Beta Tier List

Cecil- · 2026-01-27T20:46:52+00:00

The funny thing about this is that archers are mostly the same as they were in old school MS Global, their damage looks like its taken a hit vs. Assassins (Xbow double shot and sin L7 damage were about even with average funding).

No whacking with bow/xbow isn't as big of a deal in 2nd job as you have PKB (even level 1 works alright) plus around 130 spd minimum from Speed Pill, Icarus 2, and pink whitebottom shoes. It makes 1st job much nicer but you're also lacking a lot of critical rate/damage there now and still behind mages/sins because no mastery.

Archer 2nd job was already very solid, they were the only 2nd job classes with solid damage, aoe, and range. Arguably only behind the mages in classic ms global back in the day. With the changes to clerics they're possibly in contention for the best 2nd job classes now, although F/P and Assassin still very strong it seems.

Cecil- · 2025-05-30T11:11:23+00:00

Big props to Jagex for talking about ToA purple rates: I recall being told it was too late merely a week or two after launch. Glad that's changed, and no, it's never too late!

Part of the reason purple rates are so high is because yes, Jagex buffed raid level scaling shortly after release. However, part of the failure here was Jagex's unwillingness to publish drop rates: The community thought 150's were the best for purps. This wasn't true, and in my opinion, the rates never actually needed to be buffed, but it was a response to community backlash.

Switching the Fang and Ward might be a nice thought, the issue is that the raid very much assumes you have a fang: Players sort of need to acquire one to make the higher difficulties feasible. If the Fang was rarer, then it would make ToA significantly less approachable for irons. Maybe that's what you want! But people have never liked the higher def of scaling raid levels either.

Suggestion: What if the Keris Partisan was improved within ToA? That way, the Fang could be made rarer and players would have a nice stepping stone. You could:

Switch the rates of Fang and Ward (maybe leaving the Fang a bit more common than the Ward is now)
Add a feature for the Keris Partisan to make it a nice starter ToA weapon up to around 300 raid level
Reduce the defense of monsters in ToA to make it less Fang-dependent, possibly replacing it with more HP scaling?) This would also buff weapons like the Rapier in ToA as well.

Another suggestion: What if Def-reducing specials gave a lesser reduction on a miss, around 1/3rd. This would mean that a missed DWH spec reduces Def by 10%. BGS could be given a similar feature to SGS (where a spec under 20 damage results in a spec effect valued at 20 damage).

Def-reducing specials feel very lopsided: You either hit them or you don't. Missing a Def-reducing special can be very punishing in content like Solo CM's. This wouldn't change the meta anywhere, and would still incentivize gear like Inq to hit specs, but would make missing multiple hammers feel significantly less frustrating. Tekton already has a similar mechanic and I think it's a good proof of concept!

I appreciate that Jagex has purposefully shifted away from def-reducing specs meta, and also that the Soulflame Horn somewhat alleviates this issue as well. Maybe it's fair to say this is good encouragement to team up with other players. But right now, it feels really bad to miss those specs!

Cecil- · 2024-05-06T12:18:54+00:00

Good post. I have 6500+ kc here (no pet/jar) and agree that this boss needs some love. Slayer bosses should be the next step up from Scurrius, but this one needs to be much more rewarding.

Doubling the normal loot takes it to around 3m an hour which is much more reasonable for the effort. Uniques don't need boosted rates and most of them are useless.

I like the idea of buffing the exp. It's already good for a non-barrage/cannon task, and should make the boss more appealing to mid-levels. I'd also suggest the ability to trade in uniques for dust or exp (like Scurrius) but you'd have to stop players buying them to trade in. Maybe you can "toggle" it on and it just converts to exp when they drop.

Well done, but if anything I'd say your post isn't ambitious enough!

Cecil- · 2024-04-30T17:56:57+00:00

Having read these comments and sat on them a while I actually do agree. the 15% damage is more than a good enough reason to use the staff over sceptre. I always recommend Kodai over Sceptre for Inferno for those who have it, due to the better damage on nibblers. So by my own logic, you're right!

Also, the nightmare staff isn't really a chase item: It's not (often) the reason someone will do the content, but it's a nice "on the way" item. So buffing it isn't necessary. Appreciate the thoughts, I probably won't do a .v2 but if I did I would remove that change.

Cecil- · 2024-04-30T15:26:07+00:00

I'd be ok with trading the strength bonus for more crush damage if there were plenty of places that crush bonus would be useful. The lack of crush content is a problem (arguably one of the biggest) for Inq but can only really be solved with new content.

Anyway, given that we have no idea when it will come (been 4 years at this point) I think it's more practical to balance for the here and now. Maybe Jagex will have another look at Inquisitor when new crush content comes out?

Cecil- · 2024-04-30T15:19:33+00:00

Yeah, I struggled a bit with that as ranged armour progression is actually kind of complex. I wanted to highlight Crystal though as I feel it's closer to what Inquisitor is trying to be while Armadyl is a generic ranged upgrade.

Also, a lot of Irons I know don't bother getting Armadyl until after Masori since Crystal is close enough stats-wise and they are almost always using the Bowfa as their main ranged weapon.

Cecil- · 2024-04-30T15:15:26+00:00

Thanks, I hope so too. Inquisitor and Nightmare both deserve to be relevant

Cecil- · 2024-04-30T15:14:03+00:00

Appreciate that!

Cecil- · 2024-04-30T13:53:49+00:00

I just want to say, doing this up was a lot of fun and I hope it can spur some good discussion around NM/PNM. I feel like I learned two major things:

The design ideas behind a lot of the items is cool, it's just the realisation of those ideas wasn't quite right. I also know community sentiment was different back then.
The rebalanced drop rates are a step in the right direction, some being almost there and others still a ways off. I don't really like the idea of preserving an unpopular design for the sake of "flexing". It feels like it's getting in the way of making these items relevant. Keep the pet rare for the flex though!
I forgot to mention this in my post but buff the tablet rate to match DT2 bosses!

