Zavandar wrote: ↑Thu Feb 13, 2020 2:25 pm
and then the wizard gets kd'd because you went pure and dont have disc
did people like, forget how busted 30 monks with all that sr were? c'mon guys
You and others have made the KD argument, so I'm gonna pop back in here for a bit as it's a new discussion point. The KD argument is grossly flawed. If we're discussing "sneak attacks", we're not discussing number balance, we're discussing situational balance.
I'd like to dispel(u c wut I did thar?) the notion that a level 30 monk is going to do enough damage to you in one round to kill you during the knockdown, which now has a cooldown effect and guarantees you the ability to cast back at them if you survive.
This, of course, as a wizard, assumes that the monk even gets close enough to you to hit you. The monk no longer has speeding bullet train speed, and you're going to see the monk coming just like you would a hasted opponent. As a wizard, you have two immediate options for this. The first is Time Stop, the second is Greater Sanctuary. I prefer GS- it lasts longer (7 rounds at 30) and you're untargetable.
You haste+buff (importantly- acid sheathe/flame shield). You summon. You disjoin the monk from 1/2 screen away, GS drops, and because you're hasted, he can't use a speed advantage to catch you OR to run away. Also, correct placement of an EDK can prevent a monk from charging you when you breach.
SO, you drop a hellball and a G-ruin (if ESF EVO)+ one missile storm, or a pair of maximized isaac's missile storm. This is an
AVERAGE of 477.5/480 damage- which I am not convinced a level 30 monk will survive in the first place, but if he does, he's going to be down to less than half health even after a healing potion or wholeness of body.
Timestop. You now have a frozen, <50% monk, breached while you are hasted.
The only alternative a monk has to losing this matchup is to start running as fast and far as they can when the mage uses Greater Sanctuary.
But let's say this monk with ISR5 somehow guesses exactly where you are, and waits with the twitchiest of reflexes to stand right next to you and IKD you as soon as you disjoin them (which is a poor decision on the mage's part as he can see the monk next to him when he casts), against all rational odds.
Let's also say their feat-starved self managed to take improved two-weapon fighting, improved crit, AND we'll say they have blinding speed, for 9 apr. Let's say they hit you EVERY time, and they're swinging a 1d6(not 1d20, because it has to be a weapon to pierce your premonition)+greensteel properties + 5str +6(UAcombat mastery) +1d4 +1d4 +1d4 (enchant, perm, temp on for a 5% greensteel) AND let's also say every attack does MAX damage AND that they generously crit twice with their 18-20 threat range on nine attacks.
That's 264 damage. A 30 wizard with 10 base con(almost none of them) and +12 con from gear/buffs (all of them) has 300 HP. Your IKD is now on cooldown. The monk didn't breach to make this setup happen, so they're out 249 HP
minimum for their efforts from the elemental shield, and 294 max. Now, as a monk, you have the option to hit a stunning fist(unequipping your weapons and dropping to fewer APR) while your KD is on cooldown, extending your output time, but this means you aren't healing, and you're continuing to take more damage than the mage, who after con modifiers, may well have a
larger HP pool than comparable HP pool to you since monks aiming to be this combat beast we're supposedly describing need STR, DEX, and WIS already, and the wizard in this scenario has only cast one disjunction offensively, leaving their full range of finishing options available.
The wizard is winning this fight simply by damage shielding, and if the monk stops attacking for a potion/healing/breaching animation, the mage can follow up with -pray and end them.
You can say all of this relies on player skill, but the truth is this is a very generic, binary PvP play for a mage. It's not advanced. The most complicated part is not blowing your Time Stop or -pray early, and that is a uniform thing- it has nothing to do with the monk being good, much less Too Good because of SR.