Hello. This is GM Leon and my life is nothing without water.

I have not posted a system preview in a long while. Mastery is a topic that I have touched upon briefly in my streams. To explain how I am approaching the issue, I’ve written up this post. Please read at your pleasure.

# Tidbits on the Mastery Overhaul

<First, thank you!>

To the very end of Season 3, we have received your feedback via in-game inquiry, official communities, and other means of communication. We are grateful that you would love Black Survival so much that you would pore over the game and share your insight with us. We may not be able to reflect on every piece of feedback, but we try. :)

<Main Feedback Issues>

1. Skills are boring!

It is true that character skills are not as impactful as those found in other games. Recently we have implemented skill sound, but we still have quite a way to go. However, the more fundamental issue may be that character skills do not have that much weight within the gameplay in my analysis. Except for combat skills that use normal attack as basis or certain field skills, it is true that character skills are not that exciting. This has been pointed out by our fans.

2. All characters play the same!

The first and second points are not unrelated. Since character’s unique skills don’t deliver much impact, all characters end up following the same gameplay arc. They level up, they gain mastery, they farm food, and so on. Once the player has figured out how to play with a weapon type, most characters follow the same gameplay. To win in a match, common factors such as those mentioned before matter more than unique skills.

3. Mastery system is too hard!

To make the mastery system easier to understand, we have tried nearly everything. However, it is still incomprehensible to most newcomers and even mid-heavy players do not understand it entirely. It is still unclear how to use the system to one’s advantage even after studying it explicitly. To most the mastery system is some incomprehensible and invisible force that affects things seemingly randomly.

<Points of Interest>

1. Basic Attack

“Then can’t you just buff skills?” Well, I don’t really know what to say to that. Not because it’s a dumb question. It’s actually the very opposite. Still then, I don’t have a good answer because the problem is that basic attacks are too powerful.

After damage calculation has become a multiplicative system with Season 3, basic attacks are not as powerful as they used to be in Season 1 and 2. Even then, the difference is that it used to take 1 to 3 hits to take down an end-game enemy and now it takes 2 to 4 hits to do the same. Because mastery bumps damage with every 10 points, basic attacks get stronger and stronger as game time passes.

To note, skills such as Aya’s Double Shot, Silvia’s Rush + Blitz combo, and Leon’s Human Torpedo had been controversial. One is because they can be overwhelmingly powerful under certain conditions. One is because they kick ass if you are the one using them. One thing they all share in common is that they are based on the basic attack. The skills add damage on top of it, so players can feel that they get stronger over time.

2. Understanding the Mastery System

“Ok, so Hand is beating people up with my fists. But what’s that number?” and similar are one of the most frequent questions asked by new players. With some experience, one will eventually come to understand the meaning of the number. However, like I said above, it is far too difficult to figure out what the number actually signifies and how to pump it up to your advantage. Sure, it goes up when you hit someone, but the number’s impact is hard to compare intuitively. This all adds up to an abstract and ineffable game system. To fix this, there needs to be a simple, straightforward indicator.

<So What Now?>

To summarize, we will tone down basic attacks and overhaul the mastery system. To elaborate, the damage delivered by basic attacks are intrinsically tied to the mastery system, so fixing the latter will naturally fix the former.

Step 1: Ranked Mastery

In the last Flow of Consciousness stream, I briefly mentioned this concept called “Object”. In game design, the object is a gameplay element that creates a goal and can be achieved with a strategy. Examples may include the titles in Mabinogi (“Foobar Who Slew a Bear at Age 10”) and numerical levels in many RPGs.

Implementing mastery ranks will not drastically change the system by itself, but with it mastery rating becomes a clearer object. With a simple, easy-to-understand rank assigned to mastery, players will have something to work toward. Instead of every 10 points increasing attack damage without limit, the number of attacks delivered will indicate what rank the character’s mastery will be and the rank will provide special effects. (Below is a working draft and the numbers are in constant testing)

Example 1)

By having each rank require different number of attacks, the mastery system can be more fine-tuned. Each rank may provide different bonuses and penalties to the character’s basic attack.

Example 2)

With clearer in-game goals displayed, mastery becomes a more visible gameplay element.

Step 2: Contextual Balancing

With ranked masteries, there are a few advantages. Let me share with you two things that are being intensely tested internally. First, masteries may be balanced in a time-sensitive manner. Right now, every attack increases mastery by 2 flat, but with the new system I can adjust the number of attacks required to raise up in rank. With the current draft, mastery won’t be as significant a factor as it is now once a game has gone past the third area restriction.

Second, masteries can be differentiated. Perhaps Gun Mastery increases from D to C quickly. Perhaps Hand Mastery ramps up only after A. With this approach, it is possible to assign a time period in a match when certain weapon types can be powerful. Speaking long-term, each weapon type may gain unique traits. Right now, the only thing high mastery gives is more damage. Later on, perhaps Bow Mastery at S has “Ignore 10% of enemy’s Armor with critical hits”, perhaps Stab Mastery at SS gives “Skill dmg +15% with Combat Skills”. Playing with a certain weapon type will create a very different gameplay than others. This is good. There is also possibility that new strategies that depend on the synergy between Item Skills and mastery bonus..

Step 3: More Distinct Characters

Ultimately, the goal is to move past the simplistic gameplay arc and make every character play differently. With more impactful character skills, each character will have to take a different approach. Further, I would like to get to this point by making character stats more distinct.

<The New Meta>

A certain fan has analyzed that the most frequent victors across time have always had high health total. In my interpretation, this is because tougher characters can take one more hit from enemies with high mastery. There may have been other factors, but I believe that was the core of the issue.

With ranked mastery, the late-game will not depend so much on basic attacks and this will free up design space. We can try for more variety. Clever use of skills, item combinations, bonus synergies, and so on may happen. Of course, this does not mean that mastery is going away. Actually, with the new system, mastery will find a different but significant place in the metagame of Black Survival.

It goes without saying that this game design approach is beset on all sides. There will be testing. A lot of testing. Character skills need to be defined to be more colorful and flavorful. Average gameplay time needs to be measured as basic attacks will become less powerful. Beyond gameplay itself, there are issues with in-game UI and lobby text. This won’t be an easy project.

To clarify, however, all of this is in constant development and subject to change. But I believe we have found the new design direction and we probably will not stray far from it. Please share your opinion with us!

Thank you.