Executive Summary - The Eldritch Set Needs a Correction
Background - The Eldritch Set is obtained by equipping at least 2 of the existing Eldritch items:
- Ring of Supreme Elemental Command (2012 Eldritch)
- Rod of Seven Parts (2014 Grand Eldritch )
- Boots of Four Wind (2016 Eldritch)
- Kilt of Unknown Power (2019 Eldritch - Name Not Finalized, confirmed 3 tokens)
- Teeth of Cavadar (2021 Grand Eldritch - Name Not Finalized, confirmed 7 tokens)
Current Set Bonuses (find more @ TokenDB at
tokendb.com/token/rod-of-seven-parts/
)
Eldritch Duo
When at least two items are equipped, spellcasters ignore Spell Resistance, healing spells heal an additional 10 HP (see Multi-Target Note below), and melee attacks ignore Damage Reduction. Druids or Rangers with at least two Eldritch items gain one character level. (+level effects do not stack)
Eldritch Trio
Same as the duo, except any class wearing at least three Eldritch items gains one character level. (+level effects do not stack)
There are a lot of good points on why the set bonus should not be changed and this decision is not the case of clear right or wrong choice. It is question of what is best for the game and only Jeff will be able to decide that.
A) In my opinion, Jeff attempted to correct what he saw as an issue with the Eldritch 2 piece set and got a lot of push back from the community because he had already ruled one way. Why the push back, because everyone loves their character power. What is difficult to do is to step out of the game and look and predict the impact of a overly powerful item. As we see now the bonus is overkill and if not corrected will continue to unbalance the game. If TD gets too unbalanced it will lose players similar to the issues Magic had. We need to remain vigilant and take action sooner rather than later.
B) Matthew has already done a wonderful power analysis (
truedungeon.com/forum?view=topic&catid=5&id=244806&start=24#281236
) showing with the Eldritch set bonus (+10 Heal) alone adding 100 (10 heal spells) hps of curing. If you add in the Lenses of Divine Sight (2014 OOP) that will double it to 200. This alone is keeping the parties well healed.
C) Couple the plentiful healing with the additional Eldritch pieces in the next few years (2020, 2021) the amount of 2 and 3 piece Eldritch sets will significantly increase thereby increasing the already abundant healing thereby aggravating the game balance issue.
D) So why is too much healing bad? It creates issue balancing the dungeon. It can marginalize new players when they only heal for 1 point on a spell and another heals for 11. Before they know why they feel insignificant.
E) It will be easier to get the 2 piece set and the current bonus favors Druid/Ranger - this will cause new players that have just gotten their 2 piece set to play that class for 5th level. Increasing the demand for two already crowded classes.
F) The most powerful tokens in the game (barring Artifacts) are Legendary. Two legendary tokens add +5 healing (Drue's +5 Baton of Focus and Relsa's Ring of Supreme Focus) - a two piece Eldritch set should not have the power of two legendary tokens.
G) If a change is going to be made it should be made sooner rather than later so players can make appropriate plans which includes their purchasing plans.
So how do we fix this problem. There are many possibilities and I am fine with any that promote good game balance and forward thinking. Here is my personal choice. I am not saying it is the best and would gladly see a correction over none.
Proposed 2 Piece Bonus
+1 to character level, +4 Healing (this gives the bonus the level of just over 2 Relic pieces - Charm of Heroism and Ring of Greater Focus)
Proposed 3 Piece Bonus
+1 to character level, +6 Healing, 50% Damage/Spell Resistance mitigation
Proposed 4 Piece Bonus
+1 to character level, +8 Healing, 50% Damage/Spell Resistance mitigation, +3 Damage (All Types)
Proposed 5 Piece Bonus
TBD
This gives the growth possibilities for the 5/6/7 set if ever created. Odds are the players that have the 3 piece set bonus now will be getting the tokens for the 4/5 so ultimately for them it will be a negligible loss in power. For the new players coming in and only getting a 2 or maybe 3 set they still get a strong set bonus.
What if we just wait and see? That is an option and there will likely be more push back on a change because people will be getting close to the set bonus. If we wait too long we may not be able to recover.
Ed