Neverwinter Class Balancing Dev Livestream Q&A Thread

akromatik · October 2014

We're so excited for all of the amazing class balancing changes coming to Neverwinter that we want to have an entire livestream devoted to them!

That's right! Wednesday 10/15 from 2-3PM PDT on our Twitch.tv channel, we'll be sitting down with the Systems Designer of Neverwinter, Chris Meyer, to talk about all of the class balancing that will come with Module 5: Rise of Tiamat! We'll also be giving away some pretty awesome prizes like autographed R.A. Salvatore Novels, Tyranny of Dragons posters and more! We also have a few milestones for our viewers to meet that will result in even more prizes being given out!

Here's the breakdown:

1000 viewers - We'll give out 3 Scoruge Warlock Booster Packs

2000 viewers - We'll give out 3 Dragonborn Legend Pack

2,500 viewers - we will release a code for a green-quality Quickling companion**!

Have a burning question you want answered about class balancing? Visit our offcial dev Q&A forum thread and post your question for a chance for it to be answered live on-air by the Neverwinter team!

We hope that the Neverwinter community will join us for this very special livestream. Are you excited about getting the latest on class balancing? Let us know on our Facebook and Twitter pages!

**Code only valid for the first 4000 redemptions within the 1 hour time period following its release. Code will expire after the redemption cap has been hit or the 1 hour time period has elapsed.

kwsapphire · October 2014

akromatik wrote: »

That's right! On Wednesday 10/15 from 2-3PM PDT, we'll chatting with the Systems Designer of Neverwinter, Chris Meyer, to chat about all of the class balancing that will come with Module 5: Rise of Tiamat! We'll also be giving away some pretty awesome prizes like autographed R.A. Salvatore Novels, Tyranny of Dragons posters and more! We also have a few milestones for our viewers to meet that will result in even more prizes being given out!

Apologies if this is obvious, but, is this going to be on the Twitch channel? Thanks!

akromatik · October 2014

Good call out! Fixed!

blackjackwidow · October 2014

2 Questions:

1. Can you at least ask everyone on the twitch feed to not post the code in the forums and in Zone chat as soon as it is given out? I know it's hard to enforce, but might get a few people feeling more 'special' about knowing the code.

2. Will we see AkroLantern? (My main question, that's why I saved it for last. lol)

ixotl · October 2014

Gear Score questions/discussion points I'd like to see addressed:

Is there a single algorithm for calculating GS for all classes or is it fixed (but different) for each class OR is it more arbitrary?

What is the intended use of GS? IS it:
-To allow a single value to "sum up" the capabilities (gear, stats, etc.) of a character?
-As a means to guide one to the "proper" build-out (higher GS) so that the character is (more) "inline" with the balancing design?
-Something else?

forumgambitt · October 2014

Just to be sure... this is the correct thread to be posting questions for the stream in... right? If not, then could you provide a link to the proper thread? (otherwise if this is the proper thread, there's only like 1 or 2 questions posted since yesterday... wtf...)

rashylewizz · October 2014

Are you guys going to introduce challenging and rewarding PVE content to balance out more powercreep from new artifact set bonuses and artifact equipment in the next module?

megendra · October 2014

I was wondering if you are going to change the Rogue powers, right now is completely useless in PVE. This class has 2 AOE encounters powers "path of the blase" and "blitz", and none of this do real damage, it's frustrating being in a group and see how the others kill adds like nothing and the rogue need to kill the adds one by one.... and i don't mean to kill with one strike giants or trolls, i mean powries or winter wolfs, these monsters are supposed to be killed easily by a player with more than 15k gs, they were supposed to be NOTHING for a player with more than 15k gs BUT I CANNOT KILL THEM WITH BLITZ OR PATH OR THE BLADE!! I really like my rogue but right now i cannot play with it because it's useless... The single target powers are better but if you compare them with any other class they are like... nothing? Right now the only thing that a rogue can do is use his stealth in PVP to <font color="orange">HAMSTER</font> off the other team and use slahing blade (the only power that works)when he can

kurtb88 · October 2014

megendra wrote: »

I was wondering if you are going to change the Rogue powers, right now is completely useless in PVE. ...

I agree with this post. I am running Kessel's Retreat skirm on my TR everyday and I feel totally useless. All I can do is attack one mob at a time. As example of how bad it is: I attack one orc mob. I sit there trying to kill it by myself, meanwhile a Warlock, HR, or CW is melting multiple Orc's faster than I can kill one. Usually I am still trying to kill an Orc when the rest of the team show up to help me finish it off. It feels embarrassing. I don't think TR's necessarily need "new" powers, like new amazing AoE powers, but I think they need the damage output increased on their current powers.

sockmunkey · October 2014

You both might want to visit the test section of the forums. There are radical changes already being tested and discussed. These changes, in fact, along with the changes to Cleric, are pretty much the entire reason for this live stream.

blackjackwidow · October 2014

There are big changes coming to both TR and DC, with a few to other classes in the "Class Balancing" patch that is now up on the Preview Server. In the post Rise of Tiamat Preview Patch Notes NW.35.20141001a.2, all changes are listed. They have broken out feedback threads, look at post #2 for particulars.

