Berserk and Damaging are the two most common status effects that a player can have when playing in a group. Either of these buffs are capable of boosting the DPS of a group by ~50%, but when used together they can increase the DPS by ~125%, making any group of players a powerhouse when it comes to DPS. This is what caused content in the game to be ‘steam rolled’ (and still causes it in some situations). It also causes the same content to take much longer without these buffs due to HP scaling being balanced around this high DPS.
If you’re a player with more than enough time on their hands then this doesn’t really affect you, but players who don’t have this luxury will find the Paladin and Warrior buffs to be nearly essential to group gameplay (and considering that RotMG is an MMO, this is a big deal). DECA is already aware of this and have made efforts to test possible changes to these buffs, albeit with negative feedback from the community. The goal of this post is to explore the possible changes that can be made to these status effects, the good and the bad.
Current issues with Berserk and Damaging:
- Allows steam rolling content that does not have HP scaling
- HP scaling is inflated to accommodate this sheer DPS boost
- Both effect’s function is nearly identical in terms of DPS
- Damaging is almost always slightly superior to Berserk
- Multiple instances of the same effect is pointless
(If you are aware of any other issues with these two status effects let me know.)
Keep in mind that the concepts are what matter most. The values are only there to help visualize the concept and can be tweaked to whatever is deemed fitting.
Reduce Multiplier
Reducing the buff multiplier for both status effect can range anywhere between 1x and 1.5x. This is the option DECA chose to present for testing.
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Pros
- The simplest solution to implement, the formula is unchanged.
- Will narrow the gap between steam rolling and HP scaling inflation.
-
Cons
- Is a direct nerf to all abilities that use these status effects.
Formula:
X = Multiplier
Damaging
Damage Multiplier normal = 0.5 + ATT / 50
Damage Multiplier with Damaging = Normal * X
Berserk
A/s (attacks per second) = 1.5 + 6.5 * (DEX / 75)
A/s while Berserk: Normal * X
Flat Bonus
Completely remove the multiplier in favor of a flat boost to damage and shots per second. This is added after damage is calculated to prevent ‘double dipping’.
Example: Damaging gives +50 damage to each shot while Berserk gives +2.5 attacks per second.
Note: Values can vary.
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Pros
- A simple change that only involves editing the formula.
- Allows Damaging and Berserk to vary from each other based on the player’s weapons. (Some weapons will benefit more from Damaging while others will benefit more from Berserk.)
- Can narrow the gap between steam rolling and HP scaling.
-
Cons
- Low tiered weapons will benefit far more from Damaging than Berserk.
- Will cause an extreme imbalance in early game content due to being in favor of unmaxed and poor equipment.
Formula:
Damaging
Damage Multiplier normal = 0.5 + ATT / 50
Damage Multiplier with Damaging = Normal
Damage = Random(MinDamage, MaxDamage) * Damage Multiplier + 50 (If Damaging = True and Weak = False)
Berserk
A/s = 1.5 + 6.5 * (DEX / 75)
A/s while Berserk: Normal + 2.5 (If Berserk = True and Daze = False)
Reduce Multiplier + Flat Bonus
Uses a multiplier in conjunction with a flat bonus.
Example: Damaging and Berserk have a 1.2 multiplier but give a flat bonus of +20 damage and +1 attack per second respectively.
Note: Values can vary.
-
Pros
- Formula is still relatively simple.
- Will narrow the gap between steam rolling and HP scaling inflation.
- Allows Damaging and Berserk to vary from each other based on the player’s weapons.
- Creates a system of ‘Diminishing Returns’ that makes each additional att/dex point less beneficial than the last.
- Early game content will be similar to the 1.5 multiplier, but there will be some outliers.
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Cons
- ??? (The cons of both concepts aren’t extreme enough to be troublesome when used together. Let me know if you can think of a con that should belong here.)
Formula:
X = Multiplier
Damaging
Damage Multiplier normal = 0.5 + ATT / 50
Damage Multiplier with Damaging = Normal * X
Damage = Random(MinDamage, MaxDamage) * Damage Multiplier + 20 (If Damaging = True and Weak = False)
Berserk
A/s = 1.5 + 6.5 * (DEX / 75)
A/s while Berserk: Normal * X + 1 (If Berserk = True and Daze = False)
Flat Bonus + Buff Stacking
This takes the flat bonus concept and allows multiple instances of Berserk/Damaging to scale with it, but with diminishing returns. This functions in a similar way to Tinctures/Effusions, but it doesn’t allow ‘double dipping’.
