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B878 - New Cooperative Challenges!

Discussion in 'Announcements' started by DevBlogger, Sep 13, 2013.

  1. 8x

    8x Elimination Et Choix Traduisant la Realité Forum Moderator Staff Alumni Tester
    1. The Young Blood Collective - [YB]

    Messages:
    1,325
    The problems I've got with Knight combat are due to different pings, i bellieve.

    Arrows do not make a perfect curve in the air. As stated, they got almost no gravity until half of a screen away, so they fly almost straight for 1 sec or so, or just half a screen, then they fall, as cartoons flying in the sky, when they realize they're floating they fall. Yesterday Raelain (sorry, I'll always misstype your nick! :D) and I talked a bit about it while playing war and co-op, and I really can't tell if it's better or worse than the Classic arrow flight. I believe it gives the game a bit more of depth in shooting, but I'm still not used to aim directly at the charachter.
    I've been thinking of an idea of having 2 types of shot, each one with its 2 types of 'Legolas' power shot. Something like a direct straight shot as we have it now and 1 more like a chip shot, but it might just be the same thing... At Classic archers sometimes had to shoot to a catapult placed out of the screen and arrows could reach those spots.

    Archer having 2 hearts only makes the melee very likely to be knight-only. In a face to face, builders and archers get easily killed. Archers don't get too close to the front, and builders pass seldom, usually making tunnels underwater or entombing. Which leads to seek, at TTH, for abandoned enemy's halls. After some time it gets repeatitive.
     
  2. Lieber

    Lieber Is Probing Uranus Global Moderator Forum Moderator Donator Tester

    Messages:
    787
    Lots of us in the test build beat it under 25 seconds I believe. Galen was incredibly fast.
     
  3. FuzzyBlueBaron

    FuzzyBlueBaron Warm, Caring, Benign, Good and Kind Philanthrope Global Moderator Forum Moderator Donator Tester
    1. The Young Blood Collective - [YB]

    Messages:
    2,508
    What I want to know is where did the full map go? The one currently available leaves out the last half, which is disappointing, because it certainly makes the challenge that much more fulfilling when you're having to cut it close to finish in under a minute. :D
     
  4. Lieber

    Lieber Is Probing Uranus Global Moderator Forum Moderator Donator Tester

    Messages:
    787
    Huh, I just noticed that, interesting. Would have to ask MM.
     
  5. Nighthawk

    Nighthawk gaurenteed shitter

    Messages:
    793
    Yeah, I've had difficulty adjusting to the new arrow-flight too. It's just... strange. They fly slowly, but perfectly straight... and it feels alien to me, since I've played both Alpha and Beta extensively as an Archer before this update.

    I don't know if it's the right idea yet. I mean, it helps Archers have greater range, but it makes the class way easier for people who have never played (aim straight at them, hurr) and makes it harder for veterans (such as my humble self :P) to aim well because the physics are so awkward.

    I don't mind having 2 hearts of health and dying in one hit. I mean, Archer has always been the flimsiest class. But if they're going to be that flimsy, the devs should stop trying to implement things that help Archer fight at close range (close-range arrow stun, triple shot) and focus on giving the Archer greater ranged capabilities, which they had in Alpha.
     
  6. Boea

    Boea Such Beta

    Messages:
    653
    Well, I find the grapple hook, and the close-range stun to be from very different spheres.
    [respectively, "fragile speedster" elf, versus "weak, but skilled" war archer]

    The close-range stun shot, alone, would've been perfect for Pre-866 Archers, but Post-866 Archers, the archers can operate very independently [and annoyingly], if there are trees/walls around.

    As far as Knights, shielding and slashing has become very unreliable as an archer, seemingly you can't slash-jab, but they can, it's weird, but I guess that's what I get for 166-266ms.
     
  7. Raelian

    Raelian Bison Rider

    Messages:
    232
    I'm not 100% sure but I believe the current arrow flight path is similar to the one in alpha which I considered the best in my honest opinion. I think people just need a bit more time to get used to it after having to deal with the old beta archer flight path which felt, at least for me, as if I was shooting arrows made out of lead. Not to mention that the range was overall crappy when compared to an alpha archer's range.

