Besides the various pacing changes Audacity brings to PvMP, it is an opportunity to create a seasonal rotation. Veteran players will be able to rank their Audacity higher and higher, while the potency of low rank Audacity will keep new players viable.
At some point in the future, likely the next expansion, we will increase the max Audacity rank. The bonuses that Audacity grants will then be re-distributed so that the new max rank provides the same defense bonuses the old max rank did. New PvMP gear with +2 Audacity will be made available for Freeps, and Creeps will be able to purchase past rank 7. Lastly, we will balance the defense values at the now lower ranks to provide enough potency to stay viable. This should make entering the Ettenmoors for new players easier, while providing ample advancement opportunities to veteran players!
I'm confused about the U6 notes, mainly the seasons and what will reset, etc.
I'm to understand, Audacity DOES NOT reset, rather it is redistributed because there will be higher Audacity to gain (over A7) but Comms will reset?
If Audacity resets, then I quit.
The deal is Rubi next season let’s say you have R7 audacity and it grants you a 30% buff. The season changes, you still have R7 audacity but the buff resets/adjusts to scale. So if they increase audacity 3 more ranks you wouldn’t get the max 30% buff until you got the next 3 levels. For your freeps that means new armor, for your creep it means just another passive.
You’ll need commendations to buy the new sets to garner the audacity bonuses. So in basic terms what you’re getting from R7 now you will get from R10 (using my example) with the new season. Numbers may change but that’s the literal interpretation of the dev diary.
The deal is Rubi next season let’s say you have R7 audacity and it grants you a 30% buff. The season changes, you still have R7 audacity but the buff resets/adjusts to scale. So if they increase audacity 3 more ranks you wouldn’t get the max 30% buff until you got the next 3 levels. For your freeps that means new armor, for your creep it means just another passive.
You’ll need commendations to buy the new sets to garner the audacity bonuses. So in basic terms what you’re getting from R7 now you will get from R10 (using my example) with the new season. Numbers may change but that’s the literal interpretation of the dev diary.
So you'll likely be quitting.
I think you're being too positive here...
With the new freep armour pieces giving +2 audacity instead of +1 and the lvl-cap being raised to 85 with Rohan it basically means that freeps have to grind an entire new armour set after trashing the old one.
Turbine 'might' do the sensible thing and allow for some bartering/upgrading of the old (current lvl 75) sets but basically don't expect that your current sets to be of ANY use at all in the next season...
For creeps it's probably a different story as their audacity is not linked to an armour set but rather is a passive stat that doesn't change once you've got it.
My guess would be that the max audacity rank jumps to 13 (1 initial + 2 from each armour piece) or maybe even higher - in any case expect the grind to be worse than it is currently.
Also if they raise the commendation cap from 10k then this implies that you will need a lot more commendation for the higher ranks of audacity - both for freeps and creeps. So if for freeps it's currently 4k, 4k, 6k, 6k, 7.5k, 7.5k we will prolly see the new prices range from 8k to 15k
I hope turbine proves me wrong but I don't really trust that hope...
My advice would be to either quit or to adjust your expectations: accept the fact that to function efficiently you have to grind like mad. Be realistic about it - and accept that you might not get to full audacity ever.
Focus on having fun and ignore the grind turbine tries to shove down you throat...
With the new freep armour pieces giving +2 audacity instead of +1 and the lvl-cap being raised to 85 with Rohan it basically means that freeps have to grind an entire new armour set after trashing the old one.
Turbine 'might' do the sensible thing and allow for some bartering/upgrading of the old (current lvl 75) sets but basically don't expect that your current sets to be of ANY use at all in the next season...
For creeps it's probably a different story as their audacity is not linked to an armour set but rather is a passive stat that doesn't change once you've got it.
My guess would be that the max audacity rank jumps to 13 (1 initial + 2 from each armour piece) or maybe even higher - in any case expect the grind to be worse than it is currently.
Also if they raise the commendation cap from 10k then this implies that you will need a lot more commendation for the higher ranks of audacity - both for freeps and creeps. So if for freeps it's currently 4k, 4k, 6k, 6k, 7.5k, 7.5k we will prolly see the new prices range from 8k to 15k
I hope turbine proves me wrong but I don't really trust that hope...
My advice would be to either quit or to adjust your expectations: accept the fact that to function efficiently you have to grind like mad. Be realistic about it - and accept that you might not get to full audacity ever.
Focus on having fun and ignore the grind turbine tries to shove down you throat...
