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Spell-type skill elecomp and armor lean

 
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12/25/2021 13:41:20   
roobee
Member
 

Spell-type skills factor armor lean into their elecomp.
This makes no sense, since normal spells don't account for armor lean so spell-type skills shouldn't either.
You could say that FD armors with spell-type skills would be better than FO armors with spell-type skills. But that's only when casting spells. When switching to normal attacks FO armors would be better.
That's the balance reasoning for normal spellcasting in FO/FD armors too.
Armor lean should be removed from elecomp for spell-type skills

edit:
Also, it would make spell-type skills without elecomp consistent with spell-type skills with elecomp whose element is equal to the monster's highest resistance (assuming expected armor resistance/defenses and monster defenses)
Post #: 1
12/25/2021 15:07:50   
CH4OT1C!
Member

Spell-type skills factor in armour lean because you're forced to use the armour when casting it. This doesn't apply to unattached spell-type skills because you could use it with whatever armour lean you like. Attached spells also receive this compensation. Beyond this, there are two other reasons why your proposal shouldn't be implemented:

i). It would require reworking elecomp for all spell-based skills in the game in exchange for what would be a relatively minor change. Therefore, the ratio of benefits to costs seems low.
ii). Looking ahead to build identity, weapon-based skills are already preferred. They are cheaper due to their elecomp being fuelled into cost, as well as more versatile as they are affected by a greater variety of weapons and status effects e.g. imbues. This nerf would further widen the gulf.

In short, your proposal has a questionable justification, provides little benefit relative to its cost, and may end up hampering future efforts to expand build diversity.
AQ  Post #: 2
12/25/2021 15:53:30   
roobee
Member
 

quote:

Spell-type skills factor in armour lean because you're forced to use the armour when casting it. This doesn't apply to unattached spell-type skills because you could use it with whatever armour lean you like.

This doesn't seem relevant. I'm not sure how to explain why in a way that isn't just reiterating my previous points.

quote:

It would require reworking elecomp for all spell-based skills in the game in exchange for what would be a relatively minor change.

Currently *1.25 FO armors get a *1.25 bonus to elecomp while *.8 FD armors get a *1 bonus. I wouldn't call a .25 difference minor.

quote:

weapon-based skills are already preferred. They are cheaper due to their elecomp being fuelled into cost, as well as more versatile as they are affected by a greater variety of weapons and status effects e.g. imbues.

I don't see why cheaper is preferred over damage bonus. Imbues don't seem that useful. And there are many items that boost spells. And I think weapon-based skills use SP usually? Making them not as useful for mages. But despite my specific objections I'll accept your word that weapon-skills are preferred and affected by more items since I haven't been active until recently.

edit:
Also i'm not sure how spellcaster leans factor into elecomp. But they might be counted twice (elecomp bonus + spell bonus)

< Message edited by roobee -- 12/25/2021 17:01:30 >
Post #: 3
12/25/2021 19:00:26   
Lv 1000
Member


quote:

That's the balance reasoning for normal spellcasting in FO/FD armors too.

The balance standards assume that you are using a Neutral armor. There is no reasoning beyond this.

quote:

Currently *1.25 FO armors get a *1.25 bonus to elecomp while *.8 FD armors get a *1 bonus. I wouldn't call a .25 difference minor.

This is actually a very significant difference, go fight a monster with a FO armor and then fight the same monster with a Neutral armor and then again with a FD armor.

quote:

This doesn't seem relevant. I'm not sure how to explain why in a way that isn't just reiterating my previous points.

