Let me explain with a few examples where I think the current item rarity system creates issues that reduce the fun of playing this game. Then I'll suggest a new system to address these. (A) Ring Of Bifurcated Healing: Not a bad item, but there is very little reason for this to be legendary when Healing Talisman is merely uncommon. It just doesn't make you feel "yay, the grinding was worth it!", all you think is "this could have been Wym's Lavastaff" Imagine the following item: "Mask of the Red Dragon", a helmet with Flame Spit, Fire Spray and Flame Jet. This is the sort of legendary item I want to see in the game. It's thematic and interesting, and it contains cards that are not usually found on the slot. On one hand, you can surprise your MP opponent with fire attacks from your warrior, but the opportunity cost you pay is that you don't get team runs and other typical helmet cards in your deck --> Legendary items should allow interesting and unusual strategies (B) Vibrant Pain: The main problem with this item is not its rarity, it's that Nimble Strike should have been a gold card. However, the fact that it's legendary adds another problem, because it splits the player base in two. One side with people who either spend incredible amounts farming, are extremely lucky or have a benevolent Randimar and cash in the bank, and the rest of us. If this item was common, it would be standard equipment, but at least it would only declassify other lvl 18 weapons instead of splitting the player base. --> Items that support standard strategies should not be too rare (C) Untrained Footwork (rare) / Perilous Agility (legendary): While all of the easy to find elf skills have powerful drawbacks that offset their powerful cards like Slippery, these very hard to find ones are more balanced. That's the opposite of what it should be! As a new player, you want balanced, easy to use items that help you learn the game. You can always master the more crazy stuff like Untrained Evasion later. --> Items with powerful cards and drawbacks should be rare, while common items are more balanced. Still, there is a reason why cards like Firestorm are rare, so I'd like to tweak the current system, not throw it out completely. In my suggested system, 3 factors determine an items rarity: (1) The rarity of its cards. However, under the current system, an item with three rares is legendary. To reduce the impact of card rarity, an item with three rares and no other factor will be rare. (2) The highest quality card. Item quality determines item level. The formula is somewhat complex but as a rule of thumb, 3 paper = lvl 1, 3 bronze = lvl 9, 3 silver = lvl 18. An item can have more powerful cards for its level, but these will be balanced with weaker cards and drawbacks. These items make the game more fun, but also more swingy. They require more skill. Therefore, new players should find more balanced common items, first, and swingy items will be more rare. (3) Whether the cards are usual for that slot or not. Card Hunter's deck building system assigns cards to certain item slots. For example, weapons will usually have attack cards, boots have movement cards and so on. Epic and legendary items should be allowed to break the mold and have unusual cards for their type. The goal is to make these items more interesting, and to allow more variety in deck building and strategy. (Note: This is an update to another thread)
So how will this work? A Rarity Score is calculated for each item. Rarity is assigned to the item depending on the score. (3 / 6 card items) 0+ / 0+ Common 10+ / 20+ Uncommon 20+ / 40+ Rare 30+ / 60+ Epic 40+ / 80+ Legendary (1) Card Rarity: 0 points for each common card, 3 for each uncommon, 7 for each rare. (2) Highest quality card: Take the highest card on the item. Calculate a number based on the formula below. Add this number to the Rarity Score if greater than zero. Paper/Bronze: 0 Silver: 10 - lvl Gold: 20 - lvl Emerald: 30 - lvl Sapphire: 40 - lvl (double for 6 card items) (3) Unusual cards 10 points for each card that is unusual for that item. This requires a bit more to define, but bear with me. In general, it just codifies what kind of cards are on what sort of item right now, and opens the door for rare and unusual items. Step 1: Define a "standard item" for each card. Weapon - Most melee attack cards; Ouch!, Fumble, Obvious Maneuver etc. Staff - Arcane attacks, like zaps, jets, sprays, sparks... Divine Weapon - currently none Helmet - Quick Reaction, War Cry, Run, Team etc.; Wimpy Shield - Blocks, parries; Dropped Guard Heavy Armor - most armor cards like Mail; Ill-fit Armor Robes - Resistant Armor, Hover, Arcane Aura, Teleport Self, Reflexive Teleport Divine Armor - Holy Armor, Inspiring Armor Boots - Most movement cards Arcane Item - Non-attack spells like Hot Spot, Arcane Feedback Divine Item - All holy and unholy spells, like healing spells, Unholy Power, Demonic Miasma etc. Elf Skill - Pathfinder, Slippery, Elvish Insight etc.; Squeamish Human Skill - Leadership, Battlefield Training etc. Dwarf Skill - Toughness, Duck, Charge etc. Martial Skill - Slicer, Bruiser, Impaler, All Out Attack etc. Divine Skill - Holy Presence, Altruism, Talented Healer etc. Arcane Skill - Firestarter, Dimensional Traveler etc. Step 2: Account for items that take a mixture of cards, like divine weapons. Each item can take a number of cards from specific other items without raising the Rarity Score. Weapon - 2 shield cards Staff - 3 arcane item cards; 2 weapon cards Divine Weapon - 4 weapon cards; 4 divine item cards Helmet - 2 heavy armor cards Robes - 1 heavy armor card, 1 arcane item card Divine Armor - 2 heavy armor cards, 2 divine item cards Boots - 1 heavy armor card Arcane Item - 2 staff cards Elf Skill - 2 movement cards Human Skill - 2 helmet cards Dwarf Skill - 1 armor card, 1 block card Martial Skill - 2 weapon cards Divine Skill - 2 divine item cards Arcane Skill - 2 arcane item cards, 2 staff cards Shield, Heavy Armor, Divine Item - none
Examples: Lots of rare cards: Ring Of Bifurcated Healing: 3 rares = 21 -> rare (down from legendary) Vibrant Pain: 6 rares = 42 -> rare (down from legendary) Untrained Footwork: 2 rares (14) + highest silver (10-7=3) = 17 -> uncommon (down from rare) Perilous Agility: 3 rares = 21 -> rare (down from legendary) Powerful cards: Untrained Evasion: 3 common (0) + highest gold (20-7=13) = 13 -> uncommon (up from common) Infused Greatclub: 2 rare (14) + highest emerald (30-13=17)*2 = 48 -> rare (same) Vassal's Plate: 1 rare, 1 uncommon (10) + highest silver (10-3=7) = 17 -> uncommon (down from rare) Tome Of The Withering Source: 1 uncommon (3) + highest gold (20-3=17) = 20 -> rare (up from common) Tome Of Sanctity: 2 uncommon (6) + gold (20-15=5) = 11 -> uncommon (same) Unusual cards for item: Reflecting Staff: 6 uncommon (18) + 3 shield cards on staff (30) = 48 -> rare (up from uncommon)