Optimistic in the sense I took the dev diary literally. I personally don’t believe a word of it, but since that’s all we have it’s a good place to start. You did point out one of the truisms of LOTRO end game, grinding so yes I suspect freeps will need to regrind the armor but in application I’m willing to bet the old armor still provides half the bonus. Meaning season 1 chest piece gives you half the audacity bonus as season 2 chest piece. You can still use your old set if you want but you’ll want to spend your commies on something as a freep player.
We don’t have any indication that they will increase the commie cap, they may given how unpopular the change appears to be but that’s still to be worked out. Assuming the dev diary wasn’t a lie (so far 2/3rd has been accurate we will see on seasons) we then know absolutely audacity bonuses will reset each season. So technically rubi isn’t loosing audacity, he’s losing the bonus he gets from audacity and will need to regrind for it.
Your last paragraph is good advice, but at end game you can’t ignore the grind it’s a necessity to be effective in end game raids and the moors. Audacity is a very good solution for the damage issues in the moors via the uncapped stats in ROI. The problem is the poorly thought out implementation, it shouldn’t have been a freep and creep stat it should have been creep only. Adjust morale bases if needed but the issue is and was devastating crits and how do you mitigate them. Freeps don’t have the same degree of worry here, as a warg player I’m critting a few times a night, where the average freep is critting a few times every 10 minutes.
I’m hopeful in the next season they do away with audacity for freeps, let them get to 85 and higher morale, better damage output but make audacity a creep only stat via a passive. That would go a long way to fixing imbalance in the moors and basically put us on an even footing. You still get your massive crit damage, I get to mitigate 30% of it should I chose to grind for commies. Freeps have enough grinds for the LI’s and armor.
Imagine rolling a new creep after a couple seasons have passed and max audacity is 18 or more. It's already an impossible grind to get skills and Audacity 7, but it will be much worse unless the costs are drastically reduced or earnings increased. A bit better for a new freep since they will just need the 'current' pvp armor set
I'm beginning to think Turbine is trying to kill PVP. If so, that may be the one success they have in all these changes.
I was actually referring to re-starting Audacity at A1 and having to grind it back up to A7 (or whatever the cap will be). If all they do is increase the cap of Audacity to say, A9 then that's fine with me. If that's what they mean by "reset", they should've clarified that.
Resetting Comms back to zero would be stupid as well.
We don’t have any indication that they will increase the commie cap, they may given how unpopular the change appears to be but that’s still to be worked out.
Ok... I was sure I read about smt like that somewhere... But no clue where that'd be so don't trust that as a fact or anything. Either way I can't imagine that the comm costs for audacity will do anything but rise in the next 'season'. No way turbine is gonna keep them at the same level - that'd go against the overall progression we see everywhere else in the game. Still - would love to be proved wrong ofc...
Originally Posted by Thorgrum
I’m hopeful in the next season they do away with audacity for freeps, let them get to 85 and higher morale, better damage output but make audacity a creep only stat via a passive. That would go a long way to fixing imbalance in the moors and basically put us on an even footing. You still get your massive crit damage, I get to mitigate 30% of it should I chose to grind for commies. Freeps have enough grinds for the LI’s and armor.
I share that same hope - can't see why freeps have to grind 75 lvl's (easy enough though), pve-armour, jewellery, LI's and once all that's done we have to drop our pve-armour and grind for pvp-armour that lacks a lot of stats but for many classes have set-bonuses that are more effective for pve than for actual pvp...
Remove audacity from the armour and make it a stat obtainable in the same way creeps get it now, or remove it entirely from freep-side and only use it to balance out creep-side - I don't care. Just don't see the point in grinding out that much stuff for one char just to be competitive in EM.
If they keep audacity tied in with the armour I think it's gonna become the EM version of radiance where a lot of people are unhappy they have to grind for a sub-optimal armour set and wear it just because of that one single stat...
At first everyone's at equal terms but after a season or two it's gonna be a gating mechanism, effectively preventing a lot of players (and new players in particular!) from competing at all.
Especially on creep-side where the comm costs on skills, traits, skins(###?!?) and audacity are ridiculously high for the lower levels.
What rank does your creep need to be to give you enough comms to buy everything available at your lvl? (skills, traits, skins, audacity - ignore the pots for now). Assuming you only pvp to get your commendations?
Originally Posted by strangebaggins3
Imagine rolling a new creep after a couple seasons have passed and max audacity is 18 or more. It's already an impossible grind to get skills and Audacity 7, but it will be much worse unless the costs are drastically reduced or earnings increased.
I was actually referring to re-starting Audacity at A1 and having to grind it back up to A7 (or whatever the cap will be). If all they do is increase the cap of Audacity to say, A9 then that's fine with me. If that's what they mean by "reset", they should've clarified that.
