2010-01-07, 02:28 AM
Since the past two updates have upgraded meteor and blizzard, I think Nexon needs to find a way for archmages to contribute to bossing differently and not simply by tacking on more damage, not that the damage upgrades weren't necessary. They somewhat accomplished this with the PB summons and PB's movement, but that's only one boss and one that's rarely fought.
The arrow bomb, iron arrow, and strafe updates definitely weren't necessary. Arrow bomb and iron arrow are strong enough, and the new arrow bomb makes inferno even more useless. The strafe update is actually a bad thing for higher-leveled MMs because frozen monsters taking the same damage from all four arrows makes damage less stable. For example, out of 8 arrows in two strafes you might rely on two criticals to kill a skelegon, and while before you'd need 2/8, with the update you'd need 1/2 if frostprey freezes it. The low chance of an instant kill is unreliable, so even if you get an instant kill on the first shot, you're probably going to strafe again anyways unless you have very good reflexes. The strafe update helps 3rd job snipers a tiny bit (assuming level difference plays a role), but the sniper 3rd job is already one of the better ones and doesn't need upgrading. The pierce upgrade is pretty good, assuming it's somewhere around 0.5-0.75 seconds to charge now. Jumpshooting DB forward then charging pierce forces you a wait a little bit before it's fully charged to shoot. Also, MMs become stronger on bosses with two or more targets, as charging and shooting pierce becomes better damage than strafing. On the downside, pierce will only go through half its animation until it's fully charged. It already fully charges before the animation finishes as it is right now at a 1-second charge =[
For buccaneers, still waiting on a barrage and demolition damage increase, but at least the faster dragon strike increases damage a little bit.
The arrow bomb, iron arrow, and strafe updates definitely weren't necessary. Arrow bomb and iron arrow are strong enough, and the new arrow bomb makes inferno even more useless. The strafe update is actually a bad thing for higher-leveled MMs because frozen monsters taking the same damage from all four arrows makes damage less stable. For example, out of 8 arrows in two strafes you might rely on two criticals to kill a skelegon, and while before you'd need 2/8, with the update you'd need 1/2 if frostprey freezes it. The low chance of an instant kill is unreliable, so even if you get an instant kill on the first shot, you're probably going to strafe again anyways unless you have very good reflexes. The strafe update helps 3rd job snipers a tiny bit (assuming level difference plays a role), but the sniper 3rd job is already one of the better ones and doesn't need upgrading. The pierce upgrade is pretty good, assuming it's somewhere around 0.5-0.75 seconds to charge now. Jumpshooting DB forward then charging pierce forces you a wait a little bit before it's fully charged to shoot. Also, MMs become stronger on bosses with two or more targets, as charging and shooting pierce becomes better damage than strafing. On the downside, pierce will only go through half its animation until it's fully charged. It already fully charges before the animation finishes as it is right now at a 1-second charge =[
For buccaneers, still waiting on a barrage and demolition damage increase, but at least the faster dragon strike increases damage a little bit.

