Combat stuff for Nexus

Aereidhna

Hi y'all,

I'm learning how to Bard and I swapped to Nexus from Mudlet awhile back due to swapping computers often from home/work/laptop/etc. I'm pretty happy with Nexus and would like to stick with it, but it's kind of overwhelming now that I'm attempting to learn how to combat properly (after ~16 years of playing Achaea and studiously avoiding most combat). So far I just have basic aliases for setting up harms and being semi-useful in group situations.

Does anyone have any tips for learning how to script in Nexus, especially for bard (and especially for a current non-coder, but someone who's willing and able to learn Javascript)? Are there any Javascript tutorials that you found especially helpful? Does a Nexus aff tracker system exist or will I need to build one on my own? Are there other Nexus scripts existing that you'd recommend, or anything else I should be thinking about?

Keorin

There's no public aff tracker for nexus that I'm aware of, though I know some people have some functional tracking and might be willing to help with it. If/when you want to start messing with bard limb prep, there's a limb counter that can work for bard as soon as someone tells me to stop being lazy and add it.

As for learning to code, I found https://www.w3schools.com/js/ to be invaluable when trying to get a handle on nexus scripting (not to say I'm terribly talented with it even now). The nexus documentation has some other handy javascript resources http://nexus.ironrealms.com/Javascript, as well as some handy stuff for nexus overall.

I'm always happy to help wherever I can, too, so feel free to poke at me if there's anything I might be able to help with, if you're unfortunate enough not to be able to find someone more talented with it all.

Lavanda

Every single thing I have coded, I created by following the tutorials here: https://www.w3schools.com/js/

And the basic custom functionality here: http://nexus.ironrealms.com/Functions

I had not touched code for years before coming back to Achaea and coding my own proper system as a fun project. That series of tutorials has everything you could need.

I don't know of affliction tracking for Nexus, as I made my own, but a simplistic one can soon become an efficient and elaborate one as you keep working on it and tuning it for your personal needs. For bard combat specifically, get ready to do a lot of math, because the class is just one big math party where you have to know when you can or cannot successfully afflict someone without them curing it before you can distract their curing with paralysis.

Edit: Shoot, Keorin beat me to it lol

Aereidhna

Keorin said:

There's no public aff tracker for nexus that I'm aware of, though I know some people have some functional tracking and might be willing to help with it. If/when you want to start messing with bard limb prep, there's a limb counter that can work for bard as soon as someone tells me to stop being lazy and add it.

As for learning to code, I found https://www.w3schools.com/js/ to be invaluable when trying to get a handle on nexus scripting (not to say I'm terribly talented with it even now). The nexus documentation has some other handy javascript resources http://nexus.ironrealms.com/Javascript, as well as some handy stuff for nexus overall.

I'm always happy to help wherever I can, too, so feel free to poke at me if there's anything I might be able to help with, if you're unfortunate enough not to be able to find someone more talented with it all.

Thanks so much! Your help has been invaluable so far, and I'm sure I'll be bugging you more as time goes on.

I'm working through Codecademy's JS course, but imagine that will take me awhile before I'm actually ready to start scripting anything intensely. I do have a Mudlet aff tracker and some Mudlet scripts to refer to when working on my own stuff, but I don't have the knowledge yet to fully make sense of them. I'll check out the links you mentioned!

Are there any easy-ish strategies that I can do using simple aliases, triggers, and keybinds for now that will get me set up enough to get in the arena and start playing around, while I'm learning to code? I feel like I have a huge learning curve ahead of me and I'm totally willing to put in the work but also I'd love to get started on working on some stuff. I can bug you ICly if that would be better.

Aereidhna

Lavanda said:

Every single thing I have coded, I created by following the tutorials here: https://www.w3schools.com/js/

And the basic custom functionality here: http://nexus.ironrealms.com/Functions

I had not touched code for years before coming back to Achaea and coding my own proper system as a fun project. That series of tutorials has everything you could need.

I don't know of affliction tracking for Nexus, as I made my own, but a simplistic one can soon become an efficient and elaborate one as you keep working on it and tuning it for your personal needs. For bard combat specifically, get ready to do a lot of math, because the class is just one big math party where you have to know when you can or cannot successfully afflict someone without them curing it before you can distract their curing with paralysis.

Edit: Shoot, Keorin beat me to it lol

Okay you're giving me hope that I might actually get to combat-ing before I turn old and grey learning things, hehehe. I have seen those links and will definitely stick with them! I might start with trying to translate the Mudlet aff tracker I have (AK) to Nexus as a first project.

Definitely curious if you have any insight to the question I asked Keorin - ways to get in the arena using just what's available on Simplified Scripting while I'm in the learning process. I'm fairly new to understanding bard kill strategies, from what I know we have a limb prep option, a locking option, and a damage option, but that's really all I know so far.

Keorin

If there's any advice I could give for coding in general, it's not to worry to much about "knowing to code" before jumping in. Most everything I learned about code, I learned by hacking things together and taking apart other scripts, and slowly building on it.

For instance, an ideal affliction tracker is a pretty complex piece of code, but at its most basic, all it really has to do is set variables when you give afflictions, reduce those variables when they eat things, and then pick an affliction based on an if/else tree. Which obviously takes some know-how itself, but you don't need to sit down and know how to replicate AK when you're starting out.

