Simulationcraft for Sage/Sorcerer

[BigRedJedi]

(05-22-2012 06:11 PM)Kaedis Wrote:  

Quote:Does this mean that the three armor debuffs will not stack or does it mean two separate trooper grav round debuffs will not stack?

Probably (and hopefully) that armor debuffs in general will not stack with each other, but we won't know for sure until either the Devs get explicit about it (unlikely) or the changes are pushed to the PTS or to live so we can test it.

I'm not so sure, the wording of "like debuffs" seems to imply Nish's interpretation, in that you won't benefit from multiple debuffs from the same source (i.e. multiple grav round lobbing Commandos will only ever supply a single Vortex debuff, perhaps refreshing the effect for each other, regardless of which Commando strikes the target with grav round?)

From a design standpoint, it makes sense to restrict debuffs from the same source, particularly where target resistances are involved; however, it also enhances the appeal of rewarding diverse group composition, by allowing debuffs of the same type (though from differing sources) to provide a cumulative effect.

The current scenario, wherein every armor debuff from every possible source is cumulatively applied (even when stacking the exact same debuffs from multiple members of the same class), leads to skewed encounters, where the players are able to render a target's built-in resistances nullified, and those encounters become somewhat more trivial than they are intended. On the other hand, if the ultimate design decision was to limit armor debuffs to simply the strongest debuff that is currently active on a target, group composition will suffer (as many groups will simply choose the highest possible armor debuffing class, then add the 'max DPS' classes around it, rather than allowing for some of the greater diversity that permitting some debuff stacking would allow).

Ideally, the system would include that ability to refresh an existing debuff (if a character is attempting to apply a new copy of that existing debuff), while still permitting stacking from multiple, unique sources of debuff. Serious players are unhappy with the current system, wherein boss armor is, essentially trivialized, due to an excess of stacking debuffs, but there surely is a middle ground that both alleviates this problem while still rewarding diverse group composition.

-BRJ