I'll probably post a few things regarding balance in the near future.. here's one of those.
The way majormud is right now, many bosses are unbalanced. They're either too hard, or too easy. This is a text game with bad message filters (thus forcing people to read thru a lot of spam during big fights).. sometimes fights with 6 people could get tedius if they last more than a couple of rounds. Imagine 12 people... but I digress...
My point is, metro (and probably some of you as well, I don't know as I've yet to find a balanced mud that I'd enjoy) likes to makes bosses whored, where luck plays a big factor in the kill. Examples are numerous.. I'll use one of the biggest whores here -- Zanthus. Insta-kill, room drain for 400+ healing him for 1600+. That shit is unacceptable in a game where 400 is usually 60-80% of your hitpoints. When you go in to fight Zanthus, it's a 50-50 chance. If he drains the room, you lose. If he doesn't, you win. (ie, hope for a 1 round fight).
So, here's my question for you all. How to make a boss balanced enough so killing him will rely on having on technique and not luck?
Balance -- boss difficulty [Archive] - ForumsHQ
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Gray Mouser
Re: Balance -- boss difficulty [Archive] - ForumsHQ
Give them less instant kill spells, make their confusion, stun, etc last only 2, not 4 rounds. Give them more hps and a tad more hp regen. This will keep the monster around longer for you to deal out more damage to them, yet wont instant kill you or make you unable to attack for rounds, then get re-cocconed... Dont necc raise their mr or ac, as if you do then it will only make them harder to hit. I alwasy thought if you confuse something and it gets 5 swings, then it should have a chance to confuse on each of the swings, not the entire round. Each swing is an act in itself, if you think about it. And why the heck do you fumble in confusing when you type st or par or heres the tricky one, LOOK.
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Rust In Peace
Re: Balance -- boss difficulty [Archive] - ForumsHQ
Metro isn't bad with insta-kill spells. Vampire and mindslayer insta-kill under certain % of hps is great, and fits the monster.
And Gray's right about confusion. It lasts way too long, and heavily shifts odds against the PC's. It needs to last 2-4 rounds, stun being 2 rounds max. Code for confusion needs to be reworked as well in the way you described (roll confusion for each swing) -- but I think that's an old pet pieve of just about everybody here.
Pretty much all negative spells that influence the character's ability to function should be made shorter. Spells like confusion, fear(!), convultions(!!). I don't have a problem with slow, poison, disease (in fact, some should be made longer and harder to cure.. like when mod6 first came out and it took 3 cures to get the poison off), weakness, as they still allow you unrestricted input into the game. You just do the actions slower, etc, depending on the spell.
But I digress... Point is, bosses need to be challenging, and they need to be defeated with technique and/or strategy, not luck.
Many bosses do *insane* damage/round. Many are capable of rounding 80% of characters that go in against them. Their damage/round needs to be decreased to a reasonable amount (ave 300-400/round, tops). On a side note, with this, high level spells need to heal a LOT more. In turn, the boss' max hp and hp regen needs to increase by a lot. This way, the monsters will wear down the PC's, and unless PC's come prepared, they will die. Plus, fights will last for more than a couple rounds and will rely on how the players act round to round, rather than a few lucky crits.
Have more bosses act ala Darken Beast Lord. There's plenty of innovative ways to use this idea to make challenging, yet not whored encounters.
I'm sure there's no support for this yet, but I'd like to see some -- monsters doing certain things only when they're below a certain health % and usually 1-time only. Borrowing the idea from EQ -- once low on health, npcs would go on a rampage or a flurry of more accurate and/or damaging attacks for a round or two.. as a last resort kinda thing.
I had more, but I can't think of them. Took me 3 hours to type this up as is because *gasp* it's actually been busy here at work today!
And Gray's right about confusion. It lasts way too long, and heavily shifts odds against the PC's. It needs to last 2-4 rounds, stun being 2 rounds max. Code for confusion needs to be reworked as well in the way you described (roll confusion for each swing) -- but I think that's an old pet pieve of just about everybody here.
Pretty much all negative spells that influence the character's ability to function should be made shorter. Spells like confusion, fear(!), convultions(!!). I don't have a problem with slow, poison, disease (in fact, some should be made longer and harder to cure.. like when mod6 first came out and it took 3 cures to get the poison off), weakness, as they still allow you unrestricted input into the game. You just do the actions slower, etc, depending on the spell.
But I digress... Point is, bosses need to be challenging, and they need to be defeated with technique and/or strategy, not luck.
Many bosses do *insane* damage/round. Many are capable of rounding 80% of characters that go in against them. Their damage/round needs to be decreased to a reasonable amount (ave 300-400/round, tops). On a side note, with this, high level spells need to heal a LOT more. In turn, the boss' max hp and hp regen needs to increase by a lot. This way, the monsters will wear down the PC's, and unless PC's come prepared, they will die. Plus, fights will last for more than a couple rounds and will rely on how the players act round to round, rather than a few lucky crits.
Have more bosses act ala Darken Beast Lord. There's plenty of innovative ways to use this idea to make challenging, yet not whored encounters.
I'm sure there's no support for this yet, but I'd like to see some -- monsters doing certain things only when they're below a certain health % and usually 1-time only. Borrowing the idea from EQ -- once low on health, npcs would go on a rampage or a flurry of more accurate and/or damaging attacks for a round or two.. as a last resort kinda thing.
I had more, but I can't think of them. Took me 3 hours to type this up as is because *gasp* it's actually been busy here at work today!
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Rust In Peace
Re: Balance -- boss difficulty [Archive] - ForumsHQ
Wow.. thought this would get more response than this... Guess most of you are satisfied with how easy most bosses are.
Personally, I don't think big "boss" dragons should be 2 rounded by a 6 person party (as is shown in the cap forum).. Takes the challenge and fun out, and makes the game mechanical.. but that's just me, I guess..
Personally, I don't think big "boss" dragons should be 2 rounded by a 6 person party (as is shown in the cap forum).. Takes the challenge and fun out, and makes the game mechanical.. but that's just me, I guess..
Re: Balance -- boss difficulty [Archive] - ForumsHQ
Well..consider..those dragon's weren't really made for ultra-high levels, and everyone in those caps are 60+..some 70+.
All ya need to do to make em harder is up AC/DR and HPs/HP regen
All ya need to do to make em harder is up AC/DR and HPs/HP regen