Combat and QoL Feedback Thread

[Animalistic]

Ahahhhaa, thanks dude. Now maybe I can use them both without feeling gimped.
So I am guessing that once resolve based skill still scale with presence and sexynes just toned down in terms of damage output and healing capabilities? And how did you scale skills like Atugias "Eternal light" which restored both HP and resolve?

 

[zagzig]

Generally, resolve based powers have been scaled up to account for targeting a larger HP pool.

And the answer to the question about Atugia's Eternal Light is that Atugia is now really good.

 

[Balaknightfang]

And how did you scale skills like Atugias "Eternal light" which restored both HP and resolve

Generally by meeting in the middle of the sums and fiddling around with it until it felt decent but not too busted.

So I am guessing that once resolve based skill still scale with presence and sexynes just toned down in terms of damage output and healing capabilities?

So uh
It depends? I did my best to buff some of the really really bad resolve powers into usability, but there's a bunch I DIDN'T get to

 

[Tarnakus]

Not sure if I should ask this here - but it is connected to resolve dissaperance.

Did Atugia sleep sex scene got new procs? It used to proc with her having certain level of resolve. I tried to proc it with 2 weeks time skip but no luck.

What is status of that? Bug or not yet reworked?

 

[Prince Charming]

Huge, HUGE thank you for combining resolve and health. Not only it opens up party compositions that previously felt like wasted opportunities, but it also lets us go for "emotional damage" / "dominatrix" builds where you blow long cooldown health damage powers (like celestial smite) first then resort to basic teasing for the off-turns.
Also thanks for removing the infuriating nature of threat builds.
Also thanks for the at-will stance tweak: now you can combine mirror stance and summons without having to decide between threat and summon for your first turn; combined with the threat rework, you'll always start at 400 threat (assuming mirror stance hasn't been tweaked) and you can safely use your first turn to summon, without fearing that your medic will get hit by every enemy's encounter powers during round 1.

Spoiler: tank summoner

Maybe this makes tank summoner overpowered? I'm having a hard time figuring the vulnerabilities of a mirror stance + summon phyria / wolf spirit full heavy armor warrior with max leadership equipment (helm of heroes + conqueror's breastplate + guldring): he'll always tank all hits, his summon will always be up (and invulnerable to physical damage), and if he wants to contribute to damage he can go for psyshock with his high presence and single-target nuke with a 49 -> 79 (lvl 5 -> 10) base damage spell every three turns. Hell even max his cunning and throw in acid flask in there and he'll do ~100 damage two turns out of three, focus every enemy attack on him and his big ass armor and max hp (now that presence also amps up max hp), and have a fourth party member that dishes out ~70 damage per turn with max leadership: scary indeed!

Spoiler: atugia

Also, come to think of it, with at-will stance already up, threat rework, and resolve and hp combined, that pulls atugia out of the trash heap right? her guarded stance is up which means that she generates threat on first turn, the threat rework makes it so that even guarded stance's tiny amount of threat (compared to mirror stance) is enough to focus every attack on her, and resolve and hp combined means her 1-turn cooldown heal (can't remember the name) lets her be her own medic! And she even has ancestral judgment to protect her team from aoe! Damn thanks for atugia mr. Dev!

Spoiler: damager pc with a frontline companion

Also, now that the less impressive threat sources (compared to mirror stance) are enough to pull all the focus, that means it's actually important to control your own threat if you play a damager lest you out-threat you tank companion, which pulls obscurement out of the trash heap too!

Spoiler: halving spellpower scaling on healing spells

Also thanks for diminishing spellpower scaling on healing spells: combined with the threat rework, that will hopefully curb the yo-yo effect of the party's health bars, whereas in the past being at 8hp or 120hp was kind of irrelevant because you would get overhealed by your medic anyway. I don't think it will be enough to get away from world of warcraft-tier healing and the backpack-medic effect, and I don't know if it's even something you guys want to get away from (I mean blizzard games do have a public even with their healer system so I guess there's a public that actually likes that and it's just a question of differing tastes), but that means I'll feel less penalized for dumping willpower and still taking a healing power in case of emergency. Hell with the threat rework, maybe there won't be a need for emergency healing spells anymore: with a well-managed threat, there should be no way that your healing kitty gets knocked prone and double-executed before they can get back up like they would get with the random threat system.

