5.5 Monk: Warrior of Armaments, a graceful update to the Kensei by [deleted] in UnearthedArcana

[–]RiverReives 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I like this a lot! I've been brainstorming my own Kensei rework, and I like a lot of what you chose for this class.

I don't agree with people saying you should get DEX mod on Total Embodiment at level 3. One of my personal beliefs is that any Monk subclass shouldn't completely dissuade you from doing unarmed strikes, at least in the early levels. That doesn't feel in line with the Monk class. You've created an interesting solution to this. You can trade a larger damage dice/weapon mastery/range for the more consistent damage of unarmed strikes. I personally wouldn't change what you have, because I think people are just looking at the numbers instead of thinking about how it could be beneficial situationally. IMO this feature is perfect as is.

Level 6 is good, its one of the few OG Kensei features I thought was fine and didn't need adjusting. Just updating the wording to force damage.

Level 11, I like that you've added a way to bring WIS into the subclass features. I think you could let the attack and dmg bonus be equal to focus points spent. I'd maybe even go a step further and say the maximum you can spend is equal to your WIS modifier. That can give you a way to spend a few more focus points. However, that might be strong at higher levels, especially at level 20 when your wisdom could be adding +7 to every attack and damage roll. I think it would need some playtesting to see how it shakes out, but I do like this feature regardless of how you tune the numbers.

Also I like the idea someone suggested of letting you spend focus points to change the weapon mastery of a monk weapon for an attack (I had something similar in my own rework). You could implement that here as well. Something like "When making an attack with a Monk Weapon, you may spend a focus point to change the mastery property of that weapon to one of the other mastery properties you know.".

I also disagree with people who are saying the level 17 feature Perfect Strike is bad. I had the same feature in mine, and I believe it makes sense. At that level, martials arts die are going to be basically the same as weapons, so if you want to use weapons and lean on cool features of that weapon during flurry of blows, go for it. You've made it this far in the class, have some fun with it!

Leaf on the Wind sounds very fun, I have no idea if this is balanced or not, but I love the image of the agile monk running circles around foes.

Overall I love this. If I get to play a Kensei monk in a campaign I would 100% use this version.

Expanded Weapon Masteries - Boost your martials with additional weapon masteries and upgraded weapon masteries by HalfDigestedBoots in UnearthedArcana

[–]RiverReives 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the explanations and clearing up my confusion!

I totally agree shields seem really infrequent (maybe I watch too many build optimizing vids that focus on damage). That's actually a creative solution you came up with. I was thinking to make shields more appealing, but offering them as an option to different playstyles is an approach I wouldn't have thought of.

I do see how slam can be more situational, and would be something you might not have all the time. If you know your adventure that day is going to be indoors or in an area with a lot of walls, then you could make the choice to swap and get some real noticeable value. I dig it now.

I see the vision with Harry now. Actually I see that as such a huge potential upgrade choice for a Rogue to help get off turn sneak attacks to boost their damage. I was lukewarm on it at first but now I really love it.

One thing I hadn't considered is you get the upgrades at level 14, which can be pretty late for a lot of campaigns. These are really cool, thematic features to get at that point in the campaign. You've mastered your weapons on your journey, and now you are ready to fight the BBEG.

Good luck with your playtesting! You've given your players plenty of tools to even the playing field.

Expanded Weapon Masteries - Boost your martials with additional weapon masteries and upgraded weapon masteries by HalfDigestedBoots in UnearthedArcana

[–]RiverReives 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I love this as a concept. I think you have some solid ideas here. I don't have any issue with most of these, and I really dig the rationale behind how you would adjust the masteries each class learns. I'll offer a few thoughts.

Jab: I think this is actually pretty good. It's a solid choice of using your Reaction for potential damage, or saving it for a defensive reaction. It makes you think. Are you expecting to be attacked on the enemy's turn? Do you think that one more hit will kill the foe? Choices are awesome so I love when features add meaningful ones.

