I honestly don't find Energon Storm the hardest part of Galvatron fights. All it does is ensure I use sp1 quickly. It's being ko'd in 1-2 hits that hurts, along with his AI being very difficult to create an opening with. Sure, that means I'm getting hit so I can't claim to be playing perfectly, but I guess I'm saying I'd consider hastening slowly with any changes.
Does the data show people dying from energon storm, or from a couple of insanely buffed attacks? It can be hard to tell as a player what the problem is sometimes, and ultimately we only get anecdotal evidence anyway. Testimony from observant players is part of the story, but only part
Because of Randomizer the fight is going to run differently every time so it's subjective. I practically did not get hit but because I couldn't get an opening energon storm just ticked away on an already damaged bot. Trying to use s1 without an opening just leads to a counter.
It's the combination of all three mods and Galvatron's AI behavior that causes the problems. The cycle resist fights tend to last longer, combined with his tendency to block it draws out even more allowing randomizer to build up and then it can be any number of things, crazy melee buffs, energon storm, etc. Perhaps a bot with more aggressive AI to provide more openings but as-is it's a beyond frustrating fight.
With AM running over the weekend, it looks like everyone had a chance to truly run through it smoothly. I've read your feedback on map difficulty and pathing and those will be my top priorities for this week. I have some ideas as to how to tackle this with a short turnaround time. I'll discuss this with the team and get back to you guys with some deets.
With AM running over the weekend, it looks like everyone had a chance to truly run through it smoothly. I've read your feedback on map difficulty and pathing and those will be my top priorities for this week. I have some ideas as to how to tackle this with a short turnaround time. I'll discuss this with the team and get back to you guys with some deets.
Again, thank you everyone for the feedback.
Appreciate your responsiveness. While you’re looking at the map itself can you also look into the possibility of adjusting AM times. The old time and even the mid day start due to the issues worked wat better than the current.
When alliances and BGs themselves have mixed times like NA and Asia having time to wake up and complete the map are critical. With the solo lane layout issues of waiting are even more prevalent. Over the weekend we had multiple NA people have to stay up into late hours or waking up at 6am to finish. TBH no one is buying energy refills for AM there is almost never a point in being able to move one node.
This second week of the map went much smoother for me and my alliance. However, I still object to 6 paths. The reality is that is does not give any wiggle room. I think for hard core gamers it is fine, but the majority of the feedback I have read here thus far and feedback within my family alliance is not a fan of 6 paths. I don’t expect this will be changed anytime soon. I understand the work involved to rework the map. I also realize there are some with a different mindset, but I wanted to voice my opinion.
On another topic, I have found the megatron boss to be an interesting challenge. It takes skill and strategy, but it is also manageable. I can’t say the same for some of the mini bosses. One thought I had is to make the 3 different mods they have into phases like the megatron mod.
I think the Starscream miniboss is OP. Every 10 seconds you need to inflict burn while remebing to land a melee every 6 seconds. Having 2 timed mods on a bot is a bit crazy. My suggestion to turn them into phases would solve the problem.
Lastly, I think as a rule of thumb whenever you pair a bot and mod together that have the same abilities it has pontenial to be OP. The 2 I am thinking of are prowl on the power gain mod and Ratchet and the ranged/shock mod (if you can’t tell I always go left in the map).
On another topic, I have found the megatron boss to be an interesting challenge. It takes skill and strategy, but it is also manageable. I can’t say the same for some of the mini bosses. One thought I had is to make the 3 different mods they have into phases like the megatron mod.
Interesting and reasonable idea. I hadn't thought of this for some reason. Add this to the options considered. It would actually result in less changes but that would be a fair idea for minis. This would make Galvatron and MM much more reasonable yet still challenging and would limit the amount of time Galvatron has for Randomizer and Energon Storm... I like this idea.
I'm back with some Map 3 updates! We've taken your feedback, reviewed some data and have come up with a few changes that we hope will make the map more enjoyable for everyone!
Here's the changelist for this week:
THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO BE MINI-BOSSES!
We've lowered the Health Boost buff on all mini-bosses from Rank 4 to Rank 3.
Health Boost 4 3 "+200%+100% Health."
Context: Both feedback and data across the board indicate that the mini-boss encounters are harder than we anticipated. As a quick turn-around change, we've decided to decrease their health pools so that fights are shorter (which should help immensely with buffs like Randomizer - more on that later).
