Sunday, March 18, 2012

Playtest After-Action Report: 3/16

Holy s*yay*t, it's been a long time since I've done an update... I blame my hellacious school schedule, as well as my uber hatred of discrete math. :/ ...Anyway, I'll try to keep this relatively short, since I still have a ton of proofs to get through. So... Let's do this thing.

We got through two games. The first had Rarity and Twilight teaming up against Rainbow and Applejack. It...it was a massacre. The first three rounds saw everypony collecting resources. After that, there wasn't a single round that passed without either RD or AJ dead. Rarity had the most success, though. She managed to one-shot AJ, then killed RD from outside the room she was hiding in. Twi didn't see as much action, but she got her own kills in. AJ and RD, on the other hand... They didn't make a single attack, until the last round of the game (a portable nuke on Rarity, who only took 2 damage...) Yeah. It wasn't pretty. Or all that informative, for that matter. But, GOD, was it hilarious.

The second game had Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie Pie in a free-for-all, with Rainbow Dash joining the fray later on. Rarity didn't fare quite so well this game. She was fragged early and often. Though she did end up scoring a frag on Pinkie early on, everypony else kinda beat up on her. Eventually, she decided to quit the battle altogether, and let Rainbow take her place. Rainbow saw much more success. She used her speed (and a flamethrower) to devastating effect. Fluttershy saw about as much success as Rarity. She scored a few more kills than Rarity, but she spent the majority of the match trying to avoid everypony else, especially Pinkie and Rainbow. Applejack started off strong, but then found herself the target of an allied Pinkie and Rainbow. Her massive health (and a large supply of gadgets) couldn't save her from the two of them. Pinkie had the most success in the game. She started off a little slow, but used overcharged pistols, missile launchers, and flamethrowers to work over the entire board.

Awesome Moments:
  • Rarity used a missile launcher (dealing double damage) to one-shot Applejack, then got in LOS to Rainbow, whereupon she scored a head shot with the electromagnetic cannon.
  • Rarity took two damage from Rainbow Dash's portable nuke. The attack didn't even make a dent in her med pack stash.
  • Applejack Bull Rushed Fluttershy into a wall, then filled her dazed head with buckshot. Instakill.
  • Pinkie used magic bullet to hit Fluttershy and Rainbow...with a flamethrower.
  • Applejack, armed with heavy armor and a small stash of med packs, was killed in a single round by Pinkie, armed with a flamethrower, missile launcher, targeting helmet, and bonus damage.
Individual Pony Breakdowns

Applejack:
The tweaked language of her Unencumbered ability balanced that ability quite well. Her Bull Rush is much more useful now, while not being overpowered. And Applebucking is still Applebucking. I'd say AJ's perfectly balanced now.

Rarity:
She's still a glass cannon. When she hits, she hits hard, but she's VERY susceptible to attackers. I've had a few people call her OP, but she tends to fare quite poorly when she faces frequent attacks before she has the change to gather resources. In other words, her abilities don't make her powerful; the skill with which she's played does. I think she's fine. ...Then again, Rarity's my main... :3

Fluttershy:
She saw an ~80% success rate with I'm a Tree's tweak (success on 5 or 6). She might have benefited from several lucky rolls (many of those successes were 6's) but it's something to watch. If she continues having that much success with that ability, though, it needs to be pushed back up to success on a 6 only.

Twilight Sparkle:
She saw a lot more FRAG success, but she didn't make much use of her abilities. Since she wasn't attacked in the game she played, she didn't get to try out the new Teleport tweak. Also, she hasn't used EXTREME Focus in a single game I've run. I still think that ability needs to be reworked somewhat, since I can't think of a time when she'd actually be able to make use of it.

Rainbow Dash:
No problems here. She didn't Sonic Rainboom, but I like it being its own separate attack. Her Quick Trigger tweak didn't really come into play, and Super Speed saw a few uses. However, the tweaked language for these abilities wasn't of much effect, since her attacks were at point-blank range. I think both need a little more extensive testing, though.

Pinkie Pie:
Didn't use Pinkie Sense once, despite being attacked several times. Hop, Skip, and Jump was used, but I think it should go back to its original wording. Most of the obstacles on the board can be jumped in three spaces, and given Pinkie's new potential speed loss, having jump automatically set to 5 makes that loss less potent. Anyway, Pinkie, You're So Random is an awesome ability. I set her roll results to the following: on a 1, she loses one speed for that round; on a 2, she loses one accuracy for that round; on a 3 she gets CUPCAKES, or absolutely nothing; on a 4, she teleports to any spawn point; on a 5, she gets a gadget; on a 6, she gets a weapon. The teleportation addition was quite nice, making Pinkie much more versatile; the possible negatives keeps it from being broken. Several teleportations were made, but just as many speed and accuracy losses were taken. An epic *brohoof* to Kelly for coming up with it.

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