Alpha 11 Release Notes


Pathfinder Online

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CEO, Goblinworks

Here are the (partial) notes for Alpha 11. At this time I am not sure if the team deployed the feature that increments trainer abilities based on captured Towers. As soon as I can confirm that has been deployed, we'll add it to the official notes. I'm not publishing the notes as a blog until I have that confirmation. I am also waiting for confirmation that the two feats that impact encumbrance were added.

Achievements

  • Added settlement achievements that you get by going to the keep of a player settlement template. There is one per player settlement template, so you get it for going to the first of a given template you visit. They all reward two achievement points of various categories useful to the players of that settlement.

Advancement

  • Increased ability score bonuses for feats at the low end and decreased them at the high end.
  • Removed some non-functional skills like Fly from the system. We will return them once we have functionality for them.

AI

  • AI logic has been updated for NPCs to only share hate with members of their team (2 teams currently: Guards, and all other hostile NPCs). Also, aside from sharing hate with members of their team, they will actively engage members of different teams (i.e. Guards will attack hostile NPCs that come within range).

Animation

  • Substantial improvements to many formerly broken attack animations.
  • Improvements to idle and base movement animations, including minor differentiation based on gender.

Art

  • Added bloom to game camera to add to overall game look and feel
  • Unified weapon placement in character hands
  • The Pathdinder Online Application has a more asthetic icon
  • Fixes to a number of visual effects for spells to use a more appropriate placeholder
  • Some adjustments to elf heads (still in progress)

Audio

  • Audio added to the vast majority of feats
  • Improvements to many sounds

Character Creation

  • Made visual improvements to the starter cloth armor. Your leg wounds have been healed by the Power of the Gods!
  • Additional and improved hair styles for character creation.

Combat

  • Effects with 'Beneficial' no longer autotarget the caster. In additional, 'Beneficial' effects no longer make attack rolls.
  • Modified the 'Beneficial' effect as follows:
    1: If an action is Beneficial, it can be used without any target selected. In this case, it automatically acts as if the user was the target (without changing the actual target).
    2: If an action is Beneficial, and it is used with a hostile target selected, it automatically acts as if the user was the target instead (i.e., you cannot use Beneficial actions on a hostile target, even if it is a "to target" action, but you can cast a to target heal/buff on yourself while targeting an enemy).
    3: In both of these cases, range is not an issue (since the target is you and within melee range), so the action should be available even if the selected hostile target is out of range or there is no target. If a non-hostile target is selected, it uses the normal range limitations.
  • Restored the Distressed and Unbalanced states which were temporarily combined down into Flat-Footed and Opportunity. The combination was to get players comfortable with using conditional states, so, now that players seem to be comfortable with them, we're restoring the original conditions and balance of the attacks. Feats that had an applied or conditional state affected are are:

Physical Attacks

  • Opportunity to Unbalanced: Balestra, Clustered Shots, Gore, Hoist, Impact Critical Shot, Ruin, Shield Charge, Shiv, Shove, Slam, Wrathful Strike
  • Flat-Footed to Distressed: Compound, Cross Blow, Distant Shot, False Edge, Footwork, Forehand, Hack, Mangle, Overdraw, Parting Shot, Shield Slam, Shillelagh, Skewer, Sorrow's Release, Stab, Thousand Cuts, Thrust, Understrike, Wind-Up

Cantrips

  • Opportunity to Unbalanced: Break, Deadly Proximity, Ghostly Grasp, Remove Energy, Telekinetic Fist,
  • Flat-Footed to Distressed: Binding Web, Eel's Touch, Explosive Rune, Flare, Frost Ray, Hellflume, Instant Inferno, Killing Joke, Nightmarish Foe, Shard Spray, Shard Storm, Winter's Caress

Orisons

  • Opportunity to Unbalanced: Bleeding Touch, Lightning Arc
  • Flat-Footed to Distressed: Destructive Smite, Icicle

Trophy Charm

  • Opportunity to Unbalanced: Fluster, Trouble, Imperil, Disturb, Scare, Jeopardize, Halt,
  • Flat-Footed to Distressed: Jeopardize

Rogue Kit

  • Opportunity to Unbalanced: Adamantine Bolos
  • Flat-Footed to Distressed: Ripping Shears, Adamantine Shears

