Balance Update: official thread (stage 1)

[Raideniza]

Originally Posted by chilko

yes, this is what we are saying to do (not as low as 30%)

don't make it % chance please, just alter the duration on levels, make it max 5s knock on lvl5 and it will be balanced. just leave the %'s out, so far almost nothing in this game that has to do with % chances works properly.

[Kyrottimus]

I know it's probably not very constructive, but it is cathartic, so I'm going to play devil's advocate and list all the changes I'd make if I were balance-guru for a day:

All resist and evade rates would be cut in half to cut their frequency in half.

All mob base exp rates are increased +15% across the board. More players I know have quit playing simply because the grind is too long and tedious, even with boosters.

Arrow Costs would be reduced to 50% of their current levels.

Repair Costs would be reduced to 50% of their current levels.

Low Profile would be removed completely and replaced with something that isn't a bullsh*t get-out-of-dying-free card.

Confuse would have all duration cut in half.

All marksman attack spells would receive 10% less mana cost.

Recharged Arrows would have mana-cost reduced by 25% per level.

Ambush knock duration would be reduced 2 seconds per level. It has range, it's knockdown should be less than a melee knock since melee have to cover ground while taking fire/damage before reaching target. Also, the cooldown would have 10 more seconds added to it.

Will Domain's knock duration would be reduced 1 second per level. It has (less) range than ambush and costs more mana but it still has range.

Son of the Wind would give a "cannot attack" debuff.

Pets tree would be completely reconfigured. Ideally, I'd just get rid of pets altogether and replace it with Traps or Cunning trees. But I doubt such a wish is a realistic action NGD would undertake. So, Pets would no longer be able to attack while the hunter is moving nor move faster than their master. Pet attack range would be severely reduced and they would no longer be able to resist any spells or evade any attacks. Having a pet alive and active would reduce the hunter's mana regen rate by half (because you're controlling a beast, it should take "energy" to keep it going). Which reminds me...

Bestial Wrath's mana cost would be increased by 10%.

Knight Auras would be all 360 degrees again (Which I think Chilko mentioned in another thread they will be \o/)

The Shields Tree for knights would have more useful stuff in it. Would give knights a reason to actually skill into it more heavily again to play the role of a defensive knight. Better auras, easier-to-cast Shield Bash. Which reminds me...

Shield Bash would be piggy-backable. Which reminds me...

All single-target warrior attacks (not areas) would be piggy-backable.

Beetle Swarm would have range reduced to 15m (it's a friggen defensive spell, should be used more as such).

Time Master would have duration reduced 2 seconds per level.

Sultar's Terror would have duration reduced by 2 seconds per level. (But splash range, damage and stackability would remain)

All ranged summons would lose 5m of attack range.

Conjurers would receive lower CD times for their healing spells.

Conjurers would receive +100% more EXP credit for support conjuring grinders.

Protection Dome would be made as functional as the old pre 1.0 protection dome.

All barb-specific self-buffs (tfb, berserk, frenzy, etc.) would have mana-costs reduced by 20% each across the board.

Onslaught would have duration raised to 15 seconds and mana-cost reduced by 50mp per level (so 350mp at level 5).

Warriors would receive a base +10% chance to resist all knockdowns.

Warriors would receive a base +10% to their armor rating.

Warriors would receive a base +10% to their hit points.

Mages would receive a base +10% to their mana pool.

Archers would receive a base +5% to their mana pool and a base +5% to their hit points.

Martial Reflexes' +100% to Crit-chance would be replaced with +30 conc bonus. Durations and mana costs would remain the same.

Athletic in the Slashing tree for warriors would be renamed "Dedication" and the +Dex passive would be exchanged with +conc and a slight +str (at level 5 would be +10 conc and +5 str).

Disable Limb would add a slight one-time fixed slashing damage of 20/40/60/80/100 depending on level.

Fatal Strike's mana cost would be reduced by half per level.

Ripost would be .5 second casting time instead of 1 second.

