cRPG

cRPG => Suggestions Corner => Game Balance Discussion => Topic started by: Jeade on October 23, 2014, 12:04:38 am

Title: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Jeade on October 23, 2014, 12:04:38 am
When I first started playing cRPG in early 2011, archery was pretty scary.
Archers could really tear shit up, and they were nerfed accordingly into more of a support role.
If enemies were out in the open, I'd shoot for the chest or head in my best effort to get a kill, but when teammates were working on taking someone down, I'd aim strictly for the legs.
If I hit, it'd stun the enemy for a moment, just long enough for someone to get a hit in. If I missed and hit a teammate, I'd do less damage than an accidental TK headshot.
That support role worked really well for me, and I'm assuming it did with other archers and assisted melee teammates too.
We, as archers, were also able to help rid the match of cavalry, as well. Horse archers take first priority.
This lessened the stress put on melee infantry as they had less couched lances bearing down on them.
It required teamwork.

So, class counters.
"Balance" seems to have separated entirely from "class counters." The two should be holding hands.
Balance should not just be about making it less annoying for melee to deal with horse archers or correcting the longsword stats so it fits better in the sword hierarchy gag.
Each "class" should have a counter, and making each individual melee unit its own army isn't going to solve the problem unless the intention is to dig a large grave, fill it with archers, and cement it shut.

The key here is that everyone is supporting each other in one way or another.
If your archers fail to get rid of that pesky horse archer, and that horse archer only has to worry about getting within five feet of a melee unit, the horse archer will win.
This is not a broken game mechanic, but broken teamwork.

If your cav or xbowers don't get rid of the three archers on the hill, and your two-handers get shot to shit running up that hill, it is (say it with me) not a broken game mechanic, but broken teamwork.

Nerfing archery even further was not a progressive step in the right direction, and it will ensure less players will spec ranged.
I know a few guys who are only playing the mod just so they can retire and spec out of archery.
Arrows are now fewer per quiver and even heavier than before.
For an archer to carry as many arrows as he had before, arrow weight has effectively doubled.
This is insane.

After talking with a few guys who play as archers and some STF testing myself, archers are now also way too accurate.

TL;DR
In summary, class counters have been dropped from the balance discussion; every class needs to be equal to all other classes. Each melee unit is his own army.
Archery, especially horse archery, has been shit on the hardest because melee players find them annoying and impossible to catch/kill; however, poor teamwork is the issue, not a broken game mechanic.
Un-nerf archery. Play your class well. Use your class' strengths to your advantage, and remember you are an important supporting member of your team (unless we continue along the one-man army route).

I'd really like to see some honest, thoughtful input from others.
Let me quickly post some unwanted responses in this spoiler so you don't have to
(click to show/hide)
I probably should note to the EU guys that I am an xbower, not an archer.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Bittersteel on October 23, 2014, 12:07:33 am
TL;DR was too long. Need another that doesn't extend more then five words.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Moncho on October 23, 2014, 12:09:51 am
Thing is, cRPG is played most of the time on pub servers, and teamwork in pub servers rarely if ever happens. cRPG helped towards this with banner balance and clans, but that has its issues too.
Also teamwork imo helps more ranged than melee (at average player level, not at competitive one), since it is much easier to collaborate with another guy shooting at people than in melee where you end up tking or being tkd often.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Kaido on October 23, 2014, 12:11:29 am
I think as years pass archers get better and better so they have to actually nerf them in items/mechanics so they wont top the scores and rape everyone.Just imagine if you were playing an archer with same mechanics/items/dmg/speed you had b4 2 years.I don't think its fair since i didnt see them nerf melee or any other class like that.. :?
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Chosen1 on October 23, 2014, 12:14:36 am
2h master race ist ubermensch

if you did not respec to a str 2h build you are playing this mod wrong
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Rebelyell on October 23, 2014, 12:28:12 am
2h master race ist ubermensch

if you did not respec to a str 2h build you are playing this mod wrong

pff so 2010
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Jack1 on October 23, 2014, 12:31:19 am
I played ranged for a full generation twice before this latest patch, they were both after the previous large ranged change. during that time I was able to use a play style that allowed me to hit anybody on the field at anytime that I chose assuming that they were not holed up in the corner of the map in some sort of obstacle for my shots. any time that they decided to come after me I also had one handers at my disposal that allowed me to out melee anybody who was also not as good as me in melee.

there were times when I cleared out the server just because of my ability to beat people giving them zero chance to counter me. I haven't touched any ranged since this patch happened but I know that there are plenty of ranged that still have the ability to perform well. Xeen is on NA 1 at the moment and is hitting me in timing to allow his teammates to get free shots on me. I was on EU 1 Tuesday for about two maps, one of those maps I was the top dog, it was a compact city map. on the other map, an open map, algarn went 23-3 with the closest melee being 7 kills behind him.

The largest problem with ranged pre-patch is whenever they coordinated as a group. being able to help your teammates from any point on the map in a server were most everybody is casually playing to have fun is not a place were ranges coordination should be as powerful as it was pre-patch.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: jtobiasm on October 23, 2014, 12:36:22 am
Meh, can still top eu1 as archer, I'm not complaining apart from all I want from them is to increase headshot damage.

oh yeah and maybe increase the number of arrows in a quiver
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: San on October 23, 2014, 12:37:10 am
The burden of teamwork has been transferred from melee to ranged. Is there a problem with this? I do think that ammo + 2 would help (would give some arrows +3 at masterwork)
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: 22nd_Earl_NoscopeGabe on October 23, 2014, 12:37:58 am
I love fried chicken
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Algarn on October 23, 2014, 12:38:28 am
Buffing headshots with uber accuracy like it is now would lead to some huge abusing. Better putting back old damages ( a part of them at least), or at least bringing back the old ammounts of arrows.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Warborn304 on October 23, 2014, 12:43:39 am
(click to show/hide)

(click to show/hide)
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Keshian on October 23, 2014, 12:51:32 am
Not sure where everyone is getting the super accuracy buff.  Pre-patch arrows went to where you aimed just like they do now.  There is a limit to accuracy and it has to do with player skill at leading shots properly.  Getting headshots is not any easier than it was before the patch unless you had really low wpf pre-patch and now can get normal wpf levels.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Tzar on October 23, 2014, 12:55:53 am
visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Algarn top scored several maps in a row, I don't see why the rest of u have to bitch and moan....

Archery changed from spray n pray to somewhat more skill based rewarding gameplay.

Trash players wont get as many kills as before, good players will wreck havoc....

Try an get used to it, and get the best of it.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Keshian on October 23, 2014, 01:09:39 am
Not really.  Was shooting plate armored guys in strat fight - took 6 arrows minimum to kill.  Unload whole quivers and did nearly no damage from hitting people with 10 pd mw longbow and mw bodkins.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Kaoklai on October 23, 2014, 01:11:21 am
lol @ talking about teamwork and class balance in a game where the only objective of the primary game-mode is simply to murder the other team.  Melee sticking together and ranged crossfiring melee in loose groups is as far as teamwork has gone or will go 95% of the time.  You'd think that after 4 years people would stop talking like this wasn't the case.  And it's not going to change because you trotted out this tired argument.  People don't have the motivation via meaningful in-game objectives or the means of easy public communication for teamwork to occur.  Maybe things would be different with a better reward system combined with a game mode like Conquest as it was originally proposed (not the 30 minute siege we have now). 

If you think archery is too weak, just come out and say it instead of entertaining this fantasy of a cRPG that has never existed. 
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Templar_Steevee on October 23, 2014, 01:18:33 am
But you should remember, that there is a few archers that are great in pew pew and if thay have good day, they can kill a lot, same as "masters" of other weapon kinds.
you can't just make an opinion about whole class because of one unie. Afaik Algarn have hi lvl
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Teeth on October 23, 2014, 01:19:50 am
poor teamwork is the issue
This argument has been reiterated through the existence of this mod and surprisingly hasn't ever had any effect on balance. If super efficient teamwork didn't magically drop from the sky during the last 4 years, it isn't going to happen now. Pub players don't communicate which creates issues.

Imagine a round where there are 5 archers left on a slight hill versus 10 melee players. Would the melee players win if they all charged at the same time, most likely. What actually happens though is that the melee players do not want to charge alone, have no proper way of coördinating and they get killed one by one. If they charge, the archer they charge runs away while the others shoot him. If they stay the archers surround until they get different angles. The archer teamwork is intuitive, the melee teamwork isn't. Why are those archers left near the end of the round, broken teamwork? Perhaps, but you cannot change that, cav does not want to risk their horse charging archers, crossbows have safer targets, other archers were too busy being chased. Or perhaps even because the autobalancer put significantly more ranged on one team.

Bottomline is, these situations aren't fun, and it's nice if there would be some options that do not expect some ideallistic measure of teamwork that has been surprisingly absent for 4 years already. Two or three good archers sticking together at the flanks is consistently good and can clutch rounds like few other types of playstyles can, precisely because the individual reaction of each player is that they'd rather not attack that alone. That said, I don't really have an idea what the current state of archery is, but I simply disagree with the nature of the argument put forth, especially in such a cocksure manner.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Keshian on October 23, 2014, 01:55:52 am
But you should remember, that there is a few archers that are great in pew pew and if thay have good day, they can kill a lot, same as "masters" of other weapon kinds.
you can't just make an opinion about whole class because of one unie. Afaik Algarn have hi lvl

THIS 10000 times.  I've been trying to tell tydeus this over and over again as he is "testing" archery.  basically he is saying since he can still do really well then archery not UP.  Its the worst kind of fuzzy logic.  His playstyle is different from any archer i have ever seen since he is trying so hard to prove his point - he spends half of every round running and doing melee  (he is very good meleer) and thinks thats how most archers will play - even if it means his team loses and he doesn't support them he is willing to run the entire length of the map just to scrape a few more points on.  All he is proving is how op high agility melee is, but he doesnt care ebcause he already decided in his head archery needs to be nerfed.  Worst kind of item balancer, wish anyone else would make the decision on the item balance team.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: MURDERTRON on October 23, 2014, 01:58:09 am
You have to remember that all of this talk of teamwork is coming from a guy who has a camoflage banner and takes pot shots at people every 15 seconds while his team is busy fighting, then when he's the last one left, he doesn't even go for the flags.  Oh yeah, he's an admin, too.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Jeade on October 23, 2014, 02:00:36 am
I'm not reliving some bleary-eye'd past cRPG where everyone formed neatly into shieldwalls and archers fired in syncopated volleys.
That's not the "teamwork" I'm going for here.

The teamwork I'm suggesting goes hand-in-hand with classes naturally countering each other instead of making each melee class its own army, viable for any situation.
I wouldn't say I'm brilliant, but I tend to duck behind shielders when archers are shooting in my direction. That much should be intuitive.
Of course cav doesn't like to risk their horses by charging at archers, but that should be part of the job. Hit them from behind. Support your team by charging enemy melee so your shielders can get to them faster.
Two-handers don't like to risk their lives by charging at archers, but that's the obvious risk involved as two-hander; ranged (of any kind) can hit you.
Similarly, archers don't like to be nerfed into the ground, and that's reasonable too.

So, no, I don't believe super coordinated teamwork has ever existed in pub matches, but by focusing on class counters, you'd have a much more favorable situation for all classes.
As it is currently, archers are being nerfed consistently to make them less and less valuable in their own respect so non-ranged has less to worry about.

And yes, there are some hard-hitting, accurate as fuck archers out there that can consistently top the scoreboard, but they are not representative of the whole.
San is not representative of all one-handers either (thank god).
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: HappyPhantom on October 23, 2014, 02:02:24 am
But you should remember, that there is a few archers that are great in pew pew and if thay have good day, they can kill a lot, same as "masters" of other weapon kinds.
you can't just make an opinion about whole class because of one unie. Afaik Algarn have hi lvl

Agree.

Not every archer is high-level archer, been playing for years, with sub-80 ping.

I think patch has imbalanced the game for archers that don't fit the above, which can't equally be said of melee.

The point was to make the game n00b friendly wasn't it? I think you've probably done that for melee, but maybe not for people who want to be ranged.

Nicely said Jeade.

RIP teamwork. RIP class balance and counters.

All hail egocentric pre-pubescent males 2h master race.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Thryn on October 23, 2014, 02:45:14 am
the most teamwork ive seen recently is krems grouping up and chat spamming their own spawn


that's about all i expect in a public server
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Jona on October 23, 2014, 03:32:06 am
egocentric pre-pubescent males

The sad part is that within this community it is probably the post-pubescents that are doing so much QQing.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Huscarlton_Banks on October 23, 2014, 04:29:49 am
I'm not an archer main, but here was my experience with 4.0:
(click to show/hide)

The autobalance issue where one team may have nearly all of the ranged/cavalry players puts a damper on using teamwork as a reliable solution to ranged that can kite.

HA and 30+ AGI stack archers/throwers/crossbowmen are outside of the norm, but anything that can produce a threat while being completely unreachable based on random chance via map, team class composition, and weather can be considered a bad game mechanic in PvP, with greater threats/greater chances of being unreachable being worse for balance.

Something like a naked 12/XX long spear user or a naked 15/XX pike user falls into this category as well, but those builds don't have 3000+ effective reach, can actually be blocked without a shield, and they're not as easy to abuse with two+ coordinated players of a similar build.

In NA battle, body armor + gloves still tend to hover around the ~60 or lower range, so Short/Nomad/Tatar/Horn with ~4-5 PD still deal enough damage where you'll be able to rack up a lot of points (not kills), so you can still get valor that way.

In EU battle/shiny strat average armor levels (65++) are high enough that lower PD isn't viable since arm/leg hits will get nullified, but there's no neat solution to making Short/Nomad/Tatar bow good for that without breaking other things.

Bow difficulties in general would have to be shifted upwards (I guess that'd make 11+ PD cannons a thing), or foot speed would have to be capped/nerfed as long as you had a bow equipped.

For the most part, I guess players have to get used to the idea that 15/18 STR + blatantly stacking as much AGI as possible isn't the best way to do things anymore.

I think a small ammo count buff or a separate ammo/ranged balance in general for strategus/siege could be warranted though.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Jeade on October 23, 2014, 05:15:21 am
If the issue is kiting, cap the run speed. If a character has a point in PD, cap athletics at 6. Problem solved.
Don't destroy archery for everyone.

Arrow count desperately needs to be restored to what it was pre-patch unless the goal is forcing archers to be strength stacking PD builds with three slots of arrows and 35 weight.
People don't like things that kill them, and archers will just spec into higher PD builds to hit harder.
Whenever a nerf hits archery, archer playstyle changes. The last one caused everyone to use shortbows and nomad bows in their best attempt to circumvent the nerf.
All that did was bring about a bunch of machine-gunning archers with closed reticles that could hold a shot for three seconds and accurately headshot at 3000+ range.
If we went back before that nomad bow patch, probably a year or so ago, things would almost certainly be better than they are now.

There isn't an easy fix to archery, nor is there one that will make everyone happy, solely because of the playstyle.
Archery has been getting nerfed since the mod's release, or at least since 2011, and continuing to nerf them will only drive archery out of the mod.
Sometimes nerfing a little harder isn't always the best choice if you're looking for the best balance.
Instead of trying to fix the archery problem, find the best compromise instead.

Don't fulfill the wetdreams of a 2h utopia cRPG.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: FRANK_THE_TANK on October 23, 2014, 06:19:06 am
Nice shit post teeth, nice shit post Kaoklai very predictable very well done indeed.

1) I was working with Algarn when he was pulling those numbers the other day and he wasn't shooting people down, he was pulling out his 1h and stabbing mother fuckers. So not only is the argument flawed from the perspective of pointing to one of the better archers that's ever played the game it's also completely baseless because most of those kills were from melee.

2) Neither kills nor score really connote effectiveness with archery.  I tested out a build using the bow with barbed arrows and having a shite load of wpf so as I could rapid fire highly accurate low damage shots. I then just wondered around with the melee staying just outside of easy kill range and watched, once I saw someone that had been hit a few times I stole the kill. Go me, I'm really useful. I hope more archers start doing this so the rage threads can spawn about archers stealing kills.

3) HA has high survivability so long as they do their best to keep themselves safe. However, they are easy to bring down with range and once dehorsed are totally fucked. Recently I've had a whole lot of very high agi cav just case me around and shut me down and when I try and get into position to support the melee I get driven off by range and throwing. No one has any statistics on the amount of times HA players actually make it to the rounds end vs get killed during the round, but frankly I got blown away more often than I make it to the end by a huge amount, and it's totally map dependant.

