Heavy frustration as a PvP frontline tank in New World (build included)

 I recently put together a frontline PvP tank build in New World.  I have no experience as a PvE tank and have mostly played light DPS builds in PvP. The change to a frontline tank has highlighted some of the issues that make melee frustrating in PvP in New World.  I can also now see why many players say "tanking is pointless in PvP".  At the same time when combined with the right group set up the frontline tank can be incredibly fun and in the open world it offers some great fights.  In this post I hope to capture some of the problems and provide some thoughts on solutions (probably short-sighted solutions so feel free to comment away).

Note: I posted the build info on my frontline tank and a video link for anyone interested in more details.

 The biggest issue as a tank in PvP in New World is that you will be constantly staggered or stunned which prevents you from blocking.  Then to top it off blocking is punished more than it is rewarded.  Blocking can be good in some cases (such as blocking ranged attacks) but it has a huge negative that when your stamina is depleted you will be staggered (i.e. block being broke).  Since both block and dodge consume stamina you can't do both and unlike most light DPS builds tanks don't get the benefit of constant stamina regeneration. Basically doing the thing a tank should be doing, blocking, is punished in PvP.

The question as far as solutions is whether block and dodge should both be tied to stamina.  For the sake of my "fixes" we'll assume block and dodge will continue to be tied to stamina (though the ideal fix would be to break them apart so a tank can dodge and block from separate pools). 

The first fix would be changes to how the armor classes get bonuses/penalties in New World.  Right now Light Armor is the dominant selection because it gets +30% damage/healing and access to the light dodge roll (which is honestly the best defense in the game).  Both Medium and Heavy just get punished with less damage and healing and smaller dodges with the only offset being more damage reduction.  Damage reduction is unfortunately pointless when your own outgoing damage is so severely reduced and light DPS being able to greatly increase their damage as a natural part of their builds (mortal empowerment, empowered, rogue, attunement, etc).

What I'd propose (note medium would be in the middle of these numbers)

• Light armor has a -30% penalty to stamina (total and regen rate)
• Heavy armor gets a +30% bonus to stamina (total and regen rate)
• Light dodge takes more stamina
• Heavy dodge takes less stamina
  

This first set of fixes goes a long way to making blocking more lucrative and concentrates the defensive gameplay to heavy armor.  Light armor still has some defense in its dodge, but no longer has never ending dodges that allow it to do whatever it damn well pleases.

The second major fix I would have would be that heavy armor offers protection from constantly being staggered.  There is enough stuns, pulls, and slows/roots in the game that heavy armor players can't get out of.  Give heavy a break on stagger as well; especially if they have a shield up.  Stagger should be for light armor players as it makes sense if you have less armor you are more likely to be staggered by an attack.

The third fix would be to remove stagger when your block is broken while using a shield.  Just drop my shield; don't make me lose control of my character.  Keep stagger on block when the block is any other weapon than shield.

Another area for improvement is melee hit registration in PvP.  Right now range has all the advantage because it so hard to hit with melee attacks unless you have light dodge roll to constantly ensure you can close the gap to the player.  For your average melee by the time your attack animation starts and by the time it hits your target has moved out of range.  Its crazy sometimes how collision detection will prevent you from getting closer to a target but by the time your attack animation triggers the target is out of range (you literally cannot get close enough to hit in these cases). 

It is simply too easy for targets to walk away from melee.  Make it easier to hit with melee just like bow was made easier to hit with and how musket is a hitscan weapon making it easier to hit with.   And with the next patch there is a possible change where if a target is hit with melee the time until they can return to sprinting is dependent on their armor weight; fortunately with heavy getting the upper hand. 

Basically my approach is that light armor needs penalties and not just bonuses; this will go a long way to heavy armor having more of a purpose.  On top of that just improving the feeling of PvP combat so that melee can be more successful and players wanting to tank in the thick of things aren't constantly just flopping around because of staggers.

Have some heavy thoughts? Share them.

 

 

New World Frontline PvP Tank Build

This build is adapted from the frontline tank build covered in this video which also covers how to play a tank in PvP.  I consider this the definitive clinic for anyone looking to tank in New World PvP.

Attributes: 200 STR/300 CON

Weapons: Sword and Shield / Warhammer

Armor Weight: Heavy (duh! tank build)

Key Perks for Weapons

• Sword: Any damage attunement (flame, frost, arboreal, etc) - attunement means Fortifying Shield Rush procs twice which is major for damage reduction.
• Hammer: Trenchant Recovery and ideally Leeching Path of Destiny (get leeching on armor otherwise)
• Shield: Accelerating Defiant Stance (nothing more fun than a tank moving at warp speed) and Sturdy as you will block alot
  

Key Perks and Notes for Armor

• You want to favor heavy orichalcum armor that has more Physical Resistance than Magical Resistance; use Cut Pristine Opal gems.  This is explained in the linked video.
  
