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QuadForce: A second look.

 
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3/22/2021 15:07:25   
  Lorekeeper
And Pun-isher

 

Following an internal discussion to check in on the state of QuadForce, I'd like to bring up the subject with the community.

We're aware that the item is overpowered. Nerfs that increased its toggle costs haven't effectively contained the issue, in no small part because of the broken interactions with such items as Essence Orb, Purple Rain, Essence Orb, Haunted/Eclipsed Dragonlord weapons, and Essence Orb. (My wit is truly boundless) Particularly when the stats to make said weapons effective can be gained from Quadforce in the firstplace.

Rather than simply suggest a fix on the spot, I'd like to keep an open discussion for a while to evaluate community feedback... As about the only near-universal theme I've noticed is the notion that the item has too much going for it and its base functionality never should have existed. That's a bitter pill, but let's see how we can work with it. A less universal but still overwhelming majority consensus appears to be that its ability to set a stat (let alone multiple) to 250 remains a contradiction to any efforts to improve build identity.

However, beyond this point, feedback is very divided on how it could actually be reined in.

Ideas fall into one of two categories; suggestions to alter functionality but keep the main concept (Themselves divided between complete changes and changes to the cost dynamic) as well as ideas that give a different functionality to the same aesthetic, interface, and style. I've noted ideas such as:

  • Compounding costs per additional boost so as to prevent overreliance on multiple stats.
  • Hard limits on how many boosts can be active simultaneously, or how long they can be active for.
  • Making each option a separate stat boost, effectively making the misc a 'build your own stat boost' item.
  • Making each option a different effect, akin to Bag of Nuts (Note that as effectively making four spells would be the most involving kind of suggestion, this has a caveat on its plausibility and potential timing)

    What are your opinions on how the item could be reined in while still being fun?

    < Message edited by Cray -- 3/22/2021 15:12:58 >
  • Post #: 1
    3/22/2021 15:25:21   
    CHAIML
    Member

    Perhaps I'm being naive about this, but why does an "overpowered" item have to be a concern?

    It's not like we battle each other.

    We all exist in our own little space in Battleon, don't we?
    AQ MQ  Post #: 2
    3/22/2021 16:00:04   
    J9408
    Member

    ^It is for the sake of "standard".

    If there is no Standard, item abilities can spiral out of control. People can abuse this and arguments on whether items are fair or unfair will arise. There has to be a set standard.

    Regarding Cray post...

    quote:

    Hard limits on how many boosts can be active simultaneously, or how long they can be active for.


    I think a boost cap is a great idea.

    It is something everyone is familiar with.

    As for item lore, "You need to charge more Power!". Something like that.

    < Message edited by J9408 -- 3/22/2021 16:03:54 >
    Post #: 3
    3/22/2021 16:47:56   
    Macho Man
    Member

    Well speaking as someone who doesn't have a pure build, I love the ability to get DEX up to 250 so I can hit something once in a while. Ever since the stat update that raised the cap to 250, most of the non-pure builds got nerfed so hard. I'm not saying that we should make this item the solution but if QF does change I hope it's around the same time we get the stat balance that we need.

    I do agree with the idea of making the costs much higher if you try to stack multiple stats. Or maybe take some HP from us saying that the QF is getting too unstable for having multiple toggles on at once.

    EDIT: Also with the idea of balancing with a singleplayer game, when mages could one shot bosses because they had OP setups it forced the devs to make statuses like clawback and boss boosts to counter stuns. But this also affected other builds that weren't so strong. So standard balance is always the way to go imo.

    < Message edited by Macho Man -- 3/22/2021 17:54:14 >
    AQ DF MQ AQW Epic  Post #: 4
    3/22/2021 17:14:58   
      Lorekeeper
    And Pun-isher

     

    On the matter of why balance still matters in single player, here's an excerpt from an explanation about it in the context of Chieftain's Ironthorn's changes:

    quote:

    The single player nature of the game does not remove the importance of balance. That the gameplay choices of any given player do not directly impact the gameplay experiences of others does not alter the fact that development choices affect the experience of all players. Consistent balance is essential to the continuation of the game, for reasons including, but far from limited to:

  • The value of all player experiences. Arbitrary choices and exceptions made for the sake of the preferences of a few detract from the experiences of the others and curtail future development.
  • The integrity of our word as developers. Contradictory standards and arbitrary exceptions invalidate all reasons we may give for future adjustments. Players could (And rightly, one might add) point at any decisions we take and consider them moot on the grounds of inconsistency with other arbitrary choices. Balance is not something one takes piecemeal, especially only where it's easy or non-controversial to implement.
  • The range of possibilities for future development. The existence of overpowered items inherently curtails the development of all future items that may be measured against them. In contrast, underpowered items are inherently unsatisfying, especially when not every individual item can be so elaborate as to have appeal beyond its primary use. %melee costs for effects increase the more that an item has going for it, making hedging the value of items that would measure up to arbitrary exceptions an exercise in spending additional effort for something that players are likely to be turned away by the drawbacks of.
  • Post #: 5
    3/22/2021 18:20:20   
    battlesiege15
    Member

    Maybe have a cap on how times it can be used in battle?

