View Full Forums : Nature's Boon Info


Scirocco
02-10-2004, 09:18 AM
Since discussion of this AA is scattered among several threads at the moment...

My numbers below (other than AA cost) are based on levels 1-3. You hit the NB hotkey, and a little invisible warder pops at your current location (it has the name "Scirocco's Warder" for me). It does not move, is not a pet, does not show on the pet window, and does nothing but cast a continual regen spell (which appears in the song window). HP only, not mana.

The point cost is 3/6/9/12/15. 45 points total to get all 5 levels. Assuming the last level follows the pattern of the first four.

The range of the area of effect appears to be constant for all levels. It is about 59.5 units (using the /loc numbers) for levels I-III, and I assume it is the same for IV and V. Relatively short range.

The duration is constant. It is 30 casts of the healing buff (which appears in the song window), with a cast every two ticks. It still heals every tick, so the actual time of effect is about 6 minutes. It is constant for levels I-III, and I assume it is the same for IV and V.

The regen per tick is 25/30/35/40/45. Levels I-III add another 5 per level, and I assume it is the same for IV and V.

The refresh time is a constant 30 minutes regardless of level.

Overall, the benefits from sinking additional points into this AA appear to be no more than an additional 5 pts per tick. No increase in duration or range or reduction in refresh time. In light of the AA cost, you get the bulk of the benefit from the first level.

Some other issues:

The healing effect appears to apply to mobs. I still have to test to see if this makes it live.

The warder disappears when the druid goes invis, just like a pet would. But the warder is not a pet, and the warder doesn't prevent the caster from having a pet. IMO, the warder should stick around even when the caster goes invis.

Fenlayen
02-10-2004, 09:29 AM
Don't suppose you noticed whether SCRM affected the new AA ?

Edited because I spelz goudz

Macnbaish
02-10-2004, 09:39 AM
Don't know but I would guess as this is basically pulling a pet type of creature.. it wouldn't be considered a buff and therefore not be affected by buff extending effects.

DemonMage
02-10-2004, 09:46 AM
You know something I'd like to see to improve Nature's Boon?

Effect - level1/2/3/4/5

HP Heal Per Tick - 25/50/75/100/125
Poison Counter Removal - 10/13/16/19/22
Disease Counter Removal - 10/13/16/19/22

And maybe have it stack with the clerical one as well... not sure what the cleric wards effects are, but if they are similarly weak, they should be ramped up in a similar way.

This would provide a valuable tool on raids, a fair amount of healing considering the duration, and make it worthwhile to max it out, as opposed to only go for the first level. It still wouldn't be that great in a single group setting, but if you're pulling to a spot, or get a 4+ "hard" pull in an LDoN group, you could cast this, and help people out over the course of the kills, and probably get a fair bit of use out of it.

Callahad
02-10-2004, 10:43 AM
/agree with Demonmage.

Though I would be ok without the poison/curse removers, and these values.

I think I get it now : it casts a heal every 2 ticks, but its a 2 tick HoT that does 25/tick?

So 60 ticks *25 = 1500 hp healed over the course of 6 minutes. So basically its SotW, but maybe half as good.

With demon's suggestion that I agree with, it would be 7500 hp healed over the course of 6 minutes. That would make a lot more sense, considering how hard these mobs are likely to hit (mention of 1800 hits for regular trash mob in another thread), and considering 45 AAs to get it.

Callahad

Tappin
02-10-2004, 10:48 AM
Outstanding questions:

1. What is the name of the effect that ends up in the bard box?
2. I'm assuming that 2 nature's boons cast by 2 druids won't stack because the effects show up if the bard box. Is this the case?
3. Do the cleric and druid aa's stack? If so, this could make for up to 100/tick healing. Still not great, but enough to take the edge off most AE raid encounters.
4. Does it have a max number of targets like a quad AE?

DemonMage
02-10-2004, 10:49 AM
Callahad it's like a bard song.
A bard song has a duration of 18 seconds, but if a bard continues to sing/twist it, it will be refreshed after like 12 seconds, but it will still heal you every 6 seconds.

