Hi, I may be misinformed as I'm going by the main wiki for the game, but if I understand what I've read correctly the following is true: 1) Critical Hits (yours or the enemy's) cannot be dodged, blocked, or countered This means only raw hp and armor absorb stats can counter a critical hit, which are both Warrior archetype stats (leaving Rogues with very lacking damage mitigation late game). Another implication of this is that since enemies cannot dodge a crit, you don't need enemy dodge reduction as a stat if you have a high enough critical hit rate. Investing in crit counters 3 of their stats and negates the need for 1 of yours. That seems a little too good (on paper, at least). My proposed solution to making crit less devastating as a stat: allow Dodge to beat Crit. Follow the flowchart below, and note that counterattacking has been altered as well in this model. Counterattacks are no longer a defensive check, rather, they're a bonus damage opportunity you get after defending via dodge or block first. Attacker rolls to hit something using Enemy Dodge Reduction stat vs. Defender Dodge stat: A. Did the Attacker win the roll? Yes -> Attacker rolls to check for critical hit ! go to B ! No -> Defender dodges all damage, rolls for counterattack ! go to D ! B. Did the Attacker get a critical hit? Yes -> Attacker deals critical damage to defender, less resistances ! resolved ! No -> Defender rolls for block ! go to C ! C. Did the Defender block? Yes -> Defender applies block and passive damage reductions, takes remaining damage, and rolls for counterattack ! go to D ! No -> Defender applies passive reductions, takes remaining damage ! resolved ! D. Did the Defender get a counterattack? Yes -> Defender hits back (guaranteed normal hit, no crit allowed), applies damage reductions ! resolved ! No -> Nothing happens ! resolved ! If a counter attack roll succeeds, it automatically hits, and because it was a clean hit, it does not allow the enemy to counter while following the logic of the flowchart. This will end the chains of counterattacks that lock players in combat longer than they intended to be. Another feature request I will tack on to this post is for you to show which archetypes the skills belong to when you are creating your character, please. Some are obvious, others less so (Assassination, Fungal Master, etc...). Thanks! If you have no intention of implementing a revision like this, I really hope you'd be willing to let modders change these values soon, because I would implement it myself.
I approve of this suggestion because as it is right now Crit is the main reason melee is so strange (and incredibly hard leading to the only way to go through floors 10-15 is if you have overpowered weapons).
+1 for the structure. +4 for the logic. And for my own 2Cents... a crit is landing a blow in a critical location/way. If someone is able to dodge, the likelihood of getting hit in a critical way would naturally decrease. I think that Dodge should reduce Crit chance. Dodge reduction should reduce dodge.
What's wrong with counter attack chains? They don't usually last that long. Not being able to dodge/block counter attacks might not scale too well. Deeper in the dungeon every monster has massive block + counter. At that point every other time you hit an enemy you'll be taking an unblockable counter attack back. A dodge/counter rogue character would probably be better off mashing space and hoping they counter instead of trying to attack. Would counter attacks still be able to crit?
Yeah, I was all with you until you said a counterattack should be anything other than a perfectly normal attack roll that just happens to be triggered on your opponent's turn. Everything else is pure gold.
Counter is getting 3 buffs in this model, in that you would get a chance to counter creatures that normally would crit you frequently and not let you counter them at all, as long as you dodged them first. Second, as the game stands right now if you dodge something you do not get any chance to counter period, and the game checks for dodge first. Third, counters would also get a huge buff in that they would not need to be checked for hit once they succeeded their own check, making them better than a standard attack. Even crits have to pass the hit check in that model, it is the whole point. Allowing them to crit along with being guaranteed hits would be too strong, it would re-create the original problem of unavoidable crits on players or monsters with high counter chance along with high crit chance. Since you can only counter when you mitigate an enemy attack, the combat logic ends the attack chain immediately when you hit them with your unavoidable counter damage. The only thing keeping them balanced in this formula is that you would have to block or dodge before you could use them. Think of crits and counters as being opposite, special bonuses you get as either the attacker or defender. If you succeed in your attack, you have a chance to do extra damage in a crit. If you succeed in your defense, you have a chance to hit back. Being locked in a counter chain is a neat gimmick to watch, but it isn't good for the game or the players, ultimately. This is a turn based game, and you only are supposed to *typically* get 1 attack per turn, the game is balanced around that. All of your buffs and potions etc... operate on this principle and players make decisions under the assumption the enemy will only get to attack them once per round, maybe twice if they counter the player's attack. Counter chains take too much control away from the player, and could lead to deaths that wouldn't have happened if the player's own counter skill was lower. Dying as a result of having one of your attributes raised too high shouldn't be a possibility.
I can only imagine you're discussing a scenario where you die because a buff you were relying on ran out. It either ran out because it had a limited number of attacks and you counterattacked unexpectedly, or because it had a limited number of hits and you got counterattacked unexpectedly. Both of which are completely unaffected by your scenario, because dodge/counter chains don't ever trigger a 'loss due to successful attack' or 'loss due to getting hit' until you actually hit or get hit, which only happens once per counter chain in the first place. Making the counterattack an automatic hit doesn't change that at all, it just lessens the general level of entropy surrounding when and why that happens.