    Or maybe use it to reallocate your stats similar to that Drakelcube misc? So if you want to be "Mighty," it will take all your stats and then split it 4 ways with an average amount in each?
    AQ AQW  Post #: 6
    3/22/2021 19:01:08   
    Deaf of Destiny
    Member

    no need i dont have any issue with this. thats kind of not nuke. cuz of long stratgery
    Post #: 7
    3/22/2021 19:14:42   
    OG Ranger
    Member
     

    You could make only one stat toggleable per battle. So if you pick wisdom you can't re-equip and choose courage. And you can't stack the stat boosts.

    Or just make each toggle once per battle. Or a couple times per day.

    Also, get rid of the light resistance and the Luk boost.



    < Message edited by OG Ranger -- 3/24/2021 5:02:01 >
    AQ  Post #: 8
    3/22/2021 19:24:32   
    ruleandrew
    Member
     

    Hard limits on how many boosts (QuadForce) can be active simultaneously is the best way to keep power in check.
    AQ  Post #: 9
    3/22/2021 21:08:32   
    LUPUL LUNATIC
    Member
     

    I am personally a more fan of :
    quote:

    Making each option a different effect, akin to Bag of Nuts (Note that as effectively making four spells would be the most involving kind of suggestion, this has a caveat on its plausibility and potential timing)


    And i think there is possible for an effect that replaces said stat and be also thematic with that said stat. Making them once per battle/1 effect at a time for balancing as well. For example:

    quote:


    Hypercritical(only player)/Fragile imbue(or other thematic effects that fit it) [old STR]
    Auto-hit(including pets/guests) [old DEX]
    Status Potency [old CHA]
    Spell imbue [old INT]


    Yes it would take some time especially for spell imbue/other imbues but it would have some flavor instead of being just a generic choose your stat to boost it +50 points kinda misc.
    AQ  Post #: 10
    3/23/2021 0:34:54   
    Primate Murder
    Member

    Ok, I'm probably missing something, but can somebody explain, in layman's terms, why Q4 is considered to be so overpowered?
    AQ DF  Post #: 11
    3/23/2021 1:38:22   
    Mortus Est
    Member

    It's overpowered because it's a MC light misc with -50% incoming light damage, +20% to your damage and +50 luck.

    Yep, looks like a mastercrafted misc.



    ...then for no reason whatsoever it grants maximum offensive stats on top of all the above and because SP control was thrown out the window the cost of getting so much out of one misc is a joke
    AQ DF  Post #: 12
    3/23/2021 1:52:30   
    ruleandrew
    Member
     

    250 DEX represent 18.75 bonus to hit plus 31.25 extra combat defence. 250 DEX cost is 234 sp per turn.

    New Year's Surprise 2021 provide 80 bonus to hit (spread over 5 turns). New Year's Surprise 2021 cost is 521 sp per turn.

    Can you see the problem with QuadForce.

    ---
    Easy fix for now:
    Misc shall not exceed 150 points of stat gain from one misc. Note that 5 INT plus 5 STR count as 5 points of stat gain.

    ---
    QuadForce treatment (level 150) for stat boost:
    Player can only boast STR, INT, DEX or CHA to 100 for a certain sp cost.

    < Message edited by ruleandrew -- 3/24/2021 2:57:33 >
    AQ  Post #: 13
    3/23/2021 4:59:42   
    Nameless King
    Member

    No offense Mortus but that doesn't seem to be overpowered?Might just be me so don't take my word to heart~If it's like -99% or -100%%(hehe boiiiiiii) incoming light damage,50% to 100% boost to your damage and 100 to 200 luck then i might consider it overpowered~Afterall,I ain't fighting any players with this misc so it is quite balance~Again,that is just my opinion on this so please don't get mad~Also,excuse me for my broken english ma dude
    Post #: 14
    3/23/2021 5:51:11   
    Mortus Est
    Member

    -50% light, 20% damage and +50 luck isn't the problem. Other mastercrafted miscs do similar things.

    It's the second effect where it can add +250 to Str, Int, Dex, Cha.