RANDOMIZER IS NOW LESS RANDOM
Our buff engineers have rejigged the Randomizer buff to only grant offensive buffs. We've also slowed down the rate at which they are generated.
Randomizer 3 "At the start of the fight and every 1518 seconds, activate a random Attack, Armor, or Resistence Buff. Each Buff increases respective Attributes by 20%. Buffs stack up to 10 max.
Context: We wanted to tune the Randomizer buff to be more focused on one specific threat. Having the buff generate both offensive and defensive buffs didn't really give players a viable strategy to play by. Now that the buff only generates offensive buffs, players know to be more careful as the fight goes longer while still being able to deal the same amount of damage throughout.
ENERGON STORM IS NOW PURIFY-ABLE
Grimlock is now able to Purify the Shock from Energon Storm.
Context: Previously, we were hesitant to allow Grimlock to Purify Energon Storm since the Shock comes back rather quickly which meant Grimlock would be able to stack Melee Fury buffs really high. However, looking at the win rates for Galvatron, and coming from the perspective of choosing the right bots for the right encounters, we've decided to allow Grimlock's Sig to hard counter Energon Storm. This gives players a viable tool to knock down the Energon Storm nodes and also have a better time taking down Galvatron.
GET OUT OF HERE, BLUDGEON!
Bludgeon's eagerness to fight led him to unintentionally replace Cinematic Megatron on the Buff Duration path. He's gone now.
Context: Bad, Bludgeon! He's gone now and Cinematic Megatron has returned! Keep in mind his Sig was reduced to 50, so players won't have as hard a time when he procs his Signature ability at low health.
We hope these changes will pull our mini-boss win rates closer to what we expect. Please continue to provide your feedback. We're listening!
P.S - We are looking into longer term fixes such as path confirmation among other things. Stay tuned!
@Kabam Karma some good short term fixes. Appreciate your communication. Since you seem to be reviewing a lot and it is of great utility on the new map please have a look into the Magnus nullify issue. It would make a world of difference in his usability against melee buffs/mods.
TBH I think this is sort of a be careful what you wish for scenario with Galvatron. The health change would have probably been plenty to balance him compared to the Megatron fight.
The new direction with randomizer, though, could really make things far more difficult. It's like if you're trying to get the temperature right on the water faucet, and its a bit cold, so you just turn the cold off completely and put the heat on full blast.
It basically will function almost like an enrage timer, now -- which should be fine on the randomizer lane, but could be really annoying with Galvatron, given that he still has the rotating resistance buff.
TBH I think this is sort of a be careful what you wish for scenario with Galvatron. The health change would have probably been plenty to balance him compared to the Megatron fight.
The new direction with randomizer, though, could really make things far more difficult. It's like if you're trying to get the temperature right on the water faucet, and its a bit cold, so you just turn the cold off completely and put the heat on full blast.
It basically will function almost like an enrage timer, now -- which should be fine on the randomizer lane, but could be really annoying with Galvatron, given that he still has the rotating resistance buff.
I think that randomizer is going to cause more issues as like tek said, it will become a case of end the fight quicker or risk a greater amount of damage. I'd rather hit a bot 10 more times and eat a couple punches over having continuous stacking damage. We shall see when a.m. commences how it goes.
Then you must not have run into randomizer on galvatron where he stacked almost all resistance buffs. There were points that i could literally do no damage to him with mirage because of melee and energy resistance buffs. I spent three minutes and did about 25% damage. Revived and he mostly got damage buffs and killed him easily even with me starting with less health working around cycles. Randomizer alone could have been fine like the solo lane, when combined with the other mods like cycle and his AI, something had to give. It wasn't hitting him 10 more times but rather 50 or more. Combined with less healthier overall and slower stacking it should be more balanced.
I fight Galv pretty exclusively in my BG... I've had to time out and come back again, but it made for an interesting fight with the right bots. I enjoyed it as it was, and I think the 1/3 health drop would have been enough to balance it with the other mini boss fights.
I fight Galv pretty exclusively in my BG... I've had to time out and come back again, but it made for an interesting fight with the right bots. I enjoyed it as it was, and I think the 1/3 health drop would have been enough to balance it with the other mini boss fights.
But should the design really force you to time out? There is still strategy in having to work around the fixes but the chance for the randomness of a near impossible fight is gone. If you were using a bot like Ratchet and timing out is your strategy that's one thing. Not being able to do damage and spending 5 minutes dancing around seems like a design flaw.
