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 Post subject: Question 1.7 Static field
PostPosted: Wed Nov 09, 2016 6:56 am 
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Joined: Fri Feb 25, 2011 7:44 am
Posts: 96
Why make static field back to its broken state? how it worked on previous patches made the boss fight epic ( tough ) the new ( classic ) static field is just silly again.


OR am I missing something here? :?


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 Post subject: Re: Question 1.7 Static field
PostPosted: Wed Nov 09, 2016 11:01 am 
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Joined: Mon Aug 31, 2009 11:28 am
Posts: 1136
Location: Vancouver, BC
No one told me it was broken. I figured it was better to have a skill that was very effective in close (ideally dangerous) range, rather than clone Nova. Having a lightning-damage version of Crushing Blow with 1/2 the CBlow effect and with a cap on its maximum effect seemed like something I could work with until it was useful and balanced.

Crushing Blow should remove 10% of monster HP, do you feel Static should be reduced to 3% or 2% from 5%? Note that with more players in the game, CBlow's effect is reduced while Static's effect scales with the players (5% of current monHP). It's worth considering that monsters have at least 50%LtngRes in Hell, so the 5% HP loss is reduced to 2.5% (Note -%LtngRes would negate this a bit). Please let me know if you notice StaticField not working as described above.

Do you think the maximum-effect cap should be reduced from stopping at 60% monHP in Hell to some higher number (66% or 75% monHP).

Would it be alright to cap the range on Static (perhaps 6 yards radius?), or prevent folks from sinking enough points into it (Max Level 1-10?) that it becomes easy to use from a safe range?


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 Post subject: Re: Question 1.7 Static field
PostPosted: Wed Nov 09, 2016 12:24 pm 
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Joined: Fri Feb 25, 2011 7:44 am
Posts: 96
Well I guess calling it "broken" is wrong and I should have done it differently.

What I wanted to say is, that the classic effect of static field, and how it easily removed boss health, made the fights that suppose to feel epic sort of "meh".

Just don't know how to put it, I do believe HU was better off without such mechanic. This is how I always felt about it.

Not sure do I get my point across, hopefully someone can relate. I do believe that there was always a strong reason behind why this skill was reworked, and one of the reasons being, how it affected progression.


Skill is a nightmare to balance, and no matter how you look at it being able to tele in next to, lets say hell ball and remove 25% of hes health in 10 seconds or less ( as skill is spamable ) it just doesn't feel right to me as it has 100% land rate, now compare it to crushing blow 1 or 2 percent land chance, if its still the same number. :roll:

To be honest, and strictly speaking the removal of this effect and how crushing blow got implemented was important aspect of what made HU boss fights and the way the original D2 mechanics should imho.

My take on this:

The skill could been reverted to its sort of old state, capping it at 25% or something with higher range, if it didn't affect boss monsters. Although I'm not sure is it possible to mod a specific skill immunity to monsters without hard coding, perhaps that's why the skill got reworked in the past?


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 Post subject: Re: Question 1.7 Static field
PostPosted: Wed Nov 09, 2016 1:38 pm 
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Joined: Mon Aug 31, 2009 11:28 am
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Location: Vancouver, BC
I could see a Chantress tanking for long enough to Static a boss down, so I suppose the main argument is what the difference would be between Static and the alternatives.

I've reviewed some math that compares a typical "heavy hitting" skill like FireBolt (should do 60%TrashHP as damage if it's being leveled, synergized, and geared normally) to StaticField (5%HP as damage - note it doesn't need synergies or heavy gear investment since only the radius changes with level). The math assumed 3 casts per second (just a rough estimate of end-game casting). Within 10 seconds (30 casts), FBolt should do about 20% BossHP as damage, while StaticField had hit it's Hell cap of 60%HP within 4 seconds. I'd agree that 4 seconds near a Boss isn't long enough for a Sorc to feel worried, so a change is needed.

I played with the numbers for CastDelays, and found that a delay of 33 frames would let a Sorc cast about 7 times in 10 seconds, which would bring a boss down to about 70%HP (compared to 80% for FBolt). With that cast delay, Static is about 50% stronger than a typical alternative, and might keep a Sorc in dangerous proximity to a Boss for the duration. Does a 33 frame delay sound alright? To promote investment into StaticField, perhaps a delay of 40, -1 per 3 Levels (CDelay=29 at skill level 34, CDelay=35 at level 15 (i.e. 1 +14Skills)). Note the delay could be further reduced by gear to a cap of 33% reduction (i.e. 33 goes down to 22, 40 down to 26).

I've currently changed StaticField to these numbers:
CastDelay 45 frames, -1 per 3 levels.
Without -33%CDelay gear, the delay is 34 at level 34 and 40 at level 15.
With -33%CDelay gear, the delay is 22 at level 34 and 26 at level 15.


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 Post subject: Re: Question 1.7 Static field
PostPosted: Wed Nov 16, 2016 12:06 pm 
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Joined: Fri Feb 25, 2011 7:44 am
Posts: 96
Well its tough to say before actually testing it. I just cant stop myself and feel that as skill, flat hp removal feel unappealing.

Nevertheless if we insist of keeping to this effect, perhaps it would be better to flip the way scaling works.

lvl 1 static field lowers monster HP threshold by (Given amount per cast) to 90%, each point invested gives extra 1%. caping at 70% at lvl 20. ?

That would balance it in early game levels so boss fights aren't a joke with it anymore.

Perhaps looking at it this way would be better.


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 Post subject: Re: Question 1.7 Static field
PostPosted: Wed Nov 16, 2016 12:49 pm 
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Joined: Mon Aug 31, 2009 11:28 am
Posts: 1136
Location: Vancouver, BC
I've uploaded an update for the test package. It includes the changes to StaticField that I recommended earlier.

The changes to the Static cap you recommended seem fine to me, but I don't know of a way to implement that change. The caps for Static are (oddly enough) located in an entirely different file from skills (along with things given to monsters between different difficulties like +Skills, the AI-Curse duration and Leach reduction divisors, etc). In my limited experience, D2 Modding has been a continuously harsh compromise between what sounds like a great idea, and what is easily and clearly changeable.

Early game boss fights in general will seem quite a bit easier in v1.7 than other versions. I toned down bosses a bit, and toned up trash (ideally you'd be forced to think of several solutions to several minor problems per act). That change was pretty arbitrary (I just didn't like the feeling of breezing through an act to be completely stopped at the end (You'd be forced to think of a solution to only 1 massive problem per act)), which is one of the reasons HUv1.8 should return to the big-boss HU style. If things seem too easy, keep in mind that Normal is intentionally a bit easy to facilitate D2-Pros-in-Training, so Norm will seem pretty tame for some folks.


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