Battling System Revamp

Hello!

Ok, so I'm aware there are Other posts about battling which are out there right now, as well as Good suggestions for battle outcomes, and even a Fantastic discussion about RNG in Wolvden and it's implications.

(Go check those out, those are interesting threads!)

However, this is a hair different. This is about the battle system, and about how right now it isn't all that fun.

Premise: I was very excited to battle when I first joined. I wanted my wolf out and about doing battle in explore all the time! Surely on some enemies, one move would not work very well, while on others it might work great! Some enemies, I thought, would be way too hard even if they were my same level, like moose or bears. (To be fair, the last assumption seems to be true.) I thought I would need to learn about every opponent and learn strategies to fight them. On the last point I was totally wrong.

RNG can be great and useful. I would argue that in this case it hurts Wolvden's battle system more than helping it. The battle system could be an integral part of the fun of the game, but is presently just a mindless button-click session you listlessly perform a couple times a day, hoping to get lucky. It is, presently, lackluster at best.

My suggestions:

1. Wolves should be able to learn new attacks or defenses as they level up. 
2. Attack effectiveness should be dependent upon: A. Lead wolf stats (each move should rely on 1 or 2 specific stats); B. Enemy type (enemy species and size should make a difference--different attacks will be more or less effective on different anatomies.); C. Enemy level; D. Enemy and Player buffs and debuffs; and finally (and specifically listed last, because it should be the least important aspect of this equation!) E. RNG rolled luck.
3. Enemies should be "rolled" for stats at the beginning of each battle within a range for their species and level, assigned a range of attacks befitting the same, and should have the efficacy of their moves impacted by the same factors as above.
4. Buffs and debuffs should be added: Some moves should allow for status changes; e.g., a bear could have a Swipe move which would have a chance of Stunning your wolf, leaving them with a chance of not being able to attack for x to y turns; a wolf's Crush move could have the chance to incapacitate an animal, reducing it's Speed (i.e., leaving it unable to dodge, or skipping 1 of 3 turns as it flails)...etc. Heck, I'd even be amused by having a Skunk battle where the skunk has a special status effect that's unique to it! There are a ton of options here that would make us have to actually think when we go to battle.

This is not me pooping all over Wolvden, for the record. I love the game! I just wish the battle system was more engaging. It would make players have more fun with the game, and want to come back and battle some more as soon as their lead wolf gets more energy. It would also yet again make stats actually important, as now stats would be having an important impact on what battle strategies will work for that particular wolf. A wolf with high STR is going to be fundamentally different to fight with than a high SPD, low STR wolf, and that's awesome!

I'm sure others will have awesome ideas for this too, and I'd love to see them! Again, I'm trying to post honest requests for improvement that will make gameplay more engaging, exciting, and meaningful for players. It will feel way better to earn a trophy from a really tough enemy if you feel like you had to work hard for it and earn it with your own cleverness and strategic thinking.

I know this would be a huge revamp of the current systems, but I truly feel it, or something similar, would go a long way to make players feel more invested in their wolves and the process of battling and leveling up.

I love this. I was thinking on similar lines as you about this issue. They have a good foundation but with a few tweaks they could make battling really fun even for the more casual crowd. 

Support. This would be so much more fun.

Definite support! Loving this idea, would love to see extra battling mechanics in game ^^

I support. The current battling system we have now isn't good and need to be either fixed or revamped.

Total support! It would make battling, and thus exploring in general, so much more fun and engaging. It would give a reason to battle other than just leveling your lead wolf for special NBWs. It would make everything so much more fun! I'd love working out the strategies, what moves used what stats, what enemies to use what moves on... All that stuff! It would just be amazing.

I want to note that currently, both Latch and Crush rely on strength. You get a -1 modifier for low strength or a +1 modifier for high strength when using these moves. So, that's not super important, but I thought I'd mention it. I sorta skim-read the first post so if that's already mentioned, sorry haha!

So yes, I entirely support this. Even if just the current moves were less RNG-based and were more effective or less effective against certain enemies, it would be much more engaging: having even more detail, like learning new stats as your wolf levels, would be amazing, but not "necessary". But I do feel that just a fairly small revamp would be very good for the battling system and make me at least so much more invested in exploring and battling... and the game in general. :)

Support. Grinding my Alpha's level is so annoying rather than fun.

Huge support.

I genuinely hate the battling in this game - and I don't use the word hate lightly here. I've been trying to get to level 15 since I started playing at the beginning of October in Early Access, and it's just such a pain through and through, every battle a cause for frustration and annoyance. I can't wait for level 15 and then never battling again.

Healing items are way too weak to make a difference, it feels like a waste to use them, and random healing in explore is too unreliable. And, of course, for some reason there's no gradual healing (because, clearly, when your wolf is not out exploring, there's no way they could possibly rest at home and recover from injuries, right? That'd be silly.)
After every single battle, no matter how weak my opponent, I have to use at least one 100% energy bar to fight a single enemy again (and lose all HP of course) or waste a day of herb gathering, for important medicine, on healings salves, that don't even make a difference at my current HP stat.

Completely unbalanced and extremely frustrating.
I strongly, strongly support the above suggestions and I've seen other great suggestions around the forums already as well - like pack wolves helping with battles, natural healing over time, and boosted healing items. ANYTHING, really. Anything is better than the current state.

Heavily support. A battle system can be hard, but it should still be fun, not painfully boring and frustrating. There should be some way of making battling at least not a chore

PLEASE. SOMETHING LIKE THIS. The current battling system is just... bad. It's not fun. I don't want to do it. It hardly even feels worth it. Some kind of improvement is desperately needed.