Seekers of the Storm Nerfs

A item-tweaking mod targetting Seekers of the Storm items for v1.3.6, following the first balance wave. All stats are fully configurable, and item changes can be individually disabled. This is my first mod, so expect many bugs, and please report any that you find!

Mod Goals

• Bring the power level of the SotS items more in line with that of the base game.
• Remove any bugs or seemingly unintended item effects associated with these items.
• Provide configuration options that both tweak existing stats, and can provide additional functionality.

Tweaks - Tier 1

Bolstering Lantern

• Additional Functionality: Grants 10% attack speed (+10% per stack).
• Max Allies/Enemies: 4 (+2 per stack) => 1 (+1 per stack).
• Range: 20m (+5 per stack) => 10m (+5 per stack).
• Range Scaling: Hyperbolic => Linear.

Bolstering Lantern's first stack is very powerful, offering up to 40% attack speed, whereas later stacks become very hard to justify, especially with the hyperbolic range scaling. These changes should tone down the power of the first stack, but make subsequent stacks feel more consistent.

Chronic Expansion

• Damage per Kill: 3.5% (+1% per stack) => 5%.
• Max Kills: 10 (+5 per stack) => 5 (+5 per stack).
• Buff Duration: 7s => 7s (+0.5s per stack).
• Refresh Method: On Damage Dealt => On Kill.
• Config option for disabling the timeout sound effect.

Chronic Expansion not only outpaces all other tier 1 damage items, but also scales exponentially. To make other damage items more competitive with this item, it now gives a maximum of 25% damage per stack, still outpacing watches and crystals, but only if you're able to keep up with the ever-increasing kill requirement. Refresh method has been changed to on kill to make it less easy to maintain a killstreak, and increased timeout duration at high stacks to compensate.

Elusive Antlers

• Max Wisps: 3 (+1 per stack) => 1 (+1 per stack).
• Orb Interval: 10s (-10% per stack) => 10s.
• Buff Duration: 12s => 15s.

Like Bolstering Lantern, the first stack of this item is far too powerful. Now, every stack grants a consistent 19% movespeed. The orb interval reduction feels unnecessary, so that has been fixed, and buff duration increased to compensate.

Warped Echo

• Additional Functionality: Only activated by instances of damage that deal more than 25% max health, after armour.
• Additional Functionality: The first echo is delayed by 2s.
• Damage Reduction: 30% => 3% (+3% per stack) (scaling hyperbolically).
• Echo Count: 3 (+1 per stack) => 4 (+2 per stack).
• Echo Interval: 0.75s => 0.25s.
• Cooldown: 15s (-3% per stack) => 30s.

Warped Echo suffers from an identity crisis post-rework, clashing with opal in it's functionality. These changes give it a solid niche - allowing the player to better react to large bursts of damage. Cooldown has been increased to a flat 30s to compensate for it's increased power, and the damage reduction now stacks to give more value to stacking the item. It should only activate when opal fails to block enough damage.

Tweaks - Tier 2

Breaching Fin

• Cooldown: 10s => 15s.

A fun damage item with a solid niche. It's maybe a little on the strong side, especially against bosses so the cooldown has been increased just a tad.

Chance Doll

• No changes, but proc chance can be changed via the config.

Definitely strong, but not overtuned in my opinion.

Luminous Shot

• Proc Coefficient: 1 => 0.7.
• Strike Interval: 0.2s => 0.1s.
• Config option for charging upon Utility and Special usage.

Adjusted proc coefficient to prevent this item from being a proc machine, and reduced strike interval to prevent fast enemies like elders from simply walking out of the AoE, or flying enemies getting knocked out of the AoE via damage force.

Noxious Thorn

• Range: 20m (+5m per stack) => 12 (+4m per stack)
• Config option for adding an independent burn chance.

As much as I love this item and didn't want to nerf it, it is fundamentally too strong. It's range has been adjusted to bring it in line with Gasoline and Will-o'-the-wisp.

Prayer Beads

• Item description overhaul to include previously hidden information.
• Bonus Stats: 20% (+5% per stack) => 10% (+10% per stack)
• Bonus Stat Calculation: Based on stacks before removal => Based on number of stacks removed.

This item has always been a little vague in it's functionality, so the item description has been updated to include more information. Furthermore, each stack of the item is consistent and grants stats based on the number of stacks removed, no longer requiring you to gamble on printers to see substantial effects.

Sale Star

• No changes, but base bonus items and chance of extra items can be tweaked via the config.

Definitely a strong item, but adds a lot to the decision space of the game, so IMO doesn't need nerfing.

Unstable Transmitter

• Temporary Health: 75% => 25% (+5% per stack)
• Bleed Stacks Applied: 3 => 1 (+1 per stack)
• Cooldown: 45s (-10% per stack) => 90s.

A fully reusable power elixir should not be on a max 45s cooldown, and ALSO provide as much damage and utility as it does. The cooldown is now very long to reflect it's considerable power. Temporary health and bleed stacks have been heavily nerfed, but now have scaling to compensate.

