Team Idea: The Crystal Keepers
Hello!
So I'm a game design graduate who is obsessed with Hero Academy. Like many of the people on this board, I wanted to create my own team in hopes that RE might draw ideas and inspiration from. But rather than simply post my ideas in a few paragraphs, I wanted to truly explore the design, theme, balance, and feel of the team.
What happened next was a 20 page design document for the team, an overview powerpoint presentation, and complete unit artwork from a classmate of mine.
Here is a link to the 6MB file that contains the design document, powerpoint, and character art.
While no team is perfect, and it's hard to test numbers without a game engine, I think I did a fairly bang-up job balancing the team for play. Clearly this is just a guess, but most everything seems to be fair. I know we are all huge fans of HA and I wanted to make sure you all got to see what I created.
Please take a minute or two to look at the Power Point, or at the very least, the character art. If you want to truly delve deep, open up that design document for all the details on the unit's stats and design decisions.
Any feedback, discussions, questions or comments are greatly appreciated. I'd like to stress though that the team is meant to be balanced, but hard to finalize without actual testing. :)
-MNC Dover
Yeah, I went all out when making the team.
Here's a sneak peak at the Rogue character.
So completely blown away by the skills of my artist. She really nailed the art style and has never even played the game. :)
You have an artist? So jelly. :(
Im on my phone right now, ill have to wait until i get to a computer to check it all out. Cant wait though!
Hi
Wow this team looks amazing o.0 I actually read through *most* of the word doc...Wow
ROBOT GET THIS DONE!
again the only disappointment was the lack of unique items *bar Crystal Wings Cool Idea* Infact this team is well Makeable!
Like the idea the Superunit can attack crystals for health in a crunch the other items should allow units to steal power from their Crystals!
Ok, I looked at the Power Point one and the stats in the word doc. my thoughts on the art are:
First, shrink the head size down on all of them a touch. :)
- Guardian: go with the second one, but without the beard
- Rougue: first one, it's perfect
- Geomancer: the first one is nice, but can he have a shirt?
- Purifier: all good choices, I relly like the third one's staff but I'm not sure which cloak is coolest
- ***: the second one is pure awesome :D
As for balance, it seems pretty good, but you have no 3 range units unless you get your wings in the early game, which could make them draw dependent. Overal really good job with team balance, design, and flavor, also good job by the artist. :)
Edit: SixOkay?! You never fixed GoIem!?
Nice ideas... Hard to tell if they r OP or UP without trying them out... Nice job on it...
Thanks for the feedback so far guys! Glad to see the hard work paying off. Any thoughts on the team bonus of +20% against Crystals? Too OP or UP? Hard for me to tell without a testing environment, but it felt about right in various scenarios.
@Tabby: Yeah, I graduated from an art school and was surrounded by amazing artists. Ashley is extremely talented and has a knack for creating absurdly cute and creepily scary art. You should go to her website and see her other stuff. Will blow you away.
@Cal: I wanted to have a mix of familiar and new items/spells for the team. I felt that creating too many new mechanics could make the team confusing to new players. Because of this, I broke the items into three groups: familiar, twist on familiar, and new.
Familiar: The Rune Crystal and Supercharge scroll are identical to what other teams use.
Twist: The Crystal Bracelets combine upgrades together which is a new way of applying them, with an overall lesser result (and in theory providing a +1 AP bonus). The Energy Potion is like unique in it's Tribe-like bonus it provides to surrounding units.
New: The Crystal Wings and Crystal Prison are completely new mechanics to HA.
@Networker: All things considered, I think she did an spot-on job with the character art. The head sizes are a tad big, but I'm sure a simple opening of Photoshop and layer size reduction could fix that. :)
The shirtless Geomancer was my call. I wanted a Caster that stood out from the crowd of old Wizard men types (Wizard, Taoist). Bald headed and muscled with a absurd weapon seemed a fun way to accomplish that.
Not getting that extra range would be tough on this team, especially if the Crystal Wings get buried. A fully geared Guardian could effectively control some space if he hit-and-runs of a Gem Boost tile. Doubley so if he has Purifier support. Situational though depending on the map's Gem Boost tiles though.
@slftfr: Thanks for compliment!