    In alpha, I recall most archers being able to hit fairly often from close range but snipping somebody from a long distance? Maybe a screen and a half away? That required skill and I'm looking forward to such moments.

    Archers at the moment already have plenty of options and I can't really think of any way how the devs might increase their ranged powers even further without making them OP (ranged stun anyone? yeah, let's not).

    On a side note, the close-range arrow stun is exactly what they needed to break through a knight's shield, since now we have a way on how to deal with knights. The two hearts health will simply differentiate the novice from the veteran since archers need to be even more careful when attempting to finish off a wounded knight with a triple close ranged arrow shot. And you know what? I like it! It's a nice risk/reward opportunity shot.
     
    FuzzyBlueBaron likes this.
  8. Boea

    Boea Such Beta

    Messages:
    653
    Yes, and you can easily block a multi shot with a shield, so I'm still not buying it.
     
  9. Raelian

    Raelian Bison Rider

    Messages:
    232
    Only the first arrow. If you shoot all three at a shielding knight and hit him, that would do 2 hearts of damage, with a bit of luck if you caught him off guard that would of been 3 hearts of damage from close range. Being able to snipe from a distance with a charged shot (2 hearts of damage) and weaken him before the above would mean instant death unless the knight is very careful.

    I'm also unsure what do you mean by "not buying it". As in, triple shot on close range is still weak or...?
     
  10. 8x

    8x Elimination Et Choix Traduisant la Realité Forum Moderator Staff Alumni Tester
    1. The Young Blood Collective - [YB]

    Messages:
    1,325
    So we're archers, at TTH, deciding wheter to be a "fragile speedster" elf, or a "weak but skilled" war archer. This is ok and the examples are appropiate, I see your points and I like it as it is.
    But what about TDM? you're almost pushed into taking a fragile war acher role. I think though that this, hell, could be the right thing for archer to be.

    Well I'm a bit confused about how it should be, gonna play more to feel it.
    It is pretty interesting though to read what common testers say about the test builds and how they see the game. I wish more of them came here to post their points of view, since they're closer to the devs intentions.
     
  11. Boea

    Boea Such Beta

    Messages:
    653
    Or I figured out how to shield.

    I've tussled with Landoo, so I've been pretty accustomed to triple shots, since the guys lives off of them.
    It's annoying, he is divine at the grapple hook, and it's pretty much more of a hassle to kill him, than letting him kill several people.

    But, the close-range stun doesn't give much time to shoot the stunned knight, so it more or less it makes the multi-shot even more worthwhile than not, from what you say, and what I've seen in Challenge and in-Game.
    ---@ 8x
    A "Weak, but Skilled" War Archer would be more like the Pre 866 archers, they could take one blow, but they had to deal damage by taking potshots, and forcing knights to not shield, or slash, since they couldn't otherwise.
    A "Fragile Speedster" Elf, would be more like Post 866, where they are very squishy, very fast, and can get anywhere. Their main tactics mainly deal with point blank multi-shots, and camping out at doors, sniping builders.

    It's pretty weird to have to deal with knights and archers, now.
     
    Last edited: Sep 14, 2013
  12. Nighthawk

    Nighthawk gaurenteed shitter

    Messages:
    793
    I think the community is split on this, honestly. Some people, like me, want the slow-shooting, long-ranged, sniping-focused Archer to make a return. And other people like the new mid-range ninja-tactics Archer that we have now.

    I say, if at all possible, keep them both. Yeah, it's been suggested a trillion times before, but I'm going to say it again:

    Multiple weapon types.

    Good ol' Alpha Archer could make a comeback (without long-range stun, for balance's sake) using a longbow.
    And the new Beta Archer can stay - just call his weapon a shortbow, or compound bow or something.

    I think that's the way to go, honestly. If you can't please everyone with one play style, let people choose how they want to play.
     
    Contrary likes this.
  13. Boea

    Boea Such Beta

    Messages:
    653
    The problem is that the Pre, and Post866 archers seem pretty cut and dry when it comes to who can kill who... It'd take more work to get them to balance out.

    The older archers could still take the pace of a knight, which is why I like to call them with War Archers.
    The newer ones, Elves, because holy shit are they everywhere.
     