• Amulet: Divine/Health - you do a lot of healing so divine is key
  
• Armor Slots
• Resilient x5 (required for any PvP armor for any build)
  
• Physical Aversion x3 (in the current meta with bows/muskets this goes a long ways)
  
• Fortifying Shield Rush (combines with attunement on sword to get 2x fortify stacks)
  
• Sundering Shockwave (nice to have)
  
• Leeching Path of Destiny (if not on hammer)
  
• Refreshing as a 3rd perk where you can get it
• Freedom x1 can help but is not required since you can take the damage
  
• Note: I currently use 3x PvP reward track heavy armor pieces that have Shirking Heals
  

Weapon Skills

What is an MMORPG? Is Fortnite an MMORPG?

 I was listening to Epic Loot Radio's recent podcast State of the Game with @Ready Check Raideo (You Tubube version for anyone interested).  They cover a gambit of topics regarding MMORPGs eventually getting into what makes an MMORPG an MMORPG. An interesting question is discussed: Is Fortnite an MMORPG?  Their answer is no and I'd agree to that.  Here are some more of my thoughts on what was discussed.

One item that I keyed in on was their discussion on what the cut off point for "massive online" is.  The consensus number was at least 1,000 players in a single online world.  That resonated with me and I'd put a clarifying point on it that the game has to have the potential for 1,000 or more players and additionally the world needs to be a persistent online world.  

My point above about "potential for 1,000 or more" cuts off the "do games like Crowfall count when they are not popular enough to go over 1,000 players?".  Persistent online world helps to drive out considering games that have large online player counts jumping in and out of their worlds, but are not persistent.  

With these considerations we can rule out Fortnite as an MMORPG massive online front.  Yes, Fortnite has millions of players online at any given time, but you are only ever in a world with 100 of them and that world ceases to exist once the match is over.  Note: this doesn't make Fortnite any less of a game; it just doesn't need to be called an MMORPG.

On the tail end of MMORPG is the role playing (RP).  This is briefly covered in the Epic Loot Radio discussion, but is important for a lot of players to separate MMORPG from games that hit all the other points but are just MMOGs.  If anyone has ever read my first blog post (from 17 years ago!!!) you will know where I stand about role playing:

Social interaction with like minded nerds and geeks; people whom live through their in game characters as though it was version 2.0 of themselves.

I don't want to hear these gamers speak in foreign Orcish or Elvish tongues. I want them to speak English and call me newb, l33t, or dude. I want role playing that is a real person, embodying a real in-game character. I don't want to know how much you can pretend. I want to see who, what, and how you can do things in game with the class, race, or skills you have chosen in our game of choice.

So my take on role playing is that the game offers players roles to play within the construct of the persistent online world.  This could be the holy trinity -- damage, tank, healer -- or it could be the desire to just bang away at an anvil as a blacksmith.  The key is the game requires players to fill their role in the world.  On one end are games like Final Fantasy 14 where players are asked to set their job (aka role) and while set to that job that is the only role they play.  On the other end are games like New World where based on gear equipped your role is defined.  On either end players are playing a role.

Role playing is another area where you would look at Fortnite and say "mmmm, nope".  Yes, during a Fortnite match you may get different weapons and take different actions which change how you play but really everyone is there for essentially the same role: kill other players (hopefully before a building pops out of them).

I'd also be willing to accept arguments for some games considered in the MMORPG market to be discarded due to this RP element because they don't actually put players in roles.  None come to me off the top of my head, but I am sure there are some out there.  

I think there is a valid category of MMOG where there is a persistent world that supports over 1,000 players but players just come and go without any defined roles. Minecraft is the easiest example as it has many multiplayer servers that are over 1,000 players and the game doesn't define roles but yet has persistent worlds.  Minecraft is a massively multiplayer online game.

MMOG also dovetails into the last comment I want to make.  In the podcast there is also reference to games-as-a-service; "as-a-service" (aaS) being the buzz word across the entire software landscape.  The company I work for has "aaS" hanging off most of our software products.  All it really means is that customers can expect software based solutions that continue to be updated (and hopefully improved) as part of a service contract (i.e. I don't have to buy version 2.0 in a year; I will instead just keep getting updates as part of my service contract).

I'd argue that the golden era MMORPGs such as Everquest and Ultima Online were gaming's first "as-a-service".  Now-a-days almost every game is dabbling in the service aspect with cosmetic purchases, paid for add-ons, battle passes, subscriptions, etc.  So make the last defining characteristic of an MMORPG that it is a game-as-a-service (note: the service contract aspect can vary from free 2 play to battle pass to subscription; that is less important than the aspect that players will see continued change to the service).

Want to argue with me about what an MMORPG is?  Play Fortnite and feel offended?  Drop a comment or two.

New World: Azoth Salt and PvP Reward Tracks

 In New World's big PvP update earlier this year they introduced PvP reward tracks and a new currency called azoth salt.  This salt can be earned from instanced PvP modes such as arenas or outpost rush, but is also earned for having your PvP flag on while adventuring in the open world.  The salt is then used to buy items from the PvP reward track, but only after a player earns experience points to unlock a track level.  The current situation is most players have maxed out azoth salt (you can have up to 100,000 total) but have nothing to spend it on since salt is earned a lot faster than PvP tracks are earned.  Here are some ideas to change this system up.

