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Old Scratch needs to be nerfed.

1
AuthorMessage
Bosun
Aug 10, 2011
304
He is the MOST powerful companion in the game. He completely turns the tides of fights. In the few PVP fights these days, almost all have Old Scratch. If there is one Old Scratch on both sides, the sides will race to kill the opposing teams Scratch because they know how good he is. Please, no companion should have this power.

Petty Officer
Mar 03, 2020
66
witchdoctor comps in design are just kinda bad, to the point where scratch is the only one that's good (due to mojo buffs)

i still think carcarius should've been given the mojo buffs but in a game that gets 2 skeleton boss fights a year i won't hold my breath lol

Dread Pirate
May 27, 2009
2131
caleb10104 on Mar 8, 2020 wrote:
witchdoctor comps in design are just kinda bad, to the point where scratch is the only one that's good (due to mojo buffs)

i still think carcarius should've been given the mojo buffs but in a game that gets 2 skeleton boss fights a year i won't hold my breath lol
I agree - Carcarius should have gotten those powers. He should have gotten SOMETHING to make him more of a unique witchdoctor companion.


Bosun
Aug 10, 2011
304
caleb10104 on Mar 8, 2020 wrote:
witchdoctor comps in design are just kinda bad, to the point where scratch is the only one that's good (due to mojo buffs)

i still think carcarius should've been given the mojo buffs but in a game that gets 2 skeleton boss fights a year i won't hold my breath lol
I think that too. Also for those wondering if im just overreacting to Scratch, lets list some things he makes ridiculously powerful.

1. Privateer: With the several mojo buffs Old Scratch can give, they can heal more than 2000 damage with one single team heal, and basically fully heal any specific team mate. Also their bombardments can do well over 1500 dmg

2. Witchdoctors: For obvious reasons, now all of their spells are very powerful. I know that they can do this without scratch, but with Scratch they can now prioritize their deck to include incredible damage so they can destroy people with their mojo buffs.

So yes, he basically turns these two into killing machines who can absolutely destroy even the toughest buccaneer's health, and in the case of the privateer, cure even the most lethal of wounds.

Pirate Overlord
Mar 16, 2012
10631
Willowydream on Mar 9, 2020 wrote:
I agree - Carcarius should have gotten those powers. He should have gotten SOMETHING to make him more of a unique witchdoctor companion.

Yet Old Scratch is a universal companion, his buffs benefit more than the WD class. Meanwhile Carcarious is a WD unique companion ( there isn't even a "twin" available in the crown shop ).
Carc should be given some other power ( buff, attack or defense ) & that would equalize the WDs.

Petty Officer
Mar 03, 2020
66
chiliman05 on Mar 9, 2020 wrote:
I think that too. Also for those wondering if im just overreacting to Scratch, lets list some things he makes ridiculously powerful.

1. Privateer: With the several mojo buffs Old Scratch can give, they can heal more than 2000 damage with one single team heal, and basically fully heal any specific team mate. Also their bombardments can do well over 1500 dmg

2. Witchdoctors: For obvious reasons, now all of their spells are very powerful. I know that they can do this without scratch, but with Scratch they can now prioritize their deck to include incredible damage so they can destroy people with their mojo buffs.

So yes, he basically turns these two into killing machines who can absolutely destroy even the toughest buccaneer's health, and in the case of the privateer, cure even the most lethal of wounds.
witches were low tier before scratch buffs (if i'm recalling right) and funny enough they're still low tier afterwards. a buck just touching them essentially will still kill them,

scratch makes musketeers (and arguably, swashbucklers) more powerful than witch, imo. (musk bombs run off spellpower, poison/bleeds run off spellpower)

Pirate Overlord
Mar 16, 2012
10631
caleb10104 on Mar 12, 2020 wrote:
witches were low tier before scratch buffs (if i'm recalling right) and funny enough they're still low tier afterwards. a buck just touching them essentially will still kill them,

scratch makes musketeers (and arguably, swashbucklers) more powerful than witch, imo. (musk bombs run off spellpower, poison/bleeds run off spellpower)
I question that a swashbuckler's poisons/bleeds "run off spellpower", as these attacks don't trigger witchhunter.
Is there any evidence that this is so or is it based on "player observation" with a few random criticals "confirming" it?
And if the question that Old Scratch should be nerfed is based on PVP play, why isn't this in the Spar Chamber section?
Old Scratch is great for PVE and should be left alone.
All this argument reminds me of the old "Black Fog is OP and gives an unfair advantage" sniping.