Spellbook

  • Opportunity to Unbalanced: Hydraulic Push, Scorching Ray, Fireball, Delayed Blast Fireball, Sunburst, Meteor Swarm
  • Flat-Footed to Distressed: Force Missile, Acid Arrow, Boil Blood, Biting Gaze, Death's Shadow, Greater Shout, Death's Wail

Holy Symbol

  • Opportunity to Unbalanced: Darkness, Midnight
  • Flat-Footed to Distressed: N/A

Companies

  • The Apply to Join feature now works properly - application requests now show up in a company admin's Applicant's list as expected.
  • The search feature in the Company UI now works as expected, and is no longer case sensitive.
  • A company can no longer be created with the same name as another company.
  • Company membership now updates when new players join.

Crafting

  • Reduced crafting, refining. and gathering XP costs by 16.66%
  • Fixed the Crafting recipe scroll bar, so that it no longer hides recipes in other crafting buildings.
  • Lowered the base rank and quality of most refining recipes and set all refining recipes to increase by one rank per plus. For example, if something requires rank 1 for +0, it now requires rank 2 for +1, rank 3 for +2, and rank 4 for +3. Overall, this should make the +0 and +1 versions of most recipes available earlier, the +2 and +3 versions available about the same time for recipes that were previously toward the end of a tier, and the +2 and +3 versions available slightly later for recipes that were previously toward the beginning of a tier.
  • Dramatically increased the components required for higher plus versions of refining recipes. This often includes adding magical essences at the highest upgrades (as they're so good they're slightly magical even before you craft them into a finished good). Previously, higher plus items were far too little of a component increase over the +0 versions, creating little reason to not always refine at +3 as soon as possible.

Environment

  • Increased copper in the Northern Thorncrags with a equal drop in iron.
  • Fixed mislabeled settlement hex for Hammerfall.
  • Hell hounds are now considered Outsiders, with a new achievement available for killing them.
  • Changed many resource ratings.
  • Thornguards are now targetable only by clicking.
  • Bank doors now close automatically upon leaving the bank.
  • Fixed a bug that left a character floating in the sky.
  • Moloch Cultists are now fireproof.

Feats

  • Moved several conditional effects for AoEs that would be hard to judge (on Distressed, Dazed, and Unbalanced) to be lesser effects that do not require a condition or other conditionals like Opportunity (since it's hard to tell whether the condition is on all the AoE's targets.
  • Corrected armor proficiency requirements to better mesh with armor feat requirements.
  • Reactive feats now only apply their effects on the target.
  • Global cooldown on Expendables now applies only to Expendables.

Items

  • Removed non-yet-working expendables from the market listings.
    Set Lesser Token of Mind Blanking to the correct quality level (it will no longer look like it's Tier 2).
  • Missing icons added for Tokens, Recipes, Expendables, and Implements.
  • Made improvements to self-healing. Among other things, tokens of curing now actually cure.
  • Boots now show up when the Embroidered Silk Robes are equipped.
  • Items now have weight which will be applied to the character's encumbrance in a future update. We know that some of the weights of some of the items are not correct and they will be fixed before encumbrance is turned on.

PvP

  • War of Towers PvP windows now operate correctly, opening and closing as expected.

Recipes

  • Moved Oak Pole refining recipes down in rank so Wizards can get Staves earlier in Tier 2.

UI

  • Active Feat icons were updated, following a scheme by which the background and border provide consistent information about the feat.
  • Many new icons added, including implements, upgrade feats, weapon types, and multiple items including learnable spells, recipes and tokens
  • Company management system icon is now a castle
  • Quest management system icon is now a hand
  • Removed the center area of the Paper Doll to allow viewing of character (experimental implementation)
  • Tutorial and Company UI updated, including improvements to scroll bar functionality.
  • The bag system icon for Inventory changes colors as your character's load changes. It turns yellow when your character is lightly encumbered and red when the character is fully encumbered.
  • You will see your encumbrance as two bars in the Inventory window. The bottom bar fills first and represents being lightly encumbered. As the top bar fills your speed will be reduced and when the top bar is completely filled you are fully encumbered and cannot move. (Note: Move penalties are not yet turned on.)

Goblin Squad Member

What have you done to stamina?

Goblin Squad Member

"Global cooldown on Expendables now applies only to Expendables."

I believe this should be Expendables AND Consumables.

