31-03-2014, 09:56 AM
Quote:Kiting isn't anymore diverse play style than shieldwall, you still run the same circle on the same map doing things for which you could probably make macro for. As for kiting being more challenging, when I see 1 shielder + 1 slasher do ragnar/odin run I'll admitt it's easier than kiting.
Shieldwalls currently pretty much require no skill to operate effectively. To increase skill necessary you would need to nerf ranged rate of fire a lot (and increase damage a lot, to reward precise shots rather than spam) and have specialized ammo types (cutting and piercing arrows/bolts with different stats), give several specialized types of shields (high resistance, low health shields for blocking swords, high health, low resistance for blocking bots with axes), increase melee headhit bonus (to reward precise hits rather than spam). Ofcourse, this would need enormous amounts of work and would be near-impossible to balance, but one can hope.
kitting is far more diverse and challenging than the current shield wall. you forgot to mention crucial elements such as timing shots in accordance with shields not to mention shooting over them in some cases. you also have to prepare for certain waves. assassins, you job is to pick off the mele ones before they reach you as they are quicker than us swadians. for ballistas and other ranged waves, you must find a position that deters nords from flanking whilst providing peeking abilities. for juggernauts you need to find yourself a large space which allows you the time to slowly pierce through their heavy armour. and let's not get started on the mixed waves let alone final bosses which are extremely difficult to kite. not to mention when kiting their is a distinct lack of tomes and barrels due to your 1 life in stark comparison to the many lives you get when in a shield wall (by applying your logic that only 2 people can kite at a time). as you can see kitting is no trivial matter and it can catter for more 16 players effectively as you can see on maps such as first defence, hande's retreat and port assault (pre-patch).
the shield wall is far from comparable, to beat a boss above normal it has become accepted that tomes are a necessity and that a spam of cades are crucial. why? because the maps have been made with little to no room for escape unlike my beloved first defence. secondly, the shield wall caters to leechers and afkers where as the kite is far more unforgiving to these hated aspects. lastly, you cannot have a 1 slasher and 1 shielder and call it a shield wall because it's not a wall it's a weaker variant that has been created with the intent of failing in order to prove a point against kiting
first defence was more catering to ranged units. but what map these days isn't. shield walls act as a form of cade preservation that allow the ranged to do more damage whilst saving cades for the final boss. shielding was possible on first defence.