Post by smuggers on Feb 27, 2020 5:57:36 GMT
*Deflects Shuriken!* I'm still fighting the medics off from my last post, and I'm risking another wealth of trouble here, but I shall fight for my cause!
Hello! So, for this post I'll be doing a deep dive into Summons and their current flaws, puppets and then we'll be looking at Sage Mode as a transformation. While less important than my last post, it's is still an important topic of discussion for sheer balancing and for future wipes.
So, we'll start with Summons. Here's an example of an A-Ranked Summon; we'll use the strongest one, Manda.
Right! So, Manda's strongest, and only, attack is a 70 Agility, 40 Power move that deals an additional 10 over the span of two turns. His second ability is only useful against summoning creatures. Bare in mind, this Summoning Creature costs 15 PP and 6 RPP.
Next, we'll look into an A-Rank Puppet, which I shall only create utilizing the Puppeteer Guide, and then I'll show you a custom puppet which a player has created. These Puppets cost 7 PP and 20k Minerals. Minerals can be gained rather easily, especially through trading, and shouldn't be held in much regard when discussing the balance of the puppets.
Puppets rely on the User's Statistics to be high enough. I shall utilize the statistics of a normal B-Rank Character to determine the capabilities of this puppet. The Health is 170, the Speed is 90 (70 Control, Hyper Speed Modifier), the Agility is 70 and it can do 45 Power at 80 Speed in an AoE. Now, this puppet alone is stronger than Manda. It has higher hit-points, higher speed, it can fly and fire down 45 damage every turn. Now, rather than nerfing puppets, I'd simply buff Summons. Gamabunta was capable of contending with the Shukaku, albeit briefly, and Summons are at least comparable to Bijuu. (Gamabunta and Manda would be able to fight two-on-one against a majority of Bijuu and win.) As it stands, the Summons are about as strong as a B-Rank Character, but they only have one or two moves that aren't even remotely useful in terms of damage and high-level players merely avoid them. 'Legendary-Rank Summons' aren't very Legendary at the moment.
Now I'll move on to my second issue, which is Puppets themselves (and, equally, puppeteers). Now, a player has been utilizing two A-Ranked Puppets in a turn, which is fine, they both take a single arm to control. However, after attacking with these puppets and utilizing both abilities, the player themselves is attacking with unrelated Ninjutsu. While this may simply be a matter of admins overlooking it, which I doubt considering the frequency of these spars/actions, I think that this should be addressed. In a single turn, the player is capable of throwing out three attacks exceeding eighty speed with incredible damage, while not paying any kind of chakra cost for two of the attacks. Additionally, the Puppet Body perk grants the user +10 Vitality (+100 HP) and, with this, a huge, huge, huge wealth of Chakra, equal to Day 1 Jinchuuriki. The downsides of the Puppet Body perk are obvious, in that the player receives -20 Speed and -100 Endurance. However, these are both circumvented by the user sitting inside a flying puppet and using it as a 200 HP Shell. In order to receive the most benefits from Puppeteer, two A-Rank Puppets and Puppet Body, you pay 34 PP and 6 RPP.
My suggestion for Puppeteer is this; disallow the use of Flying Puppets for the user to ride in, remove the additional Chakra granted by their Vitality (while this makes sense for a majority of the playerbase, who must work incredibly hard to reach even 150 HP, it isn't fair for Puppet Body to instantly grant such a huge modifier to chakra reserves) and place it in concrete rules that the user can't attack if their hands are full with puppets. If you're utilizing a single A-Rank Puppet and have one-handed seals, or perhaps a fan, then that would be fine but when you're riding inside a puppet to use its speed, attacking with two A-Rank puppets in a turn and then throwing out your own Ninjutsu, it gets far too oppressive and powerful.
And just for a brief gander, we'll look at a custom puppet a player created, to show the disparity between what's being offered in the Puppeteer Guide and what's being given.
10 Chakra Strings, requiring two hands, yet the user is capable of attacking after they've utilized the puppet's abilities. 80 Speed, 80 Power and slight variations of this are common with AoEs, Knockbacks, Roots and Burns. With the CD's on the techniques and their similar stats, the user can simply chain the techniques for five turns, with a single break, and then the chain would go again.
While I'm not advocating for nerfing puppets themselves, I'm advocating for a nerf to Puppet Body and to disallow cheesy tactics to eek out three attacks per round with two A-Rank Puppets and the User attacking.
