This is a thread I posted a few month ago on the Wizard Forum. It is an analysis of the issues that the Firebird set has and includes some suggestions of how to fix it from both me and the rest of the community. So if the devs are interested, they might consider taking a loo at it.
Since I think this issue is relevant here as well, I link to the thread below, but also copy and paste it here.
Thank you!
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I thought we could have some fun in this thread and brainstorm some ideas on how to fix/change the Wizard’s Firebird set, because if there is one set in the game that is the most in need of a redesign, probably most of us would agree that it is the Firebird set , because of the annoying playstyle that its mechanics results in.
I have some ideas that I will share below, but I would like to see your ideas as well, because you might come up with something better.
The problem with the mechanics of the Firebird set are as following:
- you need to have 3 different fire skills on your hotbar (or two skills and another source of fire damage) and use all of them against every single enemy in order to ignite them (which will trigger offensive and defensive buffs), however, you primarily only focus on one fire skill while the others are just there to trigger the ignite effect.
- in order to keep up the damage and defensive buffs of this set, you constantly need to drag an ignited elite around with you, without wanting to deal damage to that elite (because you would loose the buff if you kill it), since you will not always have enough normal enemies around you to fully benefit from the buffs.
To fix these issues, the ignite mechanic either has to go or be changed completely because it is at the core of the problem of this set. Eventually enemies still can be ignited and take damage over time, but this effect shouldn’t require 3 sources of fire damage to proc it and you shouldn’t get a damage and defensive buff from it (especially not one that depends on how many nearby enemies you have ignited).
Below is my proposal:
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To still remain true to the fantasy of a pyromaniac Fire Mage who sets everything ablaze, my idea would be to let the 4 piece set bonus give you a Fire Aura that increases in size/radius and damage for xx seconds everytime you use a fire skill, stacking up to x times and also giving you a bonus to reduced damage taken based on the stacks of the aura.
The 6 piece set bonus could simply increase the damage of your fire spells by xxx% for each stack of the fire aura you have from the 4 piece bonus. This would only effect the damage of your fire skills, not the aura itself.
The 2 piece set bonus is fine for what it is and it doesn’t cause any issues, so it is not in deed of a redesign. If anything could be done to it, the ignite mechanic can be kept and put on the 2 piece bonus so that every enemy that was hit by one of your fire skills take xxxx% damage per second for x seconds (the Helltooth set also has a similar effect on the 2 piece set) but don’t make the Wizards damage and defense depending on the ignite effect or how many enemies are ignited! . So this 2 piece bonus would just be a nice bonus on top of the rest.
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This would definitely lead to a much more satisfying playstyle, because it would be much easier to keep up the buff and not having to constantly drag an ignited elite with you and you also wouldn’t be required to use 3 different fire skills to ignite every single enemy.
The playstyle would be that everytime you use a fire skill, your fire aura increased in size/radius and damage up to a maximum, which deals damage to enemies within an xx yards radius (a nice source of passive damage, sicnce it also would deal damage if you just run around) and for each stack of te aura, you would take less damage and your fire spells would deal more damage. You had to use your fire spells in order to keep the buff up instead of having to drag ignited enemies around with you.
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Here is how it could look like on the set:
~Imgur: The magic of the Internet
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Do you have other ideas?