I'm looking to see if the game is considered too easy at the moment and if something should be done about it.
I'd like the opinion of some 5* knights, who make up the bulk of the active playerbase. Also, if the game is too easy, why is it so?
In my opinion I think that the game itself is OK, but the Arcade is becoming too easy for T3 players.
We find the game easy, but it's enough for the average new player. Danger missions tries to kinda fix it.
I'm only 4*, but the game can get too easy if it's a good day. This is the reason for 5* players to play LD - you can't predict, most of the time, what'll happen.
Easy things:
Trojans
All Beasts
Polyps and Gun Puppies (before you ask, I don't own a Pulsar)
Gremlin Knockers
Retrodes, Shufflebots and Lumbers
Zombies (Seriously, the AC is OP vs mobs)
Silkwings
Kinda easy things:
Phantoms
Devilites if in a 4-man party
Howlitzers
Rocket Puppies
Kats
Gremlin Menders and Thwackers
All Slimes.
Why? I memorized their attack patterns. Also, not enough mobs or menders.
You can't possibly expect a game to remain hard or even original when you have over 15 days of play time on it. No game on earth can provide such entertainment, and if there are some, they do not belong in the same budget league. People*!tching about SK being boring or too easy rarely ever look into the fact that they've played it way more than they would play a regular game.
TL;DR Spiral Knights isn't too easy. It only is when you've played for too long.
Obviously yes, but for what reason(s)?
Enemies are too predictable.
Spamming charge attacks requires little to no intelligence but produces high results.
Spamming knockback weapons to keep enemies away from you stops them from attacking you most of the time.
Swords and Blitz do too much damage.
We have too much offensive ability.
We need something to limit us in later tiers without manually avoiding using high damaging attacks all the time.
I attempted to do and defeat vanaduke, but I died at the boss mission.
I defeated the snarby, JK, and RT.
I solo'ed them all, yes.
I almost reached the core
I am 4*
I have done Compound 42, LOA, and Ghosts in the machine. I just need to do Heart of Ice and I'll be set. I did all normal missions for the prestige.
For me most of the game is easy. I just haven't solo'ed SL (cost too much per key for me to bother trying) and GitM yet. Though I believe most of the reason I have gone inactive besides a single run every couple of days is because of lack of new content/story. Though yeah all the monster nerfs they have done over time and weapon buffs has really made this game a lot easier.
Actually, I think the game has done a good job of scaling itself well across the game. T1 is very nooblet-friendly and slow-paced, T2 is more difficult and introduces more learning curves, then T3 is "hard" (it is; just remember the first time you went to T3) but in such a way that practice and experience makes it more than do-able. Introduction of DMs and SLs gives something else to do on top of all that.
Fact is, you have two choices. Play a regular P&C MMO where you target your enemy, click them and die. Go away, grind for 12 hours, level up, get new armour, come back, click on that baddy and he dies. Simple. Those games are too easy.
SK at least has a legitimate learning curve involved; you don't just automatically become better and stronger,and the game becomes boring because you're lv45; the game becomes easier because you're genuienly better at it than you were before. That's good for an MMO, as even shooter MMOs stray far too much into the paths of "gear>skill".
And to top it, they're always still introducing more enemies to make things harder and more challenging, without just doing something pointless and half-assed like increasing their damage or health (drones, wisps, bombies...). Honestly, if the game's too easy, it just means you've had plenty of practice. First time T3rs die left, right and centre. Try making something fun out of it to bring back the challenge. Doc made a list of achievements last week, and you can try lower armour or a set you're not as comfortable with; try out new classes or styles, or teach nooblets at your own risk.
Altough I do still think a number of the nerfs should be undone. Wolvers went from being fun and intense to...the weakest, most waste-of-space and drawn-out enemies in the game.
When i started back in May 2011 the game was harder but got easier after becoming 5 star but tier 3 was still some what of a challenge. However with all the nerfs on enemies and all the buffs on weapon the game became drastically easier.
Starting with the Jelly king for example, I remember that some knight saying he was harder then vana (I assuming it was after the ceiling debris from ceiling were nerfed). I was three star at the time trying to get a sealed sword and would see people in 5 star gear team up to take him on and some time still fail. It was a time were ever vial you got matter and curse fire and poison were mandatory.
But after the release of the ice queen the changed it so they would be the same. After that I could solo the jelly king in two star gear if brought in the right vials.
Alpha wolvers used to be me of a challenge to since the would exploit the dodge ability and there homing bite made close combat a bit hazardous, but now there triple non-homing bite is there greatest weakness and there only attack.
Tier three greavers use to be the biggest nightmare in game (especially the shock type) because even if you block the attack the mist is still there forcing to remain blocked making you shield take few more blows. But now the mist has been nerfed to a milder level giving us better chance of walking away from it.
Another change, though very slight and quite was that some tier 3 monster damage were change from pure to split with normal.
