Vital Combat: 3 Months Later

#21

How about the second point though? I don’t think anything was really changed on that front, aside from dying more/less often because of the VC update. Personally I’ve been dying pretty much at the same rate pre/post VC. But remaxing still just as a pain in the ass as before xd

#22

Personally I’m very happy with the update.

It might be a pain in the ass to lose 60 hp/sec from my pet, however it makes me dodge more.

I’ve become a lot better of a player personally since the update, and a lot of smaller dungeons are more reasonable now thanks to it.

And it’s been a lot of fun being able to do small dungeons consistently with my friends.

#23

I absolutely despise the new Abyss, especially the boss fight. The other reworks are fine and mostly improvements.
(Sorry this is going a bit off topic here, I don’t have much of an opinion on vital combat after I’ve gotten used to playing with it)

#24

Really? You can fudge the boss fight by hanging around the edges of the room, but I think it’s great training grounds for newer players for later mechanics! The best part is staying in the center when Malphas is circling you, because there’s way more breathing room to run around than end game fights, while simultaneously dealing less punishing in blows.

As for the dungeon in general, yeah, it’s not as tangly like it used to be from start to finish, but having the larger rooms is manageable, imo. Yeah, you might not have minions as clustered to take them out faster, but that comes with more breathing room for recuperating (with practicing players) or rushing (for those who like that).

#25

Yeah I don’t mind the circling phase (don’t particularly care much for it either though). But I mainly don’t like the “rage” phase and think it is more unforgiving for new players, with armor break + the little insta-pop minions. As for the dungeon itself, my main issue is all the enemies look the same, and it’s difficult to see what shots are doing what damage… Before, it was pretty clear which projectiles were the most damaging ones, and they were easier for me to see in general.

#26

Huh. The enemies look even more varied in my mind now… are you sure it’s not just you still getting used to who does what?

As for the rage phase, it’s brutal if you aren’t expecting it, but it’s a cakewalk to slowly drag everything backwards. It takes little brains to figure out for newbies, and it’s totally possible with trashy gear and no pet, because I do them on my NPE.

I don’t know. There’s a lot of very punishing enemies out there with less intuitive attacks, so maybe this particular boss fight doesn’t seem so bad. It’s just an observation.

#27

I too find the new enemies hard to distinguish. I am sure this will get better with time though; it took me a while to come to terms with the enemies in the Abyss as it was before the rework. With all the enemies small, red, on a red background it’s understandable it takes more time to tell them apart.

#28

I tend to differentiate then on their initial move behavior and “highlights”: for instance, seeing enemies move fast towards me immediately informs me that they’re brutes of some kind. Their attacks differ, but can be dodged in the same way - a small or extra wide side step.

The Imps are distinguishable by not walking; the Warriors have notable silver colors on their shield and sword; and while the Blacksmith and “pure” Demon are pretty similar with their black hoods, their tendency to attack before shooting makes up for it.
Finally, the mage doesn’t have any player-influenced movement, and still has that notable yellow robe, so she’s easy to distinguish as well, ime.

#29

This is an interesting conversation but I think we should try to keep this on topic.

#30

I think there are several small things that have helped with maxing.

  1. The XP bonuses from items as well as exaltations allows you to make a level 20 character quickly (one ruins will give you a level 20 character).
  2. New low level dungeons like ruins give you access to a variety of potions.
  3. The redesigned abbys and sews are (in my opinion) easier to do on unmaxed characters now.
  4. The potion storage lets you build up a bunch of extra potions for your other characters.

All are definitely good steps in the right direction.

#31

This is honestly the main thing for me, I can’t see red on red background very well. Like the oryx castle parasitic rework, it was just pain on my eyes (new aby isn’t quite as bad as that, but same sorta thing for me)

And my bad @DeeBomb, the derailing here was my fault…

Yeah back to the question DeeBomb had, better before or after vital combat :smile: idk

#32

Edit: Useless comment removed.

If you had to change one thing about Realm to make it better, what would it be?
#33

I don’t think that would help. It would incentivize smaller groups, yes, but making it affect RNG in a way outside of the player’s control makes such a system a prime target for griefing and toxic behavior.

#34

I definitely agree with this. I remember when only one pot was guaranteed in most dungeons, and as a result players would routinely drag on each other in the hopes of getting rid of other players and guaranteeing their own loot.

#35

Hm… I wonder what could be done to incentivize smaller group???

Holy Jesus, can’t imagine what would be that like.

#36

:thinking:

#37

ok >_> that was fun and all (minus losing a bunch of good itenz from attempt 1…) but you’d die from a stroke if u had to grind 15 hrs/day playing like that…

altho yes i do like how guild runs are more a thing (proud of deri, first ever guild void done in 2020, now we do be doing endgame regularly :D)

new hp scale also veri cool, got crazies who can solo void now :^)

#38

pretty sure you’d die from a stroke just grinding 15hrs/day anyways

I don’t think any game should be played to that amount, geez
That leaves just 9 hours to do everything from sleep to eat… and this is assuming you don’t have to work or smth

#39

:sunglasses: gamers gotta game. ok fine more realistic is like 10hrs a day. when i was living alone tho 15 was pretty doable during events, 7 hrs for sleep and 2 for other “keep urself alive” items :^) family life not let me grind tho :pensive:

but uhh back on topic:

i dont think u elaborated on this point at least in this thread, care to say why?

#40

I feel that it ruined large groups, and they did need something but against them but now it is straight up painful to do almost anything endgame in a large group (at least in my opinion) and that this really ruined people who spent money on pets, which I feel deca shouldn’t do, as that is one of their main sources of income for rotmg