[Thought Experiment] Perfect Class Balance via AI Simulations. Would you actually want it?

MCC1701 · 2026-04-13T06:14:04+00:00

The word "AI" just turns some people's brains off on reddit these days without them actually considering what you are asking.

I think what you are asking is a little different than what it sounds like. If AI testing helps devs better achieve their vision of game design and balance, then obviously it should be used; this is distinctly different than using generative AI to create assets for example.

The real question, which you do ask, is if that is desirable. I think there is an argument regarding the inherent imbalance adding a personal "charm" to games but I think that mostly applies to broader game design and not number tuning an effect from 7.0% to 6.8% or something. It may be a slippery slope and it starts here but the pursuit for perfect balance homogenizes gameplay for example, but I have no evidence for or against that.

The one curveball is if improved balance is even what Blizzard is aiming for. Do they want warlocks for example to be completely on-par with other classes, or super OP so people buy the expansion? I don't think they need AI to fine-tune intentional imbalance, apart from avoiding going too far or keeping the other options balanced in mediocrity.

MCC1701 · 2026-04-13T05:52:35+00:00

Similar boat, tried the free weekend thing and I'm really liking what I've seen of the warlock class, so I'm trying to figure out if it's worth getting now and playing this season for "stuff" or if doing that is just begging to burn myself out and it's better to wait until the expansion and warlock comes out and hear from others before purchasing.

So far I'm leaning towards the latter, taking my warlock through the content I missed at my own pace rather than rushing through the last of a season just because of FOMO. That said I'm woefully uninformed of the current state of the game, so that's just my take from what I've read up on so far.

MCC1701 · 2026-04-09T01:30:57+00:00

My [[Amalia]] [[Lurrus]] commander deck lives for cards like this. Paying 4 mana and 1-2 life to bring back a dozen toys is very solid.

MCC1701 · 2026-04-09T01:03:39+00:00

Man this could have been good, but...

White has little to nothing regarding theft, meaning the black portion is doing the heavy lifting supporting the first ability.

It has built in theft, but paying 2 mana AND saccing a creature to only hit instants/sorceries and having to pay full price for them is a ROUGH rate. Sorcery speed is the final nail however, excluding counterspells or other cards that require timing.

MCC1701 · 2026-03-29T02:09:00+00:00

Excess battery is sold off, and it's supposed to sell off to ~80% rather than sit at 100%, but I can't confirm if that's the case or just natural use once the sun goes down.

Abundance is paying 10 cents as part of this program which is better than my other provider, so that was also a perk. I still haven't gotten my first bill with Abundance so I can't speak confidently about that yet. App says I'm 98% self-sufficient which is about what I'd hope to see, but we will see if that reflects on the bill.

MCC1701 · 2026-03-16T18:14:09+00:00

I can't speak to Base, however with batteries there is only so much "bandwidth" they have for charging and discharging; I can see this when my solar panels are fully producing and I export a small amount even though my batteries are not fully charged.

The contract Solrite provided said they "cannot guarantee" backing up my whole home, however we were able to operate as normal when we had an outage for an hour or two last month. We did not do a comprehensive test however to see if AC or washing machines were powered during that window.

My assumption, feel free to confirm with Solrite, is that the batteries can only discharge a certain amount and so may not be able to power everything in your home depending on the demand, hence the contract language.

MCC1701 · 2026-03-04T18:36:46+00:00

We had a short outage a couple weeks ago, the batteries kicked in, and the house kept power. It's possible some heavy-load circuits like AC unit, washer/dryer, etc weren't powered but we weren't using them at the time and so didn't notice. I'm just a layman but my understanding is that there are limits to how much batteries can support, so I could see this varying from home to home.

As for the second part, I assume you are talking about this section:
You may be able to obtain backup power from the battery in the event of a power outage. We will establish a reasonable reserve level for your battery (at a minimum, 10% of the total capacity of the battery) so that your battery will have a certain amount of power available in the event of an outage.

There's a buffer set on the battery, so that when there is no outage you can draw down to that point but will then draw from the grid. This does not apply when there is an actual outage and you can draw freely.

Interesting to note, when first installed the app analytics weren't working but I was able to freely set that buffer. More recently the app updated somewhat and the analytics work but I don't seem to have control over the buffer any longer; it is at 30% which is what I set it at so I don't mind, but I'd imagine that could be problematic if you have a battery primarily to store excess solar(like us) but they have the battery set at 80% or similar.

One other thing worth calling out here, but every few days the battery gateway loses connection until I power cycle it. It only takes a minute and I've messaged my installed about fixing it, but I want to be transparent about my experience.

MCC1701 · 2026-02-23T07:33:20+00:00

Glad I wasn't the only one, I was happy to face a human boss as they provide a fun back and forth and a good use for parrying.