The thing that made the game a lot easier is the addition of arsenal station, this rendered gear that defended against to damage types, like the divine, and dragon sets to a more useless state(with the exception of danger missions, and weapon that Leviathan blade have become useless. After the release of arsernal stations i never had to ponder what gear should i bring that will get me alive to the terminal, no now its I can change my gear every depth (with the exception of boss strata's). It no longer a matter of thinking, bring my flourish and blitz will help me here but they will penalize me here on the next depth.
The pace of the game overall has not changed that much since i started, sure ce price were 3 times lower than now but any one from back then had to find every recipe, and buy a uv'less wolver coat cost 3k or more. Compare to now hall of heroes sells most of the recipe's not to mention you get the all azure recipe set (weps included) for free and uv'less wolver coat can be obtained for 1000 cr pretty much saving from having to buy the recipe in the first place. In short I bet I start a new account and be fully tier 2 by the end of one weak if tried.
Boss related weapon, sealed and antigua lines used to be respect and not many had the full set and getting both weapon twice would take several weeks, but then Jelly king get nerfed and mission mode come along giving us the opportunity to slaughter him up to three time a day.
Overall the game went from it's all a matter over what strata's are create to crown farming the bosses mainly the duke.
The game still has enough challenge if you go into solo'ing danger missions/shadow lairs.
I don't really see it as being easier by much than it used to be. Sure the alpha nerf, but there was never that many alphas, and the game drops enough hearts that you didn't have much more of a net loss of bars hp than you do now anywho. Maybe its just me, but i feel it's no harder/easier than it's ever been. For what nerfs have been given to monsters, danger missions and shadow and danger rooms far outpace the nerfs. So basically if you think the game is too easy, then fine. But it has not BECOME too easy, it was always too easy.
Srry a bit off topic OP, sense you didn't claim it became easier.
Most of us here are experienced and in proper gear.
I suggest you ask noobs
besides this game is more of a grinding game for f2p its really hardish boring always farming vana.unless you have time.
Unless your p2p its really easy :3
If your talking about monsters yes theyre easy if you have proper gear. For noobs theyre hard.
Well i dont think this game is hard..You learn to fight as a pro in a month i think...For pvp is another story...Eventhough i play months i have difficulties because of the laag(from my pc?from their servers i dont know).So i think the most accurate answer is depend of the laag ur player has :p.Sometimes i kill vana so fast and easy when the laag is insignificant but sometimes..I dont wanna think about it..
Everybody makes it seem too easy. Not for me...............................Fiends are able to kill me without getting hurt.................................(I have a full 5* set by the way)I usually lag to death instead of actually dying from attacks.......................it takes forever to craft gear and get accessories :(. I can't even solo the Royal Jelly Palace with my 5* gear (no, the weapons are not piercing ones) mostly because of lag. I always die on the first "party pad dungeon" in danger missions.........................And it takes me forever to earn crowns............................
So no, it IS a bit hard. Just like Night-Rove said, the majority of people who have commented so far are experienced, have proper gear, and probably have a reasonably good internet connection (not to mention computer). My "Spiral Internet (the sign at the top right hand corner)" is just 1 red dot, and if I'm right that's a VERY bad connection. When I play I just can't trust whats on my screen, its like I'm 3 seconds behind the actual time. E.G When a gun puppy fires I get hit by the "bullets" when they aren't even close to me (they would have to travel for about another 3 seconds)
To sum it all up, the game is quite fine the way it is, if its any harder then..................................I don't know
This game has amazing scaling in my opinion. I agree with DarkBrady in that the tiers progress in difficulty in a manner that allows players to enhance their skill level of the game. I remember back in the day when Ce was 3.5k/100, that me a party of friends could not even pass stratum 2. That's right, stratum 2, not Tier 2. And after we managed tier 1, Tier two was a whole different ball game. But over the weeks, months, everything got easier. As they say, practice makes perfect.
I'm now a 5* Vanguard, finished the missions, and now working on the expansion and dailies. This game does have it's difficulties. Vana is still a annoyance to me. With a decent party, Vana is easy. Heck, FSC is easy, but carelessness gets in the way. I recently took a guild test to rank up, with the objective of running FSC. In proto armor. That's right. 5 health. No shivers were allowed in The Vana fight. I completed the test with zero deaths. Sounds easy? It really wasn't. Even then, FSC is still quite "Difficult" to the new Tier 3 members and it shouldn't be over looked. I can't wait until I start doing Shadow Lair missions and how hard those will be >:D
What makes this game easy, is that you can revive yourself and your party mates. Let's be honest, how many times have you died? Now think, that everytime you died, you lost, lets say, a part of your gear? Sound more difficult to you? That's what some games balance their death system on, and I believe that's what makes spiral knights "seem" easy. I completed a danger mission last night for the first time, it was a3 man party, and we we're pretty geared out for fighting what was down there. Still, we all had to pop "40 Ce" Revives, by the second floor.
