Burn/Ignite Nerf Plans

CoH Discussion
Locked
Drem
Gets Around
Gets Around
Posts: 74
Joined: April 21, 2003, 2:59 pm

Burn/Ignite Nerf Plans

Post by Drem »

From Geko:
Burn is a problem.

One Burn patch in on itself is not that big of a problem (although it can be), but you can drop 5 Burn patches on top of each other and the AI is not smart enough to avoid it. 5 stacked Burn Patches can lay heavy destruction. If a villain did this to you, you would not stand on it.

Part of the answer is to make the AI smart enough to stay out of things like Burn Patches, even if Provoked/Taunted. That is easier said than done. Villain already in attack animations can be brought below half HP before they even get a chance to run away (and then they run back in). Frankly, improving the AI will be challenging at best, and we cannot simply leave well enough alone until we hope to improve the ai.

We will probably increase the recharge time, and duration of the Burn so you cannot stack them on top of each other w/o recharge enhancements. We will also cut he END cost significantly to about a third. Similar changes will occur to Ignite, but not as drastic.

To compensate for the loss damage potential of Fire Tankers, Blazing Aura damage will be increased and its END cost will go down. Also, Fiery Embrace will now also boost all damage types. More specifically, it will boost Fire damage a lot for a long time, and at the same time, it will buff other damage types just like a Build Up (so it wont buff other damage types as much).

Theses changes are not done, but expect something along these lines in the near future. We will continue to work on the problem and adjust things as much as necessary (in other words, we wont change it and walk away. if the change is too harsh, we will change it again. this means I will be playing a Burn tanker for a while to see how he manages, and we will be watching statistics and the boards).

All I ask is when the change comes, dont freak out and scream Nerf. It will be much more productive and easier to balance if we can get honest and straightforward feedback instead of disrespectful rants. Try it out for a while and adjust your tactics. It will still be a quite effective power but adjustments can be made if needed.
Letania
Gets Around
Gets Around
Posts: 94
Joined: August 17, 2002, 5:26 am

Post by Letania »

They need to hurry the fuck up honestly.

I've sat in a group with a level 40 burn tanker friend of mine (he took like 2 weeks to 40, wasn't playing THAT hard), and got more exp, with two other people leeching too, than any group or solo situation I've been in. And I've been in a lot.

This guy was soloing, powerleveling 3 30ish players sitting at the zone in.
Drem
Gets Around
Gets Around
Posts: 74
Joined: April 21, 2003, 2:59 pm

Post by Drem »

Yeah its kinda funny. At this point, it feels like EQ where you help all your friends PL to 40, except when they level that high, theres no big raids on gods or farming of uber loots, instead you get to walk around in atlas city near Ms Liberty and show the newbs how hardcore you are. Either you play for the missions/story or you play to reach 40. Since burn doesnt affect the economy or interfere with anyone's gaming experience (except for massive envy), I dont see why it is such a big deal.

On a different note, ive found the sidekick system to be very deceiving, almost useless. Lately, with the AE/brickstown/purple slaughtering epidemic, people care more for xp and not the speed/success of killing things, instead they rather miss 95% of the time and gain a lot of xp by not being sidekicked. If the person isnt high enough to get xp without sidekicking, they seem very undesirable to the group. I'll admit that i used to be one of these people, but now i took the burn challenge so i mostly just solo. Although this doesnt apply to everyone, I think it will be even more common in the future. So ill label the sidekick system as a failure. It looked good in the beginning, but the reality is that it doesnt fit the game that well.
Letania
Gets Around
Gets Around
Posts: 94
Joined: August 17, 2002, 5:26 am

Post by Letania »

Anyone who knows a burn tanker (or has a friend inclined to roll one) can get level 40 easily, that's why it's a big deal.

You could have 3 accounts among 2 people, one levels a burn tanker to 40, the other levels a char to 32 on the other account, then makes a burn tanker on their first account, power levels that to 40 in basically zero time. They can then use that 32 gimp to SK anyone to 31, drop the mentor from group and PL any char to 40 in a few days.

And we're talking MMO players here - it's not that ridiculous =p
User avatar
kyoukan
Super Poster!
Super Poster!
Posts: 8548
Joined: July 5, 2002, 3:33 am
Location: Vancouver

Post by kyoukan »

The sidekick systems accomplishes what it's supposed to accomplish. Sidekicking is for people who want to play with their higher level friends sometimes. The XP isn't good because it's not supposed to be for levelling up. You're still encouraged to level up normally and go through the normal content everyone else goes through.

COH seems to have about as much high level endgame content as every other MMORPG that's come out at launch date, which is basically none.
Locked