Search article
DEVELOPER'S BLOG
Combat System Changes Dossier Pt. 5
Greetings, Saviors! Now that the main combat system changes we’ve been discussing in the Dossier series have been applied to iTOS, the dev team is back for the final installation of the Combat System Changes Dossier, where we’ll reveal some of the improvement plans we have for the future. Keep in mind that the updates we talk about here haven’t been decided on yet and some aspects may change. Life After the Combat System Changes The big combat system rework came with a character reset event (open until May 30, 2017!) to match all the big and small changes it brought about. We love seeing how players are involved in testing out different builds in the freshly revised combat system, and we're glad most seem to be taking full advantage of the event. Our plan after this big rework is to assess the problems of specific classes in order to readjust and improve them. Our main focus is going to be on classes that are hard to fine-tune through general formulas alone, particularly those with skill set restrictions or problems related to summon AI, stat calculation, etc.; in other words, classes with very specific concepts that can be tricky to approach by your average player. Some classes may take longer to readjust than others, but we hope to release a few patches containing changes for multiple classes at once. And by the way, we’re excluding Rank 7 and Rank 8 classes, which don’t have their upper skill set fully formed yet, from these plans. Tree of Savior has a few classes with very particular structures and functions you don’t commonly see in an MMORPG, and it isn’t easy fixing them all overnight. We at the dev team feel truly grateful to all the players who decided for a class because they admire the concept despite that class’ lower combat performance, and we certainly want to work towards a TOS where no class is forgotten. Field Boss Improvements One update regarding combat systems we already hinted at in a previous video was field boss improvements. First, we expect to lower the combat power and rewards of all bosses that appear after a certain period of time, effectively excluding them from the category of field bosses. Our plans are to divide field bosses into two grades. One grade of field boss will be powerful enough to face multiple parties at once, and drop as main rewards recipes for new unique accessory items, with cubes providing other exciting items. These bosses will be the strongest types of monster existing in Tree of Savior Defeating this type of boss will distribute rewards to all party members according to the damage contribution ranks (within the party), plus a bonus reward to the first and last characters to attack the boss (they’ll have to be present when the boss is defeated to receive these rewards). We believe these bonus rewards will be a fun incentive for players who dare to risk their safety to deal that first hit or the finishing blow. The other grade of field boss will be a slightly toned-down version worthy of facing one-on-one with any character that has a decent combat build. These smaller bosses will appear in various fields of different levels and drop material items that can be used to craft equipment obtained from field bosses. This lower grade of boss will appear at random times in random locations, but we want to avoid having it appear right before scheduled maintenance and remove any restrictions that keep characters from temporarily receiving rewards. Along with these boss changes, we also intend to reduce the frequency of knockdown, omnidirectional and single-target attacks in boss monsters, as well as revise their normal attacks. Team Battle League For our PvP sports content, the Team Battle League, we’re focusing on improving synchronization issues between server/client and location, as well as server speed. First, we want to change Team Battle League matches from the current 2:2 and 5:5 formats to a single 3:3 setup. We also intend to balance out a few skills and systems that hinder the concept of TBL as sports content. Some of the aspects we’re thinking of including in this rebalance are the immunity to multiple target devices (knockdown, stun, freeze and other ailments that cause the inability to control your own character), the duration and effect of long buffs/debuffs, and the stat gaps between different items. Any changes we make related to these, however, will only apply to TBL or other battle-type contents played in similar instanced zones. Finally, regarding TBL, we also feel inclined to add some improvements to the current point and ranking rewards. Guild Communities One of the obvious differences between MMORPGs and games you play alone are the communities players create in the former. This aspect is especially encouraged by the guild communities present in most MMORPGs, a genre which established itself nearly 20 years ago. With this in mind, the somewhat restrictive and closed-off guild systems of TOS can seem to fall a little short of other games with user communities. Currently, guilds in TOS cannot be created without a Templar character. The fact that Templar is a Rank 7 class is enough of an obstacle; add that to the relatively lower combat power and the lack of any noticeable benefits for Templars in the recent reset event, and you can see why guild masters are currently left in a bit of a tough spot. The changes we want to bring to guilds include allowing anyone to create a guild consisting of a simple social community. Guilds led by Templar guild masters, on the other hand, will be able to use skills to access extended guild functions and participate in guild wars. Following these changes, of course, we intend to provide reset items to all guild masters for either skill or class reset options. To match these guild system revisions, we also want to update guild wars (we’re not talking about the seasonal Regional Guild Battles, but the GvG play that takes place in open fields). Here, unlike what we’re doing for Team Battle League, we don’t intend to readjust level differences, skills/buffs or the number of participants, however. These changes don’t mean that every guild will have to go to war, either. We very much appreciate the contribution of players who gladly take part in GvG contents, but not all players join a guild for the same purpose. Finally, we want to push the aspects that differentiate Tree of Savior from more rugged MMORPGs by introducing new friendly living and productive activities, and our plan is to include these in guild contents, too. Thank you to everyone who stuck with us throughout the Dossier series. We at the dev team want to make sure that TOS continues to grow into a fun game for all players.
