Idea/Suggestion - A More Engaging Forge

[IronSyndicate]

So, I love crafting in games. Messing around with different combinations, trying to see what works best. The experimentation in it is something I enjoy.

I think we can all agree, though, that the Forge in MK11 is... sub-par. At the end of the day - it's very limited. Unless you went online and looked at the recipies others have figured out, you're more than likely to just waste resources and play a guessing game. Also - other than the gear pieces, most of the craftable stuff is pretty useless. I doubt anyone out there is missing Ethereal Armor that much that they're going into the Forge to craft it.

All that is not to say that the Forge doesn't have potential. It does, and I think there's a huge missed opportunity that would make the Forge great - craftable Augments.

Augments are another single-player mechanic that's misses out on its potential, mostly due to the randomness of it. I need to hope my gear piece has the relevant slot, and then hope I get the augment I want, in the slot-type I have. There's no player agency here. You either get lucky, or you don't. Even grinding doesn't really help. You could grind for years and still not get that "Nutcracker does 9% more damage" augment you want.

So why not let players take control of things. Let them craft their own augments. All the pieces for this already exist in the game, you just need to rejig the way they interact. Here's how I would go about it -

Each Augment forge recipe would be composed of 3 parts:

1. A character gear item - each character would have 3 of these, linked to each of their gear slots. This would be things like "Broken Katana" or "Crooked Hook Blades" that already exist.
2. A slot type item - there would be 6 of these, matching the 6 Augment type. So "Essence of Chaos", "Netherrealm Flame", etc.
3. An effect item - this would the widest variety of items, and they'd have properties which determine what sort of effect the Augment would have. This where most of the experimentation would come in, as you're trying to figure out what item does which effect. So, for example, "Copper Plating" could have an effect of "weak physical resistance" giving you an augment that gives a 5% resistance to physical damage. Or "Kung Jin's Arrow" could give a boost to projectiles.

There are many benefits to this system - first, it guarantees you'll always get something out of the Forge, so the player never wastes any resources. Second, it gives you a reason to actually go out and hunt for specific Forge items. I want an augment for Cassie's shades that gives me blood resistance - I know what I need to get, and now I want to go out and find it. And finally, it allows for experimentation and an overall more fun and engaging experience. Rather than leaving things up to tower RNG - the player is more in control of what they're getting.

I know that NRS people read these forums, and maybe if this gets enough support - we may see a more enjoyable, useful and engaging Forge & Augment system some time in the future.

 

[Kiss the Missile]

Is there a comprehensive list of all the secret recipes somewhere? I'm not about to waste 500 souls every time I get curious

 

[DragonofDadashov24]

Is forge actually useful?
I haven’t touched that thing and opened about 500 chests already and all secret gates as wells

 

[Lokheit]

Is forge actually useful?
I haven’t touched that thing and opened about 500 chests already and all secret gates as wells

There are 25 craftable gear pieces, 1 per character, plus the amulet of Shinnok and the Kronika thing which are used to advance in the Krypt. Also tons of konsumables.

Here is a living guide from Reddit, people are still working and the summon ones (15 discovered) but the gear ones are all discovered.

Spoiler

https://www.reddit.com/r/MortalKombat/comments/bk6oxq

 

[Swindle]

So, I love crafting in games. Messing around with different combinations, trying to see what works best. The experimentation in it is something I enjoy.

I think we can all agree, though, that the Forge in MK11 is... sub-par. At the end of the day - it's very limited. Unless you went online and looked at the recipies others have figured out, you're more than likely to just waste resources and play a guessing game. Also - other than the gear pieces, most of the craftable stuff is pretty useless. I doubt anyone out there is missing Ethereal Armor that much that they're going into the Forge to craft it.

All that is not to say that the Forge doesn't have potential. It does, and I think there's a huge missed opportunity that would make the Forge great - craftable Augments.

Augments are another single-player mechanic that's misses out on its potential, mostly due to the randomness of it. I need to hope my gear piece has the relevant slot, and then hope I get the augment I want, in the slot-type I have. There's no player agency here. You either get lucky, or you don't. Even grinding doesn't really help. You could grind for years and still not get that "Nutcracker does 9% more damage" augment you want.

So why not let players take control of things. Let them craft their own augments. All the pieces for this already exist in the game, you just need to rejig the way they interact. Here's how I would go about it -

Each Augment forge recipe would be composed of 3 parts:

1. A character gear item - each character would have 3 of these, linked to each of their gear slots. This would be things like "Broken Katana" or "Crooked Hook Blades" that already exist.
2. A slot type item - there would be 6 of these, matching the 6 Augment type. So "Essence of Chaos", "Netherrealm Flame", etc.
3. An effect item - this would the widest variety of items, and they'd have properties which determine what sort of effect the Augment would have. This where most of the experimentation would come in, as you're trying to figure out what item does which effect. So, for example, "Copper Plating" could have an effect of "weak physical resistance" giving you an augment that gives a 5% resistance to physical damage. Or "Kung Jin's Arrow" could give a boost to projectiles.

There are many benefits to this system - first, it guarantees you'll always get something out of the Forge, so the player never wastes any resources. Second, it gives you a reason to actually go out and hunt for specific Forge items. I want an augment for Cassie's shades that gives me blood resistance - I know what I need to get, and now I want to go out and find it. And finally, it allows for experimentation and an overall more fun and engaging experience. Rather than leaving things up to tower RNG - the player is more in control of what they're getting.

I know that NRS people read these forums, and maybe if this gets enough support - we may see a more enjoyable, useful and engaging Forge & Augment system some time in the future.

I could not agree more.
I actually enjoy RPG-type elements in my fighting games. What I don’t enjoy is having almost no real control over them.
Your suggestions would vastly improve this aspect of the game.

 

[MagicMan357]

I just wish the had the actual list as you use the thing, trying to figure out all these combos by ourselves is a waste of time.