Elko, is it possible to disable these weapons (for time being, at least) while still letting people enjoy the other benefits (such as reserved slots) of being a donator?

I'm glad you found a way to have people be more interested to support you monetarily, and I wouldn't want to prevent that from happening. But in the worst case scenario, the donor weapons can (in their current state) split the community and create a situation where players start leaving as the better content is locked behind a paywall.

EDIT: Found ignoreClientDonorInfo on the configurations file. Is this intended to allow disabling the donor benefits, and if so, could you allow (on future updates) to separately disable/enable certain donator benefits individually?

yayyyy pay-to-win!

Oh I can't wait to get grilled with the flame bow or smashed with the cata-sling (not to mention that I already have a treb-sling trauma and several ballista spears are sticking in my rear) xD

Oh and ppl pls do not forget that after some time, elko always gives the weapons to the horde so be prepared to fight Horde Grill Chiefs (Flame Zweihander and Axe), Advanced Undead Aimbots (Fire Bow, I LOVE THE SMELL OF NAPALM IN THE MORNING ;)) and the mighty Thunder Ninjia Wall (bruiser with lightning sword). And celebrate the revival of the much beloved treb-sling using HORDE BOMBER! Muhahahahahaha! xDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

PS: Results may vary*

Ok now a serious comment: I think to disable these weapons now wouldn't be right because ppl payed money to use them. Instead maybe u leave them as they are now for the next days (PROMOTION OFFER, ppl can test them now very quickly) and then just raise their prices (Since they are better than the non donor weapons I would recommend prices between 2900-3500 points). Or u could simply weaken them a bit.

Horde Grill Chiefs XDDDD

Yeah, releaseing an update tomorrow with balance adjustments.
ignoreClientDonorInfo doesn't disable the weapons. There is no way to do that currently. But in a few iterations of balance updates, this should not be such an issue anymore.

Just like at the begnning with the enemy scale per wave. This naturally needs some tweaking over time.

So posting some actualy balance improvements here, helps out a lot ;)

For tomorrows update, the treb-sling and firebow is in focus.

Somebody mentioned lightning sword upgrades:
1. stunning several enemies at a time
2. lightning bolt going through several enemies
Im usure about this because the stun is really powerful in my opinion. The bolt has a high reach and high damage already.
What do u think?

Ah, thanks for clarifying. That's good to hear, no need to disable any of the donor stuff, then.

I suggest adding slowing effect to player using treb sling to prevent outrunning the horde while using it. I do hope these big knockbacks will not cause issues with bots flying out of the map and forcing a stalemate.

So far I've found the lightning sword to be the least overpowered. The stun effect should be less common or require comboing or charging to work, though.
The ranged attack seems to require a precise aiming and will only hit one target. It takes a good while to charge and you are not very mobile while doing so. I do like the idea of it being able to pierce multiple enemies (on a narrow area).

@Solaire I can already imagine Bruiser knocking players around while simulteneously setting them on fire and/or stunning them. lol

PS. I haven't introduced myself here before, I host the Better Than Crypts -Sandcastle server. Thanks for listening to feedback and keeping the mod going.

Nice Server name ;)
So the update is out and I put in the slowing effect for treb-slingers.

The stun effect has a chance of 5% for normal attacks and +15% for each combo attack.
I will lower it to 3% and 10% respectively.
When the slash is fully loaded, it should always stun enemies.

I found that the donor weapons don't make the burning pots dump when you hit the pegs. Also, the lightning sword stuns you instead of giants during melee combat, which often ends with your death. In terms of power and price the lightning sword seems to be the most balanced donor weapon. Furthermore, I feel the fire bow and treb-sling should have their prices increased to 1000-2000 at their current power because they are the almost as strong as the ballista x-bow in pure damage and affect a larger area. In regards to the fire sword and fire axe, they both need their combo effects weakened and their prices increased, especially the fire axe. With the fire axe berserk ability the can reach the maximum effect (80 damage and huge knockback) for no stamina cost and continue the combo for another 5-8 swings before depleting stamina and killing dozens of horde. Both of these weapons are so effective some speculate that you could solo until the bombers start to spawn in the higher waves.