Thanks mr. Balak and the shadow testers, it's Christmas in June!

 

[Balaknightfang]

What is status of that? Bug or not yet reworked?

Both, technically. Do me a favor and bug report it so we can adjust it. Thank you for letting us know!

 

[OrangeBurner]

I know I've already posted this to "What would you like added" but I feel like this thread is more suitable for the suggestion given it's focus on Combat and QoL:

Given the next update is mainly combat focused:
I would personally like a way to favorite certain powers I normally equip. So instead of just scrolling through an endless menu (I know there are filters in-game but sometimes that still seems too much) I can just press a 'Favorites' button and instantly get the powers I want and normally use.

Or maybe some sort of loadout system where I can save my current loadout and then quickload them so I can quickly change my loadout to fit the area I'm fighting in.

 

[Balaknightfang]

It's on my to-do list. I just didn't have for it this patch

 

[wery12345]

I do wonder if there would be any way to make it obvious how much armor/ward are reducing damage, because with my current set up on current combat I can have it say its reducing dmg by 50%+.

 

[kiby]

I have to say that Atugia's surprise attack (when you first meet her) could use some rebalancing now. I am on Story Difficulty, and have been hanging around town trying to get through Evelyn's virginity content on a new Thief, and Atugia is dodging almost all of the attacks my level 1 ass throws at her, and when they do connect she regenerates every single turn. It's me and Cait slowly chipping away at a brick wall with spoons while a mason fills in the cracks.

Maybe we can set Atugia not to attack unless you've actually left Hawkethorne once?

 

[Balaknightfang]

Yeah, she definitely needs some scaling back ATM. I'm gonna look into it when I get the chance

 

[TheGSone]

Oh man, I was just about to make a new character, and came to the forum to find some inspiration, but instead I found gold.

I cannot wait for the public release, this is crazy! There's so much stuff to try out!

 

[Angelica1996]

well i like the change. But i feel like combat is easier now.
as healing spells now "technically" also heal resolve damage because they are combined.

but then again, combat has always been rather easy. Even when playing on the "dark" difficulity.

 

[wery12345]

Gonna be feeling strong till the damage get to see the rework.

 

[Erzulie]

The Resolve change isn't perfect in my mind -- I'm a big fan of multiple HP tracks -- but it seems like a solid move in this particular game because there were only two tracks (I think you need three to get some really interesting interplay) and because it straight-up saves many concepts. Presence goes from being utterly stranded and punished to being a powerhouse stat whose existence is absolutely justified. I approve.

Atugia going from niche (my perspective as the only one who seemed to main her -- nigh-everyone else thought she was trash) to a mobile fortress is also a nice outcome. It's easier to tone a character down than it is to beef them up so balancing her just got way easier.

I'm still concerned about items. They were absolutely not worth the action cost in the past, so unless there's been either multiple bespoke changes to different items or some unmentioned broad-based improvement, they're still going to suck.

I do wonder if there would be any way to make it obvious how much armor/ward are reducing damage, because with my current set up on current combat I can have it say its reducing dmg by 50%+.

If every combat line had the math, rolls, and stats displayed, or the information was toggable, I'd be deliriously happy for such data.

 

[Balaknightfang]

I'm still concerned about items. They were absolutely not worth the action cost in the past, so unless there's been either multiple bespoke changes to different items or some unmentioned broad-based improvement, they're still going to suck.

I just haven't gotten to them yet tbh.

If every combat line had the math, rolls, and stats displayed, or the information was toggable, I'd be deliriously happy for such data.

This is something that's very much a WIP, but that I'd like to do. The only problem is getting it to work with our current systems, which is very much not easy.

 

[wery12345]

Yeah I figured as much, id say thats definatly a "everything else is finished" thing. Im a slut for deep dives into how things work.

 

[Bobonga]

Speaking of data, will we get the option to see the item cards of our companions weapons?

 

[Erzulie]

Are damage types still distinct? Though they both be applied to one track, is there a distinction between Resolve- and Health-targeting damage and if such distinctions remain in the code are they called out by other mechanics?

For example, an effect could resist Health damage, and another increase Resolve damage, making them mechanically distinct though they're affecting one hit point pool. Is this currently a possibility?

 

[Balaknightfang]

Are damage types still distinct? Though they both be applied to one track, is there a distinction between Resolve- and Health-targeting damage and if such distinctions remain in the code are they called out by other mechanics?

