Hi, Just wanted to share some things I'm concerned about before Pink Bean's release. There are a bunch of things that I believe should happen before the boss is released to ensure this doesn't just become more of the same (such as class balance), but this thread is not about that. There are really pressing issues that will likely completely break the boss, and can slip by staff as they're hard to notice while testing. It would be bad if those issues slip by on release, and as a result the boss will just break on the first attempts. Those issues should be easy to solve as they don't require major dev work (I think). The goal of making this thread is to get staff's attention and make sure they are aware of the following issues. Aggro change: I already talked a bunch about why I think patch 95.1 (and everything after it as a proxy, by not fixing it) was terrible for the game, but again, this is not what this thread is about. This change introduced some side effects that can totally ruin a new boss release, and will not be visible when testing. 1) When attacking with 30 attackers (even less, anything over 20 really), bosses just go afk and behave in a way that just eliminates all boss mechanics. This can mean that you can release a boss, test it with the existing staff members but completely not take into account what happens when big parties will run it at the start, which is guaranteed. An example of this happening can be seen here: (or on any speedrun/theme run done lately) 2) If there are 1 shot mechanics that you need to time (which PB is famous for), they might just not happen on time. It's well known by now that things just happen much later sometimes since 95.1 (VL mobs/jail, HT seds etc.). This problem does not exist in small parties, especially ones with a low amount of Buccs, so again it will not be so obvious while testing. Barrage: During the attempt to fix animation cancels in VL, some change was done to Barrage (intentionally or not). Old barrage used to only push boss mobs a certain distance, and after that they were free to move. Now, Barrage knocks back bosses (or boss mobs) a much bigger distance, and stun locks them for a long time. This can easily be replicated on a Gargoyle in VL, or on Auf. I doubt that anyone who runs Auf since that patch hasn't noticed how far their Barrage pushes her now. This again created 2 issues: 1) Bosses get pushed very far as mentioned before, which is not a good thing with PB being a boss that can be knocked back, similar to Auf. 2) Barrage causes bosses to delay their skills. This can easily be obsereved by watching the same size VL party with 1 Bucc, compared to 2-3 Buccs or more. Buccs using Barrage will cause mob/jail timers to be delayed for whatever reason, but they will get a fake animation of them exactly when those skills are off cooldown. You can only imagine how bad this can be when you have skills that you need the time in PB, especially if your caller is a Bucc. Assassinate ignores DR: This is more of a suggestion, but I think that if class balance does not arrive before PB, this is the one change that needs to be done. It wont be fair for Shadowers to ignore what might be a deadly 1 shot mechanic, while also having smokes. It will just be the same meta as VL, but perhaps even worse. Some of these things could already be on staff's radar, but I wanted to make this thread anyway, just to make sure it's all known and being worked on. I hope we get PB soon as promised
I remember that run; even I was surprised by the incredible delay VL had when executing his attacks, and sometimes he'd just stand still. We even laughed; it was funny. But at least we know it's preferable for the staff to have a team of at least 30 people to help with testing and thus see the impact of how each class and each ability is executed. From what I remember in Broa and Khaini, where I come from, back in late 2007/2008, we were able to defeat PB a couple of times with 25/30 people, with the exclusivity that we got the Apples at exorbitant prices, and PB defeated us more than 40 times, maybe more, maybe less, but that's my suggestion. Maybe they won't like it, because the game itself is full of sinners, haha, just kidding, watch out for that :V byeeeeeee
