Followers need a ground up replacement similar or maybe even more indepth than the Age of War combat update. They’ve been needing this for years now.

They’re never going to buff pets because of how easy they are to get. And they will always be subpar to thralls because of the inability to wear armor. Which will never be seen as a balancing factor because crafting good armor for a thrall is just another layer players need to go through.

Pet < Greater Pet = T1/2 Thralls < T3 Thralls < T4 Thralls.

Thats how it is, that’s how it will be (for now with the current system), and it sucks. The whole system that forces it sucks as well.

What I would like to see is a bit of a normalization. Since they have the ability to separate the damage followers do from their wild NPC counterparts. I’d like to see all thralls of the same tiers have the same growth and basic stats (modified by tribe).

This way a T4 Exile is similar in strength as a T4 Relic Hunter or Forgotten Tribe. And all T4s are stronger than all T3s, and so forth.

However all Tiers have around the same difficulty. So a T4 Exile will be as hard to get as a T4 Votarie of Skelos. In that example, they would even be a bit more scarce since there would be few T4 Exile areas compared to tribes in harder areas. There might be one or two Exile Strongholds, compared to 2-3 or more Votarie, Forgotten Tribe, or Heirs of the North.

T1 thrall camps would be relatively easy to thrall from. These would be little camps (similar to campfires seen in the noob river). Somewhat common in easy areas more or less starter areas. They would have nearly all T1 thralls with the occasional T2 leader (always a fighter/archer not crafter). They are wide open to attack from any direction like they are now. As they are pretty much just a campfire.

T2 thrall camps would be slightly larger and include tents and other very basic amenities. They would be mostly T2 thralls with the occasional T3 leader (same as above, a T3 fighter or archer but not crafter). These you would see more common as you move into the desert and first part of the jungle. You would also see them in even harder areas as these would be the most common thrall camp on the map. These would have very basic fortifications if any. Using tents and other points of interest to kind of block of some parts of entry compared to the T1 camps.

T3 thrall camps would be typical villages with small walls. T2 Thralls would make up about half of the defense with T3 making up the rest (with crafters being included). T4s would not be found here. Those are special. These places would be your outlying towns and would not be common outside the hardest areas of the map. Places like the Volcano may not have T1 or T2 camps, but only T3 camps and one T4. The fortifications mean there is only a handful of entry points.

T4 camps would be your capitols of each tribe. The rank and file would be T3 fighters and archers and they would comprise of most of the inhabitants. T4 would be guaranteed spawns, not random. However these camps function like outdoor dungeons. There’s only one way in and you cannot skip ahead to the fortified areas where the T4 thralls are located (either magic dampening devices or archers in turrets will prevent Bat’ing in, which can eventually be disabled).

In addition to breach the doors and gates you need to use siege equipment. Trebuchets, orbs, explosive arrows, etc. While you are guaranteed to get T4 thralls, you will have to put in effort into getting them. The bonus is you don’t have to wager on RNG.

The idea here is newbies would not really be punished for getting a T1 or T2 exile. They would be buffed to be just under previous tiers due to normalization (even giving them more than just 1 and 2 hit combos). And veteran players hanging out in harder areas will not have to slaughter droves and droves of T1-3 thralls to get that 0.5-1% chance of getting a T4. The effort you put in is the effort you get out.

Now… what about pets?

There needs to be a bit more effort in obtaining these. Not simply running through an area and spamming pick up. I think getting normal pets should be about as hard as T2 thralls to get. Meaning a player will need to brave a den/nest/clutch/pack/pride/etc of adults to get ahold of a normal pet.

Greater pets would be equal to T4 thralls and probably found in T4 thrall camps behind the barricades. Or in their own mini-dungeon like areas that are just as difficult to breach and have a world boss in it. But you would find the greater pet baby that has no RNG when it grows into an adult.

Now how to make pets equal to thralls (or at least like the T2 and T4 like I mentioned before.

Remove armor slots from thralls. Replace them with a single slot that is an Armor Set. These are craftable from sets of armor and give the thralls specific sets of bonuses depending on the set you make.

Now before anyone pipes in about customization. Thralls will also gain appearance slots. So you can dress them up how you wish.

In addition the pets gain a armor set as well, might even use the same items, or can even be ‘barding’ that is crafted pretty much in the same way. Now in survivability and bonus stats… Thralls and Pets are equal, neither needs to be weaker than the other. Sort of, will get into that in a bit.

But weapons… that’s what makes pets and thralls different.

You choose the combo and damage type a thrall does by giving them specific weapons. Pets are done by choosing a specific animal type. Pets will favor damage as their inbuilt damage will be slightly higher than similar tier thralls. But their base defense will be a bit lower. Exceptions to this rule would be in animals like Rocknoses, Kappa, and other ‘tanky’ types which would have lower damage but higher defense than thralls.

The whole idea is a T4 is a T4, T3 is T3, T2 is T2, and T1 is T1… no matter where they are from. But they also take the same effort. Same with pets. Same effort to obtain as thralls. But they also will have similar strengths so there isn’t this weird system balance that just no one likes.

With PVE sieges coming in Chapter 3. This idea that I have posted several times over the years is closer to being feasible. It could even be tied to the new purge system as it that wouldn’t require sections of the map to be redone as much as my initial idea.

Another idea separate to the large indepth idea (but not mutually exclusive) shown above is to remove levels from thralls and pets. And they simply get the equivelent of level 20 stats when trained up. This has been the source of contention for dozens of issues players have.

Losing pets and thralls to PVE. To PVP. And to glitches, server hiccups, admin hiccups, and so forth has been a primary source of frustration for years. This is due to the amount of time spent training followers only to have them get dashed away to an event that frequently players have little control over.

We can still have perks, and be able to reset them with the elixir. But just get rid of the leveling system itself. There is already a bunch of time spent obtaining the thrall or pet in the first place. Why does it need to be added to, especially when a bad move, a single glitch, or even an ounce of lag could wipe them out in seconds?

Time spent =/= difficulty. And therefor leveling followers doesn’t make the game more difficult. Removing it doesn’t make the game easier. Leveling followers makes the game more tedious. Not having to level them removes the tedium.

Judging by the complaints many PVP and PVE focused players have with followers, this would aid in some of the problem points they have, thus it is a change that would mostly benefit both playstyles, so no worry about changes for one affecting the other. The changes are with both in mind, and to fix issues with both. Offliners won’t like it as much, but they’re free to express why if they want to try.

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