Love the new team. Great ideas and great artwork, it's very innovative. I especially love the Geomancer and *** (which reminds me very much of one of the titans from Age of Mythology). The only real problem I can see with the team is that they may be too reliant on the wings, so it'd really screw them if they get stuck at the bottom of the pile (but that's true for something for all factions), but more importantly that the inherent concept of a crystal rush team might be OP, given that crystals are pretty weak on most maps and a crystal rush can already be very effective on some maps. But we'd really have to try them out to know that for sure.
(edit) ah, yes, I forgot that the automatic sensors automatically sensor the word go lem. It makes for quite a few confusing posts in the Orcs Must Die 2 forums already!
Ive only read the units stats so far, and the main thought in my head is that some of it seems OP. The Guardian is definitely an example of this. Not only does he have high health AND high damage, but being an immovable tank while on the assault tile is way unfair. I also think the purifier's debuff would synergize way too well with the rogue. Either of two things would happen: the debuffed units get away from their crystal, leaving it open for attack, or they try to defend it, which would decrease the crystals resist, and it would still be attacked due to the rogue not being effected by LOS.
And overall, I agree with mrwho995 that a team specifically designed to decimate crystals is insanely OP. If this team were to be released, it the units should be severely squisher than units on other team, so the opponent can fight back fairly towards a TKO, while this team attempts a CK. But as they are, i can see CK's within 15 rounds on average.
God, I write this now the third time.
Sorry, but I have some problems with the attributes of the units. I know when the team plays against itself, the balance is perfect, but we have to take care more about the units of other teams, to give the team unique gameplay, but still find the line of balance with other teams.
You name the Team: Crystal Keeper. A Team find its own best balance and skills, when they have a slogan. So when I read the document little bit, I think you want make a team that is extra formed extra for crystal damage. Why do you think the teams were formed beeing good into it, but not extra into it? To hold the balance, but no problem that doesn't mean you can't make one which is "more" formed in that.
How about defense the crystal (showing the love for the most important unit) instead stronger offensive?
The Guardian: He is quite overpowered, isn't he? He reminds me of an 80% +2 Knight, with even some extra features. When you give the healer behind him, you have a great base there already. He need no upgrades, but when you give him on the tile he gets even defensive and then even the knight can't push him back. Instead of buffing him, I would punish him. When the Teambonus +20% crystalattack is, then its damn dangerous when both guardians stands on both (+60%) so I would rather say -20% defensive on both!
The Geomancer: The idea is cute and I like it, but every created baby crystal gives your own crystal +250 HP ? Thats little bit overpowered or not? I mean even 100 is little bit much and then you can use it as block?.. I would rather say he sucks off some life of the crystal and creates an crystal with 300hp (but 200hp of it is from your own crystal).
+20% Crystal Damag -> UP ? Oh no! I think its too much.. Did you think about changing the team bonus into +10% Defensive additionally to your crystal, when standing on crystal tile?
Actually, yep, I agree, the guardian does seem pretty OP. A 40/30 resist, 1000HP unit that can't be moved? I'd get rid of the defensive boost on crystal tiles at the least.
I don't think the Geomancer is OP though. The 250 HP being added to the total crystal HP is pretty unsubstantial, but a nice idea anyway, and yes, 250 HP is more than the phantom, but the phantom can move, attack and stomp whilst the stalagmite can't. I think it's a pretty balanced unit.
Similarly, I don't think the purifier is too powerful; generally you don't put your healers on the front line so it won't be used that often. But synergised with the LOS-ignoring rogue, it might be, as luigiman points out. I think the rogue is good enough without the ability to ignore LOS, and any way of slowing down the crystal onslaught which may prove to be too powerful for this team is needed.
Balance discussion time! Before I say anything, it should be noted that I moved a lot of ideas and abilities around to different units and cut some all together. Balance is a living, breathing entity that is hard, if not impossible, to make perfect. I'm going to respond with the hows and whys of my decisions.
OK, let's get to some responses! :D
@Luigi: The Guardian started as a 800/20/20 unit when I created him. That had too much overlap with the VM, so I scaled him to the standard 1000/20/0 of the Knight. After creating the other units, I worked on the items. This is where things got complicated. Because the Wings are so powerful, I decided to make only one upgrade provide defensive/hp bonuses.