Tweaks - Tier 3

Electric Boomerang

• Base Damage: 120% (+120% per stack) => 100% (+100% per stack)
• Spin Percentage Damage: 42% => 25%.
• Spin Proc Coefficient: 0.2 => 0.1.
• No longer applies bleed when Sawmerang is the active equipment.

This item is very good for activating other items, but deals a tad too much damage for the value it adds to a build.

Growth Nectar

• Stat Boost: 7% (+7% per stack) => 5% (+5% per stack).
• Max Buffs: 4 (+4 per stack) => 5.

Growth Nectar's exponential scaling secures it as one of the most overpowered items in the game, granting a potential 112% boost to all stats at 2 stacks. Now, it grants a consistent 25% boost from all stacks of the item.

Runic Lens

• Activation Chance: 3% => 2%.
• Overspill Activation Chance: 3% (+3% per stack) => 2% (+2% per stack)

Runic Lens' damage potential alongside it's 0.5 proc coefficient makes it extremely strong, so toning down it's activation chance seems appropriate.

Sonorous Whispers

• Boss Drop Chance: 100% => 65% (+5% per stack)

Guaranteed boss drops are simply far too strong given the existence of combat and mountain shrines, the tendency for the game to spawn 3+ bosses after looping, in addition to the chance of elites dropping items. 50% proved too weak, and 75% proved still too strong.

War Bonds

• Additional Functionality: Now grants 10 (+10 per stack) gold on shrine use, scaling with time.
• Damage: 2.5% max health (+2.5% per stack) => 2500% base damage.
• Base Missiles: 5 => 1.
• Max Missiles: 20 (+5 per stack) => 10 (+5 per stack).
• Missile Gold Requirement: 25 => 150.
• Missile Interval: 0.3s => 0.75s.
• Proc Coefficient: 1 => 0.
• Now explodes on contact with enemies.
• No longer deals pass-through damage.
• Can no longer gain additional missiles on stages where the teleporter has begun charging.

War Bonds has exponential scaling, %health damage to bosses, including Mithrix and Voidling, and has a 1.0 proc coefficient, leading to this item being able to cheese bosses with very little difficulty. Now the item scales properly - the missiles are strong early game when it is hardest to acquire them, and become weaker in the late game where enemies have a lot health but it is much easier to gain them. A small bit of utility has been added to the item to give it value beyond boss-killing.

Potential Future Changes

• Include configuration options for Longstanding Solitude and Seed of Life.
• Fix Bolstering Lantern's somewhat inaccurate enemy detection.
• Increase the travel speed of Elusive Antler's orbs to prevent players outrunning them.
• Provide configuration options for Warped Echo to respect Armor and Block.
• Provide configuration options for Chance Doll to tweak shrine of chance success.
• Fix War Bonds projectiles consistently whiffing against Magma & Overloading Worms.
• Fix the NREs associated with Elusive Antlers

Known Bugs

• Disabling Chronic Expansion timeout sound effects also disables the visual flashing timeout effect.
• The first echo of Warped Echo does not register if the first hit delay is set to less than ~0.2s.
• Increasing the area of effect of Luminous Shot and Runic Lens does not update the VFX.
• War Bonds Missiles deflect erratically off Xi Construct shields (it does look cool as hell though).
• More to come, I'm certain.

Changelog

v1.1.0

• Added a whole bunch of new War Bonds configuration options!
  • Can deal Base damage instead of %Health damage. This is enabled by default!
  • Can grant a small portion of gold on shrine use. This is enabled by default!
  • Gold scaling exponent to adjust how the item scales into the late game.
  • Chat notifications for gold requirement.
  • Fixed a bug where War Bonds would only require 25 gold for the first missile gained each stage, regardless of the config setting.
• Growth Nectar now correctly boosts acceleration alongside speed. This is enabled by default!
• Warped Echo now displays the ACTUAL cooldown (30s instead of 10s) in the README. Oops.
• Default stat tweaks:
  • Elusive Antlers movespeed: 6% (+6% per stack) => 7% (+7% per stack).
  • Noxious Thorn range: 20m (+5m per stack) => 12 (+4m per stack).
  • Sonorous Whispers boss drop chance: 75% (+5% per stack) => 65% (+5% per stack).
  • Unstable Transmitter cooldown: 75s => 90s.

v1.0.2

• Correctly updated the BepInEx plugin version. Whoops.

v1.0.1

• You can now actually disable the unconditional Bolstering Lantern attack speed in the config.
• Updated information on Sonorous Whispers in the README to correctly reflect its changes.
• Reverted default Luminous Shot damage and secondary CDR to vanilla (125% => 175% and 25% => 20% respectively)
• Changed default Warped Echo damage reduction from 4% (+4% per stack) to 3% (+3% per stack).

v1.0.0

• Now exists!

Credits

• .score for creating a Plugin Config template.