Resolve! Huh, What is it good for?

[Adam Brennecke]

We've been discussing changing resolve for a long time internally, and will have some changes to the a few of the attributes in the next beta update.

[dunehunter]

We've been discussing changing resolve for a long time internally, and will have some changes to the a few of the attributes in the next beta update.

 

They are listening to us!

[IndiraLightfoot]

Next beta update is reaching legendary status as we type. When will this divine intervention change our Deadfire gaming?

[CENIC]

https://twitter.com/jesawyer/status/935573319121649664

[Dr <3]

We've been discussing changing resolve for a long time internally, and will have some changes to the a few of the attributes in the next beta update.

Hero

[AndreaColombo]

This runs counter Josh's muscle Wizard concept, which he said multiple times he holds dear. Color me surprised.

 

RES is now a must-pump stat for offsensive casters in the same way as STR (I preferred the term MIG) remains a must-pump stat for melee characters.

 

I don't think moving Healing to RES is a good idea, since it's already getting Deflection and Spell Damage. Tangentially it's a massive nerf for my Lady of Pain build

[IndiraLightfoot]

"1) all of your wildest dreams are coming true: might is being replaced with strength. strength affects the damage of any equipped weapons + fortitude. resolve affects healing, spell damage, deflection, and will. we're making the change to make resolve-based characters more appealing for a wider variety of characters. strength will still be important for casters who summon/use equipped weapon."

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     EDIT: My comments: Given the change, I'd say the name change from Might to Strength is quite reasonable. All of the sudden, I love Resolve.

Edited November 28, 2017 by IndiraLightfoot

[MortyTheGobbo]

That's incredibly disappointing, but I guess Resolve had to get something. I guess we're back to the good ol' days of casters having no use for Strength whatsoever. At least ranged weapons still use it, so it's not so bad.

[AndreaColombo]

I liked the suggestion to make RES affect the duration of Afflictions better, to be honest. Oh well.

[dunehunter]

Just read the twitter and hmmm not sure if I like that change.

[IndiraLightfoot]

Need I remind you of our friend, Brett, the Psychic!? I loved his suggestion:

 

 

I know Josh would never go for this, but it's time to pull ability damage/healing off of Might and move it to Resolve.

Thematically, it makes sense. Yes, Might is supposed to be strength of soul, but in general terms as well as how it is portrayed in scripted interactions in the game, it feels like Resolve covers that ground much more heavily. This also helps with the muscle-wizard concept. Sure, Concelhaut has a strong soul and spells, but does his frail body really swing a sword that well? Likewise, Swamp Lurkers are have high Might to indicate their physical size, but are those masses of muck really supposed to have strong souls?

Mechanically, it is helpful too. Might simultaneously does too much at once while doing little that is noticeable.

Doing too much - if I want a priest that is a strong healer, a strong blaster, or strong autoattacker that focuses on buffs, they all will have very similar stat builds. Yes, they will have slight differences, but they all want might. Likewise, a wizard-warrior and a blaster wizard are built very similarly.

Doing too little - because Might is percentage-based and affects abilities, it had to be kept weak. While a percent increase will average out over a long fight, nukes throw things off in practice -especially AOEs. A fireball that hits 3 targets for 50 suddenly does 75 to each when getting a 50% buff, while a sword that hits for 15 only jumps to 22.5. In percent terms, it is the same, but in absolute terms it is much more damage that may end a fight because the monsters only have an absolute amount of health. As such, we were left with Might adding a piddly 3% per point. Soul Whip+biting whip was equivalent to a whopping 13.3 points of Might.

The solution? Make Might autoattack damage only, while Resolve takes over for ability damage and healing. Now a wizard that whacks wants Might, but a Wizard that blasts wants Resolve. A Chanter that wants to do support chants and whack takes Might, but a Dragon Thrashes Chanter wants Resolve. For abilities that use full attack or primary attack, they would rely on both. For example, Flames of Devotion would do a full attack which is multiplied by Might, while the 50% fire damage would be calculated based on that attack and then multiplied by Resolve.

Now the multipliers can be set differently - first guess would be something like Might 5%, Resolve 3%. You could also give Might a little something extra (say, an armor penalty reduction).

Like I said, I don't see them ever doing this - they are pretty married to Might as the only damage increase. But it is what I'd do!

I am... I'm speechless.

For real, I do actually think this is bloody brilliant!! It would make rolling up characters so much more interesting right now.

Kudos to you, Brett!

