Ioun Stone Nerf :(
suddenly_human
Member Posts: 22
Now that Ioun stones no longer provide crit protection how are non-armour wearing classes supposed to protect themselves? This seems like an unfair nerf to classes that are already fragile. My kensai/mage is especially unhappy about this and demands blood! And yes I know this is the same mechanic used in IWD, but IWD is rubbish and I'd rather the Baldur's Gate:EE series didn't emulate it. *sulks*
5
Comments
Personally, I don't think anybody should be immune to critical hits, helm or no. It makes Single Weapon Style and Critical Strike lose a lot of their value.
Anyway, I will probably try to restore the restore the critical protection of the ioun stones with a mod eventually.
Now, crits are actually something to worry about. You'll want to actively keep characters away if they can be crit, and think about who you send into the fray etc. It also makes low health more precarious, mitigation more important, etc. All in all, more depth to combat, which is usually a good thing.
It does also introduce some more RNG elements, that's totally true, and it punishes certain party setups disproportionately (like heavy caster groups). Still, I think that the bottom line is positive overall. Mechanics should be dealt with by the player, not simply ignored because they are trivial to completely negate.
i) Ambushes, where you squishies start in combat range, and may be chunked by a critical before they can make safety
ii) monks, who are pointless if not engaging in melee, have fewer hit points than fighters, and now lack the means to protect from criticals?
iii) swashbucklers, in a similar position to monks, but with even fewer hitpoints, balanced a little by thief skills
I'm usually an advocate of staying true to PnP, but I don't remember helmets giving critical protection in PnP either
It feels like a well-intentioned meddling that will actually make the game a little less fun for a large subset (but perhaps not a majority) of the players, but hopefully playing through a few times will convince me otherwise. It doesn't help that it yet again points to the frustration with the cleric/thief UI not allowing thieving, as thieves-with-helmets become even more appealing!
Thieves are fine, since they will get UAI. Early Swashbucklers get an added challenge, but they were never meant as replacements for tanks. They are more offensive than regular thieves, at the cost of exposing themselves more - an interesting trade-off, for the time before UAI.
Aside: I approve of the changes as well. Crits should be something to fear, not something you just shrug off.