TL:DR

The argument that a class should exist because you don't like it and it has occasionally annoyed you in the past is bullshit. There are an insane volume of counters to HA.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Thalion_Menelvagor on October 23, 2014, 06:20:29 am
My personal opinion is that there are a lot of two-hand hero-wannabe's in their mother's basement with orange fingers eating cheetos and drinking Mountain Dew who cry like little babies having their bottoms spanked if they get killed by an archer without getting to swing their massive penis-compensation device (2h weapon) at someone.  And before anyone points it out, yes I am a 2h player.  I just prefer tea and scones to Cheeto's and I get up in the morning and shave my neckbeard and do my best to go out and earn a damn living during the day as there is no basement at my mom's house.

Seriously though. I've played this mod now for a couple years I think (honestly, I don't exactly remember when this hazy dream began) but archery has always been an annoying threat. Well, of course it is an annoying threat to have people shooting at you from a distance. I just assume that if I have no shield and I just go running after archers I am probably going to die. That's what I think would happen in a realistic scenario. But then again, this is a video game mod where everyone wants to be happy and it is impossible to make everyone happy.

I think putting some limitations to the kiting and skirmishing might be a way to go. I it would help running down archers, forcing them  to use their own melee as a screen more possibly. Damage never bothered me. It hurts to get shot full of arrows. Try not to run around out in the open like a hero and maybe you won't get shot as much. 
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Molly on October 23, 2014, 10:48:32 am
I had this discussion with Algarn like 2 days ago on the server...

I said and still say that too many archer on the server kill the game. At least I am certain that this is true for EU1.
Before the patch we had at times 50% archers per team and on top of that few crossbow players. A melee oriented player joins, plays 3 rounds simply being shot to pieces and leaves for Siege where ranged mostly isn't as dominating as on Battle and he can actually enjoy some sword fighting. Consequently there were 15-20 people playing Battle and 60+ playing Siege.
That was a direct reaction to the amount of range players.

So I am sorry but everything done to discourage new players - and old players alike - from picking up a bow and become an archer is done for the good of the mod. Simple as that.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Tagora on October 23, 2014, 11:08:03 am
If you're 2h and don't have the perks of decent armor then you're going to get fucked by archers still.  I also think it's pretty idiotic that people complain about 2h crutch and shit.  Go to native duel and come back and tell me that 2h is spastic in crpg.  I could use a laugh.  It's also pretty pathetic that someone could complain about feinting in 2014.  You haven't learned to block yet?

I wear an insane amount of armor w/ 8 IF and yet if there's two or more archers shooting at me I'm fucked.  Obviously if it's just one then yeah, I can run up to him, and catch him eventually.  I'm only familiar with the nerfs through forums so I don't understand the "totality" of the issue but if I'm not mistaken archery was given an accuracy buff while some quivers were nerfed.  To me, that sounds like a rational trade-off not necessarily beneficial but not game breaking like a few people are making it out to be.  I could honestly care less if it's reverted or not.  Archery is always going to be an annoying thing for me.  I'm happy just so long as the ratio of cavalry to infantry to range is relatively reasonable.  I also think that it's kind of irrational to assume that archers should be considered in anything outside of a support role.  People who think that it should be relatively just as easy for an archer to score as high as melee/cav are being totally unrealistic.  I feel like a player who goes into archery goes in for the same reasons someone chooses a pike or a thrower.  You're not Legolas, bitch.  You have a specific purpose, part of which is to make builds like mine wear tons of armor, which effectively nerfs my class and further negates the supposed "2h hero" fallacy.

Not much sympathy here.  I leave it up to the item balancers to work this one out. (lol)
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Mr.K. on October 23, 2014, 11:08:40 am
Having played some archery with my 27/21 build I can say that it does feel nerfed, but not too bad at the moment. However, it might be a whole different story for agi archers. The accuracy on that 9PD build seems really high so I really don't see a point to have less PD, which ofc is a problem. I'll test a 18/27 build at some point to see if it's much worse, but I have a feeling that right now only high PD builds are worth it.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Teeth on October 23, 2014, 11:29:04 am
The teamwork I'm suggesting goes hand-in-hand with classes naturally countering each other instead of making each melee class its own army, viable for any situation.
I wouldn't say I'm brilliant, but I tend to duck behind shielders when archers are shooting in my direction. That much should be intuitive.
Of course cav doesn't like to risk their horses by charging at archers, but that should be part of the job. Hit them from behind. Support your team by charging enemy melee so your shielders can get to them faster.
Two-handers don't like to risk their lives by charging at archers, but that's the obvious risk involved as two-hander; ranged (of any kind) can hit you.
Similarly, archers don't like to be nerfed into the ground, and that's reasonable too.
Bottomline is, you want people to charge archers when it is much safer and much more fun to not do it. Much like the past 4 years, it's not going to happen.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Molly on October 23, 2014, 01:00:45 pm
[...]I'm happy just so long as the ratio of cavalry to infantry to range is relatively reasonable[...]
This has to be main goal of balancing imho. Very well written...
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Algarn on October 23, 2014, 01:25:44 pm
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Put back damages, the accuracy now is too high, even with 10PD and a longbow.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: jtobiasm on October 23, 2014, 01:38:56 pm
Infantry players are no longer scared of ranged, it's bullshit they can literally outrun you and just tank all the arrows, even if I do turn around and shoot them in the head 95% of the time they still can survive.

Once a melee player sees you he's going to run around all the inf just to kill you plus you increased the arrow weight adds the fact everyone can now spec into riding and just bump you all day long

Put back damages, the accuracy now is too high, even with 10PD and a longbow.

+1
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Molly on October 23, 2014, 01:50:41 pm
Get a shield lol


...oh wait, only melee is supposed to adapt, right. My fault. :oops:
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: HappyPhantom on October 23, 2014, 08:20:11 pm
Archery is always going to be an annoying thing for me.  I'm happy just so long as the ratio of cavalry to infantry to range is relatively reasonable.

Not much sympathy here.  I leave it up to the item balancers to work this one out. (lol)

Seems the balancers want to drive ranged away.

Except that we want people to be focusing more on playing melee and less on playing ranged.

People that cut me in half are annoying to me. Fucking wonk lance cav that couch through their horses face are annoying to me. But I don't cry to to get them nerfed, I just deal with it and try and implement tactics to mitigate. I understand there are other classes in the game that counter me in annoying ways. Unfortunately now, I have become some ineffective the number of ways for me to deal with these counters is heavily reduced and it ain't fun no more.

So you know what, instead of crying nerfs, I don't play, or play another class.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Jeade on October 23, 2014, 09:26:15 pm
everything done to discourage new players - and old players alike - from picking up a bow and become an archer is done for the good of the mod. Simple as that.

I don't play, or play another class.

Their plan is working then.

And no, Molly, melee is not supposed to be the only class/playstyle adapting to changes. Granted, they haven't really had to. Ever.
At least, not with the consistent nerfs to archery.
I see that there is some effort here to balance effectively (higher accuracy, less arrows, etc), but it still isn't working. I don't recall the last time a patch got this much reaction from archers.
Even on an 8PD build, I was dumping half my arrows into targets. Maybe if I turned myself into a turret with 12 PD, I'd get a better result.
Still, the other issue is that the arrow count is too low, particularly with unloomed quivers. You shouldn't run out of arrows a third of the way through the match.
As others have said, the best approach now is to wait for everyone to get a few hits in, then start taking shots.

Anyway, maybe it's useless to argue for revisions or a compromise if the mindset is -> make archers miserable so we melee players have less to worry about, and therefore, have more fun.

The major thing I'm seeing here though is "ranged players can kill me and I don't like it."
Whenever I'm on my 2h or polearm alt, I rarely get killed by ranged.
75% of the time it's because I'm not paying attention to my surroundings and charge into the open like a hero.

I liked Huscarlton's idea of capping athletics for archers. That would be fine. That's a solid compromise worth implementing and trying out.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Molly on October 23, 2014, 09:30:00 pm
[...]I don't recall the last time a patch got this much reaction from archers.
[...]
Well, while EU archers are mainly "yea... well... actually it ain't that bad, maybe even a bit too accurate... I rather just play than complain on the forum...", it's mainly NA "reacting" to the patch :oops:
At least it sure does look so.

And I've written many, many times that I've never seen the damage as an issue with archers but their spam of arrows, the non-selective targeting and their amount.
Now they can't spam and have to pick their target - sounds like added skill to me.
And about those "mimimi I can't use 4 PD bows anymore" - that sounds to me the same as when some melee dude complains that he can't kill a plated str whore with a cudgel in 3 hits.
In my book, with low pd bows and high agi you hunt either ponies or low armor people. With a high pd bow, which makes you as slow as the plated str whore, you can kill whatever you want. Works for EU archer just fine according to the scoreboard.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: HappyPhantom on October 23, 2014, 09:48:20 pm
Their plan is working then.

I know :(

... maybe even a bit too accurate...

Quite a lot of NA archers are actually saying the accuracy we have now is too much, and we'd gladly trade it to get some of that damage back.

And about those "mimimi I can't use 4 PD bows anymore" - that sounds to me the same as when some melee dude complains that he can't kill a plated str whore with a cudgel in 3 hits.

Take a look at the cost of running around with x2 stacks of bodkins and a longbow. That's why I complain about the ineffectiveness of low tier bows. I haemorrhage $$ using that (high end gear) all the time. But using low tier to save money is basically not worth it because of damage nerf. Compare cost / damage of low tier 2 hand vs low tier bows, and tell me that's balanced.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Templar_Steevee on October 23, 2014, 10:10:32 pm
(click to show/hide)
Put back damages, the accuracy now is too high, even with 10PD and a longbow.
You should also mentioned that infantry from my team were playing like idiots and they were standing still showing their faces to you ^^

This screen shows also that my 7 pd is also playable (on lvl 34), but not as effective as your 10.
anyway I'll try 27 18 now :)
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Kafein on October 23, 2014, 11:42:22 pm
When I first started playing cRPG in early 2011, archery was pretty scary.
Archers could really tear shit up, and they were nerfed accordingly into more of a support role.
If enemies were out in the open, I'd shoot for the chest or head in my best effort to get a kill, but when teammates were working on taking someone down, I'd aim strictly for the legs.
If I hit, it'd stun the enemy for a moment, just long enough for someone to get a hit in. If I missed and hit a teammate, I'd do less damage than an accidental TK headshot.
That support role worked really well for me, and I'm assuming it did with other archers and assisted melee teammates too.
We, as archers, were also able to help rid the match of cavalry, as well. Horse archers take first priority.
This lessened the stress put on melee infantry as they had less couched lances bearing down on them.
It required teamwork.

So, class counters.
"Balance" seems to have separated entirely from "class counters." The two should be holding hands.
Balance should not just be about making it less annoying for melee to deal with horse archers or correcting the longsword stats so it fits better in the sword hierarchy gag.
Each "class" should have a counter, and making each individual melee unit its own army isn't going to solve the problem unless the intention is to dig a large grave, fill it with archers, and cement it shut.
  • Archers play a necessary support role in keeping horse archers and other cavalry off their melee teammates.
  • Horse archers play a role in being a highly mobile archer, capable of flanking infantry and chasing away enemy cavalry.
  • Polearm users can have a very strong offense or play a supporting role similar to that of shielder.
  • Crossbow users support like an archer, but dish out higher damage on those wearing heavier armor.
  • Two-handers are the main brunt of the attack and, in turn, are supporting the rest of their team.

The key here is that everyone is supporting each other in one way or another.
If your archers fail to get rid of that pesky horse archer, and that horse archer only has to worry about getting within five feet of a melee unit, the horse archer will win.
This is not a broken game mechanic, but broken teamwork.

If your cav or xbowers don't get rid of the three archers on the hill, and your two-handers get shot to shit running up that hill, it is (say it with me) not a broken game mechanic, but broken teamwork.

Nerfing archery even further was not a progressive step in the right direction, and it will ensure less players will spec ranged.
I know a few guys who are only playing the mod just so they can retire and spec out of archery.
Arrows are now fewer per quiver and even heavier than before.
For an archer to carry as many arrows as he had before, arrow weight has effectively doubled.
This is insane.

After talking with a few guys who play as archers and some STF testing myself, archers are now also way too accurate.

TL;DR
In summary, class counters have been dropped from the balance discussion; every class needs to be equal to all other classes. Each melee unit is his own army.
Archery, especially horse archery, has been shit on the hardest because melee players find them annoying and impossible to catch/kill; however, poor teamwork is the issue, not a broken game mechanic.
Un-nerf archery. Play your class well. Use your class' strengths to your advantage, and remember you are an important supporting member of your team (unless we continue along the one-man army route).

I'd really like to see some honest, thoughtful input from others.
Let me quickly post some unwanted responses in this spoiler so you don't have to
(click to show/hide)
I probably should note to the EU guys that I am an xbower, not an archer.

learn teamplay get a shield lol umaddd???

Your argument is really stupid and as baseless as it always was. So yeah, now you learn teamplay.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Jeade on October 24, 2014, 12:49:23 am
learn teamplay get a shield lol umaddd???

Your argument is really stupid and as baseless as it always was. So yeah, now you learn teamplay.

As a beta tester, why not give thoughtful input like the rest of us here have.
Why not try to acknowledge the issues and complaints and work towards a solution or a compromise?
Surely you should have some good ideas.

I'll again bump Huscarlton's idea of capping athletics if you have points in PD.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Tydeus on October 24, 2014, 01:17:21 am
While the OP sounds great, it fails to acknowledge the human element. We(yes, I'm human too) make decisions based upon how we perceive the world. If 99% of melee don't want to stand around and wait for archers to kill the HA/other team's ranged, even though that's clearly, more often than not, the most sound strategy for winning — when you don't have a true competitive scene that can separate those who find simply winning (competition) more enjoyable than casually "having fun" — then from a game design perspective, you have to change your balance priorities.

Edit: It has been over a year and a half now of HA causing issues on the servers and teamwork hasn't changed. The only thing that has changed, is that people got fed up with it and evacuated the servers. Not only that, but I've stated multiple times for years now, that there are a lot of ways we could address HA/general ranged purely through maps and again nothing has changed. So any reservations one holds with respect to the idea that it if we just improve teamwork all our problems will go away, are simply naive.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Keshian on October 24, 2014, 01:46:20 am
Their plan is working then.

And no, Molly, melee is not supposed to be the only class/playstyle adapting to changes. Granted, they haven't really had to. Ever.
At least, not with the consistent nerfs to archery.
I see that there is some effort here to balance effectively (higher accuracy, less arrows, etc), but it still isn't working. I don't recall the last time a patch got this much reaction from archers.
Even on an 8PD build, I was dumping half my arrows into targets. Maybe if I turned myself into a turret with 12 PD, I'd get a better result.
Still, the other issue is that the arrow count is too low, particularly with unloomed quivers. You shouldn't run out of arrows a third of the way through the match.
As others have said, the best approach now is to wait for everyone to get a few hits in, then start taking shots.

Anyway, maybe it's useless to argue for revisions or a compromise if the mindset is -> make archers miserable so we melee players have less to worry about, and therefore, have more fun.

The major thing I'm seeing here though is "ranged players can kill me and I don't like it."
Whenever I'm on my 2h or polearm alt, I rarely get killed by ranged.
75% of the time it's because I'm not paying attention to my surroundings and charge into the open like a hero.

I liked Huscarlton's idea of capping athletics for archers. That would be fine. That's a solid compromise worth implementing and trying out.

Yeah I stopped playing archer - so much easier to get consistent valour with any of my melee classes even my swashbuckler.  Only idiots who have never played it call archery "easy mode."  This new setup favors a static cannon, I've always preferred the dynamic archer moving to dodge other ranged and popping shots quickly back before reticule shrinks to microscope level.  A more intuitive way to play (I hate cs:go AWP style that some people favor)  Problem is with so little damage you need to go do 30-18 with mw longbows adn mw bodkins slowly shooting down targets while barely moving around and hiding behind the mass of melee.  God forbid you use ANY arrows other than bodkins where anyone under 50 body armor is "lightly armored" http://forum.melee.org/general-discussion/crpg-statistics-poll/ (http://forum.melee.org/general-discussion/crpg-statistics-poll/) - (horn bow and arrows) 25 cut damage is less than most peasant weapons (cleaver alone has 30 cut and hatchet has 28).  When you can do more damage with your hatchet than your high end EXPENSIVE bow you realize you need to quit archery.

