New Update 1/12/2013! New Skill Trees!

[Nate]

Greetings Pit Master!

A MASSIVE update has just been released and is now live and I thank you for your patience during the delay while I've been sick!

Please see below for this update's release notes:

NEW SKILL TREES
The biggest change is all the skill trees have been redesigned and all gladiators created before the update will need to respec their gladiator's skills. All gladiators effected by this have had all the skills reset to zero and been refunded an approximate number of training points based on their old skills and attributes. To respec your gladiators please go to the skills screen and begin assigning your refunded training points and create your new skill build. At the bottom of the skills screen you will find some helpful shortcut keys to aid you in your respec.

Gladiators will be unable to initiate any fights in the tavern, arena or pit fights until they finish their respec, however, they may still be called upon to fight in the arena by other gladiators who already completed their respec. In this case your gladiator will enter combat with the knowledge of their old weapons skills as to not be defenseless. It is recommended you respec your gladiators as soon as possible.

NOTE: Due to the nature of the skill system being probability based, some gladiators may find they end up with more skills then they originally had and some will find they have slightly less. Gladiators who find themselves with less simply need to continue doing their tavern contracts and arena fights to earn more training points and train as normal. If one of your gladiators falls into the latter category, I apologize in advance and appreciate your understanding regarding this. For example if you had 100 skill points made up of numerous 5s and 6s and 7s and then during the respec you try and have all your skills at 10 it is very likely you will not have 100 skill points at the end due to the fact that more training points are required to bring skills from 7 to 8 and 8 to 9 and 9 to 10, etc.


FREE RACE CHANGE
All gladiators created before the update have been awarded the ability to change their race one time for free if you so choose.


HIDE SCOUTING REPORT
Don't want other Stable Master's prying eyes looking at one of your gladiator's scouting report? A simple donation to Jimmy the Squid's charity foundation will ensure that The Squid can't find your gladiator's scouting report when other Stable Masters come looking. Go to the rankings list and view your own gladiator. Jimmy will give you the option to hide it there.


UNLEARNING SKILLS
Unlearning skills has been temporarily disabled and will be available again in the near future.


DEATH SICKNESS
The Arena Undertakers will now tend to all gladiators until they are level 17 preventing the Death Sickness. After level 17 your stable will want to have its own Undertaker to prevent the Death Sickness and care for your gladiators.


CHEAPER HEALING & RESURRECTION
The Temple Elders have reduced their prices for gladiators level 17 and under.


RACE CHANGES
- The Elaar have had their disarm resistance replaced with armour penetration
- Trugs have had their penalty to endurance replaced with slow initiative
- In addition to the above most races have has a balancing pass done to their penalties and bonuses

FIGHT ENGINE CHANGES
In addition to the new skill trees and race balancing/tweaks the Fight Engine has also undergone some changes to balance things out. Here are some of the more notable changes:

- Rounds are a little shorter. This means endurance and bleeding can/will play a larger role in the fights. This also means 2 round stuns are staying as the shorter rounds makes stuns sting less.

- The majority of weapons have had their speeds modified. The slowest speed is still a 1 and the fastest is a 4. For the most part they are all pretty similar to what they were with slight modifications. The fastest weapons like the dagger are now a speed 4. The slowest weapons are still 2H and Pole Arms which are a 1.

- 2H weapons have had their damage reduced and number of attacks increased. This was to help them be more consistent instead of being all or nothing. Agility based weapons get to use their agility to help boost damage instead of their strength.

- Armour plays a much bigger role in its ability to reduce damage with heavy armour receiving a pretty good bump. As a result many fights will see a good spread of level 1-5 crits even at the higher levels and overall damage dealt with each hit will be less than you see now. (Apoc's biggest hits section on the forums will likely need to be closed and a new thread opened for the new hits so it is relative to the new engine).

- Medium armour is slightly heavier and more encumbering and heavy armour is A LOT heavier and the majority of gladiators dressed in all full plate will be encumbered (with the bar at least in the yellow, often in orange and red for some). This will have implications ranging from using more endurance, attacking less, having a slower initiative, etc. This is the price for being a tank that absorbs the bulk of the damage inflicted upon your gladiator. Offensive and defensive gladiator builds are still viable.

