Purging Artificial Difficulty - Making NPCs More Fair

[fartman1314]

optie is an rb1 alt confirmed

2 or 3 rb1 alts have rated me 1 star all categories before

[Flayire]

add an accessory that enables NPCs to have aimbot I wanna suffer more against PVE mechanics

[fartman1314]

should it be like

Challenge Medal

[Seni]

A spoiler should not affect the quality of a suggestion, delete it or give a valid reason for your rating.

[GalleryCharlotte]

Hell yeah

[DubiousLittleTyp0]

Optical can you like

Eat moose jelly and explode

Thanks

[TheEvilReeve]

Learn situational awareness before raging like a baby, easy ban.

[Actravaz]

this is so stupid, your rating has literally nothing to do with the actual suggestion but you’re upset about a completely unrelated matter so you felt the need to give it 1 stars across the board

[fartman1314]

nah its just bait
he’s another rb1 alt

[Ihateitwhenioof]

What if we also had it so NPCs struggle to aim more when players are really close to them? Currently as a Fighting Style user you’re basically forced to tank spear throws which hit like trucks when in PVP it’s actually really hard to hit someone with a ranged attack when they’re that close.

One of my largest issues with the game’s combat right now is that getting really close to an NPC 99% of the time just means damage trading with someone stronger than you due to their aimbot and high level, so melee attacks are almost never worthwhile.

[MrYes]

@Ihateitwhenioof

Currently as a Fighting Style user you’re basically forced to tank spear throws which hit like trucks

This year’s Christmas boss is a prime example of this, can’t really approach her without eating at least one attack

[opticalcord]

indeed, let me give reason:

If NPCs only block when an attack is imminent, their behavior might become too predictable. This could lead to players exploiting this mechanic, as they would know when to feint or attack to bait a block.

Constantly having NPCs sidestep and block could slow down combat, especially in chaotic or large battles (like castrum). This one is kinda just me tho I feel like it’ll take too long.

Lowering NPC accuracy introduces randomness to combat, which could feel unfair. If a player loses to an NPC because they got “lucky” and hit every shot, it would feel less skill-based.

Reducing NPC accuracy might make ranged combat feel inconsistent, especially for players who rely on dodging. High-accuracy NPCs force players to move strategically, which could be lost. This makes me think of Minecraft skeletons.

A level-based accracy system might oversimplify NPC difficulty. For example, low-level NPCs could become trivial to fight, while high-level ones feel punishingly accurate. A flatter scaling curve might work better. This is already kind of true to some extent though.

Bosses and mini bosses should not be affected by blinding

NPCs need to behave differently to create varied fights. Too much similarity can make fights feel repetitive/boring.

suggestions: Add visual/audio cues when an NPC is preparing to block.
Make then use their stamina while blocking, so they can’t block indefinitely.

Instead of randomness, implement slight delays or overcompensation in NPC aim, creating more opportunities for players to dodge without seeming less fair.

Have certain NPCs better at certain aspects of their class, for example a warrior really good with his bow but worse with his close range weapons. This would encourage players to find their “weaknesses”, and also allow for more diversity. Some NPCs could only be using their “favorite” moves a lot more, and it would also make rivals more interesting.

edit: if I understood it wrong correct me, but this is from what I understood of your suggestion

[An_idiot]

Yuh

[Divanochi]

@opticalcord

If NPCs only block when an attack is imminent, their behavior might become too predictable. This could lead to players exploiting this mechanic, as they would know when to feint or attack to bait a block.

This is preferable to AO’s current NPC blocking system that makes them virtually unpunishable because their blocking can randomly be done at any moment, giving no reward to any sort of strategy in npc battles. AO also doesn’t have anything akin to feinting, so no idea how you expect the mechanic to be exploited.

@opticalcord

Constantly having NPCs sidestep and block could slow down combat, especially in chaotic or large battles

NPCs already constantly dodge and have random blocking frames. I don’t see how the proposed system would slow down combat when A) it will have periods where NPCs aren’t actually blocking so you can get better attacks off on them and B) there’ll be slightly less dodging all over the place because of how walking while dodging works.

@opticalcord

Lowering NPC accuracy introduces randomness to combat, which could feel unfair. If a player loses to an NPC because they got “lucky” and hit every shot, it would feel less skill-based.

There’s already unfair randomness in combat that isn’t very well-implemented in some cases; i.e., the blocking system you are defending. NPCs having inaccuracy makes fighting them more realistic and adds variety to NPC encounters, instead of it feeling like you’re fighting an unpublishable aimbot rather than a human-like enemy.

@opticalcord

Reducing NPC accuracy might make ranged combat feel inconsistent, especially for players who rely on dodging. High-accuracy NPCs force players to move strategically, which could be lost.

I’m not sure how it would feel inconsistent to have your enemy occasionally miss shots against you, as that’s a behaviour you would expect an enemy to sometimes exhibit. The current “high-accuracy NPCs” don’t add any strategy, they make dodging less rewarding.

@opticalcord

A level-based accracy system might oversimplify NPC difficulty. For example, low-level NPCs could become trivial to fight, while high-level ones feel punishingly accurate. A flatter scaling curve might work better. This is already kind of true to some extent though.

Low level NPCs are already trivial to fight, nothing will be lost by lowering their accuracy. I’m not sure how you’re arguing about punishing accuracy when you advocated for it two sentences ago. No idea what you mean by a flatter scaling curve when accuracy currently has no scaling curve at all.

@opticalcord

NPCs need to behave differently to create varied fights. Too much similarity can make fights feel repetitive/boring.

You are arguing against NPCs behaving differently by opposing this suggestion.

@opticalcord

suggestions: Add visual/audio cues when an NPC is preparing to block.
Make then use their stamina while blocking, so they can’t block indefinitely.

The premise of this suggestion is to make NPCs use the block animation, which is… a visual and audio cue. It’s like you don’t even know what you’re trying to argue for.

Most of your arguments seem inapplicable to AO and feel like they were written by someone (or something) that has no experience with the game and tried to make up an argument for the sake of arguing or being a contrarian.

[jay]

please cook again

[beefybuffoon]

“Fuck you and your damage, power users!” -Vetex making NPCs

[arericarnau]

YES! we need this, i’ts so, so annoying to have aim assisted bosses and stuff like light magic becoming quite literary garbage for pve (it gets nerfed every update either way tho lol)

this would actually be really good i love you muah kiss

edit: please vote this we genuinely need this, also add sandy, snowy and drainded into the accuacy stuff

[lucky_303]

vetex can’t balance though

[StarMan]

Tired of getting beamed by Event boss for accidently charging a move for 0.2 seconds and losing half my health. This would be a pretty good addition to solve NPC’s being overpowered

[UraMthe]

another thing i want is npcs having to Charge Energy because like
how they can spam abilities? is it lore accurate? if so then how they cant just have ults for each their abilities?