quote:

We just released 1.0.4b and we're already moving forward toward our next update... EpicDuel Beta Version 1.0.4c. Our plans are to introduce a few more updates that fully flush out all the faction features players want before moving forward to Version 1.0.5 which will likely include Weapon upgrades and so much more!

Version 1.0.4c will likely include the following (it's once again a big list, so anticipate about two weeks for development time):

* General graphic improvements throughout - improved gun animations, performance gains, etc
* Two new faction leaderboards - 1vs1 and 2vs2 Daily Champions
* Faction achievement system - displays the number of times your faction wins the daily boards and the influence boards
* Improvements to the World instance system (players will be able to select their World instance if it is not full)
* Buddy requests will work like other requests
* Starting location lock - save your starting location
* Skill updates and tweaks
* Ability for faction founders to modify their faction flags
* Bug fixes and performance improvements
* Tighter 2vs2 battle matching


Here are some things on the horizon that you'll see over the course of the following few updates:

* Improvements to faction chat and faction menu options
* Faction headquarters (You'll have a private physical location to meet and chat)
* Weapon upgrades
* More payment options - PayByCash


Can't wait for all these features ... hmm ... better get back to coding!

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After reviewing the forums we identified these general problems with the current skills

1. SuperCharge is either completely useless or overpowered no matter how much we tweak it.
2. Tech Mage's have no skill that can reduce the energy pool of the enemy
3. Tech Mage's have no skill that has built-in defense reduction
4. Rage when combined with ultimate skills becomes boring and is somewhat overused.
5. Artillery Strike is not effective enough in most dynamic Mercenary builds.

Here is how we'd like to handle these problems:

1. We will rework SuperCharge to syngerize better with the other Tech Mage skills. SuperCharge's warmup will be reduced to 3 turns and it will no longer consume all of your energy. Instead, SuperCharge will have a fixed cost similar to Plasma Bolt and many other skills. The skill will still deliver an energy attack, but it will deal a fixed amount of damage, similar to a Plasma Bolt or Plasma Rain attack. Here's the twist, SuperCharge will ignore 15% of the enemy's resistance and it will add 15% of the inflicted damage back to the Tech Mage's HP.

2. We will add a new feature to the existing Plasma Bolt to resolve the problem that Tech Mage's have no mechanism to reduce the enemy's energy pool. At each level, the Plasma Bolt will reduce the enemy's energy pool by a number of points equal to the level of the Plasma Bolt. For example, a Level 2 Plasma Bolt would reduce 2 energy from the enemy's energy pool. A level 7 Plasma Bolt would reduce 7 energy from the energy pool. This reduction would occur in addition to the normal damage the skill inflicts. This change also alleviates the problem that Plasma Rain and Plasma Bolt are very similar skills in a 1vs1.

3. The third problem is addressed by changing SuperCharge (explained above)

4. Players will no longer be able to use their Rage attack in combination with an ultimate skill. This will include Massacre, SuperCharge, and Surgical Strike. If the player uses an ultimate when their Rage meter is full, the Rage will be saved for the player's next attack.

5. Given that many players create builds with significant Dexterity and the Mercenary has no mechanism for reducing Dexterity, Artillery Strike will now ignore a percentage of the enemy's physical defense.

6. Deadly Aim will likely be reduced in effectiveness by just a few points to compensate for the changes.


There may be other changes and some of the above numbers and ideas are subject to change. If you have any other thoughts on these changes or other changes, please feel free to post them. We'll do our best to be fair to everyone.