[X] My Assistant

How about an automatic use all gems you get in an instance feature (on choice of course), since you can´t wait for a better one to appear anymore? (That would half the clicking effort)

There are gems I don't want to use and just ignore, waiting for something better to replace it. Now I have to use those gems to clear the slot. How about adding a way of emptying the slot without using the gem or using one of my time ticks?

-- New Spell: MagNet - a magical net ensnares the target, hindering and magically grounding it. Its action speed is lowered, and it can no longer evade attacks nor resist spells.
-- New Spell: Lifestream - places a Health Tap effect on the target enemy, draining a small amount of health on the target's turn and returns it to the caster.

Deprecating Spells? That MagNet looks kinda neat. No clue how useful it'll be since we don't have many 250+ players to tell us about it...

-- Godslayer: +10% damage, +3% evade, -5% burden/interference

Fuck yeah!

- Spells now display as faded-out if you don't normally have enough MP to cast them. They are still clickable however, for those situations where a monster is affected with Coalesced Ether or when you have Channeling.

I agree that this should also be applied to the QC bar spells.

- If you cast Magic Missile and you're using the Staff fighting style, you now have the same chance to gain Staff Proficiency as with normal attacks.

I won't benefit from this, but awesome nonetheless.

- You will no longer obtain a new Powerup Gem while you're still holding an old one. So, Gems will no longer be overwritten.

I have to agree with the general consensus that this is not the way to "fix" this. If its just temporary until you can do what you really wanted, then that's fine. If not, then =C.

- The Experience bonus for playing on harder difficulty levels has been significantly increased.

Holy Jesus, those are some gnarly bonuses. Are they still the same difficulty with just a bigger XP multiplier?

Holy Jesus, those are some gnarly bonuses. Are they still the same difficulty with just a bigger XP multiplier?

Yes. Battletoads doesn't seem twice as hard.

You are a sexy man ten <3

- Channeling now takes precedence over Coalesced Mana.

Sleeping monsters can still resist Channeled spells. Just so you know.

- You will no longer obtain a new Powerup Gem while you're still holding an old one. So, Gems will no longer be overwritten.

Those of you who are moaning about it, consider this: You can now hold on to a Mystic Gem for as long as you like. No more using it to re-cast Spark of Life when it still has 20 turns left, just in case you lose it when the next monster dies.

Those of you who are moaning about it, consider this: You can now hold on to a Mystic Gem for as long as you like. No more using it to re-cast Spark of Life when it still has 20 turns left, just in case you lose it when the next monster dies.

That's about the only thing that's good about it right now, you won't lose the Gems you have. I suppose its a semi-fair trade-off, but it just seems counter-intuitive.

Also, I kept forgetting to mention this. There's a bug (not hideously terrible) with IA where it subtracts the upkeep any time the page is loaded. If you open a new tab and go into HV, open a new browser window and go to HV, refresh the page using Refresh or by hitting the Battle link in the menu, or hit Back/Forward. Its not one those things that's apparent and probably doesn't happen often enough to warrant immediate attention, so its not essential to be fixed immediately. But you should know about it, Tenboro.

- You will no longer obtain a new Powerup Gem while you're still holding an old one. So, Gems will no longer be overwritten.

Those of you who are moaning about it, consider this: You can now hold on to a Mystic Gem for as long as you like. No more using it to re-cast Spark of Life when it still has 20 turns left, just in case you lose it when the next monster dies.

True, but I prefer this one: Tenb didn't "re-balance" the game after giving us the gems. If he wants to weaken them, that's a lot better than the some of the alternatives (him turning on spirit attacks for all enemies).

Also, I kept forgetting to mention this. There's a bug (not hideously terrible) with IA where it subtracts the upkeep any time the page is loaded. If you open a new tab and go into HV, open a new browser window and go to HV, refresh the page using Refresh or by hitting the Battle link in the menu, or hit Back/Forward. Its not one those things that's apparent and probably doesn't happen often enough to warrant immediate attention, so its not essential to be fixed immediately. But you should know about it, Tenboro.

You mentioned it before.

This post has been edited by Boggyb: May 4 2010, 00:04

You mentioned it before.

I did, but I wasn't sure if Tenboro ever read those posts, so I wanted to put it somewhere I knew he would read it. Probably.

Oro? I've been summoned to wreak havoc on the HV once more. The new update looks particularly tasty, especially:

- The Experience bonus for playing on harder difficulty levels has been significantly increased.

My only complaint is there not being a 4th unlockable title (as of yet.) (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

NO! (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/mad.gif)
I mean, he's busy with his book learnin' and all, so leave him be. (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/sleep.gif) (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/unsure.gif)

True, and I'm also a longtime Halo fan, so I'll be spending all foreseeable free time parked next to my xbox since the Reach multiplayer beta just came out.

Shit, he's here. I mean, oh, hai, Hito! I was totally going to PM you but...let's do lunch sometime. Call me! Byes.

My only complaint is there not being a 4th unlockable title (as of yet.) (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

If unlocking it required beating Blue Skies, would you go for it?

