The "Bishop Ult vs. AM Ult" thread

As far as balance goes, Onyx apples are only a factor at bosses. But removing the Onyx apples entirely is not the *only* way to balance mages. They could instead buff the apples up so that they give a reasonable amount of m.atk. If they simply -took out- the Onyx Apples, bosses such as horntail would be too difficult for most people to defeat and you could forget the time temple boss. In KMS, which does not have apples, adjustments to the bosses to make them possible to defeat are already being made.

Horntail would not be too difficult to defeat. Other versions defeat it without the assistance of apples. Bossing is a major part of the endgame experience and Onyx Apples completely break the balance of classes. Dexless NLs are always and forever stronger than regular builds with the assistance of apples. They're favored at bosses because their apples last 15 minutes, and they do ridiculous amounts of damage because their W. Att difference is smoothed out with a constant +100 to everyone. Mages would actually do reasonable levels of single-target damage (though the elemental wands would still be needed to match most phys classes).

I would rather see them take away a lot of HP from the bosses and phase out Onyx Apples (and maybe revamp the APQ drops so there's something else worth looking for) than keep it the way it is with the current system.