having bigger malus on your damage and monsters having bigger bonus on their damage. like that only optimized builds can play this new difficulty without being overpowered and no need to rebalance all skill trees
having bigger malus on your damage and monsters having bigger bonus on their damage. like that only optimized builds can play this new difficulty without being overpowered and no need to rebalance all skill trees
You guys develop Quen to make things more easier. And then you guys whining about this easiness!
Are you sure you know what you really want?
Quen should be developed to reduce the damages, not to be an easy win.
---------- Updated at 05:54 PM ----------
A permadeath?
Oh, god, no.
That not increase difficult, it is just...frustrating.
Raising some enemies HP a lot at the higher levels, especially rare monsters/bosses. Also some monsters could really do with a speed buff. Take the launch cinematic, the Bruxa moves incredibly fast, even for Geralt, while the vampires in the game doesn't move that fast at all. That would be a fun challenge, I think, to have to try and outsmart/predict it's next move, because it moves so fast.
Also as others have said, adding more quick slots (maybe have the quantity be upgrade-able somewhat like you can get better saddlebags), and then only allowing potions in the quick slot to be used.
Also as others have said, adding more quick slots (maybe have the quantity be upgrade-able somewhat like you can get better saddlebags), and then only allowing potions in the quick slot to be used.
That's pretty much the most boring way I could think of, to increase difficulty in a game.
True, it's a very cheesy and boring way to do it. But it would be easier to implement than most of these others quite better suggestions.
Yeah, I don't doubt it would (overall) increase difficulty; what I meant is that I don't think it would be an increase for the better. Difficulty is a plus as far as it makes a game more engaging, not when it just adds tedium or unnecessary frustration.
The harder difficulty I'm referring is a step up option than 'Death March' difficulty we currently have not the aesthetic aspect which you recommended. It's two different objectives altogether.
---------- Updated at 06:19 PM ----------
I agree. I think the enemy HP is right at home at 'Death March' level and increasing it will only follow the standard mmo kind of difficulty, which would only make the game boring.
The problem with the difficulty scale is how there are so many variables that determine difficulty. There's the level of the monster, equipment level, player level, player point distribution, difficulty level. Primarily i find fault with the equipment level scaling fiasco because I end up never feeling like i've lucked out and found that next great peice of equipment. Instead i find mostly trash and level up my witcher gear. However because i've found the diagrams well in advance of the level requirement it doesnt feel like i've earned the next step. instead i've just achieved the new par.
i would have balanced the game differently by all monsters of a type have 1 set of stats, with possibly different minor variations to those monsters (like how drowners have 2 forms) This way the devs would be obliged to make sure every encounter is difficult in its own right. At early levels you can take down a few drowners, but later you have to fight many. Having monsters level up means that the player pays less attention to the monster they are fighting and more to the level of the creature itself. Getting rid of the player thinks of monsters in terms of gameplay rather than a set of stats.
Swords would have a single value ascribed to it but the difference between ultimate swords and normal swords would be much less. if a basic sword does 5 dmg, the ultimate sword might do 20. Instead the player focuses on the sub stats more of the weapon, stagger chance, sign bonus etc. This would also make the run system more meaningful, since the sword isn't just about doing dmg but also what else it brings to the table.
That way when i find that great sword with awesome sub stats it doesn't make me completely OP for the level i am at, but still feels like i've really accomplished something.
Anyway that bit of a rant was slightly off topic but related i think. The problem is that the games difficulty is often based around stats rather than gameplay. That and the fact that some enemies dont telegraph their moves very well. Some times i can be hitting an enemy thinking they are still hitstun but they flinch and my quen is gone for what looks like no reason. Playing the game on DM without quen you more or less are obliged to rely on 1 2 hit dodge dodge dodge 1 hit pattern movement with never any variation to that, which makes it repetitive.
Conversely right now on DM i fought (mid/late game boss)
by using tawny owl and whirling until he died. Literally he
. I was level 30, with superior cat gear and a melee/mage build.
