Upcoming Critical and Block changes

[Eric Stormbringer]

Developer Ratbeard has posted a new Dev Diary on twitter and the main boards detailing the planned changes to the critical and block system. One can access the full post here

I have attached screenshots of the document in full so it can be read here.

[Wiz of Death]

I get the whole limit and thing all...but all I'm hearing is: if you want to keep up with the game at higher levels, you're gonna have to grind/pay more crowns for all the new gear we're gonna release which is only going to be marginally better/if not worse than the previous ones. Oh and the gear will look like it gives you higher stats, but because of your level we're going to deflate its actual value (e.g. what was going on previously with critical rating percentage)...happy pay to wi...happy playing!

[goldendragon18]

Developer Ratbeard has posted a new Dev Diary on twitter and the main boards detailing the planned changes to the critical and block system. One can access the full post here

I have attached screenshots of the document in full so it can be read here.

So how much is the rebalance of crit/block going to affect PvE vs PvP?

Will PvE remain relatively the same or will this make changes in gear that is NOT top notch. Take for example, generally, I don't chase after top gear and don't plan to change that so my wizards use a mix match to obtain as much in stats as possible, so how will that be affected?

The Shadow Pip update from last round actually did not harm than good for some of us. I currently have 100 rating for Shadow pips BUT, I don't get them as much now as I did before the update. Can that be adjusted or even reversed since this is affecting more players than just myself.

Thank you for bringing this out BEFORE Test Realm. It is much better to be aware of what we are looking at when it comes to Stat Changes before it happens rather than after the fact.

THANK YOU @Ratbeard

[JaredSpellFrost]

I'm glad to see that the Devs are preserving the stats themselves and only changing the formulas- this will certainly make the transition smoother! I remember feeling uneasy about the announced "flat resist" changes a while back- keeping the percentages is a good move! It is also great to see that they recognize* the evaporation of "school identity"- something that has long been smothered by all of this new gear.

As for the Crit/Block changes... I am feeling great about these too, though I want to see them in use before I come to any hard conclusions. Its nice that they are making Block relevant again percentage wise, but lets hope that they update mainstream gear with Block too.
The way Block still protects you even if your opponent gets a Crit through is clever, and I commend KingsIsle for coming up with it! Although, I do think that the typical "x1.2 to x1.4" range should be bumped up slightly. I typically deal 1,400 damage with my Blizzard, but multiply that by 1.4 and that's only 1,960 damage.
Perhaps this standard range should be reliant on your school- An Ice Wizard could have a range of x1.2 to x1.4, but a Storm Wizard would have an average range of x1.7 to x1.9!


All in all, these changes are leaning towards neutral good on the D&D alignment chart, and things are looking up!

*Lets hope they will realize that Storm should have more damage than Fire on Pack gear... Also, what was the asterisk in the post for?

[tnerbllih]

Super excited for these changes; block should feel decently relevant again and yet not dominant like the old days.

[Mayonnaisinator]

I think this is a good step forward. Stats need to change, because it just doesn't seem maintainable to have Damage going up to almost 200%, and Resist inching ever closer to ridiculous levels, with Pierce having to rise just to match it.

These Crit/Block changes are welcome - I imagine this won't change too much about Crit builds since you already were aiming for a cap, now it's likely to be a soft cap that is more flexible. Having Block be actually meaningful is very nice indeed. I've given up on going for Block, even on my tanking builds because it's just too unreliable, so a consistent Damage mitigation from Criticals should make it way more useful.

The way Block still protects you even if your opponent gets a Crit through is clever, and I commend KingsIsle for coming up with it! Although, I do think that the typical "x1.2 to x1.4" range should be bumped up slightly. I typically deal 1,400 damage with my Blizzard, but multiply that by 1.4 and that's only 1,960 damage.

The way I'm interpreting it, this 1.2-1.4x Crit range is for when you're facing an opponent who is roughly on-Level with you, whether that be a Boss in a world you're questing in, or a PvP opponent who has invested an appropriate amount into Block. That means that if you're just farming in lower level worlds (especially in Arc 1) your Crits will still be dealing ~2x Damage, which is nice.

[Cosmos]

The thing I liked the most about these last updates have been their forward-thinking approach.

I don't think many would argue against the opinion that many facets of the game introduced Second Arc + Darkmoor felt broken and out of place. There were cheap, patchy solutions here and there, but the foundation never felt stable. It was almost as if they weren't fixing the core problem because they hoped the game would fail.

I'm happy that KI is now addressing possibly the biggest offender of this instability. Whether or not the actual changes in this coming update are deemed "good" by the community, the article does seem to indicate that they are trying to make things as configurable as possible and that they are prepared to adjust their response if need be.

That's a better promise than the one we got when these mechanics were first introduced.

[goldendragon18]

The thing I liked the most about these last updates have been their forward-thinking approach.

I don't think many would argue that many facets of the game introduced second arc + Darkmoor felt broken and out of place. There were cheap, patchy solutions here and there, but the foundation never felt stable.

I'm happy that KI is now addressing possibly the biggest offender in this regard. Whether or not the actual changes in this coming update are deemed "good" by the community, the article does seem to indicate that they are trying to make things as configurable as possible and that they are prepared to adjust their response if need be.

That's a better promise than the one we got when these mechanics were first introduced.

I'm sure we will have to make some adjustments to the changes but, at least we are being told what is going to happen BEFORE it does. That is definitely a move in the right direction.

[Eric Stormbringer]

This is mostly me patting myself on the back but it's super exciting to see my analysis from years ago turned out to be correct and more importantly- that KI is actively fixing longstanding issues.

[ValdusWildheart]

This is mostly me patting myself on the back but it's super exciting to see my analysis from years ago turned out to be correct and more importantly- that KI is actively fixing longstanding issues.

Haha, that's OK I patted myself on the back too -- I just didn't feel like hunting up old posts. LOL.

I think the best thing about this is the change in attitude to the user community (not a new formula or any of the technical stuff). Leaving everyone to reel in horror after that first battle that leveled you up to 101 in Polaris Test Realm really turned into quite the mob scene.