Combat System Changes Dossier Pt. 4
Greetings, Saviors! TOS dev team here. Today, in part 4 of our Dossier series about the ‘Plans for Combat System Changes’, we’re talking about what differences you can expect in items and hunting fields. 1. What will change about the stats of equipment items? First, here’s the chart showing how level, stats and weapons influence skill attack before and after the changes, in case you missed it. You can see from this chart that the importance of items increases by quite a bit after the changes. Now have another look at the new damage calculation formula: Your attack is going to depend on the defense of your enemy, and on your own attack-defense proportions. A character with attack 100 and defense 100, for example, deals 30 of damage (70% reduction); one with attack 200 and defense 100 will, in turn, deal 90 of damage, suffering a damage reduction of only 55%. This means that larger gaps between your attack and defense values will be more advantageous. Thinking of the two example characters above, the difference between 100 and 200 is only 2 times, but the actual damage (from 30 to 90) is 3 times different. < Regular attack damage according to attack and defense values > Your attack is composed of the following criteria: a) +0.5 per level b) +2 per STR/INT (+5 added every 10) c) Weapon attack (base stats, enhancement, transcendence, gems, options) Note that additional property damage isn’t counted in these criteria. If you consider that you can increase your attack by about 1000 through your level and STR/INT stats, the total percentage occupied by the attack of your weapon is more than 50%, reaching up to more than 70% when enhancement/transcendence/gem values are applied. This percentage can increase even more if you choose to invest in stats other than STR or INT. Skills, on the other hand, take into account the defense of your target to increase your attack only by a certain percentage, so they won’t have much effect on already-low attack values. This is especially true with high-defense enemies, which are unlikely to be visibly affected by even high attack factor skills. < Regular attack damage and skill damage on an enemy of defense 4000 > On the other hand, increasing your defense up to a higher degree can significantly improve how well you withstand regular attacks, and even skills with an attack factor of 1500% won’t make that much of a scratch. Along with the combat system changes, we’re also going to reduce the overall defense in monsters, so we expect it will be easier for players to deal decent amounts of damage not only in fields but in instanced dungeons and Earth Tower as well. After the changes, however, we do want to introduce new item-dropping field bosses with higher defense and attack, so having a certain amount of defense will continue to be important to players. 2. How will the dual stats of armor and blunt weapon items work? With the new changes, we decided to have blunt weapons offer both physical and magic attack, for the convenience of Cleric classes that require both. Enhancing, transcending or maintaining this type of weapons is going to increase both physical and magic attack values simultaneously. Armor items will also offer both physical and magic defense. Plate armor will focus on physical defense, while Cloth armor will provide higher magic defense. Leather armor will have lower physical and magic defense, instead including critical rate-increasing attributes. 3. How will item enhancement be affected by the changes? After the combat system changes, the biggest difference you can expect in terms of items is in the enhancement function, which many players currently feel doesn’t offer enough of a boost to justify its silver prices. To improve on this, we changed the price for each stage of enhancement, making it 20% to 30% lower than the current fees, and increased the efficacy of each increment. < Enhancement of a Lv. 315 rare weapon. Enhancing to stage 6, 11 or 16 are the most efficient options. > Starting from +6, the first stage at which the enhancement can fail, the increment increases, as it does every 5th stage after that (+11, +16, +21, and so on). Matching the enhancement of your item to these stages, then, becomes the most efficient option. We are also changing the maximum stage of “safe” enhancement of sub-weapons to +5, but other than that, the chances of success, potential consumption rules and anvil functions remain the same. One related difference in the field of transcendence, however, is that consuming the potential of an item will not affect the amount of Blessed Gems required in extraction penalties, so that will be one less thing for you to worry about. 4. What is going to change in the transcendence system? The overall percentage of increase you get from each stage of transcendence is going to be smaller, but with the new combat system formulas and skill factor calculations, the performance of transcendence in items is going to remain very much the same, and can even prove itself to be much more powerful than before depending on your skill combinations. One thing to keep in mind, however, is that after the changes, the higher the transcendence stage of an item, the pricier it will be to enhance it. The new transcendence system will also see the current three types of Goddess’ Blessed Gems unified into a single type of Blessed Gem, which can be returned at a rate of 90% of the corresponding successful transcendence stage, regardless of the remaining potential of the item. Blessed Gems lost in transcendence attempts failed from adding less than the required for guaranteed success will not be counted for the total of Blessed Gems returned. Here’s a sample case to help exemplify this rule: Stage 1: used 1/3 and succeeded -> 1 Blessed Gem saved Stage 2: used 2/4 and succeeded -> 2 Blessed Gems saved Stage 3: used 5/5 and succeeded -> 5 Blessed Gems saved Stage 4: used 2/6 and failed -> 0 Blessed Gems saved In the case above, the player saved a total of 8 Blessed Gems (all the Gems they used in successful attempts), so if they were to extract them, they should receive back 8 x 90% = 7.2 (rounded). That’s a total of 7 Blessed Gems, or 70 Blessed Shards. 5. What updates to expect in Hunting Grounds and Unidentified Items? If until now we were unable to introduce Lv. 270 and Lv. 315 weapons and equipment due to balance reasons, after the changes you can finally see these items dropped at the new Lv. 280-320 Hunting Grounds (entrance from Grynas Hills). These new equipment items may have relatively low numbers, but all the options you need (1 magic, 2 rare) are there. Other than these updates, playing in Hunting Grounds with a party of about 3 members is going to continue to be a good option, although solo play will be feasible as well. 6. Which items are changing to legend grade? Lolopanther (Lv. 270) and Solmiki (Lv. 330) equipment sets obtained from Earth Tower will have their current unique (red background) grade changed to legend grade (see images below). As legend items, these pieces of equipment are going to provide higher stats than the ones they currently offer. With these new combat system changes, specifically the new armor effects, we noticed more players wanting to switch their current armor for that of a different type, so we also plan to create a system that let you exchange your Lolopanther or Solmiki armor for the same items of a different type. We expect this system to allow players one single exchange per piece of armor, free of charge.
