Quick review of the skill changes 5.0 brought.
Just a quick update on what the skill changes mean for the meta. Probably should have written this earlier but eh, caprice. Anyway:
XP skills (Fast Learner/Super Genius) now grant a small bonus to all item stats. When you are the smarterest, you use items betterer.
Fast Learner (Savant):
+10% bonus stats from all equipment and +50% XP.
Super Genius (Big Smart):
+20% bonus stats from all equipment and +100% XP.
XP skills now have a secondary purpose outside of just granting increased xp – they also provide a small stat boost to your equipment. Whilst this change is greatly appreciated, you should still look to reroll these skills off when you can.
Slightly increased the power of the Mage Armor, Wall of Force and Mana Shield skills.
Mage Armor (Greater Magic Shell)
Was: +50% Attack and +20% Defense
Now: +50% Attack and +30% Defense
Wall of Force (Mage Fortress)
Was: +70% Attack and +30% Defense
Now: +80% Attack and +40% Defense
Mana Shield (Soul Shield)
Was: +80% Attack and +35% Defense
+80% Attack and +40% Defense
Having been sunk into the depths of Hell during the 4.3 herocaplypse, these skills have been raised to life once more. Not as potent as they were pre-pocalypse (and let’s be honest, they were pretty overpowered before) but they are back in a usable state.
They now provide a viable alternative to the generic line of Shining Blade/Flame Brand/Perfect Form, trading some attack for defense. Given blue-types generally don’t struggle with the former but do on the latter this is a good trade in most cases. Should you get any of these skills do not consider them an automatic reroll now 🙂 (and yes, Wall of Force/Mana Shield do have an identical effect, all down to epic skills not having 3 tiers at this point in time.)