arcane_azrael
Terrarian
In a previous post I made, I touched on what I called the "Zenith problem" for a moment before moving on to other suggestions. Here, I want to restate that, and add onto it, providing multiple possible solutions I think would be cool, and go into it further.
The problem: The zenith ruined everything about endgame class balancing. I understand that it's kind of pointless to argue game balancing after you've already beaten the game, but this post is less about solving a pertinent and outstanding issue, and more about just suggesting something I think would be allot better for player satisfaction. The endgame melee class was completely broken by the zenith. Let me explain. Every class had their pros and cons, from the start, that was the intent I would assume. To provide variety for people who enjoy different playstyles. Mage used to be high damage low health, Melee used to be high defense decent damage in return for needing to get up close to the enemy, Summoner used to be alright damage that's done automatically so they can focus on more focus-based things, and Ranger used to be good for its wide range of ability, being able to use any combination of weapon and ammo, each having unique properties that are better for certain things, as well as being good DPS. When the zenith was added, it completely destroyed any semblance of endgame balancing. Melee had the versatility of ranger due to the zeniths range, area of effect, and hit speed, melee had a damage output that exceeded mage, melee had the automation of summoner since the zenith homes in on enemies who are even adjacent to its area of effect, and it had the insane defense of melee. On top of the zenith making endgame melee unfairly stronger than everyone else, it also gave melee a final goal, even after moon lord, to look forward too, while no other class got that. In short, all other endgame classes are neglected now.
I will now list the possible solutions I have in mind, and I'll list them from what I perceive to be least probable to most probable.
Sollution 1: The least probable to be implemented. Make a neutral damage type and apply it to the zenith. A neutral damage type would make it so that the zenith isn't listed as being melee, and so that it's unaffected by any damage increases that aren't flat, universal damage increases, like for example, the avenger emblem. Its damage would probably need to be boosted a bit to account for the lack of buildability.
Sollution 2: The second least probable to be implemented. Make a universal damage type and apply it to the zenith. Unlike the aforementioned neutral damage type, a universal damage type would make the zeniths damage, swing speed, and all other weapon related buffs, be affected by any buffs that affect any damage type. For example, if you had a non-existent accessory that raises your summoning damage by 10%, and another that raises your melee damage by 10%, your zenith would do 20% more damage, since that's the sum of those 2. This would do the same thing that solution 1 would do, but it would feel less like "nerfing", even though you'd probably need to lower its base damage a bit to account for this.
Sollution 3: The most probable to be implemented. Make a post-moon lord weapon of similar strength to the zenith for every class. I believe this is the most probable to be implemented because it would make the least people mad within the terraria fanbase, since nothing existent is being altered, but instead, new things are being added to account for the imbalance. I also believe this would be the most satisfactory solution, for more than just myself, as me and most others I've talked to about this share my opinion here. This would also add more diversity to a "meta" or "optimal" build.
More ideas for solution 3: I'd like to talk about what I might want to see AS the zenith weapons for each class. My reasoning behind why I chose to make these the way that they are is because I want to fill in any gaps and weaknesses each class might have through this ultimate weapon, much like the zenith did for melee, giving it a block piercing area of effect attack that rapid fires, doesn't use mana or ammo, and does significantly more damage than anything else.
Melee: Obviously, melee already has one, it will be barred from this list for that reason.
Summoner: Summoners zenith should be a whip rather than a summon, since summoner already has really decent summoning capabilities, and the one thing it doesn't have is a good personal mode of damage. The bulk of the summoners damage already comes from its summons, so this whip should do enough damage to where the player can do roughly the same amount of damage as their endgame summons with a decent build on.
Ranger: Ranger's zenith should be a gun, perhaps a gun that can switch modes (much like the shell phone item) and turn from gun into bow for a different effect. Ranger's essence is its mixture of damage output and versatility, so having a single weapon that can switch forms from gun to bow, the bow maybe being a wider shot that does less damage, and the gun being a precise, fast firing beam that does more damage, would be beneficial. Additionally, maybe it could be able to use any ammunition (arrows for the bow, bullets for the gun), but it only needs 1 of that ammunition to fire indefinitely, never actually using up the ammo.
Mage: Mage's zenith should be the most damaging zenith in my opinion, due to mages fragile nature. I think mages zenith should be an extension of the last prism. Theres a mod on Tmodloader called "Psychedelic prism", which in short, is an upgraded, post-endgame version of the last prism, in which several last prisms rotate around the player, coalescing into a single focal point where all of their beams cross into a focal point at the location of the players cursor. I genuinely couldn't think of a cooler idea for the mage zenith. As for its class specific buff, I feel like it wouldn't need one so long as you scaled the damage well, since it would already be BROKEN.