And now, only my final point. Sage Mode. Let's take a brief look at Sage Mode's stats, granted by the Summoning Animals in the Summons Guide.
Snake Sage Mode is similar to this, though it grants slightly more strength/less control, so I don't feel the need to post it. So, let's dissect this. The big part is it requiring at least a single summon to utilize. At the very least, getting Toad Sage mode would cost the user 8 RPP, 20 PP. However, this would end with you gaining a near-useless C-Rank Summon. Most players using this would grab an A-Rank Summon, which ends with Sage Mode resting at 12 RPP, 30 PP to obtain. As stated previously, the A-Rank Summons themselves can simply be shredded by anyone B+ Rank or higher, which is a majority of the players in the game.
Now, let's look at a similar technique, the Basaka Sage Transformation.
An A-Rank Technique used by the Basaka. This costs 8 RPP flat, and no PP. It's an instant-cast and doesn't require the use of an actual summoning nor does it cost anything to use. The boosts are higher than Sage Mode's own, while also allowing the overcapping of every technique in their arsenal by 10 power. It lasts for the entirety of combat. While some might argue that Madness is a large factor in this, a majority of fights are one-on-one and even if it isn't, players simply RP rushing towards whoever's their enemy and saying that they remained the closest to them the entire time. Sage Transformation can also simply be cancelled if need be, and the madness instantly dissolves at the end of a fight. Only at 6 Stacks of Madness does it truly become an issue.
Now, to compare these two is night and day. Base Sage Mode, it requires at the very least 8 RPP and 20 PP, which is the cost of Sage Transformation and an additional Ultimate-level perk, or a whopping 12 RPP and 30 PP. Why aren't players seeing a reward for their investment? Lower stats, and a 5 turn time limit, and it can only be utilized once per combat. My solution to this is simple.
Sage Mode requires buffs to be equal to the techniques on its level. An increase to at least +10 Across the board with +15 in its major stats. Increase the turn duration to 8 or allow players to re-pay the costs of summoning the toads to keep them around for longer. Players are investing a ridiculous amount of points into this ability and it should shine through, rather than acting as a buff which is comparable to non-rare A-Rank Buffs.
tl;dr, buff Summons, nerf Puppet Body, buff Sage Mode.
Hello! So, for this post I'll be doing a deep dive into Summons and their current flaws, puppets and then we'll be looking at Sage Mode as a transformation. While less important than my last post, it's is still an important topic of discussion for sheer balancing and for future wipes.
So, we'll start with Summons. Here's an example of an A-Ranked Summon; we'll use the strongest one, Manda.
Manda (Legendary-Rank Snake Summon; 500 Chakra Summoning Cost)
Manda is colored purple, and had black rings running down intervals on his body. He had massive fangs, though they were arranged in a way similar to that of a constrictor snake instead of a viper or other venomous snake species, presumably carrying venom in them from the way they were designed, and green eyes. He also had four horn-like protrusions on his head.
*Summon Statistics - 120 Health | 70 Agility | 80 Speed | Size: 3 tiles wide, 6 tiles long
*Snake Bite (Physical Strike) - 40 Power (Inflicts a poison that does -5 health per turn for 2 turns)
**Snake Bind - Manda can wrap around another summon and hold it in place do to his massive size. Can only be avoided if the summon has more speed then Manda.
Manda is colored purple, and had black rings running down intervals on his body. He had massive fangs, though they were arranged in a way similar to that of a constrictor snake instead of a viper or other venomous snake species, presumably carrying venom in them from the way they were designed, and green eyes. He also had four horn-like protrusions on his head.
*Summon Statistics - 120 Health | 70 Agility | 80 Speed | Size: 3 tiles wide, 6 tiles long
*Snake Bite (Physical Strike) - 40 Power (Inflicts a poison that does -5 health per turn for 2 turns)
**Snake Bind - Manda can wrap around another summon and hold it in place do to his massive size. Can only be avoided if the summon has more speed then Manda.
Next, we'll look into an A-Rank Puppet, which I shall only create utilizing the Puppeteer Guide, and then I'll show you a custom puppet which a player has created. These Puppets cost 7 PP and 20k Minerals. Minerals can be gained rather easily, especially through trading, and shouldn't be held in much regard when discussing the balance of the puppets.