The team as a whole was meant to be squishy since they are meant to be Crystal focused. I did want one unit to remain strong though so I chose the Guardian. Looking at other teams, the Fighter class takes a backseat role minus the VM. Having him "boost up" on the Gem tiles felt like a fun addition to the unit mechanically and thematically. I liked a +20% boost, which made him fall in line with other upgraded units on defense/magic boost tiles.
After that change, I felt that he'd be super strong, but only on a gem boost tiles. Many maps have recessed or central tiles, making him either useless to the front line or in constant risk of getting sniped. Since the team has no push/pull mechanic, I thought I'd give him that feature rooting him in place. I altered his stats to 1000/10/10 to make him 1150/20/20 after buff and 1150/40/40 on gem tiles. After pondering that a while, and figuring out how the hell he could be killed in that state, I brought his magic resist to 0 making him 1000/10/0 and 1150/20/10 boosted and 1150/40/30 on the gem tile. I moved his hp to 900, but still found he could be ko/stomped with a scrolled 300 damage magical attack. Perhaps that is what he needs though as a weakness?
Those numbers are large and daunting to be sure, but are only effective on the gem boost tiles, which as I mentioned before are not easy to get/hold on some maps. I think it makes him very situational. Because I can't test these stats in real-time, I can't no for sure if they are fair. Maybe players could adjust to him and he's fine where he is? Perhaps the "rooting" ability needs to be removed? Or a tweak to either his starting hp or resists?
The final thing to mention was his power. After all items/units were done, I had no 300 damage unit. Not that the team needed one, but I had the idea of making him the powerhouse as no other Fighter has a base 300 damage. Being melee and only 2 range movement, I figured he couldn't abuse hit and run tactics like the VM can. What that does do though is create a devastating unit when near a gem boost tile. With testing, I might have reduced his attack to 250 or 200, but it's hard to tell.
As a side note, I also gave him the ability to move over gem boost tiles at 0 cost, but moved the idea to the *** before cutting it completely.
As for the Rogue, she started with LOS restrictions. I always wanted her to have the plus sign splash effect and was worried that a player would create a 2 unit line in front of their crystal thus nullifying the splash of the Rogue and the debuff of the Purifier. The first change I made to combat this was that the Rogue could always target a Crystal regardless of LOS. This made her good against Crystals but average against units. This change stood for a long time, but got dropped near the end when I realized how confusing this could be to newer players. In addition, the Rogue isn't 3 range so she really needs the Crystal Wings to shine. Taking that into account, I simplified her by giving her the ability to break LOS. If I had an actual testing environment, I'd probably either tweak down her splash damage, add LOS, or somehow work in a mechanic against a Crystal.
I feel that the team as a whole is very squishy. Taking away the Guardian, every other unit can have a max of 920 hp (but only 3 of them) and moderate resists. A 450 damage unit can 2-shot any base unit or scroll kill anything but the Guardian. They aren't good at healing and are vulnerable to AoE attacks. Dwarves and VM would have a field day against them when bunched. The potential of a 3 range healer/debuffer is good, but that takes away from either a stomper, AoE, or ***. Again, with testing I might bring a unit down to 650 hp. Probably the Rogue (though I hate to make her too much like the Poisoner) or the Geomancer. With a reliance on the Crystal Wings to be a ranged threat, a CK rush may or may not be effective for them. Hard to tell, but I can definitely see where you're coming from.
@yourtime: Balancing this team against the others was a primary concern of mine. My major obstacle was doing this in a vacuum though. I think I understand where you're coming from with the team bonus. Instead of +20% damage, their Crystals would receive a +20% resist bonus? Interesting change both thematically (save the Crystals!) and tactically. I wonder if it would be enough of a bonus though. Maybe a split down the middle of doing +10% damage to crystals and a +10% resist.
I actually had the first team bonus as the ability to attack their own crystals to heal. This got moved to the *** because I thought it would be underutilized because of the drawback. I coupled the healing benefit with the damage boost and it felt right for a super unit.
You think the Guardian should become weaker on the Gem boost tile? I think making a change like that would just make players never put him on those tiles and turning him into a standard Fighter unit. I agree that statistically he is beastly and probably would need a few minor tweaks to his stats. The problem is a tweak too far and he becomes useless. I could be a simple change of +10% resists boosts on the Gem tile or removing his rooting ability.