Goblin Squad Member

I haven't played Alpha in quite a while. Is the teleporting bug still happening?

Goblin Squad Member

Played a couple if hours with about 12 others in an escalation hex. No teleports. I think two people desynced but simply quit and restarted to resolve.

Goblin Squad Member

I have heard of the desynch issues still happening, along with teleports.

Also, the PVP windows still don't appear to be working.

Goblin Squad Member

Towers aren't correctly working with companies in the management windows either.

CEO, Goblinworks

It may take a day for some of the tower stuff to become active.

Paizo Employee CEO

Dazyk wrote:
I have heard of the desynch issues still happening, along with teleports.

What was fixed was the falling through the world, not the teleports or other desynchs.

Lisa

Goblin Squad Member

Lisa Stevens wrote:
Dazyk wrote:
I have heard of the desynch issues still happening, along with teleports.

What was fixed was the falling through the world, not the teleports or other desynchs.

Lisa

I had a falling through the sky episode. Fixed by the usual method.

CEO, Goblinworks

Yeah, I would not suggest the desych problems are fixed yet.

Goblin Squad Member

Had a momentary flash of sky today, but it went away immediately. Only covered part of the screen

Goblin Squad Member

Had two falling through the sky today both had to be fixed in the usual way since I ended up in the clouds falling over and over.

Goblin Squad Member

only just fell into a hole beside a road...
relogged and falling through the sky...
relogged and falling through the sky back into my hole...
suicide, fixed beside a shrine

- Jasc

Goblin Squad Member

Jasc, was that just south of Golotha? I have reported a hole next to the road until I tired of doing it...

Goblin Squad Member

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Jascolich wrote:

only just fell into a hole beside a road...

relogged and falling through the sky...
relogged and falling through the sky back into my hole...
suicide, fixed beside a shrine

- Jasc

And the most poetic bug report award goes to Jas!

Goblin Squad Member

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Build 11 Comments:

Tower PvP windows are not working "as expected".

Additional and Improved Combat Animations are appreciated, although still not complete.

Building / structure rendering is very slow. Lag in general has increased, even in sparser environment (ie plains hex), and just for character movement (not just in combat).

Build 11.1 Suggestions:

Other than the tweaks needed to address B11, here are a few for 11.1:

1. Shared Bank Vaults (account, company, settlement and or customized).

2. Role Balancing: I can honestly not think of anything a Rogue can do that Fighters, In particular, can not do better.

Question: with many of the short bow feats now creating distress, rather than flatfoot, what has been done to change the other feats or slotted abilities to take advantage of distress?

Question: When will "Run and Shoot" allow Rogue to..... You know... Run and Shoot?

If there is no advantage for using a Short Bow vs. a Long Bow, then what is the point? There is too much incentive to either Multi Role or just go Fighter.

Goblin Squad Member

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Regarding Role balancing, I think it is important to have signature abilites that is not " crossover" between roles. I havent delved on Clerics, but they seems to be missing their IMO signature ability, Turn Undead. If the decicions goe "my way" it is just to implement an special attack mode of some kind, the targets are out there.

The problem with Rouges are that there isn't any apparent target for the signifier (IMO) abilities (which I have harped about at other places).

So it is difficult to balance it, just now it is just something of a light warrior, or a spelless ranger ...

Goblin Squad Member

Quote:

Lowered the base rank and quality of most refining recipes and set all refining recipes to increase by one rank per plus. For example, if something requires rank 1 for +0, it now requires rank 2 for +1, rank 3 for +2, and rank 4 for +3. Overall, this should make the +0 and +1 versions of most recipes available earlier, the +2 and +3 versions available about the same time for recipes that were previously toward the end of a tier, and the +2 and +3 versions available slightly later for recipes that were previously toward the beginning of a tier.

Dramatically increased the components required for higher plus versions of refining recipes. This often includes adding magical essences at the highest upgrades (as they're so good they're slightly magical even before you craft them into a finished good). Previously, higher plus items were far too little of a component increase over the +0 versions, creating little reason to not always refine at +3 as soon as possible.

Good to see this.

These are welcome changes, low level crafters, rejoice! There will be a market for +1 and +2 goods after all.

Goblin Squad Member

Schedim wrote:

Regarding Role balancing, I think it is important to have signature abilites that is not " crossover" between roles. I havent delved on Clerics, but they seems to be missing their IMO signature ability, Turn Undead. If the decicions goe "my way" it is just to implement an special attack mode of some kind, the targets are out there.