WELL... By now, if you haven't somehow already stumbled onto my map drafts from wherever or however they mysteriously float around into existence... Here is MY official release of the current DRAFT of some OFFICIALLY UNOFFICIAL and unfinished WORKS IN PROGRESS.
Cosmetically, I know it's a little MEH while I'm (obviously from the image) trying out "different" things on the page and contemplating the final format and direction, but functionally it should be accurate and current as of today in time for tomorrow's AM.
So excuse the mess, leave complaints with the complaints department and I hope you're not color blind.
I fight Galv pretty exclusively in my BG... I've had to time out and come back again, but it made for an interesting fight with the right bots. I enjoyed it as it was, and I think the 1/3 health drop would have been enough to balance it with the other mini boss fights.
What he said. All attack buffs just make you hit pause as soon as you get a combo to the face on first hit instead of giving it a go.
Why does galvatron have cycle resist mod when that mod isn't even in section 3? Shouldn't he have gain armor 3, energon storm, and randomizer 3?
I got this one!
Hey Kingred. The reason we ditched Gain Armor on this encounter is because Gain Armor requires very specific bots to counter. There is no relief from this buff otherwise. Imagine not having OG Prime or Starscream available. You would literally not be able to do any damage after a few stacks. This is the same reason we removed defensive buffs from the Randomizer. With Cycle Resist, you're still able to do damage, but you'll have to adjust your strategy throughout.
Hey Kingred. The reason we ditched Gain Armor on this encounter is because Gain Armor requires very specific bots to counter. There is no relief from this buff otherwise. Imagine not having OG Prime or Starscream available. You would literally not be able to do any damage after a few stacks. This is the same reason we removed defensive buffs from the Randomizer. With Cycle Resist, you're still able to do damage, but you'll have to adjust your strategy throughout.
I strongly support this change . Gain Armor was imposible to deal with after first min of fighting Galvatron just stop taking dmg. Now is much better you just need to watch what buff he have and use proper attacks to deal with that.
Why new updates dont work on my account?Grimlock had damage from energon storm. Bladgen is first miniboss. (
Hey Podlec! So, Bludgeon is still supposed to be a mini-boss. The change was for the encounter with the Increased Buff Duration node that used to be Megatron Cinematic was swapped for Bludgeon last week.
Also, Grimlock still takes some damage from Energon Storm until he Purifies it. He'll take about 2 ticks of damage before this happens. I'm sure your Grimlock also has his Sig Ability activated, right?
We found it hard to estimate the score in 100%。
E.g: The score that we have completed in map3,
Multiples of 32.55X difficulty 14 map each group scores about 191800, the base is about =5890x32.55.
Multiples of 42.59X difficulty 21 map each group scores about 237038, the base is about =5565x42.59.
Even difficulty 12, we had 177400 and 166600 respectively in each group in 100%.
How to estimate different difficulty of AM Our scores in map3 made me very confused.
TBH I think this is sort of a be careful what you wish for scenario with Galvatron. The health change would have probably been plenty to balance him compared to the Megatron fight.
The new direction with randomizer, though, could really make things far more difficult. It's like if you're trying to get the temperature right on the water faucet, and its a bit cold, so you just turn the cold off completely and put the heat on full blast.
It basically will function almost like an enrage timer, now -- which should be fine on the randomizer lane, but could be really annoying with Galvatron, given that he still has the rotating resistance buff.
So how are you guys feeling now after a couple weeks?
To me it is exactly what I predicted. Randomizer lane is way easier, Galv himself is a huge pain in the ass. Zero room for error after 1 min in to the fight. You eat a heavy / combo / special, you're dead. You really can't even take block damage or it messes you pretty bad.
Like I said before, this was a fun fight that broke from the norm. Now its just another "dance around and don't get hit or you are dead", which is basically every fight in the game. This is not a positive change. Yes more bots can do the fight now, but it isn't FUN anymore.
Kabam should offer a quit/Exit option without losing the current progress and rejoin so players can continue to their path again .
Or color the paths that have been used
Existing blue color used path can vary red or green . @Kabam Miike@“kabam karama”
Another option would be to have a "Leader" assigned when the AM starts, and then the Leader can assign people to specific paths that they are unable to deviate from.
This would prevent people from accidentally going down a wrong path, and give more control to the person running the show as to who they want to go down what paths.
