Post by Erwin on Mar 31, 2015 23:26:00 GMT -8
Good morning all. I'll start this thread by saying that beginners have always been the sort of "Black Sheep of the Family," if you will. And it's become something of the skeleton on the closet: everyone knows how weak beginners are currently endgame, but nobody wants to address it, perhaps because of how obvious of a problem it is. A level 140 beginner, for instance, has neither the massive AoE damage of archmages or bishops, the speed boost of buccaneers, the utility of dark knights or bowmasters, the damage of nightlords or corsairs, among a variety of other things. Sadly, a level 140 beginner will be vastly out-dpsed by every other class in the game. This is not an opinion, but rather a fact which someone like Ace can confirm for you. With numbers. And they don't lie.
So what are my proposed changes to the beginner class? For starters, I like the fact that they currently are designed to fill the niche of "Onion Knight" in that they are supposed to be a difficult to level class which reaps high rewards at the end. While the former goal has without a doubt been accomplished already in droves, it is the latter which quite obviously needs fixing. By my estimation, it would take the average beginner roughly 133.7 times as long to reach level 120 as the average, say, sniper. And snipers level slowly, so you know that they're in a bad place leveling-wise--you want that leveling to pay off, right? So here's where my suggestions come in.
1. Keep the core functionality of their core skills intact for most of the game. Up until level 120, I propose that we leave the mighty Three Snails, Nimble Feet, and Recovery unchanged. After all, this fits in with the general theme of being difficult to level.
2. Give beginners a job advancement at level 120. My proposition is to make them unique in this aspect: have only one job advancement the entire game, and make it count. At level 120, beginners can undergo a special job advancement quest where they talk to Teo in Lith Harbor and are sent back to Maple Island to do every quest fifty times, after which they will be bestowed the glorious title of their first and only job advancement, Noob. That's right, all your hard work will be put towards becoming a Noob for life.
3. I propose the following skills be given upgrades upon level 120:
3.a. Nimble Feet is upgraded to give a permanent +80 speed boost and +30 jump boost. This is higher than is attainable even by GMs, and should help the Noob class greatly in their mobility. Oh, also, this skill should be upgraded into a permanent passive which the Noob can choose to toggle on and off at will. This effect will also grant a permanent 100% Power Stance effect and all its effects will transfer to JQs and other such places where normally such buffs would not apply.
3.b. Recovery's name is changed to Rapid Regeneration and provides a permanent +1000 health/second recovery effect. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that beginners naturally aren't good money makers, so this should assist in keeping a stable money supply by allowing the Noob to forego potions.
3.c. Three Snails is changed to Four Snails and all of its damage ratios are increased by 1,000,000%. This means that a regular snail shell would do 100,000 damage instead of 10; a blue snail shell would do 250,000 damage instead of 25; and a red snail shell would do 400,000 damage instead of 40. In addition to this, the "fourth" snail comes in when the Noob has a Rainbow Snail Shell in his or her inventory. As we all know, this shell can only be found from Mano. If used, it turns the player into an otherwise harmless red snail, but if a Noob uses the Rainbow Snail Shell, he or she will be granted invulnerability while in the red snail form; however, he or she will be unable to attack as well. If used in conjunction with the skill "Four Snails," it will do 10,000,000 damage to the first target it hits. Furthermore, players can select which artillery they will use at any given time, so as to adjust to their current supply of shells.
4. Noobs upon job advancement will automatically be granted with the maximum possible hit points and magic points. This one shouldn't need any explanation.
5. Noobs upon job advancement will automatically be given 300 AP. Again, this shouldn't merit any explanation because it should be obvious.
6. I propose that all weapons level 100 and above should be able to be used by beginners. Keep the class requirements as they are otherwise unchanged, though; i.e. a Timeless Executioners can be wielded by a level 120 Beginner or a level 120 Warrior. Oh, and equipping any weapon which is not beginner-specific will grant the Noob class every skill of every class branch of that corresponding class (not that the Noob will need this anyway, as you will soon see). This includes, for example, every dark knight, paladin, hero, dragon knight, white knight, crusader, et al. skill if a beginner equips, say, a Pinaka.