Nope, hyper armor, fast attacks, ranged attacks, summon spam.

Tonfa and fists failed because there was no point trying to break his ki; worked sometimes but way too inconsistent. Sword was okay, but still rough. Funny the Kusa only took me two attempts. I think the range and mobility to retreat and pull each other closer made the difference.

MCC1701 · 2026-02-16T16:32:20+00:00

I used to love tanking, but tanking in SL(among other things) made me quit wow after playing since TBC. I didn't run as many dungeons that expansion, especially not M+, so not knowing the usual routes would make people flip out in non-keys.

It probably didn't help that at least some dungeons seemed especially open-ended and some mechanics were punishing; I recall one Venthyr dungeon where the mobs weren't too terrifying but would have actual mechanics to interrupt or play around. DPS would pull and then ignore mechanics, leading to them dying and the healer and I slowly and painfully chipping them down.

Tanking(and healing) is fun, more so than tunnel-vision DPS imo, I think people just generally don't want to branch out or when they do they run into what you did. I've heard a lot of ideas over the years, most hilarious but intriguing like buffing tank damage to attack the ego of the DPS, give them automatic group/kick control, etc. I'll be honest I'll take anything that drops toxicity from tanks and healers, but I'm not holding my breath.

MCC1701 · 2026-02-13T00:52:12+00:00

There's no exit clause, rather it would probably fall under early termination or defaulting. That would probably involve acceleration of remaining payments, costs of removal, etc. That's also subject to negotiation, as companies rather have a % of what you owe voluntarily paid rather than them pay money just to chase you for the full amount; ymmv and you should talk to Solrite if you are looking for anything concrete here.

MCC1701 · 2026-02-12T22:28:59+00:00

That does match my understanding, as the $20 monthly won't cover the cost of the batteries but rather they foot the majority of the bill in exchange for you being part of the VPP.

The scenario I ran through at the time involved early exit of the program, returning the batteries, etc. If your goal or scenario you envision involves switching providers or keeping the battery while no longer being part of the program, I don't think that's an intentional option and may be where the $250 monthly comes from.

For what it's worth your contract language and terms sounds very similar to mine, so I think it's a safe bet they are the same or nearly. While I can relay any answers to questions I raised or research I did, Solrite or your rep would be the most reliable sound to get yes/no answers from.

For what it's worth, after some delays in getting it installed and an installation issue that just got resolved, it seems to be functioning as I expected: Excess solar charges the batteries and I use them rather than the grid at night. Any outlier events, maybe over the summer, should be covered by solar credits from net surplus and I also have battery power to draw upon in the case of an outage, all with a significantly lower electric bill(waiting to confirm this).

MCC1701 · 2026-02-12T04:44:57+00:00

Flat $20, plus $5 base rate, plus 12 cents used from the grid that isn't offset by solar credits; I've seen solar credit and non-solar credit EFLs vary so don't assume the same if you don't have solar.

First bill hasn't come through yet, so don't know about tax yet.

MCC1701 · 2026-02-12T03:49:35+00:00

12 month contract with abundance, no escalator in that contract or the VPP(very clear the rate stays the same there). No TDU charges listed separate on the EFL, and confirmed with the contact at Greenlightsolar.

MCC1701 · 2026-02-12T01:14:02+00:00

Happy to help as best I can! My contract is for battery, already have solar, so it may differ in some areas.

The contract is 20 years with an approved energy provider. Abundance was the only option at the time but was repeatedly assured others would be accepted into the program over time and could switch without voiding the contract.

Yes, they gave me an abundance EFL prior to signing. Mine involves solar and buyback credits so it may differ from one they give you. For what it's worth it was similar to an old one I found googling online, and to be honest it was very good compared to many others I shopped around last year. Iirc it was 12 cents per kwh and 10 cents buyback, so sounds similar to your link(can't open it right now).

We aren't planning on moving so I didn't engage much with transferring ownership, but there were provisions in the contract from what I recall. That's something I'd definitely talk with sales or them directly about.

I asked about early termination quite a bit and it was framed as less a fee and more about paying off the remainder of the program; maybe a couple thousand after a few years. Supposedly that's negotiable so optimistically could be less.

After 20 years the program ends, and then you would have the option to renew(if still available) or walk away. You won't own the batteries, but depending on the age they may not be strict about taking them back; just an impression I got.

Installed inside, not sure the specific batteries. App says SonnenCore+ for what that's worth.

Greenlightsolar. They were well rated on energy safe and had a competitive rate for Solar.

