npcs... which have ultimately resulted in being a bit arbitrary, resulting
in areas unkillable by spellcasters.

So a global resistance system has been rolled out. Every living now has a
natural resistance to all magic types. For npcs this resistance will provide a
damage mitigation not dissimilar (although proportionally less) to their armour
value. This will have had a big impact on damage output of spell harms, and
will feel like a nerf.  Players will now have a base resistance to all magic
types also based on their armour value.  It won't be an effective replacement
to magic resistance equipment... we are talking about some mitigation vs no
mitigation... however it is an important inclusion prior to the fourth stage of
updates.


The fourth stage of updates is the next stage of updates to be rolled out, and
will involve rolling the white damage 'lost' through the casting process
directly in to harms and heals. To date that lost caid has been indirectly
added to a guild's maximum caid cap. We are scrapping that approach to magic
guild balancing and re-aligning those guilds so that they have the same combat
aid on their books as all other guild styles.

As the white hit damage component is a considerable proportion of a player's
total combat aid, this stage will feel like a considerable buff of all heals
and harms.


The fifth stage is a re-accounting of the allocation of spellcaster guilds
combat aid. Obviously, with the fourth stage spellcasters will be
double-dipping in to white-damage caid allocation. This will involve a tuning
of the caid allocated to heals and harms to an appropriate level mindful of the
resistance changes.  This is likely to involve weeks of updating and tinkering
to get it right... so your patience is appreciated as we do the fine tuning.


So that's our roadmap to the iterative updating of the magic system.  We are
taking player feedback as these iterations roll out so all players are welcome
to send those through to the AoB team, however I would just like to reiterate
that what you are experiencing now is not the end game for the magic system
changes... we have only just reached halftime.


Regards,

Arman Kharas (Arch of Balance)