Elements 1.17

[Essence]

While we're talking about patching shields, can we get Gravity Pull patched so that it doesn't take effect if a creature wouldn't normally be allowed to attack?

Specifically, Stealing Graviton's Gravity Shield should keep all of his critters from attacking, but it doesn't keep them from killing creatures he's put Gravity Pull on.  That seems wrong to me.

[CB!]

Gravity shield doesn't keep creatures from attacking, it blocks creature's attacks.  It's not the same as putting a sundial on creatures with 6+ health.

[Demagog]

Think of it as your creatures are in front of you. A normal attack bypasses the creatures and goes to you. Gravity pull makes them attack something in front of you. Shields only apply to yourself, so it makes sense.

[hellkaiser]

in other words they'll use any logic reasoning no matter how flimsy and irrelevant in order to keep the FG's having abusable edges on top of the ones they already have and are still gaining

though gravity pull is bugged a lot i think seem to have it randomly applying it's effect when rainbow and co use it on my creatures like a strange recurring floating effect

[Delreich]

No, gravity pull is consistently not affected by the shield, or rather taking place in front of the shield.
You don't lose bones on a bone wall if a GPed critter takes the hits, for example.

I've had no problem with GP recently, other than the AI not quite knowing how it works. That was Saturday though, I think.

[jmizzle7]

Yes, the Quantum Tower bug was fixed in the 1.15 patch around a month ago.

All the comments about the false gods: yes, they are harder. That's the point. You shouldn't be able to go on autopilot against the false gods and win every time. Zanz counterbalanced the improved AI by adding the half-bloods. It's a pretty balanced system, actually.

[jmizzle7]

I think hellkaiser is talking about the GP bug where it seems to shift occasionally during your opponent's turn. I think I only saw it once against Obliterator but it seems to be fixed already.

About Gravity Pull's intended function: the wording of Gravity Pull/Force is not specific enough. It is intended to make your creature a blocker for creature-only damage, but states that "all the damage directed against its owner" will be redirected to the affected creature. But weapon damage isn't redirected, nor is spell damage. To make things more complicated, Momentum isn't redirected either.

Gravity Pull needs some work but it wouldn't take too long to fix. The normal function of gravity pull works exactly as it should, though, dealing damage directly to creatures before shield effects have a chance to take effect.

[Essence]

Hrm.  Does a Fire Shield still damage a creature that only hits an Armagio?  I guess if that's the case, the Grav Shield situation is OK.  I've always kind of assumed that shields magically affected the entire battlefield instead of just the player, but if I'm wrong, well, it wouldn't be the first time.

[jmizzle7]

No, shield effects have no effect on the battlefield while a creature is gravity pulled. Creatures are the first line, then your shield, then you. I like to think of it as a general in charge of troops.

[philipapw]

Hell Kaiser: FG's are already in danger of being too weak due to stupid AI's which makes them easy to farm. I'm all for easy money and cardz but  there has to be an AI that gives a challenge. Half Bloods have made it much easier to learn how to fight against a FG. They're like practise.

[Sigh]

But with this new, smarter AI, the advantages the Gods already have make it SUPER HARD, not just Really hard. And yes, there's a difference.

[Essence]

And it's a good thing.  You want SUPER HARD to be the endgame state for a PvAI game.  You just want the rewards to be compensatory, which they totally are.