Purging Artificial Difficulty - Making NPCs More Fair

[Sample_Text]

please please PLEASE!!!

[KillerAssassin]

Y e s. @ DukeUngriffiaOffical

[hanmbi]

@fartman1314

Part II: Inaccuracy

As of now, NPCs have absolutely perfect accuracy. They always shoot where either you are or where you’re going to be. This creates an issue because high-risk, high-reward precision weapons are all reward, as seen with the Yuletide boss, Natasha, who wields a bow.

I propose that NPCs should have an accuracy percentage based on their level relative to max, and they should have a chance to incorrectly predict where you’ll be based on that percentage.

The accuracy rating should range from 20% at 0% of the max level to 90% at 100% of the max level, and the chance to incorrectly predict should be half of the inverse.

also have their attacks be less accurate based on how many stacks of screen-obscuring status effects (stuff like snow and sand would be more noticable with light blinding the most, but things like corroding or anything that makes a pulsing overlay and also ever so slightly decrease accuracy by 1 or 2)

the way i believe this could be implemented is with your basic fps’ crosshair inaccuracy thing where every shot would fire in a random location of said ‘crosshair’

@fartman1314

This should apply to ranged M1s as well as projectiles and placed explosions and other attacks of that nature.

please do
i hate it when enemies use 200 blocked damage attacks on me with no way to punish them
i want to be the one using 40 unblocked damage attacks on enemies

@fartman1314

Edit 1:

oh nvm someone already said this

[white_thing]

please…
I’m so tired of dealing with npcs’ random blocking and aimbot…

[Music]

Yes! This would absolutley be a massive benefit to fighting npcs. Current system is not fun just being beamed by a rival doing 600+ damage on an attack you can hardly dodge.

[Boi]

very nice suggestion
I hate being no scoped by Maria

[flammenherz]

Blindness should affect bosses too imo- it makes light and other visionblocking magics weaker against said in comparison to other magics.

Anyway, i overall quite like this suggestion! The combat PVE system has been bothering me a lot- solo pve player btw- because its not really… skillbased at times.

If you encounter an enemy with a bow, it does not matter if you dodge- youll be hit anyway- and that is really damn annoying when each hit deals too much damage.

[knuz]

oh my god a suggestion that’s actually good. we’re so back

[Qwontz]

I concur!

[Randomness]

Neat suggestion, it might need some adjustments if it was going to be put in game (i.e npcs only walking to the side while blocking seems a bit odd) but I like it and adjustments to npcs are definitely needed at some point.

[MrYes]

@Randomness

but I like it and adjustments to npcs are definitely needed at some point.

Especially for exclusively ranged ones (I’m looking at you Ms. Bow spam)

[TeamJB1]

This should just be done, no questions asked. Tho thr accuracy thing is already planned iirc

[fartman1314]

@Randomness

(i.e npcs only walking to the side while blocking seems a bit odd)

i did that cause players frequently walk to the side while blocking to try and get out of the way while still blocking and keeping an eye on the target

@TeamJB1

Tho thr accuracy thing is already planned iirc

not that i’ve seen anywhere

[fartman1314]

bump

[realisticbanana]

i am so genuinely convinced that your head is an empty cave

[fartman1314]

@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.

that’s kinda the point
it rewards skill-based combat by letting you make the fight easier

@opticalcord

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.

maybe instead of sidestepping they can also go forward or backward while blocking

@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.

the npcs already land every shot theres no way to make npc aim feel less skill based

@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. This makes me think of Minecraft skeletons.

what

@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 because of their lack of skills, and high-level npcs are already punishingly accurate along with low-level npcs

@opticalcord

Bosses and mini bosses should not be affected by blinding

maybe they’re just affected at a lesser rate (e.g. 2.5% instead of 10%)

@opticalcord

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

this is already how it goes

@opticalcord

Make then use their stamina while blocking, so they can’t block indefinitely.

oh yeah i need to make a suggestion for them having stamina/magic energy. or you could… if you didn’t… cough cough make strength javelin cough cough

@opticalcord

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.

way too advanced to code but could work if vetex figured out a way to do it

[hanmbi]

just stand at the bow of the brig, hold g and on her downtime use beam/pistol/rifle lmb

[arericarnau]

not gonna lie this is probably the best suggestion ever

[fartman1314]

why thank you

[Boi]

I still use that but whenever I jump up to shoot Maria she can’t miss her pistol shot