Combat System Changes Dossier Pt. 3
Greetings, Saviors! We're continuing our Dossier series about the ‘Plans for Combat System Changes’ with part 3 today. In this post, we would like to lay out some details regarding the changes that are coming to skills and the way they deal damage. 1. How will the attack factor of skills affect damage? We introduced this chart in our last Dossier post to explain how each factor affects skills before and after the combat system changes. Currently, the attack of a skill is calculated by adding the skill’s attack value to the level + stats + weapon. After the changes, however, this value is going to be calculated based on factors that increase the skill’s attack by a certain percentage. [Bash (Swordsman) Lv. 10 offers a factor of 245%.] The skill increase factor (highlighted below in red) contributes to the new damage calculation formula as such: damage = (% increase factor) x attack x min {1, log10 ((attack / (defense + 1))^0.8 + 1)} + (+ increase) Taking the Bash skill from the image above as an example, the damage provided would be the following (assuming a character of attack 1000, defense 800): Now let’s look at a case of multi-hit damage. [Multi Shot (Archer) Lv. 10 offers a factor of 81% over 10 hits.] Here’s what the damage would look like with this skill (again, assuming a build with attack 1000, defense 800): Multiple hit skills come with a lower attack factor compared to single-hit ones, but in a situation where every hit is accurate, the attack multiplying effect is higher. Boost that with some + additional damage and this type of skills can really prove themselves useful. 2. How will the attack factor vary from skill to skill? There are many types of attack skills in Tree of Savior, each with a different setting. Some skills consist of short, fast-paced hits, while others hit slowly over a longer period. Below are some of the aspects we’re considering in regards to how the different factors will be applied depending on the type of attack skill. The final factor is then determined based on the combination of the aspects above. The only exceptions that escape this rule would be tile skills, which are closely associated with their corresponding class, and skills which would end up nerfed excessively. In those cases, we adjusted the values a little so as to not make the changes too dramatic. 3. How will the attack factor apply in multi-hit skills? For many skills in Tree of Savior, their cooldown (or number of hits) and attack factor will develop simultaneously as the skill level is increased. In those skills, upping the attack factor by basing the sum in the accumulated damage would produce massive degrees of damage by Lv. 15. On the other hand, calculating the skill’s factor on a percentage based in the accumulated damage value would add up to ridiculously low factors at earlier levels. In order for these skills to develop at a more reasonable pace, we decided to either have a fixed cooldown (no. of hits or range) and let only the factor increase, or give them a set factor and allow for only the cooldown (no. of hits or range) to grow with the skill level. Multi Shot (Archer), Breaking Wheel (Inquisitor), Incineration (Plague Doctor) and Cyclone (Doppelsoeldner) are some of the skills that will be receiving this treatment, as well as any future class skills we consider worthy of it. 4. What will happen to skills with no cooldown? We have some pretty major changes planned for no-cooldown skills. The original purpose of no-cooldown skills is to allow your character to have an SP-consuming attack that is more effective that your regular attack. This works fine if the skill only offers an attack factor that is slightly higher (no need for a cooldown), but many no-cooldown skills also include added effects (bleeding, ricochet, debuffs, etc.), which according to the new factor rules leaves them with a much lower attack factor. Now, we don’t think it would be right for these skills to have an attack factor that is lower than regular attacks (100%), nor do we want to increase their SP consumption. To work around this problem, our plan is to give these skills a cooldown that is shorter than that of other 2-3 overheat attack skills, but a visibly higher attack factor than regular attacks. We believe that, in doing this, these low-cooldown skills can be used during the cooldown time of other major attack skills to create a better damage dealing cycle overall. 5. What other changes do you have planned for skills? While testing the new changes, we didn’t individually analyze the effects of every skill in every class build; instead, we simply adjusted the skill factors necessary for the changes along with the buffs and debuffs that most heavily affect them. This method, however, came with a few negative side effects. For example, having insufficient attack skills and skills where the attack/factor doesn’t match the character’s rank/circle continued to be a problem in magic attack Cleric classes (Krivis, Druid, Bokor, Sadhu, Taoist). Because of this, we decided to reduce the general degree of damage magnification obtained from combining skills. In the current version of the game, it’s not uncommon to achieve 2 or 3 times the attack of a skill; with the changes applied, however, you’ll be getting a smaller % of increase that rarely exceeds 2 times. The same will happen in cases where the skill combination can be maintained for longer durations. The main reason why we went for this approach is that, after the combat system changes, the amplification you get from the skill factors and item enhancement is much more noticeable than before. In order to maintain a more balanced environment in future updates and in the current PvP (including GvG) gameplay, we felt like we needed to be stricter about this aspect.