The Geomancer is basically creating Bamboo when he stomps. The difference is that these bamboo are very weak and won't last long. The original idea was that they were functionally Bamboo, but after making the *** power up while attacking Crystals, I made them count as a team Crystal so it would synergize with the ***'s ability. The original hp of the Crystals was 600, but I toned that way down to 100. I then beefed it back up to 250. At 250, it would require an average of 2ap to remove or 1ap from a 300 damage attacker. This was slilghtly stronger that the Phantom, but without the ability to do damage or move. I felt the trade-off was fair. And moving the hp to 100 or 150 would be easy enough.
Whew! That's a wall of text for ya! I'm actually surprised nobody has mentioned the Crystal Prison or Energy Potion yet. I thought they'd be hotly contested for balance concerns. Maybe those came out just right? :)
Please keep the comments coming guys, I'm always down for more adjustments and discussions on balance and mechanics.
I didn't mean to come off as disliking the art, sorry. :)
I don't see rouge's LOS ignore as a problem because you might not want to wing all 3 of them. Without wings she seems rather basic and maybe even UP. The purifier I see as ok since it is kinda like the taoist, because she has great potential, but that potential is very circumstantial. I'm not sure about the guardian... though he almost seems like a super unit. The g0lem is fine IMO. Geomancer is fine, plus has a really cool mechanic. :D
Note: I read it yesterday, so I don't know bout any recent changes
Oh that was the other thing, the energy potion. I remember thinking that was OP as well, but i forgot why, as im on my phone again. Its pretty late where i am, so ill be back with another argument tomorrow :)
i
want
this
team
RIGHT MEOW!!!haha but really VERY well done man,love the art and detials
Art is awesome, concepts seem interesting. Comments:
Engergy potion plus scroll -- if they stack, that is a "kill anything in a single ap attack". There is currently no such attack in the game, so its something to worry about.
Apparently G o l e m is a prohibited word???: Anyway, I was expecting him to gain max health on attacking the enemy crystal -- heal plus damage buff seems kind of meh, conceptually. I mean, what is it, a rush-unit, designed to do crazy damage in 5 ap but then be killed? Just didnt seem very super-unit like. I'd make him tougher, increase mobility to 3, and have the ability to gain some max health from enemy crystals.
The rogue's coefficient is higher than the grenadier, but the AOE is more limited and only range 2 without the wings, so good unit, but not OP clearly. The magic shooter is again not OP when compared to the necro because you need wings to get range 3 and have somewhat less durability (not sure about that, need to relook at the items, but the range issue is a big one). The fighter is the highest damage regular meleer in the game, and this is a big deal, but its hard to tell if its OP without playing it out. The fighter looks like the only best in class unit, which is fine.
The problem I see with the fighters gem tile bonus is that it could be OP on certain maps where two boost tiles are contestible, and, at the same time, not amount to very much of anything on maps where each side gets a free boost tile in their own territory.
The healer's debuff is real interesting, but doesnt seem like that big a deal. The 20% crystal damage is a big deal -- do they get 20% of boost tile bonus damage too? Still, doesnt scream OP to me, especially given the lack of native range 3 shooters.
Sorry it took me so long to comment (MNC asked me a long while back).
I wish all team idea posts were this impressive. From Omeganaut to game designer, MNC can do it all. I want this team right now.
WOW! first of all, great job! i cannot belief you put so much time into this without stopping! i would have stopped after the 3rd slide but thats just me :P anywho, i really like this team but they seem kind of similair to other teams (e.x. guardian - knight, geomancer - necromancer ( also same kind of range-stomp), rogue - shaolin assassin, purifier - cleric... ) ik they have diffrent stats and abilities but they still look and act the same way. another problem is that when you pick this team you kind of HAVE to go for crystals. Like you're being FORCED to. I know you can go for people kill but than the team bonus is useless, purifier is pretty useless and just like cleric with worse heal and guardian would just be standing on an assualt tile for no reason exept for defense/resist. Also, the super unit wouldnt be so "SUPER" anymore, would just be similair to guardian. Anyway, if it did come out as an actuall team it would need some rebalancing and the name should change. When i saw "crystal keeper" i thought this would be like a childish team, while it is actually pretty complex/interesting. well, good job, keep making teams, but this one seems pretty.... how do i put this... useless if not for crystals? OP? idk, but its hard to decribe. well (again :P), thanks for putting all this time into this and the great artwork!!