 

Edited November 28, 2017 by IndiraLightfoot

[Dr. Hieronymous Alloy]

I don't like that change. It basically makes an all out damage focused cipher or muscle wizard build impossible, because you'll have no dump stat and be forced to stack two separate damage stats, one for their weapon and one for their casts.

 

 

It's going to be a *lot* harder to play any kind of hybrid character. You'll have to pick one or the other.

 

The old might-is-all-damage system was one of the neatest things about the first game. Resolve needed something but this is dismantling the car to get replacement parts for the lawnmower.

Edited November 28, 2017 by Dr. Hieronymous Alloy

[IndiraLightfoot]

Most of you won't recall this. but I was early on a proponent for separating might into STR and something else, so I'm a very happy camper right now.

This also makes Rolling up your attributes a welcome pain in the arse, since there is no real dump stat.

 

I don't like true dumpstats.

 

I've learnt to live with Might (one stat for all damage plus healing - pretty silly), but now I don't have to anymore.

Edited November 28, 2017 by IndiraLightfoot

[Sedrefilos]

I liked the might governs all damage and healing idea... eh, this is more generic and pretty much renders might a dump stat for casters (like every other generic rpg system out there)?

Couldn't they just make resolve something more useful for everyone? It still will be a dump stat for non-casters now.

[Dr. Hieronymous Alloy]

I liked the might governs all damage and healing idea... eh, this is more generic and pretty much renders might a dump stat for casters (like every other generic rpg system out there)?

Couldn't they just make resolve something more useful for everyone? It still will be a dump stat for non-casters now.

Yeah, there are dump stats either way, this is just more conventional and makes hybrids less viable.

[draego]

Most of you won't recall this. but I was early on a proponent for separating might into STR and something else, so I'm a very happy camper right now.

This also makes Rolling up your attributes a welcome pain in the arse, since there is no real dump stat.

 

I don't like true dumpstats.

 

I've learnt to live with Might, but now I don't have to anymore.

 

Maybe i am misunderstanding your comment but yes this change make STR into a dump stat for casters. Don't know if i like this or not yet. I guess we will see how it plays out.

[IndiraLightfoot]

 resolve will still be a dump stat for non-casters now.

Not with healing and deflection on the table, especially not for tanks.

[IndiraLightfoot]

 

Most of you won't recall this. but I was early on a proponent for separating might into STR and something else, so I'm a very happy camper right now.

This also makes Rolling up your attributes a welcome pain in the arse, since there is no real dump stat.

 

I don't like true dumpstats.

 

I've learnt to live with Might, but now I don't have to anymore.

 

Maybe i am misunderstanding your comment but yes this change make STR into a dump stat for casters. Don't know if i like this or not yet. I guess we will see how it plays out.

 

I formulate myself in too complicated ways sometimes. I simply mean that it will be harder to min-max a number of the usual PoE go-to builds.

I'd much rather see 15, 15, 14, 8, 9 (not accurate points), than 18, 19, 19, 3, 3.

I still don't think these attributes are that generic - but sure, quite a bit - but I couldn't care less.

Edited November 28, 2017 by IndiraLightfoot

[Sedrefilos]

I'll take the beta testers word for it and assume the change is for the better. Also Sawyer's direct answer to me here:
https://twitter.com/jesawyer/status/935582874450804736

[CENIC]

While we're tearing apart stats... why does Intellect affect AoE size? It makes more sense for Perception to govern that. Give Accuracy to Dexterity, or have Perception and Dexterity both affect Accuracy half as much.

[dunehunter]

I will dump Constitution then! There's no endurance/health anyway!

[IndiraLightfoot]

Dumping constitution will always be risky, though.

 

And Josh on Twitter again:

"This change makes a resolve-based caster immediately much more viable and a strength-based caster *more* viable in melee than a resolve-based caster was previously."

 

Yet another plus in my book.

[theBalthazar]

So ? If I understand correctly...

 

Barbarian - Auto-attack - Heart of the fury

 

If I max Resolve an not Might, heart of the fury will do max damage.

 

If I max Might and not Resolve, Auto-attack will do max damage.

 

It is that ?

Edited November 28, 2017 by theBalthazar

[dunehunter]

So ? If I understand...

 

Barbarian - Auto-attack - Heart of the fury.

 

If I max Resolve an not Might, heart of the fury will do max damage.

 

If I max Might and not Resolve, Auto-attack will do max damage.

 

It is that ?

 

No I think it's spell only, Barbarian abilities are not spells.

[tinysalamander]

Breaking news! Mass muscular dystrophy is spreading among wizards. Church blames animancers.