Customized Caster Weapons Should Receive a Different Bonus

Physical-based professions get a nice 20% base damage increase just by customizing their weapon, which is what they want/need, but what do caster professions get for customizing wands/staffs? An increase to pathetic damage that will hardly be utilized because they're casting? I don't have an exact idea proposed yet, because the idea just came to me, but doesn't it seem a bit.. wrong that the number of advantages you can get on a physical weapon is inherently higher than what you can get on a caster weapon? Balance and such.

Discuss? Sign? You tell me.

My only question is why? You just see the 20% bonus as something unfair because casters don't have something like that. You just want something because someone else has it. If weapons just had a base damage 20% higher and there was no customization, would you complain about weapons doing too much damage so casters should have weapons that make them stronger? No, of course you wouldn't. The game is balanced assuming that all weapons are customized, so there is no reason to give casters a buff because they were already balanced with customization in mind. It isn't like players secretly found a way to make weapons do 20% more damage and the developers didn't account for it when they made the game. Lets say customized wands/staves made your spells do 33% more damage. All spell damage would have to be reduced by 25% so that your spells still hit for 100% of their original value. All you are getting out of it is a weapon that you can't sell and nerfing physical characters who use any damaging ability other than an attack skill.

/sign

It really is strange that they give the same upgrade for caster weapons. Now instead of wanding Dhuum for 5, I can wand him for 6? Lol, nty.

I think the main point anonymous, is that melee characters actually get something that's useful in return for customization. As it is right now, casters don't really get anything in return for it.

Maybe instead of a % increase to damage, there could be a +5 energy mod for customized wands/staves.

/sign

Casters need more of an incentive to customize weapons. 20% damage doesn't help them at all like it does melee/ranged characters. Like Spookii said, +5 energy would be nice for a caster.

As well, would be nice to see shields and focuses get some sort of upgrade when customized. Whenever you dedicate a shield or focus in the HoM, you get nothing for it. Would be nice to see maybe a plus extra armor bonus when they are customized.

Congratulations, you're the first person to come up with this idea!

I did not say anything as ridiculous as increasing spell damage by 20-33%. Also, saying that the game was "balanced" to work with the current customization system does not mean it is really as balanced as it could potentially be. Casters have absolutely no incentive to customize their casting weapons, the ones they meet requirements for, let alone their shield sets.

@Lemming: My apologies. I did a quick browsing of the index and didn't see those threads. I figured they would be somewhere on the main list, considering this idea somewhat makes sense. Apparently, the people who made those threads agree with me. Now, could you please contribute something worthwhile to the thread while you're here or are you just going to suggest it be locked/whatever?

Not a bad idea but prob not going to happen.

Customisation in the game is done by weapon smiths so its almost certainly viewed by anet as altering the balance of a weapon to suit the physique of the new user.
Because your more comfortable with it you use it more effectively and do more damage.
This happens with the caster weapons too even though we seldom use such bonuses when fighting.

I think at the moment staves wands foci etc are "magically customised by adding altering inscriptions and the like, and of course this is done to melee weapons too but its more important and has a greater effect when applied to caster weapons.

If the game had magical customisation npcs then we could look forward to Bonuses of the sought you suggest happening.

The only problem with this approach to it is that melee weapons benefit both from customization AND the inscription, to great effect with both when utilized properly, whereas the caster weapons only benefit from one at most, and with some inscriptions it's only a chance thing.

1)Please reveiw rule one and two of Sardy it should be locked.

2) I would much rather see something along the lines of 5% armor penetration for spells cast. Although it almost seems over powered I don't see 5% being to much but 10% is overboard. +energy is lame since you should in most cases be managing your energy anyway and it would just be giving an extra leg to bad players. Whereas an AP bonus would give an edge to players who are already managing their energy properly. I mean I have energy issues very rarely I see no reason to customize any of my high end wands for a little extra energy in case one day I need to sell one of the wands.

I was thinking more along the lines of 10% faster recharge on spells (possibly related to the attribute requirement?)

Casters, for the most part, have the potential to do much more damage than melee players as is. I really don't think there needs to be another thing to give casters an edge.

Search - use it.

Closed.