- Shields wielded with skill offer a lot more protection and as many have noticed there are skills that can help even more. This in combination with the changes to armour will no doubt give rise to new builds of gladiators who aim to make their opponent run out of endurance rather than health.

- Counter Attack has been changed to where it will only attack as often as the opponent even if they could attack more and they will always attack last in true counter attack fashion. If the opponent can attack more, the counter attacker will only attack as many times as they are able.

- The key attributes of a skill have the ability to push the effects of a skill up past what just the skill level offers more than they did in the past. So two gladiators with a 10 in a skill might see different results in the effects (e.g. Hamstring might reduce the attacks less or more than the other gladiator based on their attributes).

- Low health and endurance have more of an effect in regards to your number of attacks, to hit, etc.

- There have been some modifications to built in bonuses for fighting style vs armour matchups. The following matchups offer a slight advantage to the attacker regarding to hit and damage:

* Slashing vs light armour
* Bashing vs medium armour
* Lunging vs Heavy armour

Fighting styles like berserk, kill shot, tank, and counter attack do not get the bonus, however, slash/bash/lunge and parry-x do. This advantage is not huge but might be enough to make the difference in a close fight.

- Smart gladiators will use their skills more often than gladiators will a low intellect. Dumb gladiators will still use skills though, they aren't THAT dumb! Not even Trugs!

- Any and all of the above items (and any not listed) are subject to change at any time for game balance reasons.


Good luck in the Pit!

-Nate-

[Cynaidh]

OMG I wonder if prinny just died. :)

[Prinny]

http://i50.tinypic.com/2jajhfk.jpg

[Nate]

It's go time! Sorry for the delay, I ran into a few hiccups. If anyone finds what they think is a bug please let me know.

Good luck in the Pits!

-Nate-

[Nate]

Since it would seem many didn't read the release notes very carefully ;), allow me to draw your attention to a couple things that have been brought up:

- Unlearning is not gone, it is just temporarily disabled until a modified system is ready which should be too long.

- To hide your scouting report, go to the rankings list and view your own gladiator. Jimmy will give you the option to hide it.

- It is possible your new builds will also require you to rethink how you run your gladiators. This won't pertain to all gladiators but it will to some.

- Endurance and loss of health affect the fight more, as such you might consider revisiting your gladiator's strategies. Have everything set to activity 10? Consider lowering it.

- Wearing heavy armour? Yes, you'll be encumbered, but in return you'll be a walking, talking tank capable of ignoring even the beastliest of hits. Still not happy? Train Light as a Feather. it won't reduce your encumbrance in the UI as you are still encumbered at the percent shown, however in combat you will minimize the negative effects more.

- As always as the dust settles we'll tweak and balance things where needed, but remember to let the dust settle first. :) There are a lot of options out there now, if you feel your new build isn't up to snuff, it might simply be you haven't figured out how to capitalize on it yet. Be patient and may the Blood Gods grant you victory!

Good luck in the Pit!

-Nate-

[sevenseas]

Nate, I used some of Don Flamingos points on his attributes instead of skills, and never got the achievements for completing them. Oops.

[sevenseas]

Dain Bramage wasn't allowed to pick a race for some reason....was it because i switched PoleBarn Rangers race? And yes i tried to change his race before anything else. I was going to make him an Urk.

[sevenseas]

Also it seems that the serious injury bug is still around.

[Lunarion199]

Yeah I could change the race of only one of my glads in both my stables. I am ok with it but this has happened..

[Lunarion199]

I was hoping of hiding skills in scouting report (rather than hiding entire scouting report) as a means for non-cash players to stay competitive in the game at least based on their intuitive skill selection. They will find it difficult to hide it for long and for each glad in the stable (well, $300=Rs15000 my one month salary or my annual internet subscription) while trophy-players may still view theirs - if not in current month then in the next month - using just a trophy.

Had thought such an update would happen. But at least the trophy amounts to view/hide could have been reversed I suppose..

