by: Tony "RadarX" Jones
As the next set of Test Notes hit the old intraweb last week, many people were excited about some of the changes coming such as the Military Surplus mechanic which will allow players to buy and sell goods. The ability to take screenshots, bug fixes, and tons of other additions promised everyone a pleasant and meaningful patch. While there was a mention of a tooltip fix to the Soldier's Rage skill, nothing was stated regarding any change to it's effectiveness. As some of us rejoiced, a terrible secret was revealing itself on the Test server.
The Rage skill is the bread and butter of the soldier classes providing an amazing 100% damaage bonus at it's highest level. What this effectively does is boost not only the DPS (Damage Per second) of the individual player but his squad as well. Providing the power to create ungodly carnage, touching something this widely used is bound to provide dramatics. We weren't disappointed.
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The first rumors making their way to forums was that Rage 5 was now providing a mere 25% damage bonus which many speculated would make it effectively useless. This news lingered around throughout the Thanksgiving holidays and was discussed repeatedly in global channels. The normal threats of quitting, dropping the skill, and demanding a clone credit were common topics.
What actually happened? How will this affect the game? What will the community do? Little was known over the weekend and even most of Monday as speculation ran rampant and facts were few. Some said the change wasn't on Test yet, some claimed it would reduce the ability 75%, and some believe it had really been this way all along and now the tooltip would reflect it.
Fortunately for some posters at the Ten Ton Hammer forums, Community Manager Cuppajo stopped by and pointed us to the freshly published Weekend Wrapup which cleared the air. Tabula Rasa Lead Designer Paul Sage had the following to say:
When Rage went out, it went out with a large bug. If you look at the tooltip for the ability, it lists out a different buff than what is actually given out. Right now, the real damage bonus amount is 105% with the first pump alone. That was too much. As a team, we know what the nerf bat is, and we are very reluctant to swing it. However, what is currently active is a bug, and so we have to fix that bug. We understand that fixing it will greatly impact the way the game is played for many of our players. In order to mitigate some of the initial shock, we changed Rage in many good ways.
Referring to it as a bug seems fair if the damage output is 105% at level one, but what people really cared about was how significant a change we were looking at. According to long it's been made a "fast cast ability" and have added resistance bonuses. As listed on the announcement:
Rage 1: 30% damage self buff
Rage 2: 30% damage buff w/squad members
Rage 3: 40% damage self buff 10% resist bonuses
Rage 4: 40% damage buff w/squad members
Rage 5: 50% damage buff w/squad members 10% resist bonuses
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There is a little compensation for players in the form of a few more changes. First Sage also stated Chaingun damage will be increased to offset Rage, which may not make it more attractive, but at least keep everyone from mothballing them. The other was a bug fix to damage bonuses not appearing on weapons. The weapons highlighted in green now do more damage than grey of the same level, and blues more than greens. This will provide more powerful weapon choices to players, and while yes it's token, at least they made an attempt which is more than you'd see from other companies.
The fallout from the fix, nerf, or profane word of your choice will continue even after it makes it to the Live servers. This will impact the damage of every Soldier and all of the subsequent classes above it which has drawn the ire of many. Should NCsoft have just left in a broken skill for the satisfaction of a number of players? How much should the skill have been changed? How will it affect your playstyle?
Head over to our forums and let us know!
To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Tabula Rasa Game Page.
