Runes of Magic US / AU

Since before the launch of chapter 4 there were 2 threads that were started by Swag asking for feedback on the skills that Priests use. All indications are that the thread never made it to the developers desk and nothing has been done to address any of the concerns or complaints in those threads.

This thread is for Priests to voice their concerns with concrete suggestions on how to address them. Up until this point the Priest class has been hit with Nerf after nerf with no adjustment to skills to scale in the later content, PVP or PVE. I would ask that non Priest classes refrain from posting here (although I'm sure some will want to troll it as usual) I would also ask that the FM's remove posts that are not directly related to Priest concerns, such as calls for nerfs, negative useless posts and replies that do not offer a counter suggestion.

I have played a Priest class since the start, almost 3 years and counting. First I was a P/K standard build, then I moved towards a DPS P/K modded for balance. With the release of Chapter 4 I enjoyed the DPS style of Priest so much I originally picked up Rogue as my third class. I didn't enjoy the P/R and switched Rogue to Scout. Since then I have found it to be the perfect class for how I like to play and have no intentions of ever switching.
I will be making my own suggestions based on how I see things. It is not to make this class OP but to address the short comings of the class and skills that are being increasingly swept under the rug. Some of the suggestions are to make more spells viable, buffs to address other classes weak points and address some of the complaints of the P/S class being to OP because of 1 spell (see Blessed spring water & Magic barrier)

On with the Show
It's going to be long...

Wisdom - Adjust Wisdom to be a Caster stat for Mages, Druids, & Priests. Have it effect these base stats in this order 1) Mana & Mdef, 2) Matk & Mana regen, 3) Healing / Healing Point Bonus

Intelligence - This is a well balanced stat and can provide benefit to all Caster classes. Do not change this stat.

Priest General Skills

Rising Tide -This skill is the main "nuke" spell of the Priest. However it for the most part not used because of the length of the cast time. The damage is well balanced if a Priest mods for increased damage.
Negative - The long casting time does not scale with the damage it produced. The NEW GCD that has been added to this skill puts it on the verge of being Obsolete. In PVP it was hardly used because of the cast time and added cast time means it will probably not be used. In instance runs it was seldom used because of cast time, and now it will be even less used if ever.
Suggestions - a) remove the GCD nerf from all classes or b) Reduce cast time or c) increase damage

Urgent Heal - This is one of 2 of the most used spells of a Priest. It is well balanced for what it produces.
Negative - This spell should compare to other class spells in the way it can be cast. Most DPS or Melee classes have a spell that can be cast while kiting or moving. It isn't an instant cast.
Suggestion - Give this spell the ability to be cast while moving, a kite & heal spell. Remove the GCD from this spell as it completely destroys the purpose of the spell being an urgent spell that needs to be cast quickly.

Regenerate - A commonly used spell that actually functions very well. I think this spell is well balanced up until around lvl 58'ish. Then the amount of the regen doesn't scale well against damage being taken and the ever increasing HP of the other classes.
Negative - Not much negative except the way it scales at the higher levels.
Suggestion - Increase the amount of HP regenerated. Possible even go as far as to make it regenerate 5% of the targets HP per tick. 100k target, 5k tick and so on. Target HP will only be increasing and eventually this spell will provide such little return it will not be used. Remove the GCD, this spell is supposed to be instant.

Holy Aura - This spell is back as the primary Immunity for Priests after the bubble was nerfed into nothingness. Good Spell and well balanced.
Negative - Not really any negatives except it cannot be cast while stunned or silenced.
Suggestion - Give this spell the ability to be cast while stunned or silenced. Make it share a cool down with immunity foods. Remove GCD, this spell is supposed to be a time maker to heal or escape. With the GCd it uses up to much of the time allowed for healing or counter attacking and would run out before a GH or RT could be cast.

** Side Note ; All immunity foods and spells should share the same cool down.

Magic Barrier - This spell is a well used buff. However not very well balanced in the higher levels.
Negative - Does not scale well in the higher levels.
Suggestions - Increase the percentage of Mdef it provides or increase the level higher then the lvl 50 cap it currently has. This will assist in PVP and Instances where it is most commonly used. It would definitely provide a reasonable solution to complaints about Caster damage in siege by increasing Mdef on players that are buffed with it.

Blessed Spring Water - Pretty much a Useless spell as it currently stands. However with the increasing complaints surrounding Priest damage in Siege and PVP this could be an easy solution to that problem.
Negative - Does not provide any noticeable benefits currently.
Suggestions - Increase the level allowed to match player level. Change it to a percentage based defense against water based attacks (such as Ice blade) Change it to be a single target buff that can be cast on players not in a party.