That tells me either some enemies need a hp boost or certain skills (whirl) need to be nerfed. I don't believe i was dramatically over leveled for that fight as the previous section levels you up quite a few times plus there are a few places of power.
Overall--yeah to really balance the game someone would have to really overhaul the system completely. I don't how changing a single element will balance out the experience without upsetting the balance of another thing.
i would have balanced the game differently by all monsters of a type have 1 set of stats, with possibly different minor variations to those monsters (like how drowners have 2 forms) This way the devs would be obliged to make sure every encounter is difficult in its own right. At early levels you can take down a few drowners, but later you have to fight many. Having monsters level up means that the player pays less attention to the monster they are fighting and more to the level of the creature itself. Getting rid of the player thinks of monsters in terms of gameplay rather than a set of stats.
Swords would have a single value ascribed to it but the difference between ultimate swords and normal swords would be much less. if a basic sword does 5 dmg, the ultimate sword might do 20. Instead the player focuses on the sub stats more of the weapon, stagger chance, sign bonus etc. This would also make the run system more meaningful, since the sword isn't just about doing dmg but also what else it brings to the table.
That way when i find that great sword with awesome sub stats it doesn't make me completely OP for the level i am at, but still feels like i've really accomplished something.
Anyway that bit of a rant was slightly off topic but related i think. The problem is that the games difficulty is often based around stats rather than gameplay. That and the fact that some enemies dont telegraph their moves very well. Some times i can be hitting an enemy thinking they are still hitstun but they flinch and my quen is gone for what looks like no reason. Playing the game on DM without quen you more or less are obliged to rely on 1 2 hit dodge dodge dodge 1 hit pattern movement with never any variation to that, which makes it repetitive.
Conversely right now on DM i fought (mid/late game boss)
imerlith
did not enter his second form, i killed him too fast
That tells me either some enemies need a hp boost or certain skills (whirl) need to be nerfed. I don't believe i was dramatically over leveled for that fight as the previous section levels you up quite a few times plus there are a few places of power.
Overall--yeah to really balance the game someone would have to really overhaul the system completely. I don't how changing a single element will balance out the experience without upsetting the balance of another thing.
Yeah that's true, but as it is right now I feel like you are too powerful towards the end. Most enemies at your same level or a bit above die to way easily when you get near and above lvl 30 even on death march. I think a game shouldn't become easier but harder the further you get, so it needs to be balanced a lot imo. And adding HP is a simple, and albeit cheesy way of doing. However if (when hopefully) the game gets balanced a bit better it won't be such a big issue.
Increasing enemy hp/dmg really isn´t the right way of making game more challenging... Actually any AI opponent can be beaten quite easilly regardless of its hp/damage after some time because they simply do not learn, they do always the same moves... For instance I have beaten the ?? lvl Gryphon on island to the north of Ard Skellig (I think he´s above 40) at second attempt because his moveset is basically the same as for example wyverns I have fought a lot before... once you learn how to dodge his attacks he will die and it does not matter if it takes 30s or 5mins of dancing with him. I´d say that there are only two options to make game harder-
1.) faster/harder to dodge moves on higher difficulties (btw I don´t recall exactly but wasn´t something like that promised and if so did CDPR fulfill it- I have played just DM). However, players will just adapt once again so this could be effective just for limited period of time, well then you can increase speed of enemies even more and so on
.
2.) more enemies- handling a single werewolf is easier than pack of wolves because you have to watch only one enemy, you can usually hit him after dodging his attack...if there are more enemies you have to be much more careful. For example instead of fighthing a griffon you would fight an angry pair of griffons.
Maybe way no. 3 is adding some (serious) hp regen to enemies- this would force players to play a lot more aggresively not just wait for opportunities to land safe hits.
