Level 440 raid legend gears
Challenge Mode will be expanded to Stage 10
Challenge Mode: hard mode
ewww
combine it with the misrus dagger for infinite hot potato grenade tossing.
There are two philosophies of power, one that has the user as the source of power and uses tools to channel that power and one that has the power onto the tools and has the user as the channel. IMC chose the latter, power is given to equipment, character are a tool for that power to be extracted.
A terrible build with great equipment will be more powerful than a great build with bad equipment. I donât like that but it is consistent to the philosophy they adopted.
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They create content that you need to actually play the game to earn it, not from the freely leveling.
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Yes, I understand that. They need players to make a profit, but they can do it without needing items that âdoâ rework to make the class viable. Lepidoptera junction is a good example, itâs a difficult raid, the items have great effects and they donât fix the flaws that the IMC should fix with Reworks and buffs
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The problem with adopting this philosophy is when you have a powerful build with powerful artifacts. I agree that the philosophy is valid, but there are several classes that need a rework or SFR% (highlander is one of them) and will be âfixedâ with item.
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what if all class have the exact same total SFR/perfectly equally balanced? wont it be like early era of beat em arcade game where every char has the same dmg but just different skin?
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lol another one who doesnât have all the information and already wants to be sure of everything u.u who said that the IMC cannot buff the highlander among others in the future? unlike other weapons, the vaivoras have the characteristic of focusing on a specific class as with several classes including some already very strong and as expected you totally ignore the role of each class in a build not all classes are designed to do the same damage as BB.
ToS had too many issues to address and too little people to handle it, there were a lot of questionable (and some just bad) decisions along the way and among all the patching they committed to some ground rules, this was one. I particularly think itâs a terrible way to handle, even for temporary fixes or just to pay the bills, cause down the line it will conflict with non-addressed issue and generate more problems than benefits.
Also, as matter of class balancing and design, they had visible problems from conceptual level (but less visible/impactful due other conditions) and it took 2.5y (iâm being really generous with that number) for IMC to acknowledge it. Then they shipped re:build with a promising initial state and never developed it further, taking another year or so to admit it didnât worked and that they have to rework classes that lack defined focus.
They announced that we wonât have any new class (aside Archer and Scout to even out) until they rework a decent amount of classes (not a word on which nor how many), it will happen, just not likely to be anytime soon.
The issue with class design isnât damage or performance, the really problem is lack of identity. We have many classes that have generic skill sets and can do everything and few to no classes that commit to a single game element, this results in players picking classes with the best swiss army knife package and mash them together (with one or other limitation due weapon restrictions). You know youâve messed up once Oracle (as a complete generalist support) does a better job as a defensive class than Paladin (reworked to be a dedicated defensive support class) and is forced to patch anything to it so it can at least have additional value, even when that goes completely out of the way from the defined identity.
Ohh yeah, you canât develop that many class identities without addressing how combat is handled first soâŚ
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there you are faced with the typical tos player there are several here in the forum that complain that they cannot make certain content with their favorite build and requires a âbalanceâ for this, breaking any intention to create any âidentityâ for the classes since for a lot if the class doesnât have a huge skill factor itâs worthless no matter what their role is in the game
what I mean is that thereâs no way you can create something unique if the only thing most people care about is how fast it can do more damage
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First, iâd like to apologize for the amount of text iâm dumping, itâs just that this is a subject iâm quite passionate about.
From last time i played (which was about 3 or 4 months ago), the base combat structure never asked me to do anything outside playing my skills in the best rotation i could, rare would be the case i needed or would want a particular skill due a secondary effect or its raw execution (ex: bounce shot). The closest thing we have as an incentive to change playstyle are properties, but these these donât work for decision making cause.
A) You either end up focused on a single property type and cannot exploit others.
B) You have the option to exploit many properties but not enough skills and overheats to be reliable.
Thatâs why we need tactical elements that strip away some of the value of raw power and shake the classes tier list depending on context. You just need to create situations in which certain identities make the game easier than the standard âhit them with all you gotâ - achievable without it X class (or X identity type), significantly easier with it (and therefore faster).
A more visible example can be done in the old earth tower design and the survival floors, they could design a section of a raid in which itâs too costly and hard to take down enemies even if you have +40 weapons. This alone promotes heavy control classes and healers to make the challenge easier (as long as walking in circles doesnât nullify enemies completely), you may even want to take multiple and ensure that segment wonât fail in exchange of a harder boss fight or run the risk of redoing it and make the last battle easy.
My favorite design example is Musketeer. Itâs clear as day that they reworked the class to be specialized into single target damage, it can do multi target damage but that option is limited and not the reason players should pick it. When you pick musketeer you are committing to massive single target damage and becoming ineffective (in some degree) on any form of AoE combat, thatâs an interesting way to design. Now, the problem with that approach is that the content options for single target damage are limited and you donât have a consistent and reliable way to level with that identity (but thatâs a third unrelated problem).
The whole value of a system with multiple classes is to chose which trade-offs youâre willing to take in order to fulfill your goals, but the key here is trade-off, you sacrifice something in favor of something else. And surely, we can end up with a meta of generic type builds or heavy specialist, but at least at this point you are giving clear value to classes and a reason to play multiple builds (even from the same tree) but that doesnât exclude wild and wonky builds to succeed on what the player wants with it.
Class design isnât a simple subject, but it just has to, at least, answer two questions.