Combat System Changes Dossier Pt. 2
Greetings, Saviors! Following up on our QnA sessions about the ‘Plans for Combat System Changes’, we're continuing with a series of posts offering more detailed information on each aspect of the game's revised contents. Today’s discussion will focus on the changes that are coming to the basic and combat stats of characters, as well as the role of accuracy and evasion, block and critical. 1. How will stats be organized and how will the stat system work? STR, INT, CON, SPR and DEX will continue to form the set of basic stats that you can freely increase using the points you receive every time you level up. These basic stats, combined with the influence of your level, rank, items, buffs, etc. will contribute along with the variables of your physical attack, magic attack, accuracy, critical rate, etc. to form your final combat stats. Here’s an overview of the stat system changes: 2. In what way will the efficacy of attack stats increase? As you likely know, in TOS there are two types of attack, physical and magic, which are calculated independently and increased by the STR and INT stats, respectively. If so far STR (INT) increased +1 of physical (magic) attack at a time, now these stats will increase attack +2 at a time. The following skill attack chart, which includes some of what we’ll be discussing more in-depth on our next post in the Dossier series, summarizes the influence of attack stats on your final attack values. In the current setup, the skill factor comprises all of the additional damage, so the higher you level up (along with your skill damage and item attack), the less your attack stats will be worth, comparatively. This can cause physical attack characters to lean towards full DEX builds, while magic attack characters, not receiving any effect from DEX in their attacks, often bit the bullet and either invest in INT or go full CON for a tank-like build. Having STR and INT go from +1 to +2 may not seem like a big difference, but when you account for the new skill calculations, the influence of these stats in attack increases significantly. Forgoing STR and INT to invest in your items while picking only utility skills will, of course, continue to be a feasible type of build, but after the big changes STR and INT will certainly be worth more than before. We’re confident that at least you won’t feel fooled by the stat tutorial NPC in West Siauliai Woods going “STR is for Swordsmen!”… 3. How will CON and SPR relate to HP and SP? CON and SPR will continue to increase HP and SP respectively, but the extent to which they do so will depend on the character’s class, level and stats. As far as class goes, max. HP and max. SP will increase as such (assuming characters of the same level and stats): With the new changes, we expect any total amount of HP you have to be enough for your character. Because of the revised damage formulas, it’s a lot more difficult to become almost invincible no matter how high your defense is, and every little bit of damage counts. This will also, we hope, help avoid situations where a character becomes incapable of combat after one or two hits for having low HP. SP, on the other hand, is going to become a bigger necessity. A few skills may have gained some degree of SPR efficiency, but in general, if you want to use skills more than your average character, you’re going to have to invest at least a little in SPR (whether through stats or items). Alternatively, you can start relying on SP potions, since you’ll be able to use more than one at a time. 4. What will change about critical rate and resistance/chance? A lot of things are changing about the basic stats and their purpose, but to physical attack characters, the biggest change is probably in the use of DEX. If currently DEX increases accuracy, evasion and critical rate, after the changes it will increase a whole different set of factors: attack speed, evasion, block penetration and critical attack. Also, apart from the standard increments you get from leveling up, there will be no way to increase your critical rate or resistance by investing in a basic stat. With TOS’ current combat formulas, it’s not that difficult to reach nearly full critical attack, if you focus on DEX and collect all the extra critical rate factors from items, skills and buffs. As far as your DPS goes, after level 50 (even with a level 45 weapon), STR and INT tend to become progressively less significant, while the critical rate you can get from DEX allows you to increase your attack by a certain percentage with almost every hit, which makes this stat a lot more appealing to Archers in particular. [Stat distribution by class tree - data collected from recently active characters on Steam] Any seasoned player of TOS will be familiar with game guides advocating full DEX builds for physical attack characters; and for good reason, as they have allowed for 100% accuracy and very high degrees of evasion. Because of this situation, we concluded that it was best not to leave this up to personal stat customization and instead decided to remove critical rate from DEX and critical resistance from CON. This is the new critical rate formula we’re using: critical chance = (max(0, critical rate – critical resistance)) ^ 0.6 To this formula you can add all the other chance-increasing values to calculate your final critical chance. Unlike in the current version of the game, you won’t be able to have all your attacks be critical, but you’re going to get a bigger increase in critical attack from DEX than the one you currently get from STR (changed from +2 to +4). [Chances of hitting critical according to the difference of critical rate and resistance] Basic critical chance will come from the difference between the attacker’s critical rate and the target’s critical resistance. There will be a standard increase according to the level of the character or monster, but that difference will not exist when both individuals are of the same level. Unlike attack, since critical chance is determined by this difference, if an item offers +20 critical rate for example, this factor will be worth the same at both low and high levels. The relative effect of +50 critical rate from a full set of leather armor, then, will also carry over regardless of your level. Along with this, we’re changing the critical rate increase obtained through skills and buffs from a percentage value to a fixed +/- one. A good example would be the Swift Step: Critical Rate attribute, where the increase was changed from +5% to +30 per attribute level. We do feel like our choices regarding the critical chance formula and the items and skills with critical chance and resistance were a little conservative in these new combat changes. On the other hand, we are aware that there are classes which rely on critical attack and we understand the value of Yellow Gems is important, which is why we added critical rate options to all the new Hunting Grounds 270 and 315 physical attack weapons, and we’ll continue to apply similar options to new items, skills and attributes. 5. What changes can we expect in terms of evasion and block? First, we changed the evasion calculation formula in the same way we did with critical; like so: evasion chance = (max(0, evasion – accuracy)) ^ 0.65 The factors are slightly different, but here the final evasion rate is also calculated from the difference between the attacker’s accuracy and the target’s evasion, and just like it happens with critical rate/resistance, accuracy/evasion factors remain relatively valuable regardless of the character’s level. This, in fact, is one of the reasons why we decided to remove accuracy and evasion from gloves and boots. With the new changes applied, armor items will only increase your basic defense, and to a degree that is appropriate for your own level (in any case, it’s not like accuracy gloves were of much use to magic characters anyway…). As for the block calculation formula, no surprises here: block chance = (max(0, block – block penetration)) ^ 0.7 We used a very similar calculation to the other two introduced in this post. Block rates are therefore determined from the difference between block resistance and block penetration, with the final rate also being influenced by buffs or the Peltasta’s Shield Guard, for example. Here we’d like to note that, the reason why evasion and block factors are going to increase with stat investment while critical won’t, is because the former two do not have the side effect of significantly amplifying your DPS. Plus, they do not produce any results with a magic attack target, since they rely on the side that is receiving the attack. Also, we’d like to clarify that the critical, evasion and block factors we discussed here are not related to magic attack. Magic attack naturally applies to all kinds of targets, the way it has always been in TOS. Magic attack players therefore have it relatively easier when it comes to deciding their attack stat distribution, but on the other hand they also gain no bonus from it. This is a feature that we do not intend to change.