Resetting Comms back to zero would be stupid as well.
It’s the bonus’s that reset. So at R7 you’ll get 30% mitigation. Next season if you have R7 you will not get 30% mitigation. So the stat doesn’t technically reset you won’t be going back to A1 it’s the bonus’s. So in order to achieve the same bonus you have at R7 (max rank) you’ll need to grind to the next max rank to achieve that same bonus.
It’s the bonus’s that reset. So at R7 you’ll get 30% mitigation. Next season if you have R7 you will not get 30% mitigation. So the stat doesn’t technically reset you won’t be going back to A1 it’s the bonus’s. So in order to achieve the same bonus you have at R7 (max rank) you’ll need to grind to the next max rank to achieve that same bonus.
While you guys are lighting the torches and finding your pitchforks, I'm enjoying what is seriously the best PVP book since later mirkwood. Having an absolute blast, many vets I talk to agree. The pace of the combat is perfect, outside of a few bad cases (shield warden, minstrel) class balance is decent.
Really, the only large scale problem is the healing disparity between freeps and creeps and that only crops up in large, organized fights. For random skirmishes around the map, this book is a jewel.
Costs of things and gain can be adjusted. I'm sure they've seen the feedback. Try to have fun in the meantime. Let next update take care of itself.
"Spiders CC is unbearable... it's just as bad as loremasters" ~ Brodster
Really, the only large scale problem is the healing disparity between freeps and creeps and that only crops up in large, organized fights. For random skirmishes around the map, this book is a jewel.
% chance to do critical damage is still a large scale problem. Audacity as a universal stat just slowed things down, in the end we are all waiting on the roll of the crit dice to see who wins. Audacity is a very good solution to this problem but it was a mistake to make it a freep stat as well.
No pitchfork here, I’m still seeing unhappy creeps in the moors, OOC is filled with them (I know it’s a shock). In the end your sentiment is correct, I dislike taking massive crits with no way to reciprocate so I log off and play something else. Hopefully more people feel the way you do and eat it up and do more PvP vindication for turbine’s U6 moors choices indeed.
% chance to do critical damage is still a large scale problem. Audacity as a universal stat just slowed things down, in the end we are all waiting on the roll of the crit dice to see who wins. Audacity is a very good solution to this problem but it was a mistake to make it a freep stat as well.
No pitchfork here, I’m still seeing unhappy creeps in the moors, OOC is filled with them (I know it’s a shock). In the end your sentiment is correct, I dislike taking massive crits with no way to reciprocate so I log off and play something else. Hopefully more people feel the way you do and eat it up and do more PvP vindication for turbine’s U6 moors choices indeed.
*shrug*
I slot 4x crit protection.
Critical damage is not somehow magical or special, it is just a component of anyone's given DPS. If their DPS is within acceptable levels, it doesn't matter how many critical hits make up that DPS.
I'm frankly surprised you don't see the benefits of audacity in helping solve your pet theory of how RoI broke the moors (uncapping stats yadda yadda): it forces freeps to wear specific gear with specific stats and reduces the range of builds and stats we could potentially face. It becomes easier to balance around the actual stats freeps are expected to have (since 6 of their gear slots will be audacity gear... trust me that freeps not in audacity gear have things go very bad for them).
"Spiders CC is unbearable... it's just as bad as loremasters" ~ Brodster
While you guys are lighting the torches and finding your pitchforks, I'm enjoying what is seriously the best PVP book since later mirkwood. Having an absolute blast, many vets I talk to agree. The pace of the combat is perfect, outside of a few bad cases (shield warden, minstrel) class balance is decent.
Really, the only large scale problem is the healing disparity between freeps and creeps and that only crops up in large, organized fights. For random skirmishes around the map, this book is a jewel.
Costs of things and gain can be adjusted. I'm sure they've seen the feedback. Try to have fun in the meantime. Let next update take care of itself.
I agree, this is probably the best book in terms of balance I've seen in 5 years of LOTRO. I don't like how "asian-grindy" the PvE side has become. I've had to abandon alts
Critical damage is not somehow magical or special, it is just a component of anyone's given DPS. If their DPS is within acceptable levels, it doesn't matter how many critical hits make up that DPS.
I'm frankly surprised you don't see the benefits of audacity in helping solve your pet theory of how RoI broke the moors (uncapping stats yadda yadda): it forces freeps to wear specific gear with specific stats and reduces the range of builds and stats we could potentially face. It becomes easier to balance around the actual stats freeps are expected to have (since 6 of their gear slots will be audacity gear... trust me that freeps not in audacity gear have things go very bad for them).
