Introduction
Hello, this is my feedback after 1.1.1 update, and it includes all my thoughts about the current state of the game.
I used to be an end-game player in Elder Scrolls Online. I pushed Raids content in this game really far away, getting almost every hard achievements. I really enjoy theorycrafting when it comes to PvR and PvP.
What I like in Elder Scrolls Online compared to old games like World of Warcraft is the very dynamic combat system : you can cast 1 light attack and one skill per second, you can dodge/block/barswap at any time.
The reason why I changed to New World is how this game requires skill : except for some healing abilities, every other spells cannot be auto targetted and you have to aim all the time.
My character
My character name is Coelibri, and I’ve been playing New World for 642 hours. I play on a low/medium pop called Dry Tree server.
I mostly used rapier bow build, although I tried many other builds, rapier/bow is my favourite one.
I have 300+ dexterity and 150 constitution and I am using light armor.
I chosed light armor because it feels the right choice when it comes to 1vX. It is a great tool to run away and kite my opponents.
My gear score is around 550, my watermark for clothes is above 590, weapons between 585 and 535.
Combat system
I did more than 500 duels, against a lot of variety of builds.
Ping
Today I feel like the game is less responsive than ever, my arrows touch my opponent while he is dodging and it is the same for me when I am being hit.
I see people not moving then move super fast.
I use riposte (rapier skill) right before shockwave (hammer skill that stuns), the riposte goes on cooldown, I hear the noise that it worked, but it actually doesnt and I get stunned. This is happening more than often.
I would expect a high quality regarding server ping, and it is not the case. Worst situations can be encountered when you duel close to a city, in wars and in outpost rush. This is making range builds less efficient, especially for bow users because of arrows travel time.
Light Attack weaving with spells
Every spells should be possible to cast right after a light attack. If some weapons does not allow it (which is the case of the bow after patch 1.1), then it is a huge disadvantage aganinst the enemy.
AoE abilities
There are tons of AoE abilities that are very slow to cast. Enabling a smartcast option in the settings is a top priority. Otherwise some skills are just left behind other that are more responsive. Most of the game I know have an option for smartcast, where you can cast an ability immediately where your cursor is targetting.
The fireball from firestaff tree is a super great tool because it is an AoE spell that doesnt require to be casted twice. Please make the possibility for every AoE spell to be casted like the fireball.
Bar swap & roll dodge
Bar swap & roll dodge should be animation cutting tools like in Elder Scrolls Online, cutting too early could cancel the cast of the skill, and cutting after could end the animation after impact. This will benefit for everyone and make the game more enjoyable.
It should be written for every buffs that you can get, if you still get the buff when you bar swap. Currently some buffs work on both bars (like Archer’s speed), and others do not (like Dodge and Weave).
Armor
Armor amount is a hidden mechanic that prevents people to theorycraft their build. Please add information about how much armor gives how much percent of mitigation.
light armor roll dodge cost is 50
medium armor roll dodge cost is 40
heavy armor roll dodge cost is 50
This is not written anywhere and I believe light armor roll dodge cost is not balanced compared to heavy armor.
I don’t know if great axe damage is the issue, or the fact that heavy armor users can use the great axe to catch anyone wearing light armor.
But there are multiple solutions :
- buff light armor/medium armor mobility
- nerf heavy armor users damage
- nerf greataxe skills range
While duelling, I took a critical greataxe attack dealing 3300 damage. My opponent was in heavy armor and none of my skills where hitting him for that much damage output. It feels imbalanced. I choosed light armor to be able to kite my opponents while maximizing damage output, and this is not rewarding versus greataxe havey armor users.
Outpost rush
On low population servers, it is really hard to join outpost rush. Why aren’t Outpost Rush server crossed ?
The balance in the teams is bad, and many times you can find 14vs20 people.
AGS reaction to feedback - communication with Dev team
I feel that there is a lack of communication. Despite the dev blogs that are great, where we can see how the game will progress. The community of players feel alone when they are doing feedback.
For instance, I gave up on using the Ice gauntlet because of the many bugs regarding Ice Storm not working (because of some perks and more). Many posts on the forum where talking about it, but there was no answer from AGS about that. However all those bugs got fixed in patch 1.1. If players knew about this earlier maybe they won’t have gave up on using Ice gauntlet.
