Upcoming Critical and Block changes

[JaredSpellFrost]

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).

I agree. KI is taking a much more user-friendly approach with these colossal changes, and that is the true piece de resistance here IMO. I just hope that they will listen to our voices once Test Realm hits more intently than when the Summer/Spring Update was in Test. The spell and shadow pip update was very in depth and explained by KingsIsle just like what we are seeing here, but they still went through with a less than supplementary system- and I fear that history will repeat itself here.

The increased transparency is phenonenal, but it won't mean squat if KingsIsle doesn't take our feedback into account now and during Test Realm.

[Patrick FairyStalker]

I am curious to learn how this will be executed with accuracy and damage.

What limit does gear accuracy approach? 20%? 40%? 100%? Does it differ by school?
Maybe 100% accuracy will no longer be possible. That's something that will cause problems later.

How about damage? It's clear that they didn't mention damage, so I am curious if they will even set a limit at all.

I'm happy to hear about the block changes. Looks like it won't be a binary "all or nothing" RNG spike attack, and more of a predictable damage multiplier.

[Falling Emeralds]

I'm glad the devs released this prior to Test Realm! I stay far away from Twitter so these posts are super helpful to me. I like that critical block will be more important with these changes.

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.

I may have missed the announcement about flat resist changes. Do you have a link to that announcement?

[richardDkht]

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!

not exactly.
What it is saying, in a nutshell, is that your level and the level of opponents you will be facing will determine how much more stats you'll need to be as efficient as against lower level foes.

Which yes, may means that the further you go, the more high stats gear you may need to compete against higher level enemies.

Beside that, it was a long time ago (about 8 years ago) that we suggested to scale stats to levels so as to remove these absolute values; and I'll say better late than never.

The only "but" I have is that with this new configuration I'd rather have the option to NOT have crit stats, and boost direct damage instead, as well as piercing, eventually.

After a few practical calculations, I realize that the crit stats will no longer be worthwhile, so I hope we will get more chances to customize gear and decide what values to push and what to reduce.

[JaredSpellFrost]

@Falling Emeralds

Here is a link to that thread! I'd also like to share what I said in the OP, as I find that it is still relevant now:

My Opinion:
Over the years, Wizard101 has seen quite the power creep- Storm Wizards being able to achieve over 160% Damage, Ice Wizards being able to accomplish immunity to all schools- not to mention all of the Pack Gear! Whether this proposed change will fix anything, I don't know. I feel as if capping stats could be a viable solution, especially if these capped stats corresponded with their schools! For example, Storm's resist would be capped at 33% while Ice's resist would be capped at 101%. But Storm's Damage would be capped at 150%, while Ice's Damage could be capped at 80%.

I am no game designer though, so I'll leave the technical mumbo-jumbo for the professionals to iron out! Supposing KingsIsle does decide to change the Damage/resist system, I would hope that they'd let us thoroughly test it in Test Realm first. For such an impactful change, the communities voice should carry great weight in the final decision.

[Starbreaker]

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.

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What i find crazy is kingisle is implementing the Pirate101 critical system into wizard101 format. As you know pirate critical rolls are random and dealt in :Epic 1.2x Mega Super 1.4/1.5 Super having the 2x effect but every hit not Super. Seem that kingisle using the critical block coding to decide to which you will actually take. Which now allow the system to punish those only who only care about max damage/ Max Crit builts as you now even with Mobs when they crit which makes glass cannon build more glass cannon.

[lethargy101]

For God's sake don't change Critical in PVE. There's no need make room for improvement it's something we have or don't have. I spent a lot of crowns getting the wands to get 100%. Mess with PVP if you must but I paid, like many for the ability to crit every hit/heal in PVE. If you want to make new worlds where they block more fine but stop messing with something that isn't broken. This is why I stopped spending money on crowns because you try and changes things that have been in game for 5 years or more. Let's be honest it's only PVP that complain because Life can crit heal. Just let any changes stay in the arena. lessen the arena to 1.4 but leave PVE with a double hit or heal.

The Critical change needed is to give Life, Balance, Death and especially Ice more critical on the dark moor gear and the guitar wands!

[Eric Stormbringer]

For God's sake don't change Critical in PVE. There's no need make room for improvement it's something we have or don't have. I spent a lot of crowns getting the wands to get 100%. Mess with PVP if you must but I paid, like many for the ability to crit every hit/heal in PVE. If you want to make new worlds where they block more fine but stop messing with something that isn't broken. This is why I stopped spending money on crowns because you try and changes things that have been in game for 5 years or more. Let's be honest it's only PVP that complain because Life can crit heal. Just let any changes stay in the arena. lessen the arena to 1.4 but leave PVE with a double hit or heal.

The Critical change needed is to give Life, Balance, Death and especially Ice more critical on the dark moor gear and the guitar wands!

I know a lot of people are stuck on nostalgia but this is a change that had to happen if the game hopes to continue. Most of the stats in Wizard101 have reached "critical mass" and need to be constrained or revamped. This includes PvE.

[ValdusWildheart]

I know a lot of people are stuck on nostalgia but this is a change that had to happen if the game hopes to continue. Most of the stats in Wizard101 have reached "critical mass" and need to be constrained or revamped. This includes PvE.

It's not *just* nostalgia though. When you've sunk hundreds (thousands?) of hours into perfecting your gear a big change like this is a bitter pill to swallow. I don't mind at the moment since I haven't been playing all my gear is old and moth eaten. Yes, I agree it is likely a good change for the future playability of the game. But it likely will mean a lot more farming and packs.

I just hope whatever they do this time gets them set for a long time vs. a partially thought through change like prior critical reset was. I don't think anyone wants to have this conversation again in another couple of years.

[Eric Stormbringer]

It's not *just* nostalgia though. When you've sunk hundreds (thousands?) of hours into perfecting your gear a big change like this is a bitter pill to swallow. I don't mind at the moment since I haven't been playing all my gear is old and moth eaten. Yes, I agree it is likely a good change for the future playability of the game. But it likely will mean a lot more farming and packs.

I just hope whatever they do this time gets them set for a long time vs. a partially thought through change like prior critical reset was. I don't think anyone wants to have this conversation again in another couple of years.

Thankfully this solution is probably a permanent one. Since your "real" critical rate is based on comparing stats- this kind of system effectively has lifetime potential. Best of all- they have the ability to modify the formula on the fly which means that future changes should be a matter of adjustment rather than a total system revamp.