Thanks anyways.. The respec was cool. I feel my glads will flare well, after keeping good records so far.

Regards

[fifty97]

Why can´t i fight in the arena or do tavern missions? i already all the skill point thing on my gladiators. it just keeps saying challenges and avoids will be back tomorrow. it has been like this since the update wich was like 2 or 3 days ago. HELP PLEASE

[Cynaidh]

fifty97,

Make sure your hitting the "Accept" button at the very bottom of the skill page after you spend all your points.

[Toop55]

It seems my weapon skill went back to zero was that supposed to happen I thought it was supposed to stay at the same level?

[Nate]

It seems my weapon skill went back to zero was that supposed to happen I thought it was supposed to stay at the same level?

Please see the release notes for this update at the start of this thread.

Good luck in the Pit!

-Nate-

[Nate]

Nate, I used some of Don Flamingos points on his attributes instead of skills, and never got the achievements for completing them. Oops.

This has been taken care of.

Good luck in the Pit!

-Nate-

P.S. Your gladiator's name is Don Flamigo.
P.P.S. Best not to post your email address on a open forum unless you want lots of spam. I removed it for you. ;)

[Lunarion199]

Hi Nate,

Could you please update the all the attribute-tooltip descriptions on the skill tree screen? For example, intelligence now does so many things yet the tooltip just reads "Determines how fast your gladiator will learn new skills..."

Thanks

[Nate]

Hi Nate,

Could you please update the all the attribute-tooltip descriptions on the skill tree screen? For example, intelligence now does so many things yet the tooltip just reads "Determines how fast your gladiator will learn new skills..."

Thanks

Hi Lunarion,

Thanks for the reminder. I'll add it to my list.

Good luck in the Pits!

-Nate-

[Kastiel]

With this update I was hoping to see free specialty change to, because before the update the stats were not playing that much big role in creating glad, but now my rage which was winning 90% in arena, now looses 99% because his stats are not good because of the new update, he is useless now .... :eek:

[Nate]

With this update I was hoping to see free specialty change to, because before the update the stats were not playing that much big role in creating glad, but now my rage which was winning 90% in arena, now looses 99% because his stats are not good because of the new update, he is useless now .... :eek:


Hi Kastiel,

Thanks for your feedback. Changing specialties has never been allowed which is why it was not an option. I understand your frustration, when things change there is always an adjustment period. It is far more likely your recent losses are due to the fact that rage gladiators need to modify their strategies to compensate for the new update's changes than it is due to his stats. I encourage you to fight everyday in the arena, pit fights and tavern and tweak your strategies as you dial things in. Use your challenges in the arena to better isolate your test cases against the other specialties and builds as well. I'm sure after a few bumps and scraps while learning how to adjust things a formidable rage gladiator will emerge. :)

Good luck in the Pit!

-Nate-

[Kastiel]

Thanks Nate, I wonder if anyone can go full heavy armor in offensive WAR ? I mean it seems impossible since full heavy armor means red encumbrance and 1/1 activity ? I am with 70% medium armor and still yellow but atleast he is not passing out lol

[Lunarion199]

Changing specialties has never been allowed

Yeah that's understandable because then it will demand for change in skill tree once again else the outcome would be too weird. For example if a rage with 90-100 points in rage tree changes to war he would be able to wear heavy armor or wield a shield while still retaining the devastating aggressive rage skills, perhaps making him too strong.


It is far more likely your recent losses are due to the fact that rage gladiators need to modify their strategies to compensate for the new update's changes than it is due to his stats

Although during the respec I humbly feel we should have allowed to change the specialty. Now the attributes can push the skill effects beyond normal skill limits. If attribute were not that important then HOL slaves would have no significance.

For example the rage tree now has many skills requiring strength+size+chi. I have a few rages with size in 50s and I had purchased them solely based on their basic strength+chi. Now I suppose even with solid fight strategies they are still going to stay relatively less competitive than they could have been. I am also finding it difficult to train these skills because of now-low strength+size+chi combination. I suppose if the skills selected and slave attributes are in proper unison, they supplement each other so much that a common fight strategy may also work with them.