The problem with Rouges are that there isn't any apparent target for the signifier (IMO) abilities (which I have harped about at other places).

So it is difficult to balance it, just now it is just something of a light warrior, or a spelless ranger ...

I too would like to see signature abilities in regards to roles. I'm not sure how they would be implemented given the current state of the game considering "everyone can do everything" but it's definitely something I'd like to see down the road.

Currently, I am scared that my wanting to only level as a pure Cleric is going to definitely "gimp" me as it seems like multiclassing is the way to go.

Goblin Squad Member

Jascolich wrote:

only just fell into a hole beside a road...

relogged and falling through the sky...
relogged and falling through the sky back into my hole...
suicide, fixed beside a shrine

- Jasc

I kept trying to read this to the tune of "Ring of Fire". I kept failing...

Goblin Squad Member

Player looting
Encumbrance full implemenation
Threading limits

All of these need to find there way into testing, prior to EE MVP.

Goblin Squad Member

Unless You put something more into it, full encumbrance will be implemented soon, we just got a bit of sufferance period to get our stuff into the correct vaults...

Goblin Squad Member

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I'm really happy with this build. I fell through the world more than I had all last week so I'll assume this build needs some tweaking, but I'll be happy if EE starts with build 11.

Gushers/looting/threading all very important, I hope they are all in build 12, but we can start without them, imho.

Goblin Squad Member

Lisa Stevens wrote:
Dazyk wrote:
I have heard of the desynch issues still happening, along with teleports.

What was fixed was the falling through the world, not the teleports or other desynchs.

Lisa

Logged in for about 20 minutes since the patch was put out. Fell through the world after running about 5 hexes.

After a couple of log offs, because was in wrong hex. Logged back in to Aragon with constant falling through the world.

Still needs some help.

Goblin Squad Member

Xeen wrote:
Lisa Stevens wrote:
Dazyk wrote:
I have heard of the desynch issues still happening, along with teleports.

What was fixed was the falling through the world, not the teleports or other desynchs.

Lisa

Logged in for about 20 minutes since the patch was put out. Fell through the world after running about 5 hexes.

After a couple of log offs, because was in wrong hex. Logged back in to Aragon with constant falling through the world.

Still needs some help.

One char worked fine.

... the other at TK logs in to find the world and NPCs are all fine and he can craft train and so forth. Problem is all the other players are walking around in an invisible building 2 floors above him at roof top level.

Scarab Sages Goblin Squad Member

Nihimon wrote:
Jascolich wrote:

only just fell into a hole beside a road...

relogged and falling through the sky...
relogged and falling through the sky back into my hole...
suicide, fixed beside a shrine

- Jasc

I kept trying to read this to the tune of "Ring of Fire". I kept failing...

It reminded me of Fixing a Hole, by the Beatles.

Scarab Sages Goblin Squad Member

Ryan Dancey wrote:
It may take a day for some of the tower stuff to become active.

Maybe a couple of days. We've been through one downtime since the patch, and towers are still displaying negative time until the PVP window opens.

Goblin Squad Member

KarlBob wrote:
Nihimon wrote:
Jascolich wrote:

only just fell into a hole beside a road...

relogged and falling through the sky...
relogged and falling through the sky back into my hole...
suicide, fixed beside a shrine

- Jasc

I kept trying to read this to the tune of "Ring of Fire". I kept failing...
It reminded me of Fixing a Hole, by the Beatles.

Ah yes, the hole. The only natural enemy of the pile.

Goblin Squad Member

I assume this is applied if you are a member of a settlement or ...?

Ryan wrote:


Achievements

•Added settlement achievements that you get by going to the keep of a player settlement template. There is one per player settlement template, so you get it for going to the first of a given template you visit. They all reward two achievement points of various categories useful to the players of that settlement.

Goblin Squad Member

Bluddwolf wrote:
2. Role Balancing: I can honestly not think of anything a Rogue can do that Fighters, In particular, can not do better.

If your settlement goes wizard/rogue, a rogue can more fully and conveniently train than a fighter since the included skirmisher trainer doesn't train your basic fighter skills.

Scarab Sages Goblin Squad Member

Schedim wrote:

I assume this is applied if you are a member of a settlement or ...?

