Endgame wrote:
Marc D wrote:
Endgame wrote:
Matthew Hayward wrote:
Endgame wrote:
Marc D wrote: The penalty in Ioun Stone Jade Sphere now seems too punishing. I think -2 to will saves was enough. With the negatives on both stones at -2, you could offset with Iron Will items to come out even. That locks a slot for head or ring that dex users may not have otherwise locked.
As is, you’re looking at 2-3 slots to offset that penalty. Will is potentially the most damaging save due to the inability to act. -2 to Will seemed appropriate.
On the flip side, Earcuff of retort covers the most punishing will save effects in one ear slot.
-3 seems fine for a +Dex IS
Rare save rings are +4.
So +1 DEX in an Ioun is so good it costs you 3/4 of a rare ring?
Too much in my opinion.
Compare against ruined bliss Bull armor (-2 all saves), fae moonlight or fae starlight armor?
Shirt of Brawn is +1 STR and no appreciable downside unless you equip a second -1 Dex item. Artificer/Dark Gnome gloves swap CON/DEX 1:1. The Fae armors are bad tokens that fit a theme.
Ruined Bliss Bull was probably too punishing as well, but at least provides AC and melee hit/damage for your trouble. Plus -2 to all is a bit easier to overcome than -3 to the one save governed by a stat (WIS) that only has one in-print token that affects it.
Is it the IS slot that's making this so powerful that it needs a massive penalty in your mind? Is 3/4 of a rare ring really worth +.5 ranged To Hit and +.5 Reflex? Wouldn't it be better to have this be more of a puzzle: I can equip this, then seek out that +2 Will save earcuff from 2020 and come out even, and it's only a couple bucks... or get this fancy blue shirt and come out a bit ahead!
Past precedent is that attributes in ioun stones only come from Vol tokens +2 for full time and +1 for half time. To make the attribute accessible all the way down to a in pack uncommon seems like a big step, even with a penalty. Making it a bonus to a single save instead (ex, +1 ref at uncommon, +2 or +3 ref at rare) seems much more in step from what we have seen in pack based Iouns.
I'll just say past precedent is not a very useful concept in TD, especially when considering tokens that will be 7-9 years old when this set is printed.
Consider the following past precedents for shirts:
There are no shirts (2005-6)
There is only one shirt, and it's a transmute (2007-10)
There are a few shirts, but shirts are mostly a Druid thing (2011)
OK, shirts are for everyone, but there's only ever been 1 UR shirt (2012-13)
OK, there are multiple UR shirts, but shirts are mostly defensive (2014-15)
OK, shirts are for everyone and defense, and also melee (2016-2017)
OK, shirts are for everyone and cover defense, melee, spell, etc. 2018+
I challenge you to find a slot that hasn't seen substantial power creep since 2013, when the first Volunteer Ioun Stone was printed. I think melee offhand would be the only one I can think of.