Hey guys, so after clearing the game and playing around with multiple weapons throughout the campaign, I just can’t ignore the fact that bows trivialize the game too much in their current state, and this is true for pretty much all bows though some stand out more than others. Here are a few issues that should be considered on their own as addressing all of them in one go could be too much of a bow nerf.
The fact I can cheese so many enemies by standing at a certain location they can’t reach should not be happening, if monsters effectively can’t reach me they should likely be getting out of combat and regenerating faster than I can hit them.
Short bow is too op in terms of avoiding damage while dealing damage, it is not the highest damage dealing bow by far, but it is by far the easier to use to go for a hitless run due to its dodge attack making you jump away so much while also having the range of what you could consider a sniper bow (which doesn’t exist but maybe something to consider)
all bows having the same range - some bows should definitely be more sniper type bows while some would require you to be mid range, so for example with the short bow, due to how it functions especially with dodge attack, its range should be much smaller to make you play much closer to danger while bows that are slower would have more range.
Bows are too easy and friendly to use, the amount of stamina is too low, the attack speed is too high, the safety is too high, in order to align bows with the other weapons they should probably have their stamina increased by 1.5x-2x and depending on the bow should have their attack speed noticeably cut, as it is now you can too easily spam all your shots and run around / jump around while waiting on stamina always keeping you safe, as well as trivialize majority of the boss fights in this game due to how big the arenas are (I like big arenas but bow takes advantage of it too much)
Bows make bombs useless, since most bows are dex based with some exceptions for a mix dex/int/wis, maybe bombs can scale off str to some extent? the amount of damage on bombs is extremely low compared to anything the bows can give and prior to the bow change were the way you’d cheese bosses / tough multi enemy encounters.
only gonna say one thing to that JUMP AROUND IS FUN!
not using bombs is what makes them useless and you will always keep your distance from the enemy so it makes perfect sense to combine bows and bombs to trigger certain elemental interactions
It is fun for sure but it trivializes pretty much 99% of the game, there are some locations you dont want to jump around in lol
Yea freezing a target and throwing a physical damage bomb is nice and all but could just have an empty quiver slot to unequip it and shoot the physical bow and then switch back to freeze quiver to do it all over again.
Not only Freeze/Shatter the other interactions too ^^
but sure you can play with only Quiver if you’d like and switch between quivers..
atm bombs doesnt take up any important slots so it just adds to it
yea but its longer to cast lol
Also the only 135dmg bomb is physical the rest are 90 so that’s the only one I bothered using. Sure we can do the other mixes like fire lightning but i feel like those dont hit as hard with bombs, compared to quiver on/off
I donno. Leveling with the bows, I felt like it was pretty underwhelming compared to melee. They are all stamina hungry weapons, having the same stamina cost as great hammers, but can’t come close to their damage while leveling. A few bows can get around the stamina issues using a jade ring if they shoot enough arrows (sirens call, balak taw, etc). Having a running attack that shoots is a definite advantage, but this is generally stamina intensive, and only about half the bows can do this. If you are patient, then yeah you can sort of avoid a lot of combat mechanics by kiting, but you will run low of stamina, preventing you from running, and have to dodge/defend. A lot of enemies have gap closers as well, so it takes effort to stay at range.
Enemies that I can’t reach shoot at me when I am melee. I see no issue with me being able to do the same back.
Not all the bows have high attack speeds. I’m thinking a third to half have decent speeds, but that is generally made up for by lower damage for those attacks.
Bombs have been useless in general and not everyone has access to a bow. Do wands make bombs useless too? I think bombs underperforming is a separate issue.
As a player who started out bad at the game and has been steadily getting better, I don’t think bows trivialize the game too much. That’s coming from my personal perspective, though. They helped me get through a large chunk of the game while I was still bad, but they didn’t carry me all the way through. But I did learn a lot during that time, and it led me to seek out new avenues of play and also made me endeavor to get better.
Some of us casual players can only make it so far because of these easier options that remain in the game. If the studio wants to eliminate all of that in favor of making the game more hardcore, I can understand. They have their own vision for the game and want to make it real. It’s my personal hope, however, that their personal vision of the game is at least as inclusive for casual players who are like me as the game is right now.
For what it’s worth, I’m not saying any of this because I don’t want the game to become more challenging for players like yourself. As a matter of fact, I do. I know that’s how players like you get fulfillment out of games like this one. What I’d like, however, is a system of balance and player communication that is more nuanced. I think it’s possible to design new challenges and levels of challenge within the game, while also increasing communication with the players in the game, so that those looking for a challenge are able to easily identify what would make the game appropriately challenging for them and turn them off of these easy options like the bows in a way that isn’t necessarily offensive to them. It’s no small amount of work for the devs, but part of the reason I have faith that this game could reach that achievement is because of the messages I’ve heard from the devs before about their long term commitment to this game and the enormity of their vision for it.
Sorry for a bit of a ramble. It’s an inclination of mine. Anyway, I hope it’s clear I don’t mean to be antagonizing with my discussion points. I’ve noticed these forums get prickly pretty fast, and I’m not trying to add to that.