As I’ve said before audacity is a great solution to the DPS problem, if it were implemented on creep side only. I’ve yet to see a creep get a 5k hit, perhaps you have given the greater length of time you have played in the moors. In my time I’ve seen multiple, if not nightly 5k+ hits in the moors on creeps with and without audacity. Creeps simply can’t output the damage a freep can morale isn’t a bad solution either but if I’m critting for 2k once an hour and a LM is critting 4k on his ents once every 10 minutes and we have equal audacity morale becomes moot as well.
So we have both sides getting full benefits of audacity yet one side continues to do much larger damage. I’m not imagining it and it seems rather clearly imbalanced to me still even with audacity, but if you are having fun *shrug* that’s cool. I’m confident I am not the only person who feels this way, very confident actually.
While you guys are lighting the torches and finding your pitchforks, I'm enjoying what is seriously the best PVP book since later mirkwood. Having an absolute blast, many vets I talk to agree. The pace of the combat is perfect, outside of a few bad cases (shield warden, minstrel) class balance is decent.
Really, the only large scale problem is the healing disparity between freeps and creeps and that only crops up in large, organized fights. For random skirmishes around the map, this book is a jewel.
Costs of things and gain can be adjusted. I'm sure they've seen the feedback. Try to have fun in the meantime. Let next update take care of itself.
Words of Wisdom there indeed. Audacity has helped to even out the playing field and prolong fights a lot, which is a good thing.
However it does have the potential to go horribly wrong and turn into a huge grindfest after a season or two so I think we still need to wave our pitchforks around once in a while
The healing still needs some tweaking, agreed. It is a bit disappointing when you see half a creep raid focus fire and not be able to take down one single rune-keeper who's spam healing himself.
But yes you're right - if the grind is fun then it doesn't matter as much if you need 3 or 30k comms for the full deal.
It still matters though...
As long as Orion is working in any capacity in this title, the ettens will be exactly what he said it would be 5 years ago, "no resources will be wasted on a pasttime".
While we are quoting, Orion, remember this one on the phone and in an email? "My station demands respect" that was so cute, i think i called you childish after you said that, i also remember while in the military at RTI we were going to make an offer, that never happened...did it? Wonder why, Grin.
Words of Wisdom there indeed. Audacity has helped to even out the playing field and prolong fights a lot, which is a good thing.
However it does have the potential to go horribly wrong and turn into a huge grindfest after a season or two so I think we still need to wave our pitchforks around once in a while
The healing still needs some tweaking, agreed. It is a bit disappointing when you see half a creep raid focus fire and not be able to take down one single rune-keeper who's spam healing himself.
But yes you're right - if the grind is fun then it doesn't matter as much if you need 3 or 30k comms for the full deal.
It still matters though...
Audacity is a different system. Agreed on longer fights but stripping away CC has hurt induction classes that rely on it to get skills off or some distance from their opponent. Now it has become reliant on who can get the most skills off and/or heal through the reduced damage.
Not sure how half a raid can't kill a RK spam healing just himself. Haven't seen that scenario here.
⎨"There can be no prestige without mystery, for Familiarity breeds contempt."⎬
Audacity is a different system. Agreed on longer fights but stripping away CC has hurt induction classes that rely on it to get skills off or some distance from their opponent.
Agreed. Inductions are still the bane of many classes. LMs suffer, as do hunters. Some creep classes are also affected, but to a lesser degree. Blackarrow still relies on inductions, but at least has skirmisher stance now. Too bad many BAs still don't use it very well. Also WL healing is brutally hard without their aura-insta induction. Defilers were hampered a bit, but now stacking dots along with slower paced combat make defilers better.
1v1s I used to be able to toss CC then get 10 meters distance, fire off an induction... I now get alot less and it shows.
While you guys are lighting the torches and finding your pitchforks, I'm enjoying what is seriously the best PVP book since later mirkwood. Having an absolute blast, many vets I talk to agree. The pace of the combat is perfect, outside of a few bad cases (shield warden, minstrel) class balance is decent.
You usually post accurate statements Stick, but I must disagree with this. Having been leading on Brandywine plenty, I can confidently say it was better before the update. There is NOTHING a creep raid can do to dent a freep raid worth a dam. Audacity has favoured freeps greatly in giving them more time to heal, and more creep dps to take before dying, while creeps still explode within seconds to the focus fire of a few hunters and rks and lms. Small group and RvR is skewed heavily in the favour of freepside. Fights slower paced? For creep dps yes, same story for freeps. Tab, explode, tab, explode. I should not have to have another 18 strong creep raid formed just to wipe a freep raid.
