In a class balance discussion, there are a number of questions that, imo, get to the heart of the matter.
- How do we measure PvP class balance?
- What is the ideal PvP class balance?
- What is the current PvP class balance?
- If there is an imbalance what is the best way to achieve the right balance?
Equivalent Exchange
Interwoven in every game, and in reality itself, is the concept of equivalent exchange. It's easy enough to understand. You don't get something for nothing, you gotta pay for it in some way. You have to give something to get something in return, etc. Arcane Legends is no exception. If you want a particular pet for your character you have to pay for it, either through plat, gold, opening locked crates, farming, spending time begging, etc. Getting from level 40 to 41 means working through 10 levels worth of experience.
When considering the ideal PvP class balance it's important to apply equivalent exchange because if you don't you automatically create a situation where one class reaps the benefits that another class should receive. Iow, one class ends up paying for another class' benefits. Balance is a synonym for equivalent exchange.
Measure of Success
PvP is a zero sum game, making it easy to measure overall balance by comparing the kill per death ratio (KDR) of each class. The total number of all kills is always equal to the total number of all deaths. There are other ways to measure PvP success like peer recognition, flags, games won, assisted kills, etc, but that's not where the 'real money' is.
Ideal Balance
If Arcane Legends had only one class it would take 100% of kills and 100% of deaths. If arcane legends had only two classes and they were exactly equal except in name, each class would take 50% of kills and 50% of deaths. Arcane Legends has three classes. If the three classes were exactly equal except in name, each class would take 33.33% of kills and 33.33% of deaths.
Thankfully, the three classes are not equal since that would be boring and pointless. Each class has a strength which it (supposedly) pays for by its weakness.
IMHO, this is what class balance should look like with three classes:
Ideal Class Balance |
|
Kills |
Percent |
Deaths |
Percent |
Rogue |
Highest |
38.33% |
Highest |
38.33% |
Sorcerer |
Average |
33.33% |
Average |
33.33% |
Warrior |
Lowest |
28.33% |
Lowest |
28.33% |
- Class KDR should ALWAYS be 1:1.
- Equivalent exchange occurs:
- Rogues pay for 5% more kills with 5% more deaths
- Sorcerers stay average
- Warriors pay for 5% fewer deaths with 5% fewer kills
- No more than 10% variance between highest and lowest total number of kills and deaths. Too much variance means PvP becomes boring, unnatural, and prone to excessive dramazzzzz.
- A better than average KDR actually means something!
- Individual players are more challenged. They must now use skill, superior gear, better team coordination, etc, rather than rely on inequity.
Not Pretty
Now that we know what class balance
should be, what is it
actually like right now?
I looked at the CTF and TDM leaderboards earlier today and did ye olde manual data entry into a spreadsheet. First, the raw number of kills:
PvP Leaderboard CTF Kills |
|
Total |
Percent |
All |
2,979,151 |
100.00% |
Rogue |
1,397,172 |
46.90% |
Sorcerer |
783,541 |
26.30% |
Warrior |
798,438 |
26.80% |
PvP Leaderboard TDM Kills |
|
Total |
Percent |
All |
1,843,232 |
100.00% |
Rogue |
898,673 |
48.76% |
Sorcerer |
519,434 |
28.18% |
Warrior |
425,125 |
23.06% |
PvP Leaderboard Combined Kills |
|
Total |
Percent |
All |
4,822,383 |
100.00% |
Rogue |
2,295,845 |
47.61% |
Sorcerer |
1,302,975 |
27.02% |
Warrior |
1,223,563 |
25.37% |
The most remarkable stat is that the top 25 CTF sorcerers actually have
fewer kills than the top 25 CTF warriors. o.0
The second most noteworthy stat is Rogues basically take half of all kills in PvP.
So what
IS the the class balance right now?? WELLLL... We don't know the
number of deaths for each of the leaderboard players (Hey
Devs, how about a quick SQL script and u can post the results here? Plssssss!). I could painstakingly poll in game each player on the leaderboard.... uh, on second thought, no.
However, we
can make an educated guess because we know a few facts:
- The deaths distribution will somewhat reflect the the kills distribution, i.e. because the kills are not balanced deaths are unlikely to be balanced.
- There is almost uniform agreement from every PvP player that mages receive the most number of deaths.
I think this is the most likely scenario:
Current Class Balance |
|
Kills |
Percent |
Deaths |
Percent* |
|
|
100.00% |
|
100.00% |
Rogue |
Highest |
47.61% |
Higher |
37.00% |
Sorcerer |
Lower |
27.02% |
Highest |
40.00% |
Warrior |
Lowest |
25.37% |
Lowest |
23.00% |
*guestimate
And again:
Ideal Class Balance |
|
Kills |
Percent |
Deaths |
Percent |
Rogue |
Highest |
38.33% |
Highest |
38.33% |
Sorcerer |
Average |
33.33% |
Average |
33.33% |
Warrior |
Lowest |
28.33% |
Lowest |
28.33% |
The Kicker
Class Imbalance |
|
Kills |
%Error |
Deaths |
%Error |
Rogue |
inflated |
9.27% |
deflated |
1.33% |
Sorcerer |
deflated |
6.31% |
inflated |
6.67% |
Warrior |
deflated |
2.96% |
deflated |
5.33% |
Assuming assumptions are correct, we now know:
- Rogue kills are inflated by 9.27%
- Rogue deaths are deflated by 1.33%
- Sorcerer kills are deflated by 6.31%
- Sorcerer deaths are inflated by 6.67%
- Warrior kills are deflated by 2.96%
- Warrior deaths are deflated by 5.33%
The Road Somewhat Less Traveled
It's really up to STS to investigate this matter further. They have all the information that could truly shed light on the current state of class balance.
Individual class KDR should be 1:1 and if it isn't there's an imbalance problem. I'm 99.9% confident that there is a clear anti-mage/pro-rogue/pro-warrior bias in the current class balance scheme.
Everyone has their opinion on how to fix the imbalance, but as Remiem pointed out in chatbox, developers rightly fear the bane of unintended consequences. Looking at the current imbalance scheme it's difficult to tease out exactly which button(s) to press to correct the imbalance. Even if the developers find the right button, pushing it might cause an uproar. Best intentions and all that lol. That being said...
REMEMBER PvP started being awful for Sorcerers when stun immunity was introduced. Pets made it even worse for sorcerers.
Then it became clear Rogues did too much damage and Warriors did too little so they were nerfed/buffed. It feels like developers thought the matter had been laid to rest, but now that is much less certain.
My suggestion on how to fix the imbalance? From a PR perspective it's better to buff than to nerf so a sorcerer buff of some kind seems the best option, all things considered.