The numbers on enemy buffs FEELS unfun

[Zaxori]

I'm probably about halfway through the game and I've just noticed a heavy heavy wall that never seems to stop rising. The enemy monsters, even the wild ones, are heavily buffed and their casted buffs seem to make them ridiculously strong. Like a wild battle should not take me more than 5 minutes to finish. They always seem to be able to one shot me, but if I match them exactly (same buffs, around the same strength/magic) they still way outdamage me. I think the enemies are not balanced, and I even have the game set to casual mode. Some more solid proof of this, I had a monster that was the same breed, same level, and they had double my health. DOUBLE! I don't see how this is ok in the slightest. As a player, you're suppose to be a bit more powerful than all random battles because you have equipment and the monsters don't. This just makes the game more drawn out than it needs to be. As I said before, random battles should not take me 5 minutes each to beat.

And before the "actually" people start flooding this post, I have a pretty balanced team in terms of magic and attack, elements, and shifted in a favorable manner. I tend to build monsters to be powerhouses in the stat that seems to fit them most. For example, My Ucan is lvl 30: 317 ATK, 210MAG, 519DEF, 2710 HP, and 165 MANA. I also want to reiterate the title where I state that this FEELS unbalanced. I know very well that I do not have the full numbers and calculations, but I think it's pretty acceptable to say that it's important for devs to balance around the player rather than the actual numbers. The game needs to feel fun, even if the numbers are in favor of the player. I allso want to say that I really do like this game, hence I'm I posting a gripe in discussion because I see that the Devs have had plans to put in changes.

[Conan The Librarian]

Hey Zaxori-

Some info so I can clarify things for you:

1. We have no plans for further patches on Monster Sanctuary, as we are working on our next project, Aethermancer. Our last patch was 2.1 "Relics of Chaos", which included a large variety of balance changes in it.

2. While buffs/debuffs are important, they are not the cause of your troubles nor "imbalanced".

3. The reason why the numbers are different, is because there are some asymmetrical mechanics at play. To clarify:

Wild Monsters have no equipment, less skills compared to players' mons, and don't benefit from the "combo mechanic" like the player does. Instead, they have bonuses to their HP and things like that. The reasoning behind this is to ensure that the wild monsters "work properly" to fight against. What I mean is: if they benefited from combo mechanic, then their damage would drop too sharply once one of the three were defeated. Regarding health values, they would be defeated too quickly / easily by players otherwise. Essentially, it's an "apples and oranges" situation regarding "the enemy has higher HP than I do", because the game is designed and balanced around that.

Note that monsters in keeper battles do utilize equipment, as a sidenote.

To discuss your strategic situation:

1. The stats your mentioned, while indeed important, are not the focus of the game. You can have decent stats on a monster, but what's more key is its skills, equips, and teammates. Further, while elements are "a factor" in game, they are far less important compared to Pokemon and similar games -- team strategy outweighs the 50% damage boost.

2. If you like reading material, I would recommend these sources:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1851743162

and this Google Drive is a treasure trove of info:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/16cM4T6iUfJRU6QQW4CneI2KuF56VojnF

3. If you desire live-chat with players who would be happy to assist and talk shop, feel free to pop by the Discord here: https://discord.com/invite/9kjbKjT5WS

Hope this helps, around to chat as you like

[Zaxori]

Aww that's sad that they're finished with this but totally understandable. I wasn't really confused about why the monsters were beefed the way that they were, nor was I referencing keeper battles. I don't really agree with this design choice, hence why I said that this is totally a subjective opinion. This thread is kinda debunked after learning that they are finished tuning this game. I thank you for the guide link but I've already gone through a lot of these. None of these really help the issue because it's a mechancial issue not a stat/gear issue. I think my monsters are pretty well equipped and trained so I'm just kind of SOL. I'll have to just bite my tongue grind or give up and leave the game unfinished. I'm trying to bide my patience but it's certainly running out.

