Hi guys! Some of you might remember the "Several Hero-related techniques that I don't see other Heroes use often" blogpost from 2014. In the past few months I've been considering to write a second chapter to share new things
I might find over time. Ever since I used my first self-made GIF in another blogpost, the feedback was positive because it was enlightening for what I wanted to share - and eventually I considered to use GIFs in EMS blogposts too. Especially for blogposts about these kind of subjects, a GIF might explain a lot better than what I was trying to do with that blogpost from 2014 (in example, point 6 about using Rush to clip through platforms was a tough one to explain in words).
The changes to the Hero class during the Reboot update (which just hit EMS last Wednesday, together with the Zakum the Newborn update) felt a bit controversial to me at first, despite I could understand the need for these changes. While most veteran Heroes might not complain about the mobility of the class (because it's freaking damn scary in the right hands), most new players might struggle against the steep learning curve or the "monotone" gameplay of the class and rather pick a different class. Whenever you compare Hero with the other two Adventure Warriors (Dark Knight and Paladin), most people would still feel something that is "missing" and that Hero is overshadowed by both. Well yeah, even as a Hero main for the past eight years, I won't deny this.
Table of Contents
The new Shout
Many significant changes to Shout happened in the past decade, because Shout was still rather an underused skill. Things such as the damage, casting speed and hitbox has improved, but without really big success apparently. There's many possible reasons for "why" it is underused, but Nexon tried their best to improve its appeal.
To me, the Shout we got from the RED update felt "proper". It really had its distinct role when you compared it to the other skills of Hero - including the Ultimate Adventure's Soul Driver variant. This Shout was nearly "instant", had a practical hitbox, didn't feel too "out of place", and did some fair damage. Perhaps doing two or three lines would have made it a bit more "welcomed" by others. However, Reboot did some adjustments to it.
Shout still remains nearly "instant". It can now charge Combo Orbs. Its hitbox has been increased dramatically, together with its damage and maximum targets - however, in order to balance the scales, it gained a 10 second cooldown and reduced stun duration. Maxing out Puncture raises the initial damage of Shout passively. Not only that, you also have the option to consume two Combo Orbs to increase the hitbox and damage even further, which gives it some significant impact on the entire Hero skill tree.
To me, this new Shout feels mixed. I think it has to do with the 10 second cooldown and the usage of Combo Orbs (especially with the readjustments after Heroes of Maple). I also find it odd that regardless whenever if you use the "Combo-reinforced" Shout or not it still shares the same cooldown, which results in you just always using the Combo-reinforced one because it is much more useful (well, this fact will be adjusted during the Heroes of Maple update).
I kind of do miss the fact that you can "spam" Shout and it being independent from Combo Attack - even though Soul Driver is an Area of Effect too, both skills play and feel very different. I'm sure I just need some time to get used to this new version of Shout!
I might find over time. Ever since I used my first self-made GIF in another blogpost, the feedback was positive because it was enlightening for what I wanted to share - and eventually I considered to use GIFs in EMS blogposts too. Especially for blogposts about these kind of subjects, a GIF might explain a lot better than what I was trying to do with that blogpost from 2014 (in example, point 6 about using Rush to clip through platforms was a tough one to explain in words).
The changes to the Hero class during the Reboot update (which just hit EMS last Wednesday, together with the Zakum the Newborn update) felt a bit controversial to me at first, despite I could understand the need for these changes. While most veteran Heroes might not complain about the mobility of the class (because it's freaking damn scary in the right hands), most new players might struggle against the steep learning curve or the "monotone" gameplay of the class and rather pick a different class. Whenever you compare Hero with the other two Adventure Warriors (Dark Knight and Paladin), most people would still feel something that is "missing" and that Hero is overshadowed by both. Well yeah, even as a Hero main for the past eight years, I won't deny this.
Throughout the years, Shout has been probably one of the most changed skill in Hero's lifetime. Originally when 3rd job was released somewhere before 2005, Shout was a rather slow area of effect that was intended to stun enemies.
Because the older versions of Maple had a rather harsh difference between melee and long-ranged classes, having area of effects on warriors was rather controversial back in the day - Shout's damage was a hilarious 30% of your initial damage, but that was required to prevent things to get out of hand. Whenever if you would agree with the original Dragon Roar or Soul Driver is another story (that is why we need and have revamps nowadays).
Many significant changes to Shout happened in the past decade, because Shout was still rather an underused skill. Things such as the damage, casting speed and hitbox has improved, but without really big success apparently. There's many possible reasons for "why" it is underused, but Nexon tried their best to improve its appeal.