Yesterday Blind Bandit won the pit fight in first place, 60-0-10, with just one and unchaged fight strategy.

[Prinny]

Thanks Nate, I wonder if anyone can go full heavy armor in offensive WAR ? I mean it seems impossible since full heavy armor means red encumbrance and 1/1 activity ? I am with 70% medium armor and still yellow but atleast he is not passing out lol

Belca is at 32/33% encumbrance depending on me giving him a 2 Handed Maul or 2 Hammers. He's currently rocking 125 Size and 156 Strength.
I doubt any normal slaves will be able to achieve it without some medium and even light armour pieces though

[Kastiel]

yea I was talking about normal slaves not hol things

[Prinny]

Yeah that's understandable because then it will demand for change in skill tree once again else the outcome would be too weird. For example if a rage with 90-100 points in rage tree changes to war he would be able to wear heavy armor or wield a shield while still retaining the devastating aggressive rage skills, perhaps making him too strong.

Chaning the skill tree isnt needed, idd say you lose all your trained skills and need to restart all over again respec style.



Although during the respec I humbly feel we should have allowed to change the specialty. Now the attributes can push the skill effects beyond normal skill limits. If attribute were not that important then HOL slaves would have no significance.

For example the rage tree now has many skills requiring strength+size+chi. I have a few rages with size in 50s and I had purchased them solely based on their basic strength+chi. Now I suppose even with solid fight strategies they are still going to stay relatively less competitive than they could have been. I am also finding it difficult to train these skills because of now-low strength+size+chi combination. I suppose if the skills selected and slave attributes are in proper unison, they supplement each other so much that a common fight strategy may also work with them.

Yesterday Blind Bandit won the pit fight in first place, 60-0-10, with just one and unchaged fight strategy.

I run a 47 size rage, he's ranked 23rd at this moment, after respec he's only been doing better and better and his winrate is rising to the point that i might be able to retire him in a month or so for a HOL slave.
STR and CHI are easilly stacked with the right light armour so bad starting attributes can be changed with these. also while attributes do influence the skills slightly the effect it has doesn't have an BAM IN YOUR FACE effect unless you only focus on 2 or 3 attributes and train your skills around those which means your skills will work together using the same stats. (which is something I highly recommend)
The skills have a base value, having a 10 in the skill still means it's awesome, having attributes that go well with it only increases it's awesomeness.

[Lunarion199]

I run a 47 size rage, he's ranked 23rd at this moment, after respec he's only been doing better and better Guess what if he had size 100 :)


First of all, try to search in the slave market for a better glad, 56 size didn't really cut it for war gladiators before and with the new weight changes even less. Some attributes sometimes matter more than the others.. depending upon race, speciality and the like.



Blind Bandit is a two-handed dunder with mediocre presence. Guess what..she is ready to be hit first and she will fight to death. As such presence doesn't matter much to her. She would be happy if 20-30 of her presence goes to her size and I promise she will fight even better.

Arthas is level 50 my oldest junk war glad I had retained as old memories; and after respec got 50 skill only. But in pit fights he has beaten siam, solstice, almighty power, prey etc (of course he also gets beaten but he is too incomplete yet). Guess what he may do when he will have 100 skills. I just want him as an experiment but he will be happy if say 30 of his chi goes to his size..and when he learns Death from Above...



- I do not say attributes matter greatly; but they do.
- In pit fights when glads fight with grey weapons, base attributes and their combinations make a greater difference.
- Why do some of us say they want to unlearn skills now? Why not just adjust fight strategy and make up for the losses..
- Why do some people say their HOL slave is going to be a trug or so? Because race does matter. To a little extent maybe, but it does.
- Why were race bonuses for elaar and trug changed even if they don't really make a huge difference? Trugs, for example, could have retained low stamina penalty anyway. Stamina can easily be stacked using gear.
- Why were slashing/ bashing/ lunging given slight edge over a particular armor type? To make a difference.
- Why do newbies ask what speciality a promising slave for sale in the market should have; and the experienced ones advise them of a particular speciality and weapon selection? Because speciality and weapon selection based on their attribute matters.
- Why do some people say they were able to beat HOL slaves? Because fight strategy matters.
- Why do some glads dominate blood games so well? Because achievement slots too matter. Remove them and tell how they performed.
- Why do some people want the blacksmith to be improved; or spend hundreds of trophies to see just one right gear? Because gear selection matters.



