=DF= October 1st Design Notes: Arena at the Edge of Time: A.A.R.G.H. Update! (Full Version)

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Peachii -> =DF= October 1st Design Notes: Arena at the Edge of Time: A.A.R.G.H. Update! (10/1/2021 20:50:41)

quote:

[image]https://www.dragonfable.com/images/DF/author/Verlyrus.png[/image]
Verlyrus:
Arena at the Edge of Time: A.A.R.G.H. Update!

Hey there, heroes!

This week, the A.A.R.G.H. system is receiving a big update!

[image]https://cms.battleon.com/DF/images/AARGHUPDATEdn.png[/image]

Aside from the placement change on the board in the Inn, the board will now show your accumulated Timewarped Medals and Timewarped Trophies inside your inventory or bank.

The board will also show your current A.A.R.G.H. system win streak! Accumulating consecutive wins without losing or leaving challenges will now make number go up! (That's all. It just tracks your win streak.)

With an A.A.R.G.H. system update comes new rewards and challenges!

A number of cosmetic rewards have been added to the A.A.R.G.H. rewards shop! Check the shop in-game for previews.

The following challenges have been added to the A.A.R.G.H. system's selection pool:

  • Warlic, the Blue Mage
  • Nythera, the Half-Void Dragon
  • Frostcythe and Glaisaurus
  • Vilmor and Cryozen
  • Mega Fluffy Tog
  • The AdventureFiend
  • Sek-Duat, the Eternal
  • Noxus, Claw of the Necropolis
  • Notha, Bane of Destiny
  • Uaanta, Avatar of the Makers

    And finally, the Timewarped Trophy maximum has been increased to 15.

    If you think you have what it takes, check out the Arena at the Edge of Time by clicking the black portal above Falconreach!



    Next up, Reforged ChronoZ has been completed!

    [image]https://cms.battleon.com/DF/images/Promo-ChronoZ-Reforged.png[/image]

    If you've already obtained the Reforged ChronoZ resource item, it will transform into the Reforged ChronoZ class automatically.

    ChronoZ has had a couple of adjustments.

  • Fixed a bug where a certain combo did more damage than intended.
  • ChronoZ's "Blink" skill CD reduced to 17, from 34.

    You can obtain Reforged ChronoZ from Stryche's Time Shop!



    It's the start of a new month, so this month's Dragon Coin specials have arrived!

    [image]https://cms.battleon.com/DF/images/DCOCTOBER2021.png[/image]

    The color custom Fancy Witch's Hat is the first hat to not replace your hair! Instead, it will layer on top of it. This might look odd with some hairstyles, but it will also look really good with other options!

    The Radiant Shimmer trinket is also available!

    This trinket gives your character a shining aura, and has a skill that grants 25 Boost in exchange for your Avoidance.

    Also, the Bloodfarer Gear has returned!

    Check out October's Dragon Coin specials in the Book of Lore.



    And finally, updates and bug fixes!

  • The Mogloween Storybook is now available from the Book of Lore for the month of October!
  • Fixed a bug where female Reforged TimeKiller's crossbow did not show up when idle.
  • Fixed issue in the quest "Yulgar's First Date" where completing it would result in loading the character's base class rather than saved class.
  • Fixed an issue where in quests that have a pet or guest follow you in a walkaround, they would not follow when using keyboard controls.
  • Added support for pressing Tab in battle to swap targets.
  • Player stats and Dragon stats can now be trained by 100s.
  • Anything else I may have forgotten.

    And that's all!



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    Join the discussion on the official forums!

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    Check out the Artix Games Launcher!

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  • Laeon val Observis -> RE: =DF= October 1st Design Notes: Arena at the Edge of Time: A.A.R.G.H. Update! (10/1/2021 21:07:03)

    Well, well. Chronoman EXE got more armor on top of having its Za Warudo readying faster (again). How impacting is the debugging to its DPT for those who frequent it?

    As for the ARRGH changes, the interface change is definitely welcome, although the redundant win streak gauge might have morale impacting effects on certain players. The new cosmetics look amazing (Hey, Cyrenius, I vaguely remember that you were daydreaming about Vath's cloak. There it is in its swaggy glory along with a backup dagger). Looks like I have an orb to loot if I get into the mood once more (last time I was was when I back to back earned Engineer's Wings and Uragiri). The Ledgy Claw is still fine if I need CW to have dual ephemeral blades. Otherwise, a sphere of power for (slightly) lesser lag. The Sek staff completes the Inn Sek cosplay more (why do I have a feeling that his face might be a candidate for this year's trick or treat).

    For the newcomer monsters for extra ARRGHing, Teacher & Student are reasonable, InD might be a little too freaky, TBWM... keep Notha, and it'll be reasonable. The horrific combination of Frostscythe and Caitiff still reeks of Vietnam flashbacks.

    EDIT: now that Nythera is ARRGH-able, it made me recall something. Since guests are indefinitely banned in the Inn, can't her AoE skill be added somewhere in her rotation (e.g. replacing one of the instances where her autocrit book beam is used)?