6. I propose the following skills be added to this new class' skillbook: (and none of them will require any of that silly "skillbook" or "mastery book" jazz; they will be granted immediately upon advancement). None of these will require any skill points invested in them either, and will have their listed effects automatically.
6.1. Razor Sharp Eyes grants a team-wide buff: for 300 seconds, increases the critical rate of everyone in the party by 100%, and makes critical hits do +100% damage. Part of what made beginners previously undesirable was their lack of utility in a party-setting. Razor Sharp Eyes should partly remedy this, and I hope you will agree.
6.2. Mushroom Bomb is the Noob's equivalent to Genesis, Meteor Shower, and Blizzard. It hits up to 30 enemies on screen with a basic attack of 1000, using a swarm of orange, green, and blue mushrooms which fall from the sky and all explode upon impact. You see, another area in which I felt that beginners were lacking was in AoE damage. With Mushroom Bomb, this problem should largely be solved and Noobs will be able to be valuable asset in a grinding setting as well.
6.3. Bob the Snail allows the Noob to summon the most powerful familiar in the game to date, the legendary Bob the Snail. Bob the Snail can attack up to six enemies at once and has a basic attack of 250. It can spew flames, randomly stun enemies across the map, can fly, and is all around awesome.
6.4. Quadruple Throw is a passive skill which allows the Noob to throw up to four snail shells at once. With the release of this skill, I anticipate that many less people will feel drawn to Night Lords and instead flock to the Noob class. No longer will Night Lords reign at the top of the food chain for single-target DPS!
6.5. In case these skills are not appealing enough and the Noob still opts to attack with his normal weapon, Neutral Charge should provide an equally powerful option by imbuing the equipped weapon with a damage increase of 1000% against all enemies.
6.6. And to help compensate for the general lack of melee abilities which has plagued beginners from levels 1-120, I propose one final skill: Outlandish, which can hit three enemies up to two times for 500% damage on each strike. Outlandish will have the same range as the hero's Brandish and will cost 0 MP, like every other Noob skill.
7. Lastly, I propose that all snail shells (Excluding rainbow snail shells) be purchasable from any shop for 1 meso each. This should provide Noobs with the fuel they need in order to sustain boss runs such as Zakum and Horntail.
I think that's about all. I hope that the staff considers my suggestion and, if all goes well, brings it to fruition during the next big patch. I know how highly the staff here values skill balance, and I feel what better way to rebalance the classes than to create an entirely new one which at the same time encourages players to play what was previously the least desirable class by a large margin?
So what are my proposed changes to the beginner class? For starters, I like the fact that they currently are designed to fill the niche of "Onion Knight" in that they are supposed to be a difficult to level class which reaps high rewards at the end. While the former goal has without a doubt been accomplished already in droves, it is the latter which quite obviously needs fixing. By my estimation, it would take the average beginner roughly 133.7 times as long to reach level 120 as the average, say, sniper. And snipers level slowly, so you know that they're in a bad place leveling-wise--you want that leveling to pay off, right? So here's where my suggestions come in.
1. Keep the core functionality of their core skills intact for most of the game. Up until level 120, I propose that we leave the mighty Three Snails, Nimble Feet, and Recovery unchanged. After all, this fits in with the general theme of being difficult to level.
2. Give beginners a job advancement at level 120. My proposition is to make them unique in this aspect: have only one job advancement the entire game, and make it count. At level 120, beginners can undergo a special job advancement quest where they talk to Teo in Lith Harbor and are sent back to Maple Island to do every quest fifty times, after which they will be bestowed the glorious title of their first and only job advancement, Noob. That's right, all your hard work will be put towards becoming a Noob for life.
3. I propose the following skills be given upgrades upon level 120:
3.a. Nimble Feet is upgraded to give a permanent +80 speed boost and +30 jump boost. This is higher than is attainable even by GMs, and should help the Noob class greatly in their mobility. Oh, also, this skill should be upgraded into a permanent passive which the Noob can choose to toggle on and off at will. This effect will also grant a permanent 100% Power Stance effect and all its effects will transfer to JQs and other such places where normally such buffs would not apply.
3.b. Recovery's name is changed to Rapid Regeneration and provides a permanent +1000 health/second recovery effect. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that beginners naturally aren't good money makers, so this should assist in keeping a stable money supply by allowing the Noob to forego potions.
