Spirit PvP is poorly balanced, other issues too

[Spiny Top]

First of all, it is hard to find a game against other players. There is no way to search matches, leaving you stuck with a select few battle arenas where the host could have any number of whacky rules or custom stages. I see no reason we can't have an ON OFF switch for spirits in the preferred rules, where if OFF you will never get a spirit battle.

I also dislike how any primary spirit that isn't a 4-star is irrelevant. Why would I ever use something less? It would be nice if lower tiered spirits had their power scaled up if an opponent was using a higher tier. This would open a much larger portion of the spirits to see the light of day.

The primary spirit balance is OK. There's enough variety to be somewhat interesting. Could be much better. For instance, let's compare two spirits- Geno and Wolf Link & Midna. Both are 4 star spirits, have the same attack, and 3 support slots. Wolf Link & Midna, however, has better defense and a bonus of dash attack +. It is a better spirit than Geno no matter what way you look at it. I dislike this, and feel every spirit in a given tier should have something they do the best. This one has the best defense at this (X) number of support slots, or this one has the best attack, this one has balanced stats (leaning defense, leaning attack, even split), or this one is not the best but has a bonus ability, etc etc.... They should try to stick to a balanced formula, and make every spirit viable.

At the support spirit level the balance is even worse. There are a few very overpowered options, namely autoheal and super armor. These are obnoxious and could use a nerf. The item based support spirits have major problems. First of all, you don't respawn with your chosen item; if I'm going to devote support slots to a particular item, I expect to have it again when I'm on that white cloud. Also, I feel your battering item should be harder to knock out of your hand, your shooting item should have more ammo, your transformation item should last longer, and thrown items should have a damage boost. Attack, Defense and Speed based support spirits are OK for the most part, maybe could use some additional potency so they are more noticeable. As for the utility support spirits such as bury immunity, many are too situational to be of much use, could use a rework. Maybe group them all. The Trade Off spirits are fine, they work as intended. The anti stage hazard spirits are obviously useless, but that's ok. Would be kinda cool to see them reworked to be relevant, though.

Anyways, sorry if this sounded like a rant! Just wanted to pitch my thoughts on how to make spirit PvP more balanced, interesting, diverse, and fun.

 

[JiggyNinja]

There is no possibly way they could balance Spirit PvP, and I think no one would want them to waste time doing it since it would take effort away from the core gameplay.

They should try to stick to a balanced formula, and make every spirit viable.

That is just as impossible as making every Pokemon competitively viable.

There are a few very overpowered options, namely autoheal and super armor.

Autoheal is piss weak compared to some of the really broken **** out there.

 

[Xelrog]

I'm glad someone else cares about this, but they're not going to change anything. The system's already in place. The best we could hope for is a better system in the next game.

Honestly the customization system in the last game was better in every way and I just want that back. The rock-paper-scissors mechanic and the fact that stats are tied to bonus effects in primary spirits completely destroys any potential of having fun with friends using spirits the way I used to be able to with custom characters.

 

[Spiny Top]

There is no possibly way they could balance Spirit PvP, and I think no one would want them to waste time doing it since it would take effort away from the core gameplay.

There is a small community that would want them to, I see some regulars here and there when searching spirit battle arenas, one that I think would grow if they put some effort into this. You could argue it would take resources away from core gameplay, but honestly I don't see it being that big of a deal. The core game is already very well done, and doesn't need much work. Just a little bit of effort going into this would make a huge difference.

That is just as impossible as making every Pokemon competitively viable.

The least they could do is follow a formula, and make everything balanced on paper. So what makes up a spirit? It has an attack stat, a defense stat, 0-3 support spirit slots, and may or may not have a bonus ability which is essentially extra support slots pre-fitted with a particular support spirit that you can't change. So what's our formula here? Well for example: every attack stat could be worth a point, every defense stat is worth a point, a support slot is worth 1000 points, and a bonus ability is worth half the points the empty support slots alone (that you would put that ability in) would be.

Now, designate X number of points per tier (1,2,3,4 star) to spend and create a diverse list of spirits that are at least balanced ON PAPER. Currently this is not the case. There are plenty of spirits that are simply objectively better (within the same star tier) because the game is not balanced on paper.

You can do the same thing with Pokemon. What makes up a Pokemon? It has attack, defense, speed, special, HP, and I know there are some extra bells and whistles nowadays (been a long time since I have played Pokemon) we can treat them like support slots in our formula. Make every Pokemon follow the formula. You can always go back later once the meta shapes up and make tweaks as needed.

I'm glad someone else cares about this, but they're not going to change anything. The system's already in place. The best we could hope for is a better system in the next game.

Sadly, you are probably right. It is frustrating for players like me that put in the time to obtain every spirit in the game. What are you to do now? Well the natural inclination is that it's time to assemble some spirit teams and go PvP! Right? (cricket, cricket)... Turns out there is hardly anything there for that, largely because of the issues I discussed above.