Spell Defence/Fizzle Trap

Branching off of one of yesterday's conversations as requested without reviving a necro thread . . .

The idea here is to provide a level of defense against spells. Not to stop them outright or nerf them directly but to provide a form of defense against the only indefensible weapon in the game, which also happens to be the only one you can drop anywhere on the map.

Fizzle Trap
When a spell is dropped in the trigger radius the fizzle trap attempts to interrupt any spell dropped within its radius.
One available at TH9
lvl2 trap available at TH10 (still only one trap)
lvl1 5 second duration
lvl2 8 second duration
Trigger radius the same as a lightning spell
Effect Radius the same as a lightning spell

I see three solid options for how the fizzle mechanic can work to start the conversation. Other ideas are of course welcome.
1) The spell(s) being fizzled are simply reduced by a level or two. The benefit here is that the impact is predictable and easy to code. Spells still work exactly as they normally do but with a diminished reward for their full duration.
2) The spell(s) being fizzled are reduced by duration by a %. Again, this would be very easy to code and produce very predictable behavior. Spells still work exactly as they normally would but not for as long.
3) The spell(s) being fizzled have a more deliberately random response. For instance, lightning spells would have some strikes diverted outside their normal radius to surrounding buildings (same damage done just spread out more). Heal spells would have no effect on 10% of the troops covered. Rage spells would cause 10% of the troops in it's radius to run away in fear. Jump spells would function as a spring trap to 10% of the T1 troops in it's radius. Freeze spells would freeze 10% of the attacking troops as well as the buildings that were targeted.

While option 3 would be more difficult and time consuming to code it does lend itself to a more dynamic battleground. At times the fizzle effect could even be beneficial to the attacker. How often have you wished one of the dragons that is flying in a circle would break away and attack the TH or that last pesky AD? With a little luck a fizzled rage spell might send them in that direction. Or a few frozen troops get held up while the rest bunch up to be splattered by a mortar. Not likely but sometimes chaos ends up being beneficial.

Since the trap has a fairly short duration a clever player may not be impacted by them very much, or may drop a lightning spell in an effort to trigger the trap ahead of time. A more hasty player who drops a heal and rage spell in the same location would be more impacted because both spells get fizzled. While the trap could be used to defend DE storages the short duration of the fizzle would mean it only reduces a single spell unless the attacker drops all of them at once leaving zapping essentially unchanged unless the attacker's skill is exceptionally low. It would have far more effective defensive use in other situations but that of course is up to each player.

Reserved for future updates.

Thanks, iceagag.

I like this for several reasons. First, it alleviates my concerns of seriously affecting gameplay at lower leagues. While the higher THs are given an additional advantage, it's not enough to make them invincible. They can still be zapped.

Second, this adds a whole new dynamic to higher league play. I think this should reduce some of the zapping in Crystal and above while opening the door for new and interesting strategy.

Third, this a well rounded concept that doesn't suffer the shortsightedness of simply nerfing lightning, which is the most popular spell at lower levels. A defender can now gameplan for defending every spell rather than having the far simpler task of defending lightning, which is a no brainier decision based on what league you play. This actually requires strategy with each choice having its pros and cons.

Now my concerns. I think the times are too long. 8 seconds is a really long time. I'd suggest 3 and 5 instead of 5 and 8. Also, what would be the re-arm cost? And you mentioned it already, but the programming might be tricky. I don't think we can really know what this will do to troop AI, which seems iffy at best sometimes. While the randomness can be entertaining, it could also lead to a ton of frustration.

Personally I like this idea a lot. Rather than only supplying a nerf to a select spell, this is more of a leveling effect for all spells. People will choose how they want to place the trap, be it to mitigate zapping, or to protect their most valuable defenses. It will prove to be a challenge in CW though, imagine going to freeze an IT during a GoWiWi/WiPe and your Golem gets frozen also:rolleyes: your tank is down and your wiz/witches/PEKKA all keep going forward with nothing to stop them from being wailed on by the defenses.

I like Option 1 the most so far, Its simple and still allows people to use a spell, although not to its fullest potential. That and it sounds like the easiest to code.

The idea that it rewards the attacker that lies in wait is also fair. I have done my fair share of 4 second zaps and left without a scratch. Rewarding those that wait for the fizzle to fizzle out rather than zap n' leave is still on the same principal of zapping, just not lightning quick lol

i dont know man.
it sounds good
but spells should not have a counter to it
they are supposed to give the user an advantage

i think that if this was implemented, it would have to be an actual building placed, not an invisible trap.
make the person somewhat weaken the core to have to build around this defense

i dont like it personally
i think that it goes around the intent of spells, which is to give the user of them an advantage in battle
but im open to the idea of a defensive building like this

a hidden trap though, absolutely not.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by iceageg

Branching off of one of yesterday's conversations as requested without reviving a necro thread . . .