Ryan wrote:


Achievements

•Added settlement achievements that you get by going to the keep of a player settlement template. There is one per player settlement template, so you get it for going to the first of a given template you visit. They all reward two achievement points of various categories useful to the players of that settlement.

I don't think you have to be a member.

It sounds like the achievements would go like this:
Visited a Crafting settlement
Visited a Rogue/Wizard settlement
Visited a Cleric/Fighter settlement
Etc.

If you visited two Cleric/Fighter settlements, you'd still only get the achievement one time.

Note: If you lived in a Cleric/Fighter settlement when these achievements went live, you would still get credit for having "visited" a Cleric/Fighter settlement the first time you approached the Keep in your settlement.

Goblin Squad Member

KarlBob wrote:
Schedim wrote:

I assume this is applied if you are a member of a settlement or ...?

Ryan wrote:


Achievements

•Added settlement achievements that you get by going to the keep of a player settlement template. There is one per player settlement template, so you get it for going to the first of a given template you visit. They all reward two achievement points of various categories useful to the players of that settlement.

I don't think you have to be a member.

It sounds like the achievements would go like this:
Visited a Crafting settlement
Visited a Rogue/Wizard settlement
Visited a Cleric/Fighter settlement
Etc.

If you visited two Cleric/Fighter settlements, you'd still only get the achievement one time.

Note: If you lived in a Cleric/Fighter settlement when these achievements went live, you would still get credit for having "visited" a Cleric/Fighter settlement the first time you approached the Keep in your settlement.

I visited Talonguard and Stoneroot Glade, but didn't get any achievement. Went and knocked on the keep doors at both places.

Scarab Sages Goblin Squad Member

Ryan mentioned that some of the settlement-related changes in Alpha 11 would take effect a couple of days later than the rest of the patch. These achievements might be in that delayed group.

I think that delay is the reason why GW hasn't posted the official Alpha 11 Release Notes blog entry yet. I believe this post is more of an unofficial update, because some of the changes have happened.

Edit: Actually, the release notes blog entry was posted on Nov 1. Some of the changes, like PVP windows opening, are still not active yet.

Goblin Squad Member

Being wrote:
Bluddwolf wrote:
2. Role Balancing: I can honestly not think of anything a Rogue can do that Fighters, In particular, can not do better.
If your settlement goes wizard/rogue, a rogue can more fully and conveniently train than a fighter since the included skirmisher trainer doesn't train your basic fighter skills.

That's not really something a rogue can do better than a fighter.

Goblin Squad Member

I believe the main thing that differentiates Rogues from Fighters is Sneak Attack.

Goblin Squad Member

<Harping mode ON>

Rouges are now some kind of Harvester/Gatherer with teeth, not very Rogueish, no.

Rogue targets are needed, IMO, Lockpicking, trap disabling, pickpocketing and LOS/darkness/terrain effects on Sneak.

<Harp mode OFF>

Goblin Squad Member

Nihimon wrote:
I believe the main thing that differentiates Rogues from Fighters is Sneak Attack.

Yupp, but as for now it mostly feels like another Figthsr Combat Feat ...

Goblin Squad Member

Nihimon wrote:
I believe the main thing that differentiates Rogues from Fighters is Sneak Attack.

The only signature role related thing that differentiates Rogues from Fighters is manoeuvres for the Rogue Kit implement versus the Trophy Charm implement.

As far as I can tell, slotting daredevil or cutthroat works fine for sneak attack with even a wizard staff.

Though if I am wrong on this I am happy to be corrected as it does strike me as rather odd.

Scarab Sages Goblin Squad Member

Schedim wrote:
Rogue targets are needed, IMO, Lockpicking, trap disabling, pickpocketing and LOS/darkness/terrain effects on Sneak.

I think part of the problem is that none of those things are part of MVP.

Lock picking would require doors, and buildings that you can enter. Right now, the taverns in the NPC towns are the only buildings with an interior.

Auto loot means no treasure chests to unlock, and no chest traps to disable.

Picking pockets against PCs is always problematic. If a high enough skill makes it undetectable to the target, then it violates one of GW's design principles, that bad things shouldn't happen to PCs unavoidably and undetectably.

Picking pockets against NPCs runs into a problem because there are no neutral NPCs. There are only trainers and guards, who should normally be on your side, and enemies. GW doesn't want Sneak to get us into melee range of enemies, so picking an enemy's pocket would have to be done during combat.

