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Review: Greataxe + Cloth armor

Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 2:29 pm
by Soullessktty
So, this is a build to test how good offensive actor condtions in fighting. You will see in the list of equipment and skills of Axello the Executioner, thus the name of the hero.

I attached the stats below so I don't have to re-type everything. He is currently level 32 Hero.

Skills:
  • Lvl.4 Dodge
  • Lvl.1 Increase Fortitude
  • Lvl.2 Evasion
  • Lvl.1 Taunt
  • Lvl.1 Axe proficiency
  • Lvl.1 Unarmored fighting
Worn equipment:
  • Head: Enhanced green hat (I've got no choice for cloth armor, plus it gives DR +1)
  • Torso: Robe of the Sublimate
  • Neck: Jewel of Fallhaven (I need this until I gain extra 8 levels which can give me Level 2 Combat Speed)
  • Weapon: Greataxe of shattered hope
  • Fingers: Ring of the protector x2 (for BC), sometimes switch one of them to Polished ring of backstabbing or Villain's ring
  • Hand: Feline gloves (for AC)
  • Feet: Feline shoes (for AC)
The idea is to land several offensive actor conditions onto the opponent:
  • Taunt (skill): 75% chance of -2 AP when the opponent missed an attack.
  • Confusion (Robe of the Sublimate): 20% chance for 2 rounds lowering max AP by 1 (bonus: AC -10)
  • Minor fatigue (Greataxe of shattered hope): 20% chance for 3 rounds increasing attack cost by 2 AP (bonus: Dmg -1, Mv cost +2 AP)
Let's say the opponent has 10 AP, get tauntted and received Confusion and Minor fatigue
  • with attack cost of 5 AP (2 attacks per round): it will only have total 7 AP with each attack cost of 7 AP, one attacked missed caused taunt, so no more attack at the current round
  • with attack cost of 4 AP (2 attacks per round): it will only have total 7 AP with each attack cost of 6 AP, one attacked missed caused taunt, so no more attack at the current round
  • with attack cost of 3 AP (3 attacks per round): it will only have total 7 AP with each attack cost of 5 AP, one attacked missed caused taunt, so no more attack at the current round
  • with attack cost of 2 AP (5 attacks per round): it will only have total 7 AP with each attack cost of 4 AP, one attacked missed caused taunt, so no more attack at the current round
An opponent with attack cost of 8 or more, if affected by Confusion and Minor fatigue, will not have a chance to hit at any round at all, even without Taunt.

Each skills in and of itself are nice but not deal breaker in fighting. However, in theory, when an opponent received all actor conditions, he/she will not be able to attack after Taunt, or at least hitting less. The idea is to cripple the opponent's ability to attack (one of the major strategy in martial arts).

However, apparently it doesn't work the way I expected. All three actor conditions help just a little, but it still not at par compare to my other builds. I spend a lot of meat and regular potion of health (both from farming) in order to survive any battles. I have to admit, it is very satisfying seeing the opponent being affected by Confusion and Minor fatigue, and then by Taunt when s/he misses the first hit.

Hence, my conclusion:
  • Actor condition is nice to have, but it never can be dependable(keyword: CHANCE). It spices up the fight, but you can live without. You CANNOT LIVE WITH ONLY, even when combining several actor conditions.
  • Being unarmored, but not going all out as monk, is worse than being a monk. So, unarmored is not for non-monk.
I am not saying I don't enjoy playing this build. It's fun and challanging, but at the end of the day, the way I see it, don't do any build around, or based on, actor conditions. Unless you like a challange. I barely survive the Zortaks in order to get the Greataxe, and died trying to get to Morkin to grind some levels. I may keep leveling Axello to level 40 to get level 2 combat speeds to see if it helps at all.

Comments away! I love to hear some ideas, advices, or experience in building similar build.

Re: Review: Greataxe + Cloth armor

Posted: Fri Dec 18, 2020 11:55 pm
by rijackson741
I agree. The conditions are nice to have, but they are the icing on the cake, not the cake.

Re: Review: Greataxe + Cloth armor

Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2020 6:06 am
by Osho
Make the actor condition an ability to pick and upgrade. Equipments impose restrictions and limitations on them. It's an unexplored territory. The moment developers open up the actor conditions for use in general then i amsure the gamep6 will be become more interesting with a lot of conditions still out of access in normal course of the game. Conditions has the potential to provide a mage-like specialists playthrough.

Re: Review: Greataxe + Cloth armor

Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2020 2:52 pm
by Soullessktty
The point of my review is not to change the game. It is to show what we can or cannot do with what is given in the game.

As far as I can tell, the actor conditions is okay at the current condition. I understand that there is a danger where actor conditions may cause major imbalance in the game, i.e. overpowering the heroes. As mentioned by rijackson741, it is the icing of the cake. If the cake is good, the icing will enhance the flavor of the cake. If the icing becomes the main course, the cake will be left out of the dish.

Re: Review: Greataxe + Cloth armor

Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2020 5:23 pm
by rijackson741
We will not make major changes to the way the game works without an exceptionally good reason. The chances that it will unbalance the game are too high.

Re: Review: Greataxe + Cloth armor

Posted: Mon Dec 21, 2020 5:10 am
by Osho
Soullessktty wrote: Sun Dec 20, 2020 2:52 pm ..may cause major imbalance in the game, i.e. overpowering the heroes
These worries are misplaced. I could list many things already feel overpowered (to some extent) yet doesn't seem to be the case, like buying all 50 bonemeal potions at one time, but having only 1 condition to pick and choose to upgrade over time could result in balancing issues, or overpower the player?

Terms like overpowering, balancing issues are applicable only when the change favours the player beyond what his / her capabilities will be allowed to influence the game system that dramatically reduces the challenge and/or role playing situations that are a result of his / her actions.

In case of actor conditions -- I don't see how picking any condition and turn it into an innate ability with experience is any different than picking any stat to your liking, and thendecide to spend experience points into it?

If I decide to focus on purely damage and wear all the stuff and carry all the potions to boost it further then I feel overpowered too. Let's remove all those items then? Change their base values and impose more restrictions on when, how and what towear, and carry at any given level?

Just let the player decide! If it thinks it's making the gameplay overpowering then it would avoid such actions, or simply enjoy the same - if it wants to feel overpowered in certain situations to take advantage of the outcome!

I can understand if the team is small and lacks resources for more complex changes to game systems and design to fully materialise, but please, overpowering or balancing issues should not become a convenient excuse to resist any change that would otherwise help to make the game much better and interesting.

Re: Review: Greataxe + Cloth armor

Posted: Tue Dec 22, 2020 1:24 am
by rijackson741
You misunderstand what balancing is. It means that of the numerous choices available, there is no clear winner, which every player then takes.