The biggest change that could be made is how the PvP tracks work.  Each level has three unlock points and until you make a selection all PvP experience is lost.  This is just a bad design and I've lost so much PvP experience because I forgot to buy something from the reward track and thus open the next track up to receive experience.  There is also the possibility early on before a player builds up a pile of azoth salt that they can't buy a reward in a track so have to decide whether to lose out on PvP experience to wait for more salt or just move on and lose the reward.  Also worth noting is the rewards unlocked are random each time so passing over a best in slot item is a real risk and it may be a long time before you see it again.

New World PvP Reward Tracks

The better way for PvP tracks to work would be to have a vendor you get access to different tiers of rewards as you level up and can just use the azoth salt to get those targeted rewards.  There can still be a chance to get it at a reduced cost via random track reward, but also offering it for a higher fixed cost from a vendor makes a lot of sense. 

Also PvP tracks need to be changed so PvP experience rolls over to the next track.  It's an ultimate feel bad if you lose 1,999 out of 2,000 experience because you only needed 1 experience to max out that track.

Consistent predictable progression with a sprinkling of random reward is always the best bet in this type of game.  Amazon Game Studios (AGS) added a similar method to this idea with materia from expeditions.  There is a chance to get a named drop from an expedition but if you don't luck out on that drop you still earn materia for completing the expedition.  Once you have enough materia you can craft the named drop you weren't lucky enough to have drop.

Another idea for azoth salt is to let us salvage it.  Just off the name alone I'd love to be able to salvage it into azoth and salt.  Azoth for all of the new ways we can use it in crafting and refining; salt as a key ingredient in cooking that is not nearly as widely available as it should be.

Azoth Salt Vials

 

Making other uses for azoth salt would go a long ways as well.  Since it's PvP related letting it be converted into faction tokens would be a good idea.  AGS also seems to like adding new functions to the gypsum kilns so maybe a kiln recipe that includes azoth salt.  Anything that allows me to use it outside of just the PvP reward track would be an improvement.

At my current azoth salt gain rate I will never run out if all I am buying are rewards off the PvP track.  I will continue to be at the salt cap feeling bad that any new salt I earn is being lost to a blackhole.  Reducing how much salt I earn is NOT a good idea as I don't want to have to make decisions about progressing a track so I don't lose experience if I have to wait around for salt to come in to get a track reward.  Keep the current salt gain rate and just give us new stuff to do with it!

Are you a sweaty azoth-salt-drenched PvP player in New World?  If so what are your thoughts?  If not what do you think?

Call of the Wild: The Angler Hotfix 1.03 Comments

 Call of the Wild: The Angler has released hotfix 1.03 out in the wild (ha!).  There were a few items in the notes I wanted to take a moment to comment on (and since I missed posting yesterday consider this my make up for my post a day commitment).

The first note worth mentioning is under UI.

The option to turn multiplayer off is now saved between game sessions.

Finally!  It was irritating that this option was defaulted to on, but doubly irritating that it had to be turned off again every time you started the game. 

Recommended gear for the optional tutorials now appears as intended in the Game Guide.

It is great that this is being fixed.  If you knew how to turn off tracking and then turn it back on you could get the text to display, but that was not at all an obvious way to get this info to appear.  This was probably the number one reason I saw people asking questions in discord or on Reddit.

Solved an issue that would prevent players from accessing the Quick Menu under specific circumstances.

Look forward to this fix.  Nothing sucked worse than seeing a big ole' fatty of a fish and then not being able to use the quick menu to swap baits for it and by the time you got through the rest of the menus the fish was gone.  I swear that is the only reason I don't have a diamond sauger catch...

 Fixed a number of issues that would cause items to get stuck in the backpack or in storage.

For those of us with the starting rod stuck in our inventory; hooray!

 Fishing under bridges is now possible.

Water under the bridge in my book.

Updated the spawn rate for gold and diamond fishes.

No additional details so not clear if this means we will catch more or less.  My hope is less as you seem to catch gold and diamonds without much effort at all.

And lastly there is a single item in the section on Multiplayer fixes:

MULTIPLAYER

• Changed the default number of players populating servers from 10 to 8 (maximum server capacity remains 12 players).

Dev Team’s Notes: Bringing a definitive solution to the multiplayer issues is no small task and requires more development time. It's one of our top priorities at the moment. In the meantime, this small tweak should make it easier for players to join their friends online.

I still am not sure this will do anything.  I have literally clicked the Join Friend's Game button hundreds of times and never has it brought me to the same map as they are on regardless of if there is room on it or not.  I really just want an option to host a private map and invite my only friend to fish with me.

Fixing multiplayer has to be the priority for this team.  It is killing the community buzz on the game.

Are you playing Angler?  If so what are your thoughts?