Disable device has problems because everything currently happens in open fields. Nothing would prevent us from walking around a trap, instead of disabling it. There is one escalation event where PCs disable goblin bombs, but it's an automatic success if you click the bomb.

I don't know when GW plans to implement LOS, but I don't expect it by Day One of Early Enrollment. I think LOS effects on Sneak are even further into the future than LOS effects on bows.

Goblin Squad Member

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KarlBob wrote:
Schedim wrote:
Rogue targets are needed, IMO, Lockpicking, trap disabling, pickpocketing and LOS/darkness/terrain effects on Sneak.

I think part of the problem is that none of those things are part of MVP.

Lock picking would require doors, and buildings that you can enter. Right now, the taverns in the NPC towns are the only buildings with an interior.

Auto loot means no treasure chests to unlock, and no chest traps to disable.

Picking pockets against PCs is always problematic. If a high enough skill makes it undetectable to the target, then it violates one of GW's design principles, that things shouldn't happen to you unavoidably and undetectably.

Picking pockets against NPCs runs into a problem because there are no neutral NPCs. There are only trainers and guards, who should normally be on your side, and enemies. GW doesn't want Sneak to get us into melee range of enemies, so picking an enemy's pocket would have to be done during combat.

Disable device has problems because as things stand, all combat takes place in open fields. Nothing would prevent us from walking around a trap, instead of disabling it. There is one escalation event where PCs disable goblin bombs, but it's an automatic success if you click the bomb.

I don't know when GW plans to implement LOS, but I don't expect it by Day One of Early Enrollment. I think LOS effects on Sneak are even further into the future than LOS effects on bows.

Well in TT most tables I have run disable low level traps by having the barbarian stand on them and disable traps of the "twinned disintegrate/imprisonment" variety by summoning a small badger or similar on them.

Its only the resetting traps on a door or passage they must get through and cannot go around that cause issues.

The most common reason for dipping into rogue was at first level for skills and/or to get UMD. I cannot see UMD being a thing in PFO.

Goblin Squad Member

2 people marked this as a favorite.
Being wrote:
Bluddwolf wrote:
2. Role Balancing: I can honestly not think of anything a Rogue can do that Fighters, In particular, can not do better.
If your settlement goes wizard/rogue, a rogue can more fully and conveniently train than a fighter since the included skirmisher trainer doesn't train your basic fighter skills.

.......................................................................

Are you seriously using the argument that a class is easier to train if you don't have the other kind of class trainer as a justification that it's balanced?

Wow.... just wow....

Let's rephrase the question to: Other than the mistaken assumption Goblinworks have any clue of how to balance a class why would any settlement not already locked into rogue training facilities ever take them???

Goblin Squad Member

Neadenil Edam wrote:
Nihimon wrote:
I believe the main thing that differentiates Rogues from Fighters is Sneak Attack.

The only signature role related thing that differentiates Rogues from Fighters is manoeuvres for the Rogue Kit implement versus the Trophy Charm implement.

As far as I can tell, slotting daredevil or cutthroat works fine for sneak attack with even a wizard staff.

Though if I am wrong on this I am happy to be corrected as it does strike me as rather odd.

From back in September:

Stephen Cheney wrote:

Sneak Attack will work with any weapon. Heavier weapons don't tend to have a lot of synergy with it, but the base effects of it will work.

(Some heavier weapons do currently seem to have synergy with it because we temporarily collapsed the Distressed state into Flat-Footed, so there is more Flat-Footed going around than there ultimately will be.)

Also, I thought I had ready something from a Dev that they would be looking at the ranged attack + daredevil; that was not how it was intended to work or might be overpowered.

I agree the sneak attack is the signature of the rogue; a light fighter with a lot of side talents and tricks up his sleeves. They might be weaker 1:1, but might gain advantage wherever they can temporarily gain 2:1.

Goblinworks Executive Founder

Andius the Afflicted wrote:
Being wrote:
Bluddwolf wrote:
2. Role Balancing: I can honestly not think of anything a Rogue can do that Fighters, In particular, can not do better.
If your settlement goes wizard/rogue, a rogue can more fully and conveniently train than a fighter since the included skirmisher trainer doesn't train your basic fighter skills.

.......................................................................