To me, the Shout we got from the RED update felt "proper". It really had its distinct role when you compared it to the other skills of Hero - including the Ultimate Adventure's Soul Driver variant. This Shout was nearly "instant", had a practical hitbox, didn't feel too "out of place", and did some fair damage. Perhaps doing two or three lines would have made it a bit more "welcomed" by others. However, Reboot did some adjustments to it.
Shout still remains nearly "instant". It can now charge Combo Orbs. Its hitbox has been increased dramatically, together with its damage and maximum targets - however, in order to balance the scales, it gained a 10 second cooldown and reduced stun duration. Maxing out Puncture raises the initial damage of Shout passively. Not only that, you also have the option to consume two Combo Orbs to increase the hitbox and damage even further, which gives it some significant impact on the entire Hero skill tree.
To me, this new Shout feels mixed. I think it has to do with the 10 second cooldown and the usage of Combo Orbs (especially with the readjustments after Heroes of Maple). I also find it odd that regardless whenever if you use the "Combo-reinforced" Shout or not it still shares the same cooldown, which results in you just always using the Combo-reinforced one because it is much more useful (well, this fact will be adjusted during the Heroes of Maple update).
I kind of do miss the fact that you can "spam" Shout and it being independent from Combo Attack - even though Soul Driver is an Area of Effect too, both skills play and feel very different. I'm sure I just need some time to get used to this new version of Shout!
Return to Table of Contents
The new Combo Force
Combo Force is a skill that is as old as Rush - it was originally released under the name "Monster Magnet" when 4th job was released somewhere in 2006.
Before the Big Bang update, Monster Magnet was one of those skills that had a reach dependent on its Skill Level, similar to the original Rush and Shout. Leaving it on Level 1 made it relatively weak, and because you never could max out everything at Level 200 back then, Monster Magnet was overshadowed by Rush and thus it was left at Level 18/30 when you hit 200.
In order to pull enemies towards you, you needed to hold down the key to "charge". When you kept it at a maximum charge for a while or when you released the assigned hotkey you'll cast a magnet that would pull with a succession percentage - its percentage was affected by the Skill Level and the "charge" - at its absolute maximum (Level 30 and fully charged) it was 95%. It is worth to mention that Monster Magnet is one of those rare skills in this game that didn't hit an enemy when you casted it - you could pull the enemy, but it would do no damage to it. However, it would draw aggro, so monsters like Skelesaurus would start firing their magic attacks because they became hostile.
After the Big Bang update, they changed Monster Magnet on a fantastic way. Monster Magnet would now have a 100% pulling rate and instant maximum reach regardless of level, it wouldn't need to be charged so it would pull immediately and it did damage - making Monster Magnet a sort of "long-ranged" attack for all warriors that had it.
It also had 100% chance to stun, making it a valuable skill to combine it with Brave Slash, because stunned enemies gives Hero a 125% bonus damage on them because of the skill Chance Attack. This skill became a very important one to me, because usually when you start engaging targets, Monster Magnet was the one to manipulate their positions in your favor (especially because 4th job-specific maps were significantly larger than others in order to suit the larger skill hitboxes, monsters where scattered in inconvenient places and Hero didn't have any proper transportation skill prior to the Jump update).
Similar to Rush and Achilles, Monster Magnet were one of the few skills shared between the Hero, Paladin and
Dark Knight classes. Eventually this did change, which include the removal of Achilles from Hero and Dark Knight,
the loss (and eventual return) of Monster Magnet for Paladin, shifting Rush from fourth to third job, etc.
Monster Magnet was removed entirely in the end and was reintroduced as "Combo Force" (also known as
"Combo Fury" in some versions) for Hero's second job advancement, Fighter.
The original Combo Force required one Combo Orb in order to cast, while the original Monster Magnet was independent and even charged Combo Orbs. It had 80% chance to stun an enemy when you pulled it - the pulling percentage was 100%, as long as you didn't miss an attack (similar to Monster Magnet). In addition, compared to Monster Magnet, it had two lines instead of one. The maximum targets you could affect was 8 (instead of 6), and if you stunned an enemy (one of any targets you affected), the Combo Orb that was consumed would be returned instantly. Especially with the latter, it encouraged the player to only use Combo Force with more than two enemies.
At first, this Combo Force was a bit of a downgrade. But I was glad to see that Nexon noticed this downgrade so they readjusted Combo Force. It would no longer require one Combo Orb to cast, and in fact, it had a 80% independent chance to charge a Combo Orb. Similar to the original version, the more enemies you would affect, the more likely it was to charge a Combo Orb (because three times 80% is significantly harder to fail than one times 80%).