[PrimerDimer]

Hey Zaxori. As Conan alluded to, unlike many other RPGs, raw stats are not what determine how powerful a monster is on its own, and even less so within the context of a team. If you'd like a little bit of help to get through, feel free to join the discord through the link Conan posted and send some screenshots of your team and I'd be happy to help you fine-tune it to get the most out of it while keeping the spirit of the team you want to make intact, so you can enjoy the rest of the game without needing to grind

[my butt is erect]

This game is very specific about making someone pay attention to their team synergy. Even if you have up-to-date gear and levels, your characters can still be weak if the team plan isn't connected to itself. Ive been playing on the middle difficulty and and it usually only takes one or 2 tutrns to kill something. I definitely put the battle speed up a lot though. It gets tedious.

These topics are always kinda weird anyway. It's tough because I'm sure in many topics like this people just aren't realizing they're lacking certain deeper connections between their teammates. Most rpgs it doesn't matter quite as much as in this and I think people aren't used to that.

I still think things are too slow and often are drawn out too long, yes. At least for the number of battles you're expected to do to keep up.

[Zaxori]

Yea that's why I tried to explicitly state that my feelings are purely subjective. Balance is one of those things that can be objectively balanced but not subjectively balanced. I might just not be the completely right demographic for the aim of these mechanics. A lot of times it feels like I have to slowly drain each of the monsters every fight and it gets old quick. I like challenge but not when that challenge makes something elongated unnecessarily. I myself really enjoy beating a game underleveled through using clever tactics and exploits. There are many of RPGs where you can beat it easily if you're willing to grind but I fight against that. I try to grind as least as possible unless I have to. I like strategy, but not when the entire game requires you to restrict yourself to certain plays. I like freedom. I could understand having to use a well rounded team for the keeper battles, but when it expands to normal fights that you have to use to level up, that's too much in my opinion. I also just like finding a mechanic that I like and building a team around it. So like having a debuff team, a crit team, defense oriented. Now I still thing I have a pretty well rounded team, but it may not be synergized. I know that I've skipped out a lot on heal bots.

[Gilver Redgrave]

Buffing and Debuffing is the key feature of the combat in this game. If the enemy feel unbalanced you just didnt buff yourself or debuff the enemy.

One of the biggest mistakes people did when this game released was believing its " just another Pokemon clone" aka Flamethrower your way trough the game. Big mistake believing that. People misunderstood this game so absurdly that the Devs even had to create the Easy mode which wasnt a thing at release.

This game first and foremost is an strategie game like Final Fantasy X for example. Its a Monster catcher secondary.

[Zaxori]

Originally posted by Gilver Redgrave:

Buffing and Debuffing is the key feature of the combat in this game. If the enemy feel unbalanced you just didnt buff yourself or debuff the enemy.

One of the biggest mistakes people did when this game released was believing its " just another Pokemon clone" aka Flamethrower your way trough the game. Big mistake believing that. People misunderstood this game so absurdly that the Devs even had to create the Easy mode which wasnt a thing at release.

This game first and foremost is an strategie game like Final Fantasy X for example. Its a Monster catcher secondary.

I did say in my post that I buffed lol. See again I have to reiterate that this purely is just a dislike of the mechanic. To me, I don't feel like you should be forced to employ any strategy in a game. You should be free to adapt to a situation however you like because that adds the most variety to the game. Adds replayability. I also just don't like have to waste time buffing for 3 rounds just to fight a random battle (I say random battle as a similar way to describe the respawnable mobs). It unnecessarily elonggates the game. I can understand doing it for boss battles or keeper battles.

[Gilver Redgrave]

Originally posted by Zaxori:

I don't feel like you should be forced to employ any strategy in a game.

But. Youre not forced ?

You can also debuff the enemy straigh to hell if you like that more. Or you smash their faces in with a nasty Brutus or Troll combo. I mean you have all the options you can dream off here. Thing is you need to switch your team for that.

The one and only restriction you have is the Monstery you use. They decide your gameplay. I had alot of fun playing Toad/Fungi/Vasuki and debuff the hell outta my enemys while at the same time buffing me up.

My advice is play around with the Monsters a little. Find Synergies that are fun for you. And dont just focus on one team forever.

[Zaxori]

No I disagree. I feel locked in to certain strategies a lot of the time, but I'm dregging along. Again, this is just my opinion.

[Gilver Redgrave]

Originally posted by Zaxori:

Again, this is just my opinion.

And there is nothing wrong with that.