Greetings, Saviors!

This Balance Talk will be an update on the changes we’re making to the classes mentioned in our post from last week (if you haven’t yet, read it here first).

The bulk of the changes we’re planning for each class remain the same as explained in the previous post (cooldown and duration reductions, etc.), so under “Updates” I will only be highlighting the elements that were altered or added since last week.

Again, keep in mind that these changes won’t be applied to iTOS immediately, and by the time they do, some details may have been altered.

Barbarian

Updates:

- Circle 3 Warcry debuff attribute: debuffs applied by the casting character will last 1 sec longer per attribute level on enemies affected by Warcry (maximum level 10)

If on one hand this class conjures up the image of a rugged warrior with a mind of their own, something we learned after playing around with the latest changes was that the Barbarian is surprisingly compliant, in the sense that it is flexible enough to successfully mix with other classes under and above it.

One way we decided to push this trait of the Barbarian was to connect the new Warcry attribute with the skills of other lower- and higher-rank classes by allowing it to extend the duration of all debuffs cast by the character, further enhancing the mighty cry of the Barbarian.

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Cannonneer

Updates:

- Cannon Blast overheat changed to 2

- Siege Burst range increase removed (sorry, we ran into some trouble when testing this)

- Siege Burst cooldown time reduced from 30 to 7 sec

- Bazooka range increased by 20% and skill cancellation time reduced

- Other Cannonneer skills can be used with Bazooka (this will also increase the skills’ attack range by 200%)

After reading your feedback on our last balance post, one thing we deeply agreed with was that the Cannonneer was still in need of some adjustments to bring it closer to our previously-mentioned vision of the AoE single-hit blaster. Unfortunately, we had some issues with the Siege Burst range increase we wanted to apply, so we had to cross that one out for the time being (we’re not giving up on it, though).

After some internal discussion, however, we decided to add in a few more changes to the class, namely the ability to use other Cannonneer skills in the Bazooka state. To sweeten the deal, we also made Bazooka increase the range of these skills by 200%. Note that this increase won’t apply to range boosts coming from equipment items or other external elements, but we believe it’s a good step towards giving the Cannonneer some real explosive potential.

Corsair

Updates:

- Stamina consumption when using Double Weapon Assault reduced 5% per Jolly Roger skill level

- Changes applied to make the Jolly Roger flag last longer

Seeing the little Corsair icon appear on the party UI is always a good omen to other players, given the class’ well-earned reputation of the sturdy group leader. This is especially true after our latest changes to Jolly Roger, which helped Corsairs make a name for themselves in high-level contents.

As I explained last week, however, we felt that Corsairs weren’t faring so well in solo combat, which is why we upped the usability of Jolly Roger, namely by making it reduce the stamina consumption in Double Weapon Assault. We’re not yet done with the Corsairs though, and we’ll keep perfecting the class until they are as helpful to themselves as they are to their party members.

Monk

Updates:

- Golden Bell Shield cooldown reduced to 14 sec (24 sec in PvP)

- Golden Bell Shield cooldown reduced 1 sec per skill level

- Golden Bell Shield duration changed to 1.5 sec

- After using Golden Bell Shield, buff will last for additional 0.5 sec

- Golden Bell Shield casting time reduced

- Golden Bell Shield: Safety Zone attribute cooldown changed to +1 sec

We did some more testing on the Monk changes mentioned last week and, from the results we got, it does seem the Double Punch stamina consumption-reducing attribute and the Energy Blast charging time reduction did produce some slight improvements in the use of both skills. At the same time, there are still some problems, some pointed out by the players themselves, that we still need to work on to make sure these skills are having an appropriate influence in the Monk class.

The biggest changes since last week for the Monk, however, belong to Golden Bell Shield. We’ve always been a little afraid to tamper with this skill but, after going through the feedback received from players worldwide, our team agrees that, as a class that undergoes extensive physical training to multiply the blessing of the goddesses within itself, it’s only fair that Golden Bell Shield gets a proper boost as well. Don’t think you can start walking around without a Soul Crystal or two, though…

Rune Caster

Last week I talked about how we intended to make Rune of Giants usable with other Wizard skills to expand on its utility. We still stand by that idea, especially considering how the Rune Caster is already restricted by the long casting and cooldown times of its skills.

On the other hand, we are a still little wary of making Rune of Giants work with all skills, as this could have unexpected consequences. For this reason, we believe it’s best to lift the restrictions on Rune of Giants gradually and analyze the results step by step, increasing the efficacy of this skill in a way that’s safer for the general balance of the game.

Warlock

To put the recent Warlock changes in perspective, allow me to mention the Bokor class for a while (I’m not Cleric-biased, I swear). The Bokor’s skill set, despite being in the Cleric tree, revolves mostly around curses and the dead, but in a way that is still connected to the grace of the goddesses, even if a little unorthodox.

In the case of the Warlock’s Mastema, we felt that the duration of this skill was too short to allow for any connection to divine power, hence why we decided to extend it and give holy property attacks a chance to make better use of it, at the same time increasing the synergy between Warlocks and other players’ – namely Clerics – class skills. We realize this change isn’t quite revolutionary, but we want to keep improving on the Warlock’s team work abilities as well its efficacy and power in high-level contents.

To the players whose classes aren’t listed here, I hope you won’t be too disappointed; we are aware that there are other classes in need of adjustments. This is an ongoing process, so eventually we’ll get around to making changes to other classes’ characteristics as well.

Meanwhile, I thank you all once again for your continuous feedback on our TOS channels.

Until the next Balance Talk, this has been yours truly, the balance dev :)