Balance Talk: Jan 26, 2017
By STAFF_Ines
Jan 26th, 2017
Greetings, Saviors!
Today, I’m following up on our last Balance Talk with a few more updates on the classes we’re currently working on. I will only be talking about what has changed since the last update, so do read the first and second Balance Talk posts in this series if you haven’t yet.
Also, remember that these changes aren’t set in stone yet. We’re still testing and reconsidering our plans for the next balance patch, so these may look a little different once they’re actually introduced in the game.
Cannonneer
Updates:
- Distance restrictions removed for skills used with Bazooka (excluding normal attacks)
For the past couple of weeks, I talked about a good number of improvements we made to Cannoneer skills; increasing ranges, reducing casting and cooldown times, and all-around bolstering the Cannooneer’s explosive abilities. One of our devs was actually cured of indigestion while testing the new version of this class: that’s how refreshingly powerful it is.
Overall, we were very satisfied with how the class became a lot less frustrating to play, which inspired us to give it one extra boost and allow the Bazooka skill to be used from short ranges as well. We sure had a lot of fun exploding things, so we hope you are as excited to start blasting your cannons once the new changes arrive.
Monk
Updates:
- Double Punch side-to-side range increased to match range of normal attack
- Additional damage dealt with Palm Strike, equivalent to the enemy’s defense
- Additional damage dealt with Hand Knife, equivalent to the enemy’s INT stat
Previously I mentioned how we finally managed to free the Monk of some of the class’ most discouraging restrictions, especially after the big Golden Bell Shield reform I explained in the last post. We noticed, however, that as far as Monk skills go, players continued to resort almost exclusively to Double Punch (then Energy Blast and Golden Bell Shield).
This time, we decided to show a little love to some other Monk skills in an effort to balance out and strengthen the purpose of this class. Palm Strike and Hand Knife especially, which so far were mostly used as debuffs with their corresponding attributes, will now aid primarily in dealing, with each skill delivering extra damage based on the enemy’s stats. We look forward to making all the Monks out there answer with a firm ‘YES’ anytime someone asks if the class is any good.
Rune Caster
Updates:
- All skills in the Wizard class tree allowed with Rune of Giants
If you read my two previous Balance Talk posts, you’ll know we had two things in mind for Rune of Giants: we wanted to lift the restrictions on this skill safely and gradually. As you can see from the update contents, this lift was anything but gradual, as this time we decided to allow the use of all Wizard skills in combination with Rune of Giants.
We did stick to the “safe” part of the plan, though. We ran tests after tests, using every single skill in the Wizard class tree with Rune of Giants, but we arrived at the conclusion that there really were no drawbacks to full-on liberating this skill. We’re very pleased with the results, and we feel even more motivated to keep improving other skills in this class from now on.
Warlock
Updates:
- Mastema applied to flying-type enemies
The demon of hatred summoned with Mastema is one that cannot exist on its own; it needs a target to latch on to. This time, by allowing Mastema to apply to a wider range of targets, our plan is to increase the scope of this skill and further reinforce the role of the Warlock.
You see, compared to other classes, we still feel that the Warlock’s identity as a dealer is a little ambiguous. As such, this is the first step towards a series of changes that we hope will continue to build up on the efficacy and versatility of Warlock skills.
We hope you understand that we aren’t yet done with these balance changes, and we will get to work on other classes eventually. Meanwhile, we want to keep updating you on the progress through the blog, where we can also keep an eye on your reactions and opinions on the new plans.
Thank you for sticking with us throughout the process; I look forward to writing to you again on the next Balance Talk.