Combo Force became one of the most important skills for Hero, because after the RED update, (Advanced) Combo Attack stopped having a 100% chance to charge. If you needed a(n almost) guaranteed charge, Combo Force at least three enemies and you're likely to be set. Especially when they introduced Puncture, which became one of the most important mobbing skills for Hero, recharging what you just consumed as soon as possible was crucial.
Reboot gave Combo Force an additional feature, similar to what they did with Shout. The "Combo-reinforced" Combo Force was something rather unexpected. Instead of Combo Force being a "pulling a target" move, you would pull yourself towards an enemy instead. While we have seen this skill with Bowmasters and Marksmen since the RED update (Hookshot), two crucial differences makes Combo Force objectively more powerful...
The first significant difference is what I tend to call "zero anchor". Hookshot requires a minimum set of distance between you and a target in order to make it work. This would result in the fact that both Bowmasters and Marksmen are limited by the position between them and a target. "Combo Hookshot" (as I prefer to call the Combo-reinforced Combo Force because that is a mouthful) does not have a minimum distance in order to make it work, so it allows a Hero to use Combo Force as a means of upward transportation (see it as a grappling hook). While Bowmasters and Marksmen both have an upward Flash Jump for that (and Bowmaster having Retreat Shot too), let's not forget that for a class like Hero, this really is a significant change.
The second significant difference is the maximum targets that you can affect. Combo Hookshot remains having a maximum of eight targets, and slowly it is made clear why the original Hookshot from Bowmaster and Marksman can only affect one. One can argue that Bowmasters and Marksmen have their own respective summons without being Ultimate Adventure or the use of Boss Souls/Veracent (and let's not forget the installed Arrow Platter and Arrow Illusion), just look at the GIF. How does that even remotely work? My best guess is that the game calculates the required distance and height between the starting point and the end, and affect all targets in that shape (whenever it's some sort of pizza slice or something that is shaped closely to it).
But yeah, this is something that is damn scary and worrying to look at. Let's not forget that in Tespia, they replaced the original Combo Force with this "feature" but eventually decided not to. The fact that after removing this idea they smuggled it to a later update as an addition to the original Combo Force is worse, in my opinion.
While the skill itself is already questionable, let's not forget that besides for this "new" Shout and Combo Force, it's all in addition. You still have (an improved) Rage Uprising, Puncture, Soul Driver, Rush, (Enraged) Raging Blow's ridiculous y-axis, the original Combo Force and Sengoku Secret Manual. Just the entire picture by itself feels a bit worrying. Too much, in that regard. Perhaps for most players who don't or never play Hero and play the more popular classes, I could understand if you are like "naaaahh Ray, it is not -that- bad". Fair enough, because the amount of Heroes in Europe have always been limited.
Phew, I hope this blogpost was not too long and hopefully it was informative! I'm slowly working on my Kinesis now so expect a blogpost for that. In a few days the next wave of LEGO® sets is coming out so expect some Black light posts too! Should I write more of these blogposts in the future? Should I continue using GIFs on my blog? I'm actually considering using them for my MK projects too.
That's it for today - I'll see you guys again next post!
Combo Force is a skill that is as old as Rush - it was originally released under the name "Monster Magnet" when 4th job was released somewhere in 2006.
Before the Big Bang update, Monster Magnet was one of those skills that had a reach dependent on its Skill Level, similar to the original Rush and Shout. Leaving it on Level 1 made it relatively weak, and because you never could max out everything at Level 200 back then, Monster Magnet was overshadowed by Rush and thus it was left at Level 18/30 when you hit 200.
In order to pull enemies towards you, you needed to hold down the key to "charge". When you kept it at a maximum charge for a while or when you released the assigned hotkey you'll cast a magnet that would pull with a succession percentage - its percentage was affected by the Skill Level and the "charge" - at its absolute maximum (Level 30 and fully charged) it was 95%. It is worth to mention that Monster Magnet is one of those rare skills in this game that didn't hit an enemy when you casted it - you could pull the enemy, but it would do no damage to it. However, it would draw aggro, so monsters like Skelesaurus would start firing their magic attacks because they became hostile.
After the Big Bang update, they changed Monster Magnet on a fantastic way. Monster Magnet would now have a 100% pulling rate and instant maximum reach regardless of level, it wouldn't need to be charged so it would pull immediately and it did damage - making Monster Magnet a sort of "long-ranged" attack for all warriors that had it.
It also had 100% chance to stun, making it a valuable skill to combine it with Brave Slash, because stunned enemies gives Hero a 125% bonus damage on them because of the skill Chance Attack. This skill became a very important one to me, because usually when you start engaging targets, Monster Magnet was the one to manipulate their positions in your favor (especially because 4th job-specific maps were significantly larger than others in order to suit the larger skill hitboxes, monsters where scattered in inconvenient places and Hero didn't have any proper transportation skill prior to the Jump update).
