I had few spare time during vacation so i made some feedback.
The usuall damage formula in RPGs is as follow:
DMGf = DMGb × (1 + I1 + I2 + In) × (1 - R1) × (1 - R2) × (1 - Rn)
where
DNGf = final damage
DMGb = base damage
I1, I2, In = variables which increase damage (usually additive to avoid excess damage if there are plenty variables)
R1, R2, Rn = variables which reduce damage with a range of ~0.01 to 1.00 (usually multiplicative to avoid damage immunity)
We can change this formula however we want, but it should make sence.
In version 1 we had additive increases in both cases.
DMGf = DMGb × (1 + I1 + I2 + I3) × (1 - R1)
where
I1 attack bonus of the attacker (50% = 0.5)
I2 debuff on the enemy unit from the attackers increasing damage received like golems or priests (10% = 0.1; 50% = 0.5)
I3 debuff from the enemy unit on the attacker reducing attack like bud sorc. (-50% = -0.5)
R1 defense bonus of enemy unit (70% = 0.7)
In version 2 now we have multiplicative in both cases with 1 exception.
DMGf = DMGb × (1 + I1) × (1 + I2) × (1 + I3) × (2 - ((1 + R1) × (1 - R2))) × (1 - R3)
where
DMGb is base damage of unit * number of units in a squad * K
where K is coeficient based on how many units in a squad are dead, the lesser amount of units in a squad, the more damage per 1 unit in that squad it does peaking on last man standing
I1 bonus from AW (20% = 0.2) (this could be calculated in DMGb but whatever)
I2 attack bonus of the attacker (70% = 0.7)
R1 defense bonus of enemy unit (80% = 0.8)
R2 debuff on the enemy reducing armor like enchantress`s Weird Witchcraft (40% = 0.4)
I3=R3 it can be placed in either way, debuff from the enemy unit on the attacker reducing attack like bud sorc. (for I3: -50% = -0.5; for R3 50% = 0.5)
Like explained in my bug report
https://beta.forum.elvenar.com/index.php?threads/bonuses-from-abilities-are-multiplied-wrongly.6584/
for some reason we have now base armor as 100% for every unit varying +-100%, this is usually used in games with much more deeper mechanics then what can be seen in Elvenar.
To explain it some games using different sources of magical attack such as fire, water and so on, and to make it more fun some units using imumnity for different magical schools.
From now on i will be using resistence instead of bonus armor, it makes much more sence for me.
So units have 0% base resistence up to ~+100% and vulnerabilities from 0 to ~-100%
To give a example, lets have armored human unit with 50% armor (chest, helm), his resistence to physical damage will be 50%, now somehow he losses 50% of armor (with some kind of spell), his new armor will be 25% resistence (and not -25% like in elvenar it would be), once he reaches close to 0% armor, he wont have any armor anymore, only vulnerability lasts.
Same way is with buff increasing resistence:
If you apply a buff of 10% to a unit you will add 10% of the remaining resistance until you reach 100%.
Current Resistance + ((100% – current resistance) x buff) = new resistance after applying buff.
Let’s assume your unit has a resistance of 60% against Light Ranged Damage and you apply a buff of +10%. With the formula above we can calculate the new resistance after applying the buff:
60% + ((100% – 60%) x 0,1) = 64% resistance after applying the buff.
There is one exception from this rule. If you have 0% resistance and apply a buff, the new resistance will be exactly the buff you applied (e.g. new resistance 10%)
It does all make sence, that if you increase armor by 10% it increase only on the parts of the body which missed armor and if you reduce armor by 10% it reduces armor already wearing.
This above example can be translated to Elvenar from ~+100% to ~-100% damage range to ~200% - ~0% damage range.
However in Elvenar this debuff reduce whole defense + whole vulnerability and that doesnt make sence for me, maybe for others it does, but i am not sure. If we had much deeper mechanics in place, then i can see a place where this could be implemented, but now when even simple things are not working the way it should/could i dont see a benefit having it here from any point of view.
The big flaw of this mechanic in Elvenar is as explained in that thread that debuff is so strong that other aspect of the combat doesnt make much sence and that is bonus armor (resistence). Redesign was made to remove powerfull units so we can play with all others, you partially did that, but then you made debuff mechanic different and made from some units which wasnt so OP before OP as hell now, and as said in other threads its no brainer now to choose unit composition, you take OP unit (which you didnt want in first place with this redesign) and ignore all armor bonuses, ignore whole combat petagon. It doesnt make sence that unit with bonus taking 400% more damage with this debuff, while other units without bonus takes only 40% more damage with debuff, doesnt sound fair at all. Now if i remember correctly your argument to do this was make fights faster, so i will get to this later on.
Now lets take a look on another thread
https://beta.forum.elvenar.com/inde...r-debuff-is-overwriten-by-weaker-debuff.6603/
which basicly makes exactly opposite from making combat faster, its quite obvious that it doesnt make sence to overwrite stronger debuff with weaker, but there are some solutions to this problem, which can also fix others.