Hehe.. I'd rather stick to the cures on it.. I'd like more healed, but I think the cures would be great =-p

Alaten
02-10-2004, 11:48 AM
Wow, 3 AA for 25/tick seems good, 45 AA for 45/tick is uh not good. Looks like it went from a potential neat AA line to just another toy.

Chenier
02-10-2004, 11:57 AM
I could see it being useful in raids when fighting an AE mob where the healers are clumped together for mana/resist songs...but other than that...?

Or have one ward planted at the healers, one at the casters and one near the mob for the melee?

Next question (maybe asked above, I was just skimming):

How much aggro does it award you?

Chenier
02-10-2004, 11:58 AM
3. Do the cleric and druid aa's stack? If so, this could make for up to 100/tick healing. Still not great, but enough to take the edge off most AE raid encounters.

Someone already said it doesn't stack...

Wulfing
02-10-2004, 12:32 PM
I had really high hopes for this AA to help Druids on raids and in xp groups, but if it doesn't make a really high jump on the last 2 lvls, this is one useless AA skill.

Daggeniel
02-10-2004, 12:53 PM
It didnt stack in beta ... no clue about how they have implimented it.

Think of it as an ae replenishment for 6 mins every 30. As it is in the bard spell box it doesnt have stacking issues (other than with itself) and doesnt use a spell slot.

Biggest annoyance was the fact that you couldnt turn off the xxx's ward begins to cast a spell spam :)

Scirocco
02-10-2004, 01:00 PM
I think I get it now : it casts a heal every 2 ticks, but its a 2 tick HoT that does 25/tick?

Think of it as a bard song called "Aura of Restoration," and your warder as a little bard. It sits there and sings/casts every other tick. If you are in range, you get the effect in your song buff box. As long as you stay in range, you get the effect refreshed. If you move out of range, it dies out within two ticks, like a song.

You can see the message that the warder is casting a spell every two ticks, but as noted, you get the regen benefit each and every tick. Counting the number of casts was a easy way to determine duration. For level I-III, there were 30 casts. Technically, that means we would probably get 62 or 63 ticks of actual healing as the song wears off after the last cast.

The area is very small, by the way. Much smaller area than an MGB SotW would hit.

The initial 3 points is worth it, even if you only use it to heal up a couple of groups between pulls every 30 min. It's the escalation of the AA costs that is almost punitive in light of the miniscule benefit (a mere additional 5 hp per tick per additional level).

Also, I didn't test it with the cleric ward, but I have seen it reported on these boards that they don't stack.

Cimaron-Triton
02-10-2004, 01:11 PM
The lack of stacking with Cleric Ward is really what disappoints me. The two together would have been moderately useful in raid situations, a la sotw/cr. IMO we should all /feedback it; I did during beta. As it is, our ward will be used on raids when the cleric's wards are used up, I would think.

Tutten Clawstorm
02-10-2004, 01:19 PM
Aha! I figured out why it's worth buying this AA! It'll make powerleveling my shaman easier ;)

Glynna1
02-10-2004, 01:19 PM
Just a little disappointed to hear about this ability. Now I'm not sure what I will train in right away. Still time to sit and ponder...

Tappin
02-10-2004, 01:28 PM
Also heard that the ward has low HP? If this is true, one of the only places I saw using this (AE raids) is kinda out too :(

Glynna1
02-10-2004, 01:36 PM
Low HP? I thought this was an inv ward. Are you saying it can die?

Macnbaish
02-10-2004, 01:51 PM
blah.. just keeps getting worse...

Chenier
02-10-2004, 02:06 PM
How aggro does it give whoever casts it? Bards AE mana/hp songs give them big aggro....so like, I'm guessing that NB would give us pretty darn good aggro too...anyone notice or test this?

Scirocco
02-10-2004, 02:57 PM
Your tense is too limited:

We have been screwed.

We are being screwed.

And we will be screwed.


If that makes you feel any better...:)

Callahad
02-10-2004, 02:58 PM
As it is, our ward will be used on raids when the cleric's wards are used up, I would think.

Not even. If clerics have the same kind of ward, then it takes 5 clerics to cover the whole 30 minute range. I guess you may need a few more just in case someone dies, or to cover more area.

But seriously... I know it will be used in raids, 'cause it's better than nothing... Dont think anyone will mind much if its not there, though!

