A few years ago, I participated in the original Black Combo Card event. An aspiring alchemist, I crafted a 6-slot, mostly water cannon card with a heat buster in slot 6. I initially teetered between having the sixth slot as heat buster and water cannon, so I reached out to the community to solicit feedback. Some members of the community, including a prominent soul streamer, recommended I make the sixth slot heat buster, giving the advice that water cannon can always be applied in-retrospect via advancement badges. I did not find any evidence to the contrary that this could not occur.
After the event, as I continued to play, I decided pure water cannon worked best for me, so I attempted to switch this sixth heat buster slot for a final water cannon. Upon doing so, my 81% heat buster slot downgraded into a 56% water cannon slot. I thought, okay I must have gotten a low roll, I thought I could certainly just reroll it. To my horror, rerolling again and again kept it at its lowest possible roll (53%). Demiqas recently mentioned that changing the sixth slot via advancement badges kills the card, and I have come to second this opinion from my failure. I've added this warning to our Wiki.
https://wiki.mabinogiworld.com/view/Combo_Card#Advancement_Test_Hall
But of course, this wouldn't be a suggestion post without feedback! I think the combo card system as a whole needs reform. A system that is extraordinarily difficult to craft to specification, and even
punishing after working hard to obtain advancement badges doesn't make a lot of sense to me personally. I would request:
-The chance to receive a higher roll on latter slots when using advancement badges such that the sixth doesn't get blocked. I know the current system -- get a card that has the end slots mostly aligned and use badges otherwise to modify the early slots. If erg, echostones, and even skill ranking were modified to become more accessible, I feel we should approach combo cards similarly, even IF combo card longevity itself remains a premium feature.
-If it is a custom black combo card where the percentages were modified and 'earned' by the player, should those percentages downgrade by changing the skill in-post via earned advancement badges? I'm not as certain here. It feels gross when higher percentages were previously obtained, harshly downgraded, and then made nearly impossible to re-raise.
-Even adding in something like a combo card slot modifier as an NX shop item (with in-game options for attaining, e.g. dungeon guide rewards for Crom Bas/Glen Bearna/revamped Iria dungeons?) with a higher chance at rolling higher bonus damages percentages that can work on any card could be an improvement, as existing slot change items work only on premium combo cards.
-Awareness around this topic is critical, but at least I've done my part with the Wiki. Maybe this post can also provide warning to current players.
Thank you for your consideration!
