BRUTAL HEXEN RPG (ZDL Edition) v4.7

[Vuadeira]

Hi!

First of all, I'd like to express my gratitude for your continuous work on this project. I really apreciate it.

I played as the mage for a bit and found some peculiar things: When I switch to the second weapon, my melee atack becomes the kick from the cleric and the flechette becomes the smoke bomb instead of the explosion.
Also, the cleric's kick drains my own health. I mean, it's understandable, but seeing as neither the mage's lightning nor the barbarian's punch do that, it places the cleric at disadvantage, so I'd suggest this be removed.
I also can't summon the fammiliar, no matter where I am. Is it an exclusive skill of the barbarian?
Finally (and I understand it's still being tweaked with and balanced, still here's my feedback), the mage feels absurdly weak when compared with the other classes. His attack power was supposed to be as strong as the barbarian's physical might (taking the graphs in the class selection screen as a basis), but that's not how it feels at all... it takes forever to kill a mere spider, so right at the first screen I see myself forced to waste a flechette just to avoid a needlesly long fight, something I absolutely did not need to do with the other classes. I mean, he already is the slowest and most vulnerable class with lowest HP and no shield, so there's no need to make his attacks so wimpy. I strongly suggest to tone up his damage output.

So this is my feedback. Keep up the great work!

[ZDL_800]

Hello and thanks for playing.

Regarding the kick for the Mage, yes it will be updated to use the force lightning for all weapons.

The Mages smoke bomb is more towards ambush situations where you are overrun.

The Clerics kick, which weapons reduce the health? I cant seem to find this bug?

So the Mages damage, after feedback from testers the Mage was OP so we had to reduce the damage for coop, you can increase the damage using the stat system. I do agree that this needs tweaking so the next update should be more balanced and hopefully have the coop respawn fixed.

Thanks again for your time.

[Lagi]

Hi,

excellent mod, since the very first time I played Heretic I wish to be able do some melee mayhem with shield and some medieval weapon (i enjoy cleric mace the most).


1. I hate pseudo-rpg elements! speed running is important part of doom-esqe games. I read your previous posts here, so whatever- its your thing. I hate leveling up, I hate allocating points to stats, I hate crafting, I hate tome of power being some bullshit mana converter or self heal. All character improvement should be by the item player found (weapon, ammo, consumables).

2. UI its ugly, and dont hold a candle to ornamented elements from vanilla Heretic and Hexen. I dont like this big LEVEL X on top of the screen - i play until level 4 and I see absolutely no reason for it to take my visual space. Also the XP bar - for what I have to be distracted by it? Its not a Diablo2. The xp progress is very slow anyway. I hate the pop-up monit when i level up - this is horrible idea! Small icon on side would be sufficient, which will disappear when player go into stats menu. I hate the 65/65 notation for hp & mana types - should be just 65. If you full on HP change "65" number color from red into blue.

3. what Tactical Skill do?

4. I love the starting shield and melee weapon. Oh boy, my dreams come true. Cant describe how much joy it brings to me. I love the back swing. Hold attack. Shield push. Shield deflecting projectiles.
4a. If i just click (RMouseBut) shield, it should auto push (instead having to double click). If i hold shield button (RMB) then it block. In combat panic I cannot do the push, whats the purpose of this double RMB?! its not Street Fighter, i shouldnt need mechanical skill to execute combo.
4b. backswing is disadvantage with this forward step, I fall down to my death multiple times.
4c. Seems as best tactic is to move around with hold attack and then do backswing. :/ - to soften it, would be cool if by just having shield PC increase his armor, so if you hold attack you expose yourself.

5. Textures are amazing. Each time i replay hexen i have headache from pixels. Not this time. Its amazing how big visual fidelity this high res texture have!
5a. the voxel items are superb! keys, armors, weapons MORE! please add voxel vials flachette and healing potions. 3D is crap, but this voxel are fit very well.

6. special move : kick for priest is awesome! very useful.

7. quick F key to throw grenade (flashette) is excellent ability. It improve gameplay a lot. Would be dope to have another one (like planting some traps or whatever). Not sure which one (will study hexen2 items after for some suggestion). I spam healing potion all the time, so key shortcut for Quartz Flask could be good.

8. there is some graphical artifact with map (tab). Map background suppose to be transparent, but there is 4x box of parchment in the corners. I personally like the full background of parchment , its thematic either you look on map or fight. Hate the line overlay in Diablo when you play with auto map on.