Combat System Changes Dossier Pt. 1
Greetings, Saviors! Following up on our QnA sessions about the ‘Plans for Combat System Changes’, this time we would like to create a series of posts with more detailed information on each aspect of the changes. Today, the topic we're discussing relates to a few specifics on how the new calculation formulas are going to affect the way combat is played in TOS. Other topics we have in mind for the next posts are subjects like the use of stats, skill factors, item changes and other updates. 1. What main differences will we see in TOS when the big changes are applied? In a nutshell, starting with the new combat system formulas, you’ll be getting revised character stats (in terms of both how they’re used and how they’re calculated), improved item stats and transcendence/enhancement systems, readjusted monster hunting difficulties and many other changes which will serve as guidelines to future dev improvements. 2. What’s the advantage of the new combat calculation formulas compared to our current ones? Our current [attack - defense] formula may be easier to understand, but in a game like TOS where you have several different types of classes, customizable basic stats and two types of attack and defense (physical/magic), it’s not so straightforward. When a game like this allows for such a wide range of character development and customization but the attack/defense values of items, monsters, etc. are fixed, it’s inevitable to come across certain limitations, and we (as well as our players) have certainly started to feel those limitations. That is why, if we’re going to consider future content updates, we need a formula that can take all these values and produce fairly balanced results no matter the stage of development of your character. That’s what we intend to achieve with the new combat calculation formulas (we ended up dwelling on this topic a little more specifically in topic no. 3, so do keep reading). 3. Can you give an example of how the new combat calculation formulas are going to work? Below is the new formula we’re using for calculating damage: damage = (% increase factor) x attack x min {1, log10 ((attack / (defense + 1))^0.8 + 1)} + (+ increase) 0.8 is the number we previously introduced as 0.x min is there to ensure that the applied attack value calculated via defense does not exceed 1 % increase factor refers to skills and other factors that increase attack on a percentage + increase refers to additional damage (+) from sources like property damage Now let’s calculate an example case of attack 1000 and defense 800. A = attack / (defense +1) = 1.248 (1 is added to defense so as to not divide any number by 0) B = A^0.8 + 1 = 2.19 C = min (1, log10 B) = 0.341 (min limits the maximum value of C to 1) This C value is a ratio applied according to the attack value, which makes D = attack x % factor x C + additional damage = 341 Here are a few examples of what the damage value would amount to according to different attack and defense values (assuming a % factor of 1.00 and a + increase of 0), under the new calculation formula: As you can see, with this formula, when attack and defense are the same value, the damage amounts to 30% of that number. The higher the defense, the lower the proportional damage; and vice versa. If the defense is 0, the damage will be the same value as the attack. For the sake of comparison, and to add a little to topic no. 2 of this post, here are the same calculations performed under the current formula (again, assuming a % factor of 1.00 and a + increase of 0). Here, with the [attack - defense] formula applied, investing enough in defense can make you virtually invincible. Some monsters compensated for this by upping their attack, which allowed them to deal some pretty nasty blows to your average player. As we explained before, this hindered many players wanting to quest or solo in Rank 8 fields or enjoy endgame contents like Earth Tower and, on the other hand, produced very extreme attack-defense proportions. We hope these examples help demonstrate how the new combat formulas can help players with different character builds experience a variety of contents more comfortably, which really is what we’re aiming for when applying these changes. 4. How will the new changes affect monsters under my character’s level in particular? For normal-grade field monsters 50 levels under the player’s, a virtual equipment factor is applied to maintain an attack reduction ratio of about 40% to 60%. This factor is applied at an even higher degree in special monsters like giant Hunting Ground monsters, elite or boss monsters. 5. Will the new changes make me invest more in defense? It depends on your circumstances. You can make your attack higher than your defense by investing in stats (STR/INT), but if the attack and defense values you get from items are similar, considering the significant attack increase you get according to your defense value, there won’t be that many contents demanding very high degrees of defense. Because of this, you can get fairly good results in regular fields, Hunting Grounds and instanced dungeons with moderate attack and some Heal or HP potions. On the other hand, the feedback you get from seriously investing in defense becomes more important in Earth Tower and other high-end PvE contents, as well as in PvP situations where it’s hard to estimate the attack of your opponent.
