Now is it just me or does this spell seem like an oxymoron to you?
I mean you get saves eq so that you can defend against some a shaman, then the god damn shaman does a spell that screws you over depending on how much protection you have bothered to get in the first place! 
lol is it just me or is that a little odd?
But then imagine what it would be like if they cast deteriorate WITHOUT having all that saves EQ?
Seriously, if you have half-way decent saves EQ you can stop shamans landing deteriorate for a good few rounds of combat. Which, you should be capitalizing on as you want to be piling the damage against them as quick as you can.
Someone with awesome saves is going to be a shaman's worst nightmare without deteriorate. Like, a one-way ticket to Nightmare City on the Nightmare Express, with your black-coloured ticket bought from Nightmare Travel Services. At midnight.
Dey
Im sure thats the point right? Just like someone with heaps of AFF saves is a invokers worst nightmare? The fact is that when it does land, it bloody well destroys you. I mean, last time it landed on me it was +22 to save spell. Thats just insane. Add the +6 from curse and well hog damn your saves are with a sack of.. well.. saves. (but a very small sack mind you) 
Im sure thats the point right? Just like someone with heaps of AFF saves is a invokers worst nightmare? The fact is that when it does land' date=' it bloody well destroys you. I mean, last time it landed on me it was +22 to save spell. Thats just insane. Add the +6 from curse and well hog damn your saves are with a sack of.. well.. saves.
Afflictive is different in the sense that you will still be harming them if they save, albeit the damage toned depending on the spell. With a maledictive, you do squat. So somebody with awesome saves will still be able to be harmed by an invoker (invokers also being able to destroy EQ that gives the saves, AND target any possible vulns which helps).
But, +28 to Svs after curse/deteriorate? You can't have had any good saves in the first place. And remember that SVS stacks with your other saves.
Dey
yes, thats after I have over 50 mal saves by themselves, thats only the svs spell
bloody stacking doom of deteriorationess!
I see what you're saying. But saying that it's pointless getting saves because deteriorate negates some of those saves is ridiculous, because things would be even worse for you if they landed deteriorate whilst you had no saves in the first place.
You can't compare a shaman with an invoker because they both have completely different playstyles.
The answer to getting around deteriorate? Depends on the class (and the race) that you play. It might be that you need more mal saves so that you can last that moment longer to outdamage them. It might be that you need better hit/dam so that you can dish out the pain.
Fact is, that you are right that a class with awesome saves is going to be a very tricky customer for any mage. But a shaman has ways of reducing awesome saves in a couple of ways, so that they can land their maledictions. Although it is meant to be tricky for mages to fight people with awesome saves, it shouldn't be impossible. Hence, why there is more to fighting a shaman that just having brilliant saves. Just like how somebody with awesome afflictive saves fighting an invoker could have their sanctuary dispelled (if they've sacrificed -mental for truly awesome afflictive savse) for improved damage from the 'voker, or if they're very lucky, destroy key pieces of EQ with hellstream. Just like when everyone complains when minister lands after a couple of tries against -400 mental saves, yet not that many people have had it click in their minds that instead of sacrificing everything for awesome mental saves, when the spell will land eventually anyway, focus on negating their ONE main damaging spell and it's affects.
Dey
yes yes, but what im trying to say the spell kinda screws you anyway you go.
Get alot of saves and deteriorate punishes you more,
dont get alot of save and it punishes you anyway.
I realise with a shaman you really aint got a **** show in some cases because you have to have long drawn out battles really to beat someone (provided they arent an *** ) but deteriorate just seems like one of those spells that screw you if you do, and screw you if you dont!
Sounds like you've been fighting a shaman recently. Seriously, it isn't that hard to bump your saves vs spell up a little. I've had -50 saves vs spell, and even -60 in some cases, and then, deteriorate did a little over +22 saves vs spell. After that, I was even hard to curse, (I'm sure it had a lot to do with magic resistance.) however it wasn't impossible to fight a shaman. Let's lower a deteriorate affect, sure, let's also take a certain spell from druids, take word of recall from all clerics, and take 'strength damned' from necromancers. 
yes yes, but what im trying to say the spell kinda screws you anyway you go.
Get alot of saves and deteriorate punishes you more,
dont get alot of save and it punishes you anyway.
Increase your svs by -20 and deteriorate does not add anywhere near as much as that onto it's negative affects. Sure it might affect you more, the more SVS you have, but not as much as you seem to be making it out to. It's not as if it's directly equal, so that no matter what you get, you always have 0 svs.
Dey
The invoker comparison is actually more apt than some seem to realize, as hellstream specifically will blow the items that grant saves (usually) before it blows others. Eq is not meant to make you immune to a class, it's meant to make it harder for that class to hurt you. If you've got -90 mal saves, a shaman won't land a thing on you. He's got NO chance of beating you unless he lands deteriorate. If you've got -90 aff saves, chances are an invoker's not going to be doing a thing to you. Until hellstream starts blowing eq and dropping those saves.
In other words, EQ is meant to change the balance of a fight, not decide it. Skill does that.
Well said.
hehe this post wasnt really supposed to be about me and more about deteriorate, but yer, I get what you are saying. Doesnt mean I have to like it
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I have two
Hooking and gambling don't count.
Get a job!
Cause im a P.I.M.P
Finaly, someone found the use for detiorate, i was hopping no one did after viri commented on it some (long) time ago.
He said that detiorate worked oposite to other spells, the more saves you have the easy it lands and the more powerfull it becomes.
Adding mal saves on mal saves would be futile.
Your best bet is to prepare before hand and have key equipment to swap once it lands that has huge mal saves.
So use some dam eq, and then when he lands it, switch to mal saves eq.
my inventory isnt endless
My two cents is that the spell deteriorate (as well as another spell that no one uses and I think should be toned up) gives the shaman class playability. Without it, it would be too easy to defend against players, with high mal saves the shaman could never beat you. And if you hadn't noticed, each mage accounts for that in one way or another. Invokers have Icestorm and Hellstream, Battlemages/Clerics/Necros have spells to hit you in each area as well as melee capabilities, making them difficult to defend against in each area.
In other words' date=' EQ is meant to change the balance of a fight, not decide it. [b']Skill does that.
Even with ogre and relatively low saves, you can give a run for shaman when attacked at.