Perk System: The game needs more mutually exclusive options for character building.

Discussion in 'Archived Topics' started by Aetrion, Jun 5, 2018.

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  1. Aetrion

    Aetrion Avatar

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    This game needs some kind of perk system to allow more variety in character building, because too many builds that make sense thematically are not possible right now because the ways in which the game stops people from simply being a collection of all the best skills also stops people from building characters that are themed to specific types of abilities rather than specific ability trees.

    Currently the game only has two ways to create exclusive character options: your equipment, and your specializations. You can't wear light and heavy armor at the same time for example, so that forces you to define your character along the lines of what kind of equipment you have in a given slot. This works to limit what skills can be used in combination to some extent, but especially when it comes to magic it ruins a lot of possible builds that thematically reach across different schools of magic instead of just focusing on one or two. The same is true of specializations. While they make some powerful aspects of certain skills exclusive to specialist characters, they don't allow characters that thematically reach across different skill trees.

    For example, if you wanted to build a D&D style Monk who uses Pugilism and the various melee spells in the game you simply wouldn't be able to build a character who can do that with the current system. That combination simply isn't supported by any gear or specializations, in fact gear and specializations actively work to discourage this character idea. If punching people was strong without giving up anything in return it also wouldn't create a mechanical identity for the character, since everyone would then be able to do it, so it wouldn't be rewarding to build a character around this concept.

    Similarly you can't make characters who specialize in summoning spells, or defensive spells or even characters that eschew magic all together because the game can't allow you to create a lot of builds that are thematically sound simply because it lacks the option for you to say "I'd like to be good at X at the expense of Y"

    This is why I think the game needs some kind of perk system. For example, every skill line doesn't just have a specialization, but also a perk slot that unlocks once you have 500 points in it or something like that. The perk slot then gives you a variety of options that modify that skill line in a way that brings it in line with a greater concept. These perks can also have overarching effects that give bonuses to other skill lines.

    So as an example, once you put 500 points in the Fire Magic tree you would get options like

    Elemental Fist (Increases damage of all elemental melee spells)
    Elemental Arrow (Increase the damage of all elemental arrow spells)
    Summoner (Increases the power of summoned creatures)
    Tempered (Take less damage from fire)
    Heat Miser (Reduce/remove reagent cost on fire spells)
    Conflagration (Increase damage of all fire spells)
    Bombard (Makes Fireball great again)
    Archmage (Increases effect and cast time of all spells)

    Some of these options would be exclusive to the Fire Tree, but Elemental Fist would also be in Air, Earth and Ice, so if you pick Elemental Fist every time you might end up with a character that has a 100% combined bonus to fist spell damage. Likewise if you pick Summoner 8 times you will be able to bring forth extremely powerful creatures. Someone who cosistently picks Archmage will eventually be casting extremely slow but highly destructive versions of all spells. If you want to be a straight up fire specialist the way they work right now you can pick Bombard, Conflagration or Heat Miser (Or any number of other fire perks, this is just an example) and get a boost to the school that interests you, and then use the other spell schools to get cross-school perks to buff your fire mastery further. They would be balanced in such a way that picking school specific perks is always more powerful than cross school perks, but the combination of multiple perks that are in several schools would be more powerful than individual ones. So the most destructive possible fire spell you can cast might be Conflagration + 8 Archmage perks.

    Similarly the weapon and armor trees would have perks along the same lines. They would always give you the option to make one aspect of that tree that you like particularly well more powerful, pick options that give you a general boost across trees in the same category, and a perk that uses your knowledge of that tree to foil it, like the ability to take less damage from any given weapon type, or bypass some of the defense of any given type of armor if that's something you simply don't use.

    The Strategy perks would allow you to customize a bit more, for example with a choice of stat bonuses, or some special bonuses to some of their skills, like the aforementioned Pugilism, which you might be able to make very powerful by picking an associated "Iron Fist" kind of perk.
     
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  2. Tila Tenderfoot

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    I like the monk idea - pugilism is totally underpowered atm. Maybe add a martial arts tree/skills and include a stick of sorts skill there? However, weapons will probably always win over pugilism/martial arts.
     
  3. Bella Bones

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    These are amazing ideas! Thank you for sharing them Aetrion! @DarkStarr
     
  4. Pounce

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    I think adding a weapon, knuckles, could make pugilism valid and on paar. Or weightet glove, with spikes!

    I would dearly love to really specialise in one weapon, use little magic, but the way sota is i have to be kinda mage, kinda this and kinda that (alone mage in all schools to have resists.)

    The idea of classles is grande only to an degree, and that is everybody ends to be something of the same. Even with specialisation you are only a little bit better in one field, but there is no awesome better by sacrificing something else.

    If i do not make the fire magic tree to fireproof I am not able to do ok (I do not demand to do splendid, but there should be an way to have fire resistance without learning fire magic, or at least fire resist should be in first Tier, so you do not learn actural spells, or if then only very basic ones.)

    Able to do everything to an degree but then choosing one field or a combination that defines an field wouldbe awesome though.

    I had the idea of spellarcher, but given we can not set our arrows on fire..meh.
    Combos are fine and such but with the deck systhem more an maybe, maybe not, no way to do combos and keep the field in view to the degree one needs to do.
     
  5. Bigg

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    I'd love it if monks actually became a thing, with feign death o_O
     
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  6. Pounce

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    "Play the oppossum" skill with matching icon...
     
  7. Aetrion

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    Last edited: Jun 6, 2018
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