Also, it seems it depops when you invis, when you die, when you move OOR, and maybe even when it takes a bit of damage... Hope not for the last one, it would remove just about any raid use out of it. Then it doesnt stack with the cleric one /sigh.

I'll get level 1, since I got 30 AAs saved. I'll get level 2 when Im hurting for things to spend AAs on, unless it changes.

Callahad

Suva
02-10-2004, 03:14 PM
bah! they must have changed it then. Earlier in the beta, cleric and druid wards were stacking. I did not notice any difference in aggro form this aa, and I have it trained to level 5.

Iegluan
02-10-2004, 05:18 PM
Only thing I want to know is if it can die to AEs if it can its useless to me if not I might get it anyone know?

Batou
02-10-2004, 05:27 PM
Well, on the bright side, it sounds like they reduced the cost of the AA. It intialy cost 60 points to get all of the levels, but the intial cost was reduced so its not as bad as it was before...

Galadhriel
02-11-2004, 12:02 AM
LoL! That was too funny!! Thanks Scirocco! :rolling:

Perk
02-11-2004, 02:41 AM
Yeah, the ward has less than 1500hp and is hit by AE... died the third time Jiva AE'd (500 damage AE). When it's active, it puts a buff in the song window. Had a cleric ward active at the same time, but only got one buff icon so assume they do not stack. (cleric ward died on the same AE wave, so assume they are near identical)

In all the AA seems to be pretty worthless in ANY situation atm. Either needs to have the amount healed increased dramatically at higher levels or needs to be made to last the entire 30 minute refresh time to make it worthwhile as additional regen in a single-group-pull-to-here-so-I-don't-have-to-move situation.

Feldaran
02-11-2004, 03:37 AM
Yeah, my ward (level 2) died to one wave from that giant bee guy in Air near the entrance that has that AE Disease DD/DOT thing.

Useless except to PL my baby berserker. LOL.

Chenier
02-11-2004, 05:05 AM
Clerc in my group tonight had Boon1, seemed nice (in the grouping situation)....

nice, but not necessary...cleric aa /nod

Sayden
02-11-2004, 05:54 AM
My level 1 boon died to a 800 AE grav flux in Ssra. so not sure of how useful this guy is to me in a raid situation as most raid encounters for us involve an AE of some type.

Perhaps the warder increases in hps as it levels, someone above this post said theirs lasted thru at least 2 waves of 500hp AE.

I did however notice (on an earlier test before the AE mob) that he did not depop if I ran out of range. He stayed on track for at least another 3 mins after the raid party had moved on to the next room.

Ornette Coalman
02-11-2004, 06:03 AM
A mage managed to kill my ward in 3 swings, said he did about 400 melee dmg. Another time, someone also melee my ward once but it regened back to full in a few seconds. I only have NB1. Does the hitpoints of the ward go up the more AA you put into it?

cinn
02-11-2004, 07:02 AM
used it tonight in a trial, absolutly worthless. have 3 /5 of the AA's. :robot:

TeriMoon
02-11-2004, 07:14 AM
Yep, the cleric ward didn't survive one AE from Ofassa, basically the ward died when the mob was incoming.

Loralin
02-11-2004, 08:28 AM
This was the AA I was most looking forward to pre-release.

I've bought lvl 1 of the AA but I can't see myself spending anymore points in it since it's not useable in AE situations nor does it stack with the cleric's boon.

Glynna1
02-11-2004, 11:16 AM
I'm sorry I wasted points for level one of this aa. I don't think it should be able to be affected by melee or npc ae's.

Karanthal
02-13-2004, 09:52 AM
So up to now I've decided Im not going to bother with secondary forte for a long time because it caps at 100, and now im not going to bother with this because it dies in the only situation it would be useful, and apparently dosnt stack with the cleric ward.

I guess I'll go back and finish off the old pop aa's I have been slacking on.

Glynna1
02-18-2004, 06:31 PM
Does the Cleric ward have more hp per tic? I heard first level for clerics was 32. Wouldn't be surprised but for the same aa's just would be nice to have the same level of ward.