Gunner's Mate
May 08, 2010
270
anecorbie on Mar 12, 2020 wrote:
I question that a swashbuckler's poisons/bleeds "run off spellpower", as these attacks don't trigger witchhunter.
Is there any evidence that this is so or is it based on "player observation" with a few random criticals "confirming" it?
And if the question that Old Scratch should be nerfed is based on PVP play, why isn't this in the Spar Chamber section?
Old Scratch is great for PVE and should be left alone.
All this argument reminds me of the old "Black Fog is OP and gives an unfair advantage" sniping.
Sure. Bleeds/Poisons I consider roughly the same. I will be using numbers from my privateer (who runs assassins) since my Swash doesn't have scratch promoted

My Privateers spellpower - 286. (238 base, important later)
My privateers assassins bleed - 286
My privateers weapon power- 283

assassin before mojo buff - 283
assassin after mojo buff (100%)- 524

mojo buff adds your base spellpower (whichever percentage) 238 for the 100% buff. 286+238=524.
It's reasonable to say mojo buff affects bleeds

though for my swash, since i can only use the 25% one, the damage on the poison won't be changing all that much, but still.
Swashes base spellpower - 238, 286 with buffs (spooky 2 + natural)
my swashes base poison does 215, roughly 75% of its normal spellpower weapon power is 355.
we should be getting about 60 extra spellpower from the 25 buff.
poison after mojo buff is 260.

Bosun
Aug 10, 2011
304
caleb10104 on Mar 12, 2020 wrote:
witches were low tier before scratch buffs (if i'm recalling right) and funny enough they're still low tier afterwards. a buck just touching them essentially will still kill them,

scratch makes musketeers (and arguably, swashbucklers) more powerful than witch, imo. (musk bombs run off spellpower, poison/bleeds run off spellpower)
It isn't their health that makes them powerful, it is as you have shown in your example, what they do to their allies. In a few rounds, Old Scratch turns everyone on your team to a full blown killing machine (or healing/killing machine if your a privateer).

Bosun
Aug 10, 2011
304
anecorbie on Mar 12, 2020 wrote:
I question that a swashbuckler's poisons/bleeds "run off spellpower", as these attacks don't trigger witchhunter.
Is there any evidence that this is so or is it based on "player observation" with a few random criticals "confirming" it?
And if the question that Old Scratch should be nerfed is based on PVP play, why isn't this in the Spar Chamber section?
Old Scratch is great for PVE and should be left alone.
All this argument reminds me of the old "Black Fog is OP and gives an unfair advantage" sniping.
Personally I don't have any visuals of poison running off of spell power, nor bleeds. I do not have a high enough swashbuckler to fully know, if anyone wants to test that they can.

Also, while I have confirmed him being powerful through PVP (which I was mainly arguing for because PVP is dying, why let it die more), how about some PVE examples, shall we?

The main example for me is the Obsidian Boss fights. Even with a full team, as Kingsisle advertised, this fight is tough as nails. But when you have every single team member have a scratch, well then the story changes.

The Boss fight truly becomes a walk in the park, mainly because with all of those mojo buffs, you'll be doing insane damage, and with a privateer in the group (me), you instantly recover from the massive damage you were taking.

So yes, this is why I didn't put him in PVP as you suggested, because he is broken in all forms of combat, PVE or PVP. So no, he is not great in PVE if he turns the hardest of challenges into free wins.

Also in my personal opinion, Black Fog isn't too good.

Bosun
Aug 10, 2011
304
witchdoctor of awe... on Mar 14, 2020 wrote:
Sure. Bleeds/Poisons I consider roughly the same. I will be using numbers from my privateer (who runs assassins) since my Swash doesn't have scratch promoted

My Privateers spellpower - 286. (238 base, important later)
My privateers assassins bleed - 286
My privateers weapon power- 283

assassin before mojo buff - 283
assassin after mojo buff (100%)- 524

mojo buff adds your base spellpower (whichever percentage) 238 for the 100% buff. 286+238=524.
It's reasonable to say mojo buff affects bleeds

though for my swash, since i can only use the 25% one, the damage on the poison won't be changing all that much, but still.
Swashes base spellpower - 238, 286 with buffs (spooky 2 + natural)
my swashes base poison does 215, roughly 75% of its normal spellpower weapon power is 355.
we should be getting about 60 extra spellpower from the 25 buff.
poison after mojo buff is 260.
Thank you for confirming this, you have proven now that Scratch makes everyone into killing machines.

Petty Officer
Mar 03, 2020
66
chiliman05 on Mar 19, 2020 wrote:
Thank you for confirming this, you have proven now that Scratch makes everyone into killing machines.
for two turns.
the problem lies in that it isn't class locked. even then, giving carc the buffs would just bring scratch back to Sailin!
you want scratch to be balanced witchdoctor as a class has to be revamped

Pirate Overlord
Mar 16, 2012
10631
chiliman05 on Mar 19, 2020 wrote:
Thank you for confirming this, you have proven now that Scratch makes everyone into killing machines.
Then if he is making "everyone into killing machines", then what's your problem? If he's usable by everyone, then no one is at a disadvantage.
If this complaint is PVP oriented then take your complaint to The Spar Chamber.
I still contend that Old Scratch is wonderful for PVE and ought not to be "nerfed".