Hell, while Tydeus was doing his "tests" he killed me once by archery and 6 times by melee on his archer character, because of course archery OP.


I don't think we should be capping athletics for archers.  I do agree with nerfing movement speed in general, would reduce the back-pedaling s-key heroes that make up over 70% of the servers now since tydeus' shitty changes int he last year, and exacerbated by the increased levels.  if you want to see a plague - thats far more common and worse than horse archers.  They do huge amounts of damage out of range of retaliation and never need to manual block.  With their high athletics its easy to dodge ranged (which don't hurt even if they hit), can run down any range with ease, spam and break shields (which archers can't) while staying out of retaliation range.  I say this from playing on a 18-27 polearm build and a 21-27 2hand build.  All they have gotten are more and more buffs (I guess devs don't like skill???).
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Jeade on October 24, 2014, 01:47:57 am
While the OP sounds great, it fails to acknowledge the human element. We(yes, I'm human too) make decisions based upon how we perceive the world. If 99% of melee don't want to stand around and wait for archers to kill the HA/other team's ranged, even though that's clearly, more often than not, the most sound strategy for winning — when you don't have a true competitive scene that can separate those who find simply winning (competition) more enjoyable than casually "having fun" — then from a game design perspective, you have to change your balance priorities.

Edit: It has been over a year and a half now of HA causing issues on the servers and teamwork hasn't changed. The only thing that has changed, is that people got fed up with it and evacuated the servers. Not only that, but I've stated multiple times for years now, that there are a lot of ways we could address HA/general ranged purely through maps and again nothing has changed. So any reservations one holds with respect to the idea that it if we just improve teamwork all our problems will go away, are simply naive.

The teamwork I'm suggesting goes hand-in-hand with classes naturally countering each other instead of making each melee class its own army, viable for any situation.

Tydeus, we all know you're not a human. You're the purest essence of evil, hellbent on destroying fun for everyone.
I understand the HA problem and I think Kojiro expressed his issues (and mine) very well in his thread (http://forum.melee.org/game-balance-discussion/the-death-of-horse-archery/).
I'm not suggesting that the nerfs are all terrible, but considering the consistent changes to archery over the years, I think this has truly gone too far.
I've never posted about any balance changes before (I may have cursed under my breath a few times), but a majority of the latest changes, particularly arrow count, seem too much.
Adapt, yes. I always have, and I've accepted the changes in the past, but I don't think all of these changes were necessary. A number of us don't.
It'd be nice seeing the balance team adapt as well.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: betard_lulz on October 24, 2014, 01:54:11 am
as a cav player pls buff archery back. I mean 10 arrows? lol. I know 2h always get the favorable treatment but this is such bs
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Jeade on October 24, 2014, 01:59:22 am
as a cav player pls buff archery back. I mean 10 arrows? lol. I know 2h always get the favorable treatment but this is such bs

I'm all down for reducing archer accuracy back to where it was before and restoring the arrow count.
"Spray and pray" is rarely effective, at least at range and not point blank.
Archers are still going to strive to hit their target, and accuracy, from an archer's perspective, has never particularly been an issue.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Tydeus on October 24, 2014, 02:50:11 am
I've never posted about any balance changes before (I may have cursed under my breath a few times), but a majority of the latest changes, particularly arrow count, seem too much.
Adapt, yes. I always have, and I've accepted the changes in the past, but I don't think all of these changes were necessary. A number of us don't.
It'd be nice seeing the balance team adapt as well.
I'm all down for reducing archer accuracy back to where it was before and restoring the arrow count.
"Spray and pray" is rarely effective, at least at range and not point blank.
Archers are still going to strive to hit their target, and accuracy, from an archer's perspective, has never particularly been an issue.
You'll have to help me understand why the ammo loss is more significant than -3 bow damage. Considering the number of players complaining about the ammo loss and the fact that I make no attempt to conserve ammo while playing regardless of my build or ammo type(aside from restricting myself to only one hail mary per round rather than two or three), yet almost never run out of ammo(once every three maps), it seems to be a problem that is utterly foreign to me. It's simply not there when I play, either in the mornings or during prime-time.

One of the main reasons people kept to only 6PD as a max was so they could ensure a high amount of effective WPF in their builds and thus maintain accuracy. THE number one problem both XyNox and Bagge had with the most recent change the the WPF per PD/PT penalty changes was the drop in accuracy. Hell, Bagge chose to utilize his free respec to keep the same pd amount he previously had so that he could add more wm for the increased accuracy, rather than adjusting for damage(see below spoiler for quote). The statement "accuracy... has never particularly been an issue" seems, both from player feedback as well as mechanics and in-game effectiveness alike, to be nothing more than selectively cherry picking only the builds you and yours prefer to play.

I'm not sure exactly how you define "adapt", especially considering the context as well as what you're implying. Both possibilities for interpretation that I see seem rather sinister. Balance in cRPG is itself a never ending process of adaptation.

Hell, while Tydeus was doing his "tests" he killed me once by archery and 6 times by melee on his archer character, because of course archery OP.
This is probably why I dislike you so much as a person (or at least the persona you present to us). Intellectual honesty means absolutely nothing to you. I don't know why I'm surprised every time I see you conveniently leaving facts out. So yes, let's not mention your build or the fact that you were literally running to the edge of maps to safely come up behind me. Lets ignore the fact that you have a shield and high athletics, the go-to archer hunter build.

(click to show/hide)
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Keshian on October 24, 2014, 03:18:33 am
hahaha tydeus you spent half the map running so no shots coming out then.  Most archers dont run away to the extreme extent you do in order to get the absolute highest  score so you  can post screenshots on forums and tell everyone archery is not UP.  If you are actually supporting your teammates and helping them win instead of going for score to prove a point you run out of arrows fairly quickly, a common experience among other archers. 

Just another reason that your shitty way of analyzing is shit and you should never have been allowed to touch item balance in this game.  Fucking made the mod worse with every part that you have touched.  Now everyone min-maxes based on whatever buffs tydeus added (those the other devs haven't gottena round to reverting already) or abusing the shit out of things like broken nudges guaranteeing hits - thanks for being a complete arrogant asshat that "item balances" to favor himself and his builds
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: HappyPhantom on October 24, 2014, 03:29:52 am
Can we stop focussing so much on your experience Tydeus (from what I gather you're a good above average player), and the experience of very seasoned EU archers such as Algarn, Bagge, Stevee etc, and consider the average player?
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Tydeus on October 24, 2014, 03:49:30 am
hahaha tydeus you spent half the map running so no shots coming out then.  Most archers dont run away to the extreme extent you do in order to get the absolute highest  core so you  an post screenshots on forums and tell everyone archery is not UP.  If you are actually supporting your teammates and helping them win instead of going for score to prove a point you run out of arrows fairly quickly, a common experience among other archers.  Just another reason that your shitty way of analyzing is shit and you should never have been allowed to touch item balance in this game.  Fucking made the mod worse with every part that you have touched.  Now everyone min-maxes based on whatever buffs tydeus added -thanks for being a complete arrogant asshat that "item balances" to favor himself.
Nice, one statement about your inability to abstain from hyperbole and I get an entire paragraph of teenage angst in return.

I was actually being honest in my needing help understanding, yet we see the same inability to put forward something constructinve that isn't completely obvious. Your math here has once again failed. Running for 20 seconds (and that's being generous) isn't half a round. At most, it's 1/6th. There might have been a few occasions and one map in particular where I was forced to spend a lot of time running. Coincidentally, that was a map where I killed 1/2 the opposing team, netting myself twice the score of anyone else and 7 kills in the first round. Needless to say, I was then focused by 3 archers, you and janine_bagborne. Most of the time though, it's more like a mere 5% spent running and as San says, with 1 shot every 6 seconds on average, that amounts to only 3 arrows being "conserved" (quotations because, if I'm running with arrows, then there are still clearly enemies left to fight that would allow me to use those).

Can we stop focussing so much on your experience Tydeus (from what I gather you're a good above average player), and the experience of very seasoned EU archers such as Algarn, Bagge, Stevee etc, and consider the average player?
Only to a degree, can we. If the topic is about potential of the class, then it's no stretch to say that it's absolutely necessary, by definition of the word potential, to be looking at the "best". Whether you're the best player in the world or the worst, X pierce damage with 100 wpf and 7 PD to someone on a body shot with Y armor, the damage is going to be the exact same. Player skill is once again irrelevant. Where the average player needs to be considered the most, is in areas concerning upkeep, player usage, average class make-up desired vs current, and investment vs reward/ensuring reasonable learning curves; we have an ongoing conversation about what measures can be taken to make game mechanics more transparent and easier to understand, unfortunately since this is warband, not much can be done to simplify the mechanics appropriately for the layman.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: MURDERTRON on October 24, 2014, 03:59:26 am
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Jeade on October 24, 2014, 04:06:00 am
(click to show/hide)

The issue with the drop in arrow count is that, unless you are a full 'loomed archer, you're going to run out pretty easily within just a couple minutes.
If there are only a few players in server, you're probably not going to run out, even if you're only carrying 20 arrows.
If it's primetime and there are plenty of targets, you'll probably run out fairly quickly (or at least that's my experience).
With 155 archery WPF on an 8PD build, unloomed Horn Bow, my reticle was nearly closed, which is too accurate for archery.
I had better aim with the Horn Bow than my +3 Arb with 175 wpf and no weight penalty. The sights were even tighter with a tatar bow.

The point, I'm assuming, was to reduce arrow count and increase accuracy in hopes you'd force more skill into the equation.
While that is one way to tackle it, and a reasonable way at face value, the arrow per quiver nerf combined with the weight effectively doubling to carry the same safe number as before, is just way too steep.
And besides, archers never had a problem hitting targets at range before. As Kesh said, arrows go pretty much right where they used to, despite the reticle holding much tighter.
If anything, reducing the accuracy back to where it used to be--as there was a chance you'd miss at medium range--is a fine way to mitigate an archer's damage output. Maybe make them a little bit wider, even.
It might not be obvious if you're looking at numbers, but my main was an archer since early 2011, and, despite Kesh being a little edgy, we've both been archers for a long time. Same as Happy.

The reason damage is fluctuating so much now (or at least it seems that way reading others' posts) is because the strength archers are now 12PD builds and the agility archers who want to be able to move have likely dropped some PD or stayed where they were pre-patch.
Changing bow damage isn't going to make it better or worse; it'll make it both better and worse.
The reason I'm not pulling for a fix on bow damage is because I'm seeing the arrow count and arrow weight as the absolute biggest issues here.
Archers have limited slots. With a one slot bow and two quivers, you'll probably run out of arrows while being less effective than before.
With a two slot bow and two quivers, you'll be stuck using a 0 slot weapon and no ability to take an extra quiver to make up for the loss in arrow count.
With a one slot bow and three quivers, you'll be practically stuck to the ground with no defense at all unless you go high agility for athletics and trade your ability to actually be an effective ranged player.

I have also heard some complaints from cav players saying they're receiving too much damage from archers now as well, possibly due to the shift in higher PD builds.

In the end, I'm hoping you'll trust the archers who have been archers for years.
Some archers will choose to be dicks regardless and stack athletics so they can be annoying, and some archers will top the score board, though they tend to be notoriously good and exceptions to the rule.
I don't even play EU or pay attention to Strat and I know who Algarn is. Dude is a legend.

As for the "adapt" part, I was going for "I'd like it if the players weren't always forced to adapt to the balancers, but instead, the balancers sometimes adapt to the community."
It's certainly true for the melee half of the community, I'm just not seeing much for the archer side at the moment.

Nonetheless, Tydeus, thank you for not being a jackass and actually being involved. I appreciate that!

(click to show/hide)

lol
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: HappyPhantom on October 24, 2014, 04:13:49 am
Only to a degree, can we. If the topic is about potential of the class, then it's no stretch to say that it's absolutely necessary, by definition of the word potential, to be looking at the "best". Whether you're the best player in the world or the worst, X pierce damage with 100 wpf and 7 PD to someone on a body shot with Y armor, the damage is going to be the exact same. Player skill is once again irrelevant. Where the average player needs to be considered the most, is in areas concerning upkeep, player usage, average class make-up desired vs current, and investment vs reward/ensuring reasonable learning curves; we have an ongoing conversation about what measures can be taken to make game mechanics more transparent and easier to understand, unfortunately since this is warband, not much can be done to simplify the mechanics appropriately for the layman.

But the topic isn't about the potential of the class is it? Those at the top of their game in their class are going to always be, subjectively, OP. Surely your argument about potential pierce damage etc can equally be applied to melee players.

Maybe you could explain exactly the problems with archery you were trying to circumvent with the changes that were made?

You mention upkeep:

I would be much happier with the changes that have been made if we could look at tweaking (reducing) the upkeep on bodkins (especially considering reductions in ammo and the cost of repairs on two stacks) and (maybe) bow, (definitely) rus, and longbow. Upkeep is really the only thing preventing me "adapting" to patch changes, because of the horrendous upkeep. As an average player I rarely get valour and will quite often spend a whole evening on a x1. In one session using the above gear I can lose 5k very easily. And yes, believe it or not upkeep, and source of gold is still an issue for some players, e.g. me.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Artyem on October 24, 2014, 04:41:17 am
I barely read this thread, so I'll just say this:

change the 2h stab
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Jeade on October 24, 2014, 04:49:07 am
I barely read this thread, so I'll just say this:

change the 2h stab

Valuable input, Artyem. Carefully considered argument, and I support you fully in this endeavor. Thank you.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Sharpe on October 24, 2014, 05:01:08 am
Just my two cents on it,

The OP is correct in stating it is a lack in teamwork on the servers; and while yes this may be dreaming of some alternate reality, it's still the truth. And like Jeade, Happy and many other EU archers which have posted in this thread, I've been an archer for about 2+ years. The "revival patch" really just revived the old sentiment of nerfing archery into the ground. Some of the changes that were made were to an extent, unnecessary, increasing quiver weight but then decreasing arrow count; while yes the goal was to limit a horse archer's amount of arrows, presumably the effects on foot archers were thought about as well. What may have been a better solution is: if the character has just one point in Power Draw, cap the athletics at 5. This way there is still some mobility, but not enough to kite.

If I may ask what were some of the other problems with range were you trying to address?
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Tydeus on October 24, 2014, 05:30:40 am
The issue with the drop in arrow count is that, unless you are a full 'loomed archer, you're going to run out pretty easily within just a couple minutes.
So at least for the most part it's an issue with unloomed arrows, not necessarily all of them, to include fully loomed ones as well?

With 155 archery WPF on an 8PD build, unloomed Horn Bow, my reticle was nearly closed, which is too accurate for archery.
I had better aim with the Horn Bow than my +3 Arb with 175 wpf and no weight penalty. The sights were even tighter with a tatar bow.

The point, I'm assuming, was to reduce arrow count and increase accuracy in hopes you'd force more skill into the equation.
While that is one way to tackle it, and a reasonable way at face value, the arrow per quiver nerf combined with the weight effectively doubling to carry the same safe number as before, is just way too steep.
I've actually spoken with Jacko (the M:BG dev who is also an xbow "lifer") several times on the topic of accuracy. As a game design objective, we both agree that rng should be minimized as much as possible. This is one of the few areas where I can say we have a clear objective worth trying to achieve (needs improved for xbows).

And besides, archers never had a problem hitting targets at range before. As Kesh said, arrows go pretty much right where they used to, despite the reticle holding much tighter.
If anything, reducing the accuracy back to where it used to be--as there was a chance you'd miss at medium range--is a fine way to mitigate an archer's damage output. Maybe make them a little bit wider, even.
It might not be obvious if you're looking at numbers, but my main was an archer since early 2011, and, despite Kesh being a little edgy, we've both been archers for a long time. Same as Happy.
I can understand accuracy reductions to a degree, mostly for lower tier bows, but it still doesn't seem like you have anything to gain by doing so. If your build is pointlessly accurate, why not just spend the excess WM elsewhere? As things stand, players at least have the ability to choose the accuracy they desire most. Previously, you had pretty much one accuracy, whatever you could get with 6PD. Why revert things and decrease player choice?

The reason damage is fluctuating so much now (or at least it seems that way reading others' posts) is because the strength archers are now 12PD builds and the agility archers who want to be able to move have likely dropped some PD or stayed where they were pre-patch.
Wait—why are people going 12PD instead of 10 (the highest effective amount possible). Did you mean 10? Is there a misconception about the PD req +4 rule that needs addressed? Is this a bug of sorts?