Sunwukong Stormrider
02-19-2004, 12:13 AM
Nature's boon should have been an ability to enhance pre-existing druid spells that have regen component to it.

lofun
02-19-2004, 03:34 AM
I tracked my ward tonight and got him on target and buffed him with str , hehe. That was the only buff I put on him , not sure what else you can put on him and if it really does any good.

Iisbliss
02-19-2004, 06:26 AM
I have to say, this is pretty useless.

The only situation where it is useful is in a fight with mob AEs, and the ward wont live, and the amount healed is a joke.

If it was meant for a downtime regen, then it should have had mana regen too.

Either way, its expensive and makes absolutely NO sense as it is.

I would have rather had more healing or faster reuse on spirit of wood, or had the ward resist all AE and cast cures.

Glynna1
02-19-2004, 09:14 AM
Seems to be more of a toy at this point and if you aren't fighting stationary may as well forget using it.

Ramia
02-19-2004, 10:14 AM
Another wasted AA that I wont ever buy.

Another attempt gone wrong by Sony. Instead of giving us a few things we could use which has been posted many times on these boards, we get another play thing.

I don't know if it is just me, but I am seriously thinking about giving Ever Quest up. They had the right idea of one time, but something when wrong, to many good people left Sony to make a real game.

I never have played WoW, but it has to be better than what this class has and will be getting.

To those people at Sony who actually read this board. Is it to much trouble to give something decent and useful to us? Instead we get minor upgrades to spells we already use. Like a extra 150 DD is going to do a lot of good on mobs that have 100K HP+.

Oh well....going back to work...just reading about this expanison and the druids just makes me more depressed.

Longfoot
02-19-2004, 10:18 AM
Fwiw, I'm getting some use out of this. I group a lot in Ldon dungeons and there are times during the mission where I can throw out this regen buoy and request the puller to pull surrounding mobs for the next five minutes to its location. It frees up some healing mana for DD in this situation.

Vowelumos
02-19-2004, 10:44 AM
I don't know if it is just me, but I am seriously thinking about giving Ever Quest up. They had the right idea of one time, but something when wrong, to many good people left Sony to make a real game.

It seems further down in your post from a Druid perspective. Honestly we did not see any changes in the right direction till after they left. GoD AAs are very expensive and of marginal use for every class. Even the ones that sound good are restricted in so many ways (Just like Nature's Boon) as to make them worthless.

GoD AAs are by design, the What do I buy when I have all the AAs I need, AAs. I think AA power can only go so far before they would have to start factoring it into XP. (In which case they should have just added more levels).

I am not sure why everyone expected a massive AE heal over time that could last through anything. The is most certainly not a reasonable expectations. As with all abilities players claim are useless, there are many, many uses.

Mannwin Woobie
02-19-2004, 11:46 AM
Nature's boon should have been an ability to enhance pre-existing druid spells that have regen component to it.

Now, there's something I'd go for.

Glynna1
02-19-2004, 12:03 PM
I am not sure why everyone expected a massive AE heal over time that could last through anything. The is most certainly not a reasonable expectations. As with all abilities players claim are useless, there are many, many uses.__________________


No I didn't expect it to be a massive AE heal but if you were to use this during down time I think the only instance I would use it is if I were out of mana. I certainly would not expect it to save any player at any any level (1,2 or 3 ). So far I have just used it for fun and never once considered not healing to full hp anyone in group as the ability IMO will not save anyone.

Seriously I would like to know the many uses do you really see this one being helpful?

Fairweather Pure
02-19-2004, 06:30 PM
It's a pretty worthless AA. Glad I only bought lvl 1.

Kreado
02-19-2004, 07:21 PM
trained level 1 and tried it out, nothing spectacular :(
BUT once i noticed it was targetable i got a little curious and loaded up summon companion....heh its a pet. now if they made the duaration a bit longer this might be useful as it stands by the time you cast it clear and move to next point and summon it the effect is pretty much done.

Glynna1
02-19-2004, 10:48 PM
Hmm can you tell it to follow you? :p

Netura
02-19-2004, 10:57 PM
Seriously I would like to know the many uses do you really see this one being helpful?

Powerleveling!!! /sigh.

Sunfire
02-20-2004, 02:06 AM
__________________

Seriously I would like to know the many uses do you really see this one being helpful?

