SzGamer227
Spazmatism
Forget this suggestion. Expert Mode for LIFE!
(Even if that life is a short one.)
(Even if that life is a short one.)
In every case, the two essential factors which determine combat difficulty are these: How much damage you are taking, and how much damage your enemy is taking.
Sounds simple, right?
Now, here's the problem with most other difficulty option suggestions. They either throw off the balance of damage/defense, they alter the in-game statistics too heavily, or they require tinkering with enemy AI, which is impractical. In my quest to solve these problems, I had to ask myself "How can I use damage and defense to shift the balance of PvE one way or another without throwing the game's balance or changing the statistics seen in-game?"
The solution for modifying damage taken and damage dealt without modifying their statistics is simple: shift the damage window. What is the damage window? It's the name I've given to the mechanic which restricts the random amount of possible damage to a defined area. Essentially, an any given attack, that attack will do between 85% to 115% of its base damage before applying defense. If you shift that window downwards, say, to 75% and 105% then 10% less damage is being dealt without making any changes to the attack's statistics or properties.
But what about defense? Changing the amount of damage taken would throw off the balance between defense and damage, shifting the effectiveness of certain weapons and enemies, and cause the game to prefer one setup over another. The solution for this is actually to increase the effectiveness of defense proportionally with the amount of extra damage taken, or lessen defense when they take less damage. It may seem contrary, but look at the equation which derives defense:
Damage = Attack - Defense * 0.5
If you want to modify overall damage, you have to modify all parts of the equation equally, which includes modifying defense in the same way as damage. So, if you want to make enemies 10% harder to kill, they have to take 10% less damage, but also have 10% less defense to make up the difference. Instead of altering the actual defense values, this can be done instead by simply tweaking the defense ratio from o.5 to a different value which would properly balance the modified damage.
Other changes that would be more visible to you would be minor changes in enemy spawn rates and enemy knockback resistance. These would be to spice up the difficulty, so you would be able to notice the game get easier/harder around you. Casual will become more casual, and Challenging will become more brutal. Higher difficulty would become a greater test of skill rather than a strain on your existing abilities, and easier game modes would be more laid back. People have complained that simple statistical changes are boring, so this is my solution.
Finally, Heart drops would be more or less common, because players depend on it during Potions Sickness, and would modifying them is a good way of elevating or alleviating danger
So what's the incentive for going on higher difficulty levels? On any difficulty higher than Normal, "Trophy" items have a higher chance of dropping from enemies. These include Boss Trophies, Boss Masks, and Enemy Banners.
Also, as DarthEnderX suggested, Bosses could also drop different tiers of Trophy based on the difficulty you beat them on, giving the player recognition for obtaining it on a higher difficulty.
Here are the difficulty options that I've come up with:
Casual
*Enemies take 95-125% damage.
*Enemy knockback resistance: -15%
*Players take 75-105% damage.
Easy
*Enemies take 90-120% damage.
*Enemy knockback resistance: -7.5%
*Players take 80-110% damage.
Normal
*Enemies take 85-115% damage.
*Players take 85-115% damage.
Player defense ratio: 0.5
Difficult
*Enemies take 80-110% damage.
*Enemy knockback resistance: +7.5%
*Players take 90-120% damage.
*Trophy rate: +10%
Challenging
*Enemies take 75-105% damage.
*Enemy knockback resistance: +15%
*Players take 95-125% damage.
*Trophy rate: +20%
So, tell me what you think! If you are confused about something, just ask, and I’ll explain it better.
Sounds simple, right?
Now, here's the problem with most other difficulty option suggestions. They either throw off the balance of damage/defense, they alter the in-game statistics too heavily, or they require tinkering with enemy AI, which is impractical. In my quest to solve these problems, I had to ask myself "How can I use damage and defense to shift the balance of PvE one way or another without throwing the game's balance or changing the statistics seen in-game?"
The solution for modifying damage taken and damage dealt without modifying their statistics is simple: shift the damage window. What is the damage window? It's the name I've given to the mechanic which restricts the random amount of possible damage to a defined area. Essentially, an any given attack, that attack will do between 85% to 115% of its base damage before applying defense. If you shift that window downwards, say, to 75% and 105% then 10% less damage is being dealt without making any changes to the attack's statistics or properties.
But what about defense? Changing the amount of damage taken would throw off the balance between defense and damage, shifting the effectiveness of certain weapons and enemies, and cause the game to prefer one setup over another. The solution for this is actually to increase the effectiveness of defense proportionally with the amount of extra damage taken, or lessen defense when they take less damage. It may seem contrary, but look at the equation which derives defense:
Damage = Attack - Defense * 0.5
If you want to modify overall damage, you have to modify all parts of the equation equally, which includes modifying defense in the same way as damage. So, if you want to make enemies 10% harder to kill, they have to take 10% less damage, but also have 10% less defense to make up the difference. Instead of altering the actual defense values, this can be done instead by simply tweaking the defense ratio from o.5 to a different value which would properly balance the modified damage.
Other changes that would be more visible to you would be minor changes in enemy spawn rates and enemy knockback resistance. These would be to spice up the difficulty, so you would be able to notice the game get easier/harder around you. Casual will become more casual, and Challenging will become more brutal. Higher difficulty would become a greater test of skill rather than a strain on your existing abilities, and easier game modes would be more laid back. People have complained that simple statistical changes are boring, so this is my solution.
Finally, Heart drops would be more or less common, because players depend on it during Potions Sickness, and would modifying them is a good way of elevating or alleviating danger
So what's the incentive for going on higher difficulty levels? On any difficulty higher than Normal, "Trophy" items have a higher chance of dropping from enemies. These include Boss Trophies, Boss Masks, and Enemy Banners.
Also, as DarthEnderX suggested, Bosses could also drop different tiers of Trophy based on the difficulty you beat them on, giving the player recognition for obtaining it on a higher difficulty.
Here are the difficulty options that I've come up with:
Casual
*Enemies take 95-125% damage.
Enemy defense ratio: 0.55
*Enemy spawn rate: -10%*Enemy knockback resistance: -15%
*Players take 75-105% damage.
Player defense ratio: 0.45
*Heart drop rate: +50%Easy
*Enemies take 90-120% damage.
Enemy defense ratio: 0.525
*Enemy spawn rate: -5%*Enemy knockback resistance: -7.5%
*Players take 80-110% damage.
Player defense ratio: 0.475
*Heart drop rate: +25%Normal
*Enemies take 85-115% damage.
Enemy defense ratio: 0.5
Player defense ratio: 0.5
Difficult
*Enemies take 80-110% damage.
Enemy defense ratio: 0.475
*Enemy spawn rate: +5%*Enemy knockback resistance: +7.5%
*Players take 90-120% damage.
Player defense ratio: 0.525
*Heart drop rate: -25%*Trophy rate: +10%
Challenging
*Enemies take 75-105% damage.
Enemy defense ratio: 0.45
*Enemy spawn rate: +10%*Enemy knockback resistance: +15%
*Players take 95-125% damage.
Player defense ratio: 0.55
*Heart drop rate: -50%*Trophy rate: +20%
So, tell me what you think! If you are confused about something, just ask, and I’ll explain it better.
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