Way better!

**Symmetric** · 02/18/2006 10:08:31

The new patch that was introduced last night appears to have been a major step forward in the PvE balance department. Even-conned enemies are just about right, and enemies of one or two levels higher, especially two and three-chevron NPCs present just enough of a challenge to keep me on my toes.

I ran a mission on Hard earlier and faced 4 level 51 enemies all at once: two one-chevron, one two-chevron, and one three-chevron. I got shot up pretty badly, but thanks to the changes in damage resistance, I made it through just fine, having to use a Health Pill 5.0 for insurance. Most fun I've had in a mission for a while! SMILEY

Definitely the right direction...thank you!

Message Edited by Symmetric on 02-18-200601:08 PM

**Renesis13B**

Yeah it is much better. Specials are landing a lot more too. Im still getting hit alot but level 48s in creston only do about 18 dmg now so its no big deal. Things are looking good so far.

**Symmetric**

Renesis13B wrote:
Yeah it is much better. Specials are landing a lot more too. Im still getting hit alot but level 48s in creston only do about 18 dmg now so its no big deal. Things are looking good so far.

Agreed. I'm very happy with the changes in the way damage resistance works now. It allows us to spread out our resistances more evenly if we wanted to, but it also gives us the option to focus on one resistance, such as Ballistic, so that we're very resilient against a certain type of attack.

It'll be interesting to see what kind of tactics and the theories behind them will be used in PvP.

HCFrog

Glad to hear it's in the right direction! I'm kind of thinking it might be just a tad too easy now, but the cool thing is that now the new system is in, it's easy to tweak one number in one file and get sweeping, and predictable, changes throughout the entire range of PvE.

Oh and I'd be interested in hearing if people can take on Pandora's boxes right now and how tough they are... when I get back in on Tuesday, maybe I can email out a few boxes if people are interested SMILEY

**Renesis13B**

I did the pbox 3 gps mission with a duelist build and its definately not easy. With 181 bdr im taking less than 10 dmg per free fire hit but with 20+ npcs firing at me I take a lot of damage. I did kill about 3 or 4 level 47's (1 and 2 chevrons) before I had to flee the mission area. Considering you can solo this mission on the live server and kill everything in about 4 mins I think its more balanced now. I think it would take a small team of 50's to get through it now.

ChambersOfShaolin

Hey Frog,

Yea I agree just a bit easy...but this coming from someone who wants to see a lot more challenging NPCs at end game. I actually liked the difficulty pre-update 5 or even harder. Sure I like feeling like a badass...but I don't want to feel like "ok i'm king of the world...what do I do now?" The greatest reward comes from the greatest adversity.

I'm taking about 20 damage from level 48s and around 25 from 50 and 51s. If you want to shoot me a box or anything else you would like testest I'd be more then happy to give my feedback.

MK

**Renesis13B**

Ok I just soloed the pbox 3 gps mission using a level 50 duelist build. I was able to kill the andeluvian before the mission expired (barely..it expired before I could complete the mission) but it took some time since I had to heal up in the lobby after 3 or 4 kills. I think you should leave the balance the way it is now. Combat is fun again and not tedious and frustrating like it was before.

**Symmetric**

Renesis13B wrote:
Ok I just soloed the pbox 3 gps mission using a level 50 duelist build. I was able to kill the andeluvian before the mission expired (barely..it expired before I could complete the mission) but it took some time since I had to heal up in the lobby after 3 or 4 kills. I think you should leave the balance the way it is now. Combat is fun again and not tedious and frustrating like it was before.

Totally agree. Combat is fun again. We can feel like total badasses, but still be presented a challenge when we want to be. I say leave it as it is. Hard missions are challenging enough to keep you on your toes, but not too tough to ever be forced into teaming if you know what you're doing.

Similarly, Pandora's Box missions are just about right. These things are meant to be done as a team anyways. I'm also getting shot up a lot, so maybe Ballistic Defense isn't working as it should? With Hyper-Dodge on, shouldn't we not be getting shot as often?

**Renesis13B**

Your going to get shot a lot. Make sure your ballistic damage resistance is high and you should be fine. Just for fun I went to Zero One and tried to solo the Taskmaster. I landed alot but I was only doing like 24 dmg and he would regen his health quickly. It would take a full team to any serious damage to him now.

**Hydrazine**

If you are going to email out some boxes, I would appreciate one being sent my way and I will test it out pronto.

Chuui

Yup make it too much of a "challenge" at end game and people in general are not going to enjoy it. But for those that do want the extra challenge perhaps after CR2 goes live we could have extra difficulty settings added to the mission systems?

**Symmetric**

I think as far as endgame challenges go, it'd be interesting to see how the Pandora's Box missions will go. HCFrog said that he'll be mailing out some boxes on Tuesday, so if you all want to group up on Tuesday night or something and take a whack at those boxes, we can get a feel for what that endgame content will be like with the new system.

As for other endgame challenges, it'd be nice to see an exile hideout or a part of Downtown with higher-level mobs, maybe somewhere in the range of level 55.

xDarkDragoNx · 02/18/2006 19:50:35

HCFrog wrote:
Glad to hear it's in the right direction! I'm kind of thinking it might be just a tad too easy now, but the cool thing is that now the new system is in, it's easy to tweak one number in one file and get sweeping, and predictable, changes throughout the entire range of PvE.

Oh and I'd be interested in hearing if people can take on Pandora's boxes right now and how tough they are... when I get back in on Tuesday, maybe I can email out a few boxes if people are interested

Ok I have a PB 4 in my inventory now. I would be happy to try it with some help. Anyone that is interested in helping out send tell in game or a Message on the forums. Lets see what we can do against the angels. :robotmad:

Message Edited by xDarkDragoNx on 02-18-200610:50 PM

Konvertor

HCFrog wrote:
Glad to hear it's in the right direction! I'm kind of thinking it might be just a tad too easy now, but the cool thing is that now the new system is in, it's easy to tweak one number in one file and get sweeping, and predictable, changes throughout the entire range of PvE.

Yes, too easy. I can run missions on hard, and go straight through loosing at most 1/4 health. As a level 38, I can kill level 39 one chevron with 3 hits (and they don't even touch me), two chevron take 3-4 hits (maybe hitting me once), and 3 chevron with about 6 hits (they hit me about as many times, but only for about 30-50 dmg).

The only problem I had was with Dire Lupines. Their special attacks seem to not be adjusted yet. Arm Throw did 1600 dmg to me, and Pounce did 2866!! Now I only have 2000 HP (2111 with buffs) so this is a little strong, even for a special!

mitez

Yeah i have to agree, the NPCs are too easy, i would recomend just make them a bit more difficult.