Along with the latest update came some major game imbalances. This patch is an attempt to fix some of those, but the journey towards balance is never-ending. Expect many more balance updates in the coming weeks.
Minstrel + Power Usage
Up until now, the math was such that you got a disproportionate benefit from spending your power while receiving levels from a minstrel. Therefore, the optimal strategy has been to only spend your power while being buffed by a minstrel. This is less than ideal as it puts too much weight on a single spec, and creates a strategy that is not intuitive for new players. To address this, your power cost will now scale up when receiving levels from a minstrel.
Example: Sylph (bowman) is in a tower with Banduri (minstrel). Banduri is granting 4 levels to Sylph – an increase of ~100% (it’s actually 107.36%, but I’m rounding down to keep the math simple). Bringing his effective damage to 200%. While Sylph is powered, his damage is increased by approximately 200% – this would normally bring his damage to 300%, but since his damage is being doubled by Banduri, his effective damage is now 600%.
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- In the old version, there’s an extra 200% that is unaccounted for (100% comes from Sylph’s base damage; 200% comes from Sylph’s power spend; 100% comes from Banduri’s minstrel buff) In other words, Banduri’s contribution was tripled without Banduri doing or spending anything, merely because Sylph powered up.
- In the new version, Sylph’s power cost would be increased by 107.36% (but we’ll just call it 100%). Now, Sylph is still doing ~600% damage while powered. However, since the 200% from his power usage is now effectively 400%, his power cost is also doubled. The extra damage per power spent remains the same as if he didn’t have a minstrel buff. The 100% bonus damage from Banduri’s minstrel buff remains the same as if Sylph was unpowered.
I assure you, while this is a nerf, it does not mean that you are being penalized for powering up with a minstrel. To the contrary, you get the same benefit per power spent as you would without a minstrel. Powering up with a minstrel now just allows you to dish out your empowered damage quicker.
Power in the Barracks
- I’ve scaled back the increased rate at which you spend power in the barracks. It was originally ~3 power/second – I changed it to 10 power/second – it’s now 5 power/second.
- I’ve also increased the amount of xp you get per power spent this way from 1.5 seconds of wave xp to 2 seconds of wave xp per power spent.
- As an experiment: I’ve used the same math to determine how much xp you gain from “wasted power” (power earned after your power bar is full): Players will now gain 2 seconds of wave xp for each wasted power.
- I reserve the right to lower this, if it results in less active game-play
Class Balance Changes
- Sniper/Weaken: Weak damage has been increased from 100% to 125%
- Necromancer: Zombie damage has been increased by 25% to account for the minstrel changes