Balanacing an un-balanced combat system

The only major balance I want done right now is to wands/staves... bows don't use focus?! Focus is our ENERGY as well as our Mana... it is our everything... they use arrows so that is their cost... wands/staves should use reagents to cast NOT focus... alternatively the "charges" on them you guys talked about would be acceptable as well (and they would be charged by putting the reagent combination that makes the spell into a Woodworking Station with the wand/staff to add charges??).

Anyway, why do I, a PURE MAGE, have to use a bow when I have ZERO bow skills? Just doesn't make sense.

 

I'd like to see reagents power up staffs and glyphs with charges, and not being used for every single spell individually... (and I'd like to choose, when I want to use reagents for spells and glyphs; for example I wouldn't want to waste reagents for fights against small critters...)

 

I am quite sure that warriors do not want to damage their arrows and swords in these fights either. However if they do there should be some cost for spell casting as well.

 

I wasn't testing/paying close enough attention in R10, so please don't lapidate me, but could it be that wand damage is 'magical', whereas arrows cause physical damage? If that's the case, focus (=higher) cost would make sense, given that you can 'defend' against arrows with armour to the point where they become meaningless, but you can't defend against magical damage (yet?).

 

And that's why I'm for powering up glyphs with charges. But I'd like to have the option, when to use charged glyphs and when not... As I have the option as a warrior/archer when to use my best sword/arrows and when to use a simple club instead...

I'm just not sure, if this magic system can be fun for a system, where you're fighting nearly all the time and get punished when avoiding combat (by not getting xp and loot)...

 

I am starting to think that it would be a good idea to separate focus into the old Mana/Stamina calculated stats.

 

Which is likely why arrows crit for 20+ with no skill points in ranged and wands I haven't seen do damage above 7 points... and it costs focus... as a mage you're better to take a bow... doesn't make sense.

 

I think it is a huge challenge in a classless system such as this, to balance the ability to pick one form of combat versus a combination of 2 or more, and avoid driving all combat routines into a mish-mash feeling of sameness across the board.

I look forward to seeing what R11 brings.

 

In the post R10 talk it is mentioned that casting in armor will have a multiplier, then Richard said that staves and wands have a less than one multiplier to counteract this.
So it seems that holding the stave will make all spells cost less focus. IF that is what gets implemented.

 

This is one of those secondary bonus effects of the deck system.
When I saw that gear will wear down and that you can "switch decks" I immediately thought - hey I can have a cheap gear deck prepared, great, this nicely solves the whole issue with switching gears for goons and bosses.