R.I.P. Nidor of Brandywine (1970-2012)
Ade my friend and mentor
Agreed. Inductions are still the bane of many classes. LMs suffer, as do hunters. Some creep classes are also affected, but to a lesser degree. Blackarrow still relies on inductions, but at least has skirmisher stance now. Too bad many BAs still don't use it very well. Also WL healing is brutally hard without their aura-insta induction. Defilers were hampered a bit, but now stacking dots along with slower paced combat make defilers better.
1v1s I used to be able to toss CC then get 10 meters distance, fire off an induction... I now get alot less and it shows.
Praise be to Orion for all the Interrupts on Raking Claws (stacks 3x) and the Range Debuff on Eye Gouge
My Brute Claws cannot be defeated
My name is Purebloodnakh, Chieftain of Saruman's Armies of the North, General of the Warg Legions, loyal servant to the true Lord, Sauron. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.
Besides the various pacing changes Audacity brings to PvMP, it is an opportunity to create a seasonal rotation. Veteran players will be able to rank their Audacity higher and higher, while the potency of low rank Audacity will keep new players viable.
At some point in the future, likely the next expansion, we will increase the max Audacity rank. The bonuses that Audacity grants will then be re-distributed so that the new max rank provides the same defense bonuses the old max rank did. New PvMP gear with +2 Audacity will be made available for Freeps, and Creeps will be able to purchase past rank 7. Lastly, we will balance the defense values at the now lower ranks to provide enough potency to stay viable. This should make entering the Ettenmoors for new players easier, while providing ample advancement opportunities to veteran players!
That's not advancement. That's perpetual grind to get back to what you've attained. Do they really think customer will enjoy that? What if when they raised the level cap they made it so that you had to hit the new level cap to have that same stats as the old level cap?
Besides the various pacing changes Audacity brings to PvMP, it is an opportunity to create a seasonal rotation. Veteran players will be able to rank their Audacity higher and higher, while the potency of low rank Audacity will keep new players viable.
At some point in the future, likely the next expansion, we will increase the max Audacity rank. The bonuses that Audacity grants will then be re-distributed so that the new max rank provides the same defense bonuses the old max rank did. New PvMP gear with +2 Audacity will be made available for Freeps, and Creeps will be able to purchase past rank 7. Lastly, we will balance the defense values at the now lower ranks to provide enough potency to stay viable. This should make entering the Ettenmoors for new players easier, while providing ample advancement opportunities to veteran players!
this should be kind worry some just sounds like turbine will up and up the prices of gear/rank up to increase the grind. To be honest its hard to balance it out using 2 different avenues for ranking it up, freeps just replace gear, while creeps buy ranks how will the price scaling work while at the same time new creeps will start at rank 1 and won't be getting something that ups their audacity 2 ranks like a piece of freep gear, it will go rank by rank up to 14 for season 2. Its kinda already screwed with the manner they're doing it, since essentially increasing the max rank is almost the same thing as just resetting it, which would be ultimately easier in the long run.
You usually post accurate statements Stick, but I must disagree with this. Having been leading on Brandywine plenty, I can confidently say it was better before the update. There is NOTHING a creep raid can do to dent a freep raid worth a dam. Audacity has favoured freeps greatly in giving them more time to heal, and more creep dps to take before dying, while creeps still explode within seconds to the focus fire of a few hunters and rks and lms. Small group and RvR is skewed heavily in the favour of freepside. Fights slower paced? For creep dps yes, same story for freeps. Tab, explode, tab, explode. I should not have to have another 18 strong creep raid formed just to wipe a freep raid.
Your not allowed to disagree with Sezneg, he has talked to many vets who clearly are the only people whose opinions matter. So let us all put down our pitchforks, we are obviously wrong.
I play on servers where RvR is rare and the problem is the same. Freepside can still nuke no problem even with audacity. You need a ridiculous amount of effort to take down organized freeps. While in my freep groups its still farm at will, bring a captain healer stack DPS, profit.(6 sec RC back? Yum)
Its going to be a bloodbath again at 85, make no mistake. I can agree with Sez in that enjoy the madness now, and prepare to go completely nuts once freeps get beefed up to 85.
You usually post accurate statements Stick, but I must disagree with this. Having been leading on Brandywine plenty, I can confidently say it was better before the update. There is NOTHING a creep raid can do to dent a freep raid worth a dam. Audacity has favoured freeps greatly in giving them more time to heal, and more creep dps to take before dying, while creeps still explode within seconds to the focus fire of a few hunters and rks and lms. Small group and RvR is skewed heavily in the favour of freepside. Fights slower paced? For creep dps yes, same story for freeps. Tab, explode, tab, explode. I should not have to have another 18 strong creep raid formed just to wipe a freep raid.