- What am i trying to achieve, in specifics (aka: identity)?
- Am i the best at doing it?
If you donât know the specifics of what youâre trying to achieve, youâll be either going for nothing or everything. Then, if you donât excel in what you try to do, someone else will. Classes without identity are forced to compete with all classes in its tree, and only a selected number can be at the top.
Now, here are just some of many identities that could be incorporated in game for Swordsman tree.
⢠Party Player - Gives value party and gains value from interacting with party.
⢠Bulls Eye - Auto targeting skills. Set up your aim with specific skills for long reach, but you donât get absolute control over who is targeted.
⢠Hornet - Hit and run.
⢠Gambler - Commit to your action, high risk on everything for massive reward.
⢠Goliath Slayer - Generate value based on how large the enemy is (size).
⢠Counter - React to direct enemy actions, gaining advantage.
⢠Bully - Build power towards a single unit by tormenting it.
⢠Juggernaut - Cannot be stopped.
⢠Prankster - Limit the enemy agency.
⢠Warden - Control enemy positioning.
Going for the traditional RPG roles, just as a tank you have as conventional options Juggernault, Prankster, Warden and Counter, with other viable options as Party Player, Goliath Slayer and Bully for more specialized content. A DPS build may aim for Bulls Eye and Gambler as core identities, it can finish the build with Hornet or Goliath Slayer, but it also has the option to go for Counter and Juggernault to compensate for Gambler in solo play, both being more into the aggressive spectrum of tanking. The option for full offense is available, but may require other classes from party members to support it.
Still⌠As much as i want to promote this idea and discussion, it is all pointless if the other game elements cannot support it. For identities to be valid we need a combat structure that supports it, and for it to be sustained we need monsters, maps and content designed for the whole gameplay experience circle.
PS: Thereâs also the issue regarding fantasy x identity x weapon compatibility, that one is almost impossible to solve but it can at least be handled by tuning the skill tree system (among many other options).
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I never said that the IMC would stop working in the classes, but that it is concentrating its efforts on weapons that âfixâ the classes, this should be done with rework and buffs and not with equipment. I know that Vaivoras equipment focuses on specific classes, but most effects should be passive. I Ignoring the role of each class in a complication? You are ignoring this friend ⌠you mentioned BB, so I will use it as an example:
The Highlanderâs role is DPS, ANY CLASS IN PLACE that gets better, if you do BBlader>Doppel>X (even for pvp). This sword will not replace Volcanic slash or Glacier in pve, in pvp it may be useful, but the highlander will still be bad âŚ
This comment only reinforces what I say, they must create this characteristic/identity of the class, and not of the weapons.
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Cross Guard Block Chance Effect â˛100%
Does this mean cross guard will always block/activate stagger debuff or that will increase the skill basic block chance, letâs say itâs 10% at lvl10, itâll go to 20%? If itâs the first option then man, Iâm happy for Highlander, but at the same time, itâs a shame that such buff will be only available for such rare&expensive weapon.
âconcentrating efforts on weaponsâ as if in every patch didnât come with dozens of buffs and balances or did you skip that part?
dps is very generic and it is obvious that the highlander does not have the same role as BB Highlander has many weak skills for spamming and stacking bonuses and effects (and yes they could increase a little) differently from BB that focuses more on a specific combo.
I find it interesting that everyone knows everything but everyone forgets the most important how most players behave, how many times have they come here to say that all classes should be able to do everything equally? It is very easy to come here to say that each class has to have identities however when the âidentityâ of your class is not enough to do something quickly, it is the first to complain, remembering that calling friends to enjoy your posts or writing better does not make you more correct.
I agree that this discussion is meaningless because everyone already knows what they think is correct even if contradicting themselves or being hypocritical.
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To be honest, I believe IMC is doing exactly that, but doing it blindly by not fully taking into account the cool down of skills, the potential unintended synergies with other classes and whether it can be done reasonably in practice.
For example, a low/no cool down damage class like SR or Chaplain may have the same total potential SFR as a more burst damage class like Outlaw and Inquisitor respectively, but one class takes full uptime (especially AA classes or classes that have skills tied to AA) to do its expected damage while the other takes maybe 5-10 seconds and have plenty of downtime to use skills from other classes. In theory it may be fine, but in practice no character can constantly do optimal DPS all the time with the need to reposition or dodge, especially in weekly bosses. Thus, burst damage classes like BB are usually better off after skill balances while classes like Highlander are worse off, and IMC can let a build like Miko-Kabbalist-Exorcist go unnoticed. The recent trend of IMC adding stack mechanics into most classes they are buffing worries me as well but thatâs for another time I guess.
It just feels like they balance the game on an excel spreadsheet with a calculator without any actual in-game experience for a long time now, 100% theory 0% practice. I really feel this is why IMC feels they have âfixedâ or âreworkedâ certain classes and moves on until kToS players make a fuss.
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they need give Mergen some love, i mean this is most popular class for archer right
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Wrong logicâŚit was popular because it dominated and now cannon and musket user are on a somewhat equal footing with it afterâŚYears?
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Ranger actually would need love since it has nothing besides buffs and lil CC - itâs SFRs are like '18
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Musket was far stronger before rebuild, yet I can see more mergen player back then. 2h bow is just visually appealing so the logic is not wrong.
But current mergen is fine, just wait new vaivora 
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Theyâll Nerf mergen first then make vaivora