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=AQ= Stat Updates II

 
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3/6/2023 18:15:38   
  The Hollow
AQ Lead


Part 1 of the discussion.

We have a lot of great updates planned for the month: Ianthe is returning to the stat overhaul project, while Kamui handles the bulk of the March releases. And if nothing explodes again, later this month, a complete overhaul of the way players can customize the colors of their gear!

We would love to hear from players about any updates or changes you would like to see with the ongoing stat project; or any updates that have already been made. Here is a new list of proposed changes:

Equipment:
  • Newly created characters will have a bth-boosting misc included with their starting gear.

    From Lorekeeper:
    Primary goal: Setting a final foundation for distinct build identities.
    General goal: Expanding the bonuses added to individual stats so as to reward the playstyles of their individual identities, as well as making all main stats appealing to hybridize into.


    STR:
  • Solidifying the stat's identity by building on its placeholder player bonus of weapon-based damage and improving SP recovery on turns spent dealing Melee damage.
    DEX:
  • Replacing the ramp-up dynamic entirely. The current idea is for the player bonus to be a damage ramp-up mechanic that increases with accuracy and drops with misses, building on the usual accurate leans of Ranged gear and rewarding attention to enemy blocking. We are still open to feedback for alternatives.
    INT:
  • This is still the only mainstat in a solid place, and its nuking framework doesn't need major vertical growth like the other main stats. Its bonus is tentative to be spent on improved MP healing, though we may go with something that encourages spellcasting rather than increasing its uptime.
    END:
  • We're looking at separating the growth curves for monster and player HP so that high END monsters aren't so unfair in the early game. Improved HP healing and status resistance would remain the player bonus for this stat.
    LUK:
  • LUK having a role in a lot of small things means that expanding any one of them as the bonus would make it feel mandatory, and its role in crits is already very strong. The tentative bonus is therefore a new niche entirely, adding a further bonus to resisting turn-impairing status effects. Don't worry, we know that stuns applied to the player need to be fairer! This is just the first measure to achieve that.
    CHA:
  • This stat had a long standing contradiction due to an old paradigm based on DEX+CHA accuracy and somehow only using CHA weapons. In addition, guest upkeep is currently handled by each individual item, and they're all also based on that and inapplicable standard: Part of the upkeep is based on dealing less damage with CHA weapons. This has resulted in a long backlog of some guests underpaying and others overpaying, with no feasible way to fix that. Guests are being migrated to an engine-based setup to standardize their upkeep. The standing proposal is to spend CHA's player-side bonus on mitigating any resulting increase, as well as change accuracy to being based on a combination of main stats and CHA. This should solidify CHA's role as a secondary stat that anyone can build into.

    < Message edited by Lorekeeper -- 3/6/2023 18:47:16 >
  • AQ  Post #: 1
    3/6/2023 18:29:13   
    dizzle
    Member
     

    I really like the idea of a readily available +bth item for fresh players, definitely a welcome addition. Regarding the stat changes I actually am down for all of those proposed changes. If we absolutely 100% have to stick to the ramp up idea for rangers then scaling it with the players accuracy is better than what it’s at now and I’m down to actually experiment with it and get a good feel for it in game for a couple weeks before I continue bashing on the ramp up identity lmao. All in all very excited for the changes, one small thing though - I dont see updates or statements regarding CHA, was this intentionally left out? Understandable if so, there’s a lot to unpack there.
    AQ  Post #: 2
    3/6/2023 18:47:51   
      Lorekeeper
    And Pun-isher

     

    That's not in there due to an error on my part. Fixed it with permission.
    Post #: 3
    3/6/2023 20:08:28   
    Korriban Gaming
    Banned


    quote:

    a complete overhaul of the way players can customize the colors of their gear!

    Color custom stuff no longer locked to Z token items? Absolutely lovely! Should have been done long ago, love it!

    quote:

    Equipment:
    Newly created characters will have a bth-boosting misc included with their starting gear.

    Fantastic change and definitely helpful for new players!

    quote:

    STR:
    Solidifying the stat's identity by building on its placeholder player bonus of weapon-based damage and improving SP recovery on turns spent dealing Melee damage.
    END:
    We're looking at separating the growth curves for monster and player HP so that high END monsters aren't so unfair in the early game. Improved HP healing and status resistance would remain the player bonus for this stat.
    LUK:
    LUK having a role in a lot of small things means that expanding any one of them as the bonus would make it feel mandatory, and its role in crits is already very strong. The tentative bonus is therefore a new niche entirely, adding a further bonus to resisting turn-impairing status effects. Don't worry, we know that stuns applied to the player need to be fairer! This is just the first measure to achieve that.

    Great ideas, fully onboard with them.

    quote:

    DEX:
    Replacing the ramp-up dynamic entirely. The current idea is for the player bonus to be a damage ramp-up mechanic that increases with accuracy and drops with misses, building on the usual accurate leans of Ranged gear and rewarding attention to enemy blocking. We are still open to feedback for alternatives.

    Hmm not sure how I feel about this yet. So with this change, autohit weapons would essentially have their damage penalty mitigated? Am a fan of that personally. If I'm understanding this right, the damage boost will change throughout the course of the battle depending on whether you land or miss your previous attacks, is that correct?

