JUDE'S PROFILE

author=Crystalgate
I downloaded and finished the new version. Things seem to work just fine now except the game said that I finished it at 0:00:00. I went by much faster this time, but certainly not that fast.

Ha. I killed the game clock but forgot to remove the display at the end, apparently. Not going to release an update just for that... Also found an additional bug which is very minor, affecting only SoulKeys and BoneDog for part one. Basically, my silence check for enemies that cast buffs/heals was referencing an incorrect switch allowing monster C to cast spells when silenced. As more enemies use buffs and heals in later content, I am noticing these things.

author=McBick
Was I the only one who killed the enemies to fast before you could get enough fury to heal yourself? Maybe I was over leveled? I basically used thrust on the armor guy, then lacerate on the second hardest enemy, then cleave to hit all of them and then my combo would hit all of them. The spiked armor would then finish them off if they didn't die already.

You may be over-leveled. Even one level means a lot in Necropolis since in addition to stats, you get new spells/abilities/perks. CryptKpr is tuned for Lv03, Digger for Lv05 (his stats are now relative to Lv04, however), Vicks for Lv06, and SoulKeys for Lv09. Also, Power Cloak and the Warrior perk are pretty nasty when combined, and will serve you for quite awhile if you took the time to find that cloak and are prioritizing the Power mastery. The cloak is something I am considering giving a nerf, since Marcus had less Fury when I first added that item. It is meant to be useful for the long haul, but got kind of ridiculous when it is giving you like 10-15 extra Attack in the early game.

Eh... I found a huge bug. Working it out right now, followed by testing, followed by uploading. The bug was making the game a bit harder than intended.

author=Crystalgate
I did not wear Nimble Boots or Spike Armor, so I guess I could have made the fight a lot easier than I did. In any case, there sure are a lot of strategies that work against that boss.

Chance is it's my fault my tactics became less diverse on hard enemies. I think I have to give this game at least a second go some time.

I try to account for the fact that not every player will have the same specialization by making it so you have different options for defeating some of the bosses. I worry a lot about over-tuning a boss for an optimal strategy and making somebody bang their head against a wall because they are missing one element to their strategy and losing. By the way, try the CryptKpr boss without the Hellgard Shield or using the AquaShot finisher. While more difficult, you can still edge him by using EyeGouge to completely mitigate his physical attacks, saving Fury to cast Blind when he summons RotGhouls (if they miss, you can't be poisoned), and hopefully having enough for Heal right before a Calm (not always because summoning RotGhouls has some variance in its pattern).

One downside of keeping the different strategies fairly open is it can turn battles that aren't meant to be tank-and-spank into brutal tank-and-spank attrition (like you had vs Digger and Mitsuhide had against SoulKeys). I am not sure how to always find that sweet spot. In the case of the Digger, I think the gimmick/strategy just doesn't click in a player's mind, so this is something I will think about down the road (any updates to part one will not address him).

On the subject of the Digger, the option I wanted players to discover was debuffing his Flask. Everybody will have Blind by then at a minimum, which has a higher Fury-cost then ones like Weak or Exposed that you may have if you achieved Lv05. If you are short on Fury you have some options depending on spec. If you have Cleave, the Purge finisher (B->P->F) can take care of the AttackUp buff the Digger receives when you break his Flask. If you have Rend, you should do just enough damage to not break the Flask and inflict it with Bleed (I know, a Flask can not normally bleed...). If you have Thrust... well, too bad, because I couldn't think of anything so you will have to just debuff the Flask with spells. Basically, you are turning his Flask into a poison, so instead of healing him he becomes afflicted by whatever debuffs the Flask suffers from. Between a gimmick that isn't panning out with players and the fact that most people end up facing him at Lv04 when he's tuned for Lv05 (Lv05 means only a 2/2/1 won't have Purge, but will have Rend), he is a boss battle I will have to revisit. I was worried enough about the gimmick not standing out that I added that small Ridley cutscene before entering his chamber.

The Nimble Boots definitely come in handy vs the Ghosts as well, since I used them to introduce the IceBlast spell... Mitigating the slow there should ease the difficulty of the monsters there. Rend or Thrust do wonders against shield monsters (BoneLord/RedBaron) instead of waiting for them to use their stun (ShieldSlam) spell, and also just TriDrill via Headbutt spamming. The vampires are what I consider to be the enemy that requires attention on my part, though. I think they hit too hard and being immune to most spells seems to be forcing most players into a defensive slow burn, which I don't consider to be a fun play style. I will either reduce their attack power or change LifeSteal so it doesn't ignore armor, along with opening them up to debuffs like Weak, Slow, and Exposed. I haven't settled on that yet. Keep in mind that while I want this game to be challenging enough so that it rewards using your abilities, spells and finishers effectively, I in no way want it to be brutally difficult.

Anyway, tonight or tomorrow I will upload an update to include some minor changes, primarily an encounter fix. It will be inconsequential for those who've completed the game and have no intention of replaying it, so you can pretty much ignore it as no new content or sweeping changes will be made. My next blog post will cover interface features that have not been implemented for part one because they are incomplete (slight change to the battle system menu and a progression tree, mostly).

author=Crystalgate
I liked the game overall. It captured the 8-bit feel, but still had enjoyable environments. The plot isn't spectacular, but interesting enough and do raises some questions that I'm curious about. The combat system is also fun.

However, I noticed that the harder battles are, the less diverse my tactic becomes. The firs boss was easy, but I toke advantage of both skills and a certain finisher to beat him. The second boss was much harder and I barely did anything else than Slash and heal. I noticed a similar trend to hard standard enemies as well, although standard enemies were at least more vulnerable to status effects, which allowed for more tactics.

The first boss is pretty easy and I use him primarily as an introduction to choosing appropriate finishers but sllowing breathing room for otherr strategies. I think the second boss could benefit by allowing more time for a level up and by communicating his weakness better. The gimmick is to cast debuffs on his flask, but I don't think it really works out. Vicks is straightforward enough. I think it was a bad decision for me to put two status-immune monsters in one area (ghost and vampire). I only plan on putting out one update before moving on to the last half of the game, primarily because the encounter mechanics were more bugged than I had thought. It is already fixed but there are some other tweaks I want to make before uploading.