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News about PvP During next update, alongside the class changes that were already announced last week, we will implement improvements on PvP. Our Lead Game Designer, Azael, tells you everything you want to know about these changes.
Hey party people!

I'm very pleased to announce the modifications we're going to make to the PvP system with the next update, alongside the balancing changes.

These are only the first changes we're going to make. We plan to really develop this aspect of the game in future, rules-wise as well as in terms of the PvP content we're going to add.

For this first phase of modifications, we have tried to make combats longer and reinforce the tactical aspect of the PvP game.

As always, we'll be looking forward to hearing what you think so that we can develop a PvP system that you like.

Balancing and HP bonus for PvP fights

One of the changes we're going to implement is a very simple way to balance basic PvP: by raising the number of Health Points you have!

The way it works is simple: when a player enters a PvP fight, his Health Points are automatically multiplied by 3. The player can view his PvP Health Points in his health bar whenever he likes - they'll be displayed in a different colour.

This means that even if your opponent plays first, you'll both have to fight for longer and play more tactically. Similarly, you'll have to pay more attention to your stock of Wakfu Points. Gone are the days of hot-headed PvP fights which are over in two turns!

Oh, one little thing... During fights between players, the calculation of certain spells' effects will be based on the players' basic HP rather than on their total HP with the PvP boost taken into account.

Here are the spells for which this is the case:

• Sacrier: Coagulation
• Ecaflip: Black Bow Meow, Hairy Moon Tarot, Meowtyrdom Tarot, The Croquette
• Eniripsa: Sadist Mark, Regeneration, Transcendence, Coney, Massacuring Mark
• Enutrof: Drhellzerker, Phone a Frhend, Combat Training
• Pandawa: Master of Merriment
• Sram: Torment
• Sadida: Doll

These modifications will make fights longer and more tactical. Combined with the class balancing changes that you have been reading about this week, they should enable us to set down some solid bases to help PvP in the right direction.

New Timeline system

This system is going to have an impact on both PvP and PvE, so it's important that we explain it in this devblog.

We have decided to alter the current Timeline system to put more emphasis on strategy and prevent killer combos that depend entirely on players' Initiative.

The Timeline is the Initiative gauge displayed on the right-hand side of your screen during fights. It determines the order in which players and their opponents play.


We are going to change the way the Timeline calculates game turns. Now, these calculations will take place at the end of the preparation stage and will be done in two steps:

If several players have the same Initiative, they will be put in order as follows:

• The player with the highest level will play first and so on.
• If the players are the same level, turn order will be decided at random.

If one team contains more players than the other, the turn order will still be defined as described above. The bigger team might therefore have several characters playing in a row.
Here's a little example of the system:
We are aware that this new system will reduce the importance of Initiative in the game. However, we are planning to review the Speed system in an upcoming update in order to:

• Make it easier for players to understand how the game works;
• Make Initiative more important in the combat system again;
• Give fights a better rhythm, with Initiative bonuses appearing sooner and more regularly.

We will let you know when this review is under way.

"No aggro" state

Many of the community's players have spoken to us about experiencing constant aggro. That's why, in this update, we're going to implement a "no aggro" state.

When a player is killed as a result of a PvP attack, he will automatically enter this state. For 5 minutes, it will be impossible to aggro him.

If the player engages in any kind of PvP activity during this 5 minute period, the state will disappear. That means that if you attack a player whilst you're in the "no aggro" state, you will lose the state.

This restriction will be developed over the course of future PvP updates to take data and findings into account. Our aim is to curb behaviour that is detrimental to your in-game experience, not to introduce immunity to PvP or other flaws in the PvP system.

KenKO

I'm almost done here, but first up, I have a modification to report concerning KenKO, the item that allows you to revive someone outside battle. This item will now apply the De Darm state (like after coming back to life using a regular Phoenix).

That's all for now! As I mentioned earlier in this devblog, these changes are only the beginning. I'll be in touch soon to let you know how we're progressing with regards to these issues and to tell you about other improvements we're planning to make for PvP!

Azael answers a question about mines and the “no aggro” state

Getting in a mine is not (yet) considered as a PvP action but will be when we revamp the outlaw system (mines will then have an important role).

Of course if the “no aggro” duration is too short we might change it.

Freyrr talks about the longer duration of the fights and the WP situation:

In WAKFU, the solution to limit some of the spells (and force tactic decisions) was to add a WP cost, limited to 6 per fight, contrarily to Dofus where a cooldown was used.

However, in the current PvP fights, this limit has no use since everyone can spend his WP without depleting them before the end of the fight.

If we increase the duration of fights, without changing the amount of WP, we limit the use of costly spells which we think will bring tactic back in combat.
We shouldn’t see this situation anymore where one could just spam his WP spell until death of the opponent. He will now have to manage his WP pool, make choices and therefore, use more strategy.

Concerning classes that require a lot of WP (such as Xelors), we know that this will have a deep impact on your gameplay.
Yes, you will no longer be able to always use your dial while using Devotion each turns. You will have to make decisions. Be aware however that the rebalancing takes your WP needs into account, and even though it might not be perfect with next patch, due to a limited time to test PvP with this new HP feature, we will tweak it down the road.