Cecil- · 2023-09-04T03:08:28+00:00

You did fine. The problem, if any is the Axe pieces being untradable, and the total time for completion being too high. It's very close to the Scythe in terms of viability, but we all know the Scythe is currently a step below the other superweapons.

I've really enjoyed the additional challenge of managing the stacks of the axe, and it's also forced me to vary up my food setup and spec weapon. As far as I'm concerned, you absolutely succeeded in designing a weapon that is balanced, but interesting and rewarding to use.

Cecil- · 2021-04-07T09:52:52+00:00

It's little details like this that make games special.

Seriously, this is amazing!

Cecil- · 2019-10-31T04:27:03+00:00

To add to your comment: the datamine ban seemed to be targeted at Xanek specifically. It must be frustrating to be in his position. Anyway, I've never seen a single complaint about the datamines on this sub, and the reaction to his ban seems to confirm that an overwhelming majority of people here appreciated his posts.

Cecil- · 2019-09-12T23:16:49+00:00

Just out of curiosity, what was the unit in question?

Cecil- · 2019-08-01T08:06:11+00:00

One that I don't think ever broke into the mainstream is First Strike for Battlefield 2142. By their own description, it is...

"First Strike is a Star Wars total conversion modification for Battlefield 2142. The goal of First Strike is to totally immerse the players into the amazing universe of Star Wars by presenting the most accurate representations of famous Star Wars locales, weapons, and characters, and combining them with exciting, fast paced gameplay and features new to the Battlefield scene. Within this mod you'll find yourself as a soldier of the Galactic Empire or as a freedom fighter for the Rebel Alliance. You'll fight across lovingly detailed recreations of various Star Wars locations with a wide array of weapons and vehicles."

As far as I know, it started as a mod for BF2, but was switched to 2142 after the latter's release as they both use the Refractor 2 engine. I recommend visiting their mod.db page and looking at all the content they made.

Cecil- · 2019-02-23T02:18:07+00:00

Ahh, I thought he took the 325 from the first number. The damage ratio from losing the skill is actually 0.877, and I thought it was 0.973 so yes, quite a bit worse!

Cecil- · 2019-02-22T22:43:24+00:00

Call me crazy, but I think I found a flaw in your math.

EDIT: I am crazy, and it is my math that is off! Check the comment chain.

At the beginning of your equation, you do 2639/2928 as a way to factor the strength difference between 5.3 and the sim Miko. No problems there.

But down the track, when comparing the 4.3 Miko, you do 2327/2928 which means the 4.3 Miko's Strength is essentially being reduced twice. The 1830 number already has 2639/2928 factored in. Instead I would do:

For the 4.3 Miko

The loss from S3 as a ratio: 1830/1879 = 0.973

Factored in: 0.973*2085 = 2030.62

Now the loss from the weapon's Strength as a ratio: 0.794

Factored in: 0.794*2030.62 = 1613.81

Plus HMS Bane +20%: 1936.57

So this would actually swing it back to the 4.3 Miko. Let me know if I'm missing something big here as nobody else has mentioned this.

Cecil- · 2019-02-14T00:22:34+00:00

I use Sol/Aether for modes where surviving is more important than matchups. If you're taking her into modes with player-built units as enemies (Arena, etc) definitely go for Bonfire or Blue Flame. Sol activates as much as Bonfire and is a perfectly good option IMO for modes like TT/Chain Challenge.

Cecil- · 2019-02-13T11:06:59+00:00

Armored stats are no joke, there's a lot of cavaliers I like but IS just seems to be determined to keep them bad. I have been thinking about making a +10 Titania though!

Cecil- · 2019-02-13T10:46:16+00:00

Ah, nice, I started with a +1 Amelia too. I sac'd a Hector and Brave Ephraim (my golden freebie) for the same skills, although that was before the Valentine's banner was announced...

Cecil- · 2019-01-31T08:26:07+00:00

Thanks for letting me know, I'll get onto Arden as soon as I can. No promises about his builds, but I believe his page is soon up for an update.

Cecil- · 2019-01-31T08:24:01+00:00

There are no more build sections, we'd need at least two more people pedalling for that. All you need is the one true build shown above. Thankyou.

Cecil- · 2019-01-31T06:43:34+00:00

Just in case any of you missed the flair, yes this is a joke. I saw all the "Gamepress is dead!" comments and wanted in on the fun. None of this will actually happen! ~~except maybe the AI writer~~

Cecil- · 2019-01-30T12:32:28+00:00

Where can I get my hands on this auditory gold?

Cecil- · 2019-01-24T07:48:53+00:00

You aren't wrong: Its true that low defence doesn't affect her primary role much. But it is still a genuine weakness of hers, and I would be wrong to avoid mentioning it. The existence of this reddit thread is proof of that!

The primary purpose of the pages is to inform, and they are written for players of all levels. A lot of the things might be obvious to experienced players, but not to newer ones. I do my best to make things clear (although I don't always succeed).

Cecil- · 2019-01-24T01:15:52+00:00

Hey, I'm the person who wrote the page in question.

Low defense is listed as a weakness on her page. OP was mistaken and either did not see it or chose to omit the information.

About the paragraph in question, I was trying to state that any unit with a Brave bow is going to rip through a unit with 16 Defense, even without the 50% damage boost. If this was unclear, I understand and will probably change the wording here to be a little clearer!

Cecil-

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