AGS apologized about the sneaky modifications they added and not mentioned in the patch notes. It would be great that every modification to the game would be written. I am not afraid to read a super long patch note.
Transparency should be your best asset. And here it comes to speak about the modification to the crafting system.
Crafting
The crafting system is what is called a grind. People need to farm materials, and then they have to waste them in order to level up their trade skills. It requires tons of materials to level up.
People found that crafting low tier items was easier, as they didnt need to farm higher tier materials, which are harder to find. They are harder to find for two reasons : there are less high tier materials than low tier materials in the game. And there is competition : someone finds a material, another player won’t be able to take this one.
After update 1.1 here is the statement from AGS :
“Recently we lowered the amount of trade skill XP provided by lower tiered items when a player reaches a new tier of crafting bases per skill.”
I believe everybody feels fine with it, this is legit.
“Our intention behind this change is to reward players for crafting higher tiered items as they progress through the ranks of each trade skill.”
This is legit again.
I personally was already leveling up my trade skills by crafting with highest tier material. As I could feel the results faster.
However there aree tons of post in the forum that explains that now it takes 25% more resources to reach level 200 in a trading skill while only focussing on the highest tier materials.
And we have no answer about that. Is it intended ? Why isn’t it in the patch note ? Players need a statement about this issue, because we feel like AGS is just willing to slow our progression.
It is the same with Elite Chests farming, the same with drops from bosses, again the same with daily limit on crafting Runic Leather, Phoenixweave, Asmodeum and Expedition orbs.
Delaying our progression is frustrating, and makes the game less enjoyable.
It is also unfair as people who leveled up their trading skill before patch 1.1 can now craft the most powerful items while others will only be able to do 25% later. It makes big companies stronger, solo players weaker.
Crafting gamble
I like the fact that you need to gamble on one perk or one attribute. This is fun. However I want to speak about deterministic crafting.
Deterministic crafting is when you can craft an item while make sure it will have some specific perks/attributes. It is the case of replicas and named/legendary items.
I see multiple issues :
- You can craft heavy armor with constitution, medium armor with dexterity + strength, light armor with intelligence and focus while making sure that the item will have the perk that you want. What about the variety of builds AGS is talking about ? It is unfair, it looks like mainly heavy armor users will have some benefits, as most of people want consitution.
- Legendary items are bad. It requires a lot of dedication to be able to craft them, and they are definitely not best in slot. Some will have the wrong attributes for you, and some others will have bad perks.
Example : I want to wear a full voidbent set that suits my build. I want a chest medium, and all other pieces in light armor. I need constitution or dexterity. I can’t do that.
I want to craft the legendary rapier called Voidbringer. The perks are keenly jagged, keen and leeching flurry. Wait but I am not using Flurry, and this is a perk that I can have on my clothes if I want. WHy should I waste my time to craft such an item ?
If the goal is just having a 600 gear score itemn, then fine. However there is again something that feels unfair. The new legendary void gauntlet called Nothingness is craftable and bind on equip. That means someone else with Arcana 200 can craft it for me. But if I want the rapier called Voidbringer I need to levelup weaponsmithing. However when you think about it those items aren’t that good enough for the pain it requires to get them.
It is better to grind watermark and wait for a good Lazarus weapon drop.
In my opinion the only crafting trade skill that make sense is the jewelcrafting. The watermark on jewelry increases much slower for everybody. And gambling on a good jewelry is fun, and rewarding.
To sum up the issue with crafting : it does not allow the variety of builds, and some builds will have an advantage compared to others.
Elite points of intereset
The changes to the health of mobs is not good for the game. A mob dealing a lot of damage while having too much health encourages zergling. Those areas are supposed to be made for a group of 5. Because of this changes, people will run Myrkgard with 20 people, and the loots will be less rewarding. I already feel like this is not worth it to kill a boss with a group of five as they only drop an infused health potion. But what about 20 people hitting the same boss. This feels like a disaster. Those areas should be made for a group of 5. I like the fact that it is difficult. But if the difficulty is not rewarded, why should we kill the bosses ? Better practice parkour and boss skipping, or better be part of a zerg.