    I can't help but feel that this is a band-aid solution to the decrease/fix in player bth from the first revamp. I think I can say with certainty that alot of players hated the drop to their accuracy whether or not it was intended. This seems like an attempt to make BtH leans and to an extent, the DefLoss status useful by nerfing the players overall, something which I'm very against. The aim should be to make those useful by their own merit not through reducing the power of everything else.

    Currently I don't have a better suggestion but I am open to seeing how this will work in-game first before deciding if I like or hate it.

    quote:

    CHA:
    This stat had a long standing contradiction due to an old paradigm based on DEX+CHA accuracy and somehow only using CHA weapons. In addition, guest upkeep is currently handled by each individual item, and they're all also based on that and inapplicable standard: Part of the upkeep is based on dealing less damage with CHA weapons. This has resulted in a long backlog of some guests underpaying and others overpaying, with no feasible way to fix that. Guests are being migrated to an engine-based setup to standardize their upkeep. The standing proposal is to spend CHA's player-side bonus on mitigating any resulting increase, as well as change accuracy to being based on a combination of main stats and CHA. This should solidify CHA's role as a secondary stat that anyone can build into.

    Am onboard with this change but am also a little worried regarding how much of an increase it will be across the board. I think beastmasters who train CHA should be able to use guests better but it shouldn't be the case whereby guests are completely not worth using for players who don't. Anything beyond a 20% increase to guests' current costs would certainly kill them for non BMs imo. This should be considered very carefully.


    < Message edited by Korriban Gaming -- 3/6/2023 20:31:41 >
    AQ DF AQW  Post #: 4
    3/6/2023 21:02:41   
    Kaizoku
    Member

    quote:

    Solidifying the stat's identity by building on its placeholder player bonus of weapon-based damage and improving SP recovery on turns spent dealing Melee damage.

    Much love to STR not just being INT but without the extra resource bar. I also like the sound of END and LUK working in tandem for status resistance, feels like a very fun flavor for the standard Warrior build pushing through effects through grit.

    AQ DF MQ  Post #: 5
    3/6/2023 21:14:52   
      Lorekeeper
    And Pun-isher

     

    quote:

    This seems like an attempt to make BtH leans and to an extent, the DefLoss status useful by nerfing the players overall, something which I'm very against.


    Don't worry, nothing of the sort has happened before, nor is it being proposed or even close to implied now. The idea is for ramp-up to no longer happen based on turn count but accurate outgoing hits, specifically in order to fit the traditional weapon leans of Ranged weapons. Those have always traded in damage for accuracy, and embracing that identity as the core of a different dynamic is completely unrelated to the BtH bug from before the revamp.
    Post #: 6
    3/6/2023 23:38:21   
    Novyx
    Member

    I'm cautiously optimistic about the new form of ranged damage ramping, at least it's significantly better than having to wait 10 turns to finally break even. My reservations would come from how punishing it might be for newer players vs. those more experienced. While the new misc mentioned in the post sounds very nice in fixing the issue, newer players will generally have less access to accuracy-boosting items that more experienced and invested end game players do. So, depending on the numbers for the "punishment" for missing, a newer player against a particularly dodgy mob can feel heavily brought down by also having their damage lowered when they do land a hit. Given assumed accuracy is 85% (meaning assumed miss rate is 15%), the penalty for missing could be quite harsh if it's 5.66x as strong for being 5.66x less likely.

    Ranged also happens to be the damage type with the least access to good auto-hit items (especially for newer players), made worse by being split into non-100 procs and 100-procs. As far as non-100 procs go, there's:
    Thunder Lord's Spear: very good, but without the painting you have to wait until December
    Adept/Evolved Protector Rod: costs tokens, and only has the auto-hit mode for ranged, meaning you'll most likely lack a normal weapon of the element you choose to cover with the Protector Rods
    Dragonslayer's Zeal: only auto-hits vs. Dragon tagged enemies
    Devoured Conquest: Perma-rare from a donation contest now, and forces you to spend damage on healing in auto-hit mode
    Exalted Unity: UR GGB item that's fine if you ignore having to skip a turn every few and having to click it every turn to maintain the auto-hit
    I think the problem is worse for 100-proc ranged weapons; I can't recall any offhand besides the Kindred bow.

    Then there's the more minor issue of Moonwalker's Grace being not up to standards since the stat rework (should match Buffalot's Beach Bod and Arcane Amplification in terms of cost:boost ratio), and costing MP so it requires INT for a DEX build to use it. I'd also want to raise a potential change to the other bonus DEX receives in the form of 5 blocking/MRM. While on paper it's stronger than the 5% extra weapon damage STR gets, at such a low amount now it feels barely relevant (going from an 85% chance to get hit to 80%), and the inherent randomness of its use makes it feel less like an extra tool for DEX; you can't really utilize it consciously besides if it happens to get you that last 5 MRM needed to dodge every hit, and any build that can get that much blocking can probably get the extra 5 itself anyway. My initial ideas were replacing it with +4.25 BtH to play more heavily into the accuracy identity, or maybe tweaking the initiative formula to give a small bonus there (since initiative is so strong already by potentially removing a turn from the player, it has to be small).

