New Aura: "Massivity"

Cast an aura that increases your life, AoE and size.
(Red gem, aura, spell, AoE, 75% mana reserved)

level 1: 4% more life, 9% more AoE radius for AoE skills, 9% increased character size
requires lvl 10, 18 strength

level 20: 9% more life, 16% more AoE radius for AoE skills, 16% increased character size
requires lvl 68, 95 strength, 66 intelligence

Note that it is a MORE multiplier on both life and AoE!

=> It is a kind of copy from the Massive shrine, designed to aid builds both defensively and offensively. I see a lot of utility in it for builds that use leap slam, ground slam, cleave, sweep, cyclone, but also spellcasters using firestorm, (to be buffed) ice nova, flame blast, ball lightning or glacial cascade e.g.. Also summoners could use it to buff their minions health while increasing the radius of their melee splash.

=> The drawback: it reserves more then the other aura's (75% instead of 60%). It is justified by the fact that both a life boost as well as an AoE boost benefit many builds out there.

I think life aura would be too mandatory

10 % more life is A LOT when you consider how much increased life the standard build has

"

This aura would be too OP. We can already get these bonuses from passives, on an aura its broken.

There is always a guy saying "too OP, forget it".

The thing is that if such an aura is too OP, it can be made weaker by simply adjusting numbers.
For example, if it would give 3% more life and 5% more AoE at level 20 it would be utter crap for a 75% mana reservation.

So instead of the classic "too OP", it would be constructive to adjust the numbers so they seem balanced. For me, 9% more life and 16% more AoE for 75% mana reservation seems balanced. Hatred gives 36% more DPS for 60% reservation, discipline gives 318 base ES, wrath and anger are major damage sources for certain builds,... all for just 60%.

A non-boosted level 20 Massivity aura would raise 5200 hit points to 5668 hit points and increase my firestorm base radius from 25 to 29. Is that so OP considering it reserves 75% of your mana?

"

I think life aura would be too mandatory

10 % more life is A LOT when you consider how much increased life the standard build has

I don't get your last sentence. The 9% MORE always has the same impact:

2000 life becomes 2180
3000 life becomes 3270
5000 life becomes 5450
9000 life becomes 9810

I don't think this boost is that mandatory either, just noticeable.

People who are heavily investing in aura nodes ofcourse get more gain from it, but then again, every point spent in aura's is a point not spent in life so it evens out... .

=> If you still find this aura OP, just nerf the numbers in your reply to what seems right to you. Some mathematical comparisons with other aura's are welcome too!

"

Soepkieken wrote:

"

This aura would be too OP. We can already get these bonuses from passives, on an aura its broken.

There is always a guy saying "too OP, forget it".

I don't know why you say "a guy" - it's always DirkAustin.

Anyway, such an aura should also grant penalty to movement speed and Evasion, otherwise it would be mandatory for (at least) Evasion builds, due to how Evasion depends on a high HP/ES pool in order to withstand damage spikes and help prevent stun-locks.

Furthermore, it does make sense that a bigger size makes you easier to hit and less mobile.

"

It is mandatory because it has + life %

I just don't see how going from e.g. 5200 hp to 5668 hp is so mandatory knowing that it reserves 75% of your mana.

Physical damage builds are better off with hatred.
Grace gives huge survivability for many builds, especially when used in conjunction with IR and determination.
Discipline is better for MoM/EB defensively.

The thing is that you also get AoE increase, which is really handy.

I don't see why everybody in this thread is so pinned on the extra life, which is not such a huge deal. I personally would choose this aura over other aura's more for the AoE increase then for the extra life.

"

Amiag wrote:

I think life aura would be too mandatory

10 % more life is A LOT when you consider how much increased life the standard build has

I'll just pick 5000 life for a made-up average.
So 500 additional life? The numbers make it meh.

Fundamentally, I agree with you though.
If the numbers are too low, the aura is just useless.
If the numbers are too high, then it's just mandatory.
There just isn't a lot of middle ground here to balance.

People would probably just try to abuse it with Carcass Jack, but not for a 75% reserve.

"

Youre saying it like you make the rules. GGG makes the rules of how much is being reserved and no aura ever had more than 60% and you forgot reduced mana and the reduced reserved nodes.

Besides, talk about auras is pointless as we may see big changes with the expansion if the screenshots are any indication.

When someone in the suggestion forum makes a game content suggestion, he's also making the rules for it, that's logical, otherwise there is no suggestion.

I didn't forget reduced reserve aura nodes. But I'm always comparing this aura to the other existing aura's, who benefit equally from those. So the reduced reservation nodes are a constant factor in the equation, and can therefor be ignored, that's basic mathematics.

Thing is, dear DirkAustin, with your kind of replies it seems like nothing new will ever still make it into the game. A constructive comment would be to alter the numbers of my aura, suggest another aura or mathematically prove why it is broken no matter the numbers.

"

I'll just pick 5000 life for a made-up average.
So 500 additional life? The numbers make it meh.

After some people finding it OP, now somebody thinks it's meh... that's a good sign! It means my numbers might actually be balanced.

"

Fundamentally, I agree with you though.
If the numbers are too low, the aura is just useless.
If the numbers are too high, then it's just mandatory.
There just isn't a lot of middle ground here to balance.

Sorry, but that doesn't make sense.
Any skill in the entire game will be useless when the numbers are too low, and OP when the numbers are too high.
It's never easy to balance any skill, but there is no skill in the game that is "unbalancable": just buff it bit by bit if it's too weak, or nerf it bit by bit if it's too strong, and a middle ground will eventually always be reached.

"

People would probably just try to abuse it with Carcass Jack, but not for a 75% reserve.

The whole point is "to abuse" this aura for a massive AoE. Just like hatred is "abused" for its cold damage or grace is "abused" for its evasion. It would be stupid to take hatred and then not get the benefit out of it by heavily focusing on physical damage.

It can open new cool builds, imagine this:

40% AoE from tree
20% Carcass Jack
40% AoE support gem

=> 100% increased AoE

So you're looking at 200% radius

Add lvl 20 Massivity with +26% aura effect nodes (20% more AoE)

=> 240% radius of AoE skills

My fireball has a radius of 19 instead of the base 8, I mean, that is really cool!!!
It still does the same damage though with the Massivity aura.