Changing bow damage isn't going to make it better or worse; it'll make it both better and worse.
The reason I'm not pulling for a fix on bow damage is because I'm seeing the arrow count and arrow weight as the absolute biggest issues here.
Archers have limited slots. With a one slot bow and two quivers, you'll probably run out of arrows while being less effective than before.
With a two slot bow and two quivers, you'll be stuck using a 0 slot weapon and no ability to take an extra quiver to make up for the loss in arrow count.
With a one slot bow and three quivers, you'll be practically stuck to the ground with no defense at all unless you go high agility for athletics and trade your ability to actually be an effective ranged player.
I have also heard some complaints from cav players saying they're receiving too much damage from archers now as well, possibly due to the shift in higher PD builds.
The main reason weight was increased is that we were aware that we were allowing archers with 3 and 4 PD to get significantly more athletics than what they had previously. This means, to keep kiting from getting out of hand, as a precautionary measure, increasing weight is the most sound option. As to the effectiveness of 0 slot weapons, certainly they're the worst in the game, without a doubt. On top of that, it's true that they're also the most restrictive on fighting styles, as well as the most difficult to use. That being said, it might be good to consider buffing them and making more 0 slot blunt weapons.

In the end, I'm hoping you'll trust the archers who have been archers for years.
Some archers will choose to be dicks regardless and stack athletics so they can be annoying, and some archers will top the score board, though they tend to be notoriously good and exceptions to the rule.
I don't even play EU or pay attention to Strat and I know who Algarn is. Dude is a legend.

As for the "adapt" part, I was going for "I'd like it if the players weren't always forced to adapt to the balancers, but instead, the balancers sometimes adapt to the community."
It's certainly true for the melee half of the community, I'm just not seeing much for the archer side at the moment.
To be honest with you, I become very hesitant when someone tells me "I've played x forever and have more experience with it than most anyone else". The only thing I care about, is how sound someone's argument is on its own merits, absent any grandfathering of supposed authority. Thankfully, both of the posts I had the pleasure of responding to with this post provided constructive, well thought out arguments and concerns.

But the topic isn't about the potential of the class is it? Those at the top of their game in their class are going to always be, subjectively, OP. Surely your argument about potential pierce damage etc can equally be applied to melee players.
Certainly the topic of this thread isn't potential. What responses I gave in this thread using my own experience as evidence of a sort, was either in response to a different topic(posters, as in every thread, are often found straying slightly from the initial topic) or used to show how being restricted to my own perspective seems to be keeping me from understanding the ammo complaints.

I would be much happier with the changes that have been made if we could look at tweaking (reducing) the upkeep on bodkins (especially considering reductions in ammo and the cost of repairs on two stacks) and (maybe) bow, (definitely) rus, and longbow. Upkeep is really the only thing preventing me "adapting" to patch changes, because of the horrendous upkeep. As an average player I rarely get valour and will quite often spend a whole evening on a x1. In one session using the above gear I can lose 5k very easily. And yes, believe it or not upkeep, and source of gold is still an issue for some players, e.g. me.
I fully understand upkeep is an issue for many players. Upkeep without a doubt needs looked at. San and I spoke about it shortly a few days ago and likely this will be a part of whatever the next set of changes are.

I think I missed something as I'm not really sure what you're getting at with the pierce -> melee argument.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Keshian on October 24, 2014, 05:45:29 am
I actually read that entire long-winded response and I realize - barely gave one straight answer in the entirety of it.  Are you a politician tydeus or work in politics?  Because you use a lot of words to say nothing of substance.

lol, closest thing I could find to a direct answer instead of a vague response  "The main reason weight was increased is that we were aware that we were allowing archers with 3 and 4 PD to get significantly more athletics than what they had previously. "

gain 3 levels - 3 more agility and 1 more athletics, same with every other player including the shielders chasing them down and the cavalry getting 1 more riding riding foot archers down.  1 count it 1 more athletics is not significantly more Exaggeration like in your previous posts bragging about how well you did as archer playing not to support your team but to maximize score simply to prove your already preconceived notions about archery, while ignoring all the maps you did poorly and how much your melee skills played a role in your performance.

"Player skill is once again irrelevant. Where the average player needs to be considered the most, is in areas concerning upkeep, player usage, average class make-up desired vs current, and investment vs reward/ensuring reasonable learning curves; we have an ongoing conversation about what measures can be taken to make game mechanics more transparent and easier to understand, unfortunately since this is warband, not much can be done to simplify the mechanics appropriately for the layman."

God, the slowness in you is incredible - player skill shouldn't be relevant but you are measuring changes based on your skill creating the whole problem that we are complaining about.  If you want to go that route we should have san go on na1 with a shield and 1her go 20-2 every round and it will become very clear by your standards of determining item balance that 1hers damage and speed is way too high and should be cut by 25% across the board.  Thats the exact same stupid way you are doing item balancing for archers and every other horrible attempt you have made at item balancing in this game.  God, how did we get stuck with this verbose shithead fucking up this mod as head item balancer????
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: HappyPhantom on October 24, 2014, 05:51:03 am
I can understand accuracy reductions to a degree, mostly for lower tier bows, but it still doesn't seem like you have anything to gain by doing so. If your build is pointlessly accurate, why not just spend the excess WM elsewhere?

I guess re accuracy, I feel I've been indoctrinated to always take as much WPF as I can as archer (because of weight penalties etc etc. speed, accuracy etc). It's true this is something worth thinking about I guess.. but, having some extra WPF in 1h... meeeeh, I could take it or leave it personally. Spreading my WPF doesn't help my archery be better (i.e. deadlier).

The main reason weight was increased is that we were aware that we were allowing archers with 3 and 4 PD to get significantly more athletics than what they had previously. This means, to keep kiting from getting out of hand, as a precautionary measure, increasing weight is the most sound option.

Personally, I haven't really been paying attention to my speed differential post patch to notice what affect the change in weight has had. Has it been restored to what it was previous to the patch that reduced weight? If so, I guess I can live with that.

I fully understand upkeep is an issue for many players. Upkeep without a doubt needs looked at. San and I spoke about it shortly a few days ago and likely this will be a part of whatever the next set of changes are.

Nice.

I think I missed something as I'm not really sure what you're getting at with the pierce -> melee argument.

NVM. ;)

gain 3 levels - 3 more agility and 1 more athletics, same with every other player including the shielders chasing them down and the cavalry getting 1 more riding riding foot archers down.  1 count it 1 more athletics is not significantly more Exaggeration like in your previous posts bragging about how well you did as archer playing not to support your team but to maximize score simply to prove your already preconceived notions about archery, while ignoring all the maps you did poorly and how much your melee skills played a role in your performance.

Actually a good point, pretend it wasn't made by Kesh, lol.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Jeade on October 24, 2014, 05:52:43 am
(click to show/hide)

I would say yes, primarily the issue would be with unloomed arrows.
The simplest revision would be to increase arrow count by 5 or so and then give each rank higher an additional arrow and a little damage.
Increasing the weight as the rank increases from 8 to 9.5 is just... I don't even.

While I would agree that RNG is a terrible system, the reticle accurately represents the possible deviation of the arrow from the center point.
I was able to accurately hit targets with 160 wpf pre-patch in 40-50 body armor despite the reticle being wider just because, even at longer ranges, an enemy's body would still take up 70-80% of that reticle.
Just playing around in-game right now with 155, getting headshots at range is much, much easier. At least before, players were less likely to get slapped with that headshot multiplier.
I can understand why you'd be wary of anyone using the "trust me because I've been playing for x amount of time," but seriously, I wouldn't trust myself balancing two-handers because I haven't played it nearly enough to know the mechanics as well as many other players.
There are quite a few of us who have/had been playing as archers for years and experienced each and every patch who would love to weigh in and would know the class much better than non-archers.
What I'm trying to get at is you've experienced one side of this extensively: the pointy side of the arrow.
There's a bunch of us who have been experiencing the other side extensively as well and should be trusted (somewhat, anyway) as reliable sources with the class.

And yes, 10PD. Got mixed up with throwing as someone was talking about their super gay throwing build in TS.

What are your thoughts--or is it possible--to add a cap on athletics if a player has a point or more in the PD skill?
This would work SO much better and solve the issue immediately.

we should have san go on na1 with a shield and 1her go 20-2 every round and it will become very clear by your standards of determining item balance that 1hers damage and speed is way too high and should be cut by 25% across the board.

While I don't think the "tone" of your posts are anywhere near conducive to your argument, Kesh, I do agree with this bit.
I'm not sure I understand how players like San can be ignored, as, if class potential is something to be considered, shouldn't 1h weapon speed also be reduced?
Shit, with my ping, there's rarely enough reaction time (not on my end but due to my own ping) to get a block up.
Often, I'm already hit by the swing before the blade is even coming in my direction.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: lombardsoup on October 24, 2014, 06:04:35 am
If ath could have been limited based on PD to prevent kiting why was it not done years ago?  Would have saved a lot of grief/rage/expletives directed at the pewpew class
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Keshian on October 24, 2014, 06:33:14 am
If ath could have been limited based on PD to prevent kiting why was it not done years ago?  Would have saved a lot of grief/rage/expletives directed at the pewpew class

Nerf mobility across the board.  Easier to implement and more balanced than just ranged.  Reducing Ha would be nothing to the god-send of reducing backpedaling s-key heroes.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Cup1d on October 24, 2014, 06:48:38 am
If the issue is kiting, cap the run speed. If a character has a point in PD, cap athletics at 6. Problem solved.
Don't destroy archery for everyone.

My setup is horn bow, 1 quiver of barbed arrows and longsword or bec

My build is:
Level 37 (110 099 555 xp)

Strength: 18
Agility: 27
Hit points: 57
Skills to attributes: 6
Ironflesh: 2
Power Strike: 6
Shield: 0
Athletics: 9
Riding: 0
Horse Archery: 0
Power Draw: 6
Power Throw: 0
Weapon Master: 9
One Handed: 20
Two Handed: 99
Polearm: 99
Archery: 160
Crossbow: 1
Throwing: 1

Tell me please, what a reason you have to propose a hard cap to my mobility?
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Big_Nat_Mouth on October 24, 2014, 06:52:50 am
If you guys dont do someting wise about the archery being raped; I'm gonna swap my skip-the-fun has my main caracter, witch is:
Shielder/crossbow, 9 ath, 5 pw strk, 8 wpnm, 6 shld, and 4 ir flsh.
This (in my position and opinion) is the gayest build I ever created.
This is my warning to Crpg community. If you dont do anything about this archery nerf, I unlesh the beast! lol

Sersly, I think the problem is the mix of new poweful builds, blend with the fact that archers struggle more then ever to be effective against the new OP mass of players. Archery isnt match for the mass right now. Me and Jead made some tests in a dead NA server (siege, what else could it be?!? lol) and what we came up with was has worst as I tought. I have a pur archer built (21/21, 7 pw draw, 7 wep mast, 161 of archery.) With a long bow and botkin arrows. it took 4 shots in the body to kill a medium/light armor agi build player (Jead skip-the-fun) that had 6 ironflesh and 45 body armor (BTW 6 ironflesh is the average now that everybody have so much skill points that they dont know what to do with them, except for archers, that still struggle to be effective for the team now that they have half ammo cuted and that they dont do any damage at all). And the worst is that with only 41 or 42 head armor, he manage to take 2 shots in the HEAD before dying, and I shot him with the most powerful stuff and build humanly possible for an archer.
This is unaceptable.
The other thing (witch is not major but personaly make me freaking rage) Is that the new balance on bow stats killed the Rus Bow. It's totaly useless now. Same damage then the normal Bow, but the Bow is faster, cheaper, lighter, and they have the exacte same damage. The 4 accuracy stats difference between the 2 bows, doesnt change a shit at all on the gameplay, as soon as you get over 130 archery wp points. So you guys killed the really balanced, skillfull and sexy Rus Bow. 
This new patch is finaly burying the game, with no chance of playing siege, rang or play in team, because now everyone wants to play the hero on battle with fuag fucking long mauls (witch I really like to use with my alt, but its soo OP and easy to use lol).
Sorry about this negative comment, but the virtuous archer in me had to talk real! SHEERS MATE!

Big-Nat-Mouth
 
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Tydeus on October 24, 2014, 07:11:43 am
I guess re accuracy, I feel I've been indoctrinated to always take as much WPF as I can as archer (because of weight penalties etc etc. speed, accuracy etc). It's true this is something worth thinking about I guess.. but, having some extra WPF in 1h... meeeeh, I could take it or leave it personally. Spreading my WPF doesn't help my archery be better (i.e. deadlier).
I didn't mean WPF so much as the WM skillpoints, although putting them in melee is certainly an option. Why not PS? Why not IF? Why not convert the skills to attributes to allow for higher athletics/PD?
Personally, I haven't really been paying attention to my speed differential post patch to notice what affect the change in weight has had. Has it been restored to what it was previous to the patch that reduced weight? If so, I guess I can live with that.
It depends on how you changed your build. If you got 1 or more athletics, you're actually slightly faster than you were previously(see WaltF4's post in the link below).

Actually a good point, pretend it wasn't made by Kesh, lol.
Except that it's an under-considered point that falls apart upon inspection. It's true that you only get 1 attribute and 1 skill point per level, but it's only 3 more levels to the "haves." For most characters, including the STFs, it's 5 levels. With 5 levels you can convert 2 skill points to 1 attribute allowing for 6 agi, and the 2nd athletics. Furthermore, the difference two athletics makes when you're stacked with weight can easily be the difference between being caught and being able to kite, as WaltF4 showed in his weight vs athletics comparisons here (http://forum.melee.org/beginner%27s-help-and-guides/running-in-crpg/).

While I would agree that RNG is a terrible system, the reticle accurately represents the possible deviation of the arrow from the center point.
I was able to accurately hit targets with 160 wpf pre-patch in 40-50 body armor despite the reticle being wider just because, even at longer ranges, an enemy's body would still take up 70-80% of that reticle.
Just playing around in-game right now with 155, getting headshots at range is much, much easier. At least before, players were less likely to get slapped with that headshot multiplier.
If you can hit a character's head, you deserve to be rewarded for it. If your opponent is only 70-80% of the reticule, then a perfectly aimed shot will miss 20-30% of the time, simply due to RNG. Certainly seems like a bit much to me, but maybe we're thinking about difference distance shots.

I can understand why you'd be wary of anyone using the "trust me because I've been playing for x amount of time," but seriously, I wouldn't trust myself balancing two-handers because I haven't played it nearly enough to know the mechanics as well as many other players.
There are quite a few of us who have/had been playing as archers for years and experienced each and every patch who would love to weigh in and would know the class much better than non-archers.
What I'm trying to get at is you've experienced one side of this extensively: the pointy side of the arrow.
There's a bunch of us who have been experiencing the other side extensively as well and should be trusted (somewhat, anyway) as reliable sources with the class.
Sure, my point though, was that although it's likely that someone obtained his knowledge from his experience, I'm far less concerned with how he obtained it, than what the knowledge he can provide actually is.

What are your thoughts--or is it possible--to add a cap on athletics if a player has a point or more in the PD skill?
This would work SO much better and solve the issue immediately.
We did the athletics cap thing before, actually. It was a dynamic cap that shik made and it lasted for about a day. The problem with it, is that it affects all builds, not just the agility focused ones and the effects are larger than simply adding weight which can more easily have its effect reduced(dropping your bow). It goes back to wanting to maintain a high degree of player choice and customization, something we saw many players concerned with due to the previous horse requirement increases.

While I don't think the "tone" of your posts are anywhere near conducive to your argument, Kesh, I do agree with this bit.
I'm not sure I understand how players like San can be ignored, as, if class potential is something to be considered, shouldn't 1h weapon speed also be reduced?
Shit, with my ping, there's rarely enough reaction time (not on my end but due to my own ping) to get a block up.
Often, I'm already hit by the swing before the blade is even coming in my direction.
No one said San needs to be ignored though. Both San and myself had discussed the ridiculous potency of his build. He did actually make a few proposals to nerf the Liuyedao, but they were ultimately shot down as it created poor balance with the scimitars and other 1h swords. Personally, I was hesitant to push the topic of San being nearly impossible for me to block, due to my high ping. Recently I had an average of about 75 ping to the NA servers. That to me, is a little high to be making changes to address the potency of a single build/class simply because a few people with higher then average ping have issues, not to mention few people seemed to be posting about his speed. Most posts on the topic of 1hers were either about the 1h thrust or how underpowered the class was.

