Even in a really long run (like over 2 hours) you won't really use more than 15-20 stars, and that's cheaper than 1 apple. In addition the longer the run, the bigger the advantages NLs have over others. For example if someone else used 9 apples, you'd only have to use 7 NL is actually the cheapest class (aside from mages) in terms of potion costs while bossing and it's one of the easiest classes to play as well (you have huge avoid and just spam 1 bottom, and you also have a much easier time joining than the less common classes cause everyone R>nls). Compared to Corsair for example, corsairs are a lot harder to wash compared to NLs (a 12k hp sair needs the same INT like a 16k hp NL) and their guns aren't really much cheaper than cravens (craven is only expensive now cause everybody is making NLs due to how OP they are, their normal price is the same like concerto) while they are a lot harder to boss with and have trash avoid, and their potion cost is higher too
I hope you realize this was all taken into account by the makers of the actual game. calling nightlord the cheapest class is a joke
I made a sair in response to this patch. He's level 51 now, and I'm happy to hp wash without any question that it is the superior class
I think the problem with trying to attain class diversity in mapleroyals is that the playerbase aren't "casuals" that pick the flashest or most unique class or the class they "like the most", they're veterans who enjoy minmaxing and playing the "best" class available, however difficult it is to attain. They're willing to invest insane amounts of time to hp wash their characters just to sidestep the annoyance of hp upkeep in bosses, a disadvantage inherent to the class they play. That is to say, the reason the classes look as overpowered as they are is because their deficiencies can be made up for through massive investment into the character, bolstering their viability. You see the same with bishops and archmages; bishops are a lot harder to fund, but have the ability to reach the same amount of viability an archmage could. (And sure, bishops also have bossing utility and are more versatile as a result, but the amount of value they provide per hour remains roughly the same.) The recent (new source onwards) balancing changes focused on nerfing the overall viability of these "overpowered" classes (though the most recent nerf focuses more on money sinks with the more viable classes receiving relatively more collateral, rather than a direct, targeted nerf), without considering the sum of investment they demand. To say nothing about the lost investment existing players have put into their classes (and the trust eroded/destroyed as these nerfs keep happening), all these changes do is bring the more desirable classes down to the level of their weaker counterparts. The amount of effort required to improve your damage output, whether it be for bosses or farming, increases even more drastically than before. The kicker here is that due to the nature of the playerbase, players will continue to make night lords and bishops, and they'll continue to be overrepresented in the game. This is because at the end of the day, though much harder to achieve, these classes are still most viable in terms of what they do, and at the very high end, still considered the most desirable of all the classes. Expectations of elite bossing groups remained the same, the only thing that's changed is how hard it is for a new player build up a new night lord from nothing. An annoyance to veterans, but poison to new players. As for the nerfs themselves, past a certain point, when the viability of the inferior class overtakes the better class, that new class will become the new norm, with the same skewed proportions as the original class had, at least in the long run once perfect knowledge is achieved. (Though bishops are unique, like bowmen with SE, in that it takes virtually no investment outside of getting to 120 to go bossing) The new top dog will also be piss easy to train up due to previous attempts with qol improvements to make it more enticing, so the cycle repeats once more. But perhaps royals will no longer be memed as the "night lord server" or the "bishop server". Perhaps that's what the goal actually was after all.
