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Quote from: Gaignun on November 30, 2016, 03:33:28 am
I'm looking for ways to avoid preparing for an exam, so here's a survey of the proposed elemental armor along with my predictions on the metagame.
Shirts
Black Costume 100 10 Absorb: Dark, Fire
Mirage Vest 100 10 Absorb: Holy, Wind
Rubber Suit 100 10 Absorb: Lighting, Earth
Aqua Suit 100 10 Absorb: Ice, Water
Robes
White Robe 80 50 Half: Fire, Ice, Lightning
Black Robe 65 40 Boost: Fire, Ice, Lightning
Cultist Robe 65 40 Boost: Holy, Dark
Minor point, but could we keep Rubber Costume as the name and perhaps use Adaman Vest or Mythril Vest for the Holy/Wind absorb if this gets implemented? I just like to keep it consistent in areas we can with Vanilla. I understand Aqua Suit as that would entirely cover all H20 based offense so it sounds good.
Quote from: Gaignun on November 30, 2016, 03:33:28 am
The elemental meta is flattened
Until recently, each element had its own niche:
- Fire, Ice, and Lightning are easily defended against thanks to White Robe and elemental clothing. (Two of the most common elemental defenses in S5 were Fire and Lightning.) They are also easily boosted thanks to Black Robe, rods, and Mace of Zeus.
At the moment, I think that these are necessary unfortunately with spell guns. Even in 1.38d when Spell Guns ran rampant, they still often took two hits to take down mages that weren't ridiculously low in HP even at maximum capacity. This is no longer the case. Also, Defense Ring and Defense Armlet probably accounted for much of the elemental defenses since these accessories are so strong (particularly since most were anticipating people to run teams with Don't Act and Berserk.) I think if Spell Guns get addressed, this may be different.
Quote from: Gaignun on November 30, 2016, 03:33:28 am
- Water suffers from a lack of solid weapons and skills, so it is probably the least threatening element of the bunch. Teams that defend against water usually do so incidentally (e.g., they use Flash hat to protect themselves from Earth, or Wizard Mantle to protect themselves from Don't Act.)
Agreed, though Water does have the unique ability to not be hampered by Reflect Ring/Reflect status.
Quote from: Gaignun on November 30, 2016, 03:33:28 am
- Earth, in contrast, has some great weapons and skills in its repertoire (e.g. Kikuichimonji, Quake, and Earth is Slash). Furthermore, it is the easiest element to simultaneously boost and absorb thanks to Earth Clothes. Together with Black Clothes, Earth Clothes is the only armor to boost elements, but unlike Black Robe, you got absorption as a two-for-one deal. Furthermore, Earth Clothes granted a whopping +25 HP over Black Robe. Altogether, Earth-absorption teams are the easiest to design. For that reason, earth protection is important in the metagame.
Earth has always been an exceptionally strong element. I always overlooked it a bit since Float can negate much of the Earth Element, but it's easier to make many types of teams which also happen to absorb Earth (as opposed to having the drawbacks many other elemental absorb teams have where abilities and equipment may have to be sacrificed to absorb particular elements.) I think Earth Clothes getting a swap is a good thing. However, then I would advocate for Monks keeping bags.
Quote from: Gaignun on November 30, 2016, 03:33:28 am
- Wind is earth's retarded cousin: It is represented with a similar set of skills and is countered by the same equipment (Flash Hat), but is harder to boost. Wind-themed teams have been taking a backseat ever since their only self-absorbable AoE spell (Tornado) was nerfed to be weaker than Black Magic's Fire spell and Wave Fist became Holy elemental. (Seriously, only 3% of units used Wind offense in S5 -- by far the lowest of all elements.)
Agreed fully on this.
Quote from: Gaignun on November 30, 2016, 03:33:28 am
- Holy is currently the offensive superstar: Easily boosted thanks to Golden Hairpin and easily accessible and destructive due to the presence of its eponymous skill on White Magic. Meanwhile, Holy absorption gear is hard to utilize (i.e., the only Holy-absorbing armor is on a robe, and Magic Ring is underwhelming compared to superior accessories like Diamond Armlet.) Consequently, Holy-absorption teams are uncommon. (Holy was the most effective offensive element in S5: 20% of units used it, but only 11% blocked it.) With White Magic Holy users abound, you can count on equipment like Dracula Mantle and Chameleon robe to save your bacon.
This last patch, Holy saw a huge increase because of the lack of Holy element, at least AOE wise. With the new Heaven's Cloud, it's a huge boost since most teams did not want to count on "Holy spamming" theirselves in order to heal. Though it still doesn't have AOE like other elements, it's a much more viable option now. I would also argue that most teams having Reflect probably had Holy and Dark Holy in mind when thinking of using it (I'm aware some teams may have been thinking of Yin Yang Magic or Black Magic spells instead, but I'd be more inclined to believe Holy and Dark Holy were at the top of the list.)
Quote from: Gaignun on November 30, 2016, 03:33:28 am
- Dark is Holy's dark twin (heh), as it is boostable by the same means (Golden Hairpin). However, Dark is more easily absorbed due to Black Costume, so more teams shy away from Dark-themed offense on average. Dark was by far the most absorbed element back when Golden Hairpin gave +1 MA and you were stupid to not run a Draw Out Kotetsu unit.
Again, pretty agreed. This was also partially due to Cursed Ring being stronger than its current form.
Quote from: Gaignun on November 30, 2016, 03:33:28 am
With the introduction of the new clothes, the absorption of every element becomes equally accessible. So, instead on banking on Holy and Earth, you might as well just pick your favourite color.
Earth teams take a hit
The loss of Earth Clothes means that Earth is now no easier to use than any other element. Earth strengthening is now only practical with Crystal Helmet and Prismatic Rod. Furthermore, a second piece of equipment is needed to absorb Earth. Crystal Helmet wearers have access to only Diamond Armlet, which severely restricts design freedom. Also, users without helmet or rod access can no longer strengthen Earth natively. The biggest losers that comes to mind due to this are Monks.
Holy and Dark teams take a hit
Shifting holy/dark strengthening from Golden Hairpin to a new piece of armor means that units without access to shields can no longer boost and absorb Holy and Dark without using their accessory slot. And the accessories that absorb Holy (Magic Ring) and Dark (N-Kai Armlet) are lousy in my opinion. Furthermore, the Holy/Dark boosting robe has very low HP. Flimsy armor + no accessory freedom means Holy/Dark teams will be pretty fragile. Furthermore, the loss of Chameleon Robe means that Grand Cross Excalibur Paladins go extinct.
Yup. That's why I'd advocate for Monks to still equip bags. I think they're going to see more nerfs which I'm not sure how I feel about, so if Earth Clothes get nixed, then I think bags are fair. Yeah, and if that's the case, Excalibur basically goes extinct along with it. If this happens, perhaps exchanging Excalibur's properties with one of the Fire/Lightning/Ice swords would work? (So that Paladins could equip shields and absorb Holy that way with the Holy crossing sword. Either that, or making Excalibur the sole Knight Sword that isn't forced 2H.)
Quote from: Gaignun on November 30, 2016, 03:33:28 am
Lightning is the new Earth
With Earth Clothes gone, Mace of Zeus becomes the only piece of equipment that both boosts and absorbs. Slap that on a mage, pick and mix your armor and accessories, and have some fun.
Yup, and with Spell Guns, I think it'd be really over the top. So not sure I'd want Lightning to be the new Go-To at the moment.
