I know there is a thread with a very scattered discussion on nerfing HP items, but it lacks focus and good discussion, so I'm going to restart here.
There are two systems which are contributing to the overall problem:
Ability damage vs HP total.
As the game progress players need to increase their hp totals so that burst damage doesn't become an overwhelmingly important part of the game.
Base Health vs Boosted Health.
Right now, with items such as Blood of the Fallen and Banded armor, a characters starting hit points in many case are predicated more by the items he picks, than by the innate stats of the DG. Afterall, when you add 1200 hit points to a character at level 1, the difference between 1400 base, and 1600 becomes mere 'noise'.
The overall problem here then, is also two fold.
Because ability damage is so high compared to BASE health, it becomes necessary to invest in items that extend your hit points.
For example, a level 7 Regulus has 2050 hit points out of the box, and can deal in burst 1200 with mines, and another 400 with mark of the betrayer. A necessity for an given type of item is a balance problem between the different strategic choices you make during the game. Remember, balance isn't just about you vs them, but also about game choices. Good balance = more diversity in the gaming experience. Bad balance = playing the same game and buying roughly the same items.
Let's face it, in your first 6000 gold, most decent players will buy some combination of: Banded Armor, Unbreakable Boots, Nimoth's Chestplate, Hauberk of Life. Potentially all of the above, and very likely 2 or 3 of those.
New players, or even those who have played a bit have a steeper learning curve then necessary.
Let's face it, one of the biggest signs of a new player, is that they are that Regulus at level 7 with 2k hit points. It is very hard to learn what items are important in a game like DG, due to its large item selection, and having one breed of item being significantly more effective than the others really hurts those without a lot of experience.
But like I said, these two things are at odds. If we decrease the HP items give, won't that make the ability damage/hp problem even more noticeable? Well, yes, yes it would, so decresing HP on items cannot be the only change we make.
Solution:
- Decrease the hit points granted by items of lower than 2k gold by about 20%. This includes Blood of the Fallen
- Increase the starting hit points of DG's by about 25%, and increase slightly the HP per level as well (10 to 15%).
What does this do?
- First of all, it makes the value of early game hit point boosting items less in comparison to the starting health you have. A regulus with starting HP of 1680, looking to pickup a 320 hit point banded armor still gets a nice boost, but the % of his total HP that armor represents is much smaller.
- Secondly, we still allow for abilities to do the damage they do now, without completely dominating battles. We do not turn all DG's into a flotilla of glass cannons.
- Thirdly, we make the game a bit more noob friendly. Those of us who play custom pugs will appreciate our allies being a bit more robust, even with mediocre or poor item choices. Buying a plate visor right off is still bad news, but at least they have more HP to live with.
- Lastly we have also made armor a little more valuable, since armor works as a multiplier of hit points, starting HP being higher makes it more of a discussion as to whether to get armor, or to get HP.
I am Not advocating an overall decrease in HP.
I am Not attempting to say a certain DG is better or worse than any other.
I am trying to make item choices more interesting, and make the game slightly more friendly to new players.