(click to show/hide)
God, how did we get stuck with this verbose shithead fucking up this mod as head item balancer????
Yes Kesh, end your essay by calling someone else verbose. Classy.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Jeade on October 24, 2014, 07:13:32 am
(click to show/hide)

Pardon his French; he is French.
One correction though: I had 7 IF.
Either way, the difference was negligable between a MW Rus Bow with MW Tatar arrows and a Long Bow with Bodkins.
As soon as my unloomed body armor went above 50, it was taking five shots in the chest.
Everyone is really tanky due to the extra points people have put in STR and IF.
I'd almost be willing to say that, had the level changes stayed where they were before the patch, the archery revisions on damage may have been reasonable.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Big_Nat_Mouth on October 24, 2014, 07:23:35 am
hehe lol Jead, good call on the french... but yeah forgot to tell about the 5 shots... its fucking retard! Could you imagine with a nomade bow on a plated strg build?!?!? If you only have 20 arrows, at least it should not take 23 shots to make a kill, I mean, its not even decent, its total bullshit come on guys, y'all know it. :/
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: FRANK_THE_TANK on October 24, 2014, 08:30:12 am
I can live with with;

Ammo reduction

Horse nerf

Things that kill it dead;

Damage cap

Serious cut to the power of the mid and low tier bows.

Solutions to make the class playable and less risk averse/easy to kill


----

Another idea is buffing horse HP but giving range a large bonus against horses. It also insensitivities archers to risk firing their limited ammunition at (probably) a fast moving target. It also boost inter-class play.

Potential bow stats

Nomad
25c
87 accuracy
37 Missile speed
1PD

Tartar
23c
92 accuracy
38 Missile Speed
2PD

Horn Bow
22c
96 accuracy
40 missile speed
4PD

Yumi
22c
98
36 missile speed
6pd

Perhaps we could just test dramatic or incremental changes on the nomad bow and tartar.

What I'm going for with this is that to land shots of value you'll have to get arse close to the fight all the time and stand a pretty good chance of getting blitzed and by pushing the PD down you deny the HA dmg potential. You cut the shit out of accuracy to push down the effect of the WM. Yes we'll end up with more ride but we already ride dainty horses that fall over to a light breeze and if two shots from a 10PD long bow anywhere to the horses or a head shot blow it into last week then all the better.

Can we have it more suicidal charge of the light brigade and less US drone program plox

For your viewing pleasure.

Errol Flynn in - CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE

[/list]
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Sharpe on October 24, 2014, 12:44:39 pm
To be honest with you, I become very hesitant when someone tells me "I've played x forever and have more experience with it than most anyone else". The only thing I care about, is how sound someone's argument is on its own merits, absent any grandfathering of supposed authority.

If I do remember correctly, when Finnian was talking to you about a shield changes over steam, you said, indirect quote here "I've been playing shielder for quite some time now".  And while yes, having a sound argument is neccesary to get your point across, your experience also matters too. For that is a part of the "Human element", and also how it works in the world outside of c-RPG.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Molly on October 24, 2014, 12:49:07 pm
[...]
Take a look at the cost of running around with x2 stacks of bodkins and a longbow. That's why I complain about the ineffectiveness of low tier bows. I haemorrhage $$ using that (high end gear) all the time. But using low tier to save money is basically not worth it because of damage nerf. Compare cost / damage of low tier 2 hand vs low tier bows, and tell me that's balanced.
So, instead people paying upkeep for high tier armors should pay for "not working protection" but being damaged by a tiny 4PD bow?
When I play in peasant gear with a wooden stick, I don't expect to be able to do damage to a tin can. But you want the archery equivalent to kill? You wanna tell me that would be balanced?
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: AwesomeHail on October 24, 2014, 01:07:24 pm
When this patch aired, me; as crossbow/1h (before retire) seemingly noticed some kind of difference. I landed way less shots and it took way more to kill somoene (with +3 heavy crossbow or +3 crossbow with +3 steel bolts)

Before the patch, I often played with a clanmate of mine, who was shielder, he protected me from arrows while reloading, thus i could shoot HA's and other archers as long as i had bolts. 2 to 3 arrows in the chest from an archer could kill me easily, even though i had +3 black lamellar and 3 IF, and I would need 1-3 shots to kill an archer. after the patch i needed 2-5 shots to kill anyone (exception of headshots)

teamwork is key, and it's possible without using TS, thats where the Battalion system and Commander system are for.

nice post Jaede :)
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Cup1d on October 24, 2014, 01:37:21 pm
So, instead people paying upkeep for high tier armors should pay for "not working protection" but being damaged by a tiny 4PD bow?
When I play in peasant gear with a wooden stick, I don't expect to be able to do damage to a tin can. But you want the archery equivalent to kill? You wanna tell me that would be balanced?

If your Wooden stick will eat 2 slots, cost 4k gold, weigh 10 kg, but still doing less damage to opponent than practice dagger - will you call it balance?

Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: FRANK_THE_TANK on October 24, 2014, 01:40:57 pm
So, instead people paying upkeep for high tier armors should pay for "not working protection" but being damaged by a tiny 4PD bow?
When I play in peasant gear with a wooden stick, I don't expect to be able to do damage to a tin can. But you want the archery equivalent to kill? You wanna tell me that would be balanced?

A short bow, or nowmad bow or tartar bow is not a stick.

I've got a 45agi 15ath char with a meat clever and once I catch up to a lightly armed peasant I can rip them up. I one shoted a dude with the same build on the Chinese server the other day.

Using are a tartar bow, with tartar arrows I landed a head shot (from horse back) on the same time of build and the 15dmg cap saved him.

Off my horse with my pure archer build (8PD) I went through every bow and arrow combination and until I hit the bow even mid/low mid armoured people were more than tanking the hits, the hits were thudding regularly. That shit be fucked up.

You can get kills with the spiked club, Arys does all the time. That thing with a bunch of PS behind it will rip shit up. I was using the light spied club on the Aust server with 1wpf and 7PS and it was tearing heads off left and right. The two handed axe is the same, totally usable and deadly weapon. The scythe, that thing is just fucked up in the right hands Big Bird used to be able to dominate the server with that fucking thing.

Every weapon I just mentioned is cheaper than the short bow. Ask yourself this question, are the bows really peasant weapons? Just because on a list there are some down the bottom, does that mean they shouldn't have capacity to cause harm.

Also a total side not but I used to run around the Aus server with just the wooden stick a bunch PS and slap people around like a mother fucker, including people in plate. ToD did the same on NA I remember following him around laughing haughtily.

Am I asking for the short bow to knock holes in 79 points of Lordly armour? Nope, not at all. But it should have some level of impact with the right build and arrows on say 40-60 points of armour. My experience with an unloomed short bow with unloomed bodkins was funny, very funny but also totally broken. Once people were any further away than in my face I had little hope of causing anything other than amusement.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Molly on October 24, 2014, 01:41:01 pm

If your Wooden stick will eat 2 slots, cost 4k gold, weigh 10 kg, but still doing less damage to opponent than practice dagger - will you call it balance?
I would head-desk if I were stupid enough to use that crap but that's not the issue here. That would mean you're complaining about not having enough high-tier bows/models to play with.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: FRANK_THE_TANK on October 24, 2014, 01:50:34 pm
I would head-desk if I were stupid enough to use that crap but that's not the issue here. That would mean you're complaining about not having enough high-tier bows/models to play with.

Read my post. Look at the equivalent price weapons in the other brackets and then go from there. They all have no scaling limitations are useful. Currently the bows bellow horn bow are just practice dagger levels of pointless, hell even practice daggers can do damage with enough PS and wpf.

----

Tartar bow with tartar arrows at max PD = 55.44 that cost 7k and hits 11 times if you don't miss a beat. In practice that 55.44 points of cut comes turns to puss.

For the same money my 2h dishes out 79.04 forever with it's axe.

Am I asking for a bow to hand out what the Persian battle axe does? FUCK NO. But lets put some perspective onto this and change tac on it.

I don't think these comparisons are helping deal with the issue.

Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Cup1d on October 24, 2014, 01:54:06 pm
I would head-desk if I were stupid enough to use that crap but that's not the issue here. That would mean you're complaining about not having enough high-tier bows/models to play with.

It's not about stupid you enough or not. It's about half of ranged equipment, that is useless now. Head-desk a little if you want, but tell me first - what a role you propose to any 1 slot bow except yumi, and arrows\barbed arrows?
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Molly on October 24, 2014, 07:24:58 pm
I am pretty sure head shots do damage, so do body shots on low armor targets, I guess. Don't really know and I don't really care cuz I am biased. But if you can, it's hardly useless. I wouldn't even think once that my trusty cudgel is useless.
But nobody seems to pick up my analogy with the wooden stick/cudgel.

If you wanna do lots of damage, you pick up a badass long and expensive sword and not the "cheap" stuff (in comparison to the long badass expensive sword).
Why exactly should it be different for bows?
If you wanna do lots of damage, take the expensive stuff.

And since it's kinda established that too many archers kill off a server population, generally a way higher upkeep to keep the archer ratio in check seems a proper way to do that.

Oh, and I am still waiting on an explanation why exactly "only" NA is complaining in here and EU doesn't (for the most part).

[...]You can get kills with the spiked club, Arys does all the time. That thing with a bunch of PS behind it will rip shit up. I was using the light spied club on the Aust server with 1wpf and 7PS and it was tearing heads off left and right. The two handed axe is the same, totally usable and deadly weapon. The scythe, that thing is just fucked up in the right hands Big Bird used to be able to dominate the server with that fucking thing.
[...]
Pretty sure there are still archers with the smaller bows, putting arrows in heads left and right, killing people with it. But only the right targets. I can tell you from experience that you won't "rip shit up" with an Elder's Spiked Club fighting a strength whoring tin can. Takes ages...
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Algarn on October 24, 2014, 09:42:17 pm
I am pretty sure head shots do damage, so do body shots on low armor targets, I guess. Don't really know and I don't really care cuz I am biased. But if you can, it's hardly useless. I wouldn't even think once that my trusty cudgel is useless.
But nobody seems to pick up my analogy with the wooden stick/cudgel.

If you wanna do lots of damage, you pick up a badass long and expensive sword and not the "cheap" stuff (in comparison to the long badass expensive sword).
Why exactly should it be different for bows?
If you wanna do lots of damage, take the expensive stuff.

And since it's kinda established that too many archers kill off a server population, generally a way higher upkeep to keep the archer ratio in check seems a proper way to do that.

Oh, and I am still waiting on an explanation why exactly "only" NA is complaining in here and EU doesn't (for the most part).
Pretty sure there are still archers with the smaller bows, putting arrows in heads left and right, killing people with it. But only the right targets. I can tell you from experience that you won't "rip shit up" with an Elder's Spiked Club fighting a strength whoring tin can. Takes ages...

I still want damages back.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: HappyPhantom on October 24, 2014, 10:09:46 pm
So, instead people paying upkeep for high tier armors should pay for "not working protection" but being damaged by a tiny 4PD bow?
When I play in peasant gear with a wooden stick, I don't expect to be able to do damage to a tin can. But you want the archery equivalent to kill? You wanna tell me that would be balanced?

I believe you missed my point completely.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: FRANK_THE_TANK on October 25, 2014, 12:44:21 am
Pretty sure there are still archers with the smaller bows, putting arrows in heads left and right, killing people with it. But only the right targets. I can tell you from experience that you won't "rip shit up" with an Elder's Spiked Club fighting a strength whoring tin can. Takes ages...

l2p? Because that was what I was going. Full +3 black gothic plate with all the bells and whistles 27/18 and I just slapped that fool around the head like it ain't no thing and his raggedy arse body hit the floor multiple times.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Jeade on October 25, 2014, 02:48:41 am
(click to show/hide)

While I do think it's nice to say "if you can hit their head, you should be able to," I don't think that's a totally honest answer.
If that were the case, make ranged pinpoint accurate across the board.
As a few of us have said, archers were never the "snipers" in this mod, and we all know just how well Native's approach to sniper accurate archery is.
The trade off between archery and xbow has always been one between lower damage, lower accuracy with plenty of ammunition and higher rate of fire, and high damage, high accuracy, low ammunition, and lower rate of fire.
The "70-80%" bit that I had brought up was talking about some fairly long distances, say 100-150+ yards.
If you center your shot, you're most likely going to hit your target.
70% may even be on the low side, because shots still seemed to stay very much to the center, even if your reticle was wide.
The only way to truly miss was to fire before your reticle had settled, or if you moved a moment before taking a shot.
The bottomline is that, even with a noticeable weight penalty and 160wpf pre-patch, archers were still beyond capable of hitting their target if they were skilled.
Even with accuracy as high as it is now, while it seems substantial, isn't really making much of a difference besides allowing for even better shot placement (which again, wasn't particularly troublesome before).
If you're looking at it with some experience here or there and looking at some numbers, I do have to agree with Sharpe that there is a human element here, and empirical observation should play an equal role.

As for the athletics cap, that's interesting.
It's a shame it can't be made only to affect only certain skills.
The big problem I see with increasing weight is that, the moment an archer drops his 50 metric tons of equipment, he'll still likely have a chance to get away.
My approach back in the day was to drop my gear, let people chase me, then run a wide circle back to my gear, pick it up and start shooting again.

To your point about San: Wouldn't you say that, just because a few archers or horse archers are above average in skill, it's unfair to change the potency of all archers simply because a few of them are irritatingly skilled?



Mild sarcasm below
Archers, hear me!
The effects of the recent nerfs have caused panic.
I don't have to tell you things are bad. We all know things are bad.
When it comes to bows and arrows, a dollar buys a nickle's worth. Our banks are going bust.
There's no end to it!
Each patch brings a new nerf.
And they casually tell us there's been another 15 homicides and 63 violent crimes against us as if that's just the way it's supposed to be!
We know things are bad. Worse than bad.
They're crazy. It's like all the balancers everywhere are going crazy, and we don't enjoy or play archery anymore.
We sit at our computers and, slowly, the archer community is getting smaller and we say "Please, at least leave Hirlok alone!"
"Let us have our Doritos and Mountain Dew and Internet and we won't say anything! Just leave archery alone!"

Well I'm not going to leave you alone.

I want you to get MAD.
I don't want you to bitch or whine
(coughkesh) or write to your Congressmen, because they have nothing to do with this game anyway.
I don't know what to do about archers kiting, bow damages and complex algorithms, or the goddamn Europeans.
All I know is first, you've got to get MAD.
You've got to say
I'M AN ARCHER GODDAMNIT. MY CLASS HAS VALUE!!


So.
I want you to get up now.
I want all of you to get up out of your chairs.
I want you to get up right now and go to the window, open it, and stick your head out and yell
I'M AS MAD AS HELL, AND I'M NOT GONNA TAKE THIS ANYMORE!
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Big_Nat_Mouth on October 25, 2014, 06:52:16 am
Molly... yur poitless.. sorry lol
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Molly on October 25, 2014, 08:40:09 am
I still want damages back.
So you can go 28:3 per map instead of 23:3?  :?
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Jeade on October 25, 2014, 10:37:44 am
So you can go 28:3 per map instead of 23:3?  :?

I find that most of my score comes from using my sidearm instead of the bow.
Who knows, maybe if Algarn switches to 2h, he'll go 30:3.
That's what we're going for anyway, right?
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Lord_Kitazawa_of_Voodoo on October 25, 2014, 11:13:04 am
Wow.... what a long-winded shitstorm of pent-up rage, skewed perspectives and (surprisingly) some decent suggestions.

I can only speak from my personal experience.  My main has been an archer for about a year, give or take a few months, and 90% of the time my set-up has been MW Long Bow and one stack of bodkins + one stack of regular arrows and a 0 slot sword.  I'm actually incredibly pleased with this patch overall.  Over the past few days, I feel that my score has more accurately reflected my performance than it did pre-patch.  When I'm accurately predicting my target's movement, I do well.  When I'm completely shitting the bed, I've had a negative K:D.

Archery provides a different experience from melee classes.  In my experience, it's a bit slower paced and focuses on the player's ability to accurately measure speed, judge distance, and predict the target's movement/notice movement patterns.  Some players are naturally better at these skills, while others (such as myself) have to practice archery for a while before they can be consistently effective.  Infamous archers are usually long-time players (the experience making it easier to predict other players' movements) who have either practiced archery enough or are naturally good at judging speed and distance.  Rohypnol, for example, is ridiculously effective as any ranged class he plays because he has played for a long time and (it seems) is naturally good at judging speed and distance.  I specifically recall him respeccing to archer after some patch within the last year (I can't remember when, sue me) and topping the scoreboard all day long.  He then proceeded to proclaim archery as an easy class, and to be fair, it seemed pretty easy for him.

