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Exploding Penguin -> Energy Flow's Emphasis in the metagame (2/11/2014 23:34:23)
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So it's been a while since I made my own post like this. I'll try and keep it short though since I have places I need to be, but this is more of an informational thread that's open to people's discussion about the topic. As usual, my classic opinion disclaimer applies to this thread as well: This has a somewhat large portion of opinion in it, but it is based off of facts and in-game experience so it is not to be dismissed lightly
Basically, "energy flow," a term first coined by me "I think" in a post similar to this a while back, and a term re-used by Rabble later in some design notes, is used to describe the transfer of energy and its application in the metagame of ED's PvP battles. To be more simple, it's pretty much the impact of energy and its transfer during a PvP battle.
Before, energy flow played a significant role in ED's metagame, but none so big as now. This is because passives, which were always active and required no energy, have been removed and replaced with other skills that reflect the old passive's original effects (save for fire scythe, energy parasite, and shadow arts). To still create somewhat interesting metagames, though, many skills that control energy flow were created or modified, and most of them cost 0 energy.
Before I continue, I should probably define metagame for those who don't know it. The metagame is the ever-changing phases of battle that puts a character in a different strategic position constantly. The metagame itself is a somewhat hard concept to understand, but it can be best visualized as taking place when you are on the offensive, but suddenly take a defensive stance due to the opponent's actions, such as having hatchling rush being placed on yourself which most likely leads to you switching into a defensive state. The core hatchling rush greatly changes the current phase of the metagame in a single turn. The metagame is also a term referring to the strategic plays made in-game. You can force a mindgame situation in the battle where it's a battle of brains and predicting what the opponent will do. The metagame also has some terminology associated with it; fast-paced metagames are when the phase of the battle changes very quickly and the balance of the fight is quite volatile, meaning that you can be attacking and very suddenly and sometimes unexpectedly be put on the defensive.
For sake of having an easier time describing the metagame, I'll break it up into 3 parts: The early game, mid-game, and endgame.
Early Game
In the early game, energy is not a problem as you always start out battles with its max amount. However, within a few turns your energy can easily exhaust. Many moves apply pressure to this, and the high-paced portion of the metagame most often happens here. Defensive and offensive states are constantly switching as energy is transferred back and forth in a frenzy to heal or cripple the enemy with damaging skills such as bludgeon or smokescreen. Skills like EMP grenade, static grenade, and energy parasite in particular provide ensured pressure on the opponent as it forces them to expend their energy quickly or otherwise suffer consequences such as giving you the advantage. Many energy flow skills destroy energy rather than create it, typically by having conversion ratios of less than 1. Battery Backup, static charge, and energy parasite are the only skills that create energy, along with some cores. Eventually, energy will be spent and the metagame transitions into a mid-game phase where you battle for scraps of energy to cast certain skills.
Mid-game
It was already established that energy flow has an overwhelming effect on the metagame as of now. The only skills that can change the metagame easily are ones that have special effects such as bludgeon, or debuffs like smokescreen and malfunction. Field medic is also a humongous game-changer as it can heal great amounts and put a player in the defensive stalling for its cooldown back into the offensive once a large portion of their health has been replenished. However, none of these skills can be used without sufficient energy, and all classes are given effective ways of removing the ever-so-valuable energy. Therefore, an "energy war" takes place in the mid-game after the early game energy reserves have been mostly depleted. Players fight for scraps of energy during this phase to land that phase-changing blow that will put a character currently onto the offensive to the defensive. The energy fight during this phase is very intense and most of the mindgame strategies come into play during this phase.
Endgame
The endgame is when almost all the energy has been depleted. Most moves are basic attacks such as strikes, robot attacks, auxiliary and sidearm shots, etc... At this point whoever most prepared during the mid-game and got the tide-changing blow will be put at an advantage unless there's a great level difference. The endgame is somewhat of a "cold phase" where the least thinking takes place as you simply try to out-damage your opponent since you have both run out of defensive options. There is much less strategic application during this phase, and typically lasts the last 3 turns or so of a fight, depending on the fighter's builds. Fights sometimes end prematurely with no endgame phases as unpredictable crits or unforseen strategies in the metagame activate and catch battlers off-guard. In terms of the bulk of strategic play, energy flow brawls, and mindgames, all of it happens in the early and mid-game phases of the metagame.
So, what does everyone else think of the massive impact energy flow has in the metagame right now? Before passives made the metagame feel much more different, but now energy flow is almost the core of PvP in ED. This was a much shorter thread than I would have liked, and is definitely not enough to cover all the information about the current metagame system and energy flow, but I hope it was sufficient enough to enlighten some people and further increase their understanding of the battle system of ED.
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