So, with the recent discussion of stats of Hero classes, I've gone back to thinking about something I see as an issue in the stat scheme of NI, which is the Peasant class. It has been noted before it could use a change, but never in depth.
Currently, peasants are completely reliant on higher level characters to help them through the first few levels, encouraging leeching behavior.
This is probably because the peasant is slower than the bulkiest classes out there, weaker than the most fragile of class cannons, and have the damage output of a snail with a sword made of butter. It combines all the weak points of all the classes and hero classes into one, which makes for a bad new player experience.
For people without much experience in NI, especially those without much Warband experience, the first few levels are brutal. They see heavily geared players taking on wave after wave of bots, they feel they could do the same, spawn, run put, and get killed instantly, after which they have to wait 4 waves again. I think it is safe to say this has driven a lot of new players away from NI.
Taking a look at the peasant stats, here's (roughly) what I'd suggest.
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The main difference is in the amount of Strength and Agility a new player starts with. These stats are determined by the amount of melee and ranged exp a character has, regardless of their class. I suggest new players start quite a lot higher up, so they're stronger with their weapons, can run faster, take a few more hits, and are able to pick up most of the high-end weapons higher level players drop.
The increase in weapon proficiencies allows peasants to use ranged items a bit more effectively, and get rid of the abysmal 20 wpf it has on 4 occasions. The proficiencies end up being a bit lower than the first tier of the class that wpf represents, so that there's still progression from t0 to t1, but not as drastic as it is now.
Lastly, an increase in Power strike, Ironflesh and Athletics to reinforce the Strength and Agility boost, though these are not as much needed as the other changes are (imo).
A last thing that could be looked at are the stats of peasant items, but in order to do that properly, the stats of a lot more items need to be looked at as well, so I'll leave that out of it.
Those are my thoughts on making the peasant class a bit less useless.
Currently, peasants are completely reliant on higher level characters to help them through the first few levels, encouraging leeching behavior.
This is probably because the peasant is slower than the bulkiest classes out there, weaker than the most fragile of class cannons, and have the damage output of a snail with a sword made of butter. It combines all the weak points of all the classes and hero classes into one, which makes for a bad new player experience.
For people without much experience in NI, especially those without much Warband experience, the first few levels are brutal. They see heavily geared players taking on wave after wave of bots, they feel they could do the same, spawn, run put, and get killed instantly, after which they have to wait 4 waves again. I think it is safe to say this has driven a lot of new players away from NI.
Taking a look at the peasant stats, here's (roughly) what I'd suggest.
| [table][tr][td]Current beginner stats: |
| Strength 4 |
| Agility 4 |
| One handed 80 |
| Two handed 80 |
| Polearm 20 |
| Archery 20 |
| Crossbow 20 |
| Throwing 20 |
| Power draw 1 |
| Power throw 1 |
| Power strike 2 |
| Ironflesh 2 |
| Athletics 1 |
| Shield 1 |
| Strength 10 |
| Agility 10 |
| One handed 80 |
| Two handed 80 |
| Polearm 40 |
| Archery 60 |
| Crossbow 60 |
| Throwing 50 |
| Power draw 1 |
| Power throw 1 |
| Power strike 3 |
| Ironflesh 3 |
| Athletics 2 |
| Shield 1 |
The main difference is in the amount of Strength and Agility a new player starts with. These stats are determined by the amount of melee and ranged exp a character has, regardless of their class. I suggest new players start quite a lot higher up, so they're stronger with their weapons, can run faster, take a few more hits, and are able to pick up most of the high-end weapons higher level players drop.
The increase in weapon proficiencies allows peasants to use ranged items a bit more effectively, and get rid of the abysmal 20 wpf it has on 4 occasions. The proficiencies end up being a bit lower than the first tier of the class that wpf represents, so that there's still progression from t0 to t1, but not as drastic as it is now.
Lastly, an increase in Power strike, Ironflesh and Athletics to reinforce the Strength and Agility boost, though these are not as much needed as the other changes are (imo).
A last thing that could be looked at are the stats of peasant items, but in order to do that properly, the stats of a lot more items need to be looked at as well, so I'll leave that out of it.
Those are my thoughts on making the peasant class a bit less useless.
I was never here, you saw nothing...
Motivational tip: When you wake up in the morning, look in the mirror and say confidently, "That's a nice head you have on your shoulders."
Motivational tip: When you wake up in the morning, look in the mirror and say confidently, "That's a nice head you have on your shoulders."