● Prequest The main point is that many large Boss prequests are "complete once" affairs, with the repeated portions usually being very simple: Zak: complete preq once → 1 person can run 5, 2 people can run 10... HT: requires farming Manon VL: requires farming scrolls So for the upcoming PinkBean, or the possibly-never-released Golden Temple, setting the prequest requirements higher could make the prequest's ETC/mob farming into a new industry chain. (P.S. All existing farms have already been researched to the absolute limit — would love to have some new things to explore.) ● New DEF gear Regarding new Boss drop equipment, there are a few considerations: Minimizing impact on existing gear value — this is likely also one of the reasons PinkBean keeps getting delayed (?). It needs to be valuable enough that people are motivated to repeatedly challenge the content. In two previous posts I suggested: "DEF-focused CGS & weapons (requiring removal of the DEF cap), allowing new content to feature mobs/bosses with base attack power above 35k~50k" and "adding two new types of Boss attacks (penetrating-and-increasing / penetrating-and-decreasing), increasing the research depth of teamwork." Combined with the upcoming balance changes that may strengthen Shield identity and multi-stage Zerk (30%/40%/50%/60%), DEF gear could become an entirely new direction. (Why DEF was chosen: besides the current 30k HP cap, there appears to be a hidden cap at 31k.) (Why weapon was chosen: perhaps PinkBean weapons could be slightly weaker than level 100 weapons in raw ATT, but with high DEF.) (Why CGS was chosen: in previous discussions, putting DEF on other gear slots seemed like it would make existing content too easy.) The problem I've thought of myself: With 30k HP, Meso Guard can already absorb close to 60k damage. This part definitely needs to be changed first. no more idea
Is the restriction of pink bean equips being untradable not enough to justify it having better wa than dragon weapon? Either way the defense focus seems cool, but I think that the defense formula might need to be changed. If i recall, the formulas are complex, but roughly 4 magic defense = 1 damage reduction from magic attacks. For weapon defense i think its either 1:1 or 1:2 (1 weapon defense reduces dmg by 1 hp, or 2 weapon defense reduces dmg by 1 hp).
Ayumi's documentation notes player vs monster: Range[min, max] - [Def*0.6, Def*0.5] There is a Level modifier when a Player Level<Monster level but in practice that rarely occurs. The only difference between w.def and m.def is this level mod. Anyway, there is no documentation on monster vs player and neither have I ever tested it. ---------------------------------------------------- In theory, wdef can be fairly strong and good alternative to HP but in practice there exists no viable trade-off in this game that would justify dropping any amount of damage for better survivability. Big support for adding more Defense focused end-game gear. Iirc VL Boots have (close to) 100 def. Compared to how other gear scale their defenses. +80 def is a huge step. However, again in practice this (potential) 40 EHP has no value compared to 1 more watk on other shoes Ifia's Ring grants 140 w.def and m.def VL Belt grants 140 w.def and 30 m.def There has been some defense power creep from latest end-game content. Removing the cap would also be big for mages that already easily cap m.def Have we discussed buffing STR (yes, the stat) for it to increase w.def by 1 for each 1 STR before? If target audience is DK's. That would help out a bit as well. If we don't want to remove the cap for whatever reason but do want STR to add to defense. (Assuming the formula also applies to Monster vs Player) Change the formula to: Range[min, max] - [(Def+STR)*0.6, (Def+STR)*0.5] ~600 EHP for level 200's might actually be noticable
Untradeable gear is a good idea, but it loses a few variety — it's just simply increasing the clean range without adding anything else.
Tweaking the formula is also a good idea — perhaps some foreseeable formula-related issues should be fixed before introducing DEF gear. But my thinking and suggestions are mainly focused on "rewards for new content" and "new farming maps" — more toward new gameplay content rather than balance.
