Shattered Kingdoms

The right order is GoA, Keepers, CoN, Talons. And to clarify, the difference between them is not that big, just slight differences that make me form that order. They just have different toys for their members to play with. It all goes down to what you want to be able to do with your tribunal char. Get a sick tank and deal all the dmg from behind? Get an average tank that can kill GM warriors within 4-5 rounds? Get something decent on both tanking ability and damage output? Get a good tank/dmg dealer that starts with diamond+ quality armor/weapons? Get insta decent buffs? Work quite a bit and get better buffs but with the risk of losing them anytime? It's all up to the players and how much they are willing to experiment with what is given to them.

I don't count MC because it's a cabal also. The tribunal abilities compared to others tribunals are a little worse, but as a cabal w/ tribunal abilities it's the best thing out there.

PS: Once more, I don't consider that trio of NPCs the best thing CoN has to offer. There is something else far more deadly out there but none is using it(perhaps deadlier than the giant legionaire). I've said it countless times anyway, I'd like 3 giant GM barbarians instead of those tanks anyday. Then equip them with some 8/8 battlespear/flamberge and full tanso with some saves and rip through everything and everyone fast.
PPS: You realise we are all off topic, right?

The original question was answered. Consider this thread appropriated.



Well ... yeah, of course. Noone should have a GM giant barb - especially not the only tribunal which gets cabal skills/spells on top.

And Sypher, as for the elites - they die so fast it's not even funny. And to whoever said that I should just have the elites bolt the trio, yeah - I'm just going to take a moment here to laugh at you. This is exactly the problem here, people want their NPCs to be fighting the battle for them. The entire tactic is equally laughable, I can imagine it as a advertising campaign somewhere.

In only seven measly rounds of order lag, you can have that pesky supernatural being down! ...Just hope the player behind it doesn't move a finger!

This is my main problem with the tribunal NPCs right now. Everyone has all these facts and figures that they think they have and I guess I really would like to second guess a lot of arguments because I know the answers to some of these questions.

Some of these comparisons you make really seem off the wall and incomplete. I really want to take a global approach to addressing the solution. I don't have any NPCs or tribunals in mind when I say I want to make all tribunal NPCs expert level.

I'm for a good global solution to the tribunal NPC mess, but frankly I can't really rely on any of the discussion here because everyone gets into pointing a finger at one or another NPC saying, this is too strong/weak.

I don't think tribunal memberships can get much smaller. So wimping the NPCs in the tribunals really wont decrease the membership any further. The reward is the large number of useful NPCs that can be added to aid you in your tribunal.

The system was supposed to be enforced by builders, but it seems like NPCs keep scaling stronger and stronger, which may not be a good thing. Also, NPCs that assist guards can be added which are higher in level than tribunal NPCs, they just wouldn't have the option of being ordered to do something.

I've held off from adding or altering much of any tribunal NPC in the past year or two. This is because there was supposed to be a builder enforced system that kept tribunal NPCs under control in each kingdom. When I joined the staff the guidelines were not mentioned to me in any way, I found out by asking. This system was not being followed then and couldn't be followed now because there's been no clear definition or solution. That's why when a tribunal NPC final strikes or charms a priest to utilize a religion spell, its working as intended. Because the intentions are unclear.

Here's the solution, flat out.

Wipe all trib NPCs. Start from scratch, or there will never be parity across the board. Little minor tweaks here and there will never do enough, and will always require more work than building again from the ground up.

From that square one position, build up tribs' NPC supply based on a standard, equal basis. No tribs with NPCs above, as a relevant example, expert. No tribs with NPCs that have more HP than two PC barbs put together. No tribs with NPCs that have spells like FS. Create a clear, precise set of trib NPC building guidelines that has no room for error prior to NPC wipe, and build only within those guidelines.

Finally, ignore all player whinning and requests for more powerful NPCs, after their NPC selection has been built according to the new standards. Giving into even one request after that will start the whole "nuclear arms race" of NPC buffing all over again and the standards will have been for naught.

Is this a time-consuming, and difficult solution to effect? Yes. Is this a change that's likely to result in a lot of player complaints? Yes, initially, it is. Is this the only thing that will stop the time-wasting efforts of tweaking NPCs or adding NPCs willy-nilly, perpetuating the need for yet more tweaks and additions elsewhere? Also yes.

No, this is not a bandaid or quick fix solution, and no it cannot be accomplished over night or with little to no effort. Too F'ing bad. It's the only thing that will solve the root of the problem and prevent the same problem from occuring again.

The only problem is that generally, Tribs are much weaker than cabals. One of the only things they get is the fact that they have trib NPCs to take around. I really like the uniqueness of each area, so I just think they need to be tweeked. ie, get rid of final strike as a spell accessible to NPCs.

I think the only people are complaining come from the two non-military nations.

Do us a favor: wipe their trib NPCs and force them to RP a loose federation and a peaceful southern nation with a priesthood as a ruling class.

That'd be fantastic if they can actually, you know, RP.

Oh God forbid...

What is all this RP you all keep talking about? Is it some sort of new internet lingo? I don't get it...

RP in an RP mud?! Le gasp! Blasphemous! Quick someone PK them! RPer's aren't welcome in this RP mud!

I have the log of my entire side of that fight you if you want it, but it was Derk that wasn't affecting the elemental. Your trib guard was hitting it fine.

Then again, I'd also like to take a moment to laugh at the said guards hit/dodge ratio here against my sprite.




The guardians have alot of utility NPCs, but they only really have two (possibly three which I'm planning to test out in PK sometime soon) NPCs viable for PK. And the elemental compares the same as your three barb NPCs from the CoN, but has energy hide and isn't affected by level 35? and under NPCs/weapons. I'd much rather have the three to the one not affected by low level NPCs/weapons.