| |
Jagex Combat System
Here is the Official release of the new combat
system by Jagex. Be assured that as soon as the beta comes out RS Realm
will replace all old information on the main site to conform with RS2.
Quote from Runescape.com
24th November 2003 - RS2 Combat system explained
As most of you are probably aware by now, we have made various changes to the
combat system for RuneScape 2. This isn't something we did without a lot of
careful planning first. In fact far far more design-effort and thought has gone
into the combat system then ever before.
We felt that the RuneScape 1 combat system didn't make the best use of all
the skills and items which are available in the game. Basically there just
wasn't enough variety in the weapons and in the playing styles that were
effecitve. RuneScape 2 should change that. We've added a lot of new features to
the combat system, such as new Armour for Rangers, new Weapons for Warriors, and
new Spells for Mages. We've been testing it to death, and with the beta on the
horizon (and indeed rushing towards us) it will be tested even more vigorously.
We really appreciate any constructive feedback from our players on the new
system, but please remember that we've made quite a few changes and so to be
patient as we iron out any problems, which is why we're having a beta!
We decided that the best way to make combat balanced was to make it so each
combat-type has it own strength and weaknesses. So a Ranger will have an
advantage when fighting a Mage, a Mage will be more likely to win when fighting
a Warrior, and a Warrior will be do best when fighting against a Ranger. Of
course it is still totally possible for the combat results to go the other way,
but it means no single character class should dominate, and should ensure a good
balance of different playing styles in the wilderness.
As well as the 'pure' warriors which already exist in the game, we've also
tried to make it so it's possible to play as a 'pure' ranger or a 'pure'
magician, without having to use melee combat at all. We've made a few changes to
make it possible for your character to still advance and become powerful even if
you choose to specialise in this way. Of course you can also play as a mixed
character, and that should work well too. We've tried to make it so all 4
options have pro's and con's and different styles of playing.
We have nothing against "pures", and indeed due to the changes
we've made we imagine that there will be more pure-fighters, pure-rangers,
pure-mages, but obviously a character which is trained in more forms of attack
will be more flexible and so will stand a better chance of exploiting his/her
foes weaknesses.
Ranged:
Ranged combat was a bit weak in RuneScape 1, so all you Rangers rejoice as we've
taken a good look at ranged combat and made some changes that we think have
improved it. Firstly the damage you'll be inflicting with your missiles has been
balanced with melee damage, which mostly means you'll now be dealing a bit more
damage. Secondly you can now keep using your ranged weapon, even when being
attacked in close combat. This does mean you'll keep expending your ammunition
in close combat, but also means that you don't need to rely on Melee combat if
the enemy manages to get too close. So if you are a pure ranger, and can't swing
a sword to save your life, you'll still have a chance. To help you with your
dream, we will be adding a Ranging Guild to the members servers for the full
release of RuneScape 2! Also when you use ranged combat, rather than just always
getting 'ranged' xp, it is now possible to gain Ranged, Defence, and Hitpoints
experience (which you gain depends on the combat style you choose). This way
someone playing as a 'pure' ranger, can still gain all the levels they need to
become powerful and defend themselves without having to fall back on melee
combat.
Magic:
We wanted to make Magic a much more independent skill, much like Ranged is and
has been, and not something that was just used as an extra attack in melee
combat. This change is reflected in the combat level change (see below) and,
like Ranged, you can no-longer cast magic and fight at the same time. You will
find that you've been given a few new spells to play with which we hope you'll
find useful, these are Bind, Snare, and Entangle. The purpose of all 3 spells is
to hold your opponent in place giving you time to get some distance between you
to cast your other spells. Once successfully cast the victim is prevented from
moving for 5,10, or 15 seconds (depending on the spell), however it will not
stop them from attacking or using their own abilities. Once the hold effect has
worn off, the victim will be immune to these holding spells for 5 seconds,
giving them a chance to come after you and get their revenge. Magic has been
changed so that it no-longer "fails", it now only misses like Ranged
attacks. So no-longer will you find your Mage defenceless for 20 seconds because
of a botched spell. Magic attacks will normally only give you Magic and Hitpoint
experience, however if you use a Staff defensively you will also get a small
amount of Defence experience. So all of you who only wanted to play as a
pure-mage, your wish has been granted and you will be just as effective as any
other character.