    On the topic of initiative, it's still a strange feeling getting outsped by level 110 enemies while in an initiative armour just because they have a double mainstat as a leftover from when DEX was required for all accuracy. Is there any chance that'll be tweaked? Like removing initiative from DEX for monsters, or making the initiative formula use highest mainstat + LUK instead of a sum of all 3 STR/DEX/INT + LUK. Could also be interesting to have other stats negatively/less positively contribute to initiative for extra effects e.g. STR/END being slower but getting a bonus as a result.

    The STR changes look nice and might help with the potential increase to guest costs, and increasing MP regen for INT sounds like a good idea too; it encourages mages to move away from using warrior/ranger tools, and a big issue for newer players who want to play as a mage is their MP management, since it's an entire extra facet of the game to learn. I think it might be better to improve this through item support though, like updating the Mana Regeneration spell in Warlic's shop so newer mage players have an accessible tool to help them with the extra resource management.

    With respect to the accuracy misc being given to new players, will there be a purchasable version somewhere for people who don't have empty character slots? Or is it intended to only be used early game anyway and not scale into the late game as well.

    Finally, congrats to Kam on his WedKding!
    Post #: 7
    3/6/2023 23:52:20   
    Inferno369
    Member

    Since I predominately use STR, CHA. and LUK on main, those changes listed would be absolutely amazing for me and sound awesome! Yes to all of them please.
    AQ  Post #: 8
    3/7/2023 0:43:14   
    ArchNero
    Member

    Cool DEX idea, I'm not sure if I like it but I'll have to wait and see it in action when it goes live. I'm really curious to see how things play out when against an enemy with high ranged blocking, if it's a slow or fast decrease in damage. If this does up being the final version for the DEX change, I at least would like if there was a way to skip your turn without using something like PCO if you know, that a monster lowered your BTH, inflicted a blind/entangle on you, or increased their own MRM with a DefBoost but it probably won't happen.

    Besides that I like the changes for the other stats.
    Post #: 9
    3/7/2023 1:04:48   
    Primate Murder
    Member

    quote:

    DEX:
    Replacing the ramp-up dynamic entirely. The current idea is for the player bonus to be a damage ramp-up mechanic that increases with accuracy and drops with misses, building on the usual accurate leans of Ranged gear and rewarding attention to enemy blocking.

    I'm not entirely sold on this.

    Oh, it's a good idea for FO rangers, I won't argue that. It gives them a distinct identity, a reason to actually invest in DefLoss and accurate-lean weapons, allows them to stack up the boost with regular attacks to set up a stronger nuke. It also screws them over when fighting Starslayer, but them's the breaks :)

    No, the reason I'm on the ropes is that it does nothing for FD rangers. Or, no, that came out overly harsh, but, give it to me straight, how many people fight as an FD build for weapon damage? Unless I'm mistaken - and I fully encourage people to tell me if so - most FD rangers use their weapons for status effects. Burns and bleeds, stuns and blinds. And this revamp does nothing to aid that.

    So, here's a personal suggestion of mine: give rangers a small chance to repeat their attack. Not celerity, but something like Archer's Per My Last Arrow (when it was first released, I actually thought the staff were play-testing the mechanic for use in the stat revamp). It helps FO rangers by giving extra damage, and it helps FD rangers by letting them stack status effects. The chance can even ramp up with accuracy as was first suggested.

    Give FD builds a chance to be excited about the revamp too.
    AQ DF  Post #: 10
    3/7/2023 7:49:16   
    Sapphire
    Member

    Most of this stuff sounds good. However, the Dex idea will be the one that will garner the most feedback. It already has even in these small amount of replies, and I just hope the "open to ideas" portion mentioned is reality.

    But my thoughts..

    The DEX idea , I promise you, without some bubblewrap and band-aids, will make BTH boosting on the front side of battles a new Meta, and players will make any and all attempts to avoid missing their hits. They will use moonwalkers, NYS, (Rangers do need an arcane amp/buffalot clone for them) and stat boost to high heavens ....and this will result in never missing and the ramp down-> from a miss won't even be a thing.

    When you also combine the initiative bonus that's already slated to be more of a Ranger-focused idea, it makes the new Meta even more of a thing.

    I am all for trying it, but I can already foresee the overpoweredness of it without even trying it. And if bubble wrap and band-aids need to be added to go along with it, that alone should tell everyone it's probably going to be problematic. The stat revamp changing BTH to such a heavy reliance on 1 stat makes this idea OP because BTH=more damage in this case, even more so than it is for other builds. It *will* be problematic.

    What I would like to propose, is a separate thread just on Ranger mechanic ideas, and I believe staff should test a few of them over this year...and in the end see what everyone likes the most and balance that with staff's final say when it comes to balance. What I fear, is 1 person came up with this idea based on some other game or games who has this, it gets implemented and we sit on it for months or years and it's OP or undesirable, etc.

    Again, I say test the proposal, as I am pro-testing. But this is my fear.

    In regards to CHA:
    quote:

    CHA:
    This stat had a long standing contradiction due to an old paradigm based on DEX+CHA accuracy and somehow only using CHA weapons. In addition, guest upkeep is currently handled by each individual item, and they're all also based on that and inapplicable standard: Part of the upkeep is based on dealing less damage with CHA weapons. This has resulted in a long backlog of some guests underpaying and others overpaying, with no feasible way to fix that. Guests are being migrated to an engine-based setup to standardize their upkeep. The standing proposal is to spend CHA's player-side bonus on mitigating any resulting increase, as well as change accuracy to being based on a combination of main stats and CHA. This should solidify CHA's role as a secondary stat that anyone can build into.