This is a great game in which so many things matter.. just in bits individually but together they may give rise to a great build. Everything is linked to each other so well that few seemingly trivial things here and there can collectively make a difference between gladiators as 'good' and 'great'.

As such I feel we should have control over everything that matters.

Regards

[sevenseas]

I'm struggling trying to make up or down out of this new update, I may even have to walk away from the game for a while and take a break. Glads with knives are hitting 4 times harder than my 2Hders, my speed glads are getting out swung by 2Hnders, and it seems the more i mess with the strats and such...the worse they seem to do. I'm not having good luck so far with this:confused:

[sevenseas]

of course i didn't build my glads exactly the way i wanted to yet either, so nothing is set in stone at the moment. But boy the game has a totally different feel, and it seems a real challenge my lie ahead for some of us....At least i see others having the same issues, and it's not just me... The new engine is still very young so i'll shut up and keep trying...good luck to everyone.:cool:

[Kastiel]

It seems size is the most important stat for war glads, even with 70% medium equipment my war passes out too much and isnt war supposed to wear full heavy ? before the update that was possible but now I need 80+ size and 70% stamina to atleast wear 2-3 heavy pieces ... and my rage glad struggles with exhaustion even with 2-5 activity and bloodlust :sigh: what is the meaning of rage with low bloodlust ? I have 4 glads and 2 of them are completely useless because of their stats are wrong for their specialty's, rage have high str and int, war haves high str and very low int ... and thats why they dont activate skills and they can only be used as punch bags now :mad:

[Dainoji]

Hang in there 7Cs, we're all going through the same learning curve. I've got a decent handle on rage glads at this point, but I think I've just about eked out every ounce of ability for 'ol Thunder Lips at this point. She's my starting gladiator and has the starting stats to prove it! :)

[Dainoji]

isnt war supposed to wear full heavy ?

No. They have the ability to wear heavy armor, it's not a requirement. I'm seeing quite a few war glads wearing light and medium now and I think that is actually a good thing as it opens up even more builds running around.


now I need 80+ size and 70% stamina to atleast wear 2-3 heavy pieces

Doubtful, but more size and stamina won't hurt. It's pretty obvious at this point that if you truly want to be a hulking beast in a tin can that honor will be reserved for only the biggest and strongest war glads and I think this is a good thing as it makes it a specific build type instead of all war glads being it. They'll also suffer the consequences for their decision to walk around in a trash can!


and my rage glad struggles with exhaustion even with 2-5 activity and bloodlust :sigh: what is the meaning of rage with low bloodlust ?

Are you trying to berserk all the time? Stop. Start using bash and kill shot more often. Use your triggers to be smart about when you switch, don't stay in berserk the entire fight. What's the use of a low blood lust? It's useful because you won't use as much endurance and pass out, it's useful because it will help you be more accurate with your hits. Again, just like the hulking tin can war build, if you want a screaming rage who fights constantly in a blind frenzy then you'll need to build one with that in mind and it will require top stats to pull it off. Again, this is a good thing. Now instead of one type of rage gladiator we'll have many types.



I have 4 glads and 2 of them are completely useless because of their stats are wrong for their specialty's, rage have high str and int, war haves high str and very low int ... and thats why they dont activate skills and they can only be used as punch bags now

I doubt they are completely useless, you need to start finding what works for your gladiators instead of trying to force old habits onto them. It's not going to happen right away, it's going to take some time and you'll rack up some losses along the way, just like everyone else. Trust me, I feel your pain, but I think if you start trying to enjoy the learning process instead of fuming about it, you'll have a lot more fun.

[Kastiel]

Thanks but when to use berserk and kill shot ? kill shot when the opponent is on the ground, stunned or knocked down and berserk when he is disarmed, less active ? and btw in order to knock or stun someone I need to aim to the head right ?

