I had some ideas running around in my head, and I want to try them out. This is an experimental update. As such, I’m not at all attached to these changes. If they don’t work, they don’t work, but I’m excited to see how they affect the game.
As with most updates, I ask that you don’t rush to judgments. If you play 2 games and tell me the update sucks (or is awesome), it’s not going to carry much weight on my decision making process.
Static XP Gain
Previously, XP gain increased by 25% of the base amount each wave. Also, XP required per level increased exponentially (you’ve needed more and more XP to gain similar damage increases). This had a few side effects:
- It’s easier to catch up in level if you fall behind
- It’s harder to get ahead in level
- Training early game is unimportant
- Low-level players gain a lot more damage from their time spent in the barracks compared to high-level players
In this update, XP from the barracks stays at a flat 125xp/wave all game. Also, XP required per level increases in tandem with damage increases. While each level does take significantly longer than the previous, each point of XP ultimately adds the same amount of damage throughout the game. This has a few side effects:
- It’s harder to catch up if you fall behind
- It’s easier to get ahead in levels
- Training early game is much more important
- While it’s still better for low-levels to train (since higher level players can better defend). All players not gain the same amount of damage for time spent in the barracks.
Slower, More Significant Level Ups
Previously, each level up increased your damage by about 10% of your total damage. Now, each level increases your damage by exactly 20% of your total damage. My hope is that each level up will feel more significant. Experience required per level has also increased accordingly.
To better see these 2 changes, take a look at the following chart. Take notice, while XP required per level increases at about the same rate, damage increases MUCH faster. (Also, since XP/wave is now static, it takes MUCH longer to get to level 25 – about as long as it used to take to get to level 55).
| Level | Old DPS Mult | New DPS Mult | Old XP Req | New XP Req. |
| 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 2 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 70 | 140 |
| 3 | 1.22 | 1.44 | 85 | 165 |
| 4 | 1.34 | 1.73 | 110 | 198 |
| 5 | 1.47 | 2.07 | 140 | 238 |
| 6 | 1.61 | 2.49 | 170 | 285 |
| 7 | 1.77 | 2.99 | 210 | 342 |
| 8 | 1.94 | 3.58 | 255 | 411 |
| 9 | 2.12 | 4.3 | 310 | 493 |
| 10 | 2.32 | 5.16 | 380 | 591 |
| 11 | 2.53 | 6.19 | 455 | 709 |
| 12 | 2.76 | 7.43 | 545 | 851 |
| 13 | 3.01 | 8.92 | 655 | 1022 |
| 14 | 3.28 | 10.7 | 785 | 1226 |
| 15 | 3.57 | 12.84 | 930 | 1471 |
| 16 | 3.88 | 15.41 | 1100 | 1765 |
| 17 | 4.22 | 18.49 | 1300 | 2118 |
| 18 | 4.59 | 22.19 | 1550 | 2542 |
| 19 | 4.98 | 26.62 | 1850 | 3051 |
| 20 | 5.41 | 31.95 | 2150 | 3661 |
| 21 | 5.86 | 38.34 | 2550 | 4393 |
| 22 | 6.36 | 46.01 | 3000 | 5271 |
| 23 | 6.89 | 55.21 | 3500 | 6326 |
| 24 | 7.46 | 66.25 | 4100 | 7591 |
| 25 | 8.07 | 79.5 | 4800 | 9109 |
New: “Point Explosions”
- Upon earning a Blitz Kill, you’ll also get a small “point explosion”, granting points equal to 33% of the points from killing an enemy wave.
- Upon earning a Challenge Wave, you’ll also get a large “point explosion”, granting points equal to 100% of the points from killing an enemy wave.
- Challenge waves also already grant 200% the points a normal wave grants
Skip Multiple Difficulty Tiers
- Earn enough points in a game, and you can now move up 2-5 tiers, instead of just 1.
- Lose before wave 30 and you’ll now move down 3 difficulties
Late Joiner Bonus XP
- The bonus XP from joining late has been lowered slightly
- Now, each earned Challenge wave will add 150 additional XP to the bonus (the more you train, the higher level late joiners will start at)
Difficulty Increases Faster After Tier 12
- Starting with Tier 13, the difficulty now goes up twice as fast
Altar Adjustments
- The Wisdom Altar now grants 8 levels (down from 15) to account for the bigger increase from each level
- The Investment and Rebirth altars again grant 5% xp (down from 6%) to account for early-game xp being more important
Archer Buff
- All Archer specs now deal ~10% more damage
MassMastery Rework
- MassMastery now costs 75 mana (up from 60 – or 6, due to a bug)
- The buff now lasts 10 waves (up from 5)
- The buff can now stack up to 5 times (up from 3)
Crowd Control Calculations are Back to Normal
- Once again, CC is calculated the same way damage is:
- 10 + 1.2 raised to the L power (where L is your level)
Scout XP Calculations Adjusted
- Since XP is now static, the Scout’s contribution is based on the current wave compared to his level
Badges and highscores have been reset.
The difficulty still needs some balancing. However, I’m mostly focused on figuring out which changes improve the game, and which make it worse. Please take some time to play around with the changes before giving feedback. Play-testing is invaluable to me here.
Thank you!