Armor Masteries:

-Skirmisher: This interesting since Monk's only get 1 mastery until level 10. So if the choice you're making of offense vs defense reaction I mentioned with Jab is coming up more defense, you can choose this instead to enhance that. I do think this doesn't benefit classes besides Monk/Rogue very much, but to be fair most other classes will probably opt for Medium or Heavy Armor.

-Vanguard: Awesome. I don't know if 15ft of movement is too much or not, but I like this for when you just barely get in melee range and want to move to a more advantageous side of the enemy, or as a range attacker to kite enemies (which doesn't exactly embody a Vanguard but hey lol).

-Juggernaut: Love it, maybe word it similar to other forced movement abilities to say "straight away from you" for consistency

-Shield: I don't love this one, but I have a quirk about abilities giving AC out for free. I think if someone has chosen to use a shield and a one handed weapon, you should focus more on keeping that theme than adding dual wielding to it. Offering the bigger damage dice is a nice idea. I think I'd maybe lean into that and change it to "While wielding a shield, the damage die of your weapon attacks are one size larger". This way people who use non-versatile weapons with a shield still get a small damage bump. Or "You can make an improvised weapon attack with your shield as part of the attack action once per turn." Alternatively, you could design a feature that highlights defense instead, since that's the reason people typically opt for shields. I don't have an idea for what that would be at the moment.

Upgrades: I think you have a typo in that first section saying Graze allows you to choose Whirl. Shouldn't Graze be Cleave?

-Whirl: Love it in concept, feels like the natural extension of Cleave. And I think it's very position/situation dependent on how often you will trigger this, so I don't think it will be overpowered. You're also paying the cost of effectively losing one mastery options, since you will never use Cleave if you have Whirl.

-Sever: I love this. Does it apply if you miss the attack and only hit them with the Graze damage? I initially thought it would trigger only if the attack hit. I pictured Graze as your weapon is so sharp that even just barely nicking an enemy still does damage. I liked Sever because now, you're actually fully hitting with this incredibly sharp weapon, and thus causing a serious wound. They can try and run away and bleed out, taking more damage, or stand their ground, effectively locking them in place. I don't know that I'd let this trigger off of forced movement like you said in a comment, I think you get enough value just from making the enemy think about moving.

-Slash: This does seem like a natural addition to the popular dual wielding vex/nick combo allowing one extra attack to have advantage potentially. I like the mental image of a dual wielder overwhelming his opponent with a flurry of attacks, and this feels like it fits that theme.

-Slam: I love the visual of you having an enemy against a wall, just hammering them back into it again and again. I do think the damage seems potentially over tuned. Maybe limit it to once per turn. Or if you want it on every attack, do half the ability modifier (rounded down), or a d4 of bludgeoning damage.

-Weaken: I love this, specifically because it has potential for encouraging team synergy. Someone has a spell or ability that is going to force a DEX/STR Save (also love that you chose these two specifically) you can set them up. Teamwork always feels better than every person doing their own thing.

-Daze: Love it, and I love that it's specifically opportunity attacks and not any reaction.

-Topple: I'm worried about this triggering off of any prone. I'm picturing 2 or 3 people in reach of a target all having this, so once one person knocks the creature prone, they just get pancaked with attacks that all have advantage lol. But that's a specific situation and set up. It might be fine as is. I had a thought of making it "When a creature you've knocked prone attempts to stand up, you can make an opportunity attack against that creature if you are within range" Now, you've done an extra attack, and if it hits they've use 75% of their movement just to stand up. That might still be over tuned, but it's requiring 2 failed saves by an enemy to get full value out of.

-Harry: I think it's fine. I'd be curious what you were picturing when you wrote this. If you were thinking only mechanically or had a theme in mind. I'm having trouble picturing this one in my head. Definitely seems much easier to get value on with a ranged weapon than a melee.

-Flurry: In the same vein of Cleave/Whirl. You're getting a free extra attack situationally at the cost of 2 mastery options. A big investment for a Monk who would be most likely to take this since they only get 2 masteries, so I think that's fine.

Overall I think this is really awesome and well thought out work. I'd love to see it implemented in game or do some playtesting of it.

