Devs Please consider the balance, maybe some things have been over nerfed and should be adjusted to a middle point.....

[Talos]

I hope the devs can consider that if overnerfing perks/skills or items to the point where they don't do much or last very short times, it takes away from build variety and possibilities. It is understandable if a perk/skill or item is extremely overpowered to tune it down some, but if its effect is tuned down so much that it is barely noticed, it makes the gameplay more bland and boring. Also to be clear, I have no problem with a game being challenging (I have played the souls games back since the original Demon's Souls) - it is just that I would like my perk choices and items to feel like they have an impact I can notice, not to feel insignificant and useless or within the realm of RNG. Here are some recent quotes from other players with similar feelings..

Originally posted by r.kohout:

lot of things are nerfed .. too much for me. 20 sec for more sharpness damage potion - sorry devs - this is maybe for one two hits if you are in open window to hit. makes no sense for me as a normal player. maybe for professinal player ..

Originally posted by Lightbearer:

Agree, I think they over corrected in several areas, especially potions. Previously, 5 minutes was probably way too long, but...20 seconds? There's no point in using it and you're competing for item slots.

I'm all for game balance, but making something that was previously OP (Natural Talent, Vindicator, Arcane Bow/Winged Bow, STR doesn't provide critical damage, etc.) borderline useless isn't a good outcome either.

Originally posted by Napalm®:

Agreed. Kinda glad I was done with the game before all that nerfing.
I did a few tests after and boy oh boy is it bad.

I agree 100% with all these statements.

To start with, I think 2 handed builds and the Vindicator perk were overnerfed because 2 handed builds got hit doubly hard when STR no longer gives crit damage bonus and Vindicator was nerfed to give less damage AND much less crit - it's like 3 levels of significant nerfs all at once to that type of build. Maybe have STR give a smaller bonus to crit dmg but at least let it give some crit dmg bonus - it was a cool part of a STR build's identity - especially since now you made abilities scale from INT, STR should give a little crit dmg bonus I think. For the Vindicator perk effects - I think there can be a middle ground between what it did before and what it does now to help it still feel more useful and have an impact and identity that is felt in a players build choice.

For the concoctions, It is understandable to bring the duration down from 5 minutes, but the reduction was too extreme by taking it to 20 seconds for some - it's not like they triple your damage or do something completely over the top (plus the ingredients are rare so the amount of uses is limited unless you farm a lot, and as another poster mentioned, it is competing for a belt slot etc). Maybe put the damage potions to 45 seconds or 60 seconds duration, and regenerative potions to 90 seconds, and defensive potions to 120 seconds. These suggestions would all be still very significant reductions from the 5 minutes of before, but would at least give more usefulness and be noticeable on mobile bosses where you spend some time moving around or dodging (Imagine the dragon boss who flies in the air to do his abilities. If you are melee and you drink your potion and get 1 or 2 hits then he takes off - now the rest of your concoction is wasted before he lands - and now it seems he was buffed also to take off every 25 seconds instead of every 45 seconds, so better chance to waste the concoction again).

Also, I am not sure I understand why to make all abilities scale off of INT - do even 2 handed weapon skills now scale only from INT? I can understand making some spell type abilities scale from INT, but for weapon skills maybe at least allow some STR scaling for STR type weapons or AGI scaling or something - otherwise its like the game is forcing players to run a balanced stat spread if they want to appreciate decent ability damage and not allowing players to focus on one or two stats if they want to use weapon skills well.

We are already restricted or make sacrifices in how much/often we can use weapon abilities on lower INT builds since they cost flux - but lowering their damage for STR or AGI builds seems very limiting for build diversity if they end up just doing similar damage to a normal crit swing or a heavy attack.

I hope the Devs can consider this information and comments from other players as well, and maybe find a better middle ground with an in between adjustment for some things that may have been adjusted too much downwards, so that we can feel like our items and build choices have more impact. Thanks

[Varuun]

A very well structured argument -- thanks for putting in the effort to make this!

I mostly agree with what you're saying. Perks should make a noticeable difference, and build variety should be promoted.
Reducing concoction times was good, so that it makes a difference to have more available per combat, and to give the tinkerer perk more power, but 20 seconds really is too short. A middle ground between what was before and what is now might truly be best.
I feel like the devs also try to achieve variety in valid builds, so we should keep the constructive criticism coming^^

[Sailor Gloom]

I havent played since patches so I cant comment on how they feel in real scenarios but yeah some seem a little overtuned, 2 handed weapons were strong in 1.0 but I dont think nerfing them into the ground is the answer so much as 1 handed needed to be brought up, which one patch seemed to address a bit with the bonus damage if using a shield.

The buff potions are a radical change, making it from a pre fight buff to something you have to continually apply in second to second gameplay. And until you get a third slot that means no mana potion if you wanna take the buff. Idk, i would have kept a longer duration and maybe made the mats more rare personally

[RexMundi]

You think that stuff needs work, wait until you try Silicon Visage after the last patch...good luck, especially with the near undodgeable meteors that kill you after 3 hits...

[Talos]

Originally posted by Grayther Crake:

A very well structured argument -- thanks for putting in the effort to make this!

I mostly agree with what you're saying. Perks should make a noticeable difference, and build variety should be promoted.

Thank you, I hope they will see all these comments and consider them and find a good middle ground solution that is less extreme.

