joemama1512

joemama1512

Level: -
Rank: -

Hard mode a bit TOO hard now?

So far I am 0 for 3, in hard mode, using the new Hard-Mode wizard. I am wondering if the difficulty is now too high due to recent changes. 1. Shadow got nerfed. On hard, shadow is about the only reliable way to go. Nerf is felt the most in the wave 60-100 timeframe where missing where by wave 100 you have gotten off about 2 Morphs per Challenge and Mass Challenge wave and Horseman. That means you have done 16 morphs which normally gave you +42% damage vs all 3 normal types. You now gained 16% instead overall (+32 gain and -16 lost). 2. Items got nerfed. Once again, felt early game the hardest as your Waters/bonuses are less effective than before. Anyone had any luck with this configuration of hardmode wizard and Hard mode?
Andy
43 Supporter Level 43

Andy

Level: 109
Rank: 325

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Haven't dared to try hard mode yet. I'm currently struggling with darkness only deck on easy. The darkness blues really need a buff (Solara / Scarecrow). Which items got nerfed? As far as I know I didn't nerf any in 1.1. Can you give an example? Maybe I accidentially nerfed some by introducing a bug or something (I hope not though :-)). Cheers!
joemama1512

joemama1512

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Rank: -

The item drop rate was changed, and basically nerfed pretty hard. I am fine with that....and kind of like items being more rare. EXCEPT that the monster scaling in general needs to be tweaked to compensate. Now the game is too hard. I LOSE on freaking easy mode with 2 elements due to just getting outscaled because at round 150 I never got an excalibar or tear of gods, despite 200% droprate boost. And with less potions dropping, my scaling suffers. In previous patch, you almost always got these type items around 120ish, providing a big boost.
Andy
43 Supporter Level 43

Andy

Level: 109
Rank: 325

Rag nar Rog Supporter
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Ahh, you meant the drop rate not the items in particular. Which two elements did you play with? So far I was able to win all the two element matches I played so far in the new version. But maybe I just got lucky. Will keep an eye on this, might be that we really need to change the difficulties a bit. On the other hand there will come a few very powerful additions to the next patch, so it could even out on its own again ;-)
joemama1512

joemama1512

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It isn't the elements per se. Before, Shadow's power could carry you through. The nerf of shadow was justified and really just a bug fix. That brings it inline with other good carries. From what I gather, both item formulas give the same amount of stuff with 0% itemfind/quality. Before, it increased linearly and capped at 500% which gave 6x the stuff. Now, it increases as a decaying exponential which is uncapped but I assume is soft-capped at 500%...tho that isn't really relevant. Lategame past 500% means nothing anyways. What this means is that due to starting skills and starting wizard bonuses, you start out at a disadvantage in this patch. You get less item drops and more importantly less potion drops since your initial bonuses are worth less. That means less Water of Lifes, which means less midgame booster pots and water of lifes. This inverse-snowballs so that you wind up with maybe 100% itemfind in the new patch, vs 140% in the old patch...and the 100% you DO have is only about as effective as 70-80% in the old patch! So you wind up on round 120 with no Tear of the Gods, round 170 like I am with no Excalibar. It also means you get outscaled faster, so you can't use Noris Guardians, transform to water of life, and other investment type things early and midgame. Ive played a good 10 games since the patch and its a LOT harder than before. Ive gone entire 200 round games with no Tear/Excalibar/Mummy bandage, which never happened before. This isn't necessarily a horrible thing, just that monster scaling needs to be tuned to match. I am kind of afraid it will scare off new players since "easy" really isn't anymore. Or maybe I just suck. :-)
Romeo

Romeo

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Rank: -

I actually personally adore that Shadow got that minor nerf. Before, he was the only viable strategy to get to late game on 500 Waves. However, we got two nerfs, without having enemy difficulty adjusted at all to compensate. It is an absolute nightmare to play now. It's not difficult and rewarding, it's difficult and improbable. Lucky drops can make for an easy win; Unlikely drops can kill even the best strategy now. Before, you could at least "out play" bad drops with certain outs. You're screwed if you get bad drops now though.
Ontrose

Ontrose

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Personally, i agree it is much much harder now, but i appreciate the challange. The dream of 50k bonus times ;) will be a dream for now i guess. But i think i did a 3k time with darkness only (Using Solara as main carry). The new patches opened up many different strategies. I guess Nature+Darkness is a kick-ass combo right now. I will not elaborate here. But i will try a few tactics the next, lets say 1-2 weeks. The possible Synergies are, plainly put awesome and the rarety of items makes the game hard and interesting again. I missed the challange, i felt when starting the game. For me atleast, it was just do foolprove build for dailys, watch until wave 70 and then just let it run on... The aptch changed it.
t4c1

t4c1

Level: 118
Rank: 202

I think the game got harder too, but I am usually having problems early (up to round 100) as I like to play with Osmo, the jester lord. However, despite much needed nerf shadow is still far superior to any other tower - got me to 40k bonus time ;)
Romeo

Romeo

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Shadow is still pretty good on the first and last map, yeah. As to the comment about enjoying the challenge - I agree with that, but that's why we have Hard and Medium. Easy shouldn't be damn near impossible.
Ontrose

Ontrose

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Rank: -

Well honestly? Easy isnt near impossible, at least to me. I tried it a few times with standart heroes on 0 skillpoints, and I've beaten the map 3/5 times. Of coursethat ratio is way worse then before where easy was a sure win. But you just have to adapt. Supportive tower play a stronger role early on. But well it always depends on your races etc...
Romeo

Romeo

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And again, that's great for you, I'm glad you're so good at it, but we still have Hard for people like you. I like to play specific decks, or silly strategies. Or hell, for any new player coming aboard, Easy is a god damn nightmare. I've had losses on Easy due to bad luck, and wins on Medium where it was all down to drops. Easy shouldn't be a struggle for the average player, Medium should be.
gibby8998

gibby8998

Level: 89
Rank: 1057

The farthest ive ever got was around wave 130 but thats because i barely ever get drops like an item every 5 rounds and a poion every 15 rounds i think that its just my sh***y luck lol
Romeo

Romeo

Level: -
Rank: -

I've had losses from useless drops (One half of the Wedding Ring set, only low-quality strength potions, Longbows for days), lack of drops (One item in ten rounds of play when my Carry tower had +150% Item Chance and Item Quality), and lack of required towers (Needing the Ripper, didn't get him until round seventy last game. I went through SIX Acolytes in that time). Ugh... lol Keep Hard as is, slow the difficulty spike on Medium a little, and slow it A LOT on Easy.
gibby8998

gibby8998

Level: 89
Rank: 1057

Yeah i agreewith romeo