**Edit: sockmunkey beat me to it.

TR do indeed have many changes to their powers, Path of the Blade and Blitz is among them.

I'm still trying to get my head around most of the changes. I have a low level TR, but haven't played her in a while, and just leveled a DC to 60. My only 2 characters, and the 2 classes with the biggest list of changes. lol

I definitely need to jump on Preview before I have anything constructive to ask about. Info-overload atm

tyragda · October 2014

I understand that NW is run on micro transactions, have you considered allowing enchanted keys to drop form mobs and bosses. I like the fact that enchanted chests drop? I'm one of those that can't really afford to purchase a bunch of keys (IE my CW has over 500 different enchanted chests) and I'd like to open them. Free up some space kinda thing. Anyhow I love the game, looking forward to Tiahmat (SP?) and I will look into making a zen purchase sometime, but not sure when. Thanks

alyaakh · October 2014

My question is in regards to pvp achievements: Will we ever see class-specific objectives? Right now some of the requirements (like triple kills) are quite unrealistic for some classes.

spotsofblood · October 2014

I'd like to start with... this is my 1st forum post EVER in any mmo I have played. Usually got a kind of phobia bout it but feel strong enough bout this to bring it up. My burning question is, would it be possible to change perma stealth trickster rogues abilities so if an aoe detects or hits them it actually does damage... it seems a bit unfair they can still attack you in stealth & never receive any damage. I built a TR just to see how it worked. like the skill set says their immune to damage. but if you go by wording alone of the said skill there wasn't any reason to nerf scourge warlocks soul puppets for the end feat of damnation spec said soul puppet becomes permanent even if you kill the sw the soul puppet remained because it's permanent until you kill it. In the same manner I'd ask for the pvp community please adjust something because not being able to even damage someone while they kill you is incredibly frustrating especially if yer aoes are hitting them showing you where they are but you're powerless to do anything at all. Thanks for your time & consideration DarkBloodyWolf@spotsofblood

shadowbladegr · October 2014

I've been testing the changes on Mimic and I'm really enjoying the new DC playstyle so far.My questions for GentlemanCrush:

DC related questions:

-What do you feel was the main reason that was preventing DCs from being as effective as players wanted, till now?
-What inspired you to add the new empowerment mechanic and in what ways do you feel this will help improve DC's performance?

General class balance questions:

-Many players have been suggesting making powers behave differently in pve and pvp,so that one does not get in the way of the other,in terms of balancing.Lately,we've seen some changes that do take that into consideration,reducing cc duration or damage on actual players compared to AI.Is this something you plan to expand on,to separate pvp and pve balancing?
-Balancing is dynamic and requires constant adjusting with every new addition or change to the game.What's the process followed to attempt to ensure no game-breaking advantages to any class? (for example,is it mostly based on player feedback pre and post module releases? Are there dedicated balance teams focusing on each class,doing internal tests? etc)

Balancing position questions:

-What would you say is the most enjoyable and which the toughest part, of being responsible for balancing?

Big thanks to GentlemanCrush for devoting so much time interacting with players both on forum and on stream,to Akro for being an awesome host and to the whole Neverwinter team and Neverwinter community for making this such an enjoyable and fun game

suddenlyslow · October 2014

I would like to ask if it would be possible to get a hierarchical breakdown of where you wish the classes to fall in relationship with each other in various aspects of play (e.g. but not limited to damage in general, single target damage, ranged damage, AE damage, healing, durability, etc)? I can understand where you may not want to be absolutely specific in all situations but I can see no reason not to give us a general idea. This would help us as players in previewing for balance as we would more readily know what to look for and would not waste your time mentioning (or for those more passionate players 'complaining' about) issues that are actually performing like they should. We would also be able to notice aberrations or bugs earlier and before they became 'standard' expected performance.

cbysacct · October 2014

sockmunkey wrote: »

You both might want to visit the test section of the forums. There are radical changes already being tested and discussed. These changes, in fact, along with the changes to Cleric, are pretty much the entire reason for this live stream.

Thank God...i love the TR class...I've played it for many many years...but they feel crippled on this game...

nwnghost · October 2014

Questions:

1. Are you planning to make any changes to Damage gained as Hitpoints (Lifesteal) considering it allows players to stack damage and neglect their defensive stats as more damage = better at tanking

2. Since Module 3, almost all changes have been to make each class more powerful compared to the release version of Neverwinter. Are you planning any adjustments to current PvE content (dungeons/skirmishes) which have been made trivial as a result in order to keep them challenging?

3. Many balancing changes are made without fixing existing bugs to classes or content and numerous players have asked that bug fixes ought to happen before balancing changes to not incidentally balance around a flawed picture. What is your take on this?

pandora1x · October 2014

When will the WhisperKnife paragon have some love compared to Master Infiltrator?