Puppet Statistics: Health: 70 Health / Size: 3x3, 2 tiles high / Flyable
Puppet Ability 1: Chakra Shield (100 HP)
Puppet Ability 2: Hyper Speed Modifier (+20 Speed)
Puppet Ability 3: Explosive Tag Launcher (45 Power; 80 Speed; 3x3 Aoe damage at point of impact)
Puppet Ability 4: Giant Axe (40 Power)
Puppet Ability 1: Chakra Shield (100 HP)
Puppet Ability 2: Hyper Speed Modifier (+20 Speed)
Puppet Ability 3: Explosive Tag Launcher (45 Power; 80 Speed; 3x3 Aoe damage at point of impact)
Puppet Ability 4: Giant Axe (40 Power)
Now I'll move on to my second issue, which is Puppets themselves (and, equally, puppeteers). Now, a player has been utilizing two A-Ranked Puppets in a turn, which is fine, they both take a single arm to control. However, after attacking with these puppets and utilizing both abilities, the player themselves is attacking with unrelated Ninjutsu. While this may simply be a matter of admins overlooking it, which I doubt considering the frequency of these spars/actions, I think that this should be addressed. In a single turn, the player is capable of throwing out three attacks exceeding eighty speed with incredible damage, while not paying any kind of chakra cost for two of the attacks. Additionally, the Puppet Body perk grants the user +10 Vitality (+100 HP) and, with this, a huge, huge, huge wealth of Chakra, equal to Day 1 Jinchuuriki. The downsides of the Puppet Body perk are obvious, in that the player receives -20 Speed and -100 Endurance. However, these are both circumvented by the user sitting inside a flying puppet and using it as a 200 HP Shell. In order to receive the most benefits from Puppeteer, two A-Rank Puppets and Puppet Body, you pay 34 PP and 6 RPP.
My suggestion for Puppeteer is this; disallow the use of Flying Puppets for the user to ride in, remove the additional Chakra granted by their Vitality (while this makes sense for a majority of the playerbase, who must work incredibly hard to reach even 150 HP, it isn't fair for Puppet Body to instantly grant such a huge modifier to chakra reserves) and place it in concrete rules that the user can't attack if their hands are full with puppets. If you're utilizing a single A-Rank Puppet and have one-handed seals, or perhaps a fan, then that would be fine but when you're riding inside a puppet to use its speed, attacking with two A-Rank puppets in a turn and then throwing out your own Ninjutsu, it gets far too oppressive and powerful.
And just for a brief gander, we'll look at a custom puppet a player created, to show the disparity between what's being offered in the Puppeteer Guide and what's being given.
Puppet Statistics: Health: 70 Health / Size: 3X3, 2 tiles high / Flyable / Talkable
Puppet Ability 1: 'Exabyte' Body (+100 HP, -10 Movement Speed)
Puppet Ability 2: Caledfwlch Dive (3 Tile Barge - 80 Power, 80 Speed, 4 Tile Knockback, Inflicts Root, 2 Turn CD)
Puppet Ability 3: Pendragon's Glory (Fire - 70 Power, 90 Speed, 3 Tile Wide, Goes up to 6 Tiles, Inflicts Burn, 2 Turn CD)
Puppet Ability 4: Dragonic Impact (Fire - 80 Power, 80 Speed, 7x7 infront of Puppet, 3 Turn CD)
The Largest Puppet - Exa uses 10 Chakra Strings (2 Hands) . To activate Exa's abilities cost 300 chakra each.
Puppet Ability 1: 'Exabyte' Body (+100 HP, -10 Movement Speed)
Puppet Ability 2: Caledfwlch Dive (3 Tile Barge - 80 Power, 80 Speed, 4 Tile Knockback, Inflicts Root, 2 Turn CD)
Puppet Ability 3: Pendragon's Glory (Fire - 70 Power, 90 Speed, 3 Tile Wide, Goes up to 6 Tiles, Inflicts Burn, 2 Turn CD)
Puppet Ability 4: Dragonic Impact (Fire - 80 Power, 80 Speed, 7x7 infront of Puppet, 3 Turn CD)
The Largest Puppet - Exa uses 10 Chakra Strings (2 Hands) . To activate Exa's abilities cost 300 chakra each.
While I'm not advocating for nerfing puppets themselves, I'm advocating for a nerf to Puppet Body and to disallow cheesy tactics to eek out three attacks per round with two A-Rank Puppets and the User attacking.