[Dainoji]

Thanks but when to use berserk and kill shot ? kill shot when the opponent is on the ground, stunned or knocked down and berserk when he is disarmed, less active ? and btw in order to knock or stun someone I need to aim to the head right ?

Right now my favorite trigger for my rage gladiator is "if your opponent is war". If that is the case I use lunge or kill shot. If you can't lunge then slash or bash. I make that trigger one of the lower priority triggers like 4 or 5 so I can still trigger off of other situations like getting tired or hurt. It doesn't always work but I've found success with it. Apoc might comment on this as his rage glad Bruce Iee is doing quite well. AFAIK you do not need to aim at the head, I've got stun crits hitting the torso maybe even the arms and legs. I'll try and pay more attention and report back. For a knockout I'm pretty sure you have to hit the head.

[Kastiel]

Ok thanks and since all my glads are with axe/mace they are only good against medium armor right ? and kill shot is good to use when opponent is on the ground or knocked to do a big damage and berserk is for attacking faster when he is less active ? I really dont know what they do

[Apoca1ypse]

Apoc might comment on this as his rage glad Bruce Iee is doing quite well. AFAIK you do not need to aim at the head, I've got stun crits hitting the torso maybe even the arms and legs.

Bruce is rocking just under 200 speed and is set to zerk. i just played around with the "i am ___ tired" triggers. he is an urk though and the extra endurance helps a lot. I have not really experimented a lot though....

As for where you aim, anywhere is fine, but to get a KO you do need to hit the head AFAIK.

[Nate]

Ok thanks and since all my glads are with axe/mace they are only good against medium armor right ? and kill shot is good to use when opponent is on the ground or knocked to do a big damage and berserk is for attacking faster when he is less active ? I really dont know what they do

There is seldom a case where something is "only" good against something else. Axes and Maces are good against all armour types and specialties as are all the weapons. Each weapon has built in bonuses/penalties vs each armour type that you can roughly intuit if you put your mind to the task but they aren't so severe that it will vastly change the outcome of the combat.

Kill Shot: Your gladiator will hold back while building up tremendous power and then let loose a devastating strike meant to bring even the biggest gladiator to their knees! - Translation: Your gladiator will attack less but with more powerful and planned strikes.

Berserk: A gladiator using this fighting style will throw caution to the wind attacking wildly, often and hard! No attention will be paid to defense and your gladiator will burn through endurance at an alarming rate. Translation: Your gladiator will attack a lot with less accuracy and use his endurance faster.

On each page in the game there a question mark icon that provides help text for the page you are on. I'm sure it won't answer all your questions but it I'm sure it will answer some, at least I hope it does! :)

Good luck in the Pit!

-Nate-

[Nate]

I appreciate all the feedback in this thread and a few others on the forums. I've chatted with many of you in game and received messages as well concerning the recent update. Based on the feedback I've gotten most people are happy with the update in general but that isn't to say everything in the update is perfect. When making an update I do my best to simulate a lot of fights with many different types of gladiator builds and once I have things where the numbers look good I release it into the wild. Then I sit back, collect data and watch. The PoW community is crafty and in my opinion a step above the rest in the intelligence category and because of this numerous builds and strategy combinations are created that were not accounted for or realized or very obvious and what I call the "low hanging fruit" so everyone jumps on them. This is where the sitting back and collecting data comes in handy. This information allows me to then make more targeted and surgical tweaks to the game engine to bring about more balanced gameplay for as many builds as possible.

I've already begun to make some of those tweaks based on the data and listening to some of your feedback. These aren't radical tweaks as I mentioned above, usually they involve lowering a number by a small amount here or raising it there. I plan to release a quick balance update soon along with some bug fixes that were found and it's possible we might have a few more minor updates as things settle down and more data is gathered. In this update the ability to run defensive builds was a priority as it was a feature that was commonly asked for. At the same time it has always been my vision for the game to be full of action and blood splattering fury! These two ideas are not mutually exclusive but it does require a fine balance so both can live happily in the arenas of the Great Realm and to that end I'll do my best to deliver that balance to you.

