Night Sight Still Needs Work

Chris, any thoughts on why someone would choose to use a torch over Light or Night Vision? I don't think I've ever heard you guys talk about your direction to make torches important enough to use vs. magic.

 

Chris, I found ONE good quality about a torch today.

It has an extremely long timer. It doesn't go out every 1 to 3 minutes.

I think there should be more than that however.

 

Ah! I love the improved night vision even though it will probably be a while before I use it with a character. Can you you use Night Vision and Light at the same time for a better lighting effect or does one basically cancel the other out?

@Baron Drocis Fondorlatos I think it would be awesome if one of these releases we had a non-magic, hands-free light source. I am thinking about a mining hat with a lantern strapped on it that actually has some +mining properties. Also, a lantern that you can put in the new, handy-dandy belt slot or carry in the offhand.

This is an interesting design, perhaps minus the green. Or a more traditional vintage look.

 

Great ideas!

@Duke Ezekiel Cooper BMC - I'll bet the BMC would appreciate this.

 

main problem with torches vs magical vision means is that torches take a space. Not a problem for mages... but for the weapon users it's annoying (the only way of efficently swapping between a torch and your weapon is to have the torch assigned to the alternate deck).

 

Or have a magical light source (cloak, sword, etc...) But yeah, that's another weakness of the torch.

I actually think torches should be the BEST light source in the game because of all the weaknesses the have.

 

Or magic should have a cost.

 

Well it costs me focus each time. And as much as I run out of focus that's enough of a price to pay

 

Yes. And I wouldn't mind at all if magic eventually was better at higher levels...

So it would be like this....through level progression...

Light Spell---------WEAK-------WEAK------OK------OK-------GOOD-----BEST
Torch---------------GOOD-----------------------------------------------------------------
Night Vision------WEAK-------OK-----------OK------GOOD------------------------

 

It's like 3 focus, and it regens about 2 seconds after you cast it. Costs no reagents and have one of the shortest cooldowns in the game.

 

Maybe a game without magic like A Tale in the Desert might be more your thing as you seem to hate the idea of magical light so much.

 

and goes out in the middle of combat and you either have to take up a valuable card slot or be blind until combat ends.

 

I don't hate it at all. I love it!

I hate bad design. I hate min/maxing to the point that we have skills and spells that end up having little meaning or use. That's what this (and most of my) ideas are about.

If we have a light spell that is super convenient, gives out the best return on investment, and is far and way the most efficient light source in the game...why do we need a torch and night vision? It's not about trying to make your favorite light source gimped, it's about trying to make more roleplaying opportunities by allowing other light sources to have meaning.

Does that make sense?

 

That's a very small draw back. But yes, that happens.

 

I think not giving spells any cost is what ends up gimping them in the long run. Look at Healing Touch. Why do you think its been nerfed to heal very little for a lot of focus?

Just my opinion anyway.

 

Since R22 Ive noticed my Night Vision skill wont increase. Im a few points beyond level 5, and no matter how many times I use it now, it wont go up. I leveled it up to level 5 pretty quickly in R21. I keep checking my skills window after each use of Night Vision, and it never increases in skill. Is this a bug, or is there something I am doing wrong? All my other skills seem to increase just fine. The little green arrow is above the skill glyph, suggesting it is actively training.

 

I had that same problem with Vanish in R21. I think it's a bug, but I don't know for sure. That is why I suggested giving players the ability to see a quantifiable measurement of exp gain...so you could know for sure if the bar was moving. Right now it's like waiting for a pot to boil.

 

It is certainly not increasing. Its only level 5, and levels 1-4 had a very distinct visual increase in the exp bar. Ive used the skill about 150x easily since I was level 5. It started increasing up to about 8% of the way, and now its stopped. I use Night Vision constantly as I intend for it to be a major part of my character's roleplay style. I kind of have it on 75% of the time while playing. So yah, trust me, the skill is certainly not increasing for me. Im also a low level character, so I doubt its an issue with too many skills, etc. Ill wait a bit to see if anyone has any other insight, then Ill report a bug.

 

Sounds to me like you're safe to report it as a bug.

 

As far as the use of Nightvision goes I guess the main thing I haven't tested out yet is that if you cast light on yourself and then stealth, do people still see the light? I would think that would be a huge reason for nightvision...