Melee:
With all the changes to the other skills, it's only fair that we had a look at
melee combat as well. We noticed that most players only used a small range of
weapons, mostly 2-Handed Swords and Battleaxes, which is pretty poor considering
the range of weapons available. We wanted all the weapons in RuneScape 2 to be
useful so, as you may already know, we've introduced new resistances! You will
now find that you have Stab, Slash, Crush, Ranged, and Magic Defence &
Attack stats on all your armour and weapons. The defence stats work like a bonus
to your defence against the different attack types. So for instance, if you are
attacked by someone wielding a Warhammer, an obvious Crush type weapon, then
your armours Crush defence will be used to resist the attack. You will also find
that you have several attack styles you can use with each weapon, with some
weapons this even allows you to change the damage type of your attack. For
instance Long Swords are good Slash type weapons, however with the click of a
button you can change your attack to a Stab type. This allows for much more
tactical combat, as you'll want to use the Damage type which your opponent is
weak against. Melee experience is as it always has been, you'll get Attack,
Strength, Defence, and Hitpoint experience depending on your combat style. There
is even more good news for you die-hard Warriors, the much famed Dragon Slayer
Quest has been altered to give players the option of completing it without
Magic. With the new Armour changes we felt it was a little odd only giving
armour which would be mostly used by Warriors to those with Magic abilities. I'm
not going to give any information away as to how to do it, and no the map pieces
aren't tradable, but I promise that there is a way.
Prayer:
Due to these combat system changes, we've changed also updated the Prayers. This
is to remove the bias towards helping Melee fighters and blocking Rangers.
'Paralyze Monster' has become 'Protect from Melee'. 'Protect from ranged' is
still available as before. And we've added a new prayer - 'Protect from Magic'.
All 3 of these prayers will provide you with 100% protection from damage dealt
by NPC's, and 50% protection from damage delt by players. However you will only
ever be able to have 1 of these prayers active at once, and an Icon appear will
over your characters head indicating which prayer you have active. So you will
have to choose the one best suited for the situation.
New armour:
Much like the combat skills, Armour is now in 3 distinctive types... Mage
Armour, Ranger Armour, and Melee Armour. Each of these is good at defending
against different attacks, so an armour which can block a mighty melee attack,
might not be so great for blocking magic spells, or dragon breath. Any class can
wear any armour if they choose, although it doesn't always make sense to do so.
For example a Warrior may choose to wear robes or leather armour, but they'll be
sacrificing their defensive value of their Plate Armour to do so.
Mage Armour currently only includes the original wizards robes and hats with
all the Magical bonuses they hold, however who knows that the future holds for
those of the magical arts. Ranger Armour is a whole new range (no pun intended)
of armour for RuneScape-2. The new Ranger Armours are all types of leather,
going from your basic Leather, through Hard Leather and Studded Leather, up to
Dragonhide Leather! This armour won't provide as much defence as the Rune Plate
Armour you are all used to, however it will increase your ranging ability by a
good percentage making it well worthwhile for all you archers. Melee Armour is
everything else, all the plate and chain mail you've always had, and just as
defensive as it should be. While your metal armour will make you a walking tank
in melee combat, it will severely affect your Ranged and Magic abilities. Plate
armour is great for stopping enemy attacks, but it isn't particularly flexible
so don't expect to be able to shoot the fly off a dogs back while wearing it.
Multi-way combat:
You will probably also remember Multi-way Combat being mentioned in the past,
and we've seen a lot of questions and speculation as to how it will work, well
wonder no more. There are now specific areas in RuneScape 2 in which Multi-way
Combat is active, the West side of the Wilderness is entirely Multi-way Combat
and so quite a few other areas where we felt it would be fun to allow NPC's and
Players to gang up on each other. In these areas things can get pretty mad, so
if you want to have massive war you can do so! These are now the only areas
where you can attack the same creature as someone else, so if you're not in a
Multi-way Combat area that Goblin you've just jumped is all yours and not even a
Mage or Ranger can attack it.
Players will also find that they are no longer stuck in combat for 3 rounds.
