Upcoming combat changes

[Quyneax]

I rather like the random system. Simply comparing attack and defence rolls and the highest wins, would be very boring, even with various moves and such (the moves probably end up being like the four elemental spells anyway :P). You could have a compromise system where the attack roll goes from, say, attack level - max attack roll rather than 1 - max attack roll. But taking out the random really wouldn't work in RS, imo.

[Sir_Squab]

I'm waiting for this beta tbh. Conceptually, this combat update is absolutely amazing and will make RS a lot better. How well it does in practice... well, we'll start to get an idea in the beta.

[Frozen]

I was reading a thread on RSOF about some specifics about how armor stats will be changed. There was mention of attack bonuses being removed from armors in favor of higher attack bonuses on weapons. Magic was referenced in particular, in that melee def bonuses on magic armor would be boosted, attack removed and attack on staves increased considerably.

 

My main concern, having just bought an arcane (moving up in the world...again! :) ) would be the attack bonus being removed and thus the demand for it completely negated, causing it to crash along with my bank. Do any of you think there will be such alterations that the economy will go haywire and I'd be better off selling my gear until after the updates have settled?

[Jon Arcane]

I was reading a thread on RSOF about some specifics about how armor stats will be changed. There was mention of attack bonuses being removed from armors in favor of higher attack bonuses on weapons. Magic was referenced in particular, in that melee def bonuses on magic armor would be boosted, attack removed and attack on staves increased considerably.

 

My main concern, having just bought an arcane (moving up in the world...again! :) ) would be the attack bonus being removed and thus the demand for it completely negated, causing it to crash along with my bank. Do any of you think there will be such alterations that the economy will go haywire and I'd be better off selling my gear until after the updates have settled?

 

Well a arcane spirit shield is an 'off-hand item' those items, alongside weapons are meant to be maintaining offensive boosts, however it's still far too early to understand just what impact the combat changes will have on it. The only things I can truly see maintaining offensive boosts in the off hand slot is defenders and possibly prayer books/mages book. So try to take that as a bit more confidence that your item will not be affected too much.

 

Besides spirit shields seem to fill very specific roles, so I can't see them losing their unique purposes and becoming generic defensive shields. :)

[vox1st]

Well first off, I must say that I don't like combat atm, it is too much like skilling, just kind of sit there hitting a guy over and over drinking pots every so often.

 

Now if it is like other MMO games I would say hell no.

 

However I like the combat system as it is now for many reasons, but I think all it needs is hotkeys for spells, prayers, switching weapon hit styles,potions and the odd combat related items or things like that. Using specials then going to inventory to use a prayer potion for example has always been annoying. This should help if it is like that. I think fundamentally things will stay the same.

 

However if combat is entirely re-done, then I expect that things will really get thrown off. It could throw the market off kilter, if some items are now more powerful than others and visa versa, if magic becomes less expensive, all sorts of things. Who knows.

 

In any event, I can foresee a lot of renewed PvP for a while, and if they do it right, we won't have any riots.

 

:ohnoes: This is how I feel. They will change one thing that has been assumed to never change since the inception of the game.

[Frozen]

Well a arcane spirit shield is an 'off-hand item' those items, alongside weapons are meant to be maintaining offensive boosts, however it's still far too early to understand just what impact the combat changes will have on it. The only things I can truly see maintaining offensive boosts in the off hand slot is defenders and possibly prayer books/mages book. So try to take that as a bit more confidence that your item will not be affected too much.

 

Besides spirit shields seem to fill very specific roles, so I can't see them losing their unique purposes and becoming generic defensive shields. :)

 

That seems a pretty reasonable thought. I can't see them seeing fit to turn them into generic defensive shields either considering their place in the game but the worry was there. That does ease my mind a bit, thank you :)

[Leon S]

I wonder if combat Magic will finally be efficient cost wise.

[runelower]

Is it just me or Runescape is becoming just another mmorpg instead of being something different, not better in particular, but rs always had its own appeal in a way which was what it was and made certain type of people really enjoy this game.

[stonewall337]

Is it just me or Runescape is becoming just another mmorpg instead of being something different, not better in particular, but rs always had its own appeal in a way which was what it was and made certain type of people really enjoy this game.

Its just you. Every game evolves.

