Its rediculously easy to get higher Matk than a melee's Atk, its simple, you click the little arrow beside INT when you lvl up (you get more Matk per point in int than atk from str). So with that in mind, consider that the spell coefficients on the late game spells are between 17 times up to 50 times Matk and these spells are almost always AoE. The highest an RK gets is 15 times Atk, and thats a counter attack skill in which you take some of the damage! Also mystical amplification adds another 50% Matk to your spells so your base Matk is now 75% higher than a melee's base Atk. Im starting to question if you've actually even played a lock considering all this BASIC info you totally missed. Yes an RK can get 75k hp when they go 120 VIT, however these points don't magically appear on the character, they have to sacrafice key MELEE stats to get it and devote to boring old dragon breath (which is considerably less damage than a lock can put out given the same cost in gear). Without Dex they can't hit, without Int they can't cast, without Agi they attack once every 3 or 4 years and without Str they get EVEN LESS Atk then before, no Luk is no crit, which further reduces damage.
So, in case that was too complicated to follow, Ill simplify, Mage classes get a higher base Matk than Melee classes get base Atk, and Mage classes also get higher damage multipliers on the already higher stat, and they hit everything around them instead of just one thing at a time
Anyway I wasn't talking about Dragon breath build being nerfed (which it is likely to be based on the kRO patch notes) I was talking about the RUNE build being nerfed, questioning why a RUNE knight would be discouraged from even wanting to use RUNES.
To keep the answer short: whatever damage the magic class does, a melee will do about the same damage or higher but without a cast bar, or with short uninterruptible cast bars.
There are several advantages for melee classes, from higher damage, to better gear usually available, to better HP mods, certain effects like hunterfly and ridy hat only affecting melee attacks, etc.
Adding high vit to a rune knight isn't a sacrifice, is a really nice investment for higher HP, better potting, higher damage of DB...
Edited by Kadnya, 03 October 2011 - 07:59 AM.