Originally posted by Sailor Gloom:

I havent played since patches so I cant comment on how they feel in real scenarios but yeah some seem a little overtuned, 2 handed weapons were strong in 1.0 but I dont think nerfing them into the ground is the answer so much as 1 handed needed to be brought up, which one patch seemed to address a bit with the bonus damage if using a shield.

The buff potions are a radical change, making it from a pre fight buff to something you have to continually apply in second to second gameplay. And until you get a third slot that means no mana potion if you wanna take the buff. Idk, i would have kept a longer duration and maybe made the mats more rare personally

Yes in real scenarios with the bosses you might get like one round of a few hits for that 20 second potion, then by the time you dodge or block or avoid a mechanic, the potion is done and over - it really is too short. Also, same goes for the nerf to vindicator - because you need to be safe on boss mechanics, heavy attacks are not as easy to pull off - therefore I think Vindicator was nerfed too much also for those same situations - base vindicator perk is not adding much at all to overall damage output in those boss fights for midgame play.

Originally posted by RexMundi:

You think that stuff needs work, wait until you try Silicon Visage after the last patch...good luck, especially with the near undodgeable meteors that kill you after 3 hits...

Yes I can imagine. Combined effect of him flying and using abilities more, plus player has much shorter potions now which will run out faster when boss flies, plus boss gets better tracking on his spells is a bit much to add all at once - maybe they could have added one or two of those changes instead of all three at once.

[Konstroversial]

I also agree with that post. I don't understand why devs just cut perks and characteristics, forcing us to use other builds instead of balance OP perks/chrtcs and power up another to add variety in gameplay. Worst part for me, I think I'm not alone in such situation, I play maybe 6-10 hours per week and with such radical changes gameplay becomes just boring, frustrating and irritating-damages gone, int scaling ability, can't change perks, concoctions, all of this. What I'm trying to say is that with such rocking decisions I don't wanna play, because I don't have enough time to play with new characters and make new builds, because maybe tomorrow devs will wanna nerf other stuff. It doesn't feels like balance being tuned.

[RexMundi]

Yeahhh, this last patch wasnt the best idea imo...seems there are ALOT of other issues with the game that needed to be addressed/fixed before nerfing stuff and messing with perks, buffs, etc

[Bobby Crocoshoes]

There is a video on the official discord with a guy who play with a two handed build Great Sword (nerf patch) vs Archinquisitor Belisarius.

Max damages: 10k
average damages: 4000

Boss was died in 6 hits... Still one of the strongest build in the game right now.

The potion 20sec (40sec tinkerer) is maybe a bit short 60sec should be fine.

Right now you can craft x2 potion or x3 potion in one craft (depend the potion) and if you have tinkerer this gives you à 20% additionnal chance (so op).

[nopf]

didn´t read everything yet but this needs fixing: summons (don´t seem to scale with intelligence at all, don´t work reliably), illusions (sometimes they don´t attack enemies, or wrong models spawn), abilities aren´t unlocked forever with splinters, now i just accidentally swapped my summon with power armor and i want the summon back without needing to find another couple of splinters. just let us unlock them permanently please

[thedeadmanshow87]

I do absolutely LOVE this game. And I can agree with most of this.. I would like to see some more difficulty again as well..Maybe they are doing this, to make it more accessible for new players of the genre ? The nerfs I mean..

Also, I would love to see some strength scaling powers, instead of strength weapons scaling with intelligence, which then forces the player to spread out stats to get more use of the weapon abilities..Which will then end up with a bunch of non-matching stats and gems in weapons/outfits lol Have to lower strength just to get power from the intelligence scaling of weapon abilities.

Also..Im finding it VERY tough near the end game levels, to find "Essence" anymore..Haven't been able to craft any good gems because I cant find green essence anywhere anymore lol
Good job to these devs though, they have been working very hard on fixing :)

I would love a ng+ as well.

[Bobby Crocoshoes]

Originally posted by thedeadmanshow87:

Also..Im finding it VERY tough near the end game levels, to find "Essence" anymore..Haven't been able to craft any good gems because I cant find green essence anywhere anymore lol
Good job to these devs though, they have been working very hard on fixing :)

I would love a ng+ as well.

Ye if you are already in Vermillion Plaza it's dead....

The best location to farm essence is:

Desert near the temple (Yaroslav npc).

On this spot you have: x2 red knight x2 giant x1 big guy with axe who can drop essence easily.

they are already working on the NG+ they gave us some infos on the official discord.

[Lightbearer]

You can also dissolve +1 gems into Essence from your inventory. Lots of enemies drop these gems, so you likely have a stockpile if you're end game.

[Bobby Crocoshoes]

The video i saw of The 2H weapons (nerf patch)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCHaluHIOXg&feature=youtu.be

[Guts33n]

Originally posted by Bobby Crocoshoes:

The video i saw of The 2H weapons (nerf patch)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCHaluHIOXg&feature=youtu.be

glass cannon melee, peak stupidity to what was before.

[Bobby Crocoshoes]

Originally posted by Guts33n:

Originally posted by Bobby Crocoshoes:

The video i saw of The 2H weapons (nerf patch)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCHaluHIOXg&feature=youtu.be

glass cannon melee, peak stupidity to what was before.

It's still to good.

[Napalm®]

What's the build on that?