[Urza285]

Is it just me or Runescape is becoming just another mmorpg instead of being something different, not better in particular, but rs always had its own appeal in a way which was what it was and made certain type of people really enjoy this game.

Its just you. Every game evolves.

I agree and also every game develops similar game mechanics they always just put their own twist on them.

[Peronix]

If it evolves into wow then I think I'll just go play wow. The whole reason I hate games like wow is because of the absurdly complicated shit that goes into developing your character, which doesn't come down to playstyle like the devs promise so much as "you can seriously gimp your character if you don't know what you're doing". It has all the appeal of doing your taxes.

[Urza285]

If it evolves into wow then I think I'll just go play wow. The whole reason I hate games like wow is because of the absurdly complicated shit that goes into developing your character, which doesn't come down to playstyle like the devs promise so much as "you can seriously gimp your character if you don't know what you're doing". It has all the appeal of doing your taxes.

I honestly think runescape evolving to the point of WoW is a long ways off. Considering the length of time I've played and how Jagex seems to develop their content they'll always have a watered down version of what appears in the minds eye of the community. I expect to see *some* "button-mashing," but the amount and complexity of play that you see in WoW is far, far off from what we might be seeing in the near future in runescape. I'm sure Jagex might develop the game to handle more complex actions similar to WoW such as an in-game macro creator for these buttons, but I don't see much past that.

[Th e Doctor]

Lol at people thinking wow is complicated. I've done raiding in top end guilds. It literally takes all of 10 minutes to learn how to play your class, its then just a learning curve to do it the most effectively.

 

They have an entire community (I.e. elitist jerks) who crunch numbers for what stats you need and any decision you make is reversible. You can't "gimp" your character in wow.

[PumpkinPete112]

Lol at people thinking wow is complicated. I've done raiding in top end guilds. It literally takes all of 10 minutes to learn how to play your class, its then just a learning curve to do it the most effectively.

 

They have an entire community (I.e. elitist jerks) who crunch numbers for what stats you need and any decision you make is reversible. You can't "gimp" your character in wow.

 

However depending on your role and the raid you may have different armor sets and strategies for differnet bosses.

For example as Holy Pally:

Lord Ryolith: Damage is steady but predictably bursty (Only stomps and a certain add make damage spike, then the last 30seconds require nearly a full mana bar) so wear a bit more spirit

Alyzrazor: Tank healing goes from easy to incredibly, incredibly difficult due to very hard to predict extremely dangerous damage bursts, followed by a built in mana recovery period, so stack intellect and reforge spirit->haste.

 

I found myself spending hours reforging shit to maximize for bosses in heroic Firelands (Sorry, its the last tier I participated in since I killed Deathwing twice and quit, so its most remember-able)

[HappyNooblet]

im kinda excited to see a new thing come to rs that could drastically change the game, but then again, i am scared because i might not like it, then again, it would probably be better for this game, because i spend way too much time doing nothing on this game, and when its combat, i'm only doing one thing (if not 2[hitting and prayer flashing]). Looks like rs will actually take a bit more skill to play after this updatae

[vox1st]

to the people concerned about complex combat, I say don't worry.

 

The only reason they are updating combat is because it is so archaic and old, it is a joke. That combat system is great....for a game made in 1996. Now it won't be WoW combat either, because honestly, in today's MMO genre WoW is also archaic. WoW was cutting edge once, but it isn't any longer, and the reaosn runescape is much better is that there is a huge complexity outside combat.

 

Combat in runescape has always been kind of not important. PvP generally has been restricted to a small amount of players relative to other MMO genres. PvP in runescape is best done in minigames IMO at the moment, stealing creations is fun for me because it is such a fun game where tons of skills come into play, so combat means only part of it. In soul wars, combat is mixed with objectives, kind of like a MOBA game like DOTA or LOL in a loose sense. But the combat in runescape is not what makes runescape what it is, if it did, it would have died ages ago.

 

So What I'm really saying, is that combat can't get worse. The system is clunky and outdated. Nothing they do can possibly make it worse. I expect to see lots of quality of life changes, and they should streamline things a lot. Mages will be able to have several spells ready to cast without clicking 100 things, and anything with a special should be easier to cast, and I imagine prayer will play a more interesting role than just passive stats that stay on as long as you have prayer points.

 

No details yet, so we can't really get mad at anything. Hold your breath, this should be interesting.

