Hey there folks!
So if you've been observing our progression on this latest patch, you'll see that we're introducing a very small amount of Slicing Bits to our harder versions of Heroics as drop rewards on certain bosses/enemies. 3 Weapon Slicing Bits of Offensive Parry/Evasion/Dodge Reduction at 5% each, 1 Armor Slicing Bit that introduces Punishing Blow Reduction of 1% each. These slicing bits are designed to give folks an edge in the harder content as Punishing Blow will be come a stat that is more relevant as we push and add newer instances to the line up.
This gave rise to a lot of discussion on the future of slicing and the concerns that slicing would be tied to the hard mode content exclusively. I wanted to reassure y'all that this initial introduction is only the first step into fleshing out Slicing down the road. In fact, due to the increase in discussion, I've already worked up 20 additional bits or stats that we can introduce outside of the harder content. This allowed me to tap into the Master Underworld Smuggler theme park that has existed on the server but currently does not serve any major benefit as the benefits contradicted what Evolve's goals were at the time of release back in 2023, so the illegal pistol mods & MUS rank benefits were removed.
After doing a bit of testing on MUS and following this guide https://swg.fandom.com/wiki/Smuggler, this theme park was not updated at all and is still using the original design back from 2006 when it was originally released in the NGE Chapter 3 Live update. As it stands now, the fastest way to progress through the system, because the "Smuggle your own Contraband" missions are not updating, is staying on Tatooine and running Barak's mission back and forth from Bestine, to Mos Espa, Mos Entha, Mos Taike & Mos Eisley.
To me, that's not really a very engaging system and goes back to the days of when NGE content, while plentiful, doesn't really hold a candle to what we can do with Evolve as we've made major milestones over the years. Personally, I view us adding the 20 hypothetical slicing bits to a themepark that is almost 20 years old, hasn't been adjusted and has some problems is not the best way to keep content engaging and a "quick add" of this would be a disservice to those who truly enjoy slicing as a fun mini-game/passtime that is unique to Smugglers.
To those who are passionate about these type of systems, please respond to two questions to help us move forward for the future after this expansion is released.
-
Should we focus on fleshing out Master Underworld Smuggler or create an entirely new system for Evolve?
-
Based on your answer to the first question, tell us how you would like to see a fleshed out Master Underworld Smuggler or how to create a new system for slicing for Evolve?
I would like to thank Darbie, Godrec, Darevsool & Bleep for their feedback so far on this and the comparisons on how Legends & Restoration has addressed this type of content.