    AstralCodex -> RE: =DF= October 1st Design Notes: Arena at the Edge of Time: A.A.R.G.H. Update! (10/2/2021 2:29:58)

    Despite no new Inn fight this week, it's a pretty meaty release! Thanks to the devs for all their hard work.

    I have a lot to say, so in order of design notes:

    quote:

    Aside from the placement change on the board in the Inn, the board will now show your accumulated Timewarped Medals and Timewarped Trophies inside your inventory or bank.


    The new placement is really good! I really like the new visual interface - it helps the buttons on the left look less lonely, while also providing useful information in the number of medals.

    quote:

    With an A.A.R.G.H. system update comes new rewards and challenges!

    A number of cosmetic rewards have been added to the A.A.R.G.H. rewards shop! Check the shop in-game for previews.


    I'm a big fan of the new cosmetics - there's been 11 total at 25 medals each, or 275 medals total. My favorite is the book, because we finally, finally got a book weapon to go with the Student class.

    Also, Verly said on Discord that he's increasing the cap on Timewarped Medals to 125, which I think is a super welcome change - you can now get Uragiri in a single go!

    quote:

    The following challenges have been added to the A.A.R.G.H. system's selection pool:

    Warlic, the Blue Mage
    Nythera, the Half-Void Dragon
    Frostcythe and Glaisaurus
    Vilmor and Cryozen
    Mega Fluffy Tog
    The AdventureFiend
    Sek-Duat, the Eternal
    Noxus, Claw of the Necropolis
    Notha, Bane of Destiny
    Uaanta, Avatar of the Makers


    Based on first impressions, Warlic and The Adventure Fiend are definitely doable, Nythera, Sek, Noxus, and Notha might be doable with more work, Uaanta is doable if you feel lucky, while FrostScythe and Tog are clear skips unless you're going for a long streak.

    I'm also very happy that neither SMUDD nor Draco made it onto the list. That being said, I'm sad that none of the Lords of Chaos and none of the Baleful Brothers were added. Discordia and Ledgermayne would've been cool additions of about average difficulty, while the Baleful Brothers (individually) would be nice easy inclusions to counterbalance the harder ones we got with the last two AARGH updates. As is, it seems that AARGH is getting harder and harder on average (or, equivalently, has more and more skips) with every release, which indirectly punishes people who didn't farm Uragiri/cap Timewarped Trophies before the updates.

    I think one problem with doing AARGH updates so frequently (and then excluding some of the easier bosses to boot) is that doing AARGH feels the same every update. There were ~50 random bosses with AARGH before this update, now there are 60, which means that only about 1 in 6 of the fights we encounter are new. Contrast this to the last update, where the pool of bosses was almost doubled! Even though the low Timewarped Medal Cap means you have to do AARGH after every update to get the cosmetics, the 'feel' of AARGH doesn't really change by adding 10 bosses to a 50 boss pool, especially when players will probably skip some of the more RNG heavy bosses like Uaanta and Frostscythe or the really tedious Tog boss.

    quote:

    Next up, Reforged ChronoZ has been completed!

    ...

    ChronoZ has had a couple of adjustments.

    Fixed a bug where a certain combo did more damage than intended.
    ChronoZ's "Blink" skill CD reduced to 17, from 34.


    I'm happy that another Rare Calendar has been reforged, making it more accessible. In terms of the impact of the Blink CD Re-reduction (it went from 34 -> 16 -> 34 -> 17) and the Bow -> Blade bugfix/nerf (it went from 433% average to 216% average), I think the net power level of CZ is actually slightly higher even though the DPT has been slightly decreased. This is because the CD reduction helps you bring your shield around more quickly, letting you reliably shield bosses with 6 turn nuke cycles. It also feels better to play, as the Blink double turns/CD reduction is a fun mechanic!

    Note that you now do Blade > Blast > Blast for Focus combo, instead of Bow -> Blade -> Blast, as the former is more damage.

    quote:

    The color custom Fancy Witch's Hat is the first hat to not replace your hair! Instead, it will layer on top of it. This might look odd with some hairstyles, but it will also look really good with other options!

    The Radiant Shimmer trinket is also available!

    This trinket gives your character a shining aura, and has a skill that grants 25 Boost in exchange for your Avoidance.

    Also, the Bloodfarer Gear has returned!


    I haven't had time to play around with the Witch's Hat, but it looks cool! I'm excited to fashion with it over different hair styles, and excited to see both the good and the odd.

    The Radiant Shimmer trinket is a functional rerelease of the rare You Are Here trinket, which is welcome! There's not really a use for it right now, but it's nice that such a unique effect is now in wider distribution. I also really like the shining aura, especially since it's CC to the player's trim.

    Also, this wasn't in the design notes, but the previously rare Scythe of the Unhallowed has also returned. As with the You Are Here trinket, it's not really a power house in its own right, but it's a unique effect (it's a +Boost on hit special that applies the turn you proc it), and it's nice that it's been rereleased.

