Turbine Games Q&A/Balance/Q-08

Original Link (now dead) - http://www.turbinegames.com/qa/view_questions.html?id=1032

Armor vs. War Magic

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Asked:	2000.11.02
Name:	Carcharodon of FF
Question Title:	Armor vs. War Magic
Category:	Balance
Question:	Why isn't armor effective against war spells? I have even heard turbine guys say they are looking into ways to lower the amount of damage of war spells rather than just a hit or no hit with magic defense. I would think that having armor reduce the damage by a war spell would effectively help everyone out in the game. The only group that I could see that would have a problem with this would be the PK mages, but even so, they are so overpowered compared to the rest of the groups in PK, that I still think it would be fair. Anyways, if this is the rationale you are going to go with, I say get rid of the hollow weapons in favor of this change, then I don't think any group could complain. I have discussed this point with many people and I have not gotten a strong argument against having armor protect against war spells, but if you have one, I would love to hear it. Otherwise, make the change! :) Thank you for your time. Carcharodon of FF

Answered:	2000.11.02
Name:	Dell
Answer:	By making war magic affected by basic armor, we would unbalance the game works currently. For instance, if armor worked against spells, monsters would be practically unstoppable, with the exception of drain/harm, making life magic even more necessary than it already is. That alone is enough reason to be leary of this idea. Secondly, the balance of mages in pk has been addressed fairly well in hollow weapons. It is possible that you will see specific sets of armor that will lessen damage dealt by war magic in the future, however a blanket change like making all armor affect war magic is not likely.