1.) faster/harder to dodge moves on higher difficulties (btw I don´t recall exactly but wasn´t something like that promised and if so did CDPR fulfill it- I have played just DM). However, players will just adapt once again so this could be effective just for limited period of time, well then you can increase speed of enemies even more and so on
.2.) more enemies- handling a single werewolf is easier than pack of wolves because you have to watch only one enemy, you can usually hit him after dodging his attack...if there are more enemies you have to be much more careful. For example instead of fighthing a griffon you would fight an angry pair of griffons
.Maybe way no. 3 is adding some (serious) hp regen to enemies- this would force players to play a lot more aggresively not just wait for opportunities to land safe hits.
If this is doable for them then sure. I am not sure they have optimized for more monsters. When they get the brunt of the game patched up it would be nice if they could possibly add more.
But for things that require no performance they really need to tweak signs and damage done by enemies I think. I don't want it to be so hard that I pull my eyes out but the signs have always been the weak link in Witcher games, even though most of them are fairly balance.... there is always one or two that seem way too spammy on the hardest difficulty.
Even with Dark and Combat Rebalance Mod I ran into a couple encounters in the last parts of the game in Witcher 2 that were quite challenging. Some say CRB made the game too easy, and it did at first, but the later parts were a lot harder IMO.
At any rate the easiest tweak to this problem is tweaking the signs IMHO. Longer cooldowns would be a start.
But for things that require no performance they really need to tweak signs and damage done by enemies I think. I don't want it to be so hard that I pull my eyes out but the signs have always been the weak link in Witcher games, even though most of them are fairly balance.... there is always one or two that seem way too spammy on the hardest difficulty.
Even with Dark and Combat Rebalance Mod I ran into a couple encounters in the last parts of the game in Witcher 2 that were quite challenging. Some say CRB made the game too easy, and it did at first, but the later parts were a lot harder IMO.
At any rate the easiest tweak to this problem is tweaking the signs IMHO. Longer cooldowns would be a start.
That part of the combat mechanism is the best part, because we can SEE enemy movement and react accordingly, the problem is we are kinda untouchable and less to no damage inflicted by the enemies, without nerfing damage or adding hp pools, they should instead make the enemies more smarter and can do the same thing, we still have signs to make an opening or once in a while we'll manage to break the AI timing. Geralt isn't a tanker type without Quen shield, but he lands his kills with agility, that's awesome, but it backfires and translated as EASY. I can't think of an idea to balance that. It's the one thing that gives the fun but it's also the one thing that makes it EASY lol.
1) remove 80% random loot from the game
(currently there is no crafting. I get all I need from grain sacks. a 900 oren dragon skin? grain sack. emeralds and rubies? grain sacks.)
2) remove all high level random loot entirely
3) nerf quen (damage bleeds through when quen broken)
4) reduce XP gains from quests and monsters by 40% (so not to become so grossly overlevelled by midgame, even without doing much at all)
5) Completely remove mutagen synergy bonusus (+200% sign intensity?? really??)
6) tone down the ridiculously overpowered skills (bleeding wound, bomb splitting, etc. You know what they are)
7) tone down all skill tree bonuses by about 10%
Right now the game is easy because you only need quen, and it doesn't matter what level it is. Just basic quen and then fight. Retreat and re-quen when necessary. The nerf to quen is the most necessary.
All the rest is just to make it stick. But the allmighty quen thing needs fixing most of all.
(currently there is no crafting. I get all I need from grain sacks. a 900 oren dragon skin? grain sack. emeralds and rubies? grain sacks.)
2) remove all high level random loot entirely
3) nerf quen (damage bleeds through when quen broken)
4) reduce XP gains from quests and monsters by 40% (so not to become so grossly overlevelled by midgame, even without doing much at all)
5) Completely remove mutagen synergy bonusus (+200% sign intensity?? really??)
6) tone down the ridiculously overpowered skills (bleeding wound, bomb splitting, etc. You know what they are)
7) tone down all skill tree bonuses by about 10%
Right now the game is easy because you only need quen, and it doesn't matter what level it is. Just basic quen and then fight. Retreat and re-quen when necessary. The nerf to quen is the most necessary.
All the rest is just to make it stick. But the allmighty quen thing needs fixing most of all.