Impale would have attack damage % reduced to 80% but would have higher DoT tickrate. Instead of 5-10 per tick it would be 40-70 raw damage (like Break Apart). Durations and mana costs would remain the same.

Lightning Strike would confer a short Dizzy effect to the area attack damage and +20/40/60/80/100 piercing damage on top of 100% attack damage.

Spiritual Blow's damage would be increased to 60%/70%/80%/90%/100% per level (which would in effect leave level 5 to be exactly the same as it is now).

Rend, Destabilize, Fulminating and Rage of the Earth would all be tweaked to be more tactically usable for the barb. Would include things such as "cannot attack" and "cannot cast non-damaging powers" and +elemental damage to attack and a higher % chance to knock (RotE) for all 4.

Casting things like Spring or Mobility while autorunning would not stop your character from auto-running.

All character stats and values would be shown in character window. This includes things like Spell Focus, Critical-Hit Chance, Knock Resist Chance (from const and passives/active spells), etc. so players can have more tangible means of seeing the results of them adjusting their character's gear and build.

Agg Market would be moved closer to Agg Save, and Samal Market would be moved closer to Samal Save, on par with Herb Market being so close to Herb save as it is.

Ignis quests would get all of their current EXP received doubled (or add more ignis quests so they are on par with Alsius/Syrtis in regards to total EXP possible).

Koronton's Ring would be fixed so it actually works.

Aysor's Amulet would be changed to +100hp and +20 ice dmg. (almost like a mini Alasthor amulet).

Mobs that have the words "HUGE" or "GIANT" in their names cannot evade anything (because they're too friggen big to evade anything)

Mobs that have the words "Young" or "Small" or "Tiny" in their names (or just small mobs in general) cannot resist anything (Because they're so small they shouldn't be able to resist things).

When dismounting off of a horse the "Cannot attack/Cannot Buff" cooldown would be reduced from 8 seconds to 6 seconds.

The casting timer to mount a horse will be increased from 3 seconds to 4 seconds.

Thorkul's Slaying Jaw would be fixed and altered to have the following damage and bonuses:

Thorkul's Slaying Jaw of Fine Steel (Master)
Requires Barbarian Level 50
Class: Sword
Damage: Slashing: 254-301 (+33)
Piercing: 25

Attack Speed: Medium

Bonuses:
+6 Intelligence
+16 Hit Chance
(Yes, that's right, +6 to Intelligence as a bonus for a barb)


...I'd put more down but this is long enough as it is. I realize most if not all will probably take issue with this post. But I think one player with one outlook could (hopefully) trigger more of YOU players to actively write down a long list of changes YOU would like to see made based upon your playing experiences.

Obviously it's not going to happen as we put it down, but *maybe* NGD will read them all and perhaps it will help give them a broader sense of the player-base's idea of balance?

FWIW.

[Malevolence]

Awesome ideas. I especially like the ons idea. Any thoughts on UM or did I miss that?

[Recoil]

Since NGD is currently attempting to fix warrior playability (among other things), please take a look at this thread in Balance subforum http://regnumonline.com.ar/forum/showthread.php?t=63740

[Sekken]

Hehe, I really like your ideas here, Kyro... even though I don't think NGD will lift a finger in your favor... thing I like the most was the Aysor Ammy change... only thing its good at doing right now is protecting us from our own epic mobs... not so much against realm enemies.



Back to NGDs ideas... I like most of them - not sure how they'll turn out (but who really does?) - only thing I would do would be to reduce CDs and mana cost on heals... Support Conjus DO like to be useful in war. Standing around watching allies die as you keep an eye on your spells' CD isn't too fun.

Anyway... that's all I had to say. :P

[Topogigio_BR]

Originally Posted by _Enio_

wtf? lemme count, i use at least 8 active and 4 passive lvl1 spells regularly. (Edit: on my marksman)

I use total of 27 spells in my mark, and i am not even counting with passives lvl1.

I think marks has to deal with little mana thats why we use so many lvl1 spells.