    In reference to the bolded part, 2 things.

    1. Is this saying if you wield a CHA weapon, guest upkeeps get discounted? Or how will CHA on the "player side" effect upkeep?
    2. In regards to accuracy, is this making it the greater of your mainstat + CHA approach? Also is there efforts to try and ensure non mainstat build is not a "thing"?
    Post #: 11
    3/7/2023 9:27:44   
    1stClassGenesis
    Member

    Just tossing an idea -- perhaps instead of making DefLoss items affect MRM, have them be attached to a specific one at triple the value? That would make for better design space IMHO.
    Post #: 12
    3/7/2023 11:21:12   
    icetears
    Member

    The proposed changes look good. The proposed dex change seems great as you ramp dmg based on successful hits, but does that mean multi hit armor will be favored? Cha update seems fine as well. Looking forward to see how all these pans out.
    Post #: 13
    3/7/2023 12:01:36   
    Corvid
    Member

    I like the direction that the revamp is going in. The discussion is complex and I’m still learning the implications, so right now I’m just listening. I do want to give one point feedback that is very important to me:

    quote:

    We would love to hear from players about any updates or changes you would like to see with the ongoing stat project; or any updates that have already been made. Here is a new list of proposed changes:

    Equipment:
    Newly created characters will have a bth-boosting misc included with their starting gear.



    With regards to this, I strongly feel that a permanent quick cast BTH boost skill/spelll needs to be made available. Having one set of spells/skills available at new year’s is not enough for new players/characters, imo. If the premium status of the skill is an issue, then perhaps a premium clone could be made (eg a GGB clone, token clone vs a z token package clone), and an alternate version could be made for gold (example suggestions are that it’s turn consuming but more potent; vs a version that is more efficient/less powerful; vs a version that is potent but applies a debuff to player damage, etc).

    < Message edited by Corvid -- 3/7/2023 12:09:10 >
    AQ  Post #: 14
    3/7/2023 14:29:13   
    battlesiege15
    Member

    WEDKDING? :o
    AQ AQW  Post #: 15
    3/9/2023 13:26:23   
    Sapphire
    Member

    I know there are those who oppose SP discounts or SP heals based on other factors that remove the "build agnostic" approach. Traditionalists will hate it, but I am for spicing the game up and so I applaud staff for trying new things. The game has long been sort of the way it is for a long time, so there's nothing wrong with creating some new ideas.

    However, giving warriors some sort of SP add-on and/or discount someplace IMO doesn't make any sense at all, the more I think about it. This idea should be reserved for Dexterity. Part of my reasoning is multiple. Warriors are sort of boring, but I'll come back to them.

    1. Dexterity by definition is essentially using your hands with skill. SP is called Skill Points. Thematically speaking, is makes FAR more sense to give this idea to Rangers.

    2. Ranger identity is in both "damage identity" and "overall identity", and considering it's the new kid in town, it still needs help. This is essentially why we are seeing the damage identity being tested.

    3. We have two forms of Ranger. We have the FO Ranger and the FD Ranger, and as Primate Murder indicated, FD Ranger may not be about some sort of damage mechanic. So it needs something else, to be quite honest.

    4. The decoupling of DEX from pets/guests and going to a "better of main-stat" + CHA BTH model will mean the Mage Beast Variant compared to the Ranger Beast variant may push the Mage variant to be viewed as a bit superior, as the Ranger variant no longer has the pet/guest BTH advantage. There will be a shift to the mage variant as a result *UNLESS THEY GET SOME THINGS*

    5. FD Beast Ranger is going to be a heavy SP user, given it will be forced to use SP guest upkeep ****which is going up***. The new damage mechanic may rule out using Charisma weapons for them to gain an upkeep discount. If "Ranged damage" provided some SP regen/discount, etc then this specific build could possibly benefit more from that alone than some damage effect.

    Ranger Proposal:
    1. Implement your new Accuracy based damage identity (I see potential issues, but I'm all for seeing how it goes)
    2. Remove the +5 blocking from Dex (Logic placed with warriors)
    3. Add the SP idea to Ranged Damage, and forgo the idea from Melee damage
    4. Add back in a + potency = to 5% Melee based on Dex (replaces the blocking)

    The combination of these will help both FO and FD Ranger builds and it actually CATERS to their playstyles. The damage mechanic may prove to be better for FD Rangers than people realize but the fact that they are a status inflict playstyle and want to be able to survive through status inflictions (not blocking nor hardiness..ie "taking shots) is their identity.

    Lastly, I still believe bows (damage from a distance) and spears (longer than most weapons) should still provide for the initiative focus as was mentioned a while back


    Next, Warriors need more luster. But the SP help IMO doesn't make any sense. But aren't warriors more "hardy" and able to take on more damage? But the FD warrior isn't a thing. So why not make the FO warrior more defensive?

    Warrior Proposal:
    1. Scrap the SP thing for Melee damage, it makes better sense used with Rangers
    2. Instead, make FO warriors more defensive by giving them either a HP barrier when they use a Melee attack or they instead get the +5 blocking, or both.

