Monster Data Update 1 will go live on reboot (hopefully)

Monster attack and damage output have been raised. Starting at the deepest levels, the change has been significant. As you move upwards in the dungeon the percentage of change tapers off, as well as the numbers of monsters per level that have been modified. By the time you reach level 9 (ish) there is really very little change.

I anticipate further changes and tweaks in the coming days as I 'walk' this one into the sweet spot. Feedback on this issue is appreciated.

What about lowering the defense of some monsters, or if not, modifying the magic immunity to magic resistance?
I will use the Medusa encounter on 14 as an example. Medusa (as far as I have been able to ascertain), is immune to magic spells of any sort. My party of 5 can clear her cohorts within 1-2 rounds every time. Then it takes 12-15 rounds of 5 chars seeing 'You missed' (while each round each char has a chance of being turned to stone) while only the charmees of the leader of the party {1st of 5} are getting a chance at helping take her down. May I suggest this be adjusted in some way so that characters that do not have a 450+ attack still have a chance of hitting (for commensurately less damage) said magic immune monster? The highest attack in the party I have taken to 14 is 386 on the ninja, and of the 4 times I have taken on the Medusa encounter I never saw 1 hit (by any party member for that matter) for any damage on her. I know how it works, things get tougher the deeper you go, but how is a party supposed have a chance at getting ahead (not only making levels but acquiring better gear) if 1. all party members charmees are not engaging the opponent, and 2. there is not at least some chance of connecting with a weapon {again low attack = low damage}?
Thank you for considering this modest proposal and may I also suggest that you do some more thorough play testing from the point of view of the up and coming party of adventurers.

Medusa is a level 15 monster.  If you are seeing her on 14, it is in a stud room, or a break through encounter from 15.  This has always happened on 14 and is present in this version too.  Level 15 mobs can and will appear on level 14.  just part of the game.   I am sure that you realize that not all encounters in a stud room should be easily clearable by a party that is just starting to run the level above.  Run Away. Wait for a repop and try again.  If you are getting quested on 14, you should be able to run 14 with a balanced party.  That isn't to say it is supposed to be a cakewalk or that you should be able to clear every single encounter.  I have no intention of removing or minimizing magical immunity. If I were thinking about changing this area (and I am not currently) it would be to expand it, not reduce it.

Thank you for your input.

JPA

I was just using the Medusa encounter as an example (non-stud areas btw according to Jake's map). What about the issue of all charmees in the party not engaging during combat or the possibility of lowering their defense so they can be hit for a reduced amount of damage (commensurate with attack score)? Thanks

I don't know about charmees fighting.  That would fall under the area of Jude's domain.  It seems to me that currently each charmee gets a chance to kill a mob-- and in other versions of the game, only 1 mob at most could be damaged/killed by a charmee.  

As to your other point, if I am understanding it correctly-- you want the game to recognize that your attack is too low to hit, compensate for that and allow you to do reduced damage?  That would involve a complete redo of the attack/defense set up and pretty much shift how the entire game functions.  Again-- not my area of expertise, but seems highly improbable.

Level 14 is a special place in javatar.  You have a 5% chance to pull up a monster from the level 15 encounter table.  This is not true on any level before, and is also true on 15.  There is a chance that you can pull a stud encounter (but not uber) into the normal areas of level 15.  This is true to form in other versions of the game as well, tho perhaps not set up to function just like this.  Again-- run away.  You aren't supposed to be trying to take down some of the tougher level 15 mobs with a paltry 380ish ATT.  And, no.  There is ZERO chance that I am going to make Medusa weaker so that you can hit her.

Fair enough. Thanks again

One thing that should be consider, and is in the Jude area I am sure, is never hitting.  What i have seen in the past was hitting rarely, but not never hitting as I have seen here.  I believe the minimum chance of hitting a monster needs to be non-zero.  Even if by some miracle my 100 attack guy should swing on even a stud monster like medusa he should have some chance of hitting.  It might be only 5%, but not zero.

This also brings rolling a backstab not requiring rolling a hit front and center again.  A thief with his low attack even with elite gear will never hit a large number of monsters as it works now. Btw it should be that a thief is reliant on his backstab to hit tough monsters, no argument there. It is just that the backstab roll should not require rolling a hit.

I'll check the code on never hitting.. I believe the never hit 5% and always hit 5% descended from our (paper) D&D roots: rolling a 1 on a twenty sided die and rolling 20 on a twenty sided die.

I'll check the code and see what we have in place.. a never hit scenario was not my intention.

We went over this, and tested it when we redid the combat code. It is there, or was a year + ago.

musicman wrote:What about the issue of all charmees in the party not engaging during combat

I just fixed this on the test server, will be pushing to the live server ASAP. For those unaware of this bug--only one set of charmees in a room were engaging in combat..  This was a subtle bug, but definitely was nerfing a party's combat capability deeper in the dungeon.  Thanks for keeping us honest on this one...