How to balance Element TD
A short introduction to what we do here.
(Status for version 4.0pb)
This is about pick. Samerandom is allways balanced, and allrandom never will be.
The first step to ballance is to make all towers of the same level equally strong. So zealot, quaker, tidal, laser, and impulse (all are damage towers, triples, level 1) should have the same damage/gold/second, when used correctly. In fact, impulse and laser should do a bit more dmg than the others when microed, and less then the average when left to do as they feel like. We don't even have all towers working yet, so we cannot start to balance them against each other for now.
But there is another balance problem: Balancing the builds.
Back in the days of eletd 3.0, there were some good builds (like ldwf or lwdn) and bad builds (like dfne), so when playing pick competitively, dfne was suicide.
What we are trying with the 4.0 is to get all builds decent. So whatever elements you choose, there should allways be a way to win. This does of course not mean, that choosing earth 3 times in a row is valid, it means: No matter if you play 4, 5, or 6 elements, and no matter which sorts of elements you choose, it should be possible to win. But if you go eee$$$ you are as doomed as allways.
In our current plans we have 3 strong duals and 8 strong triples, and a strong dual is supposed to be more than twice as valuable as the strong triples. These strong towers are all support towers, and they are spread out over the builds, so each build has it's share. All other towers have to be damage towers only. No slow, no armour reduction or boosting other towers, only the 3+8 can do that.
The planned result looks like this:
[pre:2kypxpeh]Strong dual - 2 points
Strong tripple - 1 point
Pts. Build
4 ldwf
4 ldwn
4 ldwe
4 ldfn
4 ldfe
4 ldne
4 lwfn
4 lwfe
4 lwne
4 lfne
4 dwfn
4 dwfe
4 dwne
4 dfne
4 wfne[/pre:2kypxpeh]
With "points" beeing a value to determine the relative strength of the towers. (Calculated on a simple calc sheet.)
[pre:2kypxpeh]Or a bit more complex (and different points):
Category Maximum points
Overall 26
Four-element builds 26
Five-element builds 26
Six-element builds 26
Worst build maximum 24 (The 4-ele-builds with 2 strong duals)[/pre:2kypxpeh]
We did this calculation with this tool.
So far (version 4.0pb), we failed. In the pb, taking all 6 elements is much stronger than getting only 4. The power of the builds in 4.0pb (as calculated on a very complex calc sheet):
4 Element builds - ~30 dmg/gold/sec
5 Element builds - ~50 dmg/gold/sec
6 Element builds - ~130 dmg/gold/sec
And since 130 is more than 30, we need to work on that.
So the plan is:
1.) Get all towers into a form that works and can be ballanced. Make sure that only the 3+8 are support, and everything else is damage.
2.) Get all damage towers equally strong. This should take into account that some require micro (they need to do more damage to be worth it) or give life or gold (like life tower or gold tower; they need to be weaker).
3.) Get the right support strengths to get all builds equal. This requires to give maxed duals (which are hard to get with many elements) enough relative power to balance out much low level support (as in a 6 ele build).
[pre:2kypxpeh]Here is a current list of all 2- and 3-element towers (4.0 pb):
ldwfne
# 1 ++ LD Trickery Mimics towers
2 + + LW Ice Single target slow and dot (like poison in 3.0)
3 + + LF Electricity Bouncing spell dmg (a bit like metal in 3.0)
4 + + LN Life Gains life with kills (but slower life gain than in 3.0)
5 + + LE Quantum Can teleport itself, lands with a bang
6 ++ DW Poison Dmg in a line (like sun in 3.0)
7 + + DF Magic Extra dmg with mana based spell.
8 + + DN Disease Summons evil flies (aoe dmg)
9 + + DE Gunpowder Long range splash tower
10 ++ WF Kindle Aoe dot (a bit like steam in 3.0)
#11 + + WN Well Speeds up other towers
12 + + WE Hydro Sometimes throws a unit in the air, dealing splash when they land
13 ++ FN Flame Single target slow and increases dmg taken
#14 + + FE Blacksmith Gives your towers a boost on dmg
15 ++ NE Mushroom Can cast sporecloud on itself for some extra speed
ldwfne
1 +++ LDW Hail Can go multitarget from time to time
2 ++ + LDF Jinx Warps creeps back on the path and damages them
3 ++ + LDN Oblivion Summons skeletons
4 ++ + LDE Laser Does more damage on closer targets
# 5 + ++ LWF Windstorm Creates moving aoe slowing and dot hurricane
6 + + + LWN Tidal Charges an aoe attack for every 10 attacks, can be discharged
# 7 + + + LWE Polar Temporarily decreases targets health
# 8 + ++ LFN Nova Dmg and slow to all creeps in range
9 + + + LFE Gold Gives bonus gold
#10 + ++ LNE Enchantment Decreases creeps armour
#11 +++ DWF Corrosion Dot and armour reduction debuff, aplied with a splash
12 ++ + DWN Drowning Chance for instant kill based on targets health
#13 ++ + DWE Muck Splash attack and aoe slow with that (much like ice in 3.0)
#14 + ++ DFN Voodoo Units get extra dmg based on dmg taken since cursed
15 + + + DFE Flamethrower Rapid fire splash tower with incinerate
#16 + ++ DNE Roots Slows all creeps in a line with dot
17 +++ WFN Impulse Does more damage the further away the target is
18 ++ + WFE Zeal Gets faster and faster the longer it fires w/o pause
19 + ++ WNE Flesh Golem Grows and grows while dealing dmg
20 +++ FNE Quaker Has a chance to do splash dmg
# - One of the stronger support towers[/pre:2kypxpeh]
