"Интервью с баланс-дизайнером Релик"DEV CHAT QUESTIONS October 27th, 2011 shaleseydev_chat
Here is the written answers to the dev chat. We went a little off track so you might want to catch the VOD instead. http://www.shaleseycasts.com/pages/1759
Possible over buffs : -
Shalesey: On a whole it’s a really nice patch and set of changes that you have introduced. There has been a few changes that have possibly been an over buff. We have seen these come out in the recent meta since the patch hit. I will try detail these in some questions below. Was it your intention to overbuff and then tweak from there?
bC: There was never an intention to over buff anything but I always wanted to improve a lot of underused items this patch. I admit that there are a few things, due to some changes I made, that are a bit OTT and I will tweak them down accordingly, but It is still very early to come to conclusions that certain things are broken/op.
Shalesey: The buff to the Force Commander Artificer armour now make him an uber tank with something like an effective 2000 hit points in T1 with high regen. Do you think the tweaks to his wargear may have been a bit on the heavy side and you might need to tweak it back a bit or do you think they are fine?
bC: I actually think the Force Commander is in a really good place now with all the war gear changes. The fact that he has multiple builds to change his role is what I hope all heroes could be like in DOW2. I’ve seen and played against him and he is still manageable to play against. The one thing I might bring down however is the splash damage on the hammer, but just by a little bit.
Shalesey : The sanguine chainsword regen is another one of the possible over buffs. This is mainly due to the apo heal being based on the units health regen. If he heals himself he gets an almost full heal and is almost unkillable. What do you think about the change and is it something you’ll be trying to tweak in upcoming patches?
bC: The stacking with his healing regeneration provided by his healing was not intended in the first place. That is probably the main issue why he’s the ‘trollpothacery’ at the moment. I have some changes in mind to fix, I am looking into removing the regeneration provided from the heal itself.
Shalesey: The Leman russ defend increase is arguably the most notable over buff. I personally did some labs and with a repair bunker, one unupgraded leman can take on 2 fully upgraded with extra armour las preds. Do you think there may be a different direction to go in a buff sense?
bC: I really like the fact that the Leman Russ is different from the other tanks; I personally like how the Leman Russ plays and feels but I do believe with the improved performance it could warrant a cost increase. I’m open to other directions though so I haven’t ruled out removing defense and changing it back to health.
Shalesey: The noise marine blast master seems to over perform vs range infantry. What was the thinking behind the range increase? Do you think the range may be a bit much now?
bC: I think the question your asking is ”noise marine blast master seems to overperform vs. IG infantry.” Because from what I’ve been seeing they are in a really good place with all the other match ups. I really like how the range is and I know some people want it shorter. I am looking at either reducing the range a little bit however a damage reduction is also a possibility which I am more leaning towards.
General View on changes : -
Shalesey: The removing of levelling from terminators was a welcome change. However there are quite a lot of people that feel the removal of levelling from nobs and seer council wasn’t needed. Do you think it is an all or nothing change, as in if terminators lose levelling, all these units should?
bC: The change was made for consistency and I thought nobs and seer councils out of the gate still had a lot of purpose. I didn’t feel that people got them because they needed them to level up before they became useful. I think the issue with them not leveling may unfold in those rare super late games but for now I want to see the meta settle in.
Shalesey: The changes to Warlock heart of darkness make him extremely tanky, combined with the bubble, new gates and levelling, he is a real tank. Is this a new direction you are taking, as we see a similar thing with the apo changes and the FC changes?
bC: I’m trying to create more depth with all the heroes, I think the fact that heroes have options and different builds they can do makes for very interesting game play.
