Despite the Haku’s Blessing nerf, from Nexon’s wording it seemed like they still wanted to keep Kanna as a more competitive class, as far as damage goes. They showed that they aimed to increase Kanna’s stats, but as it looks right now, Kanna have only gotten weaker.
That’s why I’ve made this post which contains some example scenarios, and some numbers comparing old and new Kanna.
*The calculations for new Kanna are on premises of what CM Arwoo has mentioned about how haku should be in Tespia: it [Haku] scaled only off the fan’s base damage and was no longer multiplicative. I realize that the solid numbers are not given to us yet.
First, gathering some base values:
Total Magic Attack on a Kanna: with Absolab 3-set, CRA 3-set, Superior 3-set and clean Tyrants (as far as attack goes) is around 700~800, depending on event rings, pocket etc. Take into account 1 Magic Attack per 700 HP from Elemental Blessing, and a 70000HP Kanna gets an additional 100 Magic Attack (according to the range calculator unaffected by %), bringing the total to about 800 to 900, so as example we’ll take 750 scaling + 100 flat magic attack as our ‘late-game but not quite end-game’ Kanna build.
For the range calculation we’ll be using Jeffim’s calculator here:
https://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~ted/maplestory/dmgcalculator/
To show the difference between the current Kanna, and how Tespia seems to look, we’ll take the following situation:
Gear: Kanna with Absolab fan on Haku, and 4~5 lines of Magic Attack (50%) on gear, 200% damage, and 20k stat. Without any buffs, this bring us up to 4646548~5162832
Scenario 1: Current Kanna, where 52% (with Decent Combat Orders) of the fan’s Magic Attack counts as a Magic Attack % buff. On a fully upgraded Absolab fan, this makes for a 0.52*333=173.16, rounded down to a 173% Magic Attack buff. This brings us up to 9591598~10657332. This more than doubles the Kanna’s solo damage.
Scenario 2: Tespia Kanna. Gaining 30% Final Damage, plus 5% Final Damage per party member. You can have a party with yourself perfectly fine, so that would give Kanna a base Final Damage of 1.30*1.05=1.365 -> 37%. The new Haku’s Blessing would give 52% of 333 Magic Attack -> 173 Magic Attack as a buff. This brings us up to 7646809~8496455.
The Kanna would lose around 2m range, or 20% of their damage output. Even with a full party of 6, and 1.30*1.30=1.69 -> 69% Final Damage, Kanna would barely scrape their old range with 9432925~10481028. However, this is hardly realistic, and only really applicable the likes of Lucid parties… for which you’d buff up with all kinds of magic attack potions which are now far less effective.
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Conclusion:
So, it’s a nerf. And yes, Haku’s Blessing deserved a nerf, but not for the self-buff. Kanna’s damage is sub-par even with the overpowered buff.
The thing is, even though nerfs can happen, it does not sound like Nexon was intending to nerf Kanna’s solo potential at the very least. To the contrary, the following was stated: “Kanna’s stats will be increased to make her more competitive and balanced with other Magician jobs.” Kanna’s damage used to be at the bottom of the barrel, and as they’re nerfing the party buff, Nexon seems to want to buff Kanna to make up for the nerfs, and make it a more viable class. The end result does not show it at all though.
A 20% decrease is huge, and Crit Damage or teeny tiny % increases on skills will in no way bridge that gap. And bridging the gap would not even make Kanna more competitive yet, we would just be back at were we started, but then with a way less significant party buff.
Suggestions? More final damage? More significant % increase on vanquishers? I haven’t been able to decide what would be the best way to deal with this, but I figured this would be a good place to make the problem more visible and start a bit of a discussion.
For information: the Magic Attack sources:
Totems (45) + Rings (68) + Pocket (10) + Pendants (10) + Absolab Fan (333) + Tyrant Belt (34) + CRA (6) + Tyrant Boots (30) + Sup Earring (10) + Abso Shoulder (10) + Abso Gloves (11) + Emblem (2) + Badge (10) + Medal (5) + Tyrant Cape (30) + Heart (1) + Superior set (35) + Absolab set (45) + CRA set (50) + Elemental blessing at 70k HP (100) + Spirit Path (30) + Hayato Link (5) = 880 Magic Attack
If you should have any suggestions or any mistakes I should fix, please feel free to comment and feedback. Thank you.
Comments
Tbh, since the root of the problem is that the party effect, not solo effect, of haku's blessing is overpowered for other mages, a simple solution is to just make haku's blessing a self-buff and retain the final damage boost for party members affected by haku's buffs (which includes other buffs such as breathe of the unseen btw, not just haku's blessing). It's a win-win really - Kanna herself gets the boost she needs and all classes, including physical classes, get a damage boost with her in the party. Doing any other things such as increasing her final damage, more % on her skills etc. to make up for the haku's blessing solo-effect nerf would just be more trouble than what it's worth when the desired end effect is for kanna's damage to be increased.
Currentlly in Tespia the FD buff from Haku Perfected is Kanna only.
I don’t have a Kanna on Tespia for it so I can’t properly test it. But the difference is nothing too big. A 7% increase from 235% to 242 makes for a ((242-235)/235)*100=~3% increase, and Vanquisher’s should make up around 63% of your total damage in a full 3 minute rotation. This results in around 2% final damage increase, if I’m not mistaken. It’s a nice small buff, but it’s hard to place with the Haku change.
On mastery, you’re right, I hadn’t thought about the Mastery yet and I’m not quite sure how to calculate it. I know that it’d increase the minimum range, closer to the maximum range value. Magic Mastery is calculated by 25%+Mastery of the class with a weapon, so from 90, to 95%, there is a nice increase. I’m not 100% sure, but I assume this means 8500000~9500000 would now be 9000000~9500000. It’s the kind of increase that would raise Kanna a little, if it wasn’t for the Haku Buff that’s obliterated.
If Soul Shear isn’t Final Damage by the way, that would bring the theoretical Kanna’s range from 9591598~10657332 OLD range, to 5773840~6415378, in reboot anyway. So Kanna would go from near bottom to dead last. I do assume that is a bug though? I don’t know.
I like this solution. It would do a couple of things:
-Kanna keeps the Haku’s Blessing around which she was balanced. There is no need to really crunch the numbers this way, as the party effect of 5%FD per party member gets Kannas up to a better position, without making major changes in their solo potential.
-Haku’s Fan still plays a significant role in the gear of Kanna, compared to the situation where it would only give a flat Magic Attack boost, minimizing the difference between late-game fans.
-Make Haku’s buff fair for both Physical Attack and Magic Attack users, which has been one of the main complaints over the years on Haku.
It’s the least trouble for the balancing team, as there would be no need to make major balance changes, and would make Kanna a more balanced class overall.
Making the Haku’s Blessing a self-buff, would allow the balancing team to approach Kanna in a more subtle way. They aim to make Kanna more competitive as a class, seemingly with small increases on %, and the Mastery change. This won’t have much effect if you overhaul the entire pillar of the class that is Haku’s Blessing, as any subtle changes pale in comparison.