And now, only my final point. Sage Mode. Let's take a brief look at Sage Mode's stats, granted by the Summoning Animals in the Summons Guide.
Fukasaku and Shima (Legendary-Rank Toad Summon; 500 Chakra Summoning Cost)
Fukasaku and Shima are the Two great Sage Toads. When summoned, they fuse into their summoners shoulders and channel natural energy while the summoner is in combat. Shima has a green underside with purple marking around her mouth and the back of her body. Fukasaku is a green toad with white hair styled in somewhat of a mohawk, very thick eyebrows and a small goatee.
*Summoning Fukasaku and Shima activates Toad Sage mode instantly upon summon.
**Toad Sage Meditation - While summoned, Fukasaku and Shima draw in natural chakra for the summoner, granting them +400 chakra per turn (can overcap)
**Toad Sage Mode - Gives the user +4 Strength, +12 Control, +10 Speed, +6 Agility, +12 Endurance. Lasts 5 turns.
This summon requires the user to own at least 1 toad summon before it can be purchased.
Fukasaku and Shima are the Two great Sage Toads. When summoned, they fuse into their summoners shoulders and channel natural energy while the summoner is in combat. Shima has a green underside with purple marking around her mouth and the back of her body. Fukasaku is a green toad with white hair styled in somewhat of a mohawk, very thick eyebrows and a small goatee.
*Summoning Fukasaku and Shima activates Toad Sage mode instantly upon summon.
**Toad Sage Meditation - While summoned, Fukasaku and Shima draw in natural chakra for the summoner, granting them +400 chakra per turn (can overcap)
**Toad Sage Mode - Gives the user +4 Strength, +12 Control, +10 Speed, +6 Agility, +12 Endurance. Lasts 5 turns.
This summon requires the user to own at least 1 toad summon before it can be purchased.
Now, let's look at a similar technique, the Basaka Sage Transformation.
(A-Rank) Sage Transformation is a way of attaining Sage Mode, using a bodily reaction exhibited by members of the Basaka clan. By exposing their special body fluids to natural energy, they gain increased physical capabilities and the ability to perform various shape-shifting feats.
Speed: Instant Cast | Effect: Gives the user +13 Strength, +10 Control, +15 Speed, +10 Agility, +15 Endurance, and +10 Stamina. The user receives +4 stacks of Madness (up to 6 stacks total).
Madness - At 3 stacks of madness this character must attack the nearest person to them, regardless of who it is. At 6 stacks of madness, this character must attack everyone until either they are the last ones standing, or they are knocked out. 6 stacks of madness is the cap and lasts until the end of combat.
While in this state all Basaka Clan techniques can overcap a max of 10 (This means if using Piston Fist which is User's Strength +10 [Capped at 40], it is now Capped at 50 etc.). This also applies to piercing techniques, adding a max of +10 max piercing damage for the single technique.
Speed: Instant Cast | Effect: Gives the user +13 Strength, +10 Control, +15 Speed, +10 Agility, +15 Endurance, and +10 Stamina. The user receives +4 stacks of Madness (up to 6 stacks total).
Madness - At 3 stacks of madness this character must attack the nearest person to them, regardless of who it is. At 6 stacks of madness, this character must attack everyone until either they are the last ones standing, or they are knocked out. 6 stacks of madness is the cap and lasts until the end of combat.
While in this state all Basaka Clan techniques can overcap a max of 10 (This means if using Piston Fist which is User's Strength +10 [Capped at 40], it is now Capped at 50 etc.). This also applies to piercing techniques, adding a max of +10 max piercing damage for the single technique.
Now, to compare these two is night and day. Base Sage Mode, it requires at the very least 8 RPP and 20 PP, which is the cost of Sage Transformation and an additional Ultimate-level perk, or a whopping 12 RPP and 30 PP. Why aren't players seeing a reward for their investment? Lower stats, and a 5 turn time limit, and it can only be utilized once per combat. My solution to this is simple.
Sage Mode requires buffs to be equal to the techniques on its level. An increase to at least +10 Across the board with +15 in its major stats. Increase the turn duration to 8 or allow players to re-pay the costs of summoning the toads to keep them around for longer. Players are investing a ridiculous amount of points into this ability and it should shine through, rather than acting as a buff which is comparable to non-rare A-Rank Buffs.
tl;dr, buff Summons, nerf Puppet Body, buff Sage Mode.