1) Powerlevelling .... stationary powerlevelling
2) Putting a little flashing heart in that someone specials buff window :heart:
3) Keeping BooBoo company before they die to a mid-level AE
4) Giving the illusion you're healing the group while you play gems
5) Making sure we'll all have to spend 50AAs in the NEXT expansion on Extended Healer's Boon and Healer's Boon Durability

Maybe Sony should fire a few devs and hire some people off this board ... heck, we'd work for free just so the game doesn't get any lamer.

Tinile
02-20-2004, 09:20 AM
Oops, I had forgotten we had any other use besides powerlevelling. Yay druids!

AmonraSet
02-20-2004, 11:33 AM
3) Keeping BooBoo company before they die to a mid-level AE

If it is like the cleric version your pet poofs if you bring the ward up while you have a pet.

Speaking of Booboo, I have never understood why more druids don’t use the Booboo/Wrath of the Wild combo. It may be inefficient, pointless and mobs will barely notice, but the idea of sending a cute fluffly exploding bear to attack mobs… well things just don’t get any better than that!

alyn cross
02-20-2004, 12:53 PM
Surprised caisha didn't post this yet, and sorry if it was in one of the previous three pages (didn't read, don't care much for this aa), but he found out last night that Summon Companion will move the ward around. Given how little faith i have in this aa, i don't place much value on this discovery, but some other druids in our channel seemed psyched...

/shrug. for what it's worth, there it is.

/cackle

princess0fdiabl0
02-20-2004, 02:22 PM
alyn... please delete that post and let it never be spoken of again in public <3

Ramia
02-23-2004, 01:18 PM
4) Giving the illusion you're healing the group while you play gems



OMG, that make me laugh so hard.....but you are correct in that statement. :buttrock:

Glynna1
02-23-2004, 01:37 PM
Booboo and WoW=Da Pet Bomb!

Getting back to Nature's Boon though there is nothing really good about this that I can see.

Kulothar
02-23-2004, 02:55 PM
OMG. Booboo goes boom. I cant believe I haven't done that.. With summon pet this will at least be ok for LDoN where we are moving from camp to camp while it lasts. I wanted it for AoE mitigation on raids but have found it lasts until the first AoE unless I cast it back at the healers camp where it lasts until they agro something. Lv 1 is about all that this is worth investing in and then it just makes you really popular in the newbies zones.

My new Newbie druidism is treeform with ward. Come children.. come pull your mobs to the majic tree to kill and be healed by its majic shade.

Kulothar Tunarean
Storm Warden - Mith Marr

Sunfire
02-23-2004, 08:53 PM
I don't know if we had answered whether the "boon" can draw aggro to the caster. Last night we did Arch Lich and one of the clerics laid down a boon - it lived for about 3 seconds and it did seem to draw aggro to her. Anyone else seen aggro from boons?

Karanthal
02-25-2004, 12:23 PM
Cast it on the orc hill and it kept most people alive.

Tried to use it again in crushbone throne room, but the orcs in there are pretty mean somtimes as much at 10 dps, a boon just cant cope with kind of power :(

Ramia
02-25-2004, 01:12 PM
Cast it on the orc hill and it kept most people alive.

Tried to use it again in crushbone throne room, but the orcs in there are pretty mean somtimes as much at 10 dps, a boon just cant cope with kind of power :(

Thanks for all the information....looks like I will NEVER be wasting at least 3 AA's on this piece of crap.

Kineada
02-25-2004, 04:29 PM
Thanks for all the information....looks like I will NEVER be wasting at least 3 AA's on this piece of crap.

Druids used boon at strategic points during our Inny fight last night. Wards lived through AE's just fine. Apparently, Inny's AE only does damage if you are feared. Since wards are fear immune (they can't run away), they didn't take any damage.

P.S.
3 aa for 25hps regen is a pretty good deal. 15aa for 5hps regen sucks.

Callahad
02-26-2004, 10:05 AM
3 aa for 25hps regen is a pretty good deal. 15aa for 5hps regen sucks.

That I believe it the *major* gripe about this AA. Level 1 is so-so, for 3 AA. But still worth it. Level2+ is a pure waste of time.

Callahad