Similar to Rush and Achilles, Monster Magnet were one of the few skills shared between the Hero, Paladin and
Dark Knight classes. Eventually this did change, which include the removal of Achilles from Hero and Dark Knight,
the loss (and eventual return) of Monster Magnet for Paladin, shifting Rush from fourth to third job, etc.
Monster Magnet was removed entirely in the end and was reintroduced as "Combo Force" (also known as
"Combo Fury" in some versions) for Hero's second job advancement, Fighter.
The original Combo Force required one Combo Orb in order to cast, while the original Monster Magnet was independent and even charged Combo Orbs. It had 80% chance to stun an enemy when you pulled it - the pulling percentage was 100%, as long as you didn't miss an attack (similar to Monster Magnet). In addition, compared to Monster Magnet, it had two lines instead of one. The maximum targets you could affect was 8 (instead of 6), and if you stunned an enemy (one of any targets you affected), the Combo Orb that was consumed would be returned instantly. Especially with the latter, it encouraged the player to only use Combo Force with more than two enemies.
At first, this Combo Force was a bit of a downgrade. But I was glad to see that Nexon noticed this downgrade so they readjusted Combo Force. It would no longer require one Combo Orb to cast, and in fact, it had a 80% independent chance to charge a Combo Orb. Similar to the original version, the more enemies you would affect, the more likely it was to charge a Combo Orb (because three times 80% is significantly harder to fail than one times 80%).
Combo Force became one of the most important skills for Hero, because after the RED update, (Advanced) Combo Attack stopped having a 100% chance to charge. If you needed a(n almost) guaranteed charge, Combo Force at least three enemies and you're likely to be set. Especially when they introduced Puncture, which became one of the most important mobbing skills for Hero, recharging what you just consumed as soon as possible was crucial.
Reboot gave Combo Force an additional feature, similar to what they did with Shout. The "Combo-reinforced" Combo Force was something rather unexpected. Instead of Combo Force being a "pulling a target" move, you would pull yourself towards an enemy instead. While we have seen this skill with Bowmasters and Marksmen since the RED update (Hookshot), two crucial differences makes Combo Force objectively more powerful...
The first significant difference is what I tend to call "zero anchor". Hookshot requires a minimum set of distance between you and a target in order to make it work. This would result in the fact that both Bowmasters and Marksmen are limited by the position between them and a target. "Combo Hookshot" (as I prefer to call the Combo-reinforced Combo Force because that is a mouthful) does not have a minimum distance in order to make it work, so it allows a Hero to use Combo Force as a means of upward transportation (see it as a grappling hook). While Bowmasters and Marksmen both have an upward Flash Jump for that (and Bowmaster having Retreat Shot too), let's not forget that for a class like Hero, this really is a significant change.
The second significant difference is the maximum targets that you can affect. Combo Hookshot remains having a maximum of eight targets, and slowly it is made clear why the original Hookshot from Bowmaster and Marksman can only affect one. One can argue that Bowmasters and Marksmen have their own respective summons without being Ultimate Adventure or the use of Boss Souls/Veracent (and let's not forget the installed Arrow Platter and Arrow Illusion), just look at the GIF. How does that even remotely work? My best guess is that the game calculates the required distance and height between the starting point and the end, and affect all targets in that shape (whenever it's some sort of pizza slice or something that is shaped closely to it).
But yeah, this is something that is damn scary and worrying to look at. Let's not forget that in Tespia, they replaced the original Combo Force with this "feature" but eventually decided not to. The fact that after removing this idea they smuggled it to a later update as an addition to the original Combo Force is worse, in my opinion.
While the skill itself is already questionable, let's not forget that besides for this "new" Shout and Combo Force, it's all in addition. You still have (an improved) Rage Uprising, Puncture, Soul Driver, Rush, (Enraged) Raging Blow's ridiculous y-axis, the original Combo Force and Sengoku Secret Manual. Just the entire picture by itself feels a bit worrying. Too much, in that regard. Perhaps for most players who don't or never play Hero and play the more popular classes, I could understand if you are like "naaaahh Ray, it is not -that- bad". Fair enough, because the amount of Heroes in Europe have always been limited.
Phew, I hope this blogpost was not too long and hopefully it was informative! I'm slowly working on my Kinesis now so expect a blogpost for that. In a few days the next wave of LEGO® sets is coming out so expect some Black light posts too! Should I write more of these blogposts in the future? Should I continue using GIFs on my blog? I'm actually considering using them for my MK projects too.
That's it for today - I'll see you guys again next post!