The problem: The zenith ruined everything about endgame class balancing. I understand that it's kind of pointless to argue game balancing after you've already beaten the game, but this post is less about solving a pertinent and outstanding issue, and more about just suggesting something I think would be allot better for player satisfaction. The endgame melee class was completely broken by the zenith. Let me explain. Every class had their pros and cons, from the start, that was the intent I would assume. To provide variety for people who enjoy different playstyles. Mage used to be high damage low health, Melee used to be high defense decent damage in return for needing to get up close to the enemy, Summoner used to be alright damage that's done automatically so they can focus on more focus-based things, and Ranger used to be good for its wide range of ability, being able to use any combination of weapon and ammo, each having unique properties that are better for certain things, as well as being good DPS. When the zenith was added, it completely destroyed any semblance of endgame balancing. Melee had the versatility of ranger due to the zeniths range, area of effect, and hit speed, melee had a damage output that exceeded mage, melee had the automation of summoner since the zenith homes in on enemies who are even adjacent to its area of effect, and it had the insane defense of melee. On top of the zenith making endgame melee unfairly stronger than everyone else, it also gave melee a final goal, even after moon lord, to look forward too, while no other class got that. In short, all other endgame classes are neglected now.
I will now list the possible solutions I have in mind, and I'll list them from what I perceive to be least probable to most probable.
Sollution 1: The least probable to be implemented. Make a neutral damage type and apply it to the zenith. A neutral damage type would make it so that the zenith isn't listed as being melee, and so that it's unaffected by any damage increases that aren't flat, universal damage increases, like for example, the avenger emblem. Its damage would probably need to be boosted a bit to account for the lack of buildability.
Sollution 2: The second least probable to be implemented. Make a universal damage type and apply it to the zenith. Unlike the aforementioned neutral damage type, a universal damage type would make the zeniths damage, swing speed, and all other weapon related buffs, be affected by any buffs that affect any damage type. For example, if you had a non-existent accessory that raises your summoning damage by 10%, and another that raises your melee damage by 10%, your zenith would do 20% more damage, since that's the sum of those 2. This would do the same thing that solution 1 would do, but it would feel less like "nerfing", even though you'd probably need to lower its base damage a bit to account for this.
Sollution 3: The most probable to be implemented. Make a post-moon lord weapon of similar strength to the zenith for every class. I believe this is the most probable to be implemented because it would make the least people mad within the terraria fanbase, since nothing existent is being altered, but instead, new things are being added to account for the imbalance. I also believe this would be the most satisfactory solution, for more than just myself, as me and most others I've talked to about this share my opinion here. This would also add more diversity to a "meta" or "optimal" build.
More ideas for solution 3: I'd like to talk about what I might want to see AS the zenith weapons for each class. My reasoning behind why I chose to make these the way that they are is because I want to fill in any gaps and weaknesses each class might have through this ultimate weapon, much like the zenith did for melee, giving it a block piercing area of effect attack that rapid fires, doesn't use mana or ammo, and does significantly more damage than anything else.
Melee: Obviously, melee already has one, it will be barred from this list for that reason.
Summoner: Summoners zenith should be a whip rather than a summon, since summoner already has really decent summoning capabilities, and the one thing it doesn't have is a good personal mode of damage. The bulk of the summoners damage already comes from its summons, so this whip should do enough damage to where the player can do roughly the same amount of damage as their endgame summons with a decent build on.
Ranger: Ranger's zenith should be a gun, perhaps a gun that can switch modes (much like the shell phone item) and turn from gun into bow for a different effect. Ranger's essence is its mixture of damage output and versatility, so having a single weapon that can switch forms from gun to bow, the bow maybe being a wider shot that does less damage, and the gun being a precise, fast firing beam that does more damage, would be beneficial. Additionally, maybe it could be able to use any ammunition (arrows for the bow, bullets for the gun), but it only needs 1 of that ammunition to fire indefinitely, never actually using up the ammo.
Mage: Mage's zenith should be the most damaging zenith in my opinion, due to mages fragile nature. I think mages zenith should be an extension of the last prism. Theres a mod on Tmodloader called "Psychedelic prism", which in short, is an upgraded, post-endgame version of the last prism, in which several last prisms rotate around the player, coalescing into a single focal point where all of their beams cross into a focal point at the location of the players cursor. I genuinely couldn't think of a cooler idea for the mage zenith. As for its class specific buff, I feel like it wouldn't need one so long as you scaled the damage well, since it would already be BROKEN.
