**KNOWN AW ISSUE**
Please be aware, there is a known issue with Saga badging when observing the AW map.
The team have found the source of the issue and will be updating with our next build.
We apologize for the inconvenience.
Please be aware, there is a known issue with Saga badging when observing the AW map.
The team have found the source of the issue and will be updating with our next build.
We apologize for the inconvenience.
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I’d be curious to hear if there’s data showing many people actually understand and enjoy the relic side of things or if Kabam is viewing data showing people using them as people liking them when they are really just using them for the striker aspect. I suspect it’s the second and I don’t know what data would show otherwise.
So to that end, I say release more striker battlecasts that don’t do anything new and would help allow more champs to be equipped but don’t spend time on the relic side of the design until there’s a better feel for what that should look like.
I just hope they can get Relics right the second time. I've used them from the moment I was given the option and have not found them all that enjoyable. To get back to the Spiritualism node... It sucks. Even using a Relic for it, it gave too much power and always put me at an sp2. Using Kitty Pride and Namor for that path, as my top mutants, meant I just was not able to build up their damage with the sp1 and every fight was extremely slow and frustrating.
A lot of things that came with the addition of Relics just feel like a pretty lazy way to justify their existence. I don't have a problem with relics, please stop throwing boring Relic based nodes into content to convince me they're worth using.
Having said all that, I could offer up a solution, that you may or not like.
1. Make sure they work properly. No missing hits that actually punish you for using them.
2. Don’t worry about adding abilities to individual ones. Have each relic (new ones only) give a class benefit. Mystic - passive stagger, Mutant - prowess, Skill - crit bonus etc…. The bonus scales with rarity. 3* relic grants a 10% prowess, 4* a 20% etc…
Once you guys understand that the majority, not all, but majority of players use them ONLY as combo extenders and for the passive stun, all these headaches we all have will go away.
While it was a cool thought to have certain relics benefit certain champs etc… that is purely wasted development time on your end. Make them simple and not complicated to use. Make them work properly and everyone is happy about them.
This is the exact problem that we are trying to address, which is what's tricky.
Relics = Relics + Striker. The Striker portion is easily understood as an additional combo extender. The Relic portion is ... less intuitive and was already obvious that it overlaps with pre-existing things.
Essentially the Relic is the ability to have a synergy partner, but without needing to take up a spot on your questing team. But, the problem is:
1. This already overlaps with Synergies and so is not really necessary
2. The 'synergy' benefit is not easily understood or its difference is not that noticeable (just like those Friends or Enemies synergies, where the numbers are meaningless to most players. Having +70 to armor rating means nothing to anyone that is not a high level player)
3. There is a huge amount of complexity added now. Rather than have the 'Synergy' pop up menu where you can see exactly who to use, the Relics instead can be given to everyone in a class. Sure there are 'recommended' champions, but otherwise there are too many possibilities now.
4. Complicated new resources. There are too many things to earn and not enough difference in how resources look/are called. Additionally, the amount required to level up/rank up seems to be discordant to the rate of resource acquisition.
All these things should have been planned through before Relics even rolled out, as they were obvious from the get go.
As it stands, this pause leaves some players in limbo. Players who paid for July 4th deals and went for Relic based offers might feel cheated. Players who did Rifts this month and chose to select Relic based resources might feel regret at their choices. Players who ignored Relics entirely feel vindicated. Players who were in the middle now feel more swayed that Relics are unnecessary.
I’d be ok with specific relics eventually becoming a pseudo buff for older champs. We’ve heard suggestions that part of the problem with devoting a lot of time to buffing older champs is they aren’t really sellable because everyone already has them. If there were relics that provided enough of a benefit to be a pseudo buff for a specific champ, that would make it sellable and give life to some OG champs. Maybe the old value update buffs could be handled to some extent through relics?
I also like the synergy replacement concept and think that would open up some new team options and be a nice benefit.
The current approach of adding small buffs or increases seems too tedious to keep track of for the minimal gains and upgrading relics is going way too slowly. My 3* relics adding 2-3% to a buff or stat is fairly meaningless. Maybe fully ranked up it’s more noticeable but at the current rate I’m getting rank-up materials I don’t know when I’ll start seeing a value there. To be fair, I have no idea what most 5/6* relics do because I only have one 5* relic and I’m just not motivated to go down the rabbit hole to learn about them yet.
Right now they are strikers to me and that’s about it.
With there being a pause, I think some existing relics could do with revisiting; while there was an understandable caution with making relics too powerful, the early ones were a bit hit and miss. The last three have been better.
For me, I've not really spent much in the way of time or resources ranking up relics - where I have, the benefit doesn't seem to match up with what I expect; benefits seem marginal or pretty much nonexistent.
The one thing that I am really hopeful that they look at is the idea of Synergy Relics. It reuses existing mechanics and could replace the need for champion buffs in some instances.
https://forums.playcontestofchampions.com/en/discussion/315318/future-of-progression-relics-7-stars-and-ascension-roadmap-discussion-thread/p1
* cut down on development time
* reduce additional testing time
* avoid unbalancing a champion
* improve a character without adding new abilities
* affect multiple characters
* make them desirable to the community
Do we know if the team have looked at the Synergy approach and discounted it based on a particular issue e.g. reduced demand for higher rarity of Relic?
But I've not spent more than 600 units over relics, because they're not comparable to a champion. They're a little added bonus, a utility. @Kabam Miike I bet the overall criticism and cold reception from the community is related only to one factor: they're overpriced!
They are worth it, they are pretty awesome.