Stupid long response post incoming. You've been warned! :D
Before I respond to everyone, I think I should mention that another reason I made this team was as a "proof of concept" for my game design degree and to help get my name out there. I've been unsuccessfully trying to get into the gaming industry after I graduated at the end of August. While RE would be a great place to work, I'm stuck in Seattle for the time being. I really think I'd be a great addition to a company, but need to keep marketting myself towards that goal. Finally, my artist really deserves all the love she can get because she's absurdly talented. Seriously guys, check out her site for some knock-out stuff. OK, enough of the shameless plugging and on to comments!
@Networker: I didn't think your art remarks were rude at all. In fact, I encourage everyone to choose a favorite character design. I know I certainly did. :)
I'm glad you see eye-to-eye with me on the overall unit balance. At three range, each of the CK units can be good, very good in fact. But there are only 3 Crystal Wing items in the deck and you aren't guaranteed to get one right away. To be truly top tier though, they need to be combined with the Rune Crystal and Crystal Bracelets, not unlike other teams making 3 power units.
@ubkrandy: you and me both brother, you and me both. I honestly (bias aside) think this team would really work well in HA, both in theme and unique balanced mechanics (after some tweaks of course).
@artNJ: I actually thought about the stacking feature of the potion + scroll. It actually does exist to a small extent with the Tribe with Rage + Meat. It is certainly situational as you can't control when Rage activates, but definitely doable in a match (and horrifying when combined with Typhoon and Attack tiles). I also crunched the numbers and found the results of the potion+scroll combo to be on par with other teams. Here's the numbers when both items are in effect:
200 damage unit: 900 damage (200 base -> 300 potion -> 900 scroll)
300 damage unit: 1350 damage (300 base -> 450 potion -> 1350 scroll)
450 damage unit: 1800 damage (450 base -> 600 potion -> 1800 scroll)
So a 200 damage unit becomes a single hit scrolled 300 damage unit. That's no different than any other 300 damage unit scrolling in the game. A 300 damage unit (of which the team will only have 3 of) becomes the equivelent of a Rune Metal scrolled Archer/Impaler/Annihilator. Finally, a 450 damage unit (only the Guardian or charged Go1em) will become devastating Rune Metal scrolled Ninja for one hit. The biggest difference though is the Guardian doesn't have the movement and teleport advantages of the Ninja to escape alive. The Go1em could hit and run better though, but does require a prebuff for maximum effect.
Plus, all of these bonus require the use of 2 items instead of 1. The potion use realistically would probably only effect 2-4 other units tops, making most of them 300 damage attackers for one turn, which I thought was fair.
The other reason for the potion damage enhance was that the Crystal Prison does no additional damage. I compared that to the Inferno, Drill, Soul Harvest, and Dragon of the other teams. From an average standpoint, the Inferno can do the most damage (a potential whopping 3,000+) but realistically does around 700 and is mainly used for stomps. The drill is 600 direct damage and destroys armor (possibly more if units are hundled around Crystals). The Soul Harvest again does an average of 200-400, rezzes, and increases max HP by an average of 30-45. Finally, the Dragon can easily do well over 1,000 damage on average. The Energy Potion on average will effect 0-8 units, which means a damage bonus of 0 to 800-950 depending on upgrades. Since I'm averaging 2-4 units getting the additional bonus, the total really is a measly 200-400 boost overall, which is inline with the Soul Harvest without the benefits. Whew!
I admit, I feel the Go1em is a bit lacking. Giving him a movement bonus of +1 might make him more VM like, but that means a potential 6 range attack after one move if it's using the Crystal Wings. Testing would certainly help find out how OP that might be. It originally had 1,000hp, but I felt at 1,150 it would be too strong and not very squishy like the rest of the team. Intersting side note was that it originally did physical damage for melee hits and magical for ranged hits. I cut this at the end though because, while an intersting mechanic to work around enemy strengths, it would be too complicated for newer players.
The Purifier's ability stacks on enemy units. So if a team has two poisoned units near their Crystal, that Crystal is at -10% to both def and mag resistance. That makes any hit against them +30% damage, which is a big deal. Since this is a permanent debuff, the Shaolin's Taoist is a perfect counter to her. And no, the team doesn't get an additional 20% on top of the 300. Holding one Gem Boost tile would result in a 200 damage unit doing 540 damage (200*20%+300). That's about on par with what other teams can do, mabye a bit less in some cases.