    That's a massive difference over any other misc in the game.
    AQ DF  Post #: 15
    3/23/2021 5:55:53   
    Veleqwii_Fox
    Member

    What if the stat boosts get nerfed to +150 or +200? How's that sound?
    Post #: 16
    3/23/2021 7:56:38   
    Armsman
    Member

    You could nix the stat boosts entirely and alter the 4 modes to different buffs instead. Wisdom could be a BTH/MRM increase, Power could increase the item's damage buff, Courage could give a bonus to certain saves, and Moxie could increase status potency. There's probably more unique ways to take this idea, but the misc would retain versatility without being problematic.
    AQ  Post #: 17
    3/23/2021 8:47:08   
    LUPUL LUNATIC
    Member
     

    quote:

    It's overpowered because it's a MC light misc with -50% incoming light damage, +20% to your damage and +50 luck.

    Yep, looks like a mastercrafted misc.



    ...then for no reason whatsoever it grants maximum offensive stats on top of all the above and because SP control was thrown out the window the cost of getting so much out of one misc is a joke


    The Mastercraft bonus for this misc is used on skill compression (aka the 4 skills) in case it wasn't clear enough. And yes MC on skill compression is a very big problematic MC because it can allow even 10 or 20 skills to be tied to a single item(see Strawberry Shieldcake/Cake Pet or the recent Cherub armor), the MC only adds the ability for said item to compress skills it is not an indicator on how many skills said item can have at maximum. There is no MC spent on skill compression = 1 skill idea. The number is purely arbitrary and usually comes from design perspectives.
    AQ  Post #: 18
    3/23/2021 8:50:05   
    Mortus Est
    Member

    If this is actually meant to be balanced to the level of other miscs then I feel half of it should be binned.

    How does the balance budget allow it to be [a strong light misc] (isn't it the strongest light misc?) and at the same time also [a generically strong stat maxing misc] when either of those could stand on their own.

    Also less power and/or more restrictions on being able to be another class mid battle. If SP isn't a real cost anymore then some other penalty.

    Also also, the trend of allowing ever more powerful buffs with zero turn costs itself is a power creeping plague. If as above SP isn't a real cost anymore and there's no turn costs then it's basically free isn't it.
    AQ DF  Post #: 19
    3/23/2021 18:54:35   
    Bao Zi
    Member

    I would like it to turn back into how it was before or stay as it is. Why are we making suggestions on how to break a new toy?
    AQ  Post #: 20
    3/23/2021 22:24:32   
    RobynJoanne
    Member
     

    @Mortus Est
    Quadforce actually isn't unprecedented. As Lupul Lunatic said, its MC is spent on the skill to boost stats to 250. Windter Crown has very similar effects, and its MC is spent on skill compression: Murderkillosity. Unless Windter Crown should also lose half of its effects, Quadforce should not lose its skill compression. I don't think anyone claims that Windter Crown is overpowered.

    The issue is that Quadforce's skill to boost stats is completely unprecedented and unrestricted. There is the fairly obvious issue with the interaction with SP regen items and PR, but it's also overly centralizing. Quadforce single-handedly makes the notion of builds irrelevant. At the very least, we should have limits on the number of boosts active at once and the number of times we can use Quadforce's effect in a battle. I personally believe this effect to be unhealthy for the game even with limits since it heavily punishes players who missed out on this permanently rare item, but having 4 other effects like Bag of Nuts is not exactly the ideal solution either. It's not fair to other players for the staff to spend this much time on a rare item.
    Post #: 21
    3/24/2021 1:04:15   
    Silver Horn
    Member

    I would like to suggest that Quad Force be turned into a Stat Swapping misc!

    Only allowing you to boost one stat to 250 is still too strong and breaks the 750 player stat cap. Meanwhile, reducing the stats it gives to +50 turns it into a generic stat misc.

    Therefore, I propose that Quad Force allows us to still boost a stat to 250, but takes away 250 of your stats from somewhere else. For example, a Pure Warrior with 250STR/DEX/LUK can move their 250LUK into CHA and thus become a Beastmaster mid-battle. If you want to have 250 in another stat area, you have to sacrifice another stat in return. Most importantly, this does not break the 750 player stat cap.

    Quad Force is just a reference to Tri-Force so it doesn't necessarily need to be limited to 4 stats. I would like it to be able to swap between all 6 stats categories freely. Of course with some kind of SP cost involved but not too much since you are not gaining any extra stats after all. This idea also retains the flexibility that Quad Force currently offers to 0 DEX builds. For example, a Werepyre Hyrbid build will be able to use other armours by moving their STR or INT to DEX instead.

