IMO +5 varnishes should stay if someone has enough of their free time to run around the server with some specific potions and target specific bosses to get the resources let them do it. They ll probably wont have time to do anything else or will play all day long. None of my characters had any +5 varsnishes whatsoever and I see no reason for their removal really.
Eh, for PvP purposes you get enough of them for weeks after some few hours. Less if you happen to be a rogue with shady tactics.
It's easy to not see the reason if you have none of them and do not rely on damage reduction buffs.
I see no problem with there being -one- item that can cut through the half-dozen protective wards mages can cast.
As far as i am aware there are no +5 vs [Alignment] weapons on the server and not everyone has the strength to carry around all the weapons required to do this even if they did.
A mage can kill other classes by picking from a plethora of spells at his disposal, (Mind spells vs fighters/Rogues. Fort spells vs Casters) the fact that people can have a chance to fight back without having to be friends with -another- high level caster balances the server well i think and means that mages have to think twice before throwing their levels around.
Just to crunch the numbers for you. A cleric/Mage can cap out at AC of 45-60. That is beyond most Fighter classes AB considering the magical weapons available on the server. Spells like Implosion, Missile Storm, Bigby's, EVT, Wail of the Banshee, Acid Sheath and Hold Monster Can win a fight for you before it even starts. I respect the right for Mages to be respected for their power, but that doesn't mean you should push the server down the route of the only way of defeating them being another mage.
No offense, but these arguments don't hold very well with anyone who has a solid clue of how PvP actually works. Non-polymorphed pure wizard likely has at most around 30 AC. Strong fighter or sneak attacking rogue hits over premonition and eats the whole reduction quickly. Those damage reductions are also vulnerable to spell breaches -
any level 2 wizard, bard, sorcerer, or around level 10 rogue can remove a lot of essential buffs from a wizard with a simple, relatively cheap and often found scroll (lesser spell breach). On top of that, generalist wizard has
least spells per day of any other 'pure' spell casting class, sucky AC and low HP.
If one goes without preparation against a buffed up wizard, it's his fault he dies. Dream catchers work against hold monster, for a sneaky rogue acid robes cut enough of the damage to kill the wizard with sneak attacks.
For pure wizards/sorcerers, damage reductions are pretty much the only protection there truly is. That, and shapechange, during which you can't cast, and which isn't exactly unbeatable.
Claiming that prior to +5 varnishes only way to defeat a buffed mage was by another mage is so horribly wrong. It's just false to no point. Granted that defeating a prepared mage requires some thinking, they are still very far from unbeatable. I'd rather like to see someone fight a multi-classed cleric. Then we're talking of an unfair fight - unless your mage friend is there to dispel.
Give a group of non casters a chance when they do not want go all the way OOC to find a caster or there is no high lvl caster on the server.
This is, again, off the point. The varnishes are not so common that most characters who have them would use them in a dungeon. Their primary function isn't dungeoning, but targeting a wizard or sorcerer for a quick take down. Therefore they do not serve the purpose of balancing PvM. Also, does +1 AB and Damage really make that much of a difference in a dungeon? (If we compare to +4 varnishes)