All the other paragons in the game are equal except the Trickster Rogue ones where one is clearly superior.

nicknitro128 · October 2014

Will trickster rogues ever be loved in pve dungeons again their kind of useless because a gwf can do the same thing and tank.

zvieris · October 2014

I've got some balancing questions about GWF. I hope you don't mind

The new instigator GWF changes are nice for solo content. However, why did you left out his survivability? The spec highly depends on taking hits, whereas the survivability is the worst among the 3 paths.
Why did you base Sentinel GWF's Intimidation feat on power stat instead of a defensive stat like defense? As it is now, the power stat increases the damage twice. First, when determining base damage and second when applying power modifier. In this case even the 30% nerf on intimidation won't be enough to stop highly geared players from rolling 15k power glass cannon builds and roflstomping anything in PvP and PvE, whereas people that build sentinel as an off-tank (high defensive stats, mediocre power) will be penalized to the point where keeping threat will be impossible for them, let alone deal damage.
Why does GWF have the highest weapon damage but the lowest at-will damage? That's especially evident in PvP where players no longer dodge GWF's at-wills unless under unstoppable.
Why does GWF's gameplay depend so much on accumulating buff/debuff stacks? GWF lacks initial burst damage which makes PvP and solo PvE content a stressful experience.
Why did you remove all prones from GWF encounters and gave stun instead? It appears stun is affected by deflect severity, which makes it useless when fighting high deflect classes such as TR or HR. Landing stun is already difficult with a GWF due to long cooldown for FLS and very long animations for Flourish and Takedown, and when the stun only lasts like 0.3 seconds... That's not enough to land any follow-up encounter, especially IBS with its abysmal animation length.

Thanks

ambisinisterr · October 2014

Questions -

-Now that all of the classes have received some much deserved love can you disclose any future combat balances that are on the horizon?

-The majority of combat time is spent at full health or almost no health. Very little time is spent between 1/4 to 3/4 HP. The most likely cause is that lifesteal seems to negate all sustained damage in combat. Can we expect lifesteal to be rebalanced to reduce the bipolarness of combat?

bill2000 · October 2014

Love to see balance changes, my buddy is a TR, so his buff will help us run quests faster!

When do you anticipate the class balance changes will be in effect? Will it be when the new module comes out or a bit after?

dawsonmichael · October 2014

so what was the code akro didn't give it out

burkaanc · October 2014

missed the part where they talked about GWF, what did they say ?

akromatik · October 2014

dawsonmichael wrote: »

so what was the code akro didn't give it out

Actually we did give a code out

It appears to have been depleted now though.

notsheriffsrs · October 2014

akromatik wrote: »

Actually we did give a code out It appears to have been depleted now though.

Hey nice new hair color!

You should dye your hair purple next time, you'd look fabulous in that !

Looking forward for that day.

cococya · October 2014

akromatik wrote: »

Actually we did give a code out It appears to have been depleted now though.

Thank you for the code, guys, I got it with no problems.
Also, as sheriff posted above, I really loved your new hair as well, that misty metallic blue looks awesome!

demonmonger · October 2014

Gentleman Crush
I noticed a few issues with TR feat (Shadowy Opportunity)

If I go into stealth and use bait and switch encounter, Shadowy Opportunity will do damage to me
If i go into stealth and use smoke bomb, Shadowy Opportunity will do damage to me
If I go into stealth and use deft strike on an ally (npc) , Shadowy Opportunity will do damage to that ally (npc)
There are many other negative effects with other skils because of Shadowy Opportunity

Will these be fixed before this goes live?

What about the bug that puts us in combat mode if we use certain boons?

Also the proposed changes to TR dodges (increased dodge roll by 50%), this will make many of us fall off the map and die in tight spaces. (also the dodge seems a bit slow recovering after the roll)

frozenfirevr · October 2014

Guys, do you find the stream timing comfortable? It is from 2:30 AM - 3:30 AM for me here in India... I could never catch the streams live and get a chance at the prizes. I understand everyone can't be considered, but sure would love to see it at a better time.

ambisinisterr · October 2014

frozenfirevr wrote: »

Guys, do you find the stream timing comfortable?

You are twelve hours difference from the staff members. In order to do a live stream in a time period you would likely find comfortable (I am assuming between the hours of 5 and 10 PM) they would have to do it between 5 to 10 AM.

It's extremely unlikely for streams to occur outside of office hours (10 AM to 7 PM PT) and if they do it would likely be a charity event such as the Child's Play 24 Hour Live Stream. As you said everyone can't be considered and you are in the time zone which is next to impossible to try to work with.

They do try to vary live streams between 12-6 PM PT but the chances of them ever going out of their way to do a midnight to 9 AM livestream is next to non-existent as that absolutely would not be comfortable for them.

Neverwinter Class Balancing Dev Livestream Q&A Thread

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