Alright, I'm back with more Accessory feedback. This is largely just me correcting bad ideas from my initial post, though I did also address a few other Accessories I missed.
Hellfire Treads: Now, if the Terraspark boots didn't exist, these would be completely fine. However, now that they do, making these completely screws you out of them. Nobody with a sense of self-preservation is going to want to craft an expensive show-off vanity when they could just slap the Flame Wakers into a Vanity slot, make the Terraspark Boots, and call it a day.
Unless you add some sort of extra functionality that provides an interesting alternative to the Terraspark Boots (and I know that's not an option to you guys), these boots are bad design.
This accessory should be removed, though the sprites could be used to replace the Lava Waders', as they look much nicer and less-visibly old.
Flower/Fairy Boots, again: Now, the only real convenience to the Fairy Boots is the increased mobility, but if you already have a pair of Spectre Boots or better, you can just swap out a different, non-running boots accessory and get the same benefit. The tinker is only relevant if you just don’t use running boots during normal play, but with the Terraspark Boots now existing, the chance of that is a LOT slimmer, even if it is still possible. I’m not completely opposed to the Fairy Boots, but they don’t do anything that you couldn’t have done already. Not like you can make the “opening up new slots” argument for this accessory; nobody ever wears it for any longer than it takes to plant the flowers they want, which typically isn't for very long.
Giving it a more permanent function that lets you justify equipping it permanently might be the only other good solution to this problem. Reminder to everyone that the flowers the Flower and Fairy Boots create CAN drop critters; you just need to not have them equipped for that to work.
Sandstorm in a Bottle: The only other alternative I can think of that's not moving this to the Oasis and Mirage Crates is to turn it into an uncommon Sand Elemental drop/have it be craftable with a Cloud in a Bottle and 1 Forbidden Fragment. I don't know if that'd be any easier of a sell, but it's less-preferable to the crates, so this idea is suggested as a last resort.
Magma Stone, again: This is something I need to correct myself on, as I earlier said a 40-DPS debuff would be a perfect increase in damage for the point in the game players would get the Magma Stone, pointing to a Rebalancing mod I'd recently tried out that did just that for an example. It turns out I had been missing an important piece of info: the weapons that the mod made naturally inflict a 50-DPS debuff only had such a high DoT debut because their damage output would be abysmal without it. My correction for this idea is to have the Magma Stone instead inflict a new debuff that deals 15 DPS, still with the ability to be inflicted on more enemies than On Fire. This rebalanced debuff would carry on over to every tinker it has, save for one.
Fire Gauntlet, again*: This is the one. I stand by the original buff to the Magma Stone’s fire damage, but only for this tinker. You are required to fight the three Mechanical Bosses in order to get the Avenger Emblem needed for the preceding tinker, which is an accessory that, fittingly for this buff, grants a raw damage boost. Again, this debuff should have more flexibility on what it can be inflicted on so that it doesn’t become completely useless like On Fire.
Molten Quiver: This one's a nitpick more than a balance idea, but the Magma Stone? I'd be fine with this if the Magma Stone wasn’t specifically a Melee accessory, though I admit that it would be a decent upgrade IF you implement the Magma Stone changes. I’m still disappointed you guys couldn’t have put in the effort to come up with a new ranged accessory for this kind of tinker, though.
Feral Glove: I believe Bame suggested this already, but the Feral Glove should get the Autoswing bonus instead of the Titan Glove, as Autoswing is much more helpful in PreHardmode due to Melee's underperformance. Yeah, it makes the Titan Glove less useful on its own, but at least IT has unique functionality, unlike the Anklet of the Wind and its being a slightly-better Aglet except not really because you don’t even have justification to use it, ever.
Titan Glove: ...Well, I guess the Titan Glove would then become another “never equipped on its own” accessory. Fine, I‘ll propose an effect to take the Autoswing’s spot, though I don’t think this is completely necessary and also this isn't the right plaaace for that.
Band of Starpower, again: I actually have TWO things to go over for this item.
1) +20 Mana is something any other accessory could do with a modifier. It seems you guys realized this, as you ditch the effect entirely with the Magic Cuffs. The Mana Regeneration Band also completely ditches the HEALTH regeneration in favor of Mana, which, I get it, but I don't think that was entirely necessary. While not as much of a balance thing than a "this simply feels smoother" thing, an idea I have to make both the Mana Regeneration Band and Magic Cuffs' effects make a little more sense is to simply have the Band of Starpower increase Mana regeneration instead of the original +20 Mana bonus. With this change, the Mana Regeneration Band could increase both Health AND Mana regeneration, and the Cuffs could just be a Band of Starpower tinker without one bonus suddenly evaporating into a new one and requiring another accessory (Band of Regeneration) to make sense.