For those of you feeling frustrated and even angry, I completely understand where you are coming from but I very much believe this update is very good for the game and ultimately good for you. There will be some short term pain but in the medium and long run things will be for the better. My advice is to not sweat it too much and realize everyone is on the same ride and struggling along side you. Before you know it you'll be smashing heads and listing to the shouts of the crowd once again and bathing in the spoils of war!

Thanks again for all your feedback, you guys are awesome and I appreciate it.

Good luck in the Pit!

-Nate-

[Lunarion199]

The PoW community is crafty and in my opinion a step above the rest in the intelligence category
Yes, not just anyone can keep playing such a quality game which requires so much of foresight and planning-ahead. I guess that's the reason PoW community is limited..but dedicated.



For those of you feeling frustrated and even angry Just like appreciation, criticism - even if out of frustration - may be necessary too provided it is constructive.. and on this forum probably it is.


Regards

[Narol]

Thanks Nate but for my part I am so disgusted by the current situation that I am considering like Sevenseas to take a break until game balance is fixed back...

Just take a look at Siam's fights against Def wars, it just does not make sense that a dunder with 204 strenght, his offensive strats and offensive skills can't even lay a single good hit on any war tank with a wall shield...

I love bloody fights like you and right now all my fun is spoiled...

[Narol]

Nate, picking the skills for the respec of our glads before we could even test how well they function was kinda harsh, maybe we could all have a second free respec to correct the mistakes most of us made as we did not have enough information yet to do it correctly ?

I would hate to have to pay shitload of trophies just to fix that, and refitting the equipment of the glads who needs it will be already costly enough...

[Kreegan]

From where I stand the complaints come from people whose "favourite" gladiators have suddenly started losing more than usual. Yeah, I have such fighters as well - one particular Rage who was rolling through the ranks with barely any losses now can barely win. So? It's just a week after the release of the update and there are already IMBA! IMBA! screams. You don't have to be a veteran gamer to figure out that this isn't even remotely serious, especially given that it took more than an year to figure out the pros and the cons of the old skill tree (which had major flaws and I hope nobody's going to argue about that).

The defensive Wars... so now they exist. No, there were no really defensive Wars before - what you had were some horrifically buffed fighters (achievements, expensive slaves and whatnot) using a offense-defense combo strategy and maintaining good win-loss ration mainly due to their versatility. So it was hight time to make a heavily defensive War build viable. Before there was no way to exhaust a Rage before he drops the War with heavy hits (there was a time with multiple Trug Rages in Primus top 20 which speaks for itself) so the Wars were not even trying to do that and instead took advantage of the Rages' non-existent defense. Now neither the Rages are so defenseless, nor the Wars are so easy to bring down just by hitting them with the brain dead 10 - Berserk - 10 until they drop. And that's certainly a good thing. Finally - a heavily defensive War (with maxed out Armoured Fortress for example) is nearly as one-sided as a blindly berserking Rage and the weaknesses of this build already manifest themselves.

I for one don't want to see the return to the old system where the fights lasted 4-5 turns and whoever swings faster and harder wins. The new system seems to offer much greater tactical depth which just needs to be explored. Of course it's not likely that it's perfect, especially so soon after the release - but it's certainly a progress.

[Lunarion199]

One round results and fifty round battles - both were/are undesirable. Balancing such a strategic game is not an easy task; although it may be required in the long run.


maybe we could all have a second free respec to correct the mistakes most of us made I too feel like it.. but there culd be so many possible combinations of race-specialty-attributes-weapons-skills-strategies that every time there could be a build with different outcome than we expected and we might feel like if we could respec once again.

However, I would sincerely request Nate to please let unlearning not too hard for us; so that we may be able to experiment with different skill sets in addition to fight strategies and gear; this may ultimately add to replayability of the game.

Regards

[Nate]

I've just flipped the switch on a bug fix and balance tweak update. Please see below for some of the more notable balance tweaks:

- Defense has been scaled back a little bit making those builds a little more vulnerable and reducing the ability for a gladiator to stand around and do nothing until their opponent passes out. Defensive minded gladiators can still employ this technique, it's just a little harder to pull off than before.