Yes that's right, you can now run from combat at anytime you wish to. In fact,
you can do pretty much anything you want while your opponent beats you over the
head with an axe; eat food, drink potions, and even pick things up off the
ground, but you will be giving your opponent free attacks against you while
you're attention wanders. To counter this there is nothing to prevent your
opponent from chasing you immediately as you leave combat, and you can be
attacked while fleeing for your life. So while you can no longer
"catch" your opponent, you can hit the coward in the back repeatedly
as they run for safety. As it's now possible to move while being attacked we've
had to change the definition of "being in combat" for purposes of
logging out. If you've been attacked in the last 10 seconds you are considered
to be in combat, so as long as you hit your opponent every 9 seconds or so they
won't be able to log out while fleeing from you.
Naturally this does mean that the old player-killing tactics probably won't
work as well. You'll need to work out a whole new set of tatics instead, so
please do try to work out these new tactics before passing judgment. As always,
we appreciate all constructive comments and suggestions, but we do ask that you
at least give the new system a try first. We had a big play test of this new
system in the office today, and found it a great deal of fun.
New combat level calculation:
When you first log into RuneScape 2 you may notice that your combat level has
increased or fallen, don't panic! Even if it gone down it does NOT mean you are
weaker. This is merely because we have changed the formula which is used to
determine your combat level to be a more accurate and fair. In RuneScape 1 your
Ranged level would be used to calculate combat level instead of Attack and
Strength ONLY if it was the higher skill, well now Magic works in the same way.
This is to reflect the fact that you can't cast spells AND wield a sword at the
same time.
We aren't going to go giving out exact equations, but for those of you who
like to know how things work here comes a brief explanation. If melee combat is
your strongest ability, then your combat level is based on your
Strength+Attack+Defence+Prayer+Hitpoints. If ranged combat is your strongest
ability, then your combat level is instead based on your
Ranged+Defence+Prayer+Hitpoints. If magical combat is your strongest ability,
then your combat level is based on your Magic+Defence+Prayer+Hitpoints
Some of you may find that a little complicated, but there's no need to worry,
just keep in mind that your reported combat level may well have changed, and not
to worry about it too much. It doesn't mean you are weaker, it's just the result
of a more accurate equation.
Experience rewards
You will probably also notice that the experience points you're getting from
combat has changed. The way experience was calculated in RuneScape 1 meant that
the best way to level-up was to fight low level creatures like chickens, which
didn't really make much sense. So we've changed how the experience values are
calculated to try and make higher level creatures give a better levelling-rate
compared to the lower level creatures.
Runes and Runecrafting
As we want to increase the usability of Magic and make it as useful as Ranged
and Melee we are increasing the availability of Runes in the game. So you will
now be finding more Runes from NPC's, Shops, and Thieving Chest. In addition we
are going to be adding a new skill, Runecrafting, which will allow players to
craft their own Runes! Not much information is available at the moment, but be
assured that the skill is in the beta. Obviously these changes on their own
would make Magic a lot easier to level, so we are reducing the amount of
experience you get per spell to balance it. With more Runes available it should
be just as easy to level up, you will just get to cast more spells for your
money!
More intelligent monsters
I mentioned earlier that NPC's will gang up on players in the Multi-way Combat
areas, well that's not the only trick they've got up their loot filled sleeves.
You will find that NPC's now have access to the same equipment and abilities as
you do, and then some. We don't want to give away all the surprises, but
surffice to say that you can expect to be on the receiving end of arrows,
spells, and other tricks, when attacking some NPC's. You should also note that
what you see an NPC equipped with, is what it's going to be using in combat. So
if you intend to train on the poor Guards of Varrock, you should take weapons
which are good against the Chain Mail they're wearing. With some creatures, such
as Dragon's, it won't be quite as obvious which weapons will be the most
effective, but try it out and you'll soon find the weaknesses of your favorite
monsters.
Conclusion
Along with all the other changes we've been making combat will now be a much
more interesting and involved part of the game. With a much greater range of
tactics and options open to you, and to your opponents, we hope it will bring
more excitement into the game, whether you're leveling up on a local Goblin
camp, or fighting for your life in the Wilderness.
We do realise that these changes may need some tweaking during the beta to
get it right, and we have several ideas should we need them. So any constructive
comments or suggestions are very much welcome, as is feedback on the new
experience values. We really do appreciate all constructive feedback on the new
system, infact we want your comments. But please appreciate that change isn't a
bad thing, if you don't like the new system then please suggest how we can
improve it more to your liking. We want to make a balanced system, but we also
want a system which you'll like. That's why we're having a beta test!
So enjoy the new combat system, it should be a lot of fun :-)
End Quote from Runescape.com
|