9. Enemy hp bars are detrimental to the game experience! Instead focusing on enemy, i look at the top right corner to check how much HP creature have. Its a step into excel spread sheet game. IMO the HP should be secret, you could replace monster sprite if they are wounded (on half hp).

10. inventory items could have name displayed if you scroll through them

11. thanks for the chainmail ettin. Could be nice way to increase variety by changing ettins weapons, into axe. Just visual change.

12. tome of power could have option to use Chaos device (random teleport). Due to improved movement (crounch, jump), player can stuck in some places. Like Guardian of steel with those switches that shift the slab.

13 torch is excellent idea but little underused. Why there is no burn kill on etin? Why lava is not hurting ettin if I kick them into? could be nice to have quick key for torch to quickly use and then switch back into weapon.
In fact i thing torch could replace shield (there-back) if you click some quick key.

14. i check fighter starting menu, and his magic weapons looks very poor. He can not start with normal weapon? all this glowing garbage.


p.s.

4.6zdl version of BrutalHexen is the only one BrutalHexen i played
for sure write next day something more

thanks!

[Lagi]

here some mock up picture

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this is how default zoom 1 UI should look like


put the xp bar and level Nr into stat menu


map bug


torch idea, switch with shield if equip with 1st weapon, otherwise work as previous (f.ex. with Serpent Staff)

if mage hold the torch and you use special move , mage will kick instead of hand-taser the enemy.

torch could be thrown (click burn attack, hold throw), to illuminate some area like flare. It byitself already have already tactical application, you see enemy in distance, also thrown torch could do some little dmg (and in future ignite the target )

each character could have some quick use, defensive, special ability that cost mana to use.
For Mage, it could be short distance random teleport - to escape from being cornered by enemies. short time invisibility.
For cleric "pray" temporary immortality, but cannot use any weapon or items (screen could get orange filter). Could be useful also to move through lava. Or used to save from falling damage.
For Fighter - battle cry that stun all nearby enemies (they dont move nor attack, for few sec OR until PC attack them).

the default running could be "penalized" (balanced?) with putting down weapons. If you run around level looking for puzzles OR escape from enemies - then you dont mind. And it make the combat more interesting (if you cannot always just outrun your enemies).

[Bezhael]

There is always box.com, and Microsoft OneDrive.

[Lagi]

some nice voxel are made by Reikall
viewtopic.php?f=46&t=58340&hilit=voxel
not sure how it is with implementing them into another mods.

most awesome looks Heretic, with the voxel statues or the shield, hidden in starting level (go to the right, to the corner behind barrel at the starting room)

[Vuadeira]

Hi! Thanks for the reply!

The Mages smoke bomb is more towards ambush situations where you are overrun.

I mean, sure, but shouldn't the default bomb of the mage be the explosive one rather than the smoke? I thought only the cleric throwed a smoke bomb.

The Clerics kick, which weapons reduce the health? I cant seem to find this bug?

With any weapon, if I kick a wall or an enemy, I take some damage myself. Same with the shield bash. I don't think this is a bug, just a bad design choice. Why should I be penalized for kicking an enemy? This is very low priority though...

I played some more and could successfully reproduce the Darkmere glitch reported by Valherran. Map 8, class Mage. Nearing the castle in the swamp, the game freezes on certain ocasions.
I made a small video to showcase these complaints:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-Gm9p5l_PE

Is there any tool I can use to "debug" the game while it is running? I could help finding the causes for these issues in my spare time.

Thanks again for your continuous work.

[ZDL_800]

Hello and thankyou very much for the replies and bug reports, much appreciated.

I really wish I could answer all the questions regarding UI updates and such, the main urgent issues that need fixing are the CTD bugs, if we can fix the CTD we can go ahead and really update this. I managed to fix the crash in the first tunnel, its something to do with the dead tree stumps in the tunnel colliding with the water stalkers.

I believe we need to somehow clip the water stalkers so there's no geometry collision, I still haven't figured this out yet.

Thanks for the video, the issue with the water stalkers gets worse on the next levels, its such a shame because I believe this can be fixed.

Also we was trying to fix the coop respawn issue, it works in coop, but the stats bug out, I have fixed the coop but you have to be revived from a player, if you actually respawn it breaks the stats.

On a good note, Brutal Hexen using the VRDoom engine is bloody brilliant, one of the best VR experiences ever, holding the torch in realtime is unreal.

So the main real issues are.

The CTD with the water stalkers.