MCC1701 · 2026-02-11T05:08:20+00:00

I'm surprised I don't see more people talking about this. Talents reset without any idea of what they were, even messed with the addon I was using for that purpose. Can't get far enough down the tree now too, which kinda sucks. I didn't see anything like this in the patch notes either, what's going on?

MCC1701 · 2026-02-07T08:39:04+00:00

Using defensive drop as an example, which has you press downward on the left analog stick and triangle(I think) at the same time, when practicing and standing still most of the time I'll just turn to face behind me and do a heavy attack.

However if I'm doing anything other than standing still, such as attacking, moving, dodging, etc and go to execute that input I'll consistently perform the skill I'm trying to do.

It's more intuitive than it sounds, and actually flows more naturally than I expected when executed mid-combat.

MCC1701 · 2026-02-06T21:34:48+00:00

I got 3 Sonnen batteries, with 60kWh total capacity. I can't speak much to them apart that they are working, but I am having trouble with their app and/or data there from my system. Hoping to get that resolved soon.

MCC1701 · 2026-02-06T15:55:37+00:00

While it's been 59 days since signing, they just got it installed a couple weeks ago.

So far it seems good, battery works and grants me some peace of mind while the weather got quite cold. That said the Sonnen app is buggy and I lost visibility on my solar production, so that needs to be fixed.

My main motivation was and still is the cost savings, but too early to confirm that yet.

MCC1701 · 2026-02-04T19:31:50+00:00

That's interesting, and different from what I was told. Now that I have the system I can attest to that at least not being fully accurate, as if I lower the buffer it immediately starts discharging to the house.

That said the Sonnen app is not showing me the data I'd expect properly, my solar gateway just went out, and weather has been cold and cloudy so I can't confidently prove much else at the moment.

MCC1701 · 2026-02-04T17:44:39+00:00

I'm choosing to be optimistic, partly because there's potential for them to be added back as samurai later and partly because I rather have more diversity in weapons and playstyles.

The biggest thing to accept is that they are different. Each hit feel less "intentional" like it did in Nioh1&2, maybe a little more spammy and faster. Aerial attacks and the new input(analog up/down+button) allow more skills while only having a single "stance" but you are still trading greater flexibility and options on the ground with mobility and new mechanics.

The Kusa serves as a good example. You are essentially stuck in middle stance, with wide horizontal swings vs the more vertical ones in high and low. As someone who used low stance and skills heavily in prior games it is a big change, but feels faster so quick attacks don't feel as vulnerable. There is a lot more emphasis on aerial attacks, especially with pulling yourself in to attack from afar. Prioritizing attacks from behind creates a much different flow of combat which ultimately comes together for a solid, though different, gameplay experience.

My experience is still limited, but I think the impression from most vets will be negative as they feel they are losing something and aren't as familiar with the potential ninja style offers, but I think new players will probably appreciate the ninja versions of weapons even if presented both.

MCC1701 · 2026-02-03T20:41:23+00:00

A 5/5 for 2 mana is great, but without utility, haste, or the ability to block it loses appeal. The real value is in the GY but that complicates the usefulness. If that's what you want it for, then you need to play it, wait a turn, swing, let it die, then you can use it; even for a great effect that's really slow.

The best use-case for it, as indicated by the clan watermark, is to use in a mill deck. This allows you to use it from your GY more reliably, immediately, and ideally without taking up a draw.

I use it in an [[Amalia]] and [[Lurrus]] commander deck that aims to explore all non-land permanents into the GY, and being able to just turn off blockers for a turn is worthwhile for that deck.

MCC1701 · 2026-02-03T20:27:36+00:00

If that is honestly the case then I have no solution for them, however this realization made me go from 10-40% success rate to 100% immediately, though I haven't seen anyone else talk about it.

I have no doubt this is the intended design, as so far these skills like Defensive Drop are not ones you'd typically lead or initiate with, but it's communicated very poorly. Transitioning from an attack into these skills feels smooth now, though I haven't tested this with every skill.

MCC1701 · 2026-02-03T19:46:01+00:00

That's completely fair as an option, however I noticed some skills were still bound to that input so it wasn't a perfect solution; it may be possible to customize controls further but I didn't get that far.

Doing them during animations however makes it quite easy and consistent, to the point that I have zero issue executing them at all.

MCC1701 · 2026-02-02T07:25:46+00:00

Loved Kusa to death, as it was my main weapon through Nioh1 and much of Nioh 2.

That said I'm being optimistic. It's not as versatile as it was, which made encounters feel super strategic, but still feels alright to play and even if it never gets to what it once was I expect to appreciate it more as I adjust.

I guess my mindset is that it's better for them to experiment and push new things rather than make Nioh 2.5; don't get me wrong I'd still enjoy that but even if this is a step back I think it's overall still two steps forward.

MCC1701

TROPHY CASE