New iPWR ranges

So what's up with the new iPWR ranges? The NM4 maps drop 700 gear at the high end of the range with the map requirements being 1000 for the block 3 maps. So are we not suppose to ever get to the max ipwr, or will there be some other way of getting gear?

I'd really like to hear from the devs what their plan was on that.

This was just asked on the dev stream so I can actually answer this with what the devs said, not word per word mind you but the general idea at least.

They wanted builds the bridge the gap & that you'd never get ipwr 1000 gear. A example they used was frosty power build & how it made traps essentially have a lot higher ipwr then they would have, entering into the 1000 ipwr range even though the builder didn't have ipwr 1000 gear.

short answer is they based the enemy levels (meaning their hp and damage) off of the Ipower requirements for the maps. putting it up to 1000 got the enemies to where they wanted them balance-wise.

I guess that could be compared to raids in the older mmos. Your gear was never just outright good enough to do it, but as long as it was passed a certain threshold and things were done right, completion was possible. It wasn't as simple as your so well geared that you shrug off enemy attacks or anything like that.

@topler quote:

This was just asked on the dev stream so I can actually answer this with what the devs said, not word per word mind you but the general idea at least.

They wanted builds the bridge the gap & that you'd never get ipwr 1000 gear. A example they used was frosty power build & how it made traps essentially have a lot higher ipwr then they would have, entering into the 1000 ipwr range even though the builder didn't have ipwr 1000 gear.

This make sense before the changes to the new passives. I can't speak for what the % range is at NM4, but since the NM1 range is ~0.09% boost/piece of gear, the frosty passive is worthless now. 

With what [[30942,users]] and [[82405,users]] said, it makes sense just hope the game is really balanced once we get back there. 

Now I didn't mind the idle builds, I think all three play styles should be viable. 1) Hero DPS only, blockades only. 2) Mix of Hero DPS and Towers (what most people seem to want the game to be) and 3) Tower only defense (heroes aren't required to do anything, maybe occasional repair.)

Each of these styles would require gearing characters a certain way. Style 1 would require Hero DPS, AP, resists depending on character. Style 3 would require commitment to all DP and DH/crit gear with high HP blockades. Style 2 would be the most versatile, allowing for a wide range of gear to be equipped.  

@Ryukashin quote:

@topler quote:

This was just asked on the dev stream so I can actually answer this with what the devs said, not word per word mind you but the general idea at least.

They wanted builds the bridge the gap & that you'd never get ipwr 1000 gear. A example they used was frosty power build & how it made traps essentially have a lot higher ipwr then they would have, entering into the 1000 ipwr range even though the builder didn't have ipwr 1000 gear.

This make sense before the changes to the new passives. I can't speak for what the % range is at NM4, but since the NM1 range is ~0.09% boost/piece of gear, the frosty passive is worthless now. 

With what Syclic and gamer21d said, it makes sense just hope the game is really balanced once we get back there. 

Now I didn't mind the idle builds, I think all three play styles should be viable. 1) Hero DPS only, blockades only. 2) Mix of Hero DPS and Towers (what most people seem to want the game to be) and 3) Tower only defense (heroes aren't required to do anything, maybe occasional repair.)

Each of these styles would require gearing characters a certain way. Style 1 would require Hero DPS, AP, resists depending on character. Style 3 would require commitment to all DP and DH/crit gear with high HP blockades. Style 2 would be the most versatile, allowing for a wide range of gear to be equipped.  

I disagree with you. It shouldn't be ok to just play with heroes and expect to finish NM4 content that way or the complete opposite to build and stay afk the whole map.

Now that being said most passives actually works it's only description bugged, frosty power for example still works as intended, it's just the display which is bugged.

My real issue with the new balance of the game is the gold, spheres are waaaay too expensive and the grind starts to be freaking tedious, that plus the fact that there is no way to reroll stats (like with pets) and the farm is a bit too RNG based. Having decent stuff to tackle harder difficulties is super challenging, and if you have to be lucky to gather 4 perfect builds for your whole crew for each difficulty the lifespan of the game is in my opinion very artifically boosted.

Well not everybody is a healthy youth that can spend hours playing. My friend has shoulder issues and can't play games that require a lot of mouse movement for too long. I have back and neck problems and it can be hard some days to sit through an entire game. Allowing for an AFK build lets us enjoy the game in the same way you would doing both, or someone that wants a hero only defense to enjoy the game. 

Just because you don't want a certain play style doesn't mean it shouldn't be in the game. I hate games that make me play one way only. With the Ubers and Passives, its very possible to make ones that focus on builds only (like we have) or heroes only and give a way to focus on only that, especially when only one person usually builds in a game anyway. 

I want to set up a smart defense and not have to worry about giving 100 focus on the game.

@topler quote:

This was just asked on the dev stream so I can actually answer this with what the devs said, not word per word mind you but the general idea at least.

They wanted builds the bridge the gap & that you'd never get ipwr 1000 gear. A example they used was frosty power build & how it made traps essentially have a lot higher ipwr then they would have, entering into the 1000 ipwr range even though the builder didn't have ipwr 1000 gear.

A fair idea, but I hope NM4 and later content will be a bit more creative with NM difficulty rather than just a stat wall. DD1 did a great job with NM content, imo. NM resulted in every special on every map, things like Spiders with the web snare dropping from behind defenses, Sharken pushing walls, Djinn desummon/gold boost, hero/pet/tower dmg tweaking, etc. Of course, many of these won't translate well into DD2 but the basic idea is what I want to see, more creativity of NM content rather than a simple stat climb.

Shortest Answer: The Max ipwr level goes up to 800, because I mean.... who on earth would have more than 800 Ipwr? Apart if they're a hacker