Mechanics update

[Slariton]

So, apparently Jeff answered many of our questions about game mechanics, and told us about many of the things we discovered, before we discovered them.

 

In the Avadon 2 manual.

 

What?! That's right! The Avadon 2 manual has an appendix on combat rules. It's probably safe to say that almost everything there applies to A2CS (and Avadon, and AEFTP) as well. Most of it won't be news to anyone at this point, but a few points stick out, that confirm several of my hypotheses that we haven't had data for:

 

- Blessing magic increases its duration. All the usual stats contribute to a slow rise. Curses never increase in duration, however.

 

- Enemies DO have the 4 basic stats and they DO increase at half pace with enemy level: "Non-player characters have these statistics too. On Normal difficulty, each is roughly equal to half the character's level." Note also the implication that stats may be augmented on higher difficulties. Told ya!

 

- Enemy armor... this one is fascinating. I'll just quote first:

 

"Monsters and other non-player characters don't get their defenses from armor. Instead,

each creature has innate protection:

Poison/Acid Attacks – 1% protection per level.

Physical Attacks – 5% protection per level.

All Other Attacks - 3% protection per level.

Note that these resistances stack like regular armor. If you strike a level 30 character

with, say, 300 points of physical damage, that amount is reduced by 5% thirty times (not

150% once)."

 

This means that a level 30 character will have about 79% physical resistance, but even a level 14 character will resist half of their physical damage.

 

This also provides yet one more damning variable in the melee/magic equation: practically all enemies will resist magic less than melee. A default level 30 NPC has effectively about 60% elemental/magical resistance, for example. A level 14 character that resists half a melee attack will only resist 35% of a magical one. If you see that pattern here, it's in fact that magic damage types gain more of an advantage over physical damage as the game goes on.

[Hume]

This is bad for game balance. If might and magic is balance at the beginning of the game, magic will be twice as good at the end.

 

Is it possible to fix it in the remix? Something like

spellcasters have 5% elemental protection, 3% physical protection per level

and monsters equally good at might and magic have 4% both?

[Lilith]

It's not something that can be fixed directly, since it's hardcoded into the engine, but it would be possible to work around it to some extent by manually adjusting resistances on top of the automatic ones. Making late-game weapons better would also help, of course.

[Slariton]

Is it possible to fix it in the remix?

Yes, although it will look more like what Lilith said. This has been pretty central to my plans for what the remix will be like this time.

[Hume]

Wish list for the remix:

 

Lethal blow is so weak that it is no better than basic attack skills. It is not worth investing at all. Suggestion: each level also increase critical damage by 2%, in addition to 3% critical chance.

Archers will find bow/missile skill give discipline points not useful, since they need waste skill points to access hardiness. Is it possible to change to something more useful?

[Slariton]

As with the original remix, it is not possible for me to change anything that's hardcoded. That includes auto-stat assignment for creatures and it also includes the direct effects of stats and skills.

 

HOWEVER, I can adjust some other stuff that triggers off of those skills. I don't want to give too much away beforehand, but I have a plan to balance things so that there WILL be reasons to invest in Sniper, Lethal Blow, Quick Action, Dual Wielding, Riposte, and -- yes -- even Magical Efficiency. Yes, for Sniper those reasons will have to be pretty good to justify not building up towards Hardiness...