    The logical reality is, is A warrior is going to be fighting in close, in hand to hand combat, and they'll NEED to be hardier, and more resistant to being hit. Being able to parry some damage off IMO is a logical step considering there isn't a FD warrior style. So this makes them better defensively. The usage of barriers items in conjunction with the HP barrier based on Melee attacks could make for a very strong style, and it gives a little bit of spice to the warrior build that it needs. If you were to combine the effects that END give and this STR-based proposal you end up with a consistent damaging FO playstyle that can also kind of tank, too, and resist/heal . The STR/END marriage will be a better one than INT/END or DEX/END as Rangers and mages have better Defensive options for build spin-offs, where Warriors do not.

    IMO, this is the direction this game needs to go.





    < Message edited by SapphireCatalyst2021 -- 3/9/2023 13:35:07 >
    Post #: 16
    3/10/2023 2:24:38   
    ruleandrew
    Member
     

    One possible idea for player DEX attack.

    Player DEX attack bonus
    Consider last attempted player DEX hit to monster for current player turn.

    When player DEX attack miss monster / start of battle case
    - 5 % damage bonus to DEX weapon attack.

    When player DEX attack hit monster 1 time in a row
    - 3 % damage bonus to DEX weapon attack.

    When player DEX attack hit monster 2 times in a row
    - 1 % damage bonus to DEX weapon attack.

    When player DEX attack hit monster 3 times in a row
    + 1 % damage bonus to DEX weapon attack.

    When player DEX attack hit monster 4 times in a row
    + 3 % damage bonus to DEX weapon attack.

    When player DEX attack hit monster 5 times or more in a row
    + 5 % damage bonus to DEX weapon attack.
    AQ  Post #: 17
    3/10/2023 8:53:36   
    JhyShy
    Member
     

    While I don't know how possible this idea is or if it is even wanted or viable at all, but I might as well suggest it anyways. If the staff really are looking to give something to STR then I suggest giving STR a modifier to make much more stable damage ranges.

    For example a weapon has a 16 to 48, it could possibly make the weapon go for 20 to 48 instead.

    Why this idea? Well since the identity of warriors are stable consistent high damage per turn, then something that can help alleviate RNG from their attacks or give them much less lows and higher chances to do highs would be good. It won't make them have static damage ranges since I think that would just nullify the static damage range weapons, but something to make the weapons more stable or reach much higher damage ranges. Originally I thought of making the damage ranger much tighter and therefore much more consistent like making a 16 to 48 weapon with a STR modifier become and 20 to 36 damage range weapon. But people didn't seem too keen on the idea cause they said it would make warriors deal much less damage and make people not wanna play it.

    How do we balance this? I don't know, lmao, I'm just an idea guy lmao I don't even think the idea is possible if weapon's damage ranges are hard coded to weapons themselves rather than the engine. But I still thought it would be worth a try to

    Pros and Cons of the idea

    Pros:
    In my opinion, it's a much more interesting idea than just slapping +20 SP per turn to warriors
    It does play into the identity of a warrior being a consistent damage dealer

    Cons:
    I have no clue if this is possible to be implemented X_X
    People might find it boring or useless compared to an extra resource bar


    There was also the other idea of healing based on damage dealt with a melee weapon, like if you dealt 524 damage you heal 5% of it therefore healing 26 HP to play into an aggressive playstyle that fits warriors but I thought that either be A. Useless or B. Boring, but yeah that's all byeeeeee
    Post #: 18
    3/10/2023 9:20:00   
    Sapphire
    Member

    ^ Interesting. I had the idea of stat interactions before, but was tying the main stat to END to create unique bonuses.

    I think this was akin to STR+END was HP barrier post Melee attack
    DEX+END was +5 Blocking
    INT+END was Mana Barrier post spell-cast

    The idea was to replace what add-ons END was going to get, because I felt like END by itself was sort of OP. If you count how much HP's is considered to be "100% Melee" and then see how many more HP's, and thus Melee% END gives going from 0 END to 250 END , it's quite high TBH. END itself never needed add ons. The current add ons are meaningless. Why would you need assistance to healing if you decided to train END in the first place? Training END likely means you need to heal less. Why have a status resist add on when not many monsters really do too much of that, and Luck already provides 10 potentially. And now they want to have luck reduce chance of being stunned, likely by 5.

    I'd rather see stat "tie-ins" if possible, like with what you're saying and/or how I proposed way back when. Essentially you don't get these bonuses with the mainstat itself, but only when you do a main stat + a specific secondary.


    But hoping back to an idea... but Warriors come in ONE flavor. Offensive. There is no FD warrior and likely won't be. You'' have to simply use "defensive gear" that have blocking or barrier systems to get more defensive without losing offense. But, the reality is, warriors , being in closed hand to hand combat, need to be able to be hardy, sturdy, resistant, and resilient. So any bonuses they get should be to help their DEFENSE.

    Rangers and Mages can play defense w/o nearly as huge of an offensive cost, and this is why warriors need defensive buffs . If staff are trying to make them more attractive, let them be tankier w/o sacrifice offense. So give them a HP barrier post Melee attack. Not some SP help.



    < Message edited by SapphireCatalyst2021 -- 3/10/2023 9:23:56 >
    Post #: 19
    3/11/2023 9:34:32   
    Dardiel
    Member

    For the concept of ranged damage scaling with accuracy, I suggest that it be a lean modifier that applies like this:

    At the end of each turn, the player's ranged attack lean (in [Expected Hit Rate]/85 format) is multiplicatively increased if they were inaccurate and decreased if they were accurate. If the direction of the lean change matches the weapon's inherent lean then the change is multiplied by 1 plus double the lean's value, but if it's the opposite direction it'll be multiplied by 1 MINUS the lean's value.