Item balancing shouldn't be based on these types of players.  I read this entire thread and dismissed basically every "archery is still completely viable" post that used Algarn's position on the scoreboard as proof.  Algarn seems be one of the top archers in EU, so it's fairly dumb to base the balancing of archery on his scores.  People rarely complain when melee classes top the board with ridiculous scores, but when an archer has a couple great rounds, half of the server has fucking seizures and asthma attacks from the sperglord rage.  This, it seems, is based off of frustration because they never had a chance to fight back.

I'm a bit too lazy to quote every post I saw, but I hope anyone reading this can read previous posts and make the connections.
Let's address the arrow count change.  I can't believe I'm saying this, but I completely agree with Tydeus (pinch me, is it real?) I think the nerf was too severe, but that decreasing the arrow count is good for the server.  Sure, archers may not be able to sit in the back of the field and take endless shots anymore, but it forces us to be more selective about which shots we take rather than develop carpal tunnel from firing non-stop for the entire round.  Over the past few days, I have not noticed the arrow count nerf decrease my effectiveness. It has only stopped me from taking across-the-map shots and has encouraged me to wait for surer shots before firing.  This type of more thoughtful, targeted play is better for the server and doesn't necessarily decrease an archer's potential effectiveness (except perhaps in large servers - learn to scavenge for arrows!!!), although it may require archers to change the way they play.  In fact, being closer to the action forces archers to rely on their teammates for protection.  Isn't this the type of teamwork that the OP was encouraging? Inter-class reliance?

Next, the accuracy increase.  In order to make up for the ammo nerf, accuracy was increased on bows.  Also, players are more accurate because of the level buff from this patch.  I have 170 wpf in archery and am very accurate with my long bow, even in medium-light armor.  This buff has not necessarily increased my performance by an absurd amount, but has caused my effectiveness to be more directly related to how well I am judging speed, distance, and movement patterns.  Pre-patch, it was a mixture of luck and personal performance.  Keeping in mind that any ranged class will always have an element of luck to it, we should look to minimize the role luck plays and maximize the player's skill.  Say, for example, my reticule is roughly the size of the target's entire body.  My shot has the potential to hit the torso (most likely), hit the head (less likely), or miss completely.  The outcome in this situation is based on luck, not the skill of the player.  Let's replace the body-sized reticule with a completely tight reticule (maybe twice the size of a target's head at medium distance?) and the potential outcomes are based much more on where the player is aiming and much less on luck.  If the player is able to track the movement of the target's head (hard at any decent distance), they deserve that headshot.  If he can track the torso, he hits the torso.  If he slips, or has a temporary ballsack-cramp, or doesn't track the target properly, he misses.  This has been my experience over the past few days - I hit (or don't hit) where I'm aiming.  Maybe we need to further re-balance other properties of archery to compensate, but the general idea behind the accuracy buff is a good one.

Third, the damage nerf.  Personally, I'm a fan of this nerf.  Despite Jeade & Co's supposed tests, I have still been able to kill plenty of people post-patch.  Granted, I'm using the heaviest bow, but I've seen other archers with as low as horn bows be effective as well.  Nomad and Tatar bows are cheap and light.... they shouldn't have the killing power of a more expensive, heavier bow.  The simple sword shouldn't be as effective as an arming sword, so stop whining.  Either use a smaller bow, save money, and hold your tongue, or shell out the gold and pay for a heavier bow.

Lastly (I think), is the cost aspect of archery.  As long as I've been playing, archery has been somewhat of a money drain.  In fact, I'm currently poor as shit (although that could be due to terrible money-management skills).  On a x1, I lose money. On a x2, I generally lose a little money.  x3 and above, I tend to come out on top.  Perhaps other people have had different experiences, but that's how it usually turns out for me.  There are tricks to cut down the cost of archery.  Using 1 stack of bodkins on top of 1 stack of a cheaper arrow stack has saved me tons of money!  Anybody who has played archer for 15 minutes knows how ball-breaking the bodkin repair is.  Use a cheaper sidearm - I kill plenty of people in heavy armor with my Nordic Short Sword and 0 wpf (although admittedly, 8 PS).  If you don't have a build with some melee capability, stick by a buddy and use him as a bodyguard.  If you still can't make money, just play on an alt and transfer excess gold to your archer.  Despite all the crying, I haven't found making money in c-RPG to be impossible, even as an archer with a longbow and bodkins.

TL:DR?
Stop being so fucking lazy and at least skim through what I posted.  I'm only mildly retarded, so you may find it worth reading.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Algarn on October 25, 2014, 01:01:47 pm
I disagree Voodoo, since people take a shitoad of IF, armor, and therefore, archery's damages should have stayed like they were. Don't know about ammo, but 2 more arrows and 1 or 2 less weight  wouldn't hurt. I have sometimes the feeling to be killing only the wounded and the unaware players on the battlefields (or also the retards who come to me, and do not even try to dodge). Picking up targets is a  good idea, but what if half of the server like it is the case in EU is wearing around 70 body armor ? On another point, I do not even fear other archer, they became a prey for me, since too much accuracy has been given and I got pin point accuracy with 10 PD and heavy stuff. If archery would have been left alone, it'd would have been an indirect nerf, but removing both damage and arrows means :

1) you can't go hybrid archer easily : you'll trade the bit of damage of your bow, and will end up spammed by agi whores, and even STR whores. Don't forget you can't use anymore a two handed and a 1 slot bow, since you're going to deal no damage, and will have only 14 arrows.

2) Having lower ammount of damage, and also a lower ammount of arrows means what does it means : you'll have to hit more your target to make it die, especially with 9PD and less, but you won't have a lot of ammo for that. Either they are going to dodge your shots with 8 ATHL or they are going to stack your arrows in a ridiculous way in a huge plate, catch you, and start the spam.

3) Increasing the weight to 10 per +3 arrow bag while removing 5 arrows to each means you have to take two bags, and wear 20kg on your back. You won't be able to escape in any situation, except if you have 8 athl and no PD or you drop your bow (which, in both cases, ends up with you dead).

I do not personally think archery is still viable, nowadays, I end up being the only one with a decent score, just because of my level 37, my build, and the fact I almost only played archery and crossbows (made 3000 kills on my unique melee alt, was good, but boring to me).
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Tydeus on October 25, 2014, 04:10:54 pm
too much accuracy has been given and I got pin point accuracy with 10 PD and heavy stuff.
1) you can't go hybrid archer easily : you'll trade the bit of damage of your bow, and will end up spammed by agi whores, and even STR whores. Don't forget you can't use anymore a two handed and a 1 slot bow, since you're going to deal no damage, and will have only 14 arrows.

3) Increasing the weight to 10 per +3 arrow bag while removing 5 arrows to each means you have to take two bags, and wear 20kg on your back. You won't be able to escape in any situation, except if you have 8 athl and no PD or you drop your bow (which, in both cases, ends up with you dead).
So if you have more WPF than you need in archery, why not, I don't know, put the points into something more useful to you? If you're getting spammed, you could lower your archery wpf by 15 and get 80-100 1h wpf. We might give back 1 more damage, but at the moment, it looks like we're going to keep archery focused around high accuracy (we'll likely be increasing it even further with a small damage increase as well).

Here was the analysis I posted in the Item Unbalance thread yesterday. As of yet, the only person to reply was San, but he agreed and, I feel like I'm a bit justified in saying; no, it was a "totally honest answer."

While I do think it's nice to say "if you can hit their head, you should be able to," I don't think that's a totally honest answer.
If that were the case, make ranged pinpoint accurate across the board.
As a few of us have said, archers were never the "snipers" in this mod, and we all know just how well Native's approach to sniper accurate archery is.
Native archers have very high projectile speed to go with their pinpoint accuracy, not to mention high damage (especially considering native soak/reduce values.)

I have recently realized that we are in a splendid position to be doing this, as we have just changed the most important requirement for it to work effectively. The general proposal in short? Raise accuracy on nearly all bows by a fair bit, so that anything over 9 WM is completely useless and results in zero accuracy increase (aside from, perhaps, the Long Bow). Why do this? Because we already gave archery the ability (perhaps necessity) of becoming more str focused. This will automatically reduce the amount of kiting, as well as the ability to do so, that agility archers have.

The past few days I have concluded that with respect to damage, any bow that has an abundance of accuracy is significantly better off being used with reduced wpf and higher PD. Any bow that already has good damage, also now has increased accuracy such that only using the minimum, with perhaps the exception of the Bow, is on the cusp of not gaining anything by using 27+ agi. Meaning that, with the increased athletics on the server (not everyone, but both extremes have increased for melee), kiting would seem to be less of a worry for higher PD requirement bows.

Furthermore, with wpf affecting damage as it does, stacking wpf atm (and especially before this patch) was too effective, thanks to the multifaceted benefits. This change necessarily reduces the status quo making WM and WPF less of a necessity for Archers and thanks to the necessary skill point sink of PD, unlike with crossbows, you don't have to worry quite so much about a flood of hybrid archers as you would with crossbows were you to make this change there (although there's certainly room for increasing accuracy for crossbows).

To put what happened to archery with this most recent patch into a different perspective: before, you were most likely to see all archery builds having 3-6 (and maybe a 7pd build here and there); post patch what you're more likely to see in two/three weeks time, is 5-10 pd builds, but without the risk of damage values getting out of hand, as well as their ability to maintain decent similar accuracy.

What does this change mean for archers? Hybrids will be able to spare more wpf for their melee stats. Hybrids will have access to higher amounts of PS. Hybrids will be able to wear more armor. Dedicated archers will have access to higher degrees of accuracy than previously allowed. The potential is there to reduce quiver weights significantly for increased effectiveness to all archers.

Here's a quick example of what I had in my head, just keep in mind, I'm not satisfied with the amount of testing I've done quite yet, so things are subject to change, not just at other balancers' requests, but as I check things out further as well. Also, keep in mind that -1 bow damage = 8 wpf worth of accuracy and +1 bow accuracy = 14 wpf worth of accuracy. So in comparison to what we had prior to the Revival Patch, these stats give some bows ~70 wpf worth of accuracy. That's a high degree of potential skill point savings, or increase in accuracy, if that's what you want.

Short Bow (this one's in a rather curious spot, balance wise. Might be best to just leave it for now and see what we can do later, with the other stats set in stone)
weight: 2
accuracy: 96
difficulty: 1
speed rating: 62 > 60
missile speed: 42
thrust damage: 20 cut
cost: 871

Nomad Bow(Subject to change upon proper damage test. Accuracy increases here should make it significantly easier to hybrid with, as well as reduce the necessity of wpf)(will likely change significantly when I can figure out what to do with it)
weight: 2.4
accuracy: 102 > 105
difficulty: 2
speed rating: 68
missile speed: 48 > 45
thrust damage: 18 cut > (-2 from Tatar Bow)
cost: 1356

Tatar Bow (Subject to change upon proper damage test.)(will likely change significantly when I can figure out what to do with it so it has a clear niche that isn't "ha bow" like the Yumi, and also not a semi-duplicate Horn Bow)
weight: 2.4
accuracy: 102 > 105
difficulty: 3
speed rating: 65 > 61
missile speed: 46 > 43
thrust damage: 19 cut > (Horn Bow damage -1)
cost: 3787

Horn Bow (Greatly subject to change. Unsure here as again, I haven't gotten around to experimenting with it after the patch)
weight: 2.7
accuracy: 103 > 104
difficulty: 5
speed rating: 59
missile speed: 44 > 42
thrust damage: 21 > 22/23
cost: 7896

Bow (Much less accurate since this bow is staying at 4pd and remains the only low tier bow with good damage capabilities, even with low PD).
weight: 3.5
accuracy: 101 > 100(maybe keep it at 101 since the rus is gaining even more of an accuracy advantage, and is therefore all the better to hybrid with, assuming one can afford twice as much upkeep)
difficulty: 4
speed rating: 58 > 56
missile speed: 42 > 41
thrust damage: 25 > 26
cost: 5188
Can't use on horseback

Yumi
weight: 3.2
accuracy: 105
difficulty: 6
speed rating: 59
missile speed: 38
thrust damage: 23 > 24
cost: 8658

Rus Bow
weight: 3.7
accuracy: 105 > 107
difficulty: 6
speed rating: 56 > 57
missile speed: 41
thrust damage: 25 > 26
cost: 9974
Can't use on horseback

Long Bow
weight: 4
accuracy: 106 > 107
difficulty: 6 > 7(MAYBE, might just keep it at 6)
speed rating: 52 > 54
missile speed: 40
thrust damage: 28 > 29(Might keep this at 28 if difficulty is raised)
cost: 11100
Can't use on horseback



All weights below to be reduced (further) by 2 or 3 if bow accuracies

Arrows
weight: 8 > 3
max ammo: 15 > 16
thrust damage: 4 cut > 5
cost: 377

Barbed Arrows
weight: 8 > 4
max ammo: 13 > 14
thrust damage: 6 cut > 7
cost: 2120

Tatar Arrows
weight: 8 > 4
max ammo: 11 > 12 (Needs to be differentiated a bit more from Bodkins)
thrust damage: 9 cut
cost: 4099 > 3211 (20% decrease in repair cost, might change repair frequency proportionately instead, due to strategus)

Bodkin Arrows
weight: 8 > 4
max ammo: 10
thrust damage: 1 pierce
cost: 5058 > 3808 (25% decrease in repair cost, might change repair frequency proportionately instead, due to strategus)
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: karasu on October 25, 2014, 04:16:19 pm
Anything that leads archery into a non-kite melee viable option, is the best action route to take. This is a no-brainer so yeah.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Auphilia on October 25, 2014, 05:37:25 pm
I think archery should be deadly. It should be a threat. If you see archers, you should feel the urgency to be forced to deal with them ASAP as a cavalry player, xbow player, archer, or shielder.
You should know that if you leave them there, they will do major damage to your team and you may end up losing. The problem is too many players don't give two shits about teamwork and are only interested in their own personal K/D. If a cavalry player sees a bunch of archers, he would rather avoid them and lance people in the ass and get more kills than to do his role as a counter to archery.

Archery has never been over powered because of its stats, it has only ever become powerful because too many players are cowards and unwilling to risk their own deaths to fulfill their class role.
The shielders won't pursue archers because they don't want to be kited around.
The cav won't pursue archers because they don't want to become dismounted.
All other infantry won't pursue them immediately because of obvious reasons.

However, if cavalry did start pursuing them, shielders would not be kited, cavalry would not be focused, and the archer threat would be eliminated unless they were also supported by their team (unlikely).

Archery is the class in the game that is most obviously balanced entirely on masterwork bows and arrows. Anyone who does not use masterwork is at such a disadvantage as an archer, that I personally don't even consider them a threat. It is ridiculous to only be effective with masterwork items. No other class in the game is ineffective without masterwork items. Anyone who specs into archery probably waits until they get all the masterwork gear before even testing the build, and even then, you might have to headshot people multiple times, end up being slower than most 2hers & polearms, and if you ever do well even once, everyone will lobby another nerf.

If we look at game balance from a meta perspective, we will see that whatever class is the easiest to play and maintain a high k/d is going to be the most played class all around the board. Two-handers and polearms have been the most played classes in all of warband history, and will likely always be. Naturally whatever counters these classes will cause those who play the class to cry nerf because they want to maintain their superior position as a class. If archers were ever stronger in whole (not talking about that one archer pro who is just ridiculously good at the game) then more players would play the class, however, we do not see that, and we have never seen that in crpg. If it happened, archers would want their counters to be nerfed, due to this vox populi effect we have. Although it may not be vox populi at all, it may just be that the balancers all play two-handed and polearm classes and have always played these classes *cough*.

TL:DR
I don't imagine this game will ever be properly balanced because too many players favor 2-handed and polearm classes. There is nothing inherently wrong with this, but it just shows how the majorities "fun" will always overshadow any sort of "balancing" and attempts to make the game fun for all.

I think every class should be deadly and powerful. Obviously a 2-hander and polearm has superiority in melee combat, and it should end right there.
Ranged players should have the advantage on infantry without shields, otherwise what the fuck do we need shields for?

To be fair, it is easier to hit someone in melee than to hit someone with ranged at a long distance (unless they are idiotically running in a strait line).
If all melee players who catch up to archers can basically 1-2 hit kill them, then why should archery not be as deadly?
Archery should be 2-4 hit kills, not 10, not 20, not 30 if you are a HA and have two quivers.