I don't know if anyone noticed but violet aura was changed too, now gives more +1% soul than before

- If you cast Magic Missile and you're using the Staff fighting style, you now have the same chance to gain Staff Proficiency as with normal attacks.

- You will no longer obtain a new Powerup Gem while you're still holding an old one. So, Gems will no longer be overwritten.

- The Experience bonus for playing on harder difficulty levels has been significantly increased.

Yay, yay, and...yay!

Those of you who are moaning about it, consider this: You can now hold on to a Mystic Gem for as long as you like. No more using it to re-cast Spark of Life when it still has 20 turns left, just in case you lose it when the next monster dies.

That's an extraordinarily minor improvement in the value of Mystic Gems (and Mana Gems, as Boggy mentioned), and is nearly meaningless when compared to being forced to immediately use every single elemental and soul gem that drops. That's a hell of a lot more work than simply being able to ignore them entirely.

@Boggy: This change doesn't "weaken" gems so much as force players to use the ones they don't care about. If you're willing to spend the extra effort to use every single one you get, them this new system is equivalent to the old one (as Sayo pointed out). I'm not willing to do that, because it significantly increases the amount of time, effort, and concentration required to simply be able to play the game as well as you could before.

How about adding a way of emptying the slot without using the gem or using one of my time ticks?

Using a gem takes "zero time" so that's not an issue.

I don't really agree with the "extra effort and time" argument, since all you have to do is press "P", but I do think there is a better way to implement this. It would be lovely if we could prioritize at least a couple of gem types. If a higher-priority gem drops, it replaces the one in inventory. If it's lower-priority, it doesn't.

The old system was bad if a mystic gem and a soul gem dropped the same turn in that order. The new system is bad if a soul gem and a mystic gem drop the same turn in that order. Priority ranking would help in either case.

About the Gems, can we get a [GEM] button up with the [Attack] [Magic] [Spirit] buttons, for the mouse-only players, so we can easily use the now must use Gems? Having to stop and find the "p" key isn't much faster than Items>Gem for the mouse players.

The new "unannounced" power-up to the Elemental Spike Gems is nice, too. Getting a universal "Your spike shield hits xxx for 6 points of cold damage." did kind of make the Spikes rather worthless. Plus, they seem to actually do the correct attack damage now -- frost spikes do more damage to a Fire Fox than to a Hamster. I'll have to wait and see if cold spike damage will cause Searing Skin to explode and similar.

A second QuickCast Bar, even if it is not keyboard shortcut-enabled, would be nice for the mages. I have 24 spells to sort for. Some are rarely used but having one bar for my Attack magic and another for my support/deprec. spells would be real nice. (The Curative spells could fill empty slots on the two bars.)

The new "unannounced" power-up to the Elemental Spike Gems is nice, too. Getting a universal "Your spike shield hits xxx for 6 points of cold damage." did kind of make the Spikes rather worthless. Plus, they seem to actually do the correct attack damage now -- frost spikes do more damage to a Fire Fox than to a Hamster.

This was always the case. The gems work the same way as the spells: damage returned is proportional to the strength of the monster's attack, modified according to its susceptibility to that element. There is a minimum amount of damage, which depends on your proficiency. Basically, in Cakefest you'll only see 6 damage, but in a real battle it may be more.

I don't know if anyone noticed but violet aura was changed too, now gives more +1% soul than before

I didn't. Tenboro should reset the auras to allow people to take advantage of this change. (IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) (I've pestered Tenboro about doing that and he told me to shut up about it).

It would be lovely if we could prioritize at least a couple of gem types. If a higher-priority gem drops, it replaces the one in inventory. If it's lower-priority, it doesn't.

I like this idea.

This was always the case. The gems work the same way as the spells: damage returned is proportional to the strength of the monster's attack, modified according to its susceptibility to that element. There is a minimum amount of damage, which depends on your proficiency. Basically, in Cakefest you'll only see 6 damage, but in a real battle it may be more.

Really? All I ever saw before was 6 points for any mobs, regardless of weakness, which is why I never used it. Oh, and there is some massive variance, too...

7 3 Your spike shield hits Giant Panda for 7 points of fire damage.

6 5 Your spike shield hits Giant Panda for 101 points of fire damage.

(IMG:[invalid] style_emoticons/default/blink.gif)

About the Gems, can we get a [GEM] button up with the [Attack] [Magic] [Spirit] buttons, for the mouse-only players, so we can easily use the now must use Gems? Having to stop and find the "p" key isn't much faster than Items>Gem for the mouse players.

I think he's already said 'no' to this. This, on the other hand...

A second QuickCast Bar, even if it is not keyboard shortcut-enabled, would be nice for the mages. I have 24 spells to sort for. Some are rarely used but having one bar for my Attack magic and another for my support/deprec. spells would be real nice. (The Curative spells could fill empty slots on the two bars.)

I've already asked for this and Tenb said he'd think about it and that it might happen, probably in 0.5 (he was focusing on Galleries at the time). Even as a non-mage, I've run out of slots.