    Examples:

    A weapon has a +10 lean - on turns where you're accurate your lean will reduce by 0.8*X%, on turns where you miss more than expected your lean will increase by 1.2*X%. The weapon's accurate base lean means it gets more accurate faster, but shifts to damage slower.

    A weapon has a -15 lean - on turns where you're accurate your lean will reduce by 1.3*X%, on turns where you're accurate your lean will increase by 0.7*X%.the weapon's inaccurate lean means its damage ramps up faster, but it's slower to gain accuracy when missing.

    I feel this suggestion achieves the goal of giving rangers damage as a reward for being accurate, while also allowing lean to have some more nuanced interactions / give some extra design space to ranged weapons.

    < Message edited by Dardiel -- 3/11/2023 15:07:50 >
    Post #: 20
    3/11/2023 14:58:16   
    Gateless
    Member

    I've updated my suggestions yet again after further discussions with players. Here are my tentative suggestions to Mainstat changes for a more balanced and interesting stat environment post-decoupling of DEX from pet BtH:


    1. STR: "gets nothing." (Credits to Jeanne for this quote) More precisely, STR does not receive an additional 5% damage boost. This is the most reasonable answer, because the entire game is balanced around "Melee". Strength is intended to have the most stable and consistent damage output, with no additional effect and no penalties.


    2. DEX: Ranged damage ramping should be removed. As a largely disliked mechanic, it clearly illustrates the problems with "balancing" the game around a defunct 20-turn model. If it is not too outrageous, DEX investment could modify pet damage from CHA at the cost of Ranged damage from DEX. In essence, at VStat DEX and 0 CHA, Ranged damage is assumed player damage at 100% Melee. However, at VStat DEX and VStat CHA, Pet damage is increased by 10% Melee to a value of 50% Melee per turn, while Ranged player damage is decreased proportionally by 10% Melee to a value of 90% Melee per turn. This effectively functions like a pseudo-damage lean that scales based on DEX and CHA investment (i.e. at VStat/2 DEX and VStat/2 CHA, you receive 10%+2.5% Melee per turn in pet damage from CHA, while Ranged damage from DEX is decreased by 2.5% Melee).


    3. INT: Ideally we should move away from the current "balancing" around a defunct 20-turn model, however even under current assumptions Mages still receive an advantage over Warriors and Rangers with respects to versatility in damage output, since Mages are given 4 200% Melee turns that they can choose to use at any time—an option exclusive to Mages.

    To address this, I suggest a rework of the way the MP resource functions in battle. Max MP should be subject to a turn-by-turn decay in order to further encourage the niche of burst damage for Mages. The Max MP tied to INT stat investment should decrease by 125% Melee per turn over the course of the first 4 turns. Since it is unreasonable for Mages to become weaker Warriors and Rangers by default after the first 4 turns assuming they do not use their MP, I suggest that Mages should receive an additional 125% Melee in MP that is paid for by a universal reduction in Pet damage by 6.25% Melee (assuming 0 CHA), scaling with INT investment. This makes it such that Max MP never falls below a reasonable threshold for Mages even without the use of INT drive items. A change like this should be accompanied by future changes to encourage mages away from skill-casting.



    What are the implications of these changes relative to how they are intended to effect Mainstat playstyles? They have implications for both Single Mainstat and Hybrid Mainstat playstyles:


    1. STR Alone: Encourages player investment equally.

    2. DEX Alone: Encourages more player investment in pet damage.

    3. INT Alone: Encourages more player investment in burst damage and less in pet damage.

    4. INT+STR: Encourages more player investment in burst and skill damage.

    5. INT+DEX: Encourages more player investment in burst and pet damage.



    Furthermore, there are additional changes that I feel could be implemented depending on how the staff feel:


    1. Additional Bonuses: Additional stat bonuses may not be the worst idea. However, I feel that such bonuses should be a secondary consideration, seeing as they not only break assumed models but actually have very little impact on playstyles, as evidenced by the past year of STR's totally free 5% damage bonus simply being peanuts in comparison to the long-standing overperformance of Mages (which should be addressed through changes beyond stats). Below are my proposed suggestions:

    1.1. STR: Free 5% Melee in Player BtH.

    1.2. DEX: Free 5% Melee in damage reduction.

    1.3. INT: Free 5% Melee in Spell BtH.


    2. Accuracy Changes: Several players have pointed out that currently dodgelash as a playstyle is problematic in principle, because mechanics which allow the player to achieve 100% probability of blocking and thus eliminating any possibility of being hit, allows the player to completely bypass normal gameplay considerations such as elements. As such, the most reasonable and straightforward solution that addresses this problem at a fundamental level, is to implement a cap to the probability of blocking (i.e. taking the maximum of the accuracy calculation and a certain set probability such as 5%, credits to this simple formula goes to Chaotic). This should ideally be implemented for both players and mobs, especially if high dodge bosses are planned in the future. In the long run, this will actually make dodgelash a more fun and interesting playstyle, since staying in the exact same set of equipment would no longer be optimal.