  • Scenario 1: You're fighting an Ice element monster and want to use Pyromancer Bloodmage's skill. Now you're going to get EleComp regardless because of how build-in skills work. However, because Pyromancer Bloodmage has a FO lean this means that you're going to be taking more damage than what is assumed (compared to a Neutral Lean) and as such the skill's damage is compensated more because of this.
  • Scenario 2: You're fighting an Earth monster and you want to use Bard of War's (any Wind variant). Now you're going to get EleComp regardless because of how build-in skills work. However, because Bard of War (any Wind variant) has a FD lean (assuming no toggles active) this means that you're going to be taking less damage than what is assumed (compared to a Neutral Lean) and as such the skill's damage is compensated less because of this.


    quote:

    I don't see why cheaper is preferred over damage bonus. Imbues don't seem that useful. And there are many items that boost spells. And I think weapon-based skills use SP usually? Making them not as useful for mages. But despite my specific objections I'll accept your word that weapon-skills are preferred and affected by more items since I haven't been active until recently.

    Not really much to say here other than resource efficiency is king. You can use Blazing Bloodzerker for more turns that you can use Pyromancer Bloodmage's skill.

    quote:

    Also i'm not sure how spellcaster leans factor into elecomp. But they might be counted twice (elecomp bonus + spell bonus)

    Spellcaster Lean has nothing to do with elecomp. You can check the previous GBI thread on Spellcaster leans for a rough idea of how they work.
  • Post #: 4
    12/25/2021 19:21:55   
    CH4OT1C!
    Member

    quote:

    This doesn't seem relevant. I'm not sure how to explain why in a way that isn't just reiterating my previous points.


    I acknowledge your argument; you argue on the basis that spells and spell-type skills attached to an armour should not receive damage compensation for the lean because they are lean independent. Under these circumstances, you denounce my counterargument as irrelevant, since my argument focuses primarily around the attachment itself rather than the components of it. I respectfully disagree on this for a number of reasons.

    Your justification revolves around the idea that independent spells do not account for lean. I want to emphasise that this stance is primarily a matter of opinion. This matters due to the general purpose of the GBI section as a place to propose a solution with mathematical evidence. This isn't a problem associated with balance because, mathematically both solutions are balanced. There are just different winners and losers. Which prevails (lean dependent or independent) depends on the player.

    One could reasonably argue that, of the two states, lean independent makes more sense. I disagree for several reasons. Firstly, because these spells and spell-type skills are explicitly attached to an armour, the player must accept the attributes of that armour to use the skill. We know what armour lean the player will be using, so we should factor it into calculations. Secondly, it is no small feat to rework elecomp for every armour with a spell-type skill and spell in the game (elecomp is calculated individually for each). This makes for a lot of work for relatively little payoff. Thirdly, even if we did decide to push forward, you'd substantially hinder the use of spells and spell-type skills on offensive armours because they don't receive that lean compensation. Finally, you might argue that this is a good thing, because it improves the position of FD players. However, attached spells and spell-type skills aren't the primary damage type for min-maxing players because they're less effective, versatile and more costly than weapon-based alternatives. By nature, FD players are also less concerned about dealing large amounts of damage as well. This further dissuades the use of these skills.

    On Discord, I'm often asked why I like nerfing so much. The answer is I don't; the goal is to fix outlying items to better conform to modern assumptions. This makes items more competitive and promotes item diversity. This proposal is the perfect example of an unnecessary nerf. Spell-type skills already find it difficult to compete with weapon-based alternatives, and this would only make that problem worse. Moreover, this doesn't solve any major problem. Nerfing spell-type skills offensively won't suddenly and substantially weaken FO player setups. Even if such a nerf is justified (and I stress that it's not a clear-cut case), there are much bigger problems to deal with right now.
    AQ  Post #: 5
    12/25/2021 23:51:11   
    roobee
    Member
     

    This post and discord conversation makes me agree that both keeping or removing armor lean from spell-type skill elecomp are balanced. One might be more consistent, but GBI isn't consistency. Note by balanced I mean from a FO/FD cost-benefit tradeoff perspective. Currently the armor lean factor for elecomp = 1 when you have FD lean. Whether the reference point should remain as FD or be change to neutral lean could become a separate GBI thread.

    I agree that since changing spell-type skills for each existing armor would be too much work, better to keep things as they are.

    As for spell-type skills without elecomp. I've moved that to a separate GBI.
    Post #: 6
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