I'll have to admit that I would not mind some changes to the current system . I played some today and I have to say that I did not enjoy it that much.
I don't think that the pb system is the biggest flaw as it is more reliable and easier to grasp for newer players, but i miss the abillity to nudge and use halfswings like before.
Hello all, just stopping by today after a few months to check on how things are going. Lol... if you do what I say in this post for nov/dec release MB2 will get dueling back. If you don't, well good luck to you. It's been almost a year since my last video. What the fuck?
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I think random interrupts performed by spamming each other is over-emphasized, and leads to either more random noob spam or playing too cautiously to avovid getting hit by a random 50% BP swing. Maybe not technically correct in terms of numbers, but that feeling is part of the problem of recent systems and part of why interrupt damage cannot be made super high despite what people may say. BP drains and BP gains need to be consistent, and the system needs to emphasize consistency. The reason why people still remember 1.3 is because it had very consistent PBing, for one thing. So while it in theory makes sense to increase interrupt damage to all hell, it does not in practice produce fun gameplay.
I haven't played the game in ages, but from what I hear there's a problem with instant unpredictable BP damage spikes and I surmise the likely cause to be interrupt damage or some other form of spikey multiplier, intended to increase skill but simply producing volatile gameplay. True skill can only show itself when mechanics are consistent and predictable to a large extent, let's say 80-90%
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I was recently looking through some of my older videos and had some thoughts regarding the saber system and what it should be. Without writing a long and complicated post, I think it can be summed up thus.
Yellow should be close to what is seen in this video and ACM should not matter much. It should not be overcomplicated. Rather, removed in favour of slower regen when you're at 33% BP coupled with 20% of style/attack AP, parry drains.
In the video example of yellow vs yellow below, I want you to notice yellows halfswing speed and combo speed, and how it flows more beautifully. Also notice how the A swings chunk into the opponent with violent speed. It is a beautiful combination. I would also like to see yellow combo limit of 5, how that would play out esp if we get A halfswings back and adjust other things properly.
Here is what red should be. More or less. It should have nudge but not the retarded 50% parry drains of 1.4.3 present in the video. It should also not have huge AP and tiny BP, but more moderate numbers to make it feel like a consistent style.
I don't have videos for blue and other styles to point to. But I think duals should be useless or removed. Serious mode, duals have cyan AP and yellow BP. Combo limit 4 and takes 0 damage from parried swings. Should be able to move while using crouch kata but crouch kata costs 90 FP.
Cyan should be made closer to yellow in speed, and 100% consistent speed-wise on all swings, combo capped at 6. Slightly lower AP than yellow, slightly higher BP than yellow.
Blue should be 100% consistent in swingspeed too, meaning combos would be slower and halfswings about the same maybe slightly slower. It should have lower AP than cyan but not by much, higher BP than cyan but not by much. Combo limit 8. (Slap exists you know).
Purple should have slightly higher AP than yellow, slightly lower BP than yellow, and a combo limit of 4. Slightly slower speed than yellow, and instant PB counter perk. No stab or kata because that is disgusting.
Staff should have yellow AP and yellow BP but a wider defense arch (including safety from backwhacks). Combo limit 6. Can mblock without needing to PB, but mblock is only disarm, doesn't have fucking combo stopping or stagger or ACM shit. Just disarm or not disarm and has a short cd like 3 sec and no BP cost. Should be able to move while using crouch kata but crouch kata costs 90 FP.
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General notes.
Swingblock should increase your damage over non-swingblocked hits. (Fuck retarded devs that say this is a bad idea. It rewards skilled players over unskilled spammers)
The defense arc for sidewhacks should be decreased so that it's easier to side-whack someone that isn't paying attention. Also boosts the value of staffs defense arc 'perk'.
Attacks while you are running should deal normal damage, not more or less.
Attacks while crouching should deal normal damage, not more or less. But getting hit while crouching should triple the damage you take. Crouching should not prevent BP regen, taking much more dmg while crouching is enough.
Combo swings should no longer deal less damage than halfswings. Needs to be consistent dmg output. Adjust defenses accordingly to compensate. And one question: Do you really think that reducing combo damage has actually helped combat the 4 hit combo meta? From my perspective, 4 hit combo meta or just combo spam in general will always be a thing due to parries, ACM, high interrupt damage, lockdowns etc. Should also mention that it is easier to PB combos than halfswing spam and what's more exciting? Furious and rapid swing exchanges or a duel where both parties are doing 1 or 2 hit swings and running away after every exchange to try and dodge the others swings due to ACM being such a huge factor.
- Just want to make sure that PBing is still available in returns like the old semi-PB. Semi-PB should be available during attack starts to help combat fast styles and yawing. Set it at something like 80% so that you can negate the interrupt dmg but still take normal damage from getting hit in the timing window. (If you yaw your attacks you wont have semi-pb capabilities in starts or returns, which indirectly nerfs yawing and buffs ppl who are good at PB).
Fine-tune the parry windows for timing as firestrike and others have said, and make the interrupt multiplier reasonably small. Assuming most damage is 1.0x it should be no bigger than 1.3x and I am leaning towards 1.2x aka 20% more dmg for an interrupt. So if your attack deals 10 dmg, an interrupt would be 12 dmg. That way, halfswings with yellow can serve their purpose once more as timing thingies. Can also consider making halfswing parries take 0 dmg where combo/consecutive swing parries 20% of bodyhit dmg. This way halfswings can be used to do interrupt timings and gain distance.
Another thing to fix the perceived issue of halfswing vs combo spam is to make sure that halfswings are rewarded appropriately with a good BP regen compared to someone that hits 4 swings in a row all the time. It should add up. You know the math and how to do this. (Not flat BP swing costs, god forbid a return to that piece of shit 1.4.4)
Lastly, make all special attacks cost FP again and get rid of the fucking retarded idea that specials should cost BP. They should be an added element that you can throw out now and then to catch the opponent off guard, not a huge gamble where you throw away a chunk of BP on the off chance that you hit the attack. To balance cost with performance BP wise you'd need to make specials deal huge spikey damage, and I've already remarked upon how spikey damage negatively affects dueling.
Oldben's stupid idea about aiming at someone's body to perform a PB could be applied to special attacks, and the PB could be a semi-PB. I don't really care. I just want specials to be more prevalent because they add to the style of duels. Banish the fucking BP cost idea from your mind and add back the FP specials.
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Experimental but gud shit:
ACM removed.
Heal added as a force power for both sides.
Bodyhits drain 2 HP.
PBs give you 1 HP.