2) I don't know if you saw the specific post, but I came up with two possible solutions to the conundrum of this thing being locked to the Corruption. Slightly revised, one is to have the Band of Starpower become a drop from Iron and Mythril Crates once 3 Shadow Orbs or Crimson Hearts have been smashed open. The second, however? Replace the Band in the Shadow Orb with a new accessory, and give the Band of Starpower a 25% chance to replace Bands of Regeneration in Gold Chests. I know this second option would be a much harder sell, but it’s definitely the better solution of the two. I‘ve provided an idea to work off of for a replacement accessory, if you pursue this second option and a replacement is required for the pitch.
[EDIT] Wait, actually, WolfenCQ presents a much more creative idea to solve the Band of Starpower. It doesn't address the Panic Necklace issue like I tried to just now in that Spoiler, but it's definitely much better than anything I can come up with.
Mana Cloak, again: Oh I thought you meant that the FALLING stars homed in on ENEMIES. Though, remembering it now, I think my brain just muddled what you said with what I was expecting. Sorry; I only had player descriptions to go off of for this thing.
Okay, yeah, I actually kind of like this thing. I do still say the Star Cloak and its tinkers need a raw damage boost, though, as I saw the stars from this Cloak rain down and do a whopping 30 damage each, assuming they even hit. Accuracy is one thing, but 90 damage with all three stars, regardless of how it’s spread out, is nooot a lot of damage. You don't even need Flex Tape for that; just give the enemy a kiss on the booboo and it's set to go. Wow, I totally forgot “booboo” is a name Americans call injuries around young children. Humans are weird,
If you're planning on using the Flamelash’s new mechanic on the stars of the Star Cloak and its tinkers, they should go through blocks so they actually get a chance to use that second hit instead of just scraping the pixels of a block and immediately vaporizing.
Flesh Knuckles, again: Okay, I like the original idea I had of just bumping the defense up to 10, but it just hit me that making an object that is primarily used to make your punches sting more grant defense doesn’t really make much sense. Regardless of having 7 or 10 defense, the Flesh Knuckles don't really compare to the Putrid Scent much.
This is more of a suggestion than a balance idea, I apologize, but maybe you could add on some sort of damage-retaliation effect (perhaps a “Thorns” effect that hurts all nearby enemies, more so the attacker?) so that the accessory stays defensive while staying true to the offensive nature of brass knuckles.
On the topic of Thorns effects: Every effect that directly returns damage to attackers (Thorns damage) needs to deal a lot MORE damage to be actually worth the cost of getting hit, especially since enemies can easily circumvent it with projectiles. You shouldn't have to worry about these doing excessive damage too much, since, again, you need to take damage, yourself, for the effect to work, and Thorns damage is directly proportional to how much damage YOU take. I also noticed that Turtle Armor overrides all other Thorns effects; these effects should be able to stack.
Paladin's and Hero's Shields, again: As with the Magma Stone, I went a little overboard with these two last time, mostly due to a sudden underestimation of the usefulness of defense. My final suggestion for the Paladin's Shield is increasing its defense to 16; the Flesh Knuckles' tinker into the Hero's Shield, meanwhile, grants it a total of 23 defense at the cost of reducing movement speed by 15%. I stand my ground that their current defense values are not that helpful.
The Frozen Shield, however? I think that's perfect as-is. The drop from a 16-defense Paladin’s Shield to a 6-defense Frozen Shield with 25% damage reduction at low health is justified.
Cobalt Shield, Obsidian Skull, and Obsidian Shield: This isn't too significant of a problem, but their defense feels tacked on for the sole reason that the Cobalt Shield and Obsidian Skull are just Shackles with additional effects. I know said effects are the only reason people even wear them, but if they’re going to grant a defense bonus, it should at least be noticeable.
A simple bump to 2 defense for both of them would be enough, with the Obsidian Shield granting a combined 4, just like the Ankh Shield. If you wanna bump up the Ankh Shield's defense after that, sure, but I don't think it's entirely necessary. The Paladin's Shield is probably a better option in Singleplayer, though.
Shiny Red Balloon*: I appreciate that you guys guaranteed the chance of getting biome items from Crates, but you need THREE balloons for a whole bundle. Just to make things a little less tedious, the chance for Shiny Red Balloons to be in Azure Crates, specifically, should be raised to 50%, in turn lowering the chances for Lucky Horseshoes and Starfuries to 25%. Balance? Unsure. Helpful? Very.