Shalesey: Tyranids got hit pretty heavy with the nerf bat this patch. Rightly so I may add. The nerfs they received certainly balances them out in T1. However now they have a weak T1 is there any chance of them receiving some T2 and T3 love. Namely the Tyrant Guard, Carnifex and Swarmlord. The thing brought to my atention regarding Carnifexe’s is they can easily be kited by tanks in their current state. All the tanks got a speed buff and fexes didn’t, on top of that their rotation rate is so slow that they can’t kite, as they cant reverse either.
bC: I think Tyranid teir 1 is still pretty solid, people just need to get use to a new style that might incorporate more warriors into their teir 1 build and even melee ravs. I’ve actually heard that the Tyranid Teir 2 game is actually quite strong especially due to the buff Zoans received. Something in the future would be looking into certain walkers. I know ”walker syndrome” is a concern held by many.
Bugs : -
Shalesey: The IG HWT team can now lose its lead member that holds the Heavy Bolter. It also has a bug that when upgraded and loses the gun member it can have dual guns when you reinforce. Is this something that will be fixed soon (hotfix maybe or quick patch)?
bC: Yes that is something I have fixed.
Shalesey: The RA burrow traps now seem to not work at all. The energy disappears and the trap doesn’t get laid.
bC: Also fixed that
Shalesey: The changes to the Plasma Dev projectile may be a bit too good. It seems like people can fire these through walls now using attack ground.
bC: I haven’t seen that but now that you’ve mentioned it Ill be looking at it.
Shalesey: Sorcerer has zero cool down on his consume.
bC: Also fixed that not sure why that changed since there were no consume changes.
The Future : -
Shalesey: The stormtrooper Sargent Model has a different weapon to his squad. This makes him ineffective when using the assualt kit and firing from range and sometimes causes issues when using anti armour kit as he is the only model that moves into range. A suggestion would be to let him upgrade with the same weapon as the upgrade. What are your thoughts on this?
bC: Yeah that sounds like a good deal I’ll probably do that in the future and even out the dps for all the weapons so it doesn’t make him super op.
Shalesey: Some of the globals have been looked at recently and there have been nerfs to the likes of touch of nurgle. Are there any plans to look at other globals such as plauge cloud and rocket run to name two? Also, any plans to make the orbital bombardment be a bit more in line with the other globals? On this line, would there be any chance to get some better indicators for some of the globals?
bC: Possibly but nukes aren’t really on the top of my list.
Shalesey: Whenever we get a patch, the biggest question that is always asked, is when will the GUO get a look at? I know he got a price reduction not too long back but when are you going to make him a bit more useful? Suggested buffs are a speed increase, work on his vomit global or increase to his damage. Just so he stacks up a bit better vs the other supers.
bC: I’ll be taking a look at his vomit ability.
Shalesey: Any plans to make Veil of Time not so effective with Terminators?
bC: No.
Shalesey: Any plans to look at snares on a whole. Snares are great and are needed in the game but the fact that snares stack additively and completely immobilise vehicles seems like it could do with some re work. I like the idea of snares not stacking at all (if possible) and also snares being less effective on walkers. As walkers seem to get hurt real bad by snares.
bC: Removing stacking would probably be the best choice of action and that’s what I’ll probably do in the future.
Shalesey: People have been saying a while that the weapon upgrades on the FC terminator armour are lackluster for the cost. Any plans to look at these seen as you are doing the wargear overhaul atm? On this note, are there any more wargear buffs/changes on the way (things you might still be looking at)?
bC: I’m always looking at everything, trying to improve whatever may be. In a sense the weapon upgrades did get a cost reduction when the armor itself got reduced in a previous patch.
Shalesey: Some units have problems with cover, such as guardsmen (some units don’t get in cover), any plans to work on this? I can appreciate this isn’t an easy thing to fix.
bC: I recently been talking to Kolaris about improving that and I’m currently trying to figure out a good fix.
Shalesey: Love the dakka and burna bomb is still a pretty lethal combo from kommandos unless you are Edtjuh or Holyhammer and have lightning fast reflexes. Are there any plans to tone down either of these or give more warning when they come from infiltrate.
bC: They could use a tone down but I am still thinking of an appropriate solution. Posted in Blog