Another option would be to have a "Leader" assigned when the AM starts, and then the Leader can assign people to specific paths that they are unable to deviate from.
This would prevent people from accidentally going down a wrong path, and give more control to the person running the show as to who they want to go down what paths.
We infact do that but we are human we still make mistakes
Comments
Because of Randomizer the fight is going to run differently every time so it's subjective. I practically did not get hit but because I couldn't get an opening energon storm just ticked away on an already damaged bot. Trying to use s1 without an opening just leads to a counter.
It's the combination of all three mods and Galvatron's AI behavior that causes the problems. The cycle resist fights tend to last longer, combined with his tendency to block it draws out even more allowing randomizer to build up and then it can be any number of things, crazy melee buffs, energon storm, etc. Perhaps a bot with more aggressive AI to provide more openings but as-is it's a beyond frustrating fight.
With AM running over the weekend, it looks like everyone had a chance to truly run through it smoothly. I've read your feedback on map difficulty and pathing and those will be my top priorities for this week. I have some ideas as to how to tackle this with a short turnaround time. I'll discuss this with the team and get back to you guys with some deets.
Again, thank you everyone for the feedback.
Appreciate your responsiveness. While you’re looking at the map itself can you also look into the possibility of adjusting AM times. The old time and even the mid day start due to the issues worked wat better than the current.
When alliances and BGs themselves have mixed times like NA and Asia having time to wake up and complete the map are critical. With the solo lane layout issues of waiting are even more prevalent. Over the weekend we had multiple NA people have to stay up into late hours or waking up at 6am to finish. TBH no one is buying energy refills for AM there is almost never a point in being able to move one node.
On another topic, I have found the megatron boss to be an interesting challenge. It takes skill and strategy, but it is also manageable. I can’t say the same for some of the mini bosses. One thought I had is to make the 3 different mods they have into phases like the megatron mod.
I think the Starscream miniboss is OP. Every 10 seconds you need to inflict burn while remebing to land a melee every 6 seconds. Having 2 timed mods on a bot is a bit crazy. My suggestion to turn them into phases would solve the problem.
Lastly, I think as a rule of thumb whenever you pair a bot and mod together that have the same abilities it has pontenial to be OP. The 2 I am thinking of are prowl on the power gain mod and Ratchet and the ranged/shock mod (if you can’t tell I always go left in the map).
Interesting and reasonable idea. I hadn't thought of this for some reason. Add this to the options considered. It would actually result in less changes but that would be a fair idea for minis. This would make Galvatron and MM much more reasonable yet still challenging and would limit the amount of time Galvatron has for Randomizer and Energon Storm... I like this idea.
I'm back with some Map 3 updates! We've taken your feedback, reviewed some data and have come up with a few changes that we hope will make the map more enjoyable for everyone!
Here's the changelist for this week:
THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO BE MINI-BOSSES!
We've lowered the Health Boost buff on all mini-bosses from Rank 4 to Rank 3.
Health Boost 4 3
"+200% +100% Health."
Context: Both feedback and data across the board indicate that the mini-boss encounters are harder than we anticipated. As a quick turn-around change, we've decided to decrease their health pools so that fights are shorter (which should help immensely with buffs like Randomizer - more on that later).
RANDOMIZER IS NOW LESS RANDOM
Our buff engineers have rejigged the Randomizer buff to only grant offensive buffs. We've also slowed down the rate at which they are generated.
Randomizer 3
"At the start of the fight and every 15 18 seconds, activate a random Attack, Armor, or Resistence Buff. Each Buff increases respective Attributes by 20%. Buffs stack up to 10 max.
Context: We wanted to tune the Randomizer buff to be more focused on one specific threat. Having the buff generate both offensive and defensive buffs didn't really give players a viable strategy to play by. Now that the buff only generates offensive buffs, players know to be more careful as the fight goes longer while still being able to deal the same amount of damage throughout.
ENERGON STORM IS NOW PURIFY-ABLE
Grimlock is now able to Purify the Shock from Energon Storm.
Context: Previously, we were hesitant to allow Grimlock to Purify Energon Storm since the Shock comes back rather quickly which meant Grimlock would be able to stack Melee Fury buffs really high. However, looking at the win rates for Galvatron, and coming from the perspective of choosing the right bots for the right encounters, we've decided to allow Grimlock's Sig to hard counter Energon Storm. This gives players a viable tool to knock down the Energon Storm nodes and also have a better time taking down Galvatron.