The CTD with some items

Coop respawn breaks stats (Revived from player works)

Cleric kick bug. Mage Lightning. Other bugs.

We really need help from the Zdoom community, so join us in the quest to update this magnificent mod.

Thankyou very much for all your time and hope to speak soon.

[Lagi]

woow... excellent feedback Vuadeira
I agree kick and shield bash damage need to be removed. I notice the damage depends how close you are to the target. So maybe the kick & shield bash has AreaOfEffect damage? IMO AoE is good, solution could be to make player immune to this damage. [i dont know what im talking about, i have no idea how to mod wads]

In swamp I have also 3x CTD at this waterfall to castle entrance as well, but I run past the stalkers and it was ok.

I believe we need to somehow clip the water stalkers so there's no geometry collision, I still haven't figured this out yet.

Thanks for the video, the issue with the water stalkers gets worse on the next levels, its such a shame because I believe this can be fixed.

I have CTD also in Wastelands - near swamp temple. So i think you are right its something with the stalkers.

[ZDL_800]

Thanks for the reply.

From editing map8, basically for testing I removed the objects ie dead tree stumps from the water areas, and it works.

Its something to do with the water stalkers clipping into the swamp objects, its so strange. I'm looking into it now.

If anyone has any idea on how we can fix this please let us know.

Thanks again.

[Lagi]

encounter some sound bug

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[Emmanuelexe]

Is it possible to upload the package on a different mirror? Another website?

I will test this version later

[Lagi]

brutal hexen 4.6 zdl
- this is clean 4.6zdl (== from OP 1st page) without any of below changes

here was some not haram update
-replace above .pk3 in OP package for the following changes:

• a) [bugfix] shield bash/kicking no longer damage cleric or mage
  b) torch is bind on slot 1. press 1 to switch between melee weapon and torch
  c) additional key to quickly use artifacts [try keys: Z [krater of might], X [quartz flask], C [disk of repulsion] VBNG [banish/chaos device/icon of defender/porkalator] F-toss flashettee}, can be adjust in option > customize keys
  d) mage is force taser opponent instead of kicking when wielding torch

highly recommend ZDL
picture of zdl
put all files [.pk3, textures, music, wads ...] from package on the left, press launch


I check the pk3 in SLADE, and it appear the Tactical Skill is only affecting the Flashette damage - hmm... drop stat.

Disc of repulsion is now useless even more, because there is shield. To make disc valid, it need to have key shortcut to use. Still repulsion range is rather small and the cannonade of missiles have to by repulse with use of multiple discs.
Solution could be if disc work for 2 second and by this time repulse everything (monster, missiles).

Cubes with mana are redundant. There is Krater of Might, who looks better and works better, like a proper artifact. Little mana pockets for later, increase the inventory hassle.

I don't understand purpose of serpent staff alt fire. this green explosion is very weak. Does it have some property that I'm not aware off?

---

shield could work like that:
passive - work exactly like now with hold alt fire. from front: Block attacks & deflect missiles by 45 angle - if player dont swing weapon.
click - push close by enemy back (fighter) or stun them (cleric)
hold - deflect missiles back to attacker (180 degree)

fighter shield attack - push enemy back
cleric shield attack - stun enemy

fighter punch - stun enemy
cleric kick - push enemy back

torch could be bind on slot 1, with melee weapon. By pressing 1 you switch shield with torch.

edit:
shield/kick self damage bug - I was playing with editor:

if I give Mace weapon to fighter, then fighter dont receive damage when he kick
if i give fighters weapon to cleric, then cleric still take damage when he punch

edit2:
shield/kick self damage bug fix:
Decorate.Baratus -> Actor BrutalFIghter has following Properties that render him immune to kick or punch

Code: Select all

DamageFactor "Punch", 0.0
	DamageFactor "Fist", 0.0
	DamageFactor "Kick", 0.0

Parias and Daedolon Decorate, doesnt have it. By adding this 3 lines of code, I make cleric and mage immune to his own kicks or shield bash.

edit3:
beside kick fix, I modify the brutal hexen pk3 with following changes (will post file later):
1. put torch into slot 1 (when you keep pressing 1, you swap melee with torch).*
2. I add quick artifact use to the menu (with some default bind into zxcvbg keys - it work smooth in game)

*Would like to add Mace or Axe with torch, when I get little more familiar with the code. If Im not overly ambitious, I would like to create for mage special torch that would be his left hand, rised up and burning OR some light spark on top of the staff (gandalf style). IMO Torch ammo is over-complicating of the game. Torch is weak anyway.

edit 4:
MAP BUG ! on map dungeons
the Ettins spawn rate is insane!! This mayhem is fun until it cook your CPU
Ettin are coming from the round room at the south.


edit5:
just finished this brutal hexen with cleric. quite enjoy it must say.