Note: Values can vary.
-
Pros
- Allows Damaging and Berserk to vary from each other based on the player’s weapons.
- Receiving more than one of these buffs is meaningful.
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Cons
- The formula is somewhat complicated, but it is still feasible.
- Low tiered weapons will benefit far more from Damaging than Berserk.
- Will cause an extreme imbalance in early game content due to being in favor of unmaxed and poor equipment.
- Widens the gap between steam rolling and HP scaling inflation.
Formula:
Y = Base Value
Z = # of Stacks
Damaging
Damage Multiplier normal = 0.5 + ATT / 50
Damage Multiplier with Damaging = Normal
Damage = Random(MinDamage, MaxDamage) * Damage Multiplier + ROUNDDOWN(Y * (1.5 - 0.5 ^ Z)) (If Damaging = True and Weak = False)
Berserk
A/s = 1.5 + 6.5 * (DEX / 75)
A/s while Berserk: Normal + ROUNDDOWN(10 * Y * (1.5 - 0.5 ^ Z))/10 (If Berserk = True and Daze = False)
Berserk deals with decimals, so it is necessary for the main value to be a whole number before it is rounded down. That’s the purpose of multiplying and dividing by 10.
Here is an example of what the values could look like.
| Stacks | Damaging (+ Damage) | Berserk (+ A/s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 38 | 2 |
| 2 | 47 | 2.5 |
| 3 | 52 | 2.7 |
| 4 | 54 | 2.8 |
| 5 | 55 | 2.9 |
Reduce Multiplier + Flat Bonus + Buff Stacking
Same concept as Reduce Multiplier + Flat Bonus, but will allow multiple instances of the effects to scale with diminishing returns.
Example: 1.2 multiplier with a flat bonus that scales based on how many stacks a player has.
Note: Values can vary.
-
Pros
- Will narrow the gap between steam rolling and HP scaling inflation.
- Allows Damaging and Berserk to vary from each other based on the player’s weapons.
- Creates a system of ‘Diminishing Returns’ that makes each additional att/dex point less beneficial than the last.
- Early game content will be similar to the 1.5 multiplier, but there will be some outliers.
- Receiving more than one of these buffs is meaningful.
-
Cons
- The formula is complicated, but it is still feasible.
- Has the potential to increase steam rolling, but the effect isn’t extreme.
Formula:
X = Multiplier
Y = Base Value
Z = # of Stacks
Damaging
Damage Multiplier normal = 0.5 + ATT / 50
Damage Multiplier with Damaging = Normal * X
Damage = Random(MinDamage, MaxDamage) * Damage Multiplier + ROUNDDOWN(Y * (1.5 - 0.5 ^ Z)) (If Damaging = True and Weak = False)
Berserk
A/s = 1.5 + 6.5 * (DEX / 75)
A/s while Berserk: Normal * X + ROUNDDOWN(10 * Y * (1.5 - 0.5 ^ Z))/10 - 0.8 (If Berserk = True and Daze = False)
Note: The base value (Y) for Berserk in the example below is actually 1.5, not .7. Take note of the -0.8 in the formula. This is to make proper scaling, but needs further tweaking.
Here is an example of what the values could look like.
| Stacks | Damaging (+ Damage) | Berserk (+ A/s) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 15 | .7 |
| 2 | 18 | 1 |
| 3 | 20 | 1.2 |
| 4 | 21 | 1.3 |
| 5 | 22 | 1.4 |
Which concepts do you think would be the best to balance the Berserk and Damaging status effects?
- Reduce Multiplier
- Reduce Multiplier + Flat Bonus
- Reduce Multiplier + Flat Bonus + Buff Stacking
- None
- Other
0 voters
I did not include Flat Bonus and Flat Bonus + Buff Stacking because the results are too extreme to consider.
If you have any suggestions for alternative Berserk/Damaging balance possibilities let me know. I’ll add its own section(s) with a proper analysis if it is feasible.