Combat System Changes QnA Session 2
Greetings, Saviors! Today we bring you another round of answers from the dev team about the ‘Plans for Combat System Changes’ post. Please keep your questions and suggestions coming in [this thread] for the next Q&A session! Rank Reset Q1. If I’m a Templar, will I need to transfer the position of guild master to someone else or disband the guild to reset my rank? A1. Yes. We know it’s not the most convenient solution, but you will have to transfer the position of guild master or leave the guild in order to reset your rank. We want to continue to work on improving the rank reset system while taking into account the issue of Templar guild masters. Q2. What happens if I don’t immediately advance into higher ranks and just leave my character as it is after the rank reset? A2. After you reset your rank, you receive rank-up cards that can restore your EXP to the rank you had before the reset. If you choose not to use these cards, you can still keep playing the game to increase your EXP and advance ranks the way you would normally do. There’s no advantage in saving the rank-up cards, however, since they can only take your character up until the rank you had before the reset. Also, you won’t be able to reset your character’s rank if you still have any rank-up cards left over from the previous rank reset. Q3. What if I was a Kannushi before the reset and want to advance into Kannushi again after the reset? A3. We mentioned last time that players who have advanced into hidden classes will not have their hidden class advancement requirements reset. To become a Kannushi, however, you will still need to use Switch Gender again after the reset. Q4. Can I only reset one of my characters each day? Or only once during the rank reset event? A4. During the reset event, you will be able to reset you rank, stats and skills one time per day, per character. This means that, during the event, you can reset all your characters on the same day if you wish, but to reset one or more of them again you will have to wait until the next day. Stats and Skill Attack Q5. If I wait until Circle 3 to start increasing my skill levels, will that make the skills stronger? A5. No. The performance of skills will be proportional to the skill level; the timing at which you rank up will not have an effect on it. Q6. How will the use of single- and multi-hit skills change according to item stat boosts and the enemy’s defense? A6. Because damage will be calculated on a division system, a single-hit skill with 500% attack and a five-hit skill with 100% attack, for example, will offer the same basic damage. However, you’ll also have to consider additional property attack factors and buffs, which can change the way in which single- and multi-hit skills are used. An enemy with high defense will likely take a toll on your damage, but since additional attack factors and buffs are calculated as true damage (independently from the enemy’s defense), skills which hit multiple times can turn out more advantageous. Miscellaneous Q7. Since the effects of the Glass Mole Card are based on the attack of the main weapon, we barely get to see any effect in the subweapon. Will this be improved, too? A7. Yes, with the new combat system changes, the effects of the Glass Mole Card will apply to subweapons as well. Q8. When is Rune Caster going to be patched? A8. There are still a few Rune Caster improvements we want to implement that unfortunately were a little pushed back by the plans for the new combat system changes. We will introduce them in a future patch though, so stay tuned! Q9. I’m worried about players using the rank reset event to abuse the Varnalesa and Lettuce items, since they can just advance into a class that can get those items to purchase them in large quantities, then reset into their actual desired class. A9. We have no plans to keep players from resetting into another class after advancing into Alchemist to purchase herbs. We’re in the process of readjusting the performance, cooldown time, etc. of all herbs and potions, however, so keep that in mind.
[Video] Combat System Change Details - Part 2
Greetings Saviors, Here is a video showcasing some of the changes we have planned for the combat system. You can check our more detailed announcement here! Please note that they may have changed a bit when they are implemented here on iTOS.
Combat System Changes QnA Session 1
Greetings, Saviors! As explained in the last section of our 'Plans for Combat System Changes' post, we gathered a few of your questions from the forum about the new changes for a Q&A session. Here are the answers from the dev team. Please keep your questions and suggestions coming in [this thread] for the next Q&A session! Basic Stats Q1. SPR looks like it’s going to become less effective without status ailment resistance or magic defense. What can SPR be used for now other than saving up on potions? A1. Well, I can tell you that SPR is going to become a lot more important when it comes to saving up on potions. SPR will have a bigger effect on SP, and with the increase of SP consumption in several skills, it will be difficult to keep casting them like before without investing at least a little in SPR. Q2. How will DEX affect skills? Will magic skills also be influenced by DEX? A2. The attack speed increase from DEX will not apply to all skills. Magic skills, for example, will not have their attack speed increased by DEX. Q3. If critical attack is under DEX now, does that mean STR will no longer have an influence on anything critical-related? A3. That is correct. Q4. Will DEX increase the speed of basic attack for all classes? A4. Yes, it will. Q5. You talked a lot about how attack skills are going to change with the new combat formulas, but do you also have plans regarding non-attack skills? A5. Yes, the new combat formulas are going to affect non-attack skills as well. Realistically it would be hard for us to explain how our plans will apply to each individual skill, but we will announce skill-specific changes when they do happen via the blog or our patch notes. Other Stats Q6. How will critical rate and critical resistance work? If critical rate/resistance were removed from the main stats, how will they be calculated? Also, will there be other ways to increase your critical rate other than items? A6. Critical rate and resistance will come from items (including additional stats), skill buffs and attributes, with a new critical rate calculation formula. Our plan is to add critical rate mostly to leather armor, via added item stats and full-set effects, and to attributes. In the case of leather armor, we expect it to have lower physical defense than plate, lower magic defense than cloth, but instead come with critical rate and other attack-centric additions that make it stand out from the other types of armor. Q7. How will property attack and resistance work? Will you make resistance skills more significant in PvP? A7. Property attack and resistance are going to be calculated