The idea here is to provide a level of defense against spells. Not to stop them outright or nerf them directly but to provide a form of defense against the only indefensible weapon in the game, which also happens to be the only one you can drop anywhere on the map.

Fizzle Trap
When a spell is dropped in the trigger radius the fizzle trap attempts to interrupt any spell dropped within its radius.
One available at TH9
lvl2 trap available at TH10 (still only one trap)
lvl1 5 second duration
lvl2 8 second duration
Trigger radius the same as a lightning spell
Effect Radius the same as a lightning spell

I see three solid options for how the fizzle mechanic can work to start the conversation. Other ideas are of course welcome.
1) The spell(s) being fizzled are simply reduced by a level or two. The benefit here is that the impact is predictable and easy to code. Spells still work exactly as they normally do but with a diminished reward for their full duration.
2) The spell(s) being fizzled are reduced by duration by a %. Again, this would be very easy to code and produce very predictable behavior. Spells still work exactly as they normally would but not for as long.
3) The spell(s) being fizzled have a more deliberately random response. For instance, lightning spells would have some strikes diverted outside their normal radius to surrounding buildings (same damage done just spread out more). Heal spells would have no effect on 10% of the troops covered. Rage spells would cause 10% of the troops in it's radius to run away in fear. Jump spells would function as a spring trap to 10% of the T1 troops in it's radius. Freeze spells would freeze 10% of the attacking troops as well as the buildings that were targeted.

While option 3 would be more difficult and time consuming to code it does lend itself to a more dynamic battleground. At times the fizzle effect could even be beneficial to the attacker. How often have you wished one of the dragons that is flying in a circle would break away and attack the TH or that last pesky AD? With a little luck a fizzled rage spell might send them in that direction. Or a few frozen troops get held up while the rest bunch up to be splattered by a mortar. Not likely but sometimes chaos ends up being beneficial.

Since the trap has a fairly short duration a clever player may not be impacted by them very much, or may drop a lightning spell in an effort to trigger the trap ahead of time. A more hasty player who drops a heal and rage spell in the same location would be more impacted because both spells get fizzled. While the trap could be used to defend DE storages the short duration of the fizzle would mean it only reduces a single spell unless the attacker drops all of them at once leaving zapping essentially unchanged unless the attacker's skill is exceptionally low. It would have far more effective defensive use in other situations but that of course is up to each player.

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No. Even if your idea is a bit different it's still basically the same idea

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Spinner7980

i dont know man.
it sounds good
but spells should not have a counter to it
they are supposed to give the user an advantage

i think that if this was implemented, it would have to be an actual building placed, not an invisible trap.
make the person somewhat weaken the core to have to build around this defense

i dont like it personally
i think that it goes around the intent of spells, which is to give the user of them an advantage in battle
but im open to the idea of a defensive building like this

a hidden trap though, absolutely not.

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I do agree about the concept of spells. I'd be content leaving things as is. However, if anything would ever be done to mitigate zapping, I believe this is the route you have to go.

You can't nerf one spell and leave the others alone. I see this as a compromise. If anti-zappers are that upset over it, then they'll have to live with having their own spells addressed as well.

It's the only fair way.

From my perspective attacking is already dreadfully difficult and using spells are insanely costly. Adding a nerf to an expensive spell would be kinda hard to swallow. Unless with a nerf like this the spells themselves are adjusted in cost and effectiveness

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Spinner7980

i dont know man.
it sounds good
but spells should not have a counter to it
they are supposed to give the user an advantage . . .

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That is why the trap would only impact a 3 square radius or so and would simply diminish the effectiveness of the spell dropped in that small circle if it was dropped there within a few seconds of the trap being triggered. The spell would still give the attacker an advantage that is simply reduced. After a few seconds (which may make the difference) the trap is done and you continue on normally. Worst case scenario the attacker drops rage, heal, jump, ice all as fast as possible all in the same spot and they get a little less performance. Most attackers would loose some of one spell and the next 3 or 4 would work as expected. In this way it rewards savvy game play.

For the record, I am 100% against anything designed to prevent zapping. I am OK with there being no defense against spells at all as it is currently. I do however see room for it within the current game mechanic. For most skilled players it would usually be merely an inconvenience but sometimes it could tip the scales.

I think these ideas just show how incredibly difficult it is to remove zapping from the game. Every solution presents even more problems, leading to just more complex solutions.

This is the best idea I've seen by far, and as we can see, it's not a perfect solution with consequences we really can't predict (effect on troop AI is the primary downside in this case). Is it really worth creating several large problems to be rid of 1 minor annoying one?

This is the reason why SC has no plans to mitigate zapping. It's not worth the time and effort, and takes away developer time and company resources away from updates that actually make the game better.

All that said, this is one idea I'd like to see developed further to work on the kinks. If nothing else, the new strategies that would have to be devised at higher leagues is intriguing.