#enchanted bolts

61 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

lusty surge
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As is, only 3 enchanted bolts reign supreme. Ruby bolts for taking down large health targets, diamond bolts for high defense ones, and dragonstone for well... anything that doesn't fall onto either of those and isn't a dragon. Excluding pvp, since they have enough issues with balancing, most of the bolt effects need a revisit.

For one, half of the bolt specs don't even work in PvM. Not just insignificant, they literally have zero effect. Topaz and jade, only work on players. Sapphire, no use outside of pking. And pearl bolts? Despite being faction damage, they're worse at their job than the other options.

The solution to this is fairly simple- bolt specs don't need to just be damage. It's a utility on top of their number that enhance your ability, and as such, they can be way more flexible

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First, I'd like to give an honorable mention to the most underrated king of them all, emerald tips. The effect is consistent, reliable, and balanced, not to mention extremely satisfying

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One of the factors that make these so good, is the 50% proc chance, compared to most other's 5% or 10%

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Topaz bolts: do nothing.
Instead, a proc (4%) chance marks the target, giving your next spell cast on them Advantage, (ignore an accuracy check-whichever is higher, theirs or yours)
Bring them down to earth

lusty surge
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Sapphire bolts: also do nothing in PvM
Initially, I thought to restore 10% of your prayer level. BUT that might create unintended redemption strategies, so instead, for x seconds, it reduces prayer drain. Clear mind, eh?

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Jade bolts: I ...I don't even know what these do? It's like, a pocket snare, but worse?
Let's trash that effect for PvM, and instead it will delay the targets attack timer, effectively stunning them for several ticks. At a 6% chance to proc, it better do something useful, right?

ancient mango
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Problem with trash tier bolts is mostly the base bolt tier. Being able to use Addy or runite as base bolts would make every bolt much better

valid bone
lusty surge
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Yeah, actually. But any time I bring that up, everyone counters with "dragon does this already"

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I partially agree, that you shouldn't be able to use ruby tips on bronze bolts, so what if bolt tips could be applied to their tier and above? Opal addy bolts, or pearl rune bolts

alpine portal
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Addy and above bolts, should be able to use any type of bolt tips

jagged nest
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why addy?

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i think the tier system at the moment is fine , if there is a change it should be that the bolt above can use all the gem tips for the tier below

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that way everything is useable with rune bolts, dragon just gives a bigger dps boost

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also they need to probably fix how onyx bolts work, the cost is just way too high for it to ever be practical

gritty shale
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I agree. We need to have more bolt effects, just like the emerald bolt, with constant medium effects

ancient mango
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everything thats sub addy would be just garbage, dragon bolts cost arm and a leg, and adding about 50 new bolts when 48 of them are absolutely trash adds nothing to game

toxic geyser
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If they lowered the high alch value of onyx bolts, would help a lot. Pretty sure they're tied to high alch price currently

ancient mango
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would change so many things in game

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only possibility I would see is somehow getting effectively more out of each bolt

lusty surge
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Putting this here for reference

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and a handy chart to visualize the tiers vs bolt tips

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mithril, addy, and rune start to have some variety, but still not very much

lusty surge
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instead of allowing all bolt tips to be added to all bolts, the tier should decide which tips can be used.

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this would be the least amount of unique bolt types added, allowing some tier overlap. Rune bolts would be allowed the bolt specs that addy posess, for example

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this is what it would be if a bolt could be equipped with all bolt tips beneath it

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stronger effects, like ruby or diamond, are still locked beneath addy or higher. However, this is alot of types to add, and unless bolt specs are improved, most of these still won't be used

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So, back to improving the bolt effects

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Jade tips: Earth's Fury
the 6% chance is fine, if the spec stuns the target, delaying their attack timer by a few seconds. Alternative approach would be to copy the effect from pvp, and guarantee a 6 second snare on the target

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Topaz tips: Down to earth
4% chance is far too low for a bolt spec, especially considering that it does nothing. Literally no effect in pvm. Topaz is the most valuable of the semiprecious gems. It needs to synergize with some sort of style, and I believe that marking the target to be vulnerable to the next spell, at a 12% chance to proc, is suitable. While the spell is guaranteed to hit, it won't guarantee a non-zero.

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Sapphire tips: Clear mind
restoring prayer is something you have to be careful about, since it can enable cheese with the redemption prayer. So instead of taking the PvP equivalent, this proc instead reduces prayer drain for 80 ticks (48 seconds)

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did I miss any?

elder oak
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Bolts need to be redesigned so that their effects arent chance based and something that happens every shot

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Like, whats the skill needed to hit 5 ruby specs on a boss instead of just 1? coinflip harder lmao

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And with the effects being guaranteed there will be more room to play with because the consistency will always be there.
Onyx bolts heal me for 20% of the damage I do? Switch to those when im at half hp.
Sapphire bolts give me back 10% of the damage I do as prayer? Can extend trips with it.
Diamond bolts reduce the targets ranged defence up to a certain limit? Start the fight with those.
Jade bolts drain restore 5% run energy every hit while draining 5% of my target's if its a player? Heyooooo pk bolt.

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This does imply ruby bolts will be reworked "since we dont call anything nerfs now" to be along the lines of adding a fraction of your missing HP as damage too, which I'm down for. I hate ruby bolts.

ancient mango
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the game is designed around rng, content that requires only rolling that bolt rng (nex) is bad design

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reason why cbows get outclassed is because they have massive rng factor, you can easily get +10 to 15 max hits with diamond spec. But say you go bofa thats constant dps you have better over kill dps

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ppl would never use onyx bolts imo, they are always gonna be way too expensive for use

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Also defence reduction is kinda hmm, as we rly dont have good defence reduction that has reach, and would make encounters like zuk much different in theory

ancient mango
ancient mango
balmy tangle
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+1 for change on enchanted bolts
Really weird to have so many different types yet only dragon tier can be tipped with everything, and most tips are still fairly useless at that tier

lusty surge
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The thought is that it's not just passive damage, it requires reaction on your end, and rewards it

lusty surge
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But let's say best use case for this. You use zcb at Zilyana, freeze her in place, or Bandos

ancient mango
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Only good idea I could see is fire surge with staff + tome

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but even then its 2 items + 2 runes

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spells are just rly lacking in that sense

lusty surge
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While I agree guaranteeing a max hit is a bit much, it's only active for one cast. Which, whether manual casting, or one way switch, is a 4 tick action. Keep in mind, this is PvM. Also, freeze is Jade, defense is done by diamond

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I like the idea of adding mechanics, not just adding damage. If you want the benefits of topaz bolts, not only do you need the supplies to cast, but also time it appropriately

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But yeah, on task with Slayer helm+Slayer staff switch, you're hitting a 20, which is only one tier lower than surge

ancient mango
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Unless using harm casting is always 5t

lusty surge
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I thought manual casting was one tick faster than auto casting

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Regardless, even if using Slayer staff switch, average hit for Slayer dart is roughly 10. At a 4% chance, this is actually really tame. Over 10 bolts, it adds 4 damage, requiring you to pay attention

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That's pretty fair