My thoughts on the nerfs - disappointed overall
Dec 25, 2019 3:20:19 GMT -6
DSLevantine, exile, and 1 more like this
Post by anoldwizard on Dec 25, 2019 3:20:19 GMT -6
Hi, I beat RotN 100% a few months ago on the Xbox One, still pre-patch, then decided to revisit it after the patch came out. My greatest interest was in the nerfs and possible Valefar fix (fight was very annoying due to performance issues).
I had read a lot of stuff on the nerfs when searching for info on the game and, now that I finally have access to an updated copy (I do not own the game, I played it through while on Game Pass), here are my thoughts:
- Welcome Company was one of the biggest culprits. I think the nerf wasn't well thought out. They cut portraits from lower ranks and made them break more easily. Personally I'd have severely lowered damage power (it's a defensive shard after all, you have no business killing stuff with it) and made the reduction in portrait number, but not changed portrait durability. My point is to keep WC's power but make it require work to improve. In fact the game already blocks you from increasing rank too much with the item requirement at Johannes. So I didn't feel it necessary to hit it this hard.
- Rhava Velar nerf was pointless since you only get it really late in the game. Since Rhava Velar needs 4x Rhava Bural to craft, I'd lower percentage of Rhava Bural drops from Killer Barber, from 4% to 1%. The problem with Rhava Bural and Velar wasn't power, it was how often the monster drops it. At 1% you're very unlikely to get one in a speedrun unless you somehow manipulate RNG and if you farm for one on Nightmare you defeat the purpose of Nightmare in the first place which is to limit grinding by capping your level.
- Now this one made me really sad! Riga Storaema was hit by the nerf to the point of uselessness. It was a fantastic room-clearing shard, perhaps a little too strong, but it seems that, besides the damage nerf, they increased spell cooldown by a lot, effectively killing its utility. Even at 9/9 it simply isn't as viable as other already OP options such as Tis Rozain and Void Ray, which you can fire much faster with pinpoint accuracy (Riga Storaema remains grounded), or Teps Oceus which tracks enemies while doing great damage. And you don't get any of these shards much later than Riga Storaema (in fact you can get Void Ray before fighting Bloodless). I get Riga Storaema is an early game shard but to fully upgrade it you need lots of Ruby and Gold, the latter of which isn't easy to come by. Also worth mentioning that its reverse shard (Va Schia) remains untouched with much shorter cooldown. My suggestion would have been to greatly increase MP expense, considering Teps Salrenda costs like 80MP and has only very specific uses.
- As a consequence, Riga Dohin was also nerfed. It was a powerful shard but it didn't do enough damage to justify the nerf. It doesn't have enough range to work as a room clearer either, instead seeing more use against bosses. It might have made bosses easier, but, if you're running Riga Dohin, you have already grinded a fair bit, so the power it had was justified.
- Didn't feel Chaser Arrow nerf was necessary. It's an overrated shard. Arrows tend to hit walls too often.
- Heretical Grinder nerf could have been handled differently. Make it start weaker, so it doesn't trivialize Craftwork boss, and have it become powerful after grinding for shards. Make rank increase more expensive and maybe increase MP cost. Just because you get it in early game does not mean it should remain weak throughout.
- Not a nerf but increased HP in Dullaheads and Maledictions only serves to please the "Dark Souls" community since the game spams these on you on Hard and above. These enemies are not supposed to take any hits before dying, they're almost like hazards, so it doesn't make sense to increase their HP.
I know bringing this topic up is beating on a dead horse, but balancing patches don't really make much sense in a game like this one. It's very easy to grind your way to victory, so what's the point of these nerfs? Speedrun community is reliant on exploit and "hardcore" community will self-restrict if they find items too OP for their tastes. If this game was going for the same public as a Blasphemous, Hollow Knight or something like that it'd need to be remade from scratch with punishing difficulty as main focus.
Kinda makes me reconsider my desire to purchase it in the future. I did sink 50+ hours in it after all. Great game with vintage style and anime feel but the direction they went in was not the best.
I had read a lot of stuff on the nerfs when searching for info on the game and, now that I finally have access to an updated copy (I do not own the game, I played it through while on Game Pass), here are my thoughts:
- Welcome Company was one of the biggest culprits. I think the nerf wasn't well thought out. They cut portraits from lower ranks and made them break more easily. Personally I'd have severely lowered damage power (it's a defensive shard after all, you have no business killing stuff with it) and made the reduction in portrait number, but not changed portrait durability. My point is to keep WC's power but make it require work to improve. In fact the game already blocks you from increasing rank too much with the item requirement at Johannes. So I didn't feel it necessary to hit it this hard.
- Rhava Velar nerf was pointless since you only get it really late in the game. Since Rhava Velar needs 4x Rhava Bural to craft, I'd lower percentage of Rhava Bural drops from Killer Barber, from 4% to 1%. The problem with Rhava Bural and Velar wasn't power, it was how often the monster drops it. At 1% you're very unlikely to get one in a speedrun unless you somehow manipulate RNG and if you farm for one on Nightmare you defeat the purpose of Nightmare in the first place which is to limit grinding by capping your level.
- Now this one made me really sad! Riga Storaema was hit by the nerf to the point of uselessness. It was a fantastic room-clearing shard, perhaps a little too strong, but it seems that, besides the damage nerf, they increased spell cooldown by a lot, effectively killing its utility. Even at 9/9 it simply isn't as viable as other already OP options such as Tis Rozain and Void Ray, which you can fire much faster with pinpoint accuracy (Riga Storaema remains grounded), or Teps Oceus which tracks enemies while doing great damage. And you don't get any of these shards much later than Riga Storaema (in fact you can get Void Ray before fighting Bloodless). I get Riga Storaema is an early game shard but to fully upgrade it you need lots of Ruby and Gold, the latter of which isn't easy to come by. Also worth mentioning that its reverse shard (Va Schia) remains untouched with much shorter cooldown. My suggestion would have been to greatly increase MP expense, considering Teps Salrenda costs like 80MP and has only very specific uses.
- As a consequence, Riga Dohin was also nerfed. It was a powerful shard but it didn't do enough damage to justify the nerf. It doesn't have enough range to work as a room clearer either, instead seeing more use against bosses. It might have made bosses easier, but, if you're running Riga Dohin, you have already grinded a fair bit, so the power it had was justified.
- Didn't feel Chaser Arrow nerf was necessary. It's an overrated shard. Arrows tend to hit walls too often.
- Heretical Grinder nerf could have been handled differently. Make it start weaker, so it doesn't trivialize Craftwork boss, and have it become powerful after grinding for shards. Make rank increase more expensive and maybe increase MP cost. Just because you get it in early game does not mean it should remain weak throughout.
- Not a nerf but increased HP in Dullaheads and Maledictions only serves to please the "Dark Souls" community since the game spams these on you on Hard and above. These enemies are not supposed to take any hits before dying, they're almost like hazards, so it doesn't make sense to increase their HP.
I know bringing this topic up is beating on a dead horse, but balancing patches don't really make much sense in a game like this one. It's very easy to grind your way to victory, so what's the point of these nerfs? Speedrun community is reliant on exploit and "hardcore" community will self-restrict if they find items too OP for their tastes. If this game was going for the same public as a Blasphemous, Hollow Knight or something like that it'd need to be remade from scratch with punishing difficulty as main focus.
Kinda makes me reconsider my desire to purchase it in the future. I did sink 50+ hours in it after all. Great game with vintage style and anime feel but the direction they went in was not the best.
yey