The power curves discuss the ability of the Bard to do damage. This mean DOTs, DDs, and melee. When
melee doesn't increase in proportion to the pure melee classes (which it demonstrably does not), then to
be balanced, casting should increase in power MORE than pure casters increase in power, which it
demonstrably does not. So unless you want to contend that the OTHER things we get along the way more than
make up for the shortfall, we're not balanced. What exactly is the point of singing DD or DOT songs if
they do 20% more damage at 60 as they do at 50, when casters do double? (And, in fact, our songs do less,
since MOB resists are higher).
The reason that it's reasonable to look at damage separately is that we do not have the ability to do
everything at once. If we choose to do damage, that's what we're doing. If damage doesn't scale up and
other things do, then it's pointless for us to be doing damage; we should be doing something else. That's
severely limiting, and essentially means that we do not have a significant part of the flexibility that
we're designed to have (and that Verant believes we have when determining how "balanced" we are). If
damage doesn't scale up and other things don't either, then by definition we're not balanced.
Caster power increases in 4 ways as they level up:
1. They get increased mana regen, which allows them to cast more spells in a given amount of time.
2. Their replacement spells have increased durations, which require them to cast fewer spells to maintain
the same effect, freeing up mana for other purposes.
3. Their replacement spells have greater apparent effect (for example, they do more direct damage when
successful, or they add more strength).
4. Their replacement spells become more mana efficient.
All of our songs miss out on #1. Our limiting factor is time, and time does not go faster the higher we
level.
All of our songs miss out on #2. All of our songs have the same duration no matter what our level.
All of our songs miss out on #4. Same constraint as #1, we can only have x effects in play at one time.
This means that the ONLY way to balance our songs is for our effect to become greater. And in order to
make up for all of the ways in which caster power increase, the effects should become greater FASTER than
caster spell effects do. I don't believe that they do.
Kenross Cantoforjado, 57 songs, Innoruuk
Jeffrey Sue wrote:
> At 02:04 PM 2/21/01 -0500, you wrote:
> >You should read Thott's article on power curves. (www.afterlifeguild.org) ...
>
> the problem that people don't realize is that the bard pretty much increases the
> effectivity of other people in his/her party. if our increases also went exponentially
> and they affected the other class's exponential curves exponentially, you don't see
> this as being a problem?