For example, an effect could resist Health damage, and another increase Resolve damage, making them mechanically distinct though they're affecting one hit point pool. Is this currently a possibility?

All damage types are still distinct, and as a result, yeah, there are a few abilities that do things like increase an enemy's vulnerability to a damage type that used to be resolve. Lust Tag, I believe, is a great example of this off the top of my head.

 

[Erzulie]

That is excellent!

This is a good opportunity to buff hybrid characters, both PCs and NPCs both. This is also an excellent opportunity to buff inferior equipment. If there are status effects that make one stronger/weaker to damage types, an "inferior" item that is stronger under such buffs than its closest comparable equivalent wouldn't be strictly inferior.

 

[Balaknightfang]

That is excellent!

This is a good opportunity to buff hybrid characters, both PCs and NPCs both. This is also an excellent opportunity to buff inferior equipment. If there are status effects that make one stronger/weaker to damage types, an "inferior" item that is stronger under such buffs than its closest comparable equivalent wouldn't be strictly inferior.

A lot of those are buffed simply by virtue of the shared HP, so far. Take, for instance, the Aroused status effect. It's inflicted almost exclusively by things that hit resolve previously, but grants a -15 to spellpower and magic resistance. While overall, that can be nice, before, it required splitting your damage across the pair of health bars, which basically meant it was never worth doing. Especially within the limited powerset and party composition available. With the new setup, however, it's an infinitely better option because you can use it as a functional setup and debuff that actually meaningfully synergizes with the rest of a build.

 

[Erzulie]

Something I was curious about and I might as well ask it here.

Does the companion AI ever use their Ultimates? I use companion AI to both increase challenge and improve gamefeel on big fights and to save time on small ones, but still have never, to the best of my knowledge, ever seen them used by the AI, including in the highest-level fight available (Kasyrra). Is the only way to use those Ultimates by means of AI deactivation?

 

[Tide Hunter]

Something I was curious about and I might as well ask it here.

Does the companion AI ever use their Ultimates? I use companion AI to both increase challenge and improve gamefeel on big fights and to save time on small ones, but still have never, to the best of my knowledge, ever seen them used by the AI, including in the highest-level fight available (Kasyrra). Is the only way to use those Ultimates by means of AI deactivation?

I'm fairly certain auto-play never uses an ultimate, because ultimates can only be used once per day. I don't think that the combat ai is smart. It can't tell the difference between the alraune effigies and Kasyrra herself. Honestly the AIs are bad enough that I usually feel the game is borderline unplayable if you don't use manual control.

 

[Angelica1996]

I'm fairly certain auto-play never uses an ultimate, because ultimate's can only be used once per day. I don't think that the combat ai is smart. It can't tell the difference between the alraune effigies and Kasyrra herself. Honestly the AIs are bad enough that I usually feel the game is borderline unplayable if you don't use manual control.

on some instances the AI can be funky yes.
Cait is supposed to be a healer, but for some reason in some encounters she forgets she can heal and let my character die.
feels like a bug tbh. But its hard to pinpoint as it seems to happen at random.

on a slightly offtrack note, I've started calling Brint for Crit Brint.
on some plays he just sweeps every fight. Even on higher level zones.

he uses cleave and gets a crit very often. Maybe that is just me. But it really makes for some hilariously easy encounters.

 

[wery12345]

I mean Cait doesn't because it's your oh fuck button.

 

[Savin]

feels like a bug tbh

Nah the AI is just braindead. If you need them to do anything specific, you'll need to switch to manual.

 

[Kingu2]

Nah the AI is just braindead. If you need them to do anything specific, you'll need to switch to manual.

Right. I'm reminded of way back when manual wasn't an option and losing a bunch of fights where Cait would heal herself for ten hp and ignore my character who only HAD 10 hp. Boy what a fucked idea that was. The game's combat sure has come long way since then. Can't wait to test these new rebalance changes for myself.

 

[wery12345]

This is why my main character has so much fucking armour and ward to counter Ai hiccups.

 

[Erzulie]

Yup, I'm all about the tank builds for some of the same reasons.

I'm going to have to drop Manual and experiment with the Ults once I get the time to play with the rework.

And I wonder if Quint is more viable now that his Stance is action-economy free.