Hey all, the veil’s finally being lifted on what we’ve been working on for Intensity. This is one of a few proposals we’re feeling out; others have already been posting in the official AO Balance Discord. We’re just gathering some opinions on what you all think about these changes before proceeding. Take a look, and please inform me with any comments/concerns.
Intensity Rework
- Increased hazard size replaced by increased hazard damage.
- Attack Size already increases hazard size, and there is currently no method of increasing hazard damage aside from levels.
- Increased status effectiveness.
- DoT statuses gain increased damage.
- Running the numbers shows that this wouldn’t be particularly worrisome for amping DoT damage on its own; nothing should get out of hand, as DoT is still reliant on the damage of the hit that applies the status.
- Requires less min-maxing than the current system.
- Effectiveness is more fair than the current system. Plasma would retain its effectiveness with Intensity, whilst every other DoT in the entire game gains benefit from the stat that they currently lack.
- DoTs would keep their natural duration / ticks, ensuring consistency when playing around these statuses and their interactions.
- Blinding statuses retain increased duration.
- Catalyst statuses would retain increased duration.
- Stun effects would retain increased duration.
- Knockback would retain increased strength.
- Statuses that require a damage threshold to activate will have the threshold lowered by Intensity, at half efficiency.
- i.e. Intensity giving 30% effect would bring Earth’s bleeding threshold from 33% to 28%, or from 17% to 14% with Ultimate Arts.
- DoT statuses gain increased damage.
- Would now increase energy capacity.
- Energy cost for skills would scale off of your base energy capacity, rather than your total energy capacity with Intensity.
- Would now increase offensive resources at half efficiency.
- This includes Heat and Seawater. Should be coded to keep scaling fluid.
- Thermo would have to be charged for longer to reach max effect with Intensity, but Heat loss would be slower.
- Sailor would have to drink more Seawater to reach max effect with Intensity, but you’d be able to stay above 80% for longer, and would have to drink less frequently.
- This includes Heat and Seawater. Should be coded to keep scaling fluid.
- Increased Aura and Focus potency removed.
- Ultimate Art cooldown reduction removed.
Goal: Provide Intensity much more varied use and dig it out of its niche, making it worthy to stand among the rest of the stats while ensuring its effects don’t just feel like they could be part of jewelcrafting. The stat becomes useful on almost all builds, rather than only on Plasma, or builds maximizing the effect of their Resistance Aura.
Results: These changes do give Intensity far more overall, encourages creative build-crafting with the stat, and gives it a ‘bonus stat’ identity that actually functions, compared to what we have right now.
Possible Issues: DoT damage being affected rather than duration makes it more applicable to most magics (rather than just Plasma), but does make it somewhat of a secondary Power stat on DoT builds. Could be changed if necessary, but the numbers aren’t too problematic (even full Intensity investment on Poison, which should be an extreme outlier, isn’t very efficient or particularly worrisome).