Set Kills
I'm only addressing the ones that I used previously and do not any more because of nerfs.

Holy Candle Shield (lvl 55)- Used to be worth while, although it did contribute to the boss burns in Chapter 3. Now it has become obsolete and normally doesn't even make it onto a Priests action bar anymore.
Negative - Nerfed into oblivion
Suggestions - Change the spell to block 80% of damage received by the Caster (Priest) and blocks 60% of damage taken by party members. Make it resist stuns. Leave the GCD on this spell, but do not have it share a timer with immunities (holy Aura) and immunity foods.

Alter Of Shadoj (lvl 60) - When this spell came out it didn't work as intended and did not provide any benefit. It was then adjusted/fixed in a patch close to the end of chapter 3. With the launch of chapter 4 it was again nerfed back to it's original state of being worthless and is never used.
Negative - Does not scale against any attribute. Does not add any magical damage debuff to the target as it is supposed to. The DoT inflicts 210 point of damage and doesn't change no matter how much matk or mdmg the caster has.
Suggestion - Fix the DoT to scale using matk & Mdmg the same as Bone Chill does (Although bone Chill needs a damage increase as well) Fix the Debuff to offer a 10% increase to magical damage received by the target. This will help the Caster and the Druids and mage players. GCD makes no difference on this spell.

Frost Scars (lvl 55)- This spell is very useful for a P/K, not as much for other classes. The damage caused is moderate depending on how you stat. The spell was adjusted late in chapter 3 to provide damage with a percentage multiplier, but in the chapter 4 patch this was removed. It is now back to it's original state, and not very useful for anyone other then P/K's.
Negative - Damage is moderate.
Suggestions - Change this spell back to it's repaired form of inflicting damage based off a percentage using the casters mdmg and matk as the basis for the damage. Select a percentage less then Frost Death (lvl 67) because at one point Frost scars hit harder then Frost Death. Frost Death should be the next level spell up from Frost scars. Remove the GCD from this spell as it already comes with a 3 second cool down.


Taking a break....will return with more

Quoted from "tsundae;486351"

The first priority should be fixing hots and dots - first tick as well as scaling. Secondly making wis more useful - and not by increasing matk with it.

Pretty much your complaint is gcd change. I hear you, it hurt my p/r bad. But. It affects all classes, so it has nothing to do with "omg they nerfed priests again".

This isn't really a thread dedicated to the new GCD. But yes they did nerf Priests again, as well as all casters. RT is a 3sec cast, now it's 4, UH was a 1 second cast, now it's 2, GH was a 3 second cast now it's 4, Heal was a 3 second cast, now it's 4, Bone Chill was an instant cast, now it's 1. It didn't change the actual cast time of the spell, but it increased the time between spells.
How do you not see that as a nerf when Priest feed back threads are filled with complaints of skills that do nothing that weren't ever addressed (cleanse, Magic Barrier, Wave Armor, Ice Fog, Blessed Spring Water, Heal......etc). Yet they nerfed almost every useful Set Skill (Holy Candle Shield, Alter of Shadoj, Frost Scars) then added a debuff to GH and called it Balancing.... ?. One of those by themselves is tolerable, but they are continuing to accumulate to the point that even the most veteran Priests have had about enough.
Not to mention the effect the GCD has on Mages DPS, as I also have a M/P alt. Priests were already the bottom of the DPS totem pole, now they just got pushed off the ladder.
If anything this GCD has created 1-2 button rotations. UH and GH will be the new rotation. If a Priest loses 2 seconds for every 2 spells then it defeats the Debuff of GH which was tolerable by itself, but then it eliminates the time for other spells to be put into rotation. As for the argument specifically to the P/S class, this made Ice Blade more of the spell of choice because no one is going to cast Rising tide, and BC make such a minute difference it's not worth adding to the rotation for the eaxtra 1 second cool down. So now even more are going to start crying for even more nerfs to that class.
The ticks and DoT's won't bring back or save Priests from leaving the game, they are a minimal effect.
Adding Matk to Wisdom benefits most of the Priests out there by addressing their lack of damage ability. Making it have equal benefits to ALL casters will address the issue of Mages avoiding the stat and complaining in PVP when they have no mdef. If they made Wisdom primarily a Heal increasing stat then that will only create another nerf down the road for any healer combo. I can hear the QQ about that already if a Wisdom stacking Priest can increase their heals substantially by stacking Wisdom (heals out heal damage taken), and that will lead to a nerf of HPB on gear or on the skills themselves. If they were to increase the heal effect of Wisdom it would lead to a substantial nerf of something else.