Hatchling's Shell was Too Good?

[pajn1000]

With the latest update taking place after Halloween night, I believe v. 7.2.5, this change was made to the Hatchling’s Shell Overland Set:
"This set now grants you a damage shield for 6 seconds when you take damage with a 6 second cooldown, rather than a damage shield passively every 15 seconds, to fix numerous bugs and edge cases with the set."

Well, there goes the gorgeous graphics. That was half of the reason why I liked it so much. But why drop the duration by more than half? This was at best a decent SURVIVAL overland set that wasn't overpowered by any means. In PvE, it meant that you could push on past most weak NPCs but World and Dungeon Bosses could still stomp you down fairly easily if you didn't get creative. In PvP, I believe that the set is mostly considered a joke. All and all, it was barely fair (but quite pretty graphically speaking). Most other overland sets don't even give you that much.

Now this set has half of the duration? Those 15 seconds were crucial in a tough fight - and you still might die. What good is a 6 second damage shield? The 6 second cool down doesn't matter. You'll be whacked before the cool down was over.

So I guess this 'barely cool' set was downgraded to 'just average' - just like the others. Thanks Guys (He said sarcastically) .

If there is an upside to this move, please comment before I sell my pieces off as trash.

[Fabi Winterstar]

The upside of the changes is, you now get a damage shield every 6 seconds. So as soon as the shield would naturally expire, you can get another one. The catch is only that you now need to take damage in order to get the shield. But the benefit is, you can get more protection in total if you take damage all the time. How this works with shield stacking though is a different story.

[Echsrick]

i mean was the change needed? like i mean only like 5 people ever use that at max level armor so i wonder if time could have used on something else

[pajn1000]

Originally posted by Dr.Medic:

i mean was the change needed? like i mean only like 5 people ever use that at max level armor so i wonder if time could have used on something else

I agree. Fix the bugs but leave the time alone. Did someone complain about? This set was never seen as prime anyway.

[pajn1000]

Originally posted by Fabi Winterstar:

The upside of the changes is, you now get a damage shield every 6 seconds. So as soon as the shield would naturally expire, you can get another one. The catch is only that you now need to take damage in order to get the shield. But the benefit is, you can get more protection in total if you take damage all the time. How this works with shield stacking though is a different story.

Not if your surrounded. 6 seconds is nothing.

[Dr.Abscondus]

They made the sets much easier to get so to balance that they decreased their effectiveness. I think many if not all the sets have been 'adjusted'. I've been playing a long time and I've never gotten a complete set of Hatchling's Shell. Now I can get it in only a few hours of play since duplicates will never drop. I am guessing, but I think that's why they did it.

[PCkukac]

The duplicate thing is just for dungeons, not for map sets.

[pajn1000]

Originally posted by Dr.Abscondus:

They made the sets much easier to get so to balance that they decreased their effectiveness. I think many if not all the sets have been 'adjusted'. I've been playing a long time and I've never gotten a complete set of Hatchling's Shell. Now I can get it in only a few hours of play since duplicates will never drop. I am guessing, but I think that's why they did it.

Well, that leaves the question:
Is a 6 second damage shield with a 6 second cooldown worth it? Does anyone often play with that setup and do they like it?

[>//The_FALCON]

you're complaining that you get a shield every 6 seconds now instead of every 20 seconds?

[pajn1000]

Originally posted by >//The_FALCONTnY:

you're complaining that you get a shield every 6 seconds now instead of every 20 seconds?

Do you use it? Be honest.

[MobySlick]

I'm not the OP, but I do use Hatchling's Shell on 2 toons before AND after the update. My 3500+ hours of play ass likes it on tanky toons.

I at first thought it was broken or nerfed, but I believe it has been improved. The damage shield operates pretty much the same but can now refresh sooner, and isn't triggered until you get damage. Oh no? No. Oh YES! A, you do not need the shield before you get damaged (*frowning* riiight?), and B, Hatchling's Shell users can now dance, sleep, sit, et cetera, without being interrupted by the damage shield refresh every 15 seconds always. That's right, HS users were living horrible lives unable to emote properly...

[pajn1000]

Originally posted by MobySlick:

I'm not the OP, but I do use Hatchling's Shell on 2 toons before AND after the update. My 3500+ hours of play ass likes it on tanky toons.

I at first thought it was broken or nerfed, but I believe it has been improved. The damage shield operates pretty much the same but can now refresh sooner, and isn't triggered until you get damage. Oh no? No. Oh YES! A, you do not need the shield before you get damaged (*frowning* riiight?), and B, Hatchling's Shell users can now dance, sleep, sit, et cetera, without being interrupted by the damage shield refresh every 15 seconds always. That's right, HS users were living horrible lives unable to emote properly...

Nice endorsement and reasoning, my friend. I guess overall coverage before and after damage isn't that important.

[pajn1000]

Originally posted by pajn1000:

Originally posted by MobySlick:

I'm not the OP, but I do use Hatchling's Shell on 2 toons before AND after the update. My 3500+ hours of play ass likes it on tanky toons.

I at first thought it was broken or nerfed, but I believe it has been improved. The damage shield operates pretty much the same but can now refresh sooner, and isn't triggered until you get damage. Oh no? No. Oh YES! A, you do not need the shield before you get damaged (*frowning* riiight?), and B, Hatchling's Shell users can now dance, sleep, sit, et cetera, without being interrupted by the damage shield refresh every 15 seconds always. That's right, HS users were living horrible lives unable to emote properly...

Nice endorsement and reasoning, my friend. I guess overall coverage before and after damage isn't that important.

As an admission: Having protection before being damaged did spoil me a lot. It was a nice boon but I'll live without it.