  14. Inferdy

    Inferdy Arsonist

    Messages:
    246
    I hope new update contains CTF :D
    Edit: I am loading it now :3
     
  15. Contrary

    Contrary The Audacious Paramount of Explosive Flight Donator Tester

    Messages:
    2,196
    I really wish KAG kept even some rudimentary statistics. We could determine whether a new build has affected skillfulness in knight combat by comparing the standard deviation of knights pre update to this afterwards and look for a difference. If we saw a smaller SD we could conclude that the difference in results between good knights and bad knights is less and therefore skill has become a less important factor. Of course not a full proof test but I think it would help a lot, or at least be very interesting.

    edit: i subtley asked a few more knight players without giving too much away they said similiar
     
    Last edited: Sep 14, 2013
  16. kedram

    kedram Drill Rusher Tester

    Messages:
    449
    i am deadset on the theory of the net code getting fucked up. deputy a skilled knight which was on even keel with myself is now killing me way more often than usuall. his sword is rediculous and shit isnt connecting when i slash him at times. there must be a change for this.
     
    Guitarman and Duke_Jordan like this.
  17. Geti

    Geti Please avoid PMing me (poke a mod instead) THD Team Administrator Global Moderator

    Messages:
    3,730
    Sunday responses so not gonna go too in depth :)

    Fwiw this is more or less in your hands now if you want to do it - MM built a very simple persistent stats system for the challenge stuff, an undisplayed totals thing could be built using very similar code. If someone goes ahead and does that I'd be happy to include it in vanilla, but I've got more than enough on my plate at the moment without adding superfluous number crunching.

    I'm not interested in giving the archer such an arbitrary distinction, nor am I interested in adding multiple weapons for other classes. Personally I absolutely detest how the archer in classic works out in larger games - i can appreciate that it can be fun being the 10 archers spamming shield breaking perfectly accurate shots over a screens length into the enemy, but since almost every archer loses all of their confidence in an aggressive situation it just contributes to massive stalemates.
    Considering we already have stalemate issues I don't really want to compound that.

    Re: "...should stop giving them close range stuff and let them snipe"
    Thing is we're disinterested in encouraging any purely defensive military class. If we let teams lean backwards into defense too much instead of forcing them to _push_ back by getting aggressive, then we just get more stalemate and more "omfg campers".
    The current archer's fairly limited reach means that they need to get out into the field to give meaningful help to battles before they make it to your doorstep. That said, they can hit anything to the edge of the screen, just not beyond that.

    The stun within limited range means that they can help defend doors much like knights can, and means that both classes have comparable ability to deal damage to shielded knights without reintroducing 2 archers on a tower timing their shots to completely ignore shields.


    We'll need to see how it plays out longer term for whether it all needs more changes, personally I think the legolas shot at the moment seems a bit finicky, it could use a little more time between shots perhaps, but I'm more happy with the class balance this build than I have been for a while. Builders need more attention than archers at the moment I think.

    Re: Lag
    It would be good if others could confirm if they've noticed changes, in the hours i played yesterday I didn't notice anything strange going on, but that was on a server hosted very close to where I live (30 ping).
     
    Duke_Jordan and FuzzyBlueBaron like this.
  18. kedram

    kedram Drill Rusher Tester

    Messages:
    449
    Geti many of the players have noticed a big difference in knight combat. double slashes just don't connect very well. and over all combat in general has become weird and unpredictable. im not saying OMG DEVS FUK U U SUK or anything im saying that there appears to be a problem and i would love to see an eventual fix to this issue like everyone else. :)
     
  19. amgtree

    amgtree Haxor

    Messages:
    482
    Yea I know what your talking about. I managed to get slashed six blocks way through a 1 block hole.
     
    kedram likes this.
  20. kedram

    kedram Drill Rusher Tester

    Messages:
    449
    LOL
    yea that shit is what im talking about
    --- Double Post Merged, Sep 15, 2013, Original Post Date: Sep 15, 2013 ---
    what ive noticed is that single slash vastly beats double slash in all situations. and even when i try to slash its wierd. earlier i was about to get hit by a double slash but the second slash even though it hit me dead on didnt do a dam thing. i then killed him in confusion as to what just happened. its all just really awkward and like i said others like contrary, deputy, metaphoenix have all noticed it. just ask any veteran about what happening.