Second Difficulty Changes

[Drem]

So we did a lot of data mining and statistic gathering and we decided that the drop off of difficulty of villains is indeed too steep, but only slightly. The main thing we want to avoid is make it too difficult to find teammates. The way it is now, teammates 2 levels below may face a disadvantage. It is hard to build a team of diverse levels. A team spanning 5 levels should be well within reason, but at the same time you should not be able to take out villains 10 levels above you (or you lowest level teammate). So looking at a target of a team possibly spanning 5 levels, you need to be effective (albeit minimally) against someone 7 levels above you (if you are 5 levels below the highest member of the team, you may get a mission with villains 2 levels above your highest level teammate).

So we are loosening up the range of villains you can be effective against. Coming soon, this will be the new changes to villain difficulties (note the changes after +4 levels):

Foes your level have not changed. You have a 75% chance to hit and you powers are 100% effective.
Foes 1 level above you - No Change. You have a 68% chance to hit and you powers are 90% effective.
Foes 2 levels above you - No Change. You have a 61% chance to hit and you powers are 80% effective.
Does 3 levels above you - You have a 55% chance to hit and you powers are 65% effective.
Foes 4 levels above you - You have a 48% chance to hit and you powers are 48% effective.
Foes 5 levels above you - You have a 41% chance to hit and you powers are 30% effective.
Foes 6 levels above you - You have a 34% chance to hit and you powers are 15% effective.
Foes 7 levels above you - You have a 25% chance to hit and you powers are 8% effective.
Foes 8 levels above you - You have an 11% chance to hit and you powers are 5% effective.
Foes 9 levels above you - You have a 6% chance to hit and you powers are 4% effective.
Foes 10 levels above you - You have a 5% chance to hit and you powers are 3% effective.
Foes 11 levels above you - You have a 5% chance to hit and you powers are 2% effective.
Foes 12+ levels above you - You have a 5% chance to hit and you powers are 1% effective.

So this really opens things up a lot more than the way it currently is, but is still much tighter than it was last week. This should make grouping with a team with a 5 level span very reasonable, but villains over 8+ levels higher than you really drop off and it simply won’t be safe to take on anything higher level than that.

Other things to remember:
There IS currently an XP bonus for teaming up. I noticed a lot of players asking for this, but it already exists, and the larger the team, the bigger the bonus.
Don’t forget side-kicking. You can sidekick a player who is 3 levels below you. All sidekicks fight one level below the mentor.
This is still an online game. The balance can and will ebb and flow until a solid equilibrium is reached. The most effective thing you can do is play now and play when this change is available. That way we can gather the data and see what works best.
There are some missions that are spawning villains too high for the mission owner. This is more of a concern now, so we are focusing on correcting these issues ASAP.
This will go onto the TEST server first, so additional input from all of you will always be helpful.

Previously...

Foes your level have not changed. You have a 75% chance to hit and you powers are 100% effective.
Foes 1 level above you - No Change. You have a 68% chance to hit and you powers are 90% effective.
Foes 2 levels above you - You have a 60% chance to hit and you powers are 80% effective.
Does 3 levels above you - You have a 49% chance to hit and you powers are 65% effective.
Foes 4 levels above you - You have a 25% chance to hit and you powers are 32% effective.
Foes 5 levels above you - You have a 8% chance to hit and you powers are 11% effective.
Foes 6 levels above you - You have a 8% chance to hit and you powers are 3% effective.
Foes 7 levels above you - You have a 8% chance to hit and you powers are 2% effective.
Foes 8+ levels above you - You have a 8% chance to hit and you powers are 1% effective.

These changes look a lot more reasonable, but we'll see how it goes.

[Kwonryu DragonFist]

Reasonable? I'd say Splendour and Poshness!

[Adelrune Argenti]

I experienced some horrific grouping this weekend. I was on my blaster, level 10 at the time. I ended up in a group of folks level 11-13. They were hitting purples to me, level 13. I could not hit them to save my life. Really frustrating and also very discouraging because I don't want to be limited to who I have to group with, i.e. those within a level or 2 of me.

I am glad to see these changes.