Some thoughts on game mechanics

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Barlor
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Some thoughts on game mechanics

Post by Barlor » 19 Sep 2016, 04:38

Hi, I wanted to outline some game mechanics I thought can be made better.


- Damage exploiting -

As you probably know, you can change the damage of a swing to another type by pressing another attack mid-swing. This is an issue that was introduced in DX11.

How it works

Do a swing with any weapon that has a piercing stab. As the swing is travelling, do a stab. It'll change the damage to piercing; while retaining the speed bonus from the slash. I was hitting someone in 100q full plate for 90 piercing using a boar spear.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCsWU315AA8

^Video of non-macro and macro usage.^

This also segues nicely into the next issue -


- Switch hitting -

This is also a bug that was introduced with DX11.

How it works

Start any direction of attack by clicking once. Just before the swing releases, click any other direction, and the whole attack will change its entire direction instantly. This makes parrying near useless against people who have mastered this bug.

https://youtu.be/wY5uWqx0_WM?t=27s

^Example starts at 27 seconds.^

- Unparryable attacks -

Unparryable attacks do way too much damage for the amount of risk you take. It makes it so people using one-handed swords will just constantly pull their weapon out for that 40 - 60 damage piercing hit that you cannot parry, only outrun or force handle hit; which, if they are using light armor... you can't really do. This also applies to two-handed swords. I think it's really lame being able to punish someone for successfully parrying your attack.


- Coward -

Now here's the black sheep nearly everyone has a problem with. Coward was initially meant to be used against archers as an effective counter - and it is just that, it will counter the hell out of an archer. However people use it against smaller numbered teams instead... Like in a 10 versus 7 scenario, all the 10 guys coward your 7. There's not much you can do other than stand still and get shot; or, move and die immediately. Even if you coward them all back, three of them remain uncowarded. It effectively makes most forms of battle numbers-oriented more than skill-oriented.

I think Coward should simply not stun your opponent. If mobility really has to be impacted by Coward, simply make it a slowness debuff rather than a speed buff plus chance-to-stun. It makes more sense this way, relies less on RNG, and from a balance perspective, I can still play effectively when cowarded as a melee troop.


-------

Thanks for taking the time to read, and I hope what points I brought up are taken into consideration. I really appreciate the work that is put into this game.
Last edited by Barlor on 19 Sep 2016, 23:22, edited 1 time in total.

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RegnarofAberon
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Re: Some thoughts on game mechanics

Post by RegnarofAberon » 19 Sep 2016, 11:13

I Agree completly.. this game has a few mechanics that simply has no counter.. coward is one of them ...it simply makes no sence you cant counter coward with an antidote or some other thing (well knowing its not a poison) but i see the unparry hits as a fare bigger issue and something that needs to be done something about asap as some simply just only do that and you cant do anything against it


:good: to Barlor for this post and to the dev team for making the best game i have played
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NeoMetric
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Re: Some thoughts on game mechanics

Post by NeoMetric » 19 Sep 2016, 22:50

To add onto switch hitting/Damage bug, you can very easily make a macro that maximizes the damage potential with it with a simple click of a button, turning the partisan, boar spear, anything with a piercing stab into a weapon that can easily hit over 100 damage on almost anything/anyone.

The simple tweak to coward of removing the stun and speed bonus is plenty enough of a balance simply due to the fact coward doesn't need to have a stun. When Coward first came out it RNG knocked you to the ground and received MASSIVE complaints. The stun it has now hasn't enraged people nearly as much but the frustration is very much still there.

The amount of times i've gone over to someone for a 2v1 or even 1v1, and flat out got cowarded just flat out negates player skill. You literally need to stand still, or do hops to avoid the stun by being in a jump animation.

TL:DR - Remove coward's stun and speed boost with either a slow or nothing at all, keep it for a healthy counter to archery. Macro's make switch hitting/Damage exploit super easy.

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CaptainAmerica
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Re: Some thoughts on game mechanics

Post by CaptainAmerica » 20 Sep 2016, 18:53

I agree and I would like to see some changes come before the MMO drops :x

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Sleep
 
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Re: Some thoughts on game mechanics

Post by Sleep » 21 Sep 2016, 19:24

I agree with everything above, but in my opinion "coward" should only affect those, who run away (showing his back) or exit combat stance. That way even falling down instead of stumbling would be fair.


Toren
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Re: Some thoughts on game mechanics

Post by Toren » 22 Sep 2016, 01:02

Agree with all of these. I like the principle behind unparryable attacks, but I find people use the Knight and Nordic swords only to get the attack, going in and out of fight stance just so they can do that constant 40-60 piercing against anyone in armor. Maybe if there was something that made it so you couldn't instantly unequip weapons, or a cooldown on unparryable attacks.
Though as far as parrying goes, it would be nice if a solid parry didn't completely stun the attacker and leave them completely open to a riposte. I constantly find that if I want a guaranteed win in a 2v1, one person just needs to parry stun the attacker while the other pokes him immobilized. Maybe if it prevented the attacker from swinging for the duration of that stun while allowing him to move and parry as well.
Would also be cool to see a glancing mechanics like in M&B where if you hit someone at the very beginning of your swing or the end it does little to no damage.

I think the funny thing about coward is that it was meant to nerf naked hit and run fighters and archers, but the best counter to it is going out of combat and jump running away or fleeing. Trying to stand and fight while cowarded means either standing completely still and taking archer fire or running around and getting stunned every 2 seconds. Its completely counter intuitive, especially when someone cowards you so their archers can shoot you while stunned.

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BlackjackBarret
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Re: Some thoughts on game mechanics

Post by BlackjackBarret » 24 Sep 2016, 14:41

I agree, lots of mechanics need improvements in order to make the game more balanced in certain aspects. Glitching the hits to get a combat advantage really takes away from the game.

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