3.c. Three Snails is changed to Four Snails and all of its damage ratios are increased by 1,000,000%. This means that a regular snail shell would do 100,000 damage instead of 10; a blue snail shell would do 250,000 damage instead of 25; and a red snail shell would do 400,000 damage instead of 40. In addition to this, the "fourth" snail comes in when the Noob has a Rainbow Snail Shell in his or her inventory. As we all know, this shell can only be found from Mano. If used, it turns the player into an otherwise harmless red snail, but if a Noob uses the Rainbow Snail Shell, he or she will be granted invulnerability while in the red snail form; however, he or she will be unable to attack as well. If used in conjunction with the skill "Four Snails," it will do 10,000,000 damage to the first target it hits. Furthermore, players can select which artillery they will use at any given time, so as to adjust to their current supply of shells.
4. Noobs upon job advancement will automatically be granted with the maximum possible hit points and magic points. This one shouldn't need any explanation.
5. Noobs upon job advancement will automatically be given 300 AP. Again, this shouldn't merit any explanation because it should be obvious.
6. I propose that all weapons level 100 and above should be able to be used by beginners. Keep the class requirements as they are otherwise unchanged, though; i.e. a Timeless Executioners can be wielded by a level 120 Beginner or a level 120 Warrior. Oh, and equipping any weapon which is not beginner-specific will grant the Noob class every skill of every class branch of that corresponding class (not that the Noob will need this anyway, as you will soon see). This includes, for example, every dark knight, paladin, hero, dragon knight, white knight, crusader, et al. skill if a beginner equips, say, a Pinaka.
6. I propose the following skills be added to this new class' skillbook: (and none of them will require any of that silly "skillbook" or "mastery book" jazz; they will be granted immediately upon advancement). None of these will require any skill points invested in them either, and will have their listed effects automatically.
6.1. Razor Sharp Eyes grants a team-wide buff: for 300 seconds, increases the critical rate of everyone in the party by 100%, and makes critical hits do +100% damage. Part of what made beginners previously undesirable was their lack of utility in a party-setting. Razor Sharp Eyes should partly remedy this, and I hope you will agree.
6.2. Mushroom Bomb is the Noob's equivalent to Genesis, Meteor Shower, and Blizzard. It hits up to 30 enemies on screen with a basic attack of 1000, using a swarm of orange, green, and blue mushrooms which fall from the sky and all explode upon impact. You see, another area in which I felt that beginners were lacking was in AoE damage. With Mushroom Bomb, this problem should largely be solved and Noobs will be able to be valuable asset in a grinding setting as well.
6.3. Bob the Snail allows the Noob to summon the most powerful familiar in the game to date, the legendary Bob the Snail. Bob the Snail can attack up to six enemies at once and has a basic attack of 250. It can spew flames, randomly stun enemies across the map, can fly, and is all around awesome.
6.4. Quadruple Throw is a passive skill which allows the Noob to throw up to four snail shells at once. With the release of this skill, I anticipate that many less people will feel drawn to Night Lords and instead flock to the Noob class. No longer will Night Lords reign at the top of the food chain for single-target DPS!
6.5. In case these skills are not appealing enough and the Noob still opts to attack with his normal weapon, Neutral Charge should provide an equally powerful option by imbuing the equipped weapon with a damage increase of 1000% against all enemies.
6.6. And to help compensate for the general lack of melee abilities which has plagued beginners from levels 1-120, I propose one final skill: Outlandish, which can hit three enemies up to two times for 500% damage on each strike. Outlandish will have the same range as the hero's Brandish and will cost 0 MP, like every other Noob skill.
7. Lastly, I propose that all snail shells (Excluding rainbow snail shells) be purchasable from any shop for 1 meso each. This should provide Noobs with the fuel they need in order to sustain boss runs such as Zakum and Horntail.
I think that's about all. I hope that the staff considers my suggestion and, if all goes well, brings it to fruition during the next big patch. I know how highly the staff here values skill balance, and I feel what better way to rebalance the classes than to create an entirely new one which at the same time encourages players to play what was previously the least desirable class by a large margin?
WHO WANTS DINNER AT CONAN'S???