After killing Korax I was level 18! (including killing 500 ettins in dungeons, due to bug)
you need to be level 20 to use Wraithverge, and level 25 to use Wraithverge alt fire.

so yeah, let me suggest req. lvl: fire/alt-fire
weapon 2: 4/6 lvl => 3/5 lvl
weapon 3: 9/12 lvl => 7/10 lvl
weapon 4: 20/25 lvl => 13/16 lvl

i would mention that I complete all Wraithverge pieces like 3x times - and its underwhelming a lot, when i dont even have a chance to use it.

serpent staff alt fire suppose to be some poison, but its just dealing minimum damage.

firestorm alt fire is nice, but imo should consume more mana - so other attack option be more viable

whole game I was putting every single point of stats into Physical Strength (i have 354 at the end of game and 43 at the start)- still at the end of the game I need 2x swings for killing ettins
as i check damage formula i need 3 points of stat to increase mace damage by 1, (354-43)/3 = +103 dmg. Ettin has 180 HP.
what is even the point of this rpg system?! so you can figure out you need only boosting hp and mana capacity?

tome of mana, crafting tome - for each use you have to click proper amount mana or ingredients, using them is an annoyance. tome of mana should auto heal or convert mana to the maximum allowable.

now i check the Mage class

edit 6:
mage finished seven portal hub - mage is a tedious play:

mage is slow - which i like
fragile - which doesnt matter cause each stat point going into HP, and he is above 100 HP at level 5

his hand taser is actually nice weapon, useful f.ex vs centaur cause bypass shield, or when cornered

sapphire wand is an wearing weapon. its very weak, fast, long range, hit scan. Honestly, its effective, but this gameplay is so booooring . Literally spend half minute for each monster on auto-fire and step back.
I would give hand and leg (not mine ), for more damage, slower RoF and use of mana to shot.

interesting thing is, mage class is unfinished. weapon 2 has kick instead taser, which grant 5 hp bonus (instead 1) on finishers. And the flashette is behave differently, which is interesting. Mage can either throw explosive or poison gas. IMO i miss the setting trap option.

Afrit fire projectiles are traveling too fast. I know for pro gamers its maybe amusement. But its even hard to block it on time with shield, not to mention Mage who dont have any defensive capabilities.

weapons lvl requirement
i change req. lvl as above, and it fits nice to the level progress, i play on Mature level and go to the 2nd hub.

idea for Mage class:
starting weapons: hand spells (frost / fire) with reduced range (be melee equivalent). Mage should not have torch, instead have some magical source of light (not sure what)
2 weapon: sapphire wand - use blue mana
3 weapon: book with flipping page

idea for Flashette:
frozen corpse are awesome, its a shame other classes cannot experience this sprites
I would introduce 3x quick throwable items:

• freezing one - blue Crystal Vial, suits the best IMO, the first time I play Heretic i feel the cold from this vial.
  exploding one - flask with tar, would be most sensible for medieval times. Flask with black liquid + burning plug.
  poisoning one - bag of mushroom powder, or just collect & throw mushrooms

each class would use above items different:

• fighter - throw trigger on 1st impact
  cleric - throw trigger after some time - bounce off walls
  mage - set trap, when enemy nearby will trigger

edit7:
rpg stats need to be meaningful, each point should change something, customize protagonist into the character Player want to play. There should be only 1 point per level.
Potion of excellence shouldn't exist, because it weaken the significance of XP system (Why bother if you can just drink to get stat points). It blurs even more the residual RPG system.
Why dont introduce "potion of ammunition" ? "Potion of X" is just a lack of creativity - "ohh... its magic you know, you drink it and you become X".

weapons (dont count 4-ultimate - IMO shouldnt be affected by rpg system):
fighter - melee, range (crossbow), melee (hammer)
cleric - melee, range (serpent staff), magic (firestorm)
mage- magic-melee-ish (hand spells), range (sapphire wand), magic (book)

rpg stats:

• physical - increase HP and melee weapon damage (mage dont have any, so he still has HP, that he need a lot)
  magic - increase mana capacity and magic weapon damage (fighter dont have any, but more ammo is handy)
  range -increase range weapon damage (each class has hit scan weapon, and its universal tool)
  speed - little speed increase (assume there is 20 points per game = start with 0.8 + 0.1/stat point => 2.8 max total - sounds ok)
  item (tactical skill) - % chance to pick up 2x items instead of 1. +2%/per point so its max 40%. Still ok. Increasing item power would cause confusion (quartz flask will heal different amount each time f.ex).

edit8:
so im with mage in 3rd hub - heresiarch seminary. Arc of Death use as well blue mana :/ But at least its useful spell, little to strong but still fun. Then I get access to alt-fire of Arc of Death. Alt fire consume 4 green mana for mini nuke that obliterate absolutely everything with one shoot, except of 2nd act boss - wyvern who need like 2.1 shot. Oh.. & PC are immune to the blast of alt fire. BTW its my second encounter with Death Wyvern and it stuck again on the one end of rim balcony. Looks like bug.

I have absolutely no idea how we can speak about "balancing" classes, if they are not finished.
Increase RoF force PC for boring wand fight, then useless frost shard (frozen sprites are cool), with fire ball alt-shot, who has no use.
OP arc of death. all work on blue mana, except alt fire arc of death who take 4 green mana per nuke.

suggest: saphire wand eat blue mana and do more damage (add staff attack a'la heretic, for case of zero ammo - instead of torch), frost shard alt fire - eat green mana (then is attractive cause has his not use green mana supply), Arc of Death alt fire consume 40 green mana (?!) and damage PC as well, the alt effect should charge longer, for more skillful play.

mage source light could be Arc of Death - even if you could not use it because of low level, it can illuminate the area.

im done with the mage, I play Hexen for combat element more than for his atrocious puzzles. And combat dont exist with current alt fire of Arc of Death.

[ZDL_800]

Hello and thanks for the reply.

a) [bugfix] shield bash/kicking no longer damage cleric or mage

Great work on the kick damage fix, brilliant stuff. Looks like an error on my part seeing as I created the Cleric and Mage, clearly I missed those parameters so thanks for the update!

b) torch is bind on slot 1. press 1 to switch between melee weapon and torch

So basically the torch was originally mapped to key 0, so I then edit that key and map it to F, I understand this is confusing for new players but having the torch mapped to 1 I believe needs to be edited. What happens when you switch to weapon 2? You need to then hotswap back to 1 for the torch? We just need a custom mapped key which should be F .

We need a custom key map in the Customize control options under 'Brutal Hexen Controls' and have 'Torch = F' mapped out.

I'm working on a VR edition and the torch is mapped to the right controller, but the torch ingame is held on the left hand, so I'm swapping the textures over to the right side, we don't need the torch and a weapon either, that will break emersion, holding the torch in VR is amazing.

Its like the Doom3 tape mod which strapped a torch to the weapon, it ruined the horror, so we shouldn't be changing marks work, we should be updating only.

c) additional key to quickly use artifacts [try keys: Z [krater of might], X [quartz flask], C [disk of repulsion] VBNG [banish/chaos device/icon of defender/porkalator] F-toss flashettee}, can be adjust in option > customize keys

Great work on allocating the new keys, this is another brilliant update, one this I noticed was 'F - throw Flashettee' which was originally key E. Can I ask that we change this back to E as we need the F key for the torch.

d) mage is force taser opponent instead of kicking when wielding torch

Thanks for allocating the lightning to the mage, so I believe now the mage needs the lightning on 2,3 and 4 which would complete another update off the list.

I check the pk3 in SLADE, and it appear the Tactical Skill is only affecting the Flashette damage - hmm... drop stat.

We shouldn't remove any stats from the game, why remove the option of increasing stats for bombs? The option is there for the player.

Disc of repulsion is now useless even more, because there is shield.

Its still valid in ambush situations, maybe we could work on some update for this, let add it to the list.

I don't understand purpose of serpent staff alt fire.

That was the only one I wasn't happy with, it needs updating, maybe a short range light poison gas, I'm not sure? Or maybe green fire?

*Would like to add Mace or Axe with torch, when I get little more familiar with the code. If Im not overly ambitious, I would like to create for mage special torch that would be his left hand, rised up and burning OR some light spark on top of the staff (gandalf style). IMO Torch ammo is over-complicating of the game. Torch is weak anyway.

