Shield of Fear/Dark Bastion much better since the change

[DrK]

Back when Dark Bastion/Shield of Fear were changed to scale with DC some people expressed distress (I was all for it).


I have to say that I prefer them much more the way they are now and I think that when DC gets fixed to not drop off so quickly people will be really glad for it.


One of the main reasons that I prefer the way these abilities work now is that I only have to re-use them when their duration runs out and am still able to get max benefit from them - I can use my first crit in a fight to set them off and not have to re-apply them again until they are wearing off. I may get less of a bonus at the beginning of a fight but I get more of one at the end of a fight now and don't feel jipped when I hit DC 5.

The only things that I would possibly change about these abilities would be:

(A) Either make them so that they can not drop below their DC1 level of effectiveness (so that they are never providing 0 benefit) or to make them so that they can't drop below the level that they were at when used (though this might be a problematic thing to code).

However, When DC is fixed it might make those potential changes a moot point.

(B) I'd like to see the duration on these buffs be set to 5 minutes.

[Jooma]

I'm very happy with the chain line as it is now. 5 minute durations would be more convenient, but it's not a game breaker for me.

[Avangarok]

First chain i use in combat is the incite one and 2nd is always theDark Bastion/shield of Fear. I use the Shield of Hatred and between the shield, that chain and shadow meld stance, I pretty much block tons of damage. When I duo or trio, healers are pretty much not needed since i can work back my HP to full with one SS/harrow and a Cull.
In full group, I tend to switch to def stance in PUG with heavy DPS but otherwise I stick to this and tank pretty well. Very gald for it and will be even better when/if they fix DC.

[Lusain]

It was a nerf, plain and simple. Used to refresh it at the end of a fight, when I had high DC, and I'd have 12% block for the fresh pull, instead of 0% block. Plus we have slay to trigger it at the end of a fight, which almost always crits.

Its current form is considerably weaker than it used to be.

Should the nature of DC ever change so that it lingers from mob to mob, then the new way is obviously preferable. Unfortunately, this hasn't and probably won't happen (I can't see them changing it so drastically... we aren't paladins) but you never know.

If it does, then this nerf loses its sting, that's for sure. In the meantime, every time I pull a new mob and lose all my block and AC bonuses, I wish to hell you guys hadn't gotten it nerfed.

On top of that, I now feel that slay was over-nerfed, since the crit ability doesn't really help much. The only solace I take is the ability to drain a bit of mana when I need it... which is fine I guess.

[Cobalty2004]

DC needs reworked so bad for you guys.

Correct me if I am wrong, but is it pointless to have more than one DK in a group to get a better DC outcome?