After watching the arena fights I just have to ask this...

Why can orcs go from near or mostly dead to full health from drinking elf blood? ( I may be exaggerating on the swing from near dead to full life ) It seems a bit broken...

Referencing the Narzas vs Zodsled fight and my general experiences with orcs.

I can't really think of another skill or use case like this where there is no skill lag or delay on the action for it.

There should either be lag, delay on the healing (Ie they sleep and heal faster) or a limit to the amount the belly can hold.

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I have to assume that you say this from a perspective of someone who doesn't generally play orcs. Just like any other prep, there are efforts required to obtain them, and effort needed to use it.

Admittedly, orcs don't have the biggest sacrifice in doing so, but think of elf-skins like the orc's sleek black wand.

Also don't forget, orcs have some of the biggest HP pools in the game, and they burn through all of it (and more). Just think, the day an orc learns to tank w/ something other than his face THEN you're gonna have to worry!

Yeah I've never played one and maybe I should try one so all the "good" aligned chars can get an easy kill off my incompetent ass...

"Admittedly, orcs don't have the biggest sacrifice in doing so, but think of elf-skins like the orc's sleek black wand."

Valid point but I thought wands, staves and scrolls had a bit of lag after use. I can't remember, its been a while:P


Looking in from the outside I see this:

Orc is "almost dead" after fighting, opponent is half dead or very hurt.
Orc flees...
drink
drink
drink
drink
drink
drink
orc now is looking "Just scratched", opponent is still hosed.

Opponent gets 1-2 heals

Orc returns stomps opponent..

It should be more like this:

Orc is "almost dead" after fighting, opponent is half dead or very hurt.
Orc flees...
drink
(small lag)
drink
(small lag)
drink
(small lag)
drink
Opponent returns and reinitiates fight.
drink (no too busy fighting)



"Also don't forget, orcs have some of the biggest HP pools in the game, and they burn through all of it (and more). Just think, the day an orc learns to tank w/ something other than his face THEN you're gonna have to worry!"

They also have insane damage output and fight mitigation.

This is actually the problem, they take a while to burn down. Then they magically get back most of it without any form a hinderance. In some cases in less then a round of combat.

Not saying get rid of the mechanic I just think something is slightly amiss about it.

I still say as with many things in CF - try it yourself is probably one of the best ways to learn the downsides to a skill or ability that seems overpowered. Generally, enemies are going to use it in a best-case scenario for them, and avoid the downsides.

Some of the skill of the game is learning the ups and downs of things yourself, so I don't want to just straight spell out where it gets tough for it.

I will say some rather straightforward counters are either -

A) Like you mention, they run and drink. Keep them in the fight, and they can't heal.

B) They have to drink from a container. Can't drink if they can't see it.

C) People never think of this one, but if you know they're going to heal faster than you (a specific trait of orcs), then don't sit around nearby trying to beat them at the healing game. You're going to lose. Word, teleport, run, anything. Get yourself some distance and time, then heal. Sometimes you have to be willing to lose the battle to win the war.

**Ishuli snipping some comments about current characters**
so I don't really see this as a skill that is game-breakingly overpowered in the sense that taking a random average player and giving them this ability makes them unbeatable. By that count, bash still wins by far.

Personally, I'd say this is a great example of how orcs have a different feel than most other characters, and a way Scarabaeus did a great job putting them together.

Nt

>Yeah I've never played one

"Person with no experience in the matter offers his opinion"

Next posts by OP:

AP's need lag between sleep
Deathblow is OP
Necros get too many zombies
Dispel is OP
Hide is OP
Assassinate is OP

Actually I provided a bit of data based on the arena event where an orc player went from near dead to almost fully healed in less then 1 round. 500-800hp recovered is my guess?

Arena matches expose and show things that people don't always catch or get to see.

I could spew out some random gibberish though if you like.

Jormyrs points about countering it and other things are interesting, but there is usually a counter to the counter and a good player usually has that.

For some reason it reminded me of this old movie...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw3G80bplTg

counter busting counter buster buster...

The arena isn't a one to one comparison for a real pk scenario. It heavily favors burst damage and there's no way to draw out a fight like you otherwise would by fleeing and resting up.