Ascendant feedback.

Chris recently lamented in an interview that the Scion Ascendant wasn't quite up to par and they were discussing how to go about correcting it. Here's my feedback and suggestions on the matter.

I see two principle problems with the Ascendant.

1) The spending any two points/leveling the Ascendant feels bad at all times. (as you must spend a minimum of three points to get anything useful or impactful)
2) It's key nodes are simply weaker versions of their full Ascendancy class counterparts. Offering little new, and having little to no synergy with each other.
The only thing it has going for it is being able to start at another classes start point and that's it. And I don't think thst's worth 5 points either.


What I look for in an Ascendancy class is two things.
1) To be able to spend two points and get something impactful and feels good to have. Examples are the Necromancer Mistress of Sacrifice allow you to benefit from Offering spells, which feels night and day a difference. And the Slayer Bane of Legends, turning you into a murder machine. Feels great to cull strong unique monsters.

2) Something that changes the direction of a build, in which you can build around it. Examples, again Mistress of Sacrifice, Offering spells open up a lot of doors. Guardians Radiant Faith and Unwavering Faith change how you approach auras. Berserker's Warbringer completely changes how you approach Warcrys, allowing them to be central to your build rather then pure utility.


So how I would change the Ascendant to be more in line with these goals is this.
First I would change the key nodes from requiring 3 points to 2, rebalance all of them accordingly, also changing the start point cost from 5 to 4 points.

Allowing you to either get 4 key nodes, 2 key nodes and 2 start points, or 3 key nodes and 1 start point in total.
The minor nodes I would combine to be a passive point + raw stats. Like 30 int + a passive.
Or 15 str + 15 dex + passive.


As for the key node redesign, the way I would approach it is not to give a crappier version of whatever that Ascendancy already does, but an ALTERNATIVE to what they do. For example:
The Deadeye can give increased projectile attack damage, more damage at range, piercing projectiles, chaining projectiles, bleeding, crit, AOE and additional projectiles.

So the Ascendant version could give you projectiles Fork, projectile damage, and increased projectile speed the further they are away from you, and perhaps an additional projectile.
Not only is it suitably more generic, applying to all projectiles rather then projectile attacks specifically, but granting Fork is something the Deadeye simply cannot give you.
So say you were running a Spark build, then the Ascendant would be a very viable alternative to the Deadeye, as it offers things that a simply more useful that skill.

Other examples: The Necromancy key node could give you +1 to Spectres, +1 to Golems, Minions heal nearby allies on death as a percentage of their life (say 5%, with a decent AOE).
This would be good since the Necromancy doesn't actually give you more minions, and getting more specialized minions is valuable. In addition to getting something fun to build around like AOE heals on death.

The Juggernaut key node could be, +50% global defenses, +1 endurance charges, 10% chance to gain endurance charges when hit, and cannot be stunned at full endurance charges. As one of the better key nodes it's already along the right path just needs a little more. If the Ascendant had three key nodes that could each give +1 to a charge, this would make them more viable for certain builds, esp if it can also generate them.
Stun immunity is often highly sought after even if conditional. And 50% global defenses is not only valuable but rare, and suitably generic.


While my examples may not be balanced in any sort of the word, it does give you an idea into my line of reasoning. That each key node should not only be easier to get, but more worth while and distinctive from the other Ascendancy class alternatives.
Rather then what it currently is, a piss poor version of them that costs more points to get.

And that's always going to feel crappy.

I agree, the stat nodes are lame and the first ascendancy is super underwhelming.
Just make it
free passive -> class node -> free passive -> class start
on each branch.

No need to add anything to it, just let that rock for a league and see what people come up with.