Hmmm...I can see what you are saying Evil, but i'm not sure why you aren't getting though the freep raid at all(if that be the case) I will admit...Freeps are tough as nails right now...but not impossible to take down in RvR. It does come down to a lot of coordination and mobility. I do know that our Warleaders on E are talking a lot about healing inductions. but even with those issues we have still been able to break the raids. Now there are TONS of variables in this as well. Creep Coordination vs freep coordination, raid makeup, etc. The common tactic is to go for their healers. That doesnt work in this book. You have to harass their healers while burning their DPS. I saw on a different post you dont take more that 3 spiders with you because they are useless. I would have to disagree with you. Myself when I lead and Vyxe alike, we have had a full group of weavers and it can really make a difference in the raid. Having weavers harassing healers can really take down a freep raid. between the ability to get -40% induction on them...any amount of CC can break a heal...constant WtE in near our healers to push the melee back...all while the reavers, wargs, and BA's are burning through their hunters/Rks/LMs and in the end you are going to come out on top a lot of the time.
The difference is you cant just smash into each other anymore. it takes coordination on both sides to be able to take each other down. I have also been having a blast this book so far with all of the changes(minus a couple)
I am not looking forward to having to grind out audacity again...but I'll come to that fork in the road when I get there.
Freeps have a passive audacity rank of 1, I suspect they will raise this to 7 at the beginning of the next season and scale back the effect of rank 7 audacity so it is most likely equivalent to rank 1 presently. I imagine it will be the same for creeps, passive audacity will be set to 7 also. That way both sides are beginning from the same place audacity wise at the beginning of each season, any other way would make it too difficult for new players as they would have to grind the previous seasons audacity ranks.
To casual players I suspect the commendation cost of skills is crippling creep side, purchasing audacity is pipe dream can't even come close to affording skills.
Critical damage is not somehow magical or special, it is just a component of anyone's given DPS. If their DPS is within acceptable levels, it doesn't matter how many critical hits make up that DPS.
Yet you feel the need to use 2/3 of your corruption slots to help protect against it? Maybe I'm not reading it right, but your statement seems contradictory.
... Your last paragraph is good advice, but at end game you can’t ignore the grind it’s a necessity to be effective in end game raids and the moors. Audacity is a very good solution for the damage issues in the moors via the uncapped stats in ROI. The problem is the poorly thought out implementation, it shouldn’t have been a freep and creep stat it should have been creep only. Adjust morale bases if needed but the issue is and was devastating crits and how do you mitigate them. Freeps don’t have the same degree of worry here, as a warg player I’m critting a few times a night, where the average freep is critting a few times every 10 minutes. ...
This is an idea I really like.
I won't lie the whole idea of "yet-another-grind" has kept me out of the Moors wen i was expecting to go back with this update.
I know I don't 'have' to get involved in that grind, but I would...I always do.
PS Sorry Thorg, had to change the colour; the Red does actually hurt my eyes.
I won't lie the whole idea of "yet-another-grind" has kept me out of the Moors wen i was expecting to go back with this update.
I know I don't 'have' to get involved in that grind, but I would...I always do.
PS Sorry Thorg, had to change the colour; the Red does actually hurt my eyes.
changing the color is fine, we are all here for entertainment purposes so whatever you need to do thats cool. The problem I believe was the implementation you make it creepside only, make it incremental with battlefield promotions but make it very high. A R10+ creep should be mitigating a lot of crit damage. Sadly the ROI expansion remains a freep buff that hasnt been corrected creepside, the implementation of audacity to both really puts us back to square one.
Fights last longer but the damage output is still unbalanced there simply isnt a creep I have seen in game or on the boards who can output the damage of a freep. Now with audacity we have equal mitigation of damage, 30% of 5k vs 30% of 2k advantage (again) goes to the person outputting the highest damage.
No skill invloved really, the best skilled players out there cant defeat the math.
Audacity (and u6 in general) has both good and bad sides. It's needed to gain more survival but once you have it it really makes a whole lot of difference. The problems are less now than they will be in a couple of seasons if nothing changes though. Assuming pricing is the same (which it probably won't be anyway) and we double audacity (A13);
Freepside (new AND vet):
1. Can you barter directly to the +2 audacity or do you first need to barter the +1 audacity in a new season?
2. If yes, most people will be on equal grouonds. if no, vets will have a distinct advantage over new freeps making it less likely for new people to play in ettens. since they need to grind twice the amount of commies needed for the sets.
