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Ashari -> RE: Merc nerf, how lovely. (1/8/2012 5:13:21)
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Merged together the "The Thoughts of the Changes" and "Merc nerf, how lovely." threads. Let's keep this topic focused on the changes that were made last week. Other balances issues and ideas still belong in the Balance Discussion thread. Thanks!
I think the issue of class balance vs. skill balance needs to be brought up in response to your post Goldslayer.
True, Mercenaries are slightly underperforming as a class. If you look at skills individually though, Hybrid Armor was clearly outperforming nearly every other skill. This was a minor change to address both this and the uneven distribution of the bonus over the skill levels. A skill point in Hybrid Armor at level 2 was +2 Defense, while a skill point at any other level was +1 Defense.
On top of fixing up the problems with Tactical Mercenaries, part of the goal for last week's balance changes were to begin revamping skills that just weren't as useful as they should be. That's why Bunker Buster, Plasma Cannon, Plasma Bolt and Fireball have new scaling (if anyone is wondering, I'll post the new numbers below). The nerf to Hybrid Armor wasn't intended as a nerf to Mercs. It's a step to bringing skills closer to being on the same level. The change to Bunker Buster (which is quite a buff from its past numbers) more than offsets one lost defense point.
Mercs are still stuck with two of the most underperforming skills-- Intimidate and Field Commander --but those will get addressed soon enough. With those changes, the class will definitely be back on its feet.
New numbers
A quick rundown of how this works. The base is the base damage of the skill at level 1 (with a level 20 character). The level factor is how many levels it takes to improve the skill by 1 damage. Below level 20, you subtract the level factor, instead of adding it. The stat factor is the amount of stat points it takes to improve the skill by 1 damage (ie: a stat factor of 3 on Plasma Bolt, means Plasma Bolt receives one extra damage point for every 3 Technology). The step is the improvement from investing 1 skill point in the skill.
Here's a simplified plug-and-chug formula (it doesn't account for diminishing returns or base/random damage on Bunker and Plasma, but this should give you a good estimate):
Final Damage = Base + (Step * Skill Level) + (20 - Character Level) / Level Factor + (Stat / Stat Factor)
-- Factors --
Base Lvl Stat Step
Plasma Bolt 23 3 3 2
Plasma Bolt (old) 17 3.5 4 3
Fireball 23 3 3 2
Fireball (old) 17 3.5 4 3
Bunker Buster 25 4 4 2
Bunker Buster (old) 19 5 5 3
Plasma Cannon 25 4 4 2
Plasma Cannon (old) 19 5 5 3
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