the same as before, with a subtraction formula. The new way basic defense is calculated is unrelated to property attack, which means this type of attack is going to deal actual damage regardless of the enemy’s defense. Q8. Will magic amplification remain the same? Or will you make it a little more advantageous to Wizard classes? A8. We have no changes planned for neither the values nor the calculation formulas of magic amplification. Q9. Block and penetration are factors that matter in PvP. Will they matter more now in PvE as well? A9. Regular monsters blocking players’ attacks enough to taunt them is not really a common issue. As such, we don’t have any plans to increase the importance of block and penetration in regular monsters. You may, however, find some high-block monsters in certain raids or in specific locations. Q10. Are boss monsters included in your monster-related changes? A10. Yes. We’re readjusting the attack, defense, HP and other combat factors of all monsters to match the new combat formulas. Items Q11. How will green gems change? A11. All gem stat options will remain the same as before. Some gems may become a little more or less valuable depending on the circumstances, but we have no plans to exempt players from gem extraction fees. Q12. Will you revise the additional stats you get from gems and Enchant Scrolls? A12. So far we haven’t considered changing them. Q13. You mentioned a lot of changes about the transcendence of weapon equipment. What about armor and accessories? A13. The transcendence changes we talked about will apply in the same way to armor and accessory equipment items. Q14. Will we need the same amount of Blessed Gems as before to transcend equipment? If not, can you share the specifics on how that will change? A14. Using the Lolopanther Two-handed Sword (level 270, unique) as a standard for all equipment, the amount of Blessed Gems needed will be almost the same. Items with a higher level and grade will require a little more, and vice versa. The amount will be different for each piece of equipment depending on its level and grade, and on whether it’s one-handed/two-handed/sub-weapon or weapon/armor, so it’s too much for us to publish the exact values for every single item here. I’m afraid you’ll have to see for yourself in the game. Q15. Any changes planned regarding collection bonuses? A15. After we apply the big changes, we want to monitor the value of those additional bonuses, along with the added stats of gems and Enchant Scrolls, and then we will decide whether they need to be revised. We also think it would be good to readjust the difficulty of achieving these collection bonuses. Summons Q16. How will SPR affect summoned creatures specifically? How much will the damage of summons increase with SPR? A16. Investing in SPR is going to increase the damage (not the attack) of summoned creatures, although it’s hard to tell exactly how much the damage of the average summon will increase with the new combat formulas. Q17. If higher SPR increases the SP consumption of summons, by how much does it boost their DPS? Unless there are serious improvements to DPS, it sounds a little unreasonable. A17. The SP consumption of summons will become a fixed value instead of a percentage. Q18. Will INT also affect summons? A18. No, it will not. Reset Event Q19. If I want to advance into a hidden class, will I have to take the advancement quest during the reset event? A19. If your character already advanced into a hidden class before, you’ll be exempted from taking the quest again and your requirements for that quest will not be reset. If your character has never advanced into the desired hidden class, however, you will still need to meet the advancement requirements. Q20. During the reset event, will you allow all players to learn attributes instantly, similarly to the benefit offered by Tokens? A20. No, we have no plans to allow that.
GM QnA Session : April 7th, 2017
Greetings, Saviors! We are sharing here a compilation of the questions answered at our latest GM meetup in a summarized Q&A format. Thank you to everyone who showed up! Q : Do you have any plans to launch more gesture macros? A : As you can see from our recent video, yes, we will launch more gestures in a future patch. Q : Can I get detailed information regarding Rank 9? A : I hope to know the exact date of arrival. We are planning to release Rank 9 this year; you will be informed via an announcement on our website once it is ready. Q : There aren't that many bugs on kTOS, why do we have them in iTOS? A : That's not quite true. It has been our highest priority to continue to reduce the amount of bugs that may be found and we have made considerable progress in doing so. If there are still bugs that remain they can be reported on the Forum so that we can address them and develop the game further. Q : Getting disconnected in TBL (Team Battle League) is a big waste of time. I hope you can make a system to re-enter TBL. A : Thank you so much for your nice suggestion, we will pass it on for the proper team to consider. However, we think creating stable connection conditions in TBL is more important than a re-entry system. We will keep trying to stabilize our servers and client. Q : Client unexpectedly closing errors occur frequently after the migration to VS 2015. I'm wondering if you're fixing it. A : Yes it's our top priority and it's not always caused by VGA related issues. Q : I wonder if you a plan to punish people who leave the party after entering the Royal Mausoleum or Canyon missions in Saalus Convent. A : We do not have plans for that yet, but we will inform our designers about this issue and try to find an improvement. Q : We feel that we have a lack of end-game contents. Do you have any plans to make more end-game contents? A : To be honest, we are not sure of what end-game contents are coming but we guess more plans will be released after the rebalance patch. Q : We are facing the problem of 0% map exploration for 2 weeks now. When can we expect this issue to be resolved? A : Our dev team members are still finding out the reasons for the 0% map exploration problem. We will try to fix it as soon as possible. Q : We are really curious about how IMC improved the DPK system in iTOS. Can you explain what things have been changed and improved? A : As we have done with the Mystical Cube, we are planning to have an interview with the team to give you more detailed information through the dev blog. Q : There is bug on the Cyclone skill that reduces it from level 15 to level 1 sometimes, which often causes less damage. A : We have the same bug on kTOS too, we've already informed our QA team to test and we hope it is fixed soon. Q : Do you plan to do anything about players who didn't get any Practonium from the Mystical Cube even after trying for 3 months? A : We know many players have complaints about the RNG system of the Mystical Cube and we will forward them for possible improvements Q : Many players don't know the Unstable Cube can expire. What