Are you seriously using the argument that a class is easier to train if you don't have the other kind of class trainer as a justification that it's balanced?

Wow.... just wow....

Let's rephrase the question to: Other than the mistaken assumption Goblinworks have any clue of how to balance a class why would any settlement not already locked into rogue training facilities ever take them???

Sneak attack, light armor feats for when lightning arrows become common enough, and rogue expendables.

Scarab Sages Goblin Squad Member

On the one hand, "because it's harder to train a class that your settlement doesn't train," is indeed a non-answer.

On the other hand, as I pointed out above, a lot of the things that could make rogues shine aren't in the game yet. Until they are, GW has not failed to balance the class, they're just not finished programming the game.

I only played Dungeons & Dragons Online for a few months, but I saw in the first week why rogues were valuable. Some of the intro dungeons were filled to the gills with traps. Having a rogue in the party made those dungeons far more survivable.

We have no dungeons yet, so no traps. No treasure chests, so no locked, trapped chests. No walls to climb, not much need for skills except crafting, no need for a party "face" to negotiate with NPCs. Right now, the only possible differentiators between rogues and fighters are combat-related. They'll be more lightly armored than fighters, and they might be more attuned to the flow of conditions on themselves and enemies, because of Sneak Attack and a bunch of good secondary attacks. That's about it.

None of this means that GW has no idea how to balance classes. It means that rogues will have to wait for their time to shine until we can fight indoors, have traps to avoid, and need to open locked doors with more finesse than a battleaxe to the hinges.

Really, for all that it's one of the core roles in tabletop play, Rogue might not have been the best choice for Role 4 in PFO's starting lineup.

Goblin Squad Member

Except any character can take any skill and train them as much as they want without penalty or the need to ever weigh them against other concerns in terms of slotting.

What real purpose do you have to take a rogue with stealth, perception, climb, disable device, and diplomacy over a fighter who trained the exact same skills?

Goblin Squad Member

KarlBob wrote:


None of this means that GW has no idea how to balance classes. It means that rogues will have to wait for their time to shine until we can fight indoors, have traps to avoid, and need to open locked doors with more finesse than a battleaxe to the hinges.

Really, for all that it's one of the core roles in tabletop play, Rogue might not have been the best choice for Role 4 in PFO's starting lineup.

There is some rather odd logic going on in the forums on this matter as well.

It seems to go like this:

1. Anything that prevents melee fighters from closing on targets in PvP and engaging them in melee is unfair as it makes fighters nonviable in PvP. Therefore make fighters always able to charge at targets. (hence ranged rooted etc)

2. Now we have a game where fighters can always charge into melee we should just balance on how good characters are face to face in melee.

3. Fighters (or clerics depending who is posting) are clearly better at melee.

4. Therefore the game is unbalanced

Goblin Squad Member

Andius the Afflicted wrote:

Except any character can take any skill and train them as much as they want without penalty or the need to ever weigh them against other concerns in terms of slotting.

What real purpose do you have to take a rogue with stealth, perception, climb, disable device, and diplomacy over a fighter who trained the exact same skills?

yep.

I actually think "Roles" should be removed form the game entirely.

We should just have skills we train and use as we see fit, same as in EVE.

Roles like rogue are an unfortunate hangover from TT and old school MMOs and should be eliminated.

Goblin Squad Member

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I think people are sleeping on sneak attack damage. It's very underwhelming at low levels but crunch the #'s and it should eventually stack. I really doubt the rogue critics have fully tested a T2 rogue. Throw in mobility which starts to really matter in PvP and I don't think the Rogue is poorly designed, though it might not be working quite up to snuff right now.

Scarab Sages Goblin Squad Member

Andius the Afflicted wrote:

Except any character can take any skill and train them as much as they want without penalty or the need to ever weigh them against other concerns in terms of slotting.

What real purpose do you have to take a rogue with stealth, perception, climb, disable device, and diplomacy over a fighter who trained the exact same skills?

You make the key Rogue abilities Expendables, and tie them to the Rogue implement. Pick Lock, Disable Device, etc. become Maneuvers, instead of Feats.

Really, all four Roles are subject to the "everyone can train everything" factor. It's a primarily class-less game. You're not a Rogue. You're an adventurer who happened to train more Rogue feats than Fighter or Wizard feats. Same goes for the other three roles.

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