[Topogigio_BR]

Originally Posted by Kyrottimus

I know it's probably not very constructive, but it is cathartic, so I'm going to play devil's advocate and list all the changes I'd make if I were balance-guru for a day:

All resist and evade rates would be cut in half to cut their frequency in half.

All mob base exp rates are increased +15% across the board. More players I know have quit playing simply because the grind is too long and tedious, even with boosters.

Arrow Costs would be reduced to 50% of their current levels.

Repair Costs would be reduced to 50% of their current levels.

Low Profile would be removed completely and replaced with something that isn't a bullsh*t get-out-of-dying-free card.

Confuse would have all duration cut in half.

All marksman attack spells would receive 10% less mana cost.

Recharged Arrows would have mana-cost reduced by 25% per level.

Ambush knock duration would be reduced 2 seconds per level. It has range, it's knockdown should be less than a melee knock since melee have to cover ground while taking fire/damage before reaching target. Also, the cooldown would have 10 more seconds added to it.

Will Domain's knock duration would be reduced 1 second per level. It has (less) range than ambush and costs more mana but it still has range.

Son of the Wind would give a "cannot attack" debuff.

Pets tree would be completely reconfigured. Ideally, I'd just get rid of pets altogether and replace it with Traps or Cunning trees. But I doubt such a wish is a realistic action NGD would undertake. So, Pets would no longer be able to attack while the hunter is moving nor move faster than their master. Pet attack range would be severely reduced and they would no longer be able to resist any spells or evade any attacks. Having a pet alive and active would reduce the hunter's mana regen rate by half (because you're controlling a beast, it should take "energy" to keep it going). Which reminds me...

Bestial Wrath's mana cost would be increased by 10%.

Knight Auras would be all 360 degrees again (Which I think Chilko mentioned in another thread they will be \o/)

The Shields Tree for knights would have more useful stuff in it. Would give knights a reason to actually skill into it more heavily again to play the role of a defensive knight. Better auras, easier-to-cast Shield Bash. Which reminds me...

Shield Bash would be piggy-backable. Which reminds me...

All single-target warrior attacks (not areas) would be piggy-backable.

Beetle Swarm would have range reduced to 15m (it's a friggen defensive spell, should be used more as such).

Time Master would have duration reduced 2 seconds per level.

Sultar's Terror would have duration reduced by 2 seconds per level. (But splash range, damage and stackability would remain)

All ranged summons would lose 5m of attack range.

Conjurers would receive lower CD times for their healing spells.

Conjurers would receive +100% more EXP credit for support conjuring grinders.

Protection Dome would be made as functional as the old pre 1.0 protection dome.

All barb-specific self-buffs (tfb, berserk, frenzy, etc.) would have mana-costs reduced by 20% each across the board.

Onslaught would have duration raised to 15 seconds and mana-cost reduced by 50mp per level (so 350mp at level 5).

Warriors would receive a base +10% chance to resist all knockdowns.

Warriors would receive a base +10% to their armor rating.

Warriors would receive a base +10% to their hit points.

Mages would receive a base +10% to their mana pool.

Archers would receive a base +5% to their mana pool and a base +5% to their hit points.

Martial Reflexes' +100% to Crit-chance would be replaced with +30 conc bonus. Durations and mana costs would remain the same.

Athletic in the Slashing tree for warriors would be renamed "Dedication" and the +Dex passive would be exchanged with +conc and a slight +str (at level 5 would be +10 conc and +5 str).

Disable Limb would add a slight one-time fixed slashing damage of 20/40/60/80/100 depending on level.

Fatal Strike's mana cost would be reduced by half per level.

Ripost would be .5 second casting time instead of 1 second.

Impale would have attack damage % reduced to 80% but would have higher DoT tickrate. Instead of 5-10 per tick it would be 40-70 raw damage (like Break Apart). Durations and mana costs would remain the same.

Lightning Strike would confer a short Dizzy effect to the area attack damage and +20/40/60/80/100 piercing damage on top of 100% attack damage.

Spiritual Blow's damage would be increased to 60%/70%/80%/90%/100% per level (which would in effect leave level 5 to be exactly the same as it is now).