The Guardian is very situational depending on the maps. If we look at each of the maps, we can see that he is strong on some and average to poor on others. Here's a break-down:
Good:
Tribe Map - Could actually sit on the Gem tile and laugh at the Crystals attacking him.
Single Crystal Map - With a def tile behind and 2 Gem tiles, he can hold the fort strong for his teammates and still attack the Assault tile.
Average:
TF2 Map - Stuck between the train rails isn't too bad for him. Can't attack either Crystal or Assault Tile though.
Shaolin Map - Can't do much to attack other Gem tile. Can hit and be hit by the Assault Tile.
4 edge Crystal Map - Like the Shaolin map, can't attack Crystals and can hit/be hit by Assault Tile units.
4 middle Crystal Map - Like the TF2 map, can't do much to attack. Only one location will make him hard to kill once obtained though.
Crystal Keeper Map - Great at holding own Gem tile with hidden 3 range Purifier. Still can hit/be hit by Assault Tile units.
Poor:
Teleport Map - Can't reach the Crystal to hit it or the Assault Tile in the middle of the map. Not a great use of his abilities.
@Steve: Thanks man, you're too kind. And holy crap, you knew that I was an Omeganaut? That's a super compliment! I'm actually blushing here. :D
@NVDB: LOL, thanks man. Again, game designer brain goes really deep into making games/teams. You should see some of my other boardgames I made during college. Still have them in my room. :)
I was looking for a balance (ugh, got to stop using that word!) in design, mechanics, and familiarity. The theme was that the team shouldn't look like they belong together at all, unlike the other teams. In fact, they could almost be rejects from the other teams if you think about it.
"Sorry Guardian, but we've decided to go with the Knight."
"It's that goofy grin of his isn't it?! ISN't IT!"
I don't agree that you are forced to go with the CK route, but it certainly plays up to their strengths. The aren't as flexible as other teams, but I think they do well enough in forcing the other team to adapt a different playstyle when facing them. For example, if a Guardian is holding a Gem tile, you know that the opposing team is going to have to get rid of him ASAP or face Crystal issues. This means they have to play more aggressively against the CK team. You could then pick off their units as they move out of position. Certainly would be a great way at breaking Dwarf and Tribe fortresses. :)
Another thing to consider is that this team has the Crystal Prison spell which locks an enemy unit (not standing on a deploy tile) in place for 2 turns. They can't attack, heal, or be attacked while encased. That means you could "lock up" enemy healers and wreck absolute havoc on them without fear of non-poition healing. Tired of the Tribe sitting their Shaman in the back row? Hate those pesky Paladin's buffing their team? How about those TF2 Medics ruining all your hard work? Lock 'em up and let your Rogue's splash damage go to town! Combine that with a Geomancer and watch as the healers have nothing left to do but break Crystal shaped teammates on their side of the map. Now THAT may be OP! :D
I don't think the Purifier is useless. With an upgrade, she becomes a Dark Elf Priestess that can debuff enemy Crystals, again changing the way the opponent plays. The Go1em probably needs a tweak or two to become "Super" I agree, and the Guardian either needs to have a resist reduction or the ability to be moved from the Gem tile to be fair.
WHEW! OK, that's one super wall of text done. Hopefully you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed typing it. I really love brainstorming (bluskying) mechanics and balance. I think if I had more people around me, my team would have been a bit more tight. But that's the beauty of patches I guess. Keep the comments coming everyone!
Wow! That indeed was quite a wall of text for me! I'm sorry if my comment was a bit harsh and the previous comment you made does seem to fix most problems! Because I listed all the "bad" stuff in my other comment now comes a list of all the good stuff :P First of all I love the spell and consumables! The idea that you can pick- and- choose which units you want to have 3 range is pretty cool and defiantly should be put in the game! Also the potion is pretty cool too! It's kind of like a tribe's meat thingy but better! It heals more and includes the rage effect (+50%) but on command! Althought this does seem kinda OP it's still a good idea! Also the spell is probably the most interesting thing on the team! I really love this item because you can choose who you sent to jail! (He he he!) this is handy for locking up the healer so they can't heal! Or an engineer to stop their +40% on special tiles, or a super unit so you can regroup and plan your next attack! And ofcoarse the art work is really cool! Anyway I would love to challenge you in the game! Name is NVDB!