Pygmy Necklace and Avenger Emblem: This one is only technically qualified as balance. Mysteriously, Summoners have an Emblem, but not an Avenger accessory like the other three classes. The Pygmy Necklace is also just kinda sitting there, existing. Seems like a match made in heaven, if you ask me. If you do go for that, make sure you don't turn it into a repeat of the...
Celestial Emblem: Increases Magic damage by 15% and star pickup range by 20 tiles. Okay, yes... but is that it? Once again, this one's only tEchNiCalLY balance, but the Mechanical Glove has the Fire Gauntlet after it; the Destroyer Emblem the Sniper Scope. Wouldn't it make sense to give this thing a finishing tinker? There are a couple of Celestial Magnet tinkers you guys just crammed together, which could be candidates for a final product of a furthered Celestial Emblem tinker. My own idea was to have the Avenger Emblem tinker with the Magic Cuffs into a new set of cuffs ("Vengeful Cuffs"?), and then have THOSE tinker into the Celestial Cuffs, but honestly, you guys could probably make anything work if you actually try. Make sure the Pygmy Necklace and Avenger Emblem tinker ("Prime Necklace"? cough) get a similar treatment, if you go for that idea.
Recon Scope: Uh, WAIT, I TAKE BACK WHAT I SAID ABOUT THE PUTRID SCENT TINKERS IN THE FIRST POST, BUT ONLY FOR THIS ONE.
It's currently a pointless tinker, yes, but adding on ANOTHER 5% Ranged Damage and Critical Strike bonus be an even worse decision, as you would be bumping up the total bonuses to an insane +15%. I don’t wanna say “remove this accessory” again, but you can’t keep it as-is. I suggest that the Recon Scope be made with the Rifle Scope instead of the Sniper Scope, though then it'd just be a worse Sniper Scope. To fix that?
Add an extra item into the accessory, either as a preceding tinker or alongside the Putrid Scent. Again, though, this is a balance thread, not the suggestions forums, so nnnngggh.
Pocket Mirror: Yeah, we all knew this was gonna get mentioned at some point. With an incredibly low drop rate, the situationalness of the Ice Skates, and the complete lack of tinkers, the Pocket Mirror really doesn't get any use at all. Obviously, everyone and their mother is just gonna suggest to throw it into the Ankh Shield, but here's a more creative idea, if you're up for that: let it occasionally reflect incoming projectiles. This suddenly lets the mirror be applied to literally any situation with projectiles, and, as an added bonus, you could even get Medusa to petrify herself! The Pocket Mirror not having a tinker suddenly isn't a problem, though you could throw it into a tinker with the Ankh Shield if you, uh, really think that's necessary. That seems like a Red thing to do, at this point.
Hand Warmer: Okay yeah I can't really do anything fancy for this one; throw it into the Ankh Shield. To make it actually obtainable throughout most of the year without the otherworldly interference of changing your computer's date, it should be an Ice Chest item in the Underground Tundra. Tinker it with the Blindfold, as it forgot to bring a date to the Ankh Prom, and yeah this thing is solid. Feel free to make the sprite nightmare fuel.
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Running Boots, again: I'm apparently just crazy. I swore that, at some point, the wiki said that the Yoyo Bag remembers the Counterweight and String color used for it; obviously, I've never tried crafting the bag with any string other than White String. Soooo, that means that my proposed idea would outright require you to create four different versions of the Spectre, Lightning, Frostspark, AND Terraspark Boots. Now, uh, I'm not afraid to admit that I, myself, would opt to do just that if I could, but I also know that most, if not all, of the team would noooot be willing to put in that much work just because of one item. The only other way to make these guys work without putting way too much effort into making anything like my idea is to just rework the Duneriders entirely.
I meant to go over more Accessories, but I'm having trouble remembering things right now so I need to go clear my head.
Unless you add some sort of extra functionality that provides an interesting alternative to the Terraspark Boots (and I know that's not an option to you guys), these boots are bad design.
This accessory should be removed, though the sprites could be used to replace the Lava Waders', as they look much nicer and less-visibly old.
Giving it a more permanent function that lets you justify equipping it permanently might be the only other good solution to this problem. Reminder to everyone that the flowers the Flower and Fairy Boots create CAN drop critters; you just need to not have them equipped for that to work.
As Titans are inherently l a r g e, perhaps the Titan Glove could increase the size of melee weapons by 20% alongside the knockback bonus? That number might need adjusting, but I think an item that increases weapon size is a pretty neat addition.
