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  1. #1

    NPC difficulty Nerf

    As of recently it was discussed that NPC difficulty was going to be further lessoned and I totally disagree with this.
    The NPC difficulty in WT5 challenging in a full group or solo is a joke with a good build. 1. They use predictable movements and combat strategy and they are not spongy at all. I think you guys need to focus attention else where such as NPC combat strategy and behavior. For example, Medics and drone controllers should not flank or rush. they are simply a support role for the fight. they stay in cover and support the team from distance. They should use skills that support this. Rushers rush the agents these guys should use strategy when doing this and have armor that is there sole purpose to disrupt the agents and get them to move around away from cover to allow the support and others to take you down. 2. The NPC's armor is so not spongy at all solo or in a group and really way too easy to take down and melt. I am not blaming you guys for #2 but, I think the issue is either pure laziness, people don't want to put a good build together or just don't know how. further, this is a cover based shooter a few things apply : a good build with some firearms but, a good balance between skills and armor, gear talents that work to support survivability and damage (synergy) and for god sakes use cover. if you do this you survive. For these reasons I think you will be making this game very stale and unchallenging if the NPC's get nurfed further and I don't know how they actual player base will remain. So can you guys work on building synergy of NPC combat behavior and strategy and tactics? perhaps this is the thing that needs to be looked at not the difficulty, if anything bring the NPC health back to what it was and buff and nerf each NPC combat tactic within the game. Keep this game a challenge and allow diversity.
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  2. #2
    I'm pretty sure this is exactly what they meant by further changes. I can't find it right now, but I remember on Reddit that it was explained how the hyper aggression of NPCs - walking towards you and ignoring cover, it retreating even as they're being ripped apart, that kind of thing - is an unintentional side effect of the group scaling. I. E. Enemies are viewing the players as near death due to stat differences, and react to that rather than what they "should" know.

    I think the difficulty is in a good place now, although I would like to see NPC super sprinting tuned downwards.
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  3. #3

    Casual is good

    Maybe you like the hard part of the game. But for that you have Dark zone. I very much like the game to be easier, as I only play single player and the yellow enemies take ages to kill. I am lvl 16 and 2 enemies firing at me at the same time kill me before I reach a different cover. Please don't make it Division 1, I do not care for the competitional part, and builds and synergies, those concepts are waaay out of my league. I just want to enjoy the story to the end
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  4. #4
    Hosea.'s Avatar Senior Member
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    Originally Posted by nzzoli3 Go to original post
    Maybe you like the hard part of the game. But for that you have Dark zone. I very much like the game to be easier, as I only play single player and the yellow enemies take ages to kill. I am lvl 16 and 2 enemies firing at me at the same time kill me before I reach a different cover. Please don't make it Division 1, I do not care for the competitional part, and builds and synergies, those concepts are waaay out of my league. I just want to enjoy the story to the end
    Always add 'damage to elites' whenever you can until you can put together a decent build with good talents. Also make sure you're using a weapon with the highest DPS you have. I prefer full autos to rifles but you have to watch not running out of ammo. Getting damage to elites up to 80% or over will take them out so much faster.
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  5. #5
    Originally Posted by Anubis-Solitus Go to original post
    Always add 'damage to elites' whenever you can until you can put together a decent build with good talents. Also make sure you're using a weapon with the highest DPS you have. I prefer full autos to rifles but you have to watch not running out of ammo. Getting damage to elites up to 80% or over will take them out so much faster.
    Basically this. I can down a big guy on solo with less than 51 rounds probably more like 30 ish but my dte is 114%. The only things that give me trouble are purple mobs
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  6. #6
    Originally Posted by nzzoli3 Go to original post
    Maybe you like the hard part of the game. But for that you have Dark zone. I very much like the game to be easier, as I only play single player and the yellow enemies take ages to kill. I am lvl 16 and 2 enemies firing at me at the same time kill me before I reach a different cover. Please don't make it Division 1, I do not care for the competitional part, and builds and synergies, those concepts are waaay out of my league. I just want to enjoy the story to the end
    yes, that is what I am talking about... weekend players will destroy the game. Difficulty sucks, there is no challenge at all.

