Martial Arts Balance Update: Snake Kung Fu

[Hymore246]

Summary

Balance "Martial Art Balance Update: Snake Kung Fu"

Purpose of change

Partially implements #51949
Updates the martial arts style: Snake Kung Fu

Describe the solution

Current Buffs, Techniques, and Special Abilities

Name	Level Available	Type	Effect
Arm Block	Unarmed 2
Snake's Sight	Unarmed 0	Static Buff	Perception determines bonus Accuracy instead of Dexterity.
Snake Snap	Unarmed 0	Unarmed Tech	Rapid
Snake's Coil	Unarmed 2	OnPause Buff	+1 Accuracy, gain armor penetration equal to 50% of Perception. Lasts 1 turn, stacks 3 times.
Snake Slide	Unarmed 3	Unarmed Tech	Feint
Snake Slither	Unarmed 4	Unarmed Tech	Grab Break
Snake Strike	Unarmed 5	Unarmed Crit Tech	+50% bash damage, Stun duration: 1

I liked the way Snake Kung Fu played. Waiting to attack with a strong, precise strike is true to the CDDA world and snakes in general. However, the style was under performing badly due to armor penetration being worse than raw damage. It doesn't help the some enemies have A LOT of armor.

New Buffs, Techniques, and Special Abilities

Name	Level Available	Type	Effect
Snake's Sight	Unarmed 0	Static Buff	Perception determines bonus Accuracy instead of Dexterity. Perception determines bonus bash damage instead of Strength
Snake Snap	Unarmed 0	Unarmed Tech	80% move cost, gain armor penetration equal to 50% of Perception
Snake's Coil	Unarmed 1	OnPause Buff	+1 Accuracy, +1 Block Effectiveness, +5% critical hit chance. Lasts 4 turns, sticks 3 times
Snake Bite	Unarmed 2	OnHit Buff	Gain armor penetration equal to 25% of Perception. Lasts 2 turns, stacks 4 times.
Snake Fang	Unarmed 3	OnCrit Buff	Gain armor penetration equal to 100% of Perception. Lasts 1 turn
Snake Slide	Unarmed 4	Unarmed Tech	Feint
Snake Slither	Unarmed 4	Grab Break
Snake Strike	Unarmed 5	Unarmed Crit Tech	Requires Snake's Coil, +50% bash damage, gain Armor Penetration equal to +100% of Perception

Important Changes

• Perception determines accuracy AND damage
  One thing I should have done during the rebalance was to let Perception affect both accuracy and damage. Now you can focus fully on a single stat instead of spliting attention between multiple stats.

• Snake's Coil improved
  A big issue with Snake's Coil is that it was the main source of power for the style but it was a stacking buff that decayed quickly. So instead of granting armor penetration, Snake's Coil will give you critical hit chance and Block Effectiveness making the style much better at offense and defense.

• A lot more Armor Penetration
  Two new buffs have been added to improve the style's armor penetration and Snake Strike also has armor penetration by default. A full power, the style now has more than TRIPLE the armor penetration it originally had.

Gameplay
Just like before, pause to stack Snake's Coil before attacking repeatedly. Now your attacks will increase your armor penetration allowing you to finish off enemies easier as the fight goes on. Depending on how the fight goes, you could take the time stack Snake's Coil again or keep attacking to keep Snake Bite up to finish your enemies.

Describe alternatives you've considered

Armor penetration is weaker than bonus damage. At this point, Snake Kung Fu is so full of armor penetration that if the style STILL underperforms it might be best to do away with most of the armor penetration in favor of another gimmick for the style.

[Amoebka]

the style now has more than TRIPLE the armor penetration it originally had

It had up to 150% PER penetration before, and up to 250% PER penetration after? Am I misunderstanding something here?

Overall, I'm still very skeptical. 25 bash armor penetration (max achievable with 10 perception) is not enough to defeat even midgame armor, and you are still hitting for like 10 damage a turn because lmao fists. After weakpoints are added to all monsters, it might be better to make the style about hitting those and crits instead of AP.

[Hymore246]

the style now has more than TRIPLE the armor penetration it originally had

It had up to 150% PER penetration before, and up to 250% PER penetration after? Am I misunderstanding something here?

Overall, I'm still very skeptical. 25 bash armor penetration (max achievable with 10 perception) is not enough to defeat even midgame armor, and you are still hitting for like 10 damage a turn because lmao fists. After weakpoints are added to all monsters, it might be better to make the style about hitting those and crits instead of AP.

300% with 4 stacks of Snake Bite (100%), Snake Fang (100%), and you crit can get Snake Strike (100%). It is 250% if you hit normally with Snake Snap (50%).

Your skepticism is valid. I am pretty sure mid-late game enemies are balanced around high weapon damage which is why they have such insane amounts of armor. Unarmed combat already has a hard time keeping up and Armor Penetration is a perfect example how much of a struggle it is. I think it is fine if the style is an "early game" martial art but if it becomes worthless within an in-game month, that is not good in my book.

I haven't looked into weak points very much but I've seen Kevin mention on Discord that he doesn't want a random system on top of a random system due to balance concerns. That makes it hard to find a way to get them to work together but if weak points completely bypass armor, it might be fair to let Snake Kung Fu have a buff that does the same for 1 turn (+1000 armor pen). I'll look into it more and try that out if the style still underperforms. I will also look into a new gimmick for the style as a backup.

[Amoebka]

Huh? Snake Bite is 25% per stack, up to 4 times, so 100% total. EDIT: nevermind, I can't read.

Either way, the problem is that armor penetration is still "just damage". No matter how much the style has, it will never be competitive with weapons, let alone weapon arts, in terms of damage. In order to be viable, unarmed martial arts need to have some other benefit, like dodge/block attempts, or crowd control. Since the goal with weakpoints is to have disabling effects (blindness for hitting eyes, etc), hitting them more often would be one way to sell the style.

[Hymore246]

No matter how much the style has, it will never be competitive with weapons, let alone weapon arts, in terms of damage. In order to be viable, unarmed martial arts need to have some other benefit, like dodge/block attempts, or crowd control.

I would argue that even with all of that, a style still isn't as viable as picking up a Fireaxe and turning on Brawling. Not only is this the classic melee vs unarmed problem but I am beginning to see enemies added that are REALLY hard to deal with in the mid-late game. if you don't use the BEST strategy available instead of having multiple solutions. Honestly, it feels kinda like an arms race and the player is on the losing side.

I have a few changes in mind that will help unarmed styles but I am reaching the upper limit on what is allowed to be done with the system due to realism. Bottom line: a sword will always out damage a fist. But you can always use Ki Strike from the MMA mod to level the playing field.