1. increase of number debuffs on target to 2/3 with adjusting debuffs effects
2. have dinamic debuffs which will be changed on every change (i used increased damage taken in this example, but debuffs effects would require adjusting aswell):
unit has 0 debuff
unit gets 1st debuff increasing damage taken by 10%
unit gets 2nd debuff increasing damage taken by 10% from another sourse, game recalculate damage taken as 1.1*1.1 = 21%
unit gets 3rd debuff increasing damage taken by 10% from another sourse, game recalculate damage taken as 1.21*1.1 = 33%
on the end turn if 1 of that 3 debuff is supposed to run out, game recalculate damage as 1.33/1.1 = 21% new value
all it needs is to remember debuffs value and supposed turns to last and adjusting debuff a bit (especially on enemy side since they are 8)
3. have different debuffs on same target, if i have 5 different units on battlefield with 5 different debuffs and all of them will attack same enemy, then that enemy will have 5 debuffs, if i have 5 squads of same units, then enemy will receive only 1 debuff
4. Or just simply do not let overwrite stronger buff with weaker buff
All this adjustment can be done either additive or multiplicative depending on tuning
Current situation is especially bad for auto combat because there all units attack same target if possible and they overwrite debuffs without thinking and resulting doing less damage.
Now i would stop by AI, we all know its not perfect but also its dangerous to make it perfect because enemy units and our units using same strategy, if they buff our units, they will buff enemy units aswell and that will make some fights harder, for casual combatants more then hardcore fighters. 1 big flaw in current system is that if my unit find target to focus on, it will ignore everything else, it will ignore all other 7 enemy units (if they are 8) and can just move to them to attack his focus target, it will ignore map layout and block all other my 4 units just to hit his focus target, resulting in much more casualities then intended, which also makes fight longer then intended. Tho I love when this happens to my enemy
Another behaviour which can be changed is that every unit will have 2 focus targets and choose the one which will be safer for him, i mean if my unit can attack number 1 target on initiative list but will get close to enemy which will hit him next round or can attack number 2 target on initiative list but will be not in a danger of getting hit in next round, it should decide to attack number 2 target. Spreading the debuff is same issue, there is no point if 5x bud sorcs attacks 1 target with same debuff instead of spreading this debuff on more units, which last 2 rounds, will result with less casualities in a long run.
Tournaments are much harder then they used to be on multiple levels now.
1. Overall more enemies on enemy side makes more animations for them which wasnt adressed yet, thus making figts longer.
2. Every enemy on level 3 has debuff which wasnt the case before, some of them having 2 debuffs, its not a problem to face now 12 debuffs.
3. Ramp up of squad sizes are much sooner then it was before, where with every higher squad size enemy units are upgraded.
4. Overall we face more enemies per our armies then it was before.
5. Negotiation is much higher then it was before, because it depends on difficulty.
6. i am sure i forgot something so just in case
But for fighters it should be easier overtime due better AW upgrades, better upgrade of units, while for negotiators it will be harder overtime, the more they scout, the higher negotiation cost they will face, which will make unbalance between fighters and negotiators in tournament.
I suggest that with every advanced scout the cost for negotiation in tournament are also reduced a bit.
Because of above mentioned it is not possible to do as much provinces as before, but the reward system was not changed, so i also suggest changes in that regard, 2 star encounters should award 3 kp/relics minimum, 4 star encounters should award 6kp/relics on every province, not only on more distant ones. Now with all the blocks we have in place (guest race goods, orcs, mana) KP is not limiting factor anymore, but we getting higher AW level, which require more KP per level, we getting techs in research tree which require more KP, but we getting less KP now from tournament. Or implement another item which can be won either in tournament or in fellowship-torunament reward boxes which can be placed only in AW and gives more KPs.
Now lets talk about fights are taking too long. It was stated in patch notes that change in calculating damage is multiplied now to make fight shorter in general. But honestly i didnt noticed 1 turn shorter at all (i do agree about 100% immunity part tho), let me explain how fight in 4star and 5star battles looks like:
If we want to win we must minimalize our looses, either by positioning, nuking highest threat, using maps and so on, that means we dont rush to our opponent in first turn like auto combat do. In fact we barely attack in first round because we cant attack with all of our units in that turn, after enemy moves, we once again positioning our units so the least amount of enemy units can reach us/attack us, that way i can win even unwinable fights, 1 squad of treants can kill 4 squads of furious hellhounds on 5star encounter just because i can position myself in the corner and only 2 enemies at a time can hit me. This does not make fight shorter by any mean and in fact any change you will do will not (it would make fight short if i dont use brain). Another example is when only 1 squad on each side last while i dont have any advantages over opponent and he does, meaning i cant get hit and need to kite for many turns just becouse there is only 1 spot i can attack from and not getting hit. So for me only change which could make fight shorter is without animations. Auto combat also does not utilize above mentioned problems with debuffs, which leads to longer fights. I am not saying here i dont like fighting for more turns, i feel satisfied when i beat much harder opponent, but it will require more time to do that and that is obvious.
