Mod16: Stats and Mechanics

[Michael DarkAngel]

Developer Blog: Stats and Mechanics

Any discussions you want to have on this topic we'll put right here.

[Michael DarkAngel]

I really like this idea and I'm glad to see that we're getting some indication as to how it will work with the given formula.

Code:  Select all

% = (rating - opposed rating) / 500

So we're told that Critical Strike will be opposed by Critical Avoidance. We also know that Armor Penetration is opposed by Defense. With the new stats listed, and the way they are listed, we can extrapolate that Combat Advantage Bonus will be opposed by Awareness, and Deflect will be opposed by Accuracy.

Some stats will be capped and cannot go below 0%:
Critical Chance and Deflect Chance will be capped at 50%
Combat Advantage Bonus will be capped at 100%

Some stats have a default bonus:
Critical Chance has a 5% bonus
Combat Advantage Bonus has a 10% bonus
They haven't specifically stated how the bonus applies, but we can assume we will always have at least 5% Critical Chance and 10% Combat Advantage Bonus.

500 points equals 1% rating:
That's a simpler system than we have now. Makes things such as swapping enchantments much easier.

[Michael DarkAngel]

Additions: Needed for Opposing Rolls.
Critical Avoidance - counters Critical Strike. There should be no reason why you crit every time.
Awareness - counters Combat Advantage Bonus.
Accuracy - counters Deflect. Another one that should never happen all the time.

Removals: Some hot ones here, may be good, may be bad.
AC (Armor Class) - added to your Defense. This could have been left in with reduced benefits, but I guess they wanted us to be squishy-er. Overall, it probably will not be missed.
AoE Resist - can only assume this was to lessen damage from AoE attacks. Not sure how it was acquired, doubt it will be missed.
DoT Resist - can only assume this was to lessen damage from DoT attacks. Not sure how it was acquired, doubt it will be missed.
Regen - more of a change, not a removal. Set amount of out of combat Regen. Thought it was always out of combat, but now means if you want to heal faster, potions or campfires are the way to go.
Recovery - this is a big one. Removing Recovery means our encounter cooldowns and AP Gain are what they are. They want to bring encounters and dailies back to being special attacks, not something that gets spammed like at-wills. I hope this means they reduce the animation time of some of the at-wills.
Lifesteal - not on the list, but it is mentioned with Recovery as being one of the most significant removals, and I have to agree. I also have to agree that something needed to be done. Stack a lot of Lifesteal and you were either dead or alive, nothing in-between. Does that warrant a complete removal? No, I don't think so, and neither did the devs. They stated Lifesteal, AP Gain, and Recharge Speed would still have limited sources. Most likely those sources will be stronghold/campaign boons, mounts, and companions. Most likely where you won't find it anymore, gear, artifacts, enchantments, and insignia.

[Michael DarkAngel]

Enemies in a given zone/dungeon will have the same ratings. I don't like this at all. Take Dread Ring as an example. All skeletons, zombies, Red Wizards, Thayan Servitors, Dread Protectors, and hell hounds will have the same ratings. Looks like the only difference will be in the amount of damage they do. That has the potential to make just about every zone/dungeon very boring. Now if they don't consider Hit Points (in the list of Main Ratings) as one of those ratings at least some enemies will take a little longer to kill.

With the addition of opposing rolls, this had the potential to make all areas more interesting again. Once it's determined what a zone's/dungeon's ratings are (and you know, someone will) any challenge this introduces will cease to exist, even for a character entering it for the first time.

[Michael DarkAngel]

It was announced today that some core changes have been made for the next preview update.

• Ratings now convert at 1,000 rating points for 1% (decreased from 500 for 1%)
• Defense now caps at 50% damage ignored (decreased from 80%). Certain temporary buffs can bypass this cap up to a maximum of 80% damage ignored.
• Monster ratings have been adjusted to have two values. Combat Advantage, Critical Strike, Defense, and Deflect will have a higher value than the other four ratings. All monster ratings have been adjusted as well (for example: level 70 monsters will have a base 7,000 rating with Combat Advantage, Critical Strike, Defense, and Deflect having a 57,000 rating. At endgame, the higher ratings will always be 50,000 more than the lower ratings.
• Encounter and Daily magnitudes have been reduced, making At-Wills more effective in relation.
• Monster health has been reduced by 30% across the board.
• Multi-target At-Wills have had their damage increased.

Let's talk about these little bullet points one-by-one, shall we.

Ratings Conversion
So now we will need more points to cap. Actually this was a good move in my opinion. It was fairly easy with top-end gear to cap all your relevant stats and end up with a good deal of wasted stats. When mixed with the dual values the monsters will now have leaves room to further improve your character.

Defense Cap
Ouch! Only being able to ignore half the damage thrown at you. Ouch!

Monster Ratings
First thing to wonder about, "At endgame", we'll just assume that means level 70 and beyond since level 70 was used in the example provided. Having assumed that, what, one wonders, will be the higher rating for pre-70 monsters? Also, if level 70 has a base rating of 7,000 (decreased from 24,000), will level 1 have a base rating of 100 (increased from 10)? Overall though, I have to agree with this as well, although 50,000 more seems a bit much.

Damage Reduction
Yep, that's exactly what it is, a damage reduction. Instead of increasing At-Wills, reduce everything else. We'll see how that mixes with the monster health and rating changes. I'm thinking trash encounters are going to get even longer now.

Monster Health
Well, we do less damage now so they don't need as many hit points. Maybe it will all work out.

Multi-target At-Wills
Hey! Look at that! A damage increase. Imagine that. Don't get too overjoyed, they don't tell us how much.

It is preview after all. And things do change quite often on preview. Of course, they did announce that April 23rd will be release day on PC. So, they have a little less than a month to decide if this will be what they want to ship out.