- When the crowd and Enforcer get angry the average damage they deal has been increased slightly.

- The deterioration seen from low health and low endurance has had a "floor" put in place. Once a gladiator passes the floor no additional deterioration in ability occurs. This floor is still pretty low so expect to continue seeing penalties for low health and endurance.

- Increased damage gained from strength and agility have been increased slightly.

- Cool downs on some skills have been adjusted to achieve a better balance among specialties.

The next update which will be ready in the near future will likely see unlearning re-enabled with a new system in place, so for those wishing to modify their builds you'll be able to do so at that time.

Good luck in the Pit!

-Nate-

[Lunarion199]

All these are so welcome changes.. Thanks much, Nate.

[Kreegan]

Not quite sure how slight these adjustments are exactly but the Rages seem to punch through heavy armour + defensive strategy much easier now.

[Narol]

Good job Nate, balance between gladiator types seems much better now and tanks are no more invulnerable even if they stay tough to beat...

I've challenged Prinny, the current leading tank of Primus, at least a dozen times with my good old Theatrics Slim to test the rebalancing and I can see a clear difference now, I still lose often but nowI can at least hit him a few times and I have even won a few of the fights after some strats/weapons/achievements changes ! (sorry Prinny for the intensive challenges, I really needed to check against the best to evaluate the changes...)

[Prinny]

Good job Nate, balance between gladiator types seems much better now and tanks are no more invulnerable even if they stay tough to beat...

I've challenged Prinny, the current leading tank of Primus, at least a dozen times with my good old Theatrics Slim to test the rebalancing and I can see a clear difference now, I still lose often but nowI can at least hit him a few times and I have even won a few of the fights after some strats/weapons/achievements changes ! (sorry Prinny for the intensive challenges, I really needed to check against the best to evaluate the changes...)

Sorry? Im rather thankfull! Prinny can retire for sure now before the next BG match!
Scratch that he's retired now! :D
My whole other stable fought his last fights as a a farewell gift to him :)

His replacement is a Theatrics by the name of Amon Djinn, his stats are 83-83-90-72-82-74-67 and you can guess by his stats what type of glad he will become :)

[sevenseas]

Well Prin, i would have say...theatrics...blades...or exotic?


As far as the update goes, my boys seemed to do ok while i was away, but it all sounds great!:o

[Lunarion199]

My ragers are proving that they are ragers and the wars are living up up to their descipline in battles. Zuko the rager is 45-0-6 in pit fights today and Arthas my war glad has won, without requiring to tank, the 7th battle royale after the update.

Good to see the glads are running quite predictably now..

[Apoca1ypse]

speeeeed raaaaaage!!!!!!!


<3 the changes to agility and counter attack. speed rage is viable again :D

[Narol]

Nate did not announced it yet on the forum, but I've noticed that the "Unlearn" buttons are back on the skill tree... However it is currently "greyed" and cannot be clicked... Same cost as before so far, sadly, despise the collective demand to change it...

[Dainoji]

The unlearn buttons have always been there and grayed out since the update a few weeks ago. The only time they were completely gone was while doing the respec.

[Narol]

Oops lol...

Ok, I must really have been distracted...

[Adam C]

Is there a reason I might not have been refunded any points at all?

[Nate]

Is there a reason I might not have been refunded any points at all?

Only gladiators who were created before 1/12/2013 are able to re-spec again. What gladiator are you having trouble with?

Good luck in the Pit!

-Nate-

[Zerkify]

Hey, I started back to playing pit of war recently and came back to this update. I realized I needed to give all my training points back to my gladiator but I wanted to get the achievement for 200 training points. I used 3 of my training points and accepted thinking that I would be able to still save them but without warning all my training points disappeared. I was wondering if there was any way to get back those training points because it is a glitch in the game and I feel like I should receive some kind of reparation like another skill tree reset. My stable name is "Creations" and the gladiator that it occurred to was "Xerq". Thanks for noticing if you did.

[Dainoji]

You mean you missed the giant warning message that said don't click accept unless you are done right above the button? ;)