Rend, Destabilize, Fulminating and Rage of the Earth would all be tweaked to be more tactically usable for the barb. Would include things such as "cannot attack" and "cannot cast non-damaging powers" and +elemental damage to attack and a higher % chance to knock (RotE) for all 4.

Casting things like Spring or Mobility while autorunning would not stop your character from auto-running.

All character stats and values would be shown in character window. This includes things like Spell Focus, Critical-Hit Chance, Knock Resist Chance (from const and passives/active spells), etc. so players can have more tangible means of seeing the results of them adjusting their character's gear and build.

Agg Market would be moved closer to Agg Save, and Samal Market would be moved closer to Samal Save, on par with Herb Market being so close to Herb save as it is.

Ignis quests would get all of their current EXP received doubled (or add more ignis quests so they are on par with Alsius/Syrtis in regards to total EXP possible).

Koronton's Ring would be fixed so it actually works.

Aysor's Amulet would be changed to +100hp and +20 ice dmg. (almost like a mini Alasthor amulet).

Mobs that have the words "HUGE" or "GIANT" in their names cannot evade anything (because they're too friggen big to evade anything)

Mobs that have the words "Young" or "Small" or "Tiny" in their names (or just small mobs in general) cannot resist anything (Because they're so small they shouldn't be able to resist things).

When dismounting off of a horse the "Cannot attack/Cannot Buff" cooldown would be reduced from 8 seconds to 6 seconds.

The casting timer to mount a horse will be increased from 3 seconds to 4 seconds.

Thorkul's Slaying Jaw would be fixed and altered to have the following damage and bonuses:

Thorkul's Slaying Jaw of Fine Steel (Master)
Requires Barbarian Level 50
Class: Sword
Damage: Slashing: 254-301 (+33)
Piercing: 25

Attack Speed: Medium

Bonuses:
+6 Intelligence
+16 Hit Chance
(Yes, that's right, +6 to Intelligence as a bonus for a barb)


...I'd put more down but this is long enough as it is. I realize most if not all will probably take issue with this post. But I think one player with one outlook could (hopefully) trigger more of YOU players to actively write down a long list of changes YOU would like to see made based upon your playing experiences.

Obviously it's not going to happen as we put it down, but *maybe* NGD will read them all and perhaps it will help give them a broader sense of the player-base's idea of balance?

FWIW.

So lets all do warriors and leave the other classes behind.
Problem i see in warriors are not the lack of some spells, but just numbers.
Put 6 warriors against 6 archers for example, bet who sides will won?
Problem is warriors are the most harder class to grind. Solve problem with warriors grinding solve problem with warriors at all. One of the problems with warriors grinding is that they need support conju to grind fluid, makes conju to have more xp when supporting then on warju setup and we will see lots of warriors solving this meele x ranged issue.
For me is a much better solution then giving warriors ability of killing 3-5 ranged if they can catch.

[_Enio_]

@chilko

I wish we would get less chancebased gameplay (with obvious reasons, the more luck wins fights the less impact 'skill' in sense of smart use of abilities has).

So if theres a chance for balance through counters i would prefer this 1000 times.

[Arafails]

Originally Posted by chilko

the other thing that we would like to do also is for every power to start in 0 so people would have to spend points for every spell and there are no cool freebies.

but we think that people will kill us for that too

I would happily give up my freebies for an additional, say, twenty power points at level fifty (A third of the total freebie points) — or even fifteen would probably do, but maybe not for mages. This would allow for a greater effectiveness in specialist builds, whilst still allowing the possibility of putting together an all-purpose platform.
The only problems I envisage would be for new players; Obviously those first 4 power points need to be assigned as is — or else what is the point of having spells at level one? — but then do how do these points get redistributed later? Are they always assigned to those first spells? From a gameplay point of view it would be best if one could move them away, but this might not make sense from a training history point of view....

[Inkster]

Some interesting Changes, in regards to the changes on spells, I can see quite a few mages having to rethink on their play style, which imo isn't such a bad thing