    Overall, it's a really meaty release, and I enjoyed it! Thanks again to the staff for the amount of effort they clearly put into this week's release.




    mahasamatman -> RE: =DF= October 1st Design Notes: Arena at the Edge of Time: A.A.R.G.H. Update! (10/3/2021 11:56:49)

    The trinket is very, very weak.

    25% boost for 5 turns inclusive is 4 turns in practice, which means 100% total damage, which is the damage of a regular attack you could make instead without losing avoidance.

    Sure, it can give 25% boost to a 200% damage attack, but overall it's still very weak, with a serious downside.
    One solution is to include an attack in the trinket's skill, like normal Boost skills.

    Another option is to make the skill give you an extra turn (like a very weak version on CW's Gambit).

    As is, I can't really see any reason to ever use this.




    Laeon val Observis -> RE: =DF= October 1st Design Notes: Arena at the Edge of Time: A.A.R.G.H. Update! (10/3/2021 18:14:35)

    ^
    quote:

    One solution is to include an attack in the trinket's skill, like normal Boost skills.

    You might wanna redefine that, as there are skills that boost stats without attacking, and that does include Boost.

    Another thing to note is you underestimate how decisive extra turns/actions are. There's a reason why Archi is in the watchlist since chrono reforgings began. UWE got the hammer by becoming increasingly "exposed" as a battle drags on since it can conserve Momentum better than its other Epochs, thus keeping its access to extra turns crazy. DBE is bursty, requiring a serious amount of time to rearm its extra turn. Base Epoch, EE, and Dubstepoch require you to pay your precious Momentum to load their extra turns. CW exposes you a lot and costs you a Soulthread, a resource that takes ages to reacquire once its nukes are used. DK locks you into either offense or defense unless you're willing to lose the DoT or Hot you just imposed. Ranger is balanced by the fact that you're foregoing defense for offense to maintain the full power of Focus. All in all, extra turns/actions should be locked to classes instead of placing it into a trinket skill.

    Finally, it is a trinket skill. You're probably still on a high in using power classes, prolly due to maining CW. Let me uncloud your judgement for a bit. By virtue of being a trinket skill, it will be subject to even greater balance impositions than class skills since all foot (non-Dragonrider) classes could use them, most commonly long CDs and low to average effects. Perhaps the only thing I see here that's overkill is the MPM debuff. Maybe lowering it to the range of 50-100 would make it appealing. Plus, to support @Astral's analogy of Shimmer as a modernized You Are Here, you are flashing an aura so long as it's equipped to the point that to the perspective of enemies, you're disclosing your position no matter how good your defensive posture is.




    AstralCodex -> RE: =DF= October 1st Design Notes: Arena at the Edge of Time: A.A.R.G.H. Update! (10/4/2021 2:01:25)

    Re: the power level of Shimmer. It's clearly intended to be a modern rerelease of You Are Here, and thus has the exact same effect. I agree that it probably doesn't have a real use for most classes, and *especially* not for Chaosweaver, which already stacks +Boost like crazy.

    In terms of why I don't think Verly made it much stronger, I think it relates to the modern design philosophy for both DC items and Trinkets. Instead of being pure power spikes, modern DF (in the last two years especially) has tried to make DC items optional sidegrades to NDC items. Similarly, Trinkets are supposed to be balanced so their skills have occasional niche use, instead of dominating and being used across many classes. You can see this with the Uaanta Blasters or The Corrupted Seven, which are unarguably the strongest trinkets made by Verly. These Trinkets are good primarily because of good base stats, and their effects have occasional niche use but are generally worse than using your class as is.

    After thinking about it for a few minutes, the main use case of the Trinket is to stack Boost for Nuke turns to pass burst thresholds - for example, it can be combined with DoomKnight's Favor Inner Combo to kill things 10% larger in a single turn, or it can be combined with Archivist or BSW for ~20% more damage on their nukes. So while the power level might be a bit on the low side, I think it's achieved its primary goal of providing an occasional niche use, while not being meta warping.

    (It certainly has more use than the Aya/Roktoru EX trinkets from the Conduit Board, lol.)

    (Oh, and the Trinket's Shimmer effect is pretty unique, and can provide cool fashion opportunities.)

    I agree with Laeon that giving it an extra turn is too good, because it would then become a +25 boost on every single class nuke. This amounts to a massive power spike for classes that have high base damage but low boost nuke turns like DoomKnight, Baltael Soulweaver, or Archivist (lol). It's also just free damage across the board, and will become a staple across many classes. This would go against the aforementioned philosophy of trinkets and paid items being niche add ons.




    mahasamatman -> RE: =DF= October 1st Design Notes: Arena at the Edge of Time: A.A.R.G.H. Update! (10/17/2021 6:39:59)

    Yeah, ok, I went overboard with the extra turn suggestion.

    Still, for the price you pay to use it, and the opportunity cost (using it instead of another trinket), it seems more like a joke item than a niche one.




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