For very beginning stuff, though, I'd work on making some echoes/highlights for when people eat and seeing how well you can do manual. Bard makes that a little more complicated then some classes, but it should be doable, and it'll give you a better grasp of the theory if you do script things more heavily later. You could also look into the limb prep side of things - some people find it complicated, but a salve lock takes a lot less affliction pressure then a regular lock, in some ways.

Lavanda

I won't get into too much detail because frankly I believe in teaching in-game so we'll talk more depth there. It's literally Lavanda's job to teach people, and I adore teaching combat, so as long as you can tolerate my little weirdo, I'm happy to help. 

Bard has three commonly used strategies that you're going to want to learn, with one being arguably skippable if you go right to the more complex route.

Damage: easy as jabbing paralysis with pesante, singing impatience until it sticks, and then switching to accentato jabs until they die. Stat reliant, both character and weapon-wise, but conceptually the easiest possible thing you could do in a one-versus-one. You need your songbird and affliction vibes up so they stack mentals and increase accentato damage. Can get fancier than that, but as a bare-bones entry point, you could do it with 2 aliases after harms come up.

Locking: This is the reason most people don't do bard, because doing it manually feels so slow unless you're some kind of genius, and coding it is just more trial and error than most people are willing to deal with. You need to stick the right afflictions to shut someone out of every curing option available to them. Doing it slow doesn't feel good, doing it fast is why so few play the class.

Prep: This is also a lock. You use the fact that applying restoration salve means no salve balance for a few seconds, which means the target can't cure anorexia if already impatient. Break leg, they apply, easier time locking. 

Aereidhna

Thanks! I'll work on some things and hit you both up in game to bug you more. I really appreciate the time you took to respond.

Keorin

Lavanda said:

Locking: This is the reason most people don't do bard, because doing it manually feels so slow unless you're some kind of genius, and coding it is just more trial and error than most people are willing to deal with. You need to stick the right afflictions to shut someone out of every curing option available to them. Doing it slow doesn't feel good, doing it fast is why so few play the class.

I think bard gets a bit of a bad rap with this, which I don't think it deserves. Unartied bard is very much balanced around its salve lock, which it can use to threaten locks at 1-2 affs stuck. While its offset balances make manualling it a bit trickier then some other classes, it's pretty in line in terms of speed. You just have to play it like its own class.

Lavanda

Keorin said:

Lavanda said:

Locking: This is the reason most people don't do bard, because doing it manually feels so slow unless you're some kind of genius, and coding it is just more trial and error than most people are willing to deal with. You need to stick the right afflictions to shut someone out of every curing option available to them. Doing it slow doesn't feel good, doing it fast is why so few play the class.

I think bard gets a bit of a bad rap with this, which I don't think it deserves. Unartied bard is very much balanced around its salve lock, which it can use to threaten locks at 1-2 affs stuck. While its offset balances make manualling it a bit trickier then some other classes, it's pretty in line in terms of speed. You just have to play it like its own class.

Fair enough. I've just never heard of anyone having much of a good time with manual bard. It's up there in difficulty, with its own learning curve on top of the learning curve already presented by locks, but I'm willing to believe someone could figure it out. That someone just won't be me. 

[Deleted User]

Lavanda said:

Keorin said:

Lavanda said:

Locking: This is the reason most people don't do bard, because doing it manually feels so slow unless you're some kind of genius, and coding it is just more trial and error than most people are willing to deal with. You need to stick the right afflictions to shut someone out of every curing option available to them. Doing it slow doesn't feel good, doing it fast is why so few play the class.

I think bard gets a bit of a bad rap with this, which I don't think it deserves. Unartied bard is very much balanced around its salve lock, which it can use to threaten locks at 1-2 affs stuck. While its offset balances make manualling it a bit trickier then some other classes, it's pretty in line in terms of speed. You just have to play it like its own class.

Fair enough. I've just never heard of anyone having much of a good time with manual bard. It's up there in difficulty, with its own learning curve on top of the learning curve already presented by locks, but I'm willing to believe someone could figure it out. That someone just won't be me. 

Farrah manualled Bard. And was probably the most successful Bard.

Kiet

I manual bard too, and I'm nowhere near farrah tier but given I spend almost no time or effort actually practicing it and still manage to lock people who at least have some inkling of combat makes it clear it's pretty doable. Ameer manuals it too, though he's still learning it.

Probably not that great if it's your first aff class, though, it is certainly more to keep track of than most of the other aff classes.

Lavanda

I stand corrected. Guess I need to get out of my little social combat bubble more. My bad!

Kiet

I think it's fair enough to say bard is one of the hardest classes to manual, I'm only commenting because the idea that some classes are basically impossible to manual so you might as well automate is a big part of why we've gotten to where we are with automation. I've had more than one person try to tell me to my face you can't manual bard/shaman so they assume I'm automating and can help them out with setting that up, which is mildly upsetting re: the general direction of the game's combat scene.

Aereidhna

@Kiet, is it alright if I hit you up for advice on how to set things up?

Kiet

I don't really log on that much these days, sorry. When I do I prioritize helping Mhaldorians with combat since a large part of combat is sorta an IC thing! I also don't know anything about nexus coding.

All I can tell you is that you'll wanna make sure you use queueing to minimize the burden of the two different attacks.

Ameer

I can try to help out where i can. I have learned a lot when ot comes to bard and nexus