    Lastly, I propose that the LUK boost, Light res and +20% damage from the misc be removed so that it provides no additional benefits. It will be a pure Stat Swapping misc.

    I believe this to be the best alternative to what we currently have aside from a complete redesign.



    < Message edited by Silver Horn -- 3/24/2021 1:09:55 >
    Post #: 22
    3/24/2021 3:40:18   
    Mike Dragonblade
    Member

    In resume: Change the CHA boost to LUCK or END.

    While purple rain and EO allow the Q4 to be use for extended periods of time, let me propose that is not the problem. But rather the power Q4 provides, on a specific stat.

    There are four points I would like you to consider.

    1.- what is Q4 real application in the players hand? As far as I have heard most people use it for very specific things:

    A. Boost DEX on werepyre to be able to have more equipment variety;

    B. Boost CHA so poelala/Dunamis/Therna can give its full 100% bonus instead of their 75% that a pure build would get currently.

    Only on theory I have heard of people using Q4 to go from mage to warrior and viceversa, or from pure build to beastmaster build. And no one that isnt doing it for the meme is rolling 250 END/LUCK/DEX to boost STR, INT, CHA for the ultimate Werepyre Beastmaster!

    So on principle, is it really that bad of a thing if its useful for werepyre so they can use other stuff and booster pets user can squeeze that 25% extra for SP, maybe is not, but the SP cost should be apropiate. (AND I am sure someone else will be able to calculate how much exactly should the SP Cost be).

    2.- The theme and identity of the item: beyond the triforce reference, when most people think about Quadforce they aren't really thinking I need light resistance, +50 Luck and some good +20% universal dmg boost, are they? I think not, on the contrary Quadforce is all about the 250 stat boost to up to 4 stats, and only at a second thought do the other stuff comes to mind.

    As such, the light resistance, the +50 luck and the +20% dmg universally can be thought up as extras. Maybe there is a precedent for miscs with those benefits, but there is no misc like Quadforce. Removing them could be a good choice to reduce the power of the item, that is, if its truly necessary.


    3.- the actual power or value that Q4 brings:

    If you look at the info subs for this misc it will tell you that the light res, the +50 luck and +20% dmg are the misc and "AS A MC" it has a stat boost. This MC is equivalent to being able to bring up to 1000 stats (for SP), while other items get MC +5% dmg. Sure some MC give suppression but seems like a bit much (hence this discussion).

    But what is actually the power that Q4 gives to the player? As was said earlier most players aren't going for the ultimate Werepyre Beastmaster!

    So a pure mage/warrior would have 250 INT or STR, 250 DEX, 250 LUCK and 0 END, CHA and whichever isnt choosen from STR and INT. So:

    i) Q4 currently cannot bost END, so thats not an issue.

    ii) Q4 could be used to boost INT/STR when its 0 for a warrior or mage respectively, but why would you do that? A lot of the armors and weapons people use now a days are usable at their fullest by both mages and warrior, so you would get the same results anyways.

    Even if you were, for example mage and you boosted STR for 250 so you could use a specific melee weapon, you wouldn't really be that much more powerful for it (even it melee weapons do more dmg than magic ones):

    A. because you would pay SP for it, which could be used to do a skill for way more dmg with your normal set up.

    B. because for most weapons there isnt any benefit to have both INT AND STR, just a look at the game formulas, INT and STR don't interact at all on "bonus core stat dmg" (even for weapon-like and spell-like abilities).

    C. And you would have to sacrifice inventory slots for items you could only use with quadforce locking you out of other miscs and other weapons you can already use to the fullest. Even werepyres get a special formula that uses both INT and STR but it should not be that much stronger than normal pure builds burst.

    What I mean to say there isnt much power to be gained from boosting the stat that was not chosen to be the primary stat (at leadt when compared to the power your real build has), it mostly go be more flexible on your items choices (for weapons thst can only be of one type or skills that can only do one type of dmg Mele/range/magic).

    iii) Then there is CHA, theorically you could boost your CHA and get a beastmaster pet to do more dmg, how much I do not know exactly but I seen it be said that CHA/INT/STR give the player grossly round 50% more dmg in stat dmg. Regardless of the fact, that I havent heard of people doing this, it is quite possible without changing any of the classic pure build set up (that has 1 pet, the booster one).

    But more importantly, the booster pet users get to nullify, for a some SP cost, the nerf to the booster pets. The nerf I am mentioning was that INT/STR/DEX no longer gave 100% of the boost, rather only 75% of the old boost comes from the primary stat while the other 25% would come from the CHA stats. And anybody can correct on this one if I am wrong, but as far as I can tell at lvl 150, the poelala pet + guest 25% CHA based damage boost should be equivalent to a total of +21%(ish) dmg for weapon dmg.