There are many things that make this game challenging in my opinion. And there are defiantly more things that Three Rings and Sega can do to make it even more challenging, but as for now, I think that it is a good mix of easy and hard, for both new players and old.
PS : Do Vana runs, shieldless, with proto armor, then tell me this game is easy.
Its easy for veterans because we've memorized all attack patterns of enemies, and can basically latch on to any new battle introduced and find a strategy for it. For average players, its still a bit of a challenge I can assume.
For newbies its at the right level. I always laugh whenever my friend logs on and forgets he has a shield and health bar...and energy bar for that matter.
Still a good experience, but I've grown out of it a bit, and dont have time for long runs anymore. I am interested in the guildhall expansions, and after could go for one of the newer danger missions. I liek lore, even if it doesn't really affect the main story much :P
EDIT:
@ Memidgety
I used to do FSC proto runs all the time. Usually I bring a proto shield, but occassionally not. I can still complete it solo with a maximum of 4 revs on a bad day. Revives can go a good 2 floors if you know how to dodge and play cautiously.
Can't say I've ever soloed Vana himself without any less than 6 revives even in a full 5* set. One of my "things-to-do" before/if I ever forget /leave this game in the future.
Do Ultimate FSC in proto armor without a shield, in under 3 revives (using nothing more than 100 energy) THEN tell me this game is easy.
@Xylka-Mkii Agreed. As I said, practice makes perfect. This game is pretty balanced, I think they should make the SL an unlockable to each player, having to purchase the key once, increasing it's price, but making so you can go into it as much as you'd like after the key purchase. This would open up more difficult runs for veteran players, and open up the WONDERFUL Storyline * 0* I love the Lore. Everything to the core, to how mist and Crystal energy works. I wish to learn what happens to Apha Squad...
My Head Guildmaster is offering 5k CE to our guild members that can do the ultimate FSC run... with no pots, or vitas, or shivers >.< And I think there are a few more restrictions. Yep. Hard.
im still 3* (i kno right) but i would be 5* by now if it werent for the energy problem.. but i personally think for me, ive done all bosses except for vana, ive done little parts of depths with my friends, and i think those were easier than the danger missions as a 3star....... but the main thing i need is energy to craft
Despite how pathetic my background information is, I assure you I am a 5* semi-veteran.
A few days ago, I died three times during a JK solo (by the second time I was raging with my Faust and yelling at the game). After killing JK with a swift, single combo RIGHT AFTER I REVIVED, I decided to cool down with nice, relaxing FSC run. To my surprise, I managed to stay alive the whole time, (I had done that a few times before, but not after failing JK and only getting a vitapod at the 4th level).
Vanaduke, pathetically easy due to repetition.
The danger missions...wel, lets just say I could care less about them. I have done LoA once before, and for a first time, it was surprisingly easy. I have also done GitM a few times, but I do have to admit that they provide a good amount of challenge when you add in shock..
HoI, I never did because I despise fiends, and my main weapons afflict freeze. C42, never did because...idk really...
Even though I started playing a while back (while back meaning May 2011), most of the time I was derping off with other games because I got bored of this one. So when I came back, I was suddenly an apprentice and everyone else was a Vanguard with 20k prestige. (I still only have 5k) I just never bothered with prestige missions after I got to vanguard...
Back on topic, the game can get more difficult when you decide to switch weapon styles. For example, it took me a while to learn how to not get hit using a Faust combo after ALWAYS playing with a Glacius up until that point.
As mentioned before, you don't have to frolic through places with your OP gear, challenge yourself by cutting down on the gear!
Yo, former 5 Star player (new character, new name) and I have been playing since around May of 2011 (aww yiss).
I think the general consensus is that once you learn the ropes of the game (introduced to all types of enemies) and learned their attack patterns, the game does become significantly easier to play. Obviously it becomes easier as you gain more experience in the game, but what I mean is that the attack patterns is only unique to each archetype, so even Tier 3 versions of enemies have the same general attack patterns of a Tier 1 version of it. And there really isn't much that can be done with it, unless they add more enemies that only appear in later tiers. Or add another tier eventually (aside from Shadow Lairs of course).
The thing I've been doing for some time now, is doing runs without shields (you can un-equip them) and just learning to dodge attacks without shielding all the time. Also putting yourself in status disadvantage is challenging as well, and may prove to be fun to some (it is for me). So to sum it up, I think the game can be as difficult as you want it to be, you just have to lower your standards instead. It's satisfying when it works.
And being a player from Australia, and lacking an Oceanic server, if I see the enemy attack animation, it basically means I've already been hit. This has trained me through the year, and I have developed the ability of foresight, and I can now see 20 seconds into the future for everything that's inside the game.
I'm even finding fiends easy. Basically almost every enemy are laughably easy nowadays.