Gunner's Mate
May 08, 2010
270
anecorbie on Mar 20, 2020 wrote:
Then if he is making "everyone into killing machines", then what's your problem? If he's usable by everyone, then no one is at a disadvantage.
If this complaint is PVP oriented then take your complaint to The Spar Chamber.
I still contend that Old Scratch is wonderful for PVE and ought not to be "nerfed".
funny enough, he isn't really making swash and buck into killing machines than they already are.

to set up to really do poisons at the level musket/witch/privy does dps, you would have to be getting more than 1 scratch buff, which would require a staffy weapon.
then the issue comes with assassins. you'd need a melee weapon (staffy/stabby/slashy/smashy) to be able to get all the buffs and still use assassins, which is already going to take a hit to your base damage.
if a swash or buck is going to go down the staffy route, it'd be more effective imo to just buy 3 storm totems from the bazaar, making poison/assassins irrelevant already.
buck is already a killing machine without scratch, and unless you have flames, i don't see the point in using scratch on buck

i think before mojo flow is even touched, witchdoctor as a class (and its companions) need to be revamped as a whole, but as we all know, that wont happen, so i'm fine with flow staying the way it is.

Bosun
Aug 10, 2011
304
anecorbie on Mar 20, 2020 wrote:
Then if he is making "everyone into killing machines", then what's your problem? If he's usable by everyone, then no one is at a disadvantage.
If this complaint is PVP oriented then take your complaint to The Spar Chamber.
I still contend that Old Scratch is wonderful for PVE and ought not to be "nerfed".
I don't think you understand companion balancing. I don't care if they are available to everyone or in a bundle, no single companion deserves this kind of power. It heavily limits the choices of viable companions in PVP and makes fights ridiculously easy for PVE. They have every single right to be nerfed.

Bosun
Aug 10, 2011
304
caleb10104 on Mar 20, 2020 wrote:
for two turns.
the problem lies in that it isn't class locked. even then, giving carc the buffs would just bring scratch back to Sailin!
you want scratch to be balanced witchdoctor as a class has to be revamped
Two turns means a lot, it can be the difference between a win and a loss, and that win is almost guaranteed when for two rounds, everyone on your side can get all their health back and deal unrecoverable damage to the other side.

Care doesn't need that big of a buff, maybe just small stat buffs.

And as I have said to Anecorbie, it doesn't matter whether it isn't class locked, no single companion deserves that much power.

Bosun
Aug 10, 2011
304
witchdoctor of awe... on Mar 23, 2020 wrote:
funny enough, he isn't really making swash and buck into killing machines than they already are.

to set up to really do poisons at the level musket/witch/privy does dps, you would have to be getting more than 1 scratch buff, which would require a staffy weapon.
then the issue comes with assassins. you'd need a melee weapon (staffy/stabby/slashy/smashy) to be able to get all the buffs and still use assassins, which is already going to take a hit to your base damage.
if a swash or buck is going to go down the staffy route, it'd be more effective imo to just buy 3 storm totems from the bazaar, making poison/assassins irrelevant already.
buck is already a killing machine without scratch, and unless you have flames, i don't see the point in using scratch on buck

i think before mojo flow is even touched, witchdoctor as a class (and its companions) need to be revamped as a whole, but as we all know, that wont happen, so i'm fine with flow staying the way it is.
True he doesn't effect those two that much, but have you seen the inhuman amount of health privateers can heal when they have lots of mojo buffs? And how much their mortars do with mojo buffs?

And that's not including obviously, witchdoctors, who if they have scratch can bring high damage spells along so that with scratch mojo buffs, they can 1 hit KO the most durable of buccaneers.

Now obviously the witchdoctor class does need to be revamped, but that's asking way too much effort that KI will never put in.

Petty Officer
Mar 03, 2020
66
chiliman05 on Mar 25, 2020 wrote:
True he doesn't effect those two that much, but have you seen the inhuman amount of health privateers can heal when they have lots of mojo buffs? And how much their mortars do with mojo buffs?

And that's not including obviously, witchdoctors, who if they have scratch can bring high damage spells along so that with scratch mojo buffs, they can 1 hit KO the most durable of buccaneers.