    I remember reading that this decision was made so booster pure builds Characters didnt replace the CHA stat completely with a booster pet, and yet with Q4 that is possible since you get the full 250 CHA.

    That being said being able to use an item to its fullest shouldnt be a bad thing on its own.

    But what it is bad its that CHA boosting actually powers up the player in a way that other stats dont, the boost that CHA gives can go as far +50%(ish) extra dmg potential with beastmaster pets or about +21%(ish) dmg from the booster pet synergy (which also synergyze even more with FO burst skills and EO, Purple rain).

    iv) Extra: A Werepyre build getting full 250 DEX means that they can use other equipment, normal equipment mind you, and be able to hit stuff like any normal build can, its not really a power up but a flexibility buff. Also, they get a good Bth bonus and Bonus to block, which can be done in several other ways in any case.

    4.- As you can see the real spike in power only really comes from the CHA boost, because the other boosts dont really give more power, just more flexibility. In fact, if we add up the +20% universal dmg boost plus the +21%(ish) dmg boost from poelala/dunamis/therdna and lets say +2% from the additive +50 LUCK. This single misc give the main nuker pure build a total of +43%(ish) more dmg that can synergyze with burst ele comp equipment to make even more dmg. Or +20% dmg boost to the player and a +50% extra dmg from beastmaster pets (so 70% ish boost without the mentioned synergyzes).

    Even if 40% more dmg is strong. The issue is that this spike in power doesn't happen with when boosting other stats, because the game formulas don't touch each other (unlike the booster pets ones) or because the player is already doing what the stat change would allow them, just with a different equipment (ie magic weapon rather than melee weapons), so even if there are good benefits to boosting other skills, the power gained is just not that significant.

    Thats why my main suggestion is to change the CHA boost to either END or LUCK, because even if both new stats give their own advantages, those are not comparable to the % that CHA does (ie LUCK boost would not affect iniciative for example, and that is a big drawing point for LUCK).

    The SP cost can always be adjusted and the extra stuff can come and go(+20% universal dmg, light res and +50 LUCK), but these things will not change the power spikes of Quadforce like changing the CHA boost does.

    And booster pets characters dont even get truly isnt a nerf, game just goes back to the 75% boost that the devs decided a 0 cha character should get out of a booster pet. Well, if there were people who wanted to use beastmaster pets with Q4 (which I havent heard of) they wont be able to though.

    This proposal would kept Quadforce basically the same in terms of theme and function, but the power spike would be drastically reduced, while still allowing for drastic build flexibility. THAT being said a bigger SP could always be considered and tweaked upon and if the power Q4 is still too much, the extras can be removed with no harm to its theme and Function.


    Thanks for reading! And sorry for the long post.



    < Message edited by Mike Dragonblade -- 3/24/2021 4:20:10 >
    AQ DF  Post #: 23
    3/24/2021 5:19:27   
    icetears
    Member

    I think quadforce is fine for what it is. Honestly I haven’t been using it much since released. It’s nice to boost cha for booster pets but I still find myself using blood contract more as it has no cost.

    Post #: 24
    3/24/2021 9:34:07   
    sunblaze
    Member

    I have to agree with icetears. Since I already play beastmage/hybrid pretty much all I need is STR for ranged attacks. all other stats are covered anyway.
    Other things like moglord crown or blood contract are way more useful in the longrun compared to a light misc, damageboost with hidden stat-boosts.

    But those might not be as good for nuke builds that may be true. And that is imho the more pressing problem then a misc that does more then double of what is should do.



    quote:

    I would like to suggest that Quad Force be turned into a Stat Swapping misc!

    Only allowing you to boost one stat to 250 is still too strong and breaks the 750 player stat cap. Meanwhile, reducing the stats it gives to +50 turns it into a generic stat misc.

    Therefore, I propose that Quad Force allows us to still boost a stat to 250, but takes away 250 of your stats from somewhere else. For example, a Pure Warrior with 250STR/DEX/LUK can move their 250LUK into CHA and thus become a Beastmaster mid-battle. If you want to have 250 in another stat area, you have to sacrifice another stat in return. Most importantly, this does not break the 750 player stat cap.


    That is also an excellent suggestion. That actually is what I thought Quadforce is gonna be at first until I noticed it jsut ADDS not replaces stats.

    < Message edited by sunblaze -- 3/24/2021 9:38:08 >
    AQ  Post #: 25
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