Board Thread:Game Discussions/@comment-25106963-20140626061327

Hi. If you're neither a theorycrafter nor at least somewhat interested in technical discussion, I'm preempting your TLDR and telling you to GTFO. Now.

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...... ...are they gone? Good. Okay here's what happened. I studied how the ELEMENTAL ADVANTAGE SYSTEM affects the outcomes of fights. And I studied the guild battle system. Then, I compared the two together and some thoughts appeared in my brain. So get ready, because I'm going to try to write them down.

 VOCABULARY 

 So first of all, in order to understand one another clearly, we should establish a nomenclature.

Let's start with the basics. We know that each of the elements is uniquely balanced against the others in each of three ways, let's call them

 Elemental Relationships

1) Strong

2) Weak

3) Equal

Easy enough, right? True. However, when comparing element PAIRS against each other, four additional elemental relationships appear.

 Dual-Element Relationships

(1, 2, and 3 are the same as the above, Equal means that both pairs have either zero or one Strong element)

4) Super: When both of your elements are Strong against your opponent's, AND neither of his/her elements is Strong against either of yours, e.g., wind/water vs. water/fire. This is the best possible scenario for you. Total domination.

Note: In case you weren't already aware, when you have no Strong elements, you deal normal damage ("normal" meaning damage after adjusting for your enemy's defense stat); if you have one strong element, you deal 150% damage; and if both of your elements are strong, you deal 200% damage.

5) Impotent: The opposite of Super. Both elements of your armor are Weak against your opponent's, AND neither of his/her elements is Weak against either of yours. This is the worst possible scenario for you. Why even bother attacking? You're fucked. Just kill yourself, you're dead anyway.

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">6) Ad-In: When BOTH of your elements are Strong, but ONE of your enemy's is also Strong, e.g., Water/Earth vs. Fire/Wind. (The closest common-knowledge comparison to how this dual-element matchup plays out is the "Advantage-In" situation in tennis, where both players are good competitors but you have the upper hand.)

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">7) Ad-Out: When BOTH of your elements are Weak, but ONE of your enemy's is also Weak, e.g., spirit/water vs. wind/fire. The reverse of #6, above. You can do some serious damage if given the chance, but your opponent has the upper hand and will mulch you with a power strike.

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">SO, let's suppose you're smart and this all still seems fairly simple. Great! Because as we delve into the potential outcomes of pitting three pairs against another three pairs, we'll see far greater complexity in the ways the matchups can play out. But, before we go there, let's finish defining our vernacular.

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">Element pairs, of which there are 10, can be divided into two major categories -- "Near" and "Far". When a pair's elements are adjacent to one another (side-by-side) on the element wheel, it is a Near pair; when a pair's elements are opposite (across from) each other on the wheel, it is a Far pair.

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">Super and Impotent relationships can only occur when both pairs are Near; likewise, Ad-In and Ad-Out relationships can only occur when both pairs are Far. Turns out, the difference between Near and Far is very, very important. Here's why.

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">In guild battles, the most attractive target is the GM because killing him/her gives you the most points. Obv. But to balance that attractiveness out, the developers gave GMs a huge stat buff, making him/her (potentially) the toughest target on the "battlefield" to defeat (provided their armors are good enough). Consequently, for those players who seek to farm the GM in a guild battle, it is even more important than usual to have an armor lineup that counters the enemy's, because of the need to compensate for the innate stat buff on the GM.

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">Now that we have our terminology straight, we can talk about the important stuff --

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">'''"Like, WTF should I wear?!? DEMIGOD, help me pick my outfit!" '''

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">There are so many reasons to use different combinations of elements in this game that it would be ludicrous to try and go over all of them, so I'll just go over one. The most important one of all -- the GM's wardrobe during a guild war (as opposed to fighting in the arena or against an epic boss or whatever).

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">As a GM, you get repeatedly violated, abused, molested, A-framed, donkey punched, DP'd, spanked, whipped, and cock-skewered from every direction. So the natural question should be,

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">"How do I avoid STDs and prevent my enemies from farming my butthole?"

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">To find the answer, take a moment to examine how your element permutations fare in combat with the others. After doing so, you should conclude that your armors have the following properties (referring to the numbered list above):

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">Near armor (armors with Near element pairs):

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">1) Strong vs. TWO other pairs;

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">2) Weak vs. TWO other pairs;

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">3) Equal vs. FOUR;

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">4) Super vs. ONE;

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">5) Impotent vs. ONE.

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">6) Ad-In vs. ZERO;

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">7) Ad-Out vs. ZERO;

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">Far armor:

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">1) Strong vs. TWO;

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">2) Weak vs. TWO;

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">3) Equal vs. FOUR;

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">4) Super vs. ZERO;

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">5) Impotent vs. ZERO;

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">6) Ad-In vs. ONE;

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">7) Ad-Out vs. ONE.

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">So, probability dictates that, all else being equal:

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">a) Near armors win against three pairs (one of which is a Super win), and also lose against three pairs (one of which is an Impotent loss) whereas

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">b) Far armors basically only win and lose against two pairs since Ad-In and Ad-Out situations could go either way, depending on who attacks first.

<p style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">WHEN TO WEAR NEAR ARMORS

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">When you are selecting an enemy to attack, you likely already know what you're going up against due to your guild having scouted your opponents, and in order to maximize your chance at defeating the enemy, you will try for each of your armors to be Super against each of the corresponding armors on your enemy, and if you want to have any chance of having the Super attribute, you must use Near armors. Simple as that. This single detail, more often than not, makes Near armors superior to Far armors on the attack.

<p style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">WHEN TO WEAR FAR ARMORS

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">However, when you are being attacked (as you constantly are as a GM) you have no control over what elements your attackers will throw at you. Since you can't tailor your lineup to specifically counter your enemy, your goal should be to minimize your enemy's chances of tailoring HIS lineup against YOURS! To do this, wear Far armors, because when trying to survive, first things first -- don't be Impotent.

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">*high-fives Darwin*

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">By making the simple choice to wear Far armor, you eliminate the possibility of being annihilated by Super armors altogether, so out the window goes your attacker's chance of an automatic win.

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">Secondly, you should consider that when you are being attacked and your attacker presses the "fight" button, you strike first. This important detail actually makes your Ad-Out situation advantageous for you, since if you attack first with a 150% damage multiplier, you will almost always kill in two hits, causing the opposing knight, wearing the Ad-In armor, to get only one attack in before s/he dies -- even with a 200% multiplier against your knight, s/he will not be able to one-shot you unless s/he is DK Asslan and s/he crits. Thus, being a GM wearing Far armor on defense greatly increases your chances of survival because you have four (40%) winning matchups (two Strong + one Ad-In + one Ad-Out) rather than two (20%).

<p dir="ltr" style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">Attacking first, combined with your significant GM buff, combined with your lower chances of encountering an armor that beats yours due to wearing Far armor, makes Far armor the best choice for a GM during a guild war.

<p style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">WAIT, WHAT ABOUT MONO-ELEMENT ARMORS?!?!

<p style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">That's for another time, dear friends.

<p style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">

<p style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:arial,sans-serif;font-size:16px;">'PS - Our GM is a chick IRL, and she has a wicked rack. ....of ARMORS, you perv. The D (rank 26) is recruiting. Look me up in-game (TD DEMIGOD) and apply to my guild. ' <ac_metadata title="How to Protect Your Hole From the Elements" related_topics="Elements|Guild Wars|Armors"> </ac_metadata>