    3. Defensive Warrior: Several players have mentioned that a Warrior in FD armor cannot compete with Mages and Rangers due to the lack of 100-proc Melee weapons. My personal stance on this matter is that item support for 100-proc Melee (i.e. Whips and Flails) would be widely appreciated by players, and is not only thematically compatible but the most straight forward solution to remedying the issue of STR being the only Mainstat fundamentally denied a true FD playstyle.

    < Message edited by Gateless -- 3/11/2023 19:34:22 >


    _____________________________

    “Thus, because the wise do not find that an illusory horse and elephant are a horse and an elephant, they do not qualify as nonexistent, but because they are found by fools, they qualify as existent.”
    Post #: 21
    3/11/2023 16:43:58   
    Sapphire
    Member

    It seems that despite Mage weapon-based skills costing more than warriors, they make up ground due to the 4/3 boost mechanic from magic weapons. This seemed to work fine for normal attack button to normalize damage and attempt at equalization over a number of turns, but it seems as though with weapons-based skills and especially elecomped in a FO armor weapon-based skills that Mages can use weapon-based skills pretty much as well as warriors.

    The weapon-based skill seems to be a thing that may need to be looked into.

    This has me thinking, but maybe it's time to start compiling a number of armors that contain weapon-based skills. And if the sheer number of them isn't crazy, a re-evaluation of how boosts work *just for that* might need to be looked at, if possible. It might not be an absolute fix given the sheer number of things assumed and the sheer number of in-game items but a start could just simply be compiling it all and seeing if the project would be feasible.

    Or another random idea is a global check on weapon type for weapon-based skills that changes the type to spell-based simply via wielding a magic weapon. These could still get elecomp to cost and would act more like efficient skills in practice, but the power of damage boosts then revert to how they work for spells (/2), and then you might see warriors gain some head ground in comparison. It's essentially a disassembly of the ability of standard (non hybridized) mages from even having access to the damage boosts that weapon based things get.


    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Diff Topic

    I think a unique and cool idea to partner with the Ranger ramp mechanic is another one that gives them a per hit Dex/25% chance to do a zero penalty auto-hit. If 1 in 10 hits auto hit, it would be a 10% accuracy bonus . Then the damage range could then recalculate to include this accuracy add-on (would be lower but the auto hit feature brings it back up to standard) It would result in the same outcome , but

    1. It would be beneficial vs hugely high MRM mobs as a counter to that type of mob essentially screwing them over
    2. Could make new gear that adds on to this base mechanic (not unlike how base LS rate is changed with items), so a Ranger may use items that increase this mechanic to 15%, etc but at a lower damage
    3. The combined ideas of accuracy based ramping plus this autohit thing could further define what their damage identity is
    4. The logical explanation is the auto-hit could be viewed as more of a precision based landing of a bow/spear to a specific target on the Foe's body
    Post #: 22
    3/11/2023 20:23:18   
    CH4OT1C!
    Member

    I wanted to thank you for these updates; Sharing these developments with the community is much appreciated. Stat updates are some of the most important in AQ (after all, we’re playing with the game’s fundamental building blocks), so it’s absolutely vital that we get them right.

    If the main goal of these updates is to set a final foundation for distinct build identities, then it makes sense for INT to remain unchanged. Don’t get me wrong, Mage is undoubtedly suffering from an identity crisis at the moment. The most popular sub-type foregoes its main characteristic trait (spells), in favour of using weapon-based skills. Due to a number of quirks in the balance engine, these skills generally perform better than the non-mage equivalent. This is problematic for a number of reasons, not least because it encroaches heavily onto Warrior identity. With that said, the source of this problem is not INT. Rather, it can instead be traced to:
    i) An overabundance of SP
    ii) Weapon-based skills being normalised as regular weapon attacks as opposed to skills (i.e. they receive a *4/3 bonus rather than a /2 penalty).

    Point ii is also a major cause of the imbalance between Weapon-based and Spell-based skills. Of course, Mage has other problems too (excessive MP regeneration for one), but these primarily come from item-related sources rather than the stat itself. It therefore makes sense to keep the stat as it is.

    The proposed changes to DEX also make sense. There is a distinct lack of popular support for the current ramp-up mechanic, and the solution proposed above (originally suggested by @Dreiko Shadrak) is by far the most sensible one I’ve seen.

    I do, however, have a problem with the proposed changes to STR. Part of the reason founding these distinct build identities is because Mage, with its spells, appears far more attractive than Warrior and Ranger. This is why STR and DEX have both received benefits in previous parts of the stat update. Therefore, whatever we choose to do with Warriors and Rangers, an implicit goal is to make them more desirable. I have no issue with breaking the balance model to achieve, so long as:

    i).
    We reasonably justify why the model cannot provide the change we need,
    ii). Breaking the model could achieve the intended effect and
    iii). Achieving that effect doesn’t require breaking the model so severely that it causes collateral damage or unreasonably distorts gameplay

    The suggestion of SP recovery cannot adequately satisfy these three conditions. Warrior already has access to the most efficient skills, so extra SP regeneration will already be less desirable. Moreover, we can’t provide a significant amount of extra SP because it's a build-agnostic resource. Giving Warriors a large extra chunk would unfairly disadvantage Mages and, more importantly, Rangers (who we’re also trying to provide with an identity). Equally, a small boost (e.g., 5%) isn’t going to provide anywhere near enough persuasive power to make Warrior an attractive-enough option. Too much and we break the model too severely, too little and we don’t achieve the intended effect. This is all compounded by the easy accessibility of Essence orb. In short, implementing this mechanic would (at best) be breaking a fundamental principle of game balance for a small player buff that doesn’t really make Warrior any more attractive than it is right now. We also have to consider that we use warrior damage as the base unit of comparison for matters of game balance (we call it Melee% for a reason!).