GET OUT OF HERE, BLUDGEON!
Bludgeon's eagerness to fight led him to unintentionally replace Cinematic Megatron on the Buff Duration path. He's gone now.
Context: Bad, Bludgeon! He's gone now and Cinematic Megatron has returned! Keep in mind his Sig was reduced to 50, so players won't have as hard a time when he procs his Signature ability at low health.
We hope these changes will pull our mini-boss win rates closer to what we expect. Please continue to provide your feedback. We're listening!
P.S - We are looking into longer term fixes such as path confirmation among other things. Stay tuned!
Thanks!
The new direction with randomizer, though, could really make things far more difficult. It's like if you're trying to get the temperature right on the water faucet, and its a bit cold, so you just turn the cold off completely and put the heat on full blast.
It basically will function almost like an enrage timer, now -- which should be fine on the randomizer lane, but could be really annoying with Galvatron, given that he still has the rotating resistance buff.
I think that randomizer is going to cause more issues as like tek said, it will become a case of end the fight quicker or risk a greater amount of damage. I'd rather hit a bot 10 more times and eat a couple punches over having continuous stacking damage. We shall see when a.m. commences how it goes.
But should the design really force you to time out? There is still strategy in having to work around the fixes but the chance for the randomness of a near impossible fight is gone. If you were using a bot like Ratchet and timing out is your strategy that's one thing. Not being able to do damage and spending 5 minutes dancing around seems like a design flaw.
https://SparkF2F.com
WELL... By now, if you haven't somehow already stumbled onto my map drafts from wherever or however they mysteriously float around into existence... Here is MY official release of the current DRAFT of some OFFICIALLY UNOFFICIAL and unfinished WORKS IN PROGRESS.
Cosmetically, I know it's a little MEH while I'm (obviously from the image) trying out "different" things on the page and contemplating the final format and direction, but functionally it should be accurate and current as of today in time for tomorrow's AM.
So excuse the mess, leave complaints with the complaints department and I hope you're not color blind.
Merry Happy Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, Festivus...
-The Traminator
What he said. All attack buffs just make you hit pause as soon as you get a combo to the face on first hit instead of giving it a go.
@Kabam Miike
Why does galvatron have cycle resist mod when that mod isn't even in section 3? Shouldn't he have gain armor 3, energon storm, and randomizer 3?
I got this one!
Hey Kingred. The reason we ditched Gain Armor on this encounter is because Gain Armor requires very specific bots to counter. There is no relief from this buff otherwise. Imagine not having OG Prime or Starscream available. You would literally not be able to do any damage after a few stacks. This is the same reason we removed defensive buffs from the Randomizer. With Cycle Resist, you're still able to do damage, but you'll have to adjust your strategy throughout.
Hey Podlec! So, Bludgeon is still supposed to be a mini-boss. The change was for the encounter with the Increased Buff Duration node that used to be Megatron Cinematic was swapped for Bludgeon last week.
Also, Grimlock still takes some damage from Energon Storm until he Purifies it. He'll take about 2 ticks of damage before this happens. I'm sure your Grimlock also has his Sig Ability activated, right?
E.g: The score that we have completed in map3,
Multiples of 32.55X difficulty 14 map each group scores about 191800, the base is about =5890x32.55.
Multiples of 42.59X difficulty 21 map each group scores about 237038, the base is about =5565x42.59.
Even difficulty 12, we had 177400 and 166600 respectively in each group in 100%.
How to estimate different difficulty of AM Our scores in map3 made me very confused.
So how are you guys feeling now after a couple weeks?
To me it is exactly what I predicted. Randomizer lane is way easier, Galv himself is a huge pain in the ass. Zero room for error after 1 min in to the fight. You eat a heavy / combo / special, you're dead. You really can't even take block damage or it messes you pretty bad.
Like I said before, this was a fun fight that broke from the norm. Now its just another "dance around and don't get hit or you are dead", which is basically every fight in the game. This is not a positive change. Yes more bots can do the fight now, but it isn't FUN anymore.
Or color the paths that have been used
Existing blue color used path can vary red or green . @Kabam Miike @“kabam karama”
This would prevent people from accidentally going down a wrong path, and give more control to the person running the show as to who they want to go down what paths.
We infact do that but we are human we still make mistakes