Hi!

I was hoping for a little bit of light shed on the thac0 changes with the large update. I also thought I would share my feedback and how it's affected gameplay from my perspective.

I believe the changes have changed the way players can damage monsters that are higher than their current player level and vice versa?

So if I'm a level 150 character trying to damage a level 250 monster... essentially with the thac0 update I can't do any damage to said monster.
Is this the way it's supposed to work?

Before the large changes to the game, I would be able to join groups and contribute damage and land hits even if monsters were bigger than myself, I definitely couldn't tank them or take hits or I'd be a dead duck pretty fast, but I could contribute in a group and deal some damage. Not as much as others since I didn't have as many hits per prompt since I was a lower level, but I did my share. I could even land backstabs and deal some decent damage, assassinates were very rare if the monster was higher leveled than me which seemed right.

Nowadays, many of the people I like to play with are level 250-350 and generally fight level 250 monsters or higher... now the issue comes up, when I join a group of avatars, I literally miss every backstab and do 0 damage. Everything either misses or is an armor protect. This... isn't very fun. I'll generally tag along for a little while but get so bored when I'm just leeching a bit of experience and literally doing zero to help the group. Essentially I'm pretty useless unless I'm fighting monsters around my own level... which nobody online seems to regularly fight. I also can't really fight monsters that are my own level by myself, since I'm not a tank or a casting class. (Assassin). So how does somebody that's level 100-150 really play now with the thaco changes?

Would it be possible to allow lower level characters to land skills like bash/stun/backstab/charge on higher level monsters and actually be able to damage them even if there's a level difference? Also when I tag along, I usually only get 1%-2% experience per monster killed even when the monster is level 300 or so. Pre changes I would get a considerable amount more experience if the monster was a much higher level, is this scaled because I'm doing less damage or scaled simply because I'm grouped with people at a higher level?

All in all, I think the fun factor of the game would considerably improve if I had the ability to join groups and actually hit/do damage to the monsters groups were fighting. Would love to hear feedback and thoughts on my comments! Thanks for reading

Kinshuk

Hi Mort,

I can definitely understand your frustration; it can't be fun to just tag along and miss every attack. As far as I can tell, even when I'm grouped with lower level players, they can still pull off bashes/spells/etc. It's only the assassins/thieves who are missing their backstabs everytime against higher level mobs. If you are not landing hits and you are not getting experience from grouping, then something should be changed IMO.

I *think* it's everything. I remember trying out my cavalier with a two handed sword which he had mastered right after the thaco changes and he literally couldn't land a blow on anything meaningful even at level 160ish. So grouping really wasn't feasible for that character as well, there may have been further changes since that altered that but not to my knowledge. I mostly try to use my assassin. I'll give it another swing today though and I'll report back if I'm mistaken!

Kinshuk

Efori absolutely mauls Purn, the gate guard of Oldtown in the hand with his ferocious slash.
Efori crushes a solid band of iron.
(4*)Efori absolutely mauls Purn, the gate guard of Oldtown in the body with his ferocious slash.
Efori absolutely mauls Purn, the gate guard of Oldtown in the arm with his ferocious slash.
You try to bludgeon Purn, the gate guard of Oldtown but miss him.
You massacre Purn, the gate guard of Oldtown with your bludgeon in the body.
You try to bludgeon Purn, the gate guard of Oldtown but he easily dodges your attack.
You massacre Purn, the gate guard of Oldtown with your bludgeon in the foot.
(3*)Purn, the gate guard of Oldtown decimates Efori in the body with his vicious hit.
(2*)Purn, the gate guard of Oldtown annihilates Efori in the arm with his brutal hit.
Purn, the gate guard of Oldtown annihilates Efori in the foot with his brutal hit.
Lightning leaps from Efori's shoulder pads straight at Purn, the gate guard of Oldtown.
Purn, the gate guard of Oldtown wavers under the impact of the lightning bolt sent by Efori.
A powerfully built white warhorse kicks at Purn, the gate guard of Oldtown but misses.
A huge ox tries to headbutt Purn, the gate guard of Oldtown but misses.
A massive bison tries to headbutt Purn, the gate guard of Oldtown but misses.
A wild boar tries to pierce Purn, the gate guard of Oldtown in the hand, but his armor protects him.

