Feldon 
Buried in the update notes for the forthcoming Game Update 64 (and reiterated in the GU64 Webcast) was an interesting detail:
- Elemental, Noxious, and Arcane Resists would be folded into player-selected Character Traits, but Physical Mitigation would not.
These days, most players select Physical Mitigation as a Character Trait choice rather than Resists. Physical Mitigation usually works out to be a better bang for your buck. Further, a number of players have already reached the hard limit on resists and so don’t benefit from it at all.
So the idea that players would login after Game Update 64 and lose 1,656 mitigation was not the most appealing prospect and spawned a discussion on the EQ2 Forums.
Lyndro posted a vague promise of future adjustments of physical mitigation, which led players to believe — not unjustifiably — that content might be broken for weeks/months:
Physical mitigation will not be rolled into the new focus effects.
We’ll address issues in ways that are easier to maintain and balance on a class by class basis instead of something that is a blanket change for everyone.
After 6 pages of grief and anguish, Xelgad elaborated upon planned changes to address the concerns:
Hey everyone, just popping in to give you an update on changes coming to the Test Server shortly.
For all you magefolk, your Magi’s Shielding will grant a decent amount of physical mitigation to go along with its other bonuses.
All priest physical mitigation buffs – Armor of Seasons, Armor of Nature, Sacred Armor, Runic Armor, Holy Armor and Shroud of Armor now grant over 50% more mitigation than before.
Scout self buffs will also grant some physical mitigation, like Magi’s Shielding. The enhanced abilities are Savage Ruin, Bladeweaver, Daelis’ Dance of Blades, Death’s Door, Villainy and Hunter’s Instinct. Street Smarts has had the amount of mitigation granted increased.
All fighter defensive stances – Armored, Unflinching Will, Crouching Tiger, Bodyguard, Knight’s Stance and Lucan’s Pact all grant 5% Physical Damage Reduction.
We look forward to your feedback while you test these changes!
Commentary
It is unclear why mitigation is being removed as a character choice and peppered among player buffs and AA lines. Players have crunched the numbers on these planned changes and the results point to an across-the-board nerf for Mages, Scouts, and most especially Priests. Even by specializing AA lines that squeeze every drop of mitigation available, most Priests will lose 600-900 mitigation after this update. Maybe further changes are forthcoming?
First off priest mit buffs will not stack second mages/scouts are getting personal mit buffs that in conjunction with priest mit buffs bring them close if not on par with the character development physical mit they are losing and finally after pointing this out on the general physical mit thread in test feedback as well as the new specific priest one if everything goes in as planned I will lose 1036 mitigation from my temp going from bout 65% to 53-54% mitigation sony can friggin blow me.
Players: This game is too easy. I pull whole rooms of mobs at once and aoe them. I solo heroics my own level without going below 90%.
Devs: We are nerfing mitigation to increase challenge.
Players: Oh that will make this game too challenging!
:/
Level 1-80 content is ridiculously easy.
Where these changes will hurt is level 90-92 HM raid content.
I’m one of the few this won’t hurt–nay, may even benefit. Let me explain.
I have a raiding defiler that generally sits in the MT group. For various reasons, I’d never specced into all physical mitigation, and hadn’t bothered to change it yet as I’d been mostly managing to remain in the vertical position in fights. Granted this has been EM raiding, but so far this has hardly been a crippling disadvantage.
Which means the ‘compensation’ will actually improve my net physical mitigation.
I learned to deal without having followed the crowd wisdom on this. Raiders will adapt, though it will be rough as folks learn how. I’m still keeping an eye on this, mostly because I’m worried about the tanks, but I’m not in full panic and outrage mode on this one.
“Level 1-80 content is ridiculously easy. Where these changes will hurt is level 90-92 HM raid content.”
For the longest time I’ve been saying that SOE needs to work on consistency. If this doesn’t prove it, nothing will.
If only the 90-92 hardmode content will be too hard because of the lost mitigation change then perhaps they should just retune that a little.
Although since the level 90 content has already been made much easier due to the addition of 2 extra levels and better equipment then its really just the hardmode 92 raids left.
I guess I’m not that concerned about content being made harder, since lowering the stats makes more of the currently trivialised content enjoyable, the end level content can always be nerfed a little easily.
I agree Feldon. However, I would like to see them put more effort into new content for the 60-90 levels. At the moment you have one path, Kingdom of Sky, Kylong Plains, Fens, Kunzar Jungle, Jarsath Wastes, The Moors (in here somewhere), Sundered Frontier, and Stonebrunt Mountains. Make a few new zones…..please.
Variety is the spice of life 🙂
Electri
“Level 1-80 content is ridiculously easy.”
Your “ridiculously easy” is my “balanced and enjoyable” is his “too hard for me”.
@electri – If you’re talking strictly overland solo zones, there’s also Loping Plains in that range. Quite a few solo instances too. Once you add in the options for chronomentoring and/or solo+merc, however, a huge amount of nominally heroic content opens up. I’m not convinced there’s a problem in choice of where to go between 60 and 86. That said, new places to see are always welcome.
Because of multiple gear revamps and the availability of mercenaries, all the 60-80 group zones are now solo/moloable. Before that, 52-70 was very much lacking in solo content. You had Loping Plains, Tenebrous Tangle, Barren Sky, and usually came up short before hitting 70.
Of course even after EoF came out, all the Kingdom of Sky (62-70) instances were very popular and you could always get groups, so having limited solo choices wasn’t that big a deal.
SOE has done little to keep grouping alive in EQ2 below level cap. Chronomentoring was supposed to encourage groups but it just reinforced soloing. I have been preaching for some time that Heritage Quests should have their XP multiplied by TEN, and group XP penalties should be reduced or removed.