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IDProjectCategoryLast Update
0006400Valley 1Suggestion - Balancing IssuesMar 4, 2012 2:06 pm
ReporterArmanant Assigned ToChris_McElligottPark  
Status resolvedResolutionfixed 
Fixed in Version0.902 
Summary0006400: Inherent imbalance with upgrade system
DescriptionCurrently there is a problem with the upgrade system in that the initial health stat has an effect on how good upgrades are. If you have a character with 200 initial HP, each upgrade gives you 200 hp. If your initial HP is 100, each upgrade only gives you 100. This is contrary to the damage and mana upgrades, which increase their respective values by the same amount regardless of starting values. Could be by design, but seems kind of odd (I'd expect the health increase to just increase by a set amount..)

Edit: Doing a bit of thinking on it I'm not sure if it's an advantage or not - each 'point' for un-upgraded characters seems worth 19 hp, 10% attack, or 70 mana. In contrast to when up-grading, each point being worth a whole bunch more hp, but exactly the same amount of attack and mana.. Feels like I need to make a spreadsheet.

Edit2: Yeah with a bit of math the point mentioned in the above edit means that unless you want to pump your characters with a good deal of health upgrades, going for minimum starting hp and high other stats is a decidedly better option. For example I'm quite comfortable playing at about 400 hp level, which means the difference between a starting character with 144 hp and one with 200+ means the former feels like two hp upgrades are necessary, while the latter can do with one... but the former has half a dozen upgrades worth in other stats. Again, not sure if by design, but could do with a looking at.
TagsNo tags attached.
Internal WeightNew

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Terraziel

Mar 4, 2012 5:55 am

reporter   ~0020277

It's entirely possible this is just a hangover from percentage based health that they haven't reassessed. But if it isn't I'd guess the logic to be that health is worth inherently less than damage or mana.

Overall the system I think works quite well, rather having played around with a variety of "normal" builds none of them have felt like THE way to play.

Personally though I wonder how viable extreme builds (everything in one stat) are, because of course they should be viable. In fact I am going to have to go try now.

jerith

Mar 4, 2012 6:00 am

reporter   ~0020279

Health upgrades also cost twice as much, but then they have a rather larger initial effect.

I kind of like the idea of stat upgrades being proportional to the base level. It makes sense for someone who is inherently robust or aggressive to get more benefit from an upgrade in those areas than someone who is weaker.

It would also encourage different upgrade paths depending on the strengths and weaknesses of the character. If I have high starting health and low starting damage, I'd be more likely to push upgrade points into health (where I get more benefit) than damage (where I get less benefit) and therefore build a character who can take a pounding while wearing down enemies. If my starting stats were reversed, I'd upgrade in the other direction and end up with a fragile character who relies on hitting enemies fast and hard while avoiding damage.

Armanant

Mar 4, 2012 6:25 am

reporter   ~0020280

But the point was that the only upgrade that changes effectiveness based on your starting stats is health. Though I guess you could argue that the others change effectiveness in comparison..

Chris_McElligottPark

Mar 4, 2012 11:00 am

administrator   ~0020297

Yes, this wasn't done accidentally. I'm not sure if this is ultimately the way we want to keep it, as I noted in the original release notes when we made this change, but I think that I do rather like it in general.

Chris_McElligottPark

Mar 4, 2012 11:02 am

administrator   ~0020298

That said, there is an interesting point in here. So hang on a bit...

Chris_McElligottPark

Mar 4, 2012 2:06 pm

administrator   ~0020310

Okay, this should be a lot more interesting:

* Previously, there was a bit of an inconsistency in how upgrade stone upgrades worked.
** Every time you upgraded your health, it would increase by your base health -- meaning that having more base health made every upgrade more powerful. This has remained the same.
** Every time you upgraded your attack power, it was just a flat 10% increase, so the same for every character. Now the base attack power of the character makes this anywhere from a 6% increase to a 20% increase per upgrade, based on their base magical power.
** Every time you upgraded your mana, it just went up a flat 70 mana. Now this, too, varies by your base mana power. Those who have high mana to begin with can get ultra-high amounts of mana much more easily, whereas getting much more mana at all is pretty difficult for characters who have extremely tiny base amounts of mana. The amount of mana that it increases by is never less than 50, though, so it's never a complete waste.

Thanks!

Issue History

Date Modified Username Field Change
Mar 3, 2012 10:44 pm Armanant New Issue
Mar 3, 2012 10:54 pm Armanant Description Updated
Mar 4, 2012 5:33 am Armanant Description Updated
Mar 4, 2012 5:33 am Armanant Description Updated
Mar 4, 2012 5:55 am Terraziel Note Added: 0020277
Mar 4, 2012 6:00 am jerith Note Added: 0020279
Mar 4, 2012 6:25 am Armanant Note Added: 0020280
Mar 4, 2012 11:00 am Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0020297
Mar 4, 2012 11:02 am Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0020298
Mar 4, 2012 2:06 pm Chris_McElligottPark Internal Weight => New
Mar 4, 2012 2:06 pm Chris_McElligottPark Note Added: 0020310
Mar 4, 2012 2:06 pm Chris_McElligottPark Status new => resolved
Mar 4, 2012 2:06 pm Chris_McElligottPark Fixed in Version => 0.902
Mar 4, 2012 2:06 pm Chris_McElligottPark Resolution open => fixed
Mar 4, 2012 2:06 pm Chris_McElligottPark Assigned To => Chris_McElligottPark