652Graystripe
Plantera
As it stands now, the Martian Madness is pretty dreadfully balanced. I wouldn't mind so much if it was just easy to cheese*, but it's also made so that cheesing is the only way to reliably fight that damned saucer. And don't forget the torture of RNG!
*For those who don't know, "cheese" is a way of beating a boss/event that's viewed as kind of unfair or awfully easy. Like beating the Martian Madness with a ceiling.
Saucer changes
It took me a long time to figure out where to start with this thing. So:
-Lasers travel through blocks
-Much slower while firing death ray; death ray takes a short while to "warm up"
-Does not have a "second phase"; armaments have sharply increased health accordingly
-Missiles no longer home in
-Missile damage increased to 90/120
-Speed increases as turrets are removed
(I want to thank @sharkman0101 for suggesting the reduced speed/telegraph on the death ray; my previous solution was removing it entirely, which was too heavy-handed).
Also:
-Drops tweaked quite a bit (see section)
-Spawning requirements changed (see section)
These are drastic changes, I'll admit it, but I feel that they're necessary. As it stands the Saucer basically demands that you wait under blocks and use some indirect-fire weapon to take it out. That's no fun, and not what this event should be like.
With these changes, the Saucer becomes a frenetic, fast-paced, always-on-the-move boss fight in the open air.
Enemy frequency
The way it is now, the Madness is basically the Saucer with a side of mooks. This should change some; as of now, the martians themselves are just getting in the way of you fighting the saucer's drop RNG.
-Gray Grunt, Brain Scrambler, and Ray Gunner removed
-Scutlix now occurs on its own and fires lasers like the Ray Gunner used to
-Still drops Scutlix mount
-Gigazapper follows Butcher AI, with a considerable speed boost to make it dangerous to grounded players
-Martian Saucer now only spawns once the event is 60% complete, like the Flying Dutchman
While this would make it harder to get those precious rare drops, I've made changes to the drops that really help this. Take a look.
All other enemies remain the same.
(also, is anyone else bothered by the fact that they all have different hit sounds?)
Drop changes
-Cosmic Car Key, Xeno Staff, and Laser Drill are still dropped by the Saucer as normal (33% each)
-Anti-Gravity Hook is now an extra drop, 20%
All the other drops become craftable. While I considered making that widely-suggested Martian NPC to sell these, I decided shelling out ducats for a bunch of weapons was kind of a lazy way to get 'em.
Xenopopper
-Crafted with
40 Martian Conduit Plating
Laser Machinegun
-Crafted with
40 Martian Conduit Plating
Electrosphere Launcher
-Crafted with
40 Martian Conduit Plating
Charged Blaster Cannon
-Crafted with
40 Martian Conduit Plating
-Also, buff it in accordance with @Baconfry 's misc rebalances thread
Influx Waver
-Crafted with
40 Martian Conduit Plating
These recipes do feel a little bland, but I'm not willing to put in a pre-grade (e.g. the Proximity Mine Launcher or the Laser Rifle or something) because that just necessitates unnecessary grinding in places where it's no longer fun. The conduit plating will do.
Conclusion
Though I'm painting in broad strokes here, I hope you'll agree that that was what's necessary. For such an important event (given the Cosmic Car Key and the extremely potent weapons) it's really a drag to fight.
*For those who don't know, "cheese" is a way of beating a boss/event that's viewed as kind of unfair or awfully easy. Like beating the Martian Madness with a ceiling.
Saucer changes
It took me a long time to figure out where to start with this thing. So:
-Lasers travel through blocks
-Much slower while firing death ray; death ray takes a short while to "warm up"
-Does not have a "second phase"; armaments have sharply increased health accordingly
-Missiles no longer home in
-Missile damage increased to 90/120
-Speed increases as turrets are removed
(I want to thank @sharkman0101 for suggesting the reduced speed/telegraph on the death ray; my previous solution was removing it entirely, which was too heavy-handed).
Also:
-Drops tweaked quite a bit (see section)
-Spawning requirements changed (see section)
These are drastic changes, I'll admit it, but I feel that they're necessary. As it stands the Saucer basically demands that you wait under blocks and use some indirect-fire weapon to take it out. That's no fun, and not what this event should be like.
With these changes, the Saucer becomes a frenetic, fast-paced, always-on-the-move boss fight in the open air.
Enemy frequency
The way it is now, the Madness is basically the Saucer with a side of mooks. This should change some; as of now, the martians themselves are just getting in the way of you fighting the saucer's drop RNG.
-Gray Grunt, Brain Scrambler, and Ray Gunner removed
-Scutlix now occurs on its own and fires lasers like the Ray Gunner used to
-Still drops Scutlix mount
-Gigazapper follows Butcher AI, with a considerable speed boost to make it dangerous to grounded players
-Martian Saucer now only spawns once the event is 60% complete, like the Flying Dutchman
While this would make it harder to get those precious rare drops, I've made changes to the drops that really help this. Take a look.
All other enemies remain the same.
(also, is anyone else bothered by the fact that they all have different hit sounds?)
Drop changes
-Cosmic Car Key, Xeno Staff, and Laser Drill are still dropped by the Saucer as normal (33% each)
-Anti-Gravity Hook is now an extra drop, 20%
All the other drops become craftable. While I considered making that widely-suggested Martian NPC to sell these, I decided shelling out ducats for a bunch of weapons was kind of a lazy way to get 'em.
Xenopopper
-Crafted with
Laser Machinegun
-Crafted with
Electrosphere Launcher
-Crafted with
Charged Blaster Cannon
-Crafted with
-Also, buff it in accordance with @Baconfry 's misc rebalances thread
Influx Waver
-Crafted with
These recipes do feel a little bland, but I'm not willing to put in a pre-grade (e.g. the Proximity Mine Launcher or the Laser Rifle or something) because that just necessitates unnecessary grinding in places where it's no longer fun. The conduit plating will do.
Conclusion
Though I'm painting in broad strokes here, I hope you'll agree that that was what's necessary. For such an important event (given the Cosmic Car Key and the extremely potent weapons) it's really a drag to fight.
3 Dec 2018: Rebalanced the Martian Saucer in accordance with several commenters, especially @Lord Garak and @sharkman0101
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