Creepside (vet)
1. Assuming they have already stacked up max commies it's a "free" rank and just another smaller grind to get the audacity since nothing is needed to be spent on skills anyway
2. If audacity gets reset (making a max of A7 for creeps) the previous grind would have been useless to begin with compared to freeps who still ahve their audacity.
Creepside (new)
1. Audacity is a no-go. The cost is too high to be beneficial at ½ the current rate while just getting skills and corruptions will keep you busy for the first 8 ranks anyway.
2. How many new creeps will start playing if they can buy a SKILL (which is essential to play in ettens, even more so than audacity) every 2nd rank for the first 4 or 5 ranks and then, after hitting r8 they MIGHT be able to afford corruptions and perhaps even a rank of audacity or 2?
3. How many of those that roll a new creep will even consider levelling a 2nd creep?
Don't get me wrong, i like the u6 changes since it has made things more challenging. However, the system itself is seriously flawed in it's current state and cannot survive the proposed seasons without a serious workover. As I see it there is but one way to make the current system work in upcoming seasons (for new and vets alike);
Reset Audacity to 1, remove the passive buff and remove the stat from the current armor set while keeping 7 as max. Add a new armor set with +1 audacity and have creeps buy the passive again. If this is not done, the audacity grind will (for a new creep) double since they first need to reach the old max. For freeps it would simply mean a grind for another armor set, pretty much like now.
The question that always needs to be asked no matter what the update is about; Will this work in 1 month? Will it work in 6 months? Will it work in a year? etc. The longer it will work, the better since you need to focus less resources on it. Ship a faulty system and your resources will go down the drain trying to fix it (the other option being the company loosing customers).
Creating a good system takes time and resources but is, in the end, cheaper than a bad one
changing the color is fine, we are all here for entertainment purposes so whatever you need to do thats cool. The problem I believe was the implementation you make it creepside only, make it incremental with battlefield promotions but make it very high. A R10+ creep should be mitigating a lot of crit damage. Sadly the ROI expansion remains a freep buff that hasnt been corrected creepside, the implementation of audacity to both really puts us back to square one.
Fights last longer but the damage output is still unbalanced there simply isnt a creep I have seen in game or on the boards who can output the damage of a freep. Now with audacity we have equal mitigation of damage, 30% of 5k vs 30% of 2k advantage (again) goes to the person outputting the highest damage.
No skill invloved really, the best skilled players out there cant defeat the math.
A large majority of the current stat budget goes towards audacity, so much so that in offence ratings there's at least a 10-15% difference between current audacity armour and ToO sets. The freep audacity armour nerfs their damage by a noticeable margin.
I cannot claim to understand all the math that goes into the stats that are being discussed here. I play simply because I enjoy it. I am no rocket scientist, but my eyes still see what is happening in the Moors, and it ain't right...
I agree that most freep classes are over powered and can hit phenomenal crits without a problem. I have heard tales of hunters hitting creeps with 10K crits but have never been able to duplicate this, even when using battle lore scrolls, the fleeting fully focused crit window, Cappy buffs and potions. I don't doubt that this is happening, it is just that I have never witnessed it or been able to do it. Rarely ever do I crit high numbers or do massive damage with a single shot and I certainly don't do this every 10 minutes. I have been playing my hunter for a long time. I am sure the creeps on Riddermark would agree that my hunter dies a lot, especially since U6. Before U6, I could hold my own in a 1v1 against a warg, and a decently ranked reaver...but not anymore. Audacity armor was supposed to make combat last longer...I haven't seen that yet. Even with +6 audacity, a good second age bow (maxed out), and good stats, and properly traited for survival, my hunter dies in seconds when zerged by the wargs that prowl Riddermark in pairs and packs; and yet I keep hearing how overpowered all freeps are. I don't agree for one second that it is because I don't know how to play my class.
The new pvp armor has actually dropped the stats that made the hunter able to survive and be effective in either a 1v1, solo play, or RvR. I have had to mix and match the available sets to keep vitality and agility up high enough to actually do any damage to certain creep classes, especially the higher ranked creeps. It is true that as a hunter I can do a quick burst of damage, but otherwise I am now more squishy than RKs and Minis and have a short life span when confronted with a small warg pack or craid! I am getting to know the rez circle quite well these days
I can, however, testify to witnessing that a certain RK and a small group of three healers (on Riddermark), with maxed out audacity, could not be beat by a creep raid, and that is a problem. I can also testify that certain high ranking war leaders and three high rank wargs achieved the same result against a gaggle of us freeps. This really should not be happening on either side. It appears to me that the balance problem mostly effects the lower ranked creeps and poorly outfitted freeps of certain classes.