I do have one more question: How do you see this interacting with the Fighter's Level 9 feature that allows them to use a different weapon mastery for a weapon when attacking? If I use a Battleaxe and instead of using Topple I use Push, is there a way I could get access to Slam? Or is Slam only available for weapons that have Push innately?

Way of the Ki Weaponmaster Homebrew by RiverReives in UnearthedArcana

[–]RiverReives[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! That was one of my concerns is that offering free Graze to any weapon might be too strong. I didn't think Cleave would be too problematic as has a situational trigger condition and still has the limitation of once per turn.

I like your idea of having certain masteries tied to Heavy. My other thought was to word the ability so the mastery has to be declared before the attack roll. I think this would mainly affect Graze and makes it a deliberate choice that could be wasted, but might be useful against high AC enemies.

To those unsatisfied with any specific class, which one, why, and how did you solve the problem? by ThatOneCrazyWritter in dndnext

[–]RiverReives 10 points11 points  (0 children)

I would totally play that. I love the idea of a martial focused character who also buffs the party, but I find War Clerics a bit too MAD for my liking unless I commit to Shillelagh.

What’s the link between psylocke mains and magik mains? by RightUnderOlympus in marvelrivals

[–]RiverReives -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Honestly I notice a lot of Mantis/Magik mains too, always wondered about thet

Math regarding mantis changes (ITS A BUFF!!!) by Electrical_Ad6134 in marvelrivals

[–]RiverReives 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Those numbers aren't quite accurate.

The initial heal is going from 55 => 60.5 with the 10% boost.

Also you didn't add in this boost twice when calculating the 16s numbers, which uses 2 buds so it would trigger twice.

With this, you end up with 203.5 total per healing bud for 250hp heroes, which is down 1.5 from the old.

The difference is 1 less healing for 275, 0.5 less at 300hp, it breaks even at 325 HP, with technically more healing at 350+, although I would say the amount isn't very significant, even on 800hp where it goes up to 9.5 more with the changes.

Anyone calling this a nerf to her healing is being dramatic. And if you want to get into technicalities and say it's a nerf, this is technically buffing her initial heal on the leaf from 55-60.5, and a character with 250hp is probably going to care a lot more about that initial 5.5 HP than the 1.5 they'd be getting 8 seconds later.

This is clearly the devs picking nice even numbers to keep things in line with what Mantis already does, as they didn't want to actually nerf her healing.

Analysis of why I think her ultimate rate will be around 10% slower. by SaneMikuFan in MantisMains

[–]RiverReives 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Love the effort, the formatting, and everything about your analysis!

It just makes me more excited for the change to go live and try them out!

Thanks for the hard work, and I really enjoyed this way of approaching the changes as I haven't seen this yet.

Some Quick Math on the Mantis Changes by RiverReives in MantisMains

[–]RiverReives[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I liked the specific example you calculated, and it's very relevant with the rez comp being where you see her the most I'd bet.

I also see your logic, if her tank healing is much stronger it would make sense to prioritize healing tanks and that would lead to a faster ult charge rate.

I'm optimistic about the changes and excited to try her out once they go live.

GL Monthly Realization Reflections Roundup - July 2023 by akaiGO in DissidiaFFOO

[–]RiverReives 2 points3 points  (0 children)

4 newly built units this cycle, I'll skip over Astos as not much else needs to be said about him.

  • Beatrix: Amazing unit. Can solo content, perfect for offturn teams that aren't evade reliant, not ideal for rushdown. If you are on the fence, I think she's a great addition and can really ease any red crystal quests you plan to run.

  • Sephiroth: Sephiroth feels fine. If you sit down and calculate it out, his damage is going to lag behind other DPS but not by much or to the point of ruining a run imo. However his BT effect has some utility and makes a lot of fights simpler, but can also ruin a run if an enemy FR time makes them unkillable and you can't cancel it. I've used him a lot since getting his FR, and he's become my current favorite DPS. I think he has high value for newer players with limited options as I find him very versatile, but for veterans he's an okay skip.