Haven't seen the items at the link yet (planning to though) but would love to hear your thoughts about game balance on the boards so we can exploit that game design degree of yours :)
Would you mind adding a "last edit" date in the OP? That would make it easier to keep up with changes. :)
@NVDB: Don't feel as though I get insulted by any comments people here make regarding balance. Well, unless it's blatently rude ("Your idea is stupid!") or completely misguided ("Your team won't work because they have no 3 range/450 damage units!").
I wouldn't say the Energy Potion is as good as the Tribe's Meat. Meat is basically as slighly less damaging scroll + 700 hp heal. That's a lot more power than the Energy Potion provides. Different item for different use though, so it works well.
My only major concern with the Crystal Prison spell is that it removes options from another player, something which can be frustrating to newer players. Even veteran players will seriously have to take into account the CP before moving out. It's got that wildcard factor that Typhoon brings to the game, only more focused and potentially more deadly.
@Soul: Hey man, I'm all for game balance discussions. I love talking pros/cons with other like-minded people. Let me know when you've read my link, always nice to hear extra opinions from various players.
*sigh* I know i promised to keep my input coming, but in all honesty, its just too much text for my lazy self to read/type. That, and game balance really uninterests me. Sorry.
Sometimes I really think about building a 'test ui' of hero academy, where people can test situations and even make some kind of replay situation to show what happened or make replays for themself lol and then making it modable to add team ideas... but not making it able to play 2 player, i dont want copy it. it should only make it easier to share experience between people of the game and show easier tactics.
@luigi: All my hard works! You're breaking my heart!! I'm kidding, it's cool.
@yourtime: you should absolutely whip up something like that if you can find the time. I'm not sure how useful it would be though, but hey, any contributions from the community help, right?
@networker1: for some reason I'm not seeing an "edit" option in the OP. Weird, my other posts have it. I really wasn't planning on editing the team, well maybe ONE big edit after more balance discussion has been had. I mean, RE can't use the team, so putting more effort into it seems kind of pointless, right?
Oh who am I kidding, I'll continue to balance this team regardless....I can't help myself.
The only "rules" issue I see is that Hero Academy currently doesn't have timed buffs like the Crystal Prison. Obviously rules can be broken, but I think this one stems from the fact that you want to be able to see the game state at a glance even if you have no memory of past turns. So they'd at least have to add tech not only for debuffs that expire based on time, but also a UI widget for displaying the remaining duration. Probably better to go with another angle, e.g. do X damage to break the prison.
If you're interested from a design angle you might like the piece I did on how well thought-out the various design limitations in HA are:
http://iam.yellingontheinternet.com/2012/08/17/the-success-of-hero-acade...
Someone should code up an HA mockup people can use to playtest fan-made teams.
Yep I agree! I hate playing against tribe, ( because of typhoon) but love playing them! I also agree with Hamlet about the times thing. This will really change things and if put in the game will need some balance adjustments with othe teams! Anyway still love the team! Keep making them... But one suggestion, don't make such rediculusly (did I spell that right? :P) long thingies!!!! I skipped half of it and I bet so did other people! This is a bad thing for others but not for yourself because it shows you have a lot of passion! anyway, make more teams! Ill be sure to read them! ( if they are not too long :D
@Hamlet: With the Crystal Prison, RE would have to add a "Freezing" mechanic and add a UI element. Visually, the Crystal could show cracks when it's going to break and a down arrow (currently in the game) with a number by it to show turn count remaining. Same graphic for the Purifier's Crystal down effect, a mini-crystal down arrow icon or something.
And I already read your document a few months back. Nice write-up!
@NVDB: I don't know if I'll make another HA team. I mean, it would be cool if they would actually be considered for the game but they won't. Probably best to design teams for a completely new game, if I only can get a programmer! :D
The design document is super long because it needs to detail every aspect of the game for an internal team. Due to the length, I made the shortened Power Point to just highlight the units and fun of the team. :)
O_o
I'll.... Definitely take a look. Some time. >.>
Mew? =^^=
Read Oh My Void Monks, my hero academy blog at http://omvm.blogspot.com! Last updated 8 May 2013 - Game Replay tabby_nat(DE) v KevinSpinti(DW)