I don't even play the archer class, and I probably never will do a full gen as an archer. I'm a light cav player, a counter to archery. More archers would also be a counter to me, and even I can admit they should be buffed.

The way it is now:

Cav kills the 2-3 archer players that are still left in existence on NA. And now cav has to deal with the insanely heavily armed pike ridden one shot kills your horse infantry mobs, that archers would have otherwise at least watered down by now...but they haven't...because they are nerfed to shit.
Then the infantry mobs just blob across the map like an Ebola virus eating up everything in its path. There is no room for countering any classes. There is no room for tactics. You do not need to try to coordinate your team, you just need to make sure your mob blob stays bigger than the enemy mob blob, and you win.

If archers were stronger, cav would have to carefully consider pursuing them.
Shielders would be needed up front.
Blobs would be discouraged because archers could just shoot into them always getting a hit.
Every class would have to play their role, and tactics would be encouraged.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Lord_Kitazawa_of_Voodoo on October 25, 2014, 08:00:17 pm
I have sometimes the feeling to be killing only the wounded and the unaware players on the battlefields (or also the retards who come to me, and do not even try to dodge).

That's true, I tend to target lightly armored and/or wounded players.  Personally, though, if I damage a heavily armored player but don't get the kill, that's alright with me.  As long as I help my team win the round, I don't much care whether I'm on top of the scoreboard with a lot of kills.  Archery can feel a bit underpowered, but if you land shots consistently, the overall damage output is still high.

1) you can't go hybrid archer easily : you'll trade the bit of damage of your bow, and will end up spammed by agi whores, and even STR whores. Don't forget you can't use anymore a two handed and a 1 slot bow, since you're going to deal no damage, and will have only 14 arrows.

I have 8 PS and 6 athletics at level 36 and my archery isn't necessarily that much more underpowered than other archers.  8 PS is worth the damage sacrifice, as I'm able to kill a fair amount of people that come to kill me.  Personally, I don't think archers should be as good at melee as a dedicated melee build.  Hybrids are naturally weaker than a dedicated build; why should somebody be able to be a top tier archer and top tier melee at the same time?

2) Having lower amount of damage, and also a lower amount of arrows means what does it means : you'll have to hit more your target to make it die, especially with 9PD and less, but you won't have a lot of ammo for that. Either they are going to dodge your shots with 8 ATHL or they are going to stack your arrows in a ridiculous way in a huge plate, catch you, and start the spam.

I think the arrow count nerf was too severe- I would cut it by about 50%.  As for the damage nerf, perhaps -3 was a bit harsh, but I still seem to do decent damage, especially when I aim for the head.

3) Increasing the weight to 10 per +3 arrow bag while removing 5 arrows to each means you have to take two bags, and wear 20kg on your back. You won't be able to escape in any situation, except if you have 8 athl and no PD or you drop your bow (which, in both cases, ends up with you dead).

I completely agree with you on this one.  Arrows were heavy enough pre-patch.  Increasing the weight is ridiculous, considering they nerfed the arrow count.  They should either reduce weight to reflect # of arrows, or increase arrow count.  The athletics cap on people with PD seems to be a viable option to keep people from kiting, and would at least be better than 20kg arrows.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Algarn on October 25, 2014, 08:56:40 pm
Before, when I had 9 PD (when the PD "bug" was on), I was able to one hit people if I aimed at the head. Now, 10 PD is like 80% of hp. If we could get 2 of three damages back, it would solve the problem a bit, same for the arrows : having some of of them back would improve slightly the class, but still ending up weaker than it has been (that's the objective of the patch to me).

To sum up : give 2 damages back, some ammo, and we're fine. Archery won't be a easy class, but won't be impossible to play.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Lord_Kitazawa_of_Voodoo on October 25, 2014, 09:02:55 pm
To sum up : give 2 damages back, some ammo, and we're fine. Archery won't be a easy class, but won't be impossible to play.

This is how every class should be.  I think this would be a reasonable re-balance.  Tydeus, make it happen!!!



Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Tzar on October 25, 2014, 09:13:31 pm
To sum up : give 2 damages back, some ammo, and we're fine. Archery won't be a easy class, but won't be impossible to play.

visitors can't see pics , please register or login
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Algarn on October 25, 2014, 09:20:31 pm
visitors can't see pics , please register or login


And what about shutting your whore mouth and getting the fuck off here, since you don't bring any valid argument, hm ?
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: HappyPhantom on October 25, 2014, 11:01:09 pm
< all the things >

Thanks for taking the time to post all that (still thinking about what you're proposing)... 

Tydeus, what affects draw speed? I've always assumed bow speed and WPF?

I guess I'm thinking about the fact you're directing archers to be balanced agi/str builds to str builds rather than agi builds... Especially with your comments about putting points elsewhere... This is hard for me to get my head around, because the three years I've been playing, it's been all about the need for ath to counter arrow weight, and compensate for my lack of ps in a melee fight, low weight armour to counter WPF penalty, and tons of WPF for accuracy. I feel like you want to make a big paradigm shift! and I' still pondering the feasibility of a more str centric build.

Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Latvian on October 25, 2014, 11:11:29 pm
dont be sad, here , i drew u a picture of walrus :)

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Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Sharpe on October 26, 2014, 01:53:58 am


To sum up : give 2 damages back, some ammo, and we're fine. Archery won't be a easy class, but won't be impossible to play.

Hell I'd be happy with 1 damage back, and 4 arrows back per quiver.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Jeade on October 26, 2014, 02:22:37 am
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Cav kills the 2-3 archer players that are still left in existence on NA. And now cav has to deal with the insanely heavily armed pike ridden one shot kills your horse infantry mobs, that archers would have otherwise at least watered down by now...but they haven't...because they are nerfed to shit.
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Very, very, very well said.
Was talking with Artyem the other day and (this is relevant to the part of your quote not spoiler'd) he had mentioned how annoying it was that everyone was really tanky after the patch.
He mentioned he thought it was partly to do with archers' inability to do enough damage to soften targets up or pick anyone off anymore.

dont be sad, here , i drew u a picture of walrus :)

(click to show/hide)

Thank you, Latvian.
If only I had the potatoes to repay you for your generosity.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Keshian on October 26, 2014, 09:08:39 am
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First, most archers were not 3-6 powerdraw before the patch (do you play this mod?, 3? really?  just pulling numbers out of your ass there buddy?).  6-8 was probably the most common range by far, for many reason including many also played strategus battles and bows available were always a  consideration, you could see that by the number of people using horn bows and longbows on the server and the damage they produced.  Most of the top archers I knew had similar builds to mine 24-21 (or they would have 21-21 depending on level).  Bagge was the notable exception with 6.

Secondly, do you grasp how shoot speed works?  Last time they reduced the shoot speed they had to revert it.  Why?  because it vastly decreases damage on mid to long range shots.  Yumi bow was shit unless you were charging toward them as horse archer getting speed bonus for decent damage, then the accuracy is worthwhile.  Also, it makes the drop so significant that you heavily favor only close ranged shots.  Basically the shots that take more actual skill (mid to long range you need to predict and understand movements of target for longer period of time in the future - takes a LOT more skill) you are saying are bad, while the impossible to miss shots (unless you shoot teammates in the back of the head in melee) should be favored by that stupid change.

Now you are reducing all the missile speed of the lower tier bows to almost yumi bow status, which combined with the low powerdraw (they added those increased shoot speeds to lower tier bows to actually make them not completely useless but somewhat effective, which you are now reversing an making 100% useless (congrats for another idiotic attempt at "item balancing by someone who doesn't understand item balance except as it favors his own personal playstyle").  The drop in shoot speed makes the arrows drop dramatically in damage, even relatively close shots will do very little damage because the lack of shoot speed to maintain the damage.

About the only semi-decent change you have is listed as tentative - making longbows 7 difficulty.  That was LONG overdue ever since it was made a significantly better bow compared to rus bow in damage - will make those minimum powerdraw users max wpf not be able to use the longbow bodkins 6 pd 181 wpf setup anymore, which was pretty OP in strat.  talking of strat you do realize the automatic peasant gear includes short bows (pretty much the only time you ever saw them in strat) - which already were the weakest damage weapons of the setup - pitchforks and cudgels did fricken more damage (8 arrows to kill peasants) and now you nerf it even more??  You are wrecking balance in a part of the mod you have almost never played and have no grasp of balance.  Why?  Because in your arrogance you think your quite limited experience is the best judge of item balance - well sorry to say but based on your past choices its pretty obvious your sense of balance is FUBAR and you need to get that arrogant stick out of your ass before you can ever hope to do a good job as an item balancer.

there is a lot more, but its obvious your too blinded by your preconceived opinions on archery to learn from those who actually have played archery a LOT (I'm sure you are a great cs:go player), which this thread is currently filled with and your peers don't seem to give enough of a shit to make the effort required to overrule chadz' current pet monkey.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Kafein on October 26, 2014, 12:08:58 pm
Why not try to acknowledge the issues and complaints and work towards a solution or a compromise?

Because nobody in the archer community ever did acknowledge the issues and complaints and work towards a solution or a compromise. I don't see why I should, now that most problems were fixed. I think the current state of ranged weapons is a huge step forward, and is a much better compromise than the previous one. I will continue telling you to get a shield lol because this is a valid argument according to your standards. I didn't see any of you trying to compromise when your class dominated, so arguing that I should "do it for teamwork" is really hilarious, when obviously none of you care about teamwork more than I do.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Tydeus on October 26, 2014, 02:11:29 pm
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Are you seriously just pissed off 24 hours a day?
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Johammeth on October 26, 2014, 03:25:34 pm
I'm pretty sure that if Kesh and Tydeus were to have makeup sex right now, the orgasmic release of that much passion would un-make Newtonian physics.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Mr_Oujamaflip on October 26, 2014, 03:47:32 pm
Hello.

I got bored of reading by about the 5th page.

So.

Archery has always been frustrating for me because I'm both not very good at it and a massive shield hater.

Few things are as frustrating as being shot in the hand and losing a massive chunk of HP, this tends to be more prevailent with crossbows but it can still happen with archers too.

This has been basically fixed by the low damage. However I do feel like headshots should do more damage to encourage people to aim better. Hit the face, get a kill, hit the rest, it takes more shots as you would expect. This with the increased accuracy would go better than a general damage buff. Reward skill as much as possible. Now it's not impossible to KO a guy with bodyshots, especially with a long bow and bodkins but it takes a few hits. My point is stop aiming there, shoot me in the face, stop being lazy.

On the subject of Athletics. Heavier weapons will slow you down, but so has shifting the focus away from throwing everything into WPF once you've got your bow. This I think will help a lot, more than the heavy arrows ever did. You've also got to take into account the ammo. Low ammo means less pot shots, higher accuracy means less need for pot shots. Also means archers cant kite forever nor can they hold a fortified position they have to go and get some more ammo.

Keeping the ammo counts down and the accuracy high should be the most important thing. Reduced damage should stay as long as the headshot damage multiplier is increased. People are still killable but only if you shoot well. As it should be.

Should also weed out shit archers lowering player counts.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Keshian on October 26, 2014, 05:54:45 pm
Are you seriously just pissed off 24 hours a day?

We did nothing when he fucked up 1h stab making it the new meta...causing many great, fun players in community to quit
We did nothing when he fucked up polearm animations making them ridiculously OP... causing many great, fun players in community to quit  (thanks to other devs for reverting it this patch and fixing that idiot's mistakes)
We did nothing when he buffed agility excessively making everyone an agility whore (his favorite way of playing)... causing many great, fun players in community to quit
We did nothing when he killed horse archery beyond all repair ... causing many great, fun players in community to quit
Now that he is killing archery to favor his ugly, boring way of playing it with hyper accuracy vastly reducing real skill it is too late because all the great fun players are gone playing archeage, cs:go, countless other games rather than have to deal with this complete incompetent who only changes things for himself and doesn't consider the community at all in his decision-making.

Tydeus = that shithead from Germany
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Molly on October 26, 2014, 06:54:48 pm
We did nothing when he fucked up 1h stab making it the new meta...causing many great, fun players in community to quit
We did nothing when he fucked up polearm animations making them ridiculously OP... causing many great, fun players in community to quit  (thanks to other devs for reverting it this patch and fixing that idiot's mistakes)
We did nothing when he buffed agility excessively making everyone an agility whore (his favorite way of playing)... causing many great, fun players in community to quit
We did nothing when he killed horse archery beyond all repair ... causing many great, fun players in community to quit
Now that he is killing archery to favor his ugly, boring way of playing it with hyper accuracy vastly reducing real skill it is too late because all the great fun players are gone playing archeage, cs:go, countless other games rather than have to deal with this complete incompetent who only changes things for himself and doesn't consider the community at all in his decision-making.

Tydeus = that shithead from Germany
Unfortunately for all of us: you're still here :cry:
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Jeade on October 26, 2014, 09:44:06 pm
Because nobody in the archer community ever did acknowledge the issues and complaints and work towards a solution or a compromise.

Actually read the posts in the thread before posting.
The number of times I've suggested working towards a compromise is in the tens of thousands.
Besides that, Tydeus is actually being helpful (which, frankly, surprised me), and a number of others, archers and melee players, have chimed in.

I don't see why I should, now that most problems were fixed. I think the current state of ranged weapons is a huge step forward, and is a much better compromise than the previous one.

Some of us are agreeing with you. Others are on the fence. Some are also disagreeing with you.
The thread would not be 8 pages long if there weren't valuable discussion, complaints, worries, and praise being brought up.

I will continue telling you to get a shield lol because this is a valid argument according to your standards.

Yes, it is a valid argument.
If you do not have a shield or wander into wide open fields, you will immediately become a target for any ranged on the server.
As Thalion said earlier:
Seriously though. I've played this mod now for a couple years I think (honestly, I don't exactly remember when this hazy dream began) but archery has always been an annoying threat. Well, of course it is an annoying threat to have people shooting at you from a distance. I just assume that if I have no shield and I just go running after archers I am probably going to die. That's what I think would happen in a realistic scenario.


I didn't see any of you trying to compromise when your class dominated, so arguing that I should "do it for teamwork" is really hilarious, when obviously none of you care about teamwork more than I do.

Granted, now that 2h and polearms dominate, I don't see particularly much love from the melee side trying to compromise with the ranged side.
For instance, look at your post.
And again (btw, this was the OP, so I'm not sure how you missed it?):
When I first started playing cRPG in early 2011, archery was pretty scary.
Archers could really tear shit up, and they were nerfed accordingly into more of a support role.
If enemies were out in the open, I'd shoot for the chest or head in my best effort to get a kill, but when teammates were working on taking someone down, I'd aim strictly for the legs.
If I hit, it'd stun the enemy for a moment, just long enough for someone to get a hit in. If I missed and hit a teammate, I'd do less damage than an accidental TK headshot.
That support role worked really well for me, and I'm assuming it did with other archers and assisted melee teammates too.
We, as archers, were also able to help rid the match of cavalry, as well. Horse archers take first priority.
This lessened the stress put on melee infantry as they had less couched lances bearing down on them.

All that said, if you have any ideas that could be useful in addressing the issues raised by archers in this thread, please post!
If you're going to be an aggressive, useless cunt, fuck off.
I don't even like Kesh's posts, nor do I think his attitude is conducive to getting anything done, but at least he's posting things containing substance.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: San on October 26, 2014, 10:16:29 pm
I think the general consensus is that archers with lower tier bows feel weak and strength archers deal okayish-good damage and could be better. My question is what role do archers want low PD archers (4-6) to have against infantry?

I think there is an anti-kiting method that gives agi archers mediocre damage, high firing speed, good ammo, and high weight. This means largely reverting a good portion of the damage decrease on low tier bows and giving some ammo back so the high PD bows have little fear of running out with their slower draw speed. Over the past 2 years or so, I think it worked okay but many archers seemed to be unsatisfied with this and wanted lighter weight on their arrows. It seems like this will be even more difficult with the potential for builds to reach even greater extremes than before.

Another method is to allow mobility for archers with low arrow weight where agility archers have somewhat limited resources with less damage and high firing speed, while strength archers can make use of even those limited resources. This requires a somewhat low ammo capacity so players that are more mobile can't kite since they'll need to make shots count and reposition themselves occasionally to scavenge more ammo. The ammo count still needs to be good enough for the strength-oriented archers aren't hurt too much by it. I think the current ammo at +3 fits the bill, and would only support a difference in ammo between +0 and +3 with these changes. Damage will still be increased, but probably not as much as the previous paragraph concerning the low tier bows since the weight will decrease. Increased headshot damage may be great alternative over bow damage where the latter will mess with the accuracy again.