are your plans to improve this? A : The team has made a few UI adjustments that will display this information more easily to players. Please wait a little longer for the update. Q : It's a shame that not many people play the field bosses, it feels like the content is being wasted. Any changes planned for field bosses? A : That's a fair point. We will pass on this feedback to the designers and maybe request for more field boss events, for example with cubes. Q : I like GM meetpus, but I wish there was a dev meetup too. A : GMs do pass on all your feedback to the dev team, and we try to give you information back from the devs too. That's the reason we have the dev blog on our website. Q : Any plans to add new level 270 and 315 items? A : We're looking forward more 270/315 items too, but we can't be sure of when they will be released. They are still in development. Q : Why are words like "hunt" censored in the chat window? A : We agree, and we will try to improve this. Q : I saw in your combat changes video preview that you're rebalancing a lot of aspects in the game, does that mean we're getting a class reset too? A : Yes, we want to open a reset event when this rebalance update arrives. You can read more details about it on our dev blog. Q : Do you know that some skills are causing fps drops? A : Yes, we are aware that skills like Divine Might can cause fps drops especially in TBL. We are working to find the cause and will try to fix it. Q : Are the new user event rewards tradable? A : No, the event rewards are untradable. Q : There's a problem where I can't see the quest NPC. A : Please send in a ticket about your specific quest so we can try and help you. Q : Will non-Token users be able to use Team Storage too? A : Many players have made this request. Something is being worked on, but the final changes will be announced later when they are ready. Q : I wish there were checkpoints in the Solmiki Area like we have in the Lolopanther Area. A : That's a good idea. It could help improve disconnection issues as well. Q : Can you make the Kabbalist's Revenged Sevenfold be less powerful in PvP? A : PvP balance is next on our list of improvements, but we can't be sure of which skills will be affected. Q : What are you doing about the people who abused the Symbol of Wealth issue? A : We did not ban anyone, but they are on our watchlist. Q : Any results you can share from the South America ping test? A : Thank you for sharing your test results. We haven't decided anything yet, but we will let you know when we do. Q : Will you be adding new monster cards or monster gems? A : Not yet. We want to focus on stabilization and balance first. Q : What about new social functions like a marriage system, fishing, etc.? A : Again, stabilization and balance will come first. Q : What was your favorite update in TOS? A : Personally, the update on March 14, 2017 was my favorite. Q : What will happen to the Agny Necklace? Are you going to make other items like it? A : You can read about it on our recent Combat System Changes dev blog post. Q : Will there be other ways for Swordsman classes to defend themselves against magic in PvP? A : We're not aware of any plans yet. As a Swordsman class player myself, it does hurt to be hit with magic. Q : How are you fighting against Hook64 and other unauthorized programs? A : We keep taking new measures against it, but the details don't appear in the patch notes. Q : Any chances you'll improve the Sadhu class? A : There are no plans yet for specific classes, but it could be possible after the general balance update. Q : Will you be using Steam wallpapers and badges? A : That's something we have been wondering for some time now, but so far it's not one of the top priorities. Q : Will you release the Chronomancer Master hair and other NPC hairs and costumes? A : Those are good ideas, we're always open to suggestions for hairstyles and costumes. Q : What are you doing about AFK and macro users? A : We're reviewing a few measures and will relay your ideas as well. Q : Why can't we exchange items we get from the Exchange shop for medals? A : There are some improvements on the way. Please check our Future Improvements dev blog posts. Q : What about a search function for the Exchange Shop? A : That's a good idea. We still want to improve the Exchange Shop UI. Q : Can you make skill effects flashier? Some skills don't look that powerful. A : Not yet. We want to focus on stabilization and balance first. Q : We need better functionality in guilds. There isn't much to do as it is. A : There should be some guild improvement plans coming soon, maybe. Please wait a while. Q : Will there be other ways to obtain hairstyles other than buying them at the TP Shop? A : We're not sure, but getting hairstyles through other ways sounds like a good idea. Q : Please get rid of guild neutrality. It's less fun when guilds can be neutral. A : We don't think guild neutrality will be removed from the game. Q : I wish there was a button to enter instanced dungeons and missions like the one we have for TBL. A : There are no plans to develop one yet, but we agree it would be practical. Q : Why do potions have a cooldown time? TOS is not even a MOBA. A : I personally think it's maybe to prevent balancing issues and such since there are some examples of other famous MMORPGs also having cooldown periods for potions. Q : Mouse mode is a little inconvenient. It's better than before, but some actions can still improve. A : We apologize for the inconveniences of mouse mode, that's something that is being worked on. Please let us know exactly what aspects of mouse mode are inconvenient so we can work further to improve on it. Q : Why don't you do events for returning users? A : We want to make events specifically for returning users too, but unfortunately it's been impossible because of certain technical issues. Q : I wish you could introduce more food buffs like the dumplings. A : We'll take note of that, keep sending any ideas you have about items and other aspects of the game. Q : I wish I could make my companion big forever like it was during the trickster event. A : We noticed a good reaction from the players during that event, so we may consider ways to make it happen. Q : Will you give us another Rank Reset Voucher when Rank 9 comes out? A : Any updates about Rank 9 should be announced through the website when they're ready, but we're still considering what to do about the Rank Reset Voucher item. Q : When will we get new companions and costumes? A : We're always considering new ideas for new companions and costumes, and want to keep releasing more. We take suggestions from the players too, so feel free to keep them coming. Q : I wish there were more food accessories like the sushi series, for example curry. A : Curry sounds like a good idea for a hair accessory, too. p.s During the GM-Meet Up, there was disconnection problem on Fedimian Server. We apologize to those users and we will also provide rewards to all users who have participated. "