Gathered Feedback: Viability of Wood materials
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After a forced break due to forums going read only, we are back with another feedback discussion thread!.
Usual introduction and disclaimer:
Each of these threads is related to a specific feedback/idea that the game's GM and Mods have collected in DIscord or in game and that has been forwarded to the developers. The aim of these threads is to discuss this feedback, to better understand how much interest the community shows toward it, if it has any critics or alternative ideas. So let us know what you think about it! Even just a +1 or -1 to the thread will be enough to understand how many players are for it or against it.
Note: The fact that a feedback is presented in this thread does not mean that it will be implemented, it could be refused by devs for mutiple reasons (technical feasibility, excessive effort, against the game's vision...), but the amount of support that a feedback receives will surely be a factor.
Today's Topic
Today is the third part of the topic started from this thread. https://forum.fracturedmmo.com/topic/15409/the-evil-of-cotton-balls
and wants to create a discussion around the various materials that our crafting system features. In particular, which ones are lacking a niche of use and which ones instead are too good and overshadow other choices.We will discuss this over multiple threads, one for each category. Today is the turn of Wood materials.
Just to remind everyone which are the current effects of those materials and how they are procured, I will give a summary here:
Lightwood Plank: Obtained from Pine, Larch and Spruce it increases mana regeneration by 4.
Hardwood Plank: The most common type of wood, it increases weapon damage by 5%.
Frostwood Plank: Found in the coldest areas of Aerhen, it increases critical damage by 20% and converts 80% of the damage in frost damage.
Willow Plank: Found in the warmer areas of Aerhen, it increases willpower by 100 and converts 40% of the damage to shock damage.
Yew Plank: Found in the center areas of Myr, it increases critical chances by 4%, can hit incorporeal creatures and converts 60% of the damage to energy damage.
Chestnut Plank: Found in the center areas of Myr, it increases luck by 100 and converts 20% of the damage to poison damage.
Deadwood Plank: Found in the deserts of Myr, it increases weapon damage by 5%, can hit incorporeal creatures and converts 40% of the damage to acid damage.
Red Maple Plank: Found in the warmer areas of Aerhen, it increases fortitude by 80 and converts 20% of the damage to fire damage.
Given this list and your experience, what would you change?
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(note dead wood increased damage by 10% not 5%)
I feel that of all the materials in the game, wood is the best designed.
here we have clear uses for each material and none is clearly superior or inferior to any other beyond personal preferences.
The only problem I have is the variety of damage conversion. All the types should have the same damage conversion unless the other modifying element is just so good that people would use the material entirely for that aspect (crit chance or crit damage for example)
I feel that 60% is a nice middle ground. not so high that you are clearly doing a full damage conversion without bothering to use an elemental arrow ability, and not so low that it has no real effect (looking at you chestnut and maple).
I could also easily be convinced that the elemental conversion should not be a property of the wood itself and instead an enchantment option.
If the wood (or leather or fiber) did only one thing then it would be much clearer who was using what material for which build and thus allow the devs to make better targeted balancing actions.For all equipment I see a few enchantment or material properties:
elemental resistance / weather insulation (which i argue should be the same thing) or damage conversion
sub stat modification defensive (willpower, evasion, hp, etc..)
sub stat modification offensive (accuracy, crit chance, mana regen, etc...)adding on more aspects just overly complicates the process of making the gear that works well for your -ideally unique- skill, stat, and talent build.
while allowing players to mix and match gives flexability.
I would argue that the material should -just- give the first category effects (elemental resist, weather insulation, or damage conversion) and the rest supplied by enchantments.
