[2023] Feeling Pumped

Howdy, 'Scapers.

Following on from https://www.reddit.com/r/runescape/comments/1766sqq/latest_news_on_golden_bamboo/, I'm taking a look at the oft-requested Feeling Pumped mutator in Shattered Worlds.

Similarly, I'd like to work with you to design a long-term solution for Feeling Pumped that's the best balance of gameplay usage and game health.

According to my research, prior to December, Feeling Pumped had this effect:

"You have a 25% chance on hit to feel EPIC, gaining unlimited adrenaline for the next 10 seconds."

and it's currently:

"You have a 5% chance on hit to feel EPIC, gaining unlimited adrenaline for the next 6 seconds."

Plus an 18 second cooldown between activations to prevent Feeling Pumped from potentially triggering indefinitely.

To quote the patch notes at the time:

This temporary change was made due to increasingly excessive XP rates players had been receiving in conjunction with recent changes to special attacks.

Have read several threads on the subject, endeavouring to catch up with the conversation so far.

This particular comment jumped out to us as a clear expression of the gameplay value:

"Feeling Pumped is everything in Shattered Worlds. Nerfing that means nerfing the fun of the entire mode, and what made it even reasonably possible to actually get through high level worlds in a reasonable time span"

Several comments also indicate that Feeling Pumped provided a valuable opportunity space to level augmented equipment, so I think that's an important use case to preserve.

In essence, the underlying problem seemingly is that Feeling Pumped is 'broken' in a scenario where you can gain combat XP from it. Unlimited adrenaline means unlimited high hitting AOE abilities, and we're trying to keep combat XP manageable and meaningful.

With all this in mind, here's my proposed solution for how to resolve Feeling Pumped:

• Restore the original proc chance and duration
• When Feeling Pumped is active, block combat XP when defeating Shattered Worlds monsters
  • Consequently change Feeling Pumped to a neutral mutator

...thereby decoupling XP rates from the fun of pushing worlds with unlimited adrenaline.

Augmented equipment gains experience from the damage you inflict, rather than when you defeat an NPC, so item XP would be unaffected.

(In future we may need to consider capping or scaling item XP when Feeling Pumped is active if it gets cray-cray - new and future methods a la finger of death will likely push the potential of unlimited adrenaline even further - but we can cross that bridge when we set fire to it.)

To express that proposal in the form of a mutator description:

"You have a 25% chance on hit to feel EPIC, gaining unlimited adrenaline for the next 10 seconds. When Feeling Pumped, defeated monsters grant 0 combat XP."

How do you feel about that as a potential solution? Any concerns?

Would love to hear your ideas and alternatives below!

External link →

Howdy, 'Scapers.

Following on from https://www.reddit.com/r/runescape/comments/1766sqq/latest_news_on_golden_bamboo/, I'm taking a look at the oft-requested Feeling Pumped mutator in Shattered Worlds.

Similarly, I'd like to work with you to design a long-term solution for Feeling Pumped that's the best balance of gameplay usage and game health.

According to my research, prior to December, Feeling Pumped had this effect:

"You have a 25% chance on hit to feel EPIC, gaining unlimited adrenaline for the next 10 seconds."

and it's currently:

"You have a 5% chance on hit to feel EPIC, gaining unlimited adrenaline for the next 6 seconds."

Plus an 18 second cooldown between activations to prevent Feeling Pumped from potentially triggering indefinitely.

To quote the patch notes at the time:

This temporary change was made due to increasingly excessive XP rates players had been receiving in conjunction with recent changes to special attacks.

Have read several threads on the subject, endeavouring to catch up with the conversation so far.

This particular comment jumped out to us as a clear expression of the gameplay value:

"Feeling Pumped is everything in Shattered Worlds. Nerfing that means nerfing the fun of the entire mode, and what made it even reasonably possible to actually get through high level worlds in a reasonable time span"

Several comments also indicate that Feeling Pumped provided a valuable opportunity space to level augmented equipment, so I think that's an important use case to preserve.

In essence, the underlying problem seemingly is that Feeling Pumped is 'broken' in a scenario where you can gain combat XP from it. Unlimited adrenaline means unlimited high hitting AOE abilities, and we're trying to keep combat XP manageable and meaningful.

With all this in mind, here's my proposed solution for how to resolve Feeling Pumped:

• Restore the original proc chance and duration
• When Feeling Pumped is active, block combat XP when defeating Shattered Worlds monsters
  • Consequently change Feeling Pumped to a neutral mutator

...thereby decoupling XP rates from the fun of pushing worlds with unlimited adrenaline.

Augmented equipment gains experience from the damage you inflict, rather than when you defeat an NPC, so item XP would be unaffected.

(In future we may need to consider capping or scaling item XP when Feeling Pumped is active if it gets cray-cray - new and future methods a la finger of death will likely push the potential of unlimited adrenaline even further - but we can cross that bridge when we set fire to it.)

To express that proposal in the form of a mutator description:

"You have a 25% chance on hit to feel EPIC, gaining unlimited adrenaline for the next 10 seconds. When Feeling Pumped, defeated monsters grant 0 combat XP."

How do you feel about that as a potential solution? Any concerns?

Would love to hear your ideas and alternatives below!

External link →