[Sy_Accursed]

^ They are not re-making the skills, so prayer won't suddenly be changing from what it is now, they are only changing how the actual combat mechanics work and how equipment stats are spread whilst introducing a few new special abilities/moves learnt at specific levels in the combat stats.

[stonewall337]

Lol at people thinking wow is complicated. I've done raiding in top end guilds. It literally takes all of 10 minutes to learn how to play your class, its then just a learning curve to do it the most effectively.

 

They have an entire community (I.e. elitist jerks) who crunch numbers for what stats you need and any decision you make is reversible. You can't "gimp" your character in wow.

 

However depending on your role and the raid you may have different armor sets and strategies for differnet bosses.

For example as Holy Pally:

Lord Ryolith: Damage is steady but predictably bursty (Only stomps and a certain add make damage spike, then the last 30seconds require nearly a full mana bar) so wear a bit more spirit

Alyzrazor: Tank healing goes from easy to incredibly, incredibly difficult due to very hard to predict extremely dangerous damage bursts, followed by a built in mana recovery period, so stack intellect and reforge spirit->haste.

 

I found myself spending hours reforging shit to maximize for bosses in heroic Firelands (Sorry, its the last tier I participated in since I killed Deathwing twice and quit, so its most remember-able)

 

lol no. To learn the basics maybe. To become good, lot more time.

 

And I call BS on spending "hours." it take sliterally 3 minutes to completely optimize gear.

[gspbeetle]

No healz please.

Well, dungeoneering style and lunar heal is fine, since you still have to consume unstackable consumable - food or potion.

 

Brb. Maxing combat.

 

Inb4 new combat system requires full attention for the afk exp rates we have now.

I was thinking they might make combat easier to train, like runesapn to rc and bonfire to fm.

Oh well, better safe than sorry... Alright, now how can I get that 7 levels of strength by 100% afk?

[Urza285]

No healz please.

Well, dungeoneering style and lunar heal is fine, since you still have to consume unstackable consumable - food or potion.

 

Brb. Maxing combat.

 

Inb4 new combat system requires full attention for the afk exp rates we have now.

I was thinking they might make combat easier to train, like runesapn to rc and bonfire to fm.

Oh well, better safe than sorry... Alright, now how can I get that 7 levels of strength by 100% afk?

What?! Thats exactly how combat training already is...

[Raistlin magere]

i hope it doesn't change too much i like it how it is

 

 

 

[Platinum_Myr]

I wouldn't mind being able to queue up actions, and set up some macro-like deals for automatic swapping (ala move to claws, switch styles, spec, spec, move back to regular weapon) or like in dg swap between mage and melee without having to move aorund 2 items + set autocast.

 

Unlikely to be that. Probably just a bunch of special effects. It could be very interesting though :)

[Alg]

I wouldn't mind being able to queue up actions, and set up some macro-like deals for automatic swapping (ala move to claws, switch styles, spec, spec, move back to regular weapon) or like in dg swap between mage and melee without having to move aorund 2 items + set autocast.

 

Unlikely to be that. Probably just a bunch of special effects. It could be very interesting though :)

Some combat styles might be interesting as well. Maybe an upgrade for defensive stances that give much higher defense at the cost of offensive power? Assuming they make higher levels of PVE actually require defense, that is.

[Shady Character]

this definatly sounds actractive. i especially cant wait to see what this means for dung. might make boss fights really cool not to mention just the ease of switching combat styles.

[Platinum_Myr]

I wouldn't mind being able to queue up actions, and set up some macro-like deals for automatic swapping (ala move to claws, switch styles, spec, spec, move back to regular weapon) or like in dg swap between mage and melee without having to move aorund 2 items + set autocast.

 

Unlikely to be that. Probably just a bunch of special effects. It could be very interesting though :)

Some combat styles might be interesting as well. Maybe an upgrade for defensive stances that give much higher defense at the cost of offensive power? Assuming they make higher levels of PVE actually require defense, that is.

 

The problem with this is that defence (currently) only impacts hit rate, it is basically dodge, not lowering damage. So even at 10,000 defense stats, Jad can still nearly 1hit you becuase hits attacks hit so high when they land. This is something that is difficult to fix in the game engine, and they tried (miserably failed) with damage soak, which doesn't work because it has no impact on most hits, and things like divine and elysian are both very good but incredibly expensive.