Efori obliterates a glimmer fairy in the body with his deadly slash.
(3*)Efori slashes a glimmer fairy extremely hard in the body.
(5*)Efori massacres a glimmer fairy with his slash in the body.
Efori critically hits a glimmer fairy in the body with his powerful slash.
(2*)A glimmer fairy absolutely mauls a mean bull in the body with its ferocious thrash.
(2*)A glimmer fairy absolutely mauls a mean bull in the hoof with its ferocious thrash.
(3*)You try to bludgeon a glimmer fairy but it easily dodges your attack.
You bludgeon a glimmer fairy very hard in the body.
A mean bull tries to headbutt a glimmer fairy but misses.
A massive bison kicks at a glimmer fairy but misses.
A wild boar lunges at a glimmer fairy but can't pierce it.
A huge ox kicks at a glimmer fairy but misses.

(3*)Lightning leaps from Efori's shoulder pads straight at a glimmer fairy.
(3*)A glimmer fairy wavers under the impact of the lightning bolt sent by Efori.
(2*)Efori slashes a glimmer fairy extremely hard in the body.
(8*)Efori massacres a glimmer fairy with his slash in the body.
(2*)A glimmer fairy absolutely mauls a mean bull in the hoof with its ferocious thrash.
(3*)A glimmer fairy absolutely mauls a mean bull in the body with its ferocious thrash.
(2*)You try to bludgeon a glimmer fairy but it easily dodges your attack.
(2*)You try to bludgeon a glimmer fairy but miss it.
A mean bull tries to headbutt a glimmer fairy but misses.
A mean bull kicks at a glimmer fairy but misses.
A glimmer fairy grins at a massive bison as the stab sent by a massive bison goes wide.
A wild boar kicks at a glimmer fairy but misses.
A huge ox kicks at a glimmer fairy but misses.

(3*)Lightning leaps from Efori's shoulder pads straight at a glimmer fairy.
(3*)A glimmer fairy wavers under the impact of the lightning bolt sent by Efori.
Efori slashes a glimmer fairy extremely hard in the body.
Efori critically hits a glimmer fairy in the body with his powerful slash.
(8*)Efori massacres a glimmer fairy with his slash in the body.
A glimmer fairy thrashes madly at a mean bull, missing it!
A glimmer fairy absolutely mauls a mean bull in the leg with its ferocious thrash.
A glimmer fairy absolutely mauls a mean bull in the body with its ferocious thrash.
(2*)A glimmer fairy absolutely mauls a mean bull in the hoof with its ferocious thrash.
A mean bull is now a lifeless corpse.
(2*)You try to bludgeon a glimmer fairy but miss it.
You bludgeon a glimmer fairy in the body.
You bludgeon a glimmer fairy extremely hard in the body.
A massive bison kicks at a glimmer fairy but misses.
A wild boar kicks at a glimmer fairy but misses.
A huge ox tries to kick a glimmer fairy in the body, but its armor protects it.

(7*)Efori massacres a glimmer fairy with his slash in the body.
Efori's slash misses a glimmer fairy.
(2*)Efori slashes a glimmer fairy extremely hard in the body.
You try to bludgeon a glimmer fairy in the body, but its armor protects it.
You try to bludgeon a glimmer fairy but it easily dodges your attack.
(2*)You try to bludgeon a glimmer fairy but miss it.
A glimmer fairy obliterates a powerfully built white warhorse in the claw with its deadly thrash.
A glimmer fairy obliterates a powerfully built white warhorse in the body with its deadly thrash.
A powerfully built white warhorse is now a lifeless corpse.
A mean bull tries to headbutt a glimmer fairy but misses.
A glimmer fairy grins at a mean bull as the stab sent by a mean bull goes wide.
A massive bison tries to headbutt a glimmer fairy in the body, but its armor protects it.
A wild boar kicks at a glimmer fairy but misses.
A huge ox tries to headbutt a glimmer fairy but misses.

Ya, can't really hit much at all with 25 strength and bastard sword which is mastered. Grouping and missing 2-3 attacks every prompt and barely being able to damage things... makes for not very fun. Prechanges I did less damage than bigger level characters, but not practically 0 damage. The above prompts are with my level 163 cavalier who has bastard swords mastered. My assassin is worse off wielding his daggers. Literally just armor protect on EVERYTHING and misses every stab. Any suggestions or alterations possible to the thaco? Ten minutes of being in a group and doing zero damage to anything makes it get super boring super fast... like the experience doesn't even really matter when the gameplay is so dry. Assist, miss everything, chip away a few experience points while everybody else does all the work.