The donor weapons should be bumped up to 2-3k cost. They are extremely powerful and can ruin early-game rounds. The ballista xbow (weaker) is 2500... why are these 500 points?

Also, like lawman said, all 3 fire weapons need some serious re-balancing (nerfing).

I agree. The combo explosions for fire axe/ sword are already adjusted for the next release.
Will see to the self-stun issue.
I can also increase the weapon prices again. They should already cost 600. Where did u read that they cost 500? Did I forget to adjust some descriptions?

Thanks for the feedback guys. Definately helps.

Ok after testing all those weapons I come to the conclusion:

-fire bow is still op
-lightning sword seems balanced
-fire axe and fire sword are op, u can wipe out a tank crew in no time (was funny :D)

My opinion to balance this: Donator weapons prices should be much higher

Lightning Sword: 1000 (Its the most balanced, it should have the lowest price of the donator weapons)

Fire Axe: 5000

Fire Sword: 4500

Fire Bow: 5000

Cata-Sling: 5000

Maybe u could give donators some kind of shortsword instead of the dagger so they can "afford" their favorite god item ;)

Haha, 5k is pretty much unattainable for me. It amounts to blocking the donor weapons for 90% of all players. I guess making it able to buy for 1k and subtracting 4k from ur score does not make sense either.
I already raised the prices 3 times.

In contrast to any other item, the donor items adopt to the current wave number. Unlocking them on very high waves by making the prices so high is against the idea.
So basically, u r saying the scaling should be more pronounced, making the items weaker on lower waves? Would u downscale the normal sword damage or the fire explosion?
For instance, currently below wave ~27 the donor Zwei is weaker in normal damage than the original Zwei.

Maybe other balancing ideas are needed: Giving extra weaker items as compensation is a bit too confusing. What about introducing the concept of wave based abrasion to donor items? The more kills u do with the donor item, the weaker it gets. Next wave it's 'repaired' again?

(hmm that gives me the idea of a souleater item, charging a special ability with the number of kills...)

Btw. how do u like the poster of Alibaba on the questboard? ;)

There is an Alibaba poster now? And I didnt even recognized it because I was occupied dragging those dodging little buggers xD. U made my dreams come true, thx very much :D

Other balancing Ideas:

-Maybe create another item called the "Flail of Fail". Flails are pretty much hated in this mode becaue their damage is low compared to their slow speed. So just modify the flail that it gives u 50% more points for a kill.

-Or the new items would just cost as much as the klinge. Many ppl can reach 2900 score if they watch out and dont die too much.

-Or (maybe a too radical idea): The weaker the weapon is use to kill an enemy, the more points u get for a kill.

I think if u manage the balance of damage grow with wave number it'll do just fine too. Maybe it would be better to re-think some mechanics of the new weapons.

The fire axe for example: If u charge it and then release a deadly combo (while always trying to hit atleast one enemy directly so ur stamina never lowers) u can waste every army that stands before u in no time. Maybe u should change it, that theres only 1 but deadly fireburst after u release the charge attack. That would ensure to kill many enemies but not a whole army that was charging towards u.

PS: Where can I buy laserswords? xD

A score farming item, not bad idea! Will keep that in mind.

That fireburst idea restricted to 1 during berserking is in for the next release.
Also got the idea to introduce a cooldown for the explosion in general and set it to 13 seconds.
This renders the 1 hit only during berseking obsolete... should have implemented it the other way round ^^'

I knew ppl want laserswords sooner or later, but I can't make it a donor item because it is from an open source mod. Also the purchase boxes are already overused in my map.
So I thought about making it a rare drop from Jedi mobs...

its been a while since i played so the donor weapons are new to me, to be honest from what i have seen the past 2 days the donor weapons are like god mode. when playing last night it was a bit pointless as the guy with fire bow had 300 kills while rest of us had 40 he sat on castle wall killing all bots.later on he seemed to be launching trebs from a sling which was bouning us and the bots all over the map. I found myself quitting at that stage as the only person having fun was him. u deserve the donations for the excellent work but i think the weapons need turned down a bit a rocket launcher sling a bit much