Torch should be torch only, it will ruin the emersion, I tried to add a mage light but couldn't find any decent textures to work with so I left that out for now, I agree the mage would look epic with a custom light.

Also it will break the VR edition seeing as you actually hold the torch in realtime, its amazing.

MAP BUG ! on map dungeons the Ettins spawn rate is insane!! This mayhem is fun until it cook your CPU

How was the FPS? Was it at least 60FPS? As long as it ran stable and not lag out its fine, its Brutal Hexen, it designed for coop.

just finished this brutal hexen with cleric. quite enjoy it must say.

That's epic I must say! I'm happy you enjoyed the game.

After killing Korax I was level 18! (including killing 500 ettins in dungeons, due to bug)you need to be level 20 to use Wraithverge, and level 25 to use Wraithverge alt fire

I'm so sorry about this, but you have only completed 50% of Brutal Hexen. Do you have the Hexen DLC? We have combined both Hexen and the DLC into one mega playthrough. I didn't send you the mod sorry about that.

The DLC also has increased enemy count for insane difficulty, so I really need to send you the mod.

whole game I was putting every single point of stats into Physical Strength (i have 354 at the end of game and 43 at the start)- still at the end of the game I need 2x swings for killing ettins as i check damage formula i need 3 points of stat to increase mace damage by 1, (354-43)/3 = +103 dmg. Ettin has 180 HP. what is even the point of this rpg system?! so you can figure out you need only boosting hp and mana capacity?

You only played 50% of the game I'm sorry about this, I'll send you over the Hexen+DLC mod.

mage finished seven portal hub - mage is a tedious play:

After feedback from coop testers, the mage was OP, so we had to reduce the damage on the mage, literally the mage was killing everything in sight, I agree it needs to be slightly edited but its more balanced in coop.

Afrit fire projectiles are traveling too fast. I know for pro gamers its maybe amusement. But its even hard to block it on time with shield, not to mention Mage who dont have any defensive capabilities.

Brutal Hexen is brutal for a reason, the projectiles are epic, no noobs allowed here. Its designed for coop. You work as a team.

weapons lvl requirementi change req. lvl as above, and it fits nice to the level progress, i play on Mature level and go to the 2nd hub

This is why we need to talk about these updates before going ahead and releasing them here, with all due respect its not a free for all, you have only played 50% of the game, you didn't even message us regarding any of this.

I really do appreciate the work here but if were going to update this, then we must talk about the updates beforehand. half of this work needs to be edited again, please at least message us.

Why don't we attempt to fix the CTD issue with the water stalkers? This would be a massive update. I'm sure we can figure this out.

Thanks again for the updates.

[Lagi]

I check the pk3 in SLADE, and it appear the Tactical Skill is only affecting the Flashette damage - hmm... drop stat.

We shouldn't remove any stats from the game, why remove the option of increasing stats for bombs? The option is there for the player.

Its an option that is not valid to take.
tactical skill should give chance to pick up 2x items instead 1x. Then it would be stat to increase if player want to play more with items.

Disc of repulsion is now useless even more, because there is shield.

Its still valid in ambush situations, maybe we could work on some update for this, let add it to the list.

without quick-key, you cannot use it in ambush.
disk of repulsion should work 1,5 sec, so it could deflect all incoming missiles.

I don't understand purpose of serpent staff alt fire.

That was the only one I wasn't happy with, it needs updating, maybe a short range light poison gas, I'm not sure? Or maybe green fire?

thematic could be to render player immune to poison, if he holds serpent staff.
then alt fire could summon poison cloud in PC position - it would be useful in close quarters
and remove the melee vampiric ability from Serpent Staff (its OP)

After feedback from coop testers, the mage was OP, so we had to reduce the damage on the mage, literally the mage was killing everything in sight, I agree it needs to be slightly edited but its more balanced in coop.

Sapphire wand is OP because its too reliable (no ammo, long range, high RoF hit scan, projectile has no size (they travel through every tiny hole)). And to balance that you decided to just lower the damage. Making the gameplay extremely dull.

You need to add some "annoyance" to weapon, otherwise its requires no player skill to use. If you aim for multi its important.
Make sapphire wand consume blue mana. Make wand only shoot burst: click mouse & wand fire 5 projectiles (one after another, in big spread). Each shoot you need to click again, no hold down mouse key to fire. Or lower Rate of Fire. Make the wand a 2nd weapon (switch witch frost spell). Make wand missiles blockable/deflectable by Centaur.

Your testers have no comments about other weapons that 1st?