1) +20 Mana is something any other accessory could do with a modifier. It seems you guys realized this, as you ditch the effect entirely with the Magic Cuffs. The Mana Regeneration Band also completely ditches the HEALTH regeneration in favor of Mana, which, I get it, but I don't think that was entirely necessary. While not as much of a balance thing than a "this simply feels smoother" thing, an idea I have to make both the Mana Regeneration Band and Magic Cuffs' effects make a little more sense is to simply have the Band of Starpower increase Mana regeneration instead of the original +20 Mana bonus. With this change, the Mana Regeneration Band could increase both Health AND Mana regeneration, and the Cuffs could just be a Band of Starpower tinker without one bonus suddenly evaporating into a new one and requiring another accessory (Band of Regeneration) to make sense.
2) I don't know if you saw the specific post, but I came up with two possible solutions to the conundrum of this thing being locked to the Corruption. Slightly revised, one is to have the Band of Starpower become a drop from Iron and Mythril Crates once 3 Shadow Orbs or Crimson Hearts have been smashed open. The second, however? Replace the Band in the Shadow Orb with a new accessory, and give the Band of Starpower a 25% chance to replace Bands of Regeneration in Gold Chests. I know this second option would be a much harder sell, but it’s definitely the better solution of the two. I‘ve provided an idea to work off of for a replacement accessory, if you pursue this second option and a replacement is required for the pitch.
Paranoid Pendant (Found in Shadow Orbs)
Instead of acting after you've been hit, like the Panic Necklace, the Paranoid Pendant functions until you're hit.
•Highlights the closest enemy on-screen with a Hunter Potion glow, increasing your Critical Strike Chance against them by 20%.
•Getting hit will close the eye, disabling the accessory entirely for 3 seconds. Further tinkers of this item, if any, will have EVERY aspect of it disabled, increasing both the reward and the risk. Take that as an excuse to get wild with tinker ideas.
Instead of acting after you've been hit, like the Panic Necklace, the Paranoid Pendant functions until you're hit.
•Highlights the closest enemy on-screen with a Hunter Potion glow, increasing your Critical Strike Chance against them by 20%.
•Getting hit will close the eye, disabling the accessory entirely for 3 seconds. Further tinkers of this item, if any, will have EVERY aspect of it disabled, increasing both the reward and the risk. Take that as an excuse to get wild with tinker ideas.
Okay, yeah, I actually kind of like this thing. I do still say the Star Cloak and its tinkers need a raw damage boost, though, as I saw the stars from this Cloak rain down and do a whopping 30 damage each, assuming they even hit. Accuracy is one thing, but 90 damage with all three stars, regardless of how it’s spread out, is nooot a lot of damage. You don't even need Flex Tape for that; just give the enemy a kiss on the booboo and it's set to go. Wow, I totally forgot “booboo” is a name Americans call injuries around young children. Humans are weird,
If you're planning on using the Flamelash’s new mechanic on the stars of the Star Cloak and its tinkers, they should go through blocks so they actually get a chance to use that second hit instead of just scraping the pixels of a block and immediately vaporizing.
This is more of a suggestion than a balance idea, I apologize, but maybe you could add on some sort of damage-retaliation effect (perhaps a “Thorns” effect that hurts all nearby enemies, more so the attacker?) so that the accessory stays defensive while staying true to the offensive nature of brass knuckles.
- Both the Thorns Potion buff and Dryad's Blessing should deal 350% Thorns damage; still not much individually, but it definitely provides much more of an effect.
- The Turtle Armor's Thorns bonus should deal 600% Thorns damage to compensate for the heightened toughness of the armor. This could potentially instantly kill stronger enemies.
- The Turtle's Armor, in general, seem to be a little lacking. The Thorns buff won't be enough on its own; some minor stat buffs may be required.
The Frozen Shield, however? I think that's perfect as-is. The drop from a 16-defense Paladin’s Shield to a 6-defense Frozen Shield with 25% damage reduction at low health is justified.
A simple bump to 2 defense for both of them would be enough, with the Obsidian Shield granting a combined 4, just like the Ankh Shield. If you wanna bump up the Ankh Shield's defense after that, sure, but I don't think it's entirely necessary. The Paladin's Shield is probably a better option in Singleplayer, though.
It's currently a pointless tinker, yes, but adding on ANOTHER 5% Ranged Damage and Critical Strike bonus be an even worse decision, as you would be bumping up the total bonuses to an insane +15%. I don’t wanna say “remove this accessory” again, but you can’t keep it as-is. I suggest that the Recon Scope be made with the Rifle Scope instead of the Sniper Scope, though then it'd just be a worse Sniper Scope. To fix that?
Add an extra item into the accessory, either as a preceding tinker or alongside the Putrid Scent. Again, though, this is a balance thread, not the suggestions forums, so nnnngggh.
I meant to go over more Accessories, but I'm having trouble remembering things right now so I need to go clear my head.
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