The biggest issue with the above is that they'll largely be safe against most other classes except for other ranged when playing correctly. Missile speed for the low tier bows may need to be drastically decreased to increase risk by having to approach the fray a little more.

I think kiting archers were a problem in the past since:
-The kiters were much higher in level
-Dealt some of the best damages for their class, especially with the wpf bug and armor penetration
-No flags that prevented delaying/kiting playstyles (large reason for the recent weight reductions, but the first point especially remained a large problem until now)

Now is as good a time as any to be a little more experimental since builds are not as set in stone.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: bigsean on October 26, 2014, 10:32:27 pm
kafein is always anti-ranged without any kind of logical argument

"beta tester" is a laugh

prob explains all the broken models
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Kafein on October 26, 2014, 11:48:42 pm
Actually read the posts in the thread before posting.

I don't have the time or will to do that.

Some of us are agreeing with you. Others are on the fence. Some are also disagreeing with you.
The thread would not be 8 pages long if there weren't valuable discussion, complaints, worries, and praise being brought up.

And the countless threads I started or participated before the latest patches about the situation of ranged and the need for change didn't contain valuable discussion, complaints, worries, and praise. Of course. Your attitude changed because this latest patch nerfed archery, plain and simple.

Yes, it is a valid argument.
If you do not have a shield or wander into wide open fields, you will immediately become a target for any ranged on the server.

If you don't wear armor you will become a target for everybody on the server. "get a shield lol" is not an argument. This has been demonstrated innumerable times in the threads I just referred to. Just because you keep on repeating it will not change the fact that it's meaningless.

Granted, now that 2h and polearms dominate, I don't see particularly much love from the melee side trying to compromise with the ranged side.
For instance, look at your post.

I'm sure if you were in the same situation as I am you'd come out as equally bitter. I tried for years (literally) to build some sort of compromise, but I've been welcomed with "get a shield lol", "deal with it" and little else. Enough to conclude that it's really pointless to argue constructively. Especially considering the sudden 180 degree change of attitude among ranged members of our community with the latest changes. Suddenly "deal with it" doesn't cut it anymore, does it? Maybe some of your complaints are valid and some adjustments could be made, but I honestly don't give a fuck. The rampant hypocrisy displayed here disgusts me.

Unlike you, Tydeus and San are here to actually build a compromise. They have to sit and listen to people (like you and me) building page-long biased pieces about balance and then try to find out what is actually wrong with the game. If you want to change something, discuss with them. As a bonus they have power, not me.

And again (btw, this was the OP, so I'm not sure how you missed it?):

learn teamwork

kafein is always anti-ranged without any kind of logical argument

"beta tester" is a laugh

prob explains all the broken models

Just a clarification: I was a beta-tester a long time ago.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Jeade on October 26, 2014, 11:55:32 pm
I think the general consensus is that archers with lower tier bows feel weak and strength archers deal okayish-good damage and could be better. My question is what role do archers want low PD archers (4-6) to have against infantry?

I think there is an anti-kiting method that gives agi archers mediocre damage, high firing speed, good ammo, and high weight. This means largely reverting a good portion of the damage decrease on low tier bows and giving some ammo back so the high PD bows have little fear of running out with their slower draw speed. Over the past 2 years or so, I think it worked okay but many archers seemed to be unsatisfied with this and wanted lighter weight on their arrows. It seems like this will be even more difficult with the potential for builds to reach even greater extremes than before.

Another method is to allow mobility for archers with low arrow weight where agility archers have somewhat limited resources with less damage and high firing speed, while strength archers can make use of even those limited resources. This requires a somewhat low ammo capacity so players that are more mobile can't kite since they'll need to make shots count and reposition themselves occasionally to scavenge more ammo. The ammo count still needs to be good enough for the strength-oriented archers aren't hurt too much by it. I think the current ammo at +3 fits the bill, and would only support a difference in ammo between +0 and +3 with these changes. Damage will still be increased, but probably not as much as the previous paragraph concerning the low tier bows since the weight will decrease. Increased headshot damage may be great alternative over bow damage where the latter will mess with the accuracy again.

The biggest issue with the above is that they'll largely be safe against most other classes except for other ranged when playing correctly. Missile speed for the low tier bows may need to be drastically decreased to increase risk by having to approach the fray a little more.

I think kiting archers were a problem in the past since:
-The kiters were much higher in level
-Dealt some of the best damages for their class, especially with the wpf bug and armor penetration
-No flags that prevented delaying/kiting playstyles (large reason for the recent weight reductions, but the first point especially remained a large problem until now)

Now is as good a time as any to be a little more experimental since builds are not as set in stone.

Thanks, San. Good post.

To answer your question about the low PD (4-6) archers:
I'd say there is a very small minority in this category.
6PD was always what I had because it gave me the option to be a little more of a hybrid than most.
If I tried going for 21/18, I felt I was losing too much wpf to archery over my 1h/2h sidearm.
The 24/18 build was pretty popular among the higher level guys, and they would use almost exclusively the Rus or Longbow.
The benefit high agi builds had (say, 15/24) was their ability to sacrifice generally high damage for accuracy.
It evened out quite well because they'd rely on headshots with their high wpf to make up for the lack in PD.
They, of course, also were going to have more points in athletics, which allowed them to get away and take their shots.

Any lower than 5PD though, I don't see that as a viable option now, nor have I ever.
5PD was pretty much the absolute lowest an archer would ever go.
With the current patch, 6 is probably the lowest viable option.
And besides, the whole point of 5PD archer builds was the sole purpose of high accuracy and being able to run away.
If the goal is making it so archers can't kite, there'd either need to be a change with quiver weight or just make low PD archers useless and force them into higher PD builds...
Neither of which I particularly like; increasing quiver weight hurts the high PD builds enough already.

(click to show/hide)

Didn't see the threads, unfortunately.
Either way, even if things look good on paper, it's only when the changes hit that people are going to have the truest opinion.
I'm not sure what archers in those threads said, nor am I responsible for their attitude, nor have I ever created a thread like this, nor am I even an archer.

It's clear we have different opinions on how ranged should work.
I see ranged as an important component to gameplay that should be considered a serious threat, just like a long maul coming down on your head.
I'm getting the feeling you think ranged is an unfortunately necessary component that hinders melee players from playing their classes with the least possible interference.
If I'm right, we're both touching on the unfortunate, yet real fact that archers are supposed to be a hindrance.
When working as a team, even in an uncoordinated pub match, archers can soften melee targets for melee teammates, be a real threat to cavalry, and stun players in the middle of a fight.
That's always been the purpose, or at least it has been over the past couple years.
I do remember archers being way the fuck OP in the early days.

Anyway, here's someone extending a hand, asking for your input, whether I disagree with you or not.
The more input, the better. 
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: San on October 27, 2014, 12:16:20 am
Quote
Either way, even if things look good on paper, it's only when the changes hit that people are going to have the truest opinion.

Quoting this for importance. You never know how things turn out with large changes, so the minimum was done to prevent ranged Armageddon so something more fleshed out can possibly be done if problems arose (like now).
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Jona on October 27, 2014, 01:33:48 am
(click to show/hide)

I'm sorry that your deli cap can't block everything. Really, I am. But get a shield lel.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: MURDERTRON on October 27, 2014, 02:19:22 am
Make all archery 1 hit kill, but you have to enter a captcha everytime you want to shoot.  If you enter it wrong, you die.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Sharpe on October 27, 2014, 03:17:45 am
Make all archery 1 hit kill, but you have to enter a captcha everytime you want to shoot.  If you enter it wrong, you die.

The captcha should have symbols you can't make with a QWERTY keyboard. It will be super effective
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: FRANK_THE_TANK on October 27, 2014, 05:51:31 am
Looks like a good start on making the whole thing more playable, more fun and more interesting for all the nonrange players as well.

----
@San

My thoughts are like this.

As HA I want to be a serious threat to the very lightly armed, as well as to lightly armoured horses. I want to be a moderate threat to the moderatly armed and I want to have to resort to a side arm or ramming against the highly armoured.

The change to the tartar looks like it's the money so bravo for that one. I'll tool around with it post change and give you some feed back, bow for bow.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: San on October 27, 2014, 07:28:30 am
I have an issue with the damage cap, but it's probably easiest to convince Tydeus, or I'll have to make a long-winded thread for others to vote on which will take a while.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Keshian on October 27, 2014, 10:25:23 am
I think the general consensus is that archers with lower tier bows feel weak and strength archers deal okayish-good damage and could be better. My question is what role do archers want low PD archers (4-6) to have against infantry?

(click to show/hide)

Thank you for the well -thought out post.  Reading an intelligent discussion rather than some guy's "gut feel" for archery based mostly on a day of trying different bows is such a welcome relief and promotes an actual intelligent discussion on the accurate situation we are placed in.

I would like to propose two different possibilities.

First,  make the lower tier bows near same damage with high-tier but with MUCH worse accuracy - basically the strings are not as strong and so the arrows don't fly as true.  Long range shots would just be a waste of ammo usually unless shooting into a crowd.  The reason why do it this way is that 1) varying the damage too much among the various bows creates  a lot more possibilities for broken min-max builds and imbalances and 2) shoot speed has a lot of secondary side-effects that wreck the usability of bows or create unforeseen side-effects (decreased damage, massively increased drop in arrows so arc effects, lobbing over shield walls etc.) (also why when last time shoot speed was heavily nerfed it was reverted back rather quickly and many of the low -tier bows were actually given increased shoot speed later to actually make them viable). 

The effect of this would be for low tier bows a lot of close to mid range shots using strong intuition of opponents' movements and a primary purpose of crowd control (shooting into massed up groups), whereas the higher tier bows would do slightly more damage, mostly due to higher powerdraw and serve their role as long range firing but with 2 slots being limited in either ammo or melee weapon, requiring a stronger focus on dedicated archer build.  (Think of longbow as a strong wood and sinew weapon that shoots the arrows straighter and more true to aim).  But the higher accuracy also comes with slower draw speed (and i would also consider changing weights of bows to make the biggest bows closer to flamberge weight further reducing kiting - you are serving as an accurate long-range high-damage weapon with limited mobility requiring stronger team support.  Kiting by low tier bow users would also be significantly reduced because the low accuracy makes single unit targetting much harder making a single  melee chaser have a much easier time dodging their arrows and therefore forcing melee combat.  Mid-tier bows would possibly be a balance between the two but with enough lower accuracy compared to longbow, rus bow, bow (the 3 two slot bows) to not become the OP weapons of choice for archers, but rather a selective class weapon like for the few remaining ha who don't need quite as much accuracy but need the slightly higher damage.


The second possibility is this.   Make lowest tier bows extremely heavy but also have the highest accuracy rankings (not as realistic as 1st possibility).  They would be the go to item for high agility archers still with the highest accuracy with these bows providing a good use of wpf allowing the headshots needed for extra damage, but between the weight of ammo and the bow their hyper mobility will be significantly reduced.  The high strength archers would still use the higher tier bows to make good use of their powerdraw (since would have wasted PD points with the lowest tier bows), but with the lower accuracy it would be more a high damage crowd damager as no amount of wpf would be able to counter the significantly reduced accuracy.

I prefer the 1st possibility.  But whichever way you go you need to realize roles are very important especially when it comes to how they play out on strategus.  Xbowers are the selective snipers.  Archers need at least some part of their class serve their main purpose - crowd control.  Can't emphasize this enough.  Archers main purpose is crowd control in the end as massed shield walls and masssed charges they damage and kill and break up formations, forcing greater dispersal or else guaranteeing countless hits by massed archers.  Secondary role is strong anti-ranged counter which is where having some bows with good accuracy kicks in.  Playing on battle server is only about 1/3rd of the equation when trying to understand archery's role in game - archery is an incredibly weak class in general that gains (and should gain) most of its strength in coordinated group play, ala strategus and banner stacks.

I just wanted to say, thank you san for asking questions of the community and actually listening and giving well-thought out posts.  Makes those of us in the community who still care about the game want to reply in kind.  You are a good item balancer (I wish very much you were the head one).
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Cup1d on October 27, 2014, 01:40:09 pm

I think kiting archers were a problem in the past since:
-The kiters were much higher in level
-Dealt some of the best damages for their class, especially with the wpf bug and armor penetration
-No flags that prevented delaying/kiting playstyles (large reason for the recent weight reductions, but the first point especially remained a large problem until now)

Now is as good a time as any to be a little more experimental since builds are not as set in stone.

Kiting become a problem only after slot system was implemented. And kiting was predicted as most expected consequence of this decision even before.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Tydeus on October 27, 2014, 01:44:07 pm
I have an issue with the damage cap, but it's probably easiest to convince Tydeus, or I'll have to make a long-winded thread for others to vote on which will take a while.
I'm already convinced it needs raised, just lazy.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: FRANK_THE_TANK on October 27, 2014, 10:50:27 pm
I'm already convinced it needs raised, just lazy.

I'd just remove it because given the horse nerf it's really hard to stay alive against the the pure cav without 9 riding. You get trampled real bad, so getting above 18str and being able to move quickly and shoot straight is a serious mission.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Jeade on October 28, 2014, 12:12:18 am
(click to show/hide)

Not a fan of the first idea as this would only result in the total death of agility archers.
Archers still want to hit their targets, and unless the accuracy was only decreased to something like the Horn Bow pre-patch and no further, I really don't think this would work.
It would especially affect the few remaining horse archers who use the Nomad or Tatar bows specifically for their accuracy.

The second idea, though.
Yes. That's a brilliant plan, actually.
As high PD archers dedicate their stats to damage and only a few points can be placed in athletics, an agility archer is going to dedicate those extra points to athletics.
Why not increase the weight on all the bows to reflect nearly the same weight as the quivers?
Archers are going to use two quivers anyway, unless they're a bizarre 2h build.
Short, Nomad, and Tatar bows would go up to something like 10 weight and quivers drop to 3 or 3.5.
The rest could go up to something like 6-7.5 weight.
It wouldn't exactly make any sense from a realistic perspective, but I'm goddamn near confident that would fix the problem.

Maybe the quivers could go up to 4-4.5 and reduce the "lightweight" bows to 8.5-9.
This might even give hybridization a better chance for the archers insane enough who only carry one quiver and a one slot bow.
There would be less weight restricting them from being an effective 2h/polearm hybrid as well (due that one less quiver), and we might see those guys actually fight instead of dropping everything and running for the hills.

Couple all that with the current talk of adding 3-5 additional arrows and a minor damage increase.
Shit. That sounds like a decent plan to me.
I'd still suggest decreasing bow accuracy across the board, though.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Jeade on October 28, 2014, 01:03:45 am
Double post.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: FRANK_THE_TANK on October 28, 2014, 09:29:11 am
5PD + tartar bow and arrows 4 head shots with 2 body shots to kill a dtv peasant...
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: HappyPhantom on October 28, 2014, 08:46:40 pm
7PD 170WPF MW tatar bow + MW tatar arrow 1 headshot on enemy w 5 IF and low-tier nord-helm less than 20% damage.
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: FRANK_THE_TANK on October 29, 2014, 09:25:14 am
7PD 170WPF MW tatar bow + MW tatar arrow 1 headshot on enemy w 5 IF and low-tier nord-helm less than 20% damage.

What are you complaining about dude? Now your just like the minions in a bond film, totally ineffectual and there to make the other players feel big as they slap you about.




Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: FRANK_THE_TANK on October 29, 2014, 09:28:06 am
Basically that's all I'm asking for, just like that kind of power with le bows plox. Cutting mother fuckers down like it ain't no thang.

Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: Artyem on October 30, 2014, 06:24:40 am
2h is still op fix it tydeus
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: BlindGuy on October 30, 2014, 06:59:50 am
I'd just remove it because given the horse nerf it's really hard to stay alive against the the pure cav without 9 riding. You get trampled real bad, so getting above 18str and being able to move quickly and shoot straight is a serious mission.

You guys still have active community in Oz?
Title: Re: Thoughts on 4.0 Archery Nerf and Class Counters
Post by: FRANK_THE_TANK on October 30, 2014, 09:45:23 am
The inspiration for the archery nerf.

lel


You guys still have active community in Oz?

No, not particullarly. Go on then, what witty quip do you have in store for me that's somehow going to make my experience irrelevant? I hope it's as totally baseless as I'm expecting!