I recently played on creepside to see what it was all about. I got my reaver up to rank 3 so far. But, the cost of buying the skills, traits, and buffs needed to make my reaver viable is astronomical and will take a grind that will last well into the Rohan expansion. If, in fact, audacity is reset to zero it will effectively eliminate any new creep players, and possibly freep players, from considering pvp in LOTRO. I have already had three freep players that are new to the Ettenmoors tell me that it is not worth the time it takes to grind the commendations and they will not be back to the Moors. PVP is fruitless without the new armor. I have also heard this from players on creep side, and likewise, the low ranked creeps have no chance against a freep without audacity. I know that a reset in audacity will certainly make me think about whether or not I want to continue playing in the Moors. I am not sure I understand this obsession that LOTRO has with pushing players into a constant grind circle that never ends, and I am sure that if LOTRO advertised how much grinding was required to enjoy the game, they would not have near the business they have now...
Honestly, I don't know what the solution is to this problem, and I am not confident that the LOTRO powers that be truly know either. I think they have dug a hole in the sand with the changes they continue to make, and the sand continues to run back down on them...they don't seem to be able do dig their way out of this hole. Perhaps the problem lies in the fact that they are not willing to add a few resources to the pvp department, and the resources available are overwhelmed by the enormity of the problem at hand...Whatever the reason, they stand to lose a lot of valued customers if things are not satisfactorily fixed in a way that actually gives a balance to pvp...
Lets hope they have the "audacity" to make things right...
Stars...We don't need no stinking Stars!
“If you wound us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? if you poison us, do we not die? and if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that” ~William Shakespeare
"Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience." ~Mark Twain
my hunter dies in seconds when zerged by the wargs that prowl Riddermark in pairs and packs
While I agree with MOST of your post, you really should die when zerged, regardless of class. It's unfortunate that many freep classes can survive in the face of overwhelming odds.
I do agree that hunter is not as OP as other freep classes right now, and I have been hit by a 10K+ heartseeker, . (ask Yelk on Brandy how he does it)
Tying audacity to armor is a stupid idea and will wind up just like Radiance.. which they were also told was a stupid idea and they also didn't listen that time either.
In a year they will realize the mistake then remove it with the statement "we finally realized this just wasn't going to work... blah blah blah" with the usual "nobody said anything about it" look while whistling past the graveyard.
Yes you don't need a palantir to recognize an idiot doing the same thing over and over.
Audacity is not, nor was it intented to be, nor SHOULD it be something a rank 2 ba or somethign can just walk up to the vender and buy. With all skills purchasable on the store or auto at rank 10 Audactiy is perhaps the only true way to now distinguish a well prepared, higher ranked creep and a freshi. I dont want to see rank 1's walking around with A7 and i think freeps are with me that it would be stupid as well. My rank 10 reaver now has more comms than he can spend because i pvp and pve dailies a lot over many days and built up my audacity.
I can only attempt to explain one other way if you still dont understand my point
- think of wow and pvp gear. you dont just walk into pvp at max level gear, you haev to EARN it. yes its hard and yes it takes time but your playing an mmo so you should enjoy sending long periods of time increasing your character a small amount. If you dont you need to go play assasins creed or something.
Tying audacity to armor is a stupid idea and will wind up just like Radiance.. which they were also told was a stupid idea and they also didn't listen that time either.
In a year they will realize the mistake then remove it with the statement "we finally realized this just wasn't going to work... blah blah blah" with the usual "nobody said anything about it" look while whistling past the graveyard.
Yes you don't need a palantir to recognize an idiot doing the same thing over and over.
Tying audacity to armor is a stupid idea and will wind up just like Radiance.. which they were also told was a stupid idea and they also didn't listen that time either.
In a year they will realize the mistake then remove it with the statement "we finally realized this just wasn't going to work... blah blah blah" with the usual "nobody said anything about it" look while whistling past the graveyard.
Yes you don't need a palantir to recognize an idiot doing the same thing over and over.
I was going to say something along these lines, but you said it for me.
Audacity, like everything else in this game, will get changed to something else. And then we'll have to build that up. And then it will get changed to something else again, and we'll have to build THAT up.
It will be a neverending cycle because Turbine, it seems, has a high turnover rate in developers and every developer they get has a different idea of how things should be done OR when one developer quits, the item they were working on (we'll say hobbies as an example) is never picked up by the new developer, so - like hobbies (and housing and LUA scripting and radiance and audacity and anything else that gets left to rot), the ball gets dropped and the issue is ignored.
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