    With all this in mind, I’ve drawn up my own list of action points. If implemented, I think they could make some real headway in solving some of the issues I’ve raised above. The main goals for these action points are the same as the one described by the staff above. However, I have also kept in mind a couple of my own personal goals as well:
    i). I believe Warrior should also have a distinct defensive identity. Mage and Ranger both have clear FO and FD playstyles, but Warrior lacks this due to the avoidance of 100-proc Melee weapons. Without them, Warrior cannot compete. I have attempted to produce a compromise so that Warriors can play defensively without the need for 100-proc Weapons
    ii). I believe that, whilst all builds should be able to play offensively and defensively if they wish, Mages should be more offensive specialised (with their burst damage stored via MP), Rangers should be more defensive specialised (with their range of 100-proc weapons) and Warriors should have unparalleled versatility in switching between the two during combat. In this way, Warriors become a jack of all trades when it comes to playstyle, adding to their distinct identity of consistent damage.
    iii). To make room for Warriors, we have to push Mages towards spells. This means solving the Mage identity crisis and pushing them away from the old skillcasting paradigm.
    iv). I want spell-based skills to be able to compete with Weapon-based skills

    My action points:
    1). Fix Essence Orb: This fix will restrict SP regeneration and, if done correctly, will help to weaken Mage’s ability to fire off boosted skills whilst allowing Warrior and Ranger to continue without issue
    2). If possible, remove the *4/3 bonus applied to Weapon-based skills. I however wish to go further than this and also include a /2 modifier on all Weapon-based skills, normalising any boosts applied to them relative to 100% Melee. This would curb the advantage Mages receive when skillcasting and also allow for Spell-based skills to compete. I recognise this is a substantial nerf, but one that should have corrected a long time ago
    3). Improve gold-based Spellcaster and Spellcaster-lean support to incentivise mages switching away from weapon-based skills towards spells and spell-based skills.
    4). Remove the minor extra bonuses to STR and DEX: they break the model for little to no reason. They don’t make Warrior or Ranger significantly more attractive.
    5). Implement a mechanism for Warriors to play defensively: My suggestion for this would be that all Melee weapons deal *1 damage when in MD or FD armours. This allows Melee weapons to approximate the efficiency of 100-procs without taking their niche away. This doesn’t need to be implemented immediately so Ranger support can be better consolidated.
    6). Implement the suggested fixes for Ranger as planned
    7). Fix pet accuracy by making it independent from stats
    8). Reduce the Damage Output / Cost ratio of guests. This will help to reduce the overall power of CHA and Mages (who benefit from summon guests)
    9). Provide item support for Warrior and Ranger in these new identities e.g., STR-based healing

    You might notice that, outside of DEX and CHA, not much of this is tied to stats. This is because I don’t think that many of the game’s current issues can be blamed on them. Instead, a lot of it can be solved simply by solving Mage’s identity crisis.

    < Message edited by CH4OT1C! -- 3/12/2023 9:58:17 >
    AQ  Post #: 23
    3/11/2023 22:11:03   
    Primate Murder
    Member

    quote:

    5). Implement a mechanism for Warriors to play defensively: My suggestion for this would be that all Melee weapons deal *1 damage when in MD or FD armours.

    I have to admit, I'm heavily opposed to this. It does absolutely nothing to support warriors in their preferred playstyle and instead infringes heavily on rangers, making them inferior to warriors in their own niche. :(

    quote:

    Reduce the Damage Output / Cost ratio of guests. This will help to reduce the overall power of CHA and Mages (who benefit from summon guests)

    This will hurt defensive beastbuilds a lot more than just mages. The latter will lose a few % off their boosters, while the former will be crippled in one of their main sources of damage/status/healing. Don't get me wrong, I acknowledge that the current situation is problematic, but I think the solution is slightly more complicated than making them inferior skills that demand an extra stat.


    I greatly respect Chaotic as a pillar of this community and an endless source of many ideas, and I fully agree with points 1-3, but come on, man.

    You're murdering FD builds.
    AQ DF  Post #: 24
    3/12/2023 0:53:07   
      Ward_Point
    Armchair Archivist


    I'm not entirely certain on the above claim.
    With the ramp up, Rangers are meant to deal > 1 Melee per turn. Currently, Rangers cap out at 1.25 Melee.

    The proposal is not a conversion of FD > FO, but rather a FD input but Neutral output. In fact, 20% Proc weapons would be quite desirable in such a scenario. Player like to Min/Max, and Rangers have to commit to Bows/FD or 0 Proc/FO. Giving Warriors the option to play defensively by allowing 20% proc weapons their own niche in such a pairing.

    This actually opens a niche for Warriors without encroaching on the Ranger's FD identity. There is SOME overlap, to be sure. But I rather this situation compared to Neutral armour/20% proc weapons being utterly ignored.
    AQ  Post #: 25
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