GF update feedback, and a bit of philosophizing over specialization trees.

impervium · June 2013

Some feedback about the Guardian Fighter

On the whole, I'm pleased to see these changes. I do have some reservations though.

The amount of damage the Guardian Fighter can block before breaking guard has been increased by 10%.

I'm of mixed feelings here. On the one hand, I've had some problems with what I feel is guard breaking too fast for a shield tank; and this is after building for benefits in this area.

On the other hand, I've learned to adapt by either drawing back or shield-bashing to gain more guard (which is not always a sound tactic and guard can be slow to build); or by using lunging strike as both a quick getaway from a stronger foe as well as a quick one-shot for a ranged minion (although not every GF slots this ability) elsewhere on the battlefield, where I can do whatever I need for a moment of reprieve to build my guard back up.

So I can't lie, the problem has added some spice to combat for my GF, as I have to think on my feet more and stay more mobile. That's not so bad I guess, but I also can't lie when I say that it's led to my GF feeling kind of weak as a shield tank.

Enter the 10% fix: do I think this will mitigate (punny?) my concerns? My best answer is...maybe. If I were the one calling the shots, I probably would have taken your solutions, but made sure that this percentage could also be improved significantly more through feats and powers, maybe another 10% or 20% beyond the base improvement you're implementing--and I'm not talking about what's already there, I'm talking about adding to it (more on that below). Thus, for instance, players expressly focused on shield tanking at the expense of DPS would be much more rewarded (and effective at their chosen specialization) for their sacrifice.

Threat generation on all abilities has been increased by 35%.

I'm not going to drift into too much speculation here. I think this might do the trick. We'll see. Other players don't seem too worried about this fix, but I will admit, I'll be surprised if this doesn't need to be raised to 40% or 45%, at least for [like I described above] players who make sacrifices to build through specialization.

Specialization philosophizing

As you can see, I'm much more concerned about buffs through specialization than through base rates. Base rates should start out fairly low and average in my opinion, while your feat paths--and rank 3 for powers--should get a big across-the-board buff. It's a good way to let players buff or nerf their own characters and to take responsibility for their own balancing act. You've got a specialization tree in this game--use it! In the few MMORPGs I've seen embrace this, it resulted in much theory crafting too, which is a fun game in itself. Unfortunately, hardly any MMORPGs have, although I've seen specialization trees in single-player games with much more whollop in them, such as the Torchlight and Borderlands games, and it's a great deal of fun.

IMO, if you're not seeing enough theory crafting in your MMO over specialization, you've missed an opportunity.

The above would also lead to greater replayability for each class, which would lead to altitis and (hint hint) more character slot $ales.--in a fantasy MMORPG?! Combined with more outfit sales, partly through Zen sales and perhaps partly through crafting, you could have something real big on your hands. If any studio is the right studio for that job, it's Cryptic. And TBH this is why I decided to ditch my standard fare and play a fantasy MMO after ten years, I figured Cryptic would break a ton of molds and actually give us oodles of individual customization in a fantasy setting. I hope you'll work hard to deliver this, you'll be doing us and yourselves a big favor.

That's pretty much how I feel about it.

Like most others have chimed, my favorite class the GF didn't need much fixer-upping. I can't comment on the other classes yet. I only played a Trickster Rogue briefly during Closed Beta (I know, I need to get on the ball, but I've been enjoying the storyline with my GF so much!).

knightfalz · June 2013

Like you say, until people get on test and try out the changes, it is all a maybe... and not just the changes to the GF, but the changes in the dynamics in group play as a whole.

Specialization is a nice feature, but you have to be careful about the specialization paths are different enough to matter, but not different enough so that they matter too much, all the while maintaining comparable value from one path to another and melding well with the feats that precede them. It's not an easy job to do, as is seen in the current state of things. We'll see how it pans out this go round for the GF. I expect this won't be the last balancing pass for any of the classes.

valetudo78 · June 2013

Other than those things , the buff gfs really need is a damage boost to their mark.

knightfalz · June 2013

What we need is an effectiveness boost in our marks, and aggro capacity less contingent on damage.

impervium · June 2013

Those are actually examples of things which I feel should be left up to the player through specialization. And when I say specializtion, I don't JUST mean feat paths, because when you pick and choose ranks for powers, you're also effectively specializing. Damage boost to mark, for example. The third and last rank is where a big buff should be given to it, instead of just another small boost like ranks get currently. This is a good way to maintain balance too, when you consider that a player is making a sacrifice for that rank 3 pick.

I realize I'm going against the grain here and the core concept surrounded by my ideas probably doesn't coincide with the team's ideas, but that's why I called it philosophizing. If there's any time to do that it's in beta. And maybe they can cherry-pick something out of my overall philosophy that'll improve their own house rules. I'd be happy with that!

ausdoerrt · June 2013

impervium wrote: »

I'm not going to drift into too much speculation here. I think this might do the trick. We'll see. Other players don't seem too worried about this fix, but I will admit, I'll be surprised if this doesn't need to be raised to 40% or 45%, at least for [like I described above] players who make sacrifices to build through specialization.

Granted, I haven't tried it yet myself. But we can think logically here. The 35% might even be an overkill since the patch also modifies aggro mechanics for other classes, namely DC.

valetudo78 wrote: »

Other than those things , the buff gfs really need is a damage boost to their mark.

impervium wrote: »

Those are actually examples of things which I feel should be left up to the player through specialization.

Exactly. I mean (again, haven't had the chance to try it on my GF but) we have Knight's Challenge for that, do we not?

impervium · June 2013

Well I didn't say it but I was thinking of that too (I figured my post was long enough). I actually feel like it could be "just right" if they balanced things out with debuffs elsewhere; or maybe you're right, I can't tell yet. It's good if you're thinking logically, because all of my posts have come from gut-level feelings based on gameplay.

You probably don't want me doing the numbers, but I can tell you what feels right.

impervium · June 2013

No matter what, I'm a big fan of player choices strongly impacting their game experience. Whether we're talking about outfits or powers, your characters should feel uniquely yours. That isn't often the case in fantasy MMOs, and this is one of the reasons I've avoided the fantasy genre in MMOs for a LONG time now.

GF update feedback, and a bit of philosophizing over specialization trees.

Comments