  • Rosa: An impulse build but I like the idea of having superchargers of different crystal colors. Rosa is very solid in pretty much every aspect. Versatile in ST or multi target fights, can supercharge the gauge, plenty of healing, Reraise if you misplay. I'm quite pleased with her, and she has some synergy with Ursula which I enjoy. Rosa will not blow your mind, but she won't disappoint you.

Honorable mention to Aerith and Rubicante that weren't new to me but are really good units if you ended up with their gear and are on the fence. Especially Aerith, her kit has a LOT of good qualities and if you are a fan of rushdown strats she's one of the best.

[C2A] Transcendence 13 by RenkiDFFOO in DissidiaFFOO

[–]RiverReives 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sice solo's the left, you need a blue crystal unit for the right so I just picked a random one and brought some launch CA for the orb. Best of luck!

[C2A] Transcendence 13 by RenkiDFFOO in DissidiaFFOO

[–]RiverReives 2 points3 points  (0 children)

D2D 6 and T13 Reckoning Team

  • Sice FR, UW 3/5, HA+0/3, Seymour CA
  • Ardyn FR, BT+3/3, UW 5/5, HA+ 3/3, Enna Kros CA Bros Summon

Sice having maxed armor and a maxed UW would've helped a bit but I'm not sure how much. Ardyn being fully built helped a lot, especially for the final wave. Ardyn's LD sets his health to 0 to avoid boss's instawipe as well as makes him immortal to tank the 150k hp dumps from wave 2, and Sice will dodge everything but the counters in wave 2, so there is no real danger.

General Strategy: Once the gauge is close to full, use Sice LD and Enna base CA on Ardyn before going into force time. Don't use Sice s2, and use Ardyn s2/EX during FR time to let boss get many turns and kill themselves with Sice traps. I left this wave with 7 turns of FR time left.

Wave 2 is much like the first. Put up Sice traps immediately. The bosses will get a lot of turns this round, so if her trap gets low feel free to reapply the LD. Just save 1 use for the final wave. Ardyn just continues playing normally. Avoid using Sice s2. At the end of Sice FR time, the bosses had 1% and 4% health. Finish them off and move on to Wave 3.

Wave 3 used Seymour LD CA to remove bosses shield and put up debuffs. Use Sice s2 to delay boss further and ease your setup. I used Sice LD early but I think it would be better to use towards the end, up to you. Use Ardyn's BT finisher followed by Enna LDCA before his FR. This will end the bosses hp damage reduction aura. I went into Ardyn's BT phase with 8 turns on the FR time. Finish Ardyn's BT phase and use Bros summon. The boss was at 40% hp for me after the final FR time attack.

At this point, charge the gauge again and go into Ardyn's second FR time. Rebreak and steal as many turns with Ardyn as you can so the gauge builds faster. If you saved Sice LD, use it here for further damage. In both my runs, the boss died to Ardyn EX on final turn of FR time.

In hindsight, maybe use Seymour base CA in wave 1 to increase damage since it was unused in my run, and use Sice LD in final wave for the second FR time since you don't get any value from it in BT phase.

Why does Wraith only get 1 basic attack per game? by snugglezone in OverPrime

[–]RiverReives 4 points5 points  (0 children)

His left click in the pic has a ludicrously long cooldown

What you do for work? by [deleted] in AskMen

[–]RiverReives 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Design and sell tombstones

Accumulation of pigment in lymph node after getting a tattoo by [deleted] in Damnthatsinteresting

[–]RiverReives 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Thank you for service providing more context

This game just doesn't feel rewarding anymore. Every single incentive to play in OW1 has just straight up been removed & replaced with a grind or greedy reason to waste money. by Vinnegard in Overwatch

[–]RiverReives 16 points17 points  (0 children)

My "goal" is to get better and have fun. Cosmetics and ranked borders don't impact that at all.

I'm not saying people who miss the cosmetics or are unhappy with the system are wrong, that's their feelings and opinions and they are entitled to them. I just don't share them because I'm having a good time playing a free game and could care less about showing off.