Update 4: Skills

[Wizard1200]

I think that the balance of the skills is better now, but ...

 

Hacking is still too weak, because the effect of the skill is situational. Hacking should work like this:

I: The agent can hack terminals.

II: Power point cost of a hacking attempt (see below) is reduced by 15 %.

III: Power point cost of a hacking attempt (see below) is reduced by 30 %.

IV: Power point cost of a hacking attempt (see below) is reduced by 45 %.

V: Power point cost of a hacking attempt (see below) is reduced by 60 %.

 

Power points:

Starting power points: 50

Maximum power points: 100

Power point cost of a hacking attempt: (current cost) x 10

Power point income from different sources: (current income) x 5

 

Example:

You hack a firewall with Lockpick 1.0 and your agents have hacking II and IV.

- 2 power points for the current version

- 20 power points for the new version

- x 0.85 for hacking III

- x 0.55 for hacking V

- 9 power points for the hacking attempt

 

Anarchy is a little weak, because every agent should be able to steal items from behind and a chance to find better items is not very useful, because at this level most agents will have the items they need. Anarchy should work like this:

I: The agent can steal items from behind.

II: The clean up cost (see below) is reduced by 15 %.

III: The clean up cost (see below) is reduced by 30 %.

IV: The clean up cost (see below) is reduced by 45 %.

V: The clean up cost (see below) is reduced by 60 %.

 

Clean up cost:

- 100 credits per killed guard

- 100 credits per alarm level above 0

 

Example:

You complete the mission with 2 killed guards at alarm level 3 and your agents have anarchy II and IV.

- 200 credits for the killed guards

- 300 credits for the alarm level

- x 0.85 for anarchy II

- x 0.55 for anarchy IV

- 234 credits clean up cost

[Exophthalmos]

Anarchy is just fine. It was great before, that 50% really adds up, and the final level of it seems pretty solid from my tests. I really do not like your idea for anarchy............not one bit. My average clean up cost per level is 0......as in zero. Anarchy would go from one of the best skills to absolute garbage with that switch. I would level it to 2 for stealing and never ever remotely consider looking at it again.

 

I do not understand your hacking idea, but I can say this. I thought hacking was terrible before this patch; It is now quite acceptable. The fact that it wasn't stacking properly and for some rediculous reason it cost more to level was what made it bad. Now that prices have been normalized and the stacking is fixed I have no issue with it. I am curious as to what you were proposing however. Care to elaborate?

 

Klei did some really solid balancing in several departments with this last patch.

 

 

[Wizard1200]

I updated my Anarchy suggestion a little, but i guess that you will not like it. I posted this suggestion, because i think that the effect of the alarm level should be stronger and the clean up cost should be more important.

 

My old Hacking suggestion was that every agent had a chance to reduce the power point cost of his first or second hacking attempt per turn, but, as you said, the suggestion was too complicated. I have changed my Hacking suggestion to make it hopefully easier to understand.

[Tikotitok]

I'm not sure what to say about current hacking, as I have not yet played that much. Homever, I like that my Internationale can now hax almost every every computer in sight, and get +1 bonus PWR as default.

 

I have two things to point out about your Hacking formula.

1) Stacking decrease of Incognita hacking? That's crazy! What if I get one point in hacking for every agent, and one agent to hacking V? I could spam lockpick like there's no tomorrow.

2) Big numbers and multiple calculations. Those mechanics can't possibly be user-friendly, unless you do not hate math. I like the simplicity and tactfulness of 20 power max. But how would you provide the player the information about how much their next hacking level would benefit them? How would you tell them just how much they would benefit if they raised hacking to max level, in exact numbers, not in some count-for-yourself crap?

 

I think Anarchy is AWESOME. Stealing, more money, more stuff? I think that's way more responsive and active of a system than a passive "less cleanup cost".

 

Peace!

[Wizard1200]

1)

The stacking is not as crazy as it sounds You get diminishing returns and you will never reach a poer point cost of zero, but you are right that it would be currently too easy to reach a very low power point cost. I have updated my suggestion to make it more difficult to reach a very low power point cost.

 

2)

The tooltip could have the following example:

The power point cost is reduced by 3 points per hacking level above 1 if your agent uses a program with a base cost of 20.

[uncop]

Post-update anarchy is great, what more can you ask for than more item drops? P.much impossible to run out of ammo or medgel, and occasionally something nice.

 

Hacking's effect is completely fine too, its main weakness is that it doesn't seem to have any standout items like stealth and anarchy do. I guess it would be cool to get more terminal random events and also better success rates for them (if you don't already). Also, I've always had enough power without any hacking. The things I currently see that really benefit from hacking are anti-daemon programs, runs without power-efficient hacking programs, starts with two hacking programs and volt disrupters. All of which seem like funhaving or "plan B" when you've had bad luck rather than powerful strategies. But it definitely is good to have a skill that allows unorthodox stuff to work better.

 

I especially don't agree with the notion that hacking should reduce Incognita program costs rather than to grant more power. The reason is that getting raw power also synergizes with new items and other stuff Klei decides to add in. There's also a reason why skills don't stack: you have to choose whether to save time or get more power(hacking)/money(anarchy). Good map awareness, liberal use of running in places that you've already discovered, saving some terminals for a return trip, Internationale etc. are all ways to let your hacker trigger most of the terminals without being too slow. I love scouting with the new camera drones too. Basically, small optimization problems shouldn't be removed from a tactical game when their optimal solution isn't boring or cheesy.

[Wizard1200]

I guess it would be cool to get more terminal random events and also better success rates for them (if you don't already).

 

There's also a reason why skills don't stack: you have to choose whether to save time or get more power(hacking)/money(anarchy). Good map awareness, liberal use of running in places that you've already discovered, saving some terminals for a return trip

 

I think more events would make Hacking less useful, because they would increase the randomness and Hacking would be even more situational, but stacking the skills would, as you said, reduce the available choices.

[Yarrr]

I find hacking and anarchy pretty underwhelming myself. The second level of anarchy is just nice to have, 3 and 4 are ok, but I'd rather spend that money on gear earlier as it takes a while to catch up to what you've spent, and I find I earn enough in missions in general. The level 5 ability is nice though, just too much of an investment early on, and if you get it late it's probably just overkill, as money becomes so superfluous then.

Hacking, well, I find I get enough Power in missions as well.

Stealth is just a lot more useful in general. Can't argue with more movement points. And inventory slots are a no brainer, just get when you need.

If anything needs to change I'd say it's AP not being linked to stealth, but to your highest skill level. Stealth would have to do something else then of course. Skill prices would have to go up a bit to compensate I guess, but it would promote more diversification in skills.

[Wizard1200]

Another option would be to make Power a local ressource like Action Points. Perhaps every agent could start with 6 Power and every Hacking skill level above 1 could increase the Power by 1.