1.0/2.0

Didn't battlemages used to get blades @ 30?

i think you might be right (been one hell of a long time since my 1.0 bmg though). if it was, it probably was changed to make them a bit less deadly to everybody when they sat at 30 going for demon/undead. especially since the damage on blades has been toned since then.

Yeah, used to be able to haste your blades too!

I think it would be a healthy change to see blades lowered back to 30. I can't think of a weaker class @ 30 than a battlemage. All the other Demon Classes can be strong killers at 30. Moving blades back down to 30 would balance the class out quite well I think. Blades wouldn't be a be-all, end-all....but it would not let bmage be fodder @ 30 either. The class only has one tactic at 30, and if the opponent can counter this tactic, the bmage is screwed.

well...it would depend on which of the changes to blades came first, the damage toning or the level increase. if the level increase came first, then definitely I think bringing it back down would be a viable option, but if the damage toning came first I would think that the level increase was put there for a reason.

also...wouldn't bmgs have two strategies at 30? one being more reliable and also easier to counter than the other?

@ 30 all you can really do is localize and sac. Letting air shield and sanc bring their punches to uber suck and you rape them with colour spray.

Battlemages are the weakest class at 30. Blades would make them on par with most every other class at 30, but not make them uber powerful either.

edit -- lol just thought about the people who don't even know about "True terra shield"...they have it even worse @ 30 hahaha

Funny...I thought the consensus was that DK's were the weakest at 30...

DK's are....uber uber badass. The only problem they have is getting raped by giant wielding stafferzors.

Any old school DK player will see how much more l33t they are right now. Just look at unholy strength for example. What sick individual boosted that?

nexus dk > the whole universe

Hrm..

I remember being instant-killed by cleave in 1.0. Very nasty... And being hit by ANNIHILATES fireballs (although I was unsanced). And being lagg-locked. Although neither of these happened at 30. At thirty they would just dual wield for six attacks per round, or use a twohander and not taken any damage due to the multiple defenses, and just afflict and deal massive damage to me all the way back to my pit.

But for some reason when I played Dark-Knights, I could never manage to pull it off myself.

I've never been great with DKs either. And when I fight them at 50, it's either one of two things.

I'm either getting steamrolled. Or I am steamrolling. Nothing in between.

DK vs Bmage @ 30 is no contest. Dk will pwn.

Bmage would be well balanced @ 30 if they had blades.

Actually, a human battlemage at 30 can inflict some serious damage. I remember that demon one (before he got demoned) that basically always would land blindness with color spray every time because of the rank advantage. For some reason, I think it would be worse for a cleric at 30. Well... A good aligned cleric, anyway.

Scenarios like that don't count.

I'll rape a rank 28 ogre with a disarmable weapon any day of the weak with a 30 bmage. Rank advantages don't count when talking about balance.

And clerics? Pffft. Steel wall, prot, sanc, cure, word, earthquake, dispel....they are quite fine @ 30

Good clerics don't get earthquake, and rank advantage must be taken into consideration when discussing balance because of the inherent stat bonuses and racial advantages of other races. The rank disadvantage is their penalty for a possible power perk at 50, and a human battlemage attempting to join a qrace have a 0 experience penalty.

If we want to talk balance, we should include all races at 30, and a human, elf, drow, gnome or faerie will all have a very different time at that rank trying to playerkill.

Bmages are the weakast class at 30.

Gooc clerics still get sanc cure prot and everything. And dispel evil.

Dispel evil and good are lvl 31. Clerics have a hard time PKing at 30 if you can't chase.

edit: Sanc's good, cures and protection are all well and good. But steel wall is only good if your opponent hits you. Mages are a really tough kill for a 30 cleric.

Clerics have it easier @ 30 than bmages. That is my point. Cure crit, sanc, word.

not to mention second attack, enhanced damage and shield block

cure crit, sanc, and word alone is enough to make it hard to die.

Throw on ability to make yourself un-laggable (scrolls and prot shield)

Shield block for awesome defense

cure blind plague poison

Anyone saying cleric is about equal to offense as a bmage @ 30. Bmage probably a little more. But the cleric is 250% more survivable.

Well, you were talking about offensive power, and now we've switched to defensive power.

A battlemage definitely has more all-around offensive power than a cleric. And a cleric at 30 is definitely more defensive, enough so that they should not die.

I never specified about offensive or defensive.

Bmage is the all around weakest class @ 30