    Yes the game difficulty is a joke, it is how it is. The npc just running around a do nothing to kill you. You gotta stand in front of npcs face to make them shoot at you. AI was good in the begining but now it absolut disaster.
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  7. #7
    Originally Posted by Xaunzor Go to original post
    yes, that is what I am talking about... weekend players will destroy the game. Difficulty sucks, there is no challenge at all.

    Yes the game difficulty is a joke, it is how it is. The npc just running around a do nothing to kill you. You gotta stand in front of npcs face to make them shoot at you. AI was good in the begining but now it absolut disaster.
    I imagine you guys are playing heroic only right? Right?
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  8. #8
    Originally Posted by budda420 Go to original post
    As of recently it was discussed that NPC difficulty was going to be further lessoned and I totally disagree with this.
    The NPC difficulty in WT5 challenging in a full group or solo is a joke with a good build. 1. They use predictable movements and combat strategy and they are not spongy at all. I think you guys need to focus attention else where such as NPC combat strategy and behavior. For example, Medics and drone controllers should not flank or rush. they are simply a support role for the fight. they stay in cover and support the team from distance. They should use skills that support this. Rushers rush the agents these guys should use strategy when doing this and have armor that is there sole purpose to disrupt the agents and get them to move around away from cover to allow the support and others to take you down. 2. The NPC's armor is so not spongy at all solo or in a group and really way too easy to take down and melt. I am not blaming you guys for #2 but, I think the issue is either pure laziness, people don't want to put a good build together or just don't know how. further, this is a cover based shooter a few things apply : a good build with some firearms but, a good balance between skills and armor, gear talents that work to support survivability and damage (synergy) and for god sakes use cover. if you do this you survive. For these reasons I think you will be making this game very stale and unchallenging if the NPC's get nurfed further and I don't know how they actual player base will remain. So can you guys work on building synergy of NPC combat behavior and strategy and tactics? perhaps this is the thing that needs to be looked at not the difficulty, if anything bring the NPC health back to what it was and buff and nerf each NPC combat tactic within the game. Keep this game a challenge and allow diversity.
    as a 2200+ hour d1 player i disagree with your assessment of NPC difficulty (& anyone else who thought they didnt need to be toned down)...

    the argument of NPC balance isnt black & white... its not a matter of "optimum builds have no problems, so why would you nerf it?"... the NPC scaling was & still is a problem. the recent nerf is a step in the right direction but honestly still not enough. D1 suffered from this early on as well.

    NPC being both op & tanky isnt a rewarding part of gameplay & just becuase you & 3 other well built players can get through challenging/heroic content doesnt mean its not a problem that needs to be adressed

    the ttk is a big dealbreaker with npc balancing & had to be looked at... with d1 legendary they had a really nice balance of difficult AI but that didnt have to translate into tanky AI to make it a challenge. where in D2 the ttk scaling is clearly broken for group play & the npc's are way too tanky as they stood before the recent patch.

    on top of builds going through rework is Test server & not nearly producing the same damage as they do on live servers, you cant leave NPC's untouched

    id rather have more npc's that have less ttk than fewer who chew through magazines to drop. theres ways you can make content difficult & rewarding without making npc's ttk too long & thats what Massive has to focus on when tuning npc's, it has nothing to do with casuals not having strong enough builds
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  9. #9
    Dude the dark zone is a joke, this very thing is even worse! the NPC's are even easier to kill in there. My point was NPC's with a shot gun or SMG held side ways should not take off all my armor from across the map. that is not enemy difficulty there is game dynamics.
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  10. #10
    Originally Posted by Four-Eyes87 Go to original post
    I'm pretty sure this is exactly what they meant by further changes. I can't find it right now, but I remember on Reddit that it was explained how the hyper aggression of NPCs - walking towards you and ignoring cover, it retreating even as they're being ripped apart, that kind of thing - is an unintentional side effect of the group scaling. I. E. Enemies are viewing the players as near death due to stat differences, and react to that rather than what they "should" know.

    I think the difficulty is in a good place now, although I would like to see NPC super sprinting tuned downwards.
    Had the AI still walk up to me and past my team just to melee me and no not a rusher was a boss lol
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