Archery skill is broken?

Lnbn93":ufo3drjg said:

It can be clearly seen that the damage of a Ranged Rogue at level 100 is a huge number. What is your opinion guys?

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And exactly how long do you think it will take to get a character to Level 100? The game is designed to be completed around Level 20 (plus or minus a bit) so at the design end-of-content level, Archers are reasonably balanced. For this thread, we're side stepping the regen issue with trapped or corned enemies.

At Level 100, ANY character is a game-breaking beast. Heck, at Level 30, any class is a game-breaker. Take a Level 30 2-H Warrior with Body Development. Insane damage, Insane HP (excess of 1,000). Game breaker builds are not part of the balanced equation. Can you imagine trying to make a game that was challenged for Level 100 characters AND still be playable by people with normal level progression?

Also, keep in mind that while the Level cap was removed, the TRAIT CAP REMAINS (I think, someone double check me on the current version). So at a certain point, a character has Traits set at 12 across the board.

VDX_360":27pkjl3t said:

Lnbn93":27pkjl3t said:

Game breaker builds are not part of the balanced equation. Can you imagine trying to make a game that was challenged for Level 100 characters AND still be playable by people with normal level progression?

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IMO, if a level is possible to reach in a game, it should be somewhat balanced, otherwise its existence is pointless.
Maybe lvl >20 will be useful in the future, with the new areas.
Adding a cap to the skill damage or some diminishing returns would be a good idea.

phaolo":1i4lxg6g said:

...if a level is possible to reach in a game, it should be somewhat balanced, otherwise its existence is pointless.

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Insane levels in any game are, to quote your word choice, "pointless" in pretty much every game. EK is no different. EK is not, and has never been intended, to be an open ended game. The level cap was removed a few updates ago but was never intended to suggest future content that would take into consideration a Level 100 character.

And the time requirement to reach Level 25, makes it highly unlikely more than a few players will reach that level. Fewer still will reach Level 30. Planning for the one or two players that will spend hundreds of hours grinding to reach Level 100 is not a realistic option.

On a similar note, no boss battle presumes a player will use 100 top tier healing potions, even through it's possible to bring that many into a fight. Potions, like levels, are taking into consideration for a typical range or use, but there' s no planning for the extremes.

VDX_360":q2a8wwgr said:

phaolo":q2a8wwgr said:

...if a level is possible to reach in a game, it should be somewhat balanced, otherwise its existence is pointless.

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The level cap was removed a few updates ago but was never intended to suggest future content that would take into consideration a Level 100 character.
And the time requirement to reach Level 25, makes it highly unlikely more than a few players will reach that level. Fewer still will reach Level 30.

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My point wan't:
balance level 100 even if playing after 30 is pointless
but more like:
balance all reasonable levels and put a cap for the pointless ones.

Why was it even removed in the first place?

phaolo":17oe1r5t said:

balance all reasonable levels and put a cap for the pointless ones.
Why was it even removed in the first place?

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Oh, that's a crucial clarification. Thanks.

Your first point, balance all reasonable levels and put a cap for the pointless ones echoes the Developer's first thoughts and why there was a level cap in the first place. The cap was removed by popular demand (lots of players insisted on it). Granted, the game was still pre-v1.0 so as updates unfolded, there wasn't much for players to do except grind for levels and gear or play through again. Resulted in a lot of max or near max level characters.

The cap being gone doesn't seem to hurt anyone. For the players that want to grind till their eyes pop out, they can. For everyone else, they'll complete the game when they do. And the time it takes to level after mid-20's is huge so it's a natural deterrent.

VDX_360":34mw00fp said:

The cap being gone doesn't seem to hurt anyone. For the players that want to grind till their eyes pop out, they can. For everyone else, they'll complete the game when they do.

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True, but IMO such choice gives the game a slightly unpolished feeling.
100 possible levels whilst only 30 have meaning feel like (some) modern "open world" titles with an empty wold.
I prefer to reach a satisfying max level, instead of abandoning a game because leveling up has become pointless.
Luckly there's an clear ending now, at least.
Anyway, if people still really want it.. it's ok, I guess.

Removing the level cap I think introduces the possibilities of future changes. I'd say put the cap back as lv 30 (since it's takes so long to get there anyways). That way when David does add new content it'll be say lv 25-30 content. Then he can change the cap to lv 35, and then repeat: new content, change in lv cap. I'd rather wait for the new content then reach the old level cap, that way it'll still be challenging.

As much as I love grinding, I don't have it in me to keep grinding for hours on end simply for the sake of gaining more levels. "Especially as there isn't currently anything new to put it towards"- completed current content player

My to-do list is to complete a playthrough of each play-style with each type of class: ranged rogue, melee rouge, 2h-warrior, SnS warrior, offensive cleric, defensive cleric, haven't tried a mage yet. Then complete an ironman run with each class type: warrior, cleric, rouge, mage.

Doing this will keep me entertained and invested as new updates and content continues to keep coming out. I also spend my off-time helping update the wiki and help to answer questions and comments here on the forums.

I invite anyone else to help with the wiki and forums if you're feeling a momentary lull in your playing.

Anyways, the Archery skill is not broken but really fun to use~