Chain of Alliance: Combat Rework

Hello there, Allies!

As we count down the days to the anticipated Beta launch on April 29th, we are excited to share the significant updates and improvements you can expect in the upcoming release. This version is not just an upgrade; it was meticulously crafted by our team to elevate the gameplay experience, aimed at enhancing player engagement and strategic depth.

Our alpha version was strong and it showed us several ways to improve the game for a better and more engaging player experience. We saw that the game was sometimes too complex, making it hard for players to understand and make decisions. Additionally, players felt they didn’t have enough good options during their turn, had trouble understanding their opponents’ strengths and weaknesses, and found the weapons and abilities system confusing.

To address these challenges, we made a strategic overhaul in the latest version. Now, let’s discuss the updates we applied.

Combat Modifications

We have introduced several changes aimed at refining combat mechanics and enhancing the tactical elements of the game:

• Grid Size Reduction: The battle grid has been reduced to a 2x2 layout from the previous 3x2. This change forces more strategic placement of heroes, emphasizing the impact of piercing and cleaving effects.
• Removal of Action Points (AP): Previously, the game’s AP system limited player choices, as players had to plan their moves in advance, using cheaper skills to save AP for more expensive ones later in the game. This approach restricted flexibility and responsiveness in gameplay. By removing AP, all skills now cost the same, allowing decisions to be made based on the current situation. This change simplifies the skill system, giving players a clear choice among four options each turn, enhancing strategic flexibility and immediate decision-making.
• Health and Damage Adjustments: To streamline gameplay and improve understanding, we’ve adjusted the starting health points and damage metrics. Heroes’ health will now vary depending on their class and stats.
• Skills Rework: Skills in the game are now categorized into two types: Weapon Skills and Class Skills. Weapon Skills primarily deal damage and are further defined by their appearance and effects, such as swords causing single-target damage, spears and bows piercing, daggers and claws causing bleeding, and maces and hammers cleaving. Support and magic weapons serve more as extensions of class skills, focusing on support functions and elemental damage, respectively. Class skills are more traditional, with roles like Tank, DPS, and Support, each playing a vital role. This setup ensures that players can easily understand each character’s capabilities and the impact of their weapons by observing the battlefield.

Simpler Status Effects

We’ve simplified the status effects in the game to make them easier to understand. Now, we have four main effects:

Taunt: Forces enemies to target only the hero who used Taunt.

Mark: Makes the next attack against the hero a critical hit.

Block: The next attack’s damage against the hero is ignored.

Bleed: Causes 1 point of damage per stack to the enemy.

We aim to treat Shield as a status effect in the future. This simplified approach to status effects serves as a clear foundation, and we’ll introduce more complexity through skill synergies that utilize these effects in various combinations.

Removal of Magical Damage

We’ve removed Magical damage from the game because it overlapped too much with Physical and Elemental damage, and it didn’t add interesting interactions. Now, we will only use Elemental and Physical damage types.

Class Rework

We’ve revamped the class designs to be more distinct and effective. This clearer definition of roles enhances both understanding and teamwork during battles:

• Fighter: A tanky DPS class that excels as the frontline defense, using Taunt and Block to protect themselves and control enemies.
• Paladin: A supportive tank class that protects themselves and their teammates, focusing on Taunt and Shield.
• Ranger: Masters of critical strikes, they specialize in setting up powerful critical hits with the Mark status.
• Bard: Supportive characters who can cleanse, heal, and shield allies, primarily focusing on healing abilities.
• Assassin: Deadly warriors skilled in inflicting sustained damage over time, utilizing Bleeding effects.
• Mage: Versatile elemental casters who use a broad range of abilities to exploit elemental weaknesses of their opponents.

Each adjustment has been crafted with the intention of creating a more engaging and comprehensible gaming experience. So mark your calendars for April 29th, and get ready for a game that will push your strategic skills and take your gameplay to new levels. Stay tuned for more updates and prepare to dive into our enhanced game, where every decision matters and each battle tests your tactical expertise!

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