Now obviously the witchdoctor class does need to be revamped, but that's asking way too much effort that KI will never put in.
witchdoctor/buccaneer are polar opposites so it makes absolute sense that they can 1 turn them, because buccaneers can do the absolute same thing to them.

if witchdoctors and the comps were to receive
- higher base accuracy
- mojo rising as a trainable epic (the others, not just the hermit and necromancer)
- more defensive capabilities.
i think then we could look at refitting flow

Bosun
Aug 10, 2011
304
caleb10104 on Mar 26, 2020 wrote:
witchdoctor/buccaneer are polar opposites so it makes absolute sense that they can 1 turn them, because buccaneers can do the absolute same thing to them.

if witchdoctors and the comps were to receive
- higher base accuracy
- mojo rising as a trainable epic (the others, not just the hermit and necromancer)
- more defensive capabilities.
i think then we could look at refitting flow
I know that they are polar opposites, my point was that they can 1 hit KO anyone with their mojo buffs, even Buccaneers (I used them for the example since they usually are heavily armored with high health).

I do think that the witchdoctor class does need to be revamped, and while I should mention it on a different post, all classes should be revamped.

Bosun
Aug 10, 2011
304
anecorbie on Mar 20, 2020 wrote:
Then if he is making "everyone into killing machines", then what's your problem? If he's usable by everyone, then no one is at a disadvantage.
If this complaint is PVP oriented then take your complaint to The Spar Chamber.
I still contend that Old Scratch is wonderful for PVE and ought not to be "nerfed".
If you want an example, think of it through weapon damage. There isn't a weapon that drops from a boss dealing 50000000000000000000000000 damage. And that's because even if it is available to everyone, that's absurd. It limits the amount of viable weapons against in PVP, and it makes PVE a cake walk.

The same will apply to Companions, as since Old Scratch makes other people inhumanly powerful, you have to have one (probably more than one even) in a PVP fight, and he makes PVE easy, as I stated with the Obsidian Boss fights being much easier with several of him on your team.

So I argue against you because if this is the case we may as well make Ratbeard deal 10000000000 damage on a hit because as you stated "If [they] are usable by everyone, then no one is at a disadvantage". But what about the people who would like to have variety, I ask you? But see this is what happens when companions are too powerful. PVE becomes too easy and you have to have certain companions with you in PVE or be at a disadvantage.

Now of course the Ratbeard example is absurd, but that is to point out how ridiculous it is to not balance companions because as you said "They are usable by everyone".

Petty Officer
Mar 03, 2020
66
chiliman05 on Mar 31, 2020 wrote:
I know that they are polar opposites, my point was that they can 1 hit KO anyone with their mojo buffs, even Buccaneers (I used them for the example since they usually are heavily armored with high health).

I do think that the witchdoctor class does need to be revamped, and while I should mention it on a different post, all classes should be revamped.
let me know when armor becomes factor in determining mojo storms damage.

Petty Officer
Mar 03, 2020
66
chiliman05 on Mar 31, 2020 wrote:
If you want an example, think of it through weapon damage. There isn't a weapon that drops from a boss dealing 50000000000000000000000000 damage. And that's because even if it is available to everyone, that's absurd. It limits the amount of viable weapons against in PVP, and it makes PVE a cake walk.

The same will apply to Companions, as since Old Scratch makes other people inhumanly powerful, you have to have one (probably more than one even) in a PVP fight, and he makes PVE easy, as I stated with the Obsidian Boss fights being much easier with several of him on your team.

So I argue against you because if this is the case we may as well make Ratbeard deal 10000000000 damage on a hit because as you stated "If [they] are usable by everyone, then no one is at a disadvantage". But what about the people who would like to have variety, I ask you? But see this is what happens when companions are too powerful. PVE becomes too easy and you have to have certain companions with you in PVE or be at a disadvantage.

Now of course the Ratbeard example is absurd, but that is to point out how ridiculous it is to not balance companions because as you said "They are usable by everyone".
you're also only one hitting normal enemies with storms. it's impossible to one shot most end-game bosses because a damage cap exists

Bosun
Aug 10, 2011
304
caleb10104 on Apr 1, 2020 wrote:
you're also only one hitting normal enemies with storms. it's impossible to one shot most end-game bosses because a damage cap exists
I know that, but it still makes the boss fights easy. Because you have to remember that one of the main reasons boss fights are hard are because of the minions. Like if the Obsidian Boss fights had no minions, they would be easy even without Scratch. But from the Scratch Mojo Buffs, the minions are easily dealt with, making the fight still easy.

Bosun
Aug 10, 2011
304
caleb10104 on Apr 1, 2020 wrote:
let me know when armor becomes factor in determining mojo storms damage.
I don't know why you're bringing up mojo storms, as I have never mentioned that once. But mojo storms is affected by armor, I don't know why you think it wouldn't be.

Bosun
Aug 10, 2011
304
caleb10104 on Apr 1, 2020 wrote:
let me know when armor becomes factor in determining mojo storms damage.
Also it is mojo buffs that we have been talking about, as they make Old Scratch very powerful.

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