EpicDuel PVP Game Design Notes

March 08, 2024

EpicDuel is back with the addition of a new balance feature resurrected from the game's past: Agility.

What Is Agility?

High HP builds have been troublesome to balance throughout EpicDuel's history. Sometime in the game's early days, we attempted to combat these builds with a new stat tied to HP called Agility that would inflict a defense penalty if health exceeded certain thresholds. This stat ultimately failed to address the initial problem since high HP builds already suffered from low defense so the penalty wasn't much of a deterrent.

Now, utilizing EpicDuel's modern core system, we've brought Agility back. This time, the stat is split into two different core types: Agility for HP below a certain threshold, and Encumbrance for HP above a certain threshold. The tiers and buffs/debuffs, also visible in the HP rollover on the character stats page, are listed below:

• Agility III: 0-899 HP +5% Str/Dex/Tech Bonus.
• Agility II: 900-999 HP +3% Str/Dex/Tech Bonus.
• Agility I: 1000-1099 HP No Stat Penalty
• Encumbrance I: 1100-1199 HP; -3% Str/Dex/Tech Penalty.
• Encumbrance II: 1200-1299 HP; -5% Str/Dex/Tech Penalty.
• Encumbrance III: 1300-1399 HP; -7% Str/Dex/Tech Penalty.
• Encumbrance IV: 1400-1499 HP; -10% Str/Dex/Tech Penalty.
• Encumbrance V:1500-1599 HP; -13% Str/Dex/Tech Penalty.
• Encumbrance VI: 1600-1699 HP; -15% Str/Dex/Tech Penalty.
• Encumbrance VII: 1700-1799 HP; -17% Str/Dex/Tech Penalty.
• Encumbrance VIII: 1800-1899 HP; -20% Str/Dex/Tech Penalty.
• Encumbrance IX: 1900-1999 HP; -23% Str/Dex/Tech Penalty.
• Encumbrance X: +2000 HP; -25% Str/Dex/Tech Penalty.

This new system gives us much better control over the tiers so we can add a robust range of debuffs and buffs to better control extreme HP builds. We went with a percentage debuff because a flat debuff felt too restrictive, but this can be changed if the current Encumbrance debuffs are ineffective.

These buffs and debuffs will only be visible in battle. NPCs are unaffected by this change.

Azrael Cavalier Battlepass

The tentative release date for the new, long-awaited Battlepass is Friday March 15th TBA, barring any technical complications. We're sorry the Olympus Battlepass has lingered as long as it has, but we will plan our Battlepass releases more strategically after gifting next time so we won't be stuck with the same showcase for too long.

Scheduled Maintenance

EpicDuel will be down for scheduled maintenance at around 11:00 AM on Tuesday March 12th. We will be finishing the process we started earlier this year with database migration and copying the entire EpicDuel database to it's new home. This transfer is expected to take at least 2 hours, but could take more, especially if we run into any unexpected problems. Hopefully, we'll turn the servers back on and all will be well!

Tags: Nightwraith