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The current state of Spiritshifting: Ideas, reworks and more


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Okay, i did some more testing:

 

1. Copied an older version of the Stag file - where the cast freeze was not present - to the mod folder.

Result: Still cast freeze!!!

 

2. Removed the "Unstoppable" ability cause before that there was no cast freeze.

Result: Still cast freeze!!!

 

3. Installed version 0.7 that was definitely clean

Result: Still cast freeze!!!

 

Dont blame me!! :devil:

 

EDIT: Now the freeze only happens when casting Natures Balm all other tested spells work normally... but why???

 

EDIT2: And why are all other forms working without freeze... damn it!!

 

EDIT3: Have you tested older versions @GuyNice?

Edited by Harpagornis
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I got another idea for the Bear and Animals:

 

Even though the passive Bear cry might be cool its too additive with his "Cry of Anguish". As we had discussed the new abilities from Galawains challenge earlier i think its a good idea to transform the Bear into "bullish" but without knockback and with reduced chance to interrupt. Tests with 100% chance have shown that enemies get chain CC´ed to death so the question is where we should put the number. I think somewhere between 20-40%. Thoughts on that one?

 

If we remove the affliction immunites then in my opinion each animal form should get resistance against intelligence afflictions (charm, dominate) as well cause the Rage of the Inner Beast should protect the Shifter against attacks like this to some degree. What do you think @GuyNice?

 

Will be back in the evening! :yes:

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I think that's a good idea for a talent - intelligence affliction resistance (similar to the paladin talent). Paladins have one and it's a very attractive choice. Giving it baseline is too much I feel.

 

As for the Bear interrupts, you can do it on Crit? That's quite powerful though (Rangers get interrupt on crit talent at PL9). IMO it could also be a PL9 talent here as well, although it seems we're starting to copy too many mechanics from other classes...

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After reminding me of the mod title "Evolution" i got a solution that should work fine - even though you might still not like it @GuyNice:

 

Normal Animal: No bonus

Elder Animal: Resistance

Dire Animal: Immunity

 

This would strenghten the evolution aspect so not only the abilities grow and get more powerful but there is also some passive bonus that increases. As the immunity will be linked to PL7 its only part of late game fights (say hello Fampirs!) so i think that is "okay".

 

With regard to the Bear: I dont think that we should look too heavily where other classes get specific abilities. If we put the interrupt at 20% then dont forget that this only counts for the Bear. One out of five hits is not gamebreaking and against bosses it wont work at all.

 

But i have to admit that the Shifter Mod is a lot more complicated then i thought at the beginning. Creating abilities that are not "OP" while most (best: all) of them are still useful in late game fights is really a hard job. It always feels like that there is only a small little step between "useless" and "too powerful" and the more abilities and talents the Shifter gets the more complex the whole things gets. Then there is the question: Viable for solo or for party? And how to find a path where both factions get out the most of the new Shifter without pushing him too far for one or the other. And if we take into acount that this one is only a tiny little subclass in a much bigger game than i start to understand more and more how diffcult balancing gets. So whatever you (or i) do there will always be people who will start complaining. But stop. For the last point i was really lucky so far cause i got so many constructive feedback that the Evolution Mod has been growing on and on. Thats great! Sorry if i cant get everything in or if i sometimes walk my own path. If the result is "a blast" or - at least - "some fun" when playing the new Shifter: Wonderful.  :yes:

Edited by Harpagornis
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You're right, you can't please everyone, and balance is quite tricky to achieve. In fact I think it's impossible to balance for group play and solo at the same time. I believe the developers see it too and decided to balance around group play and not solo. But people play games as they enjoy them, and if the possibility is there, they will find other ways to play than what the developers intended.

 

Ultimately this is your mod and you should balance it as you see fit. I try to provide feedback as I see it but obviously it is highly subjective. I try to compare power level with other classes at similar levels. But if you feel you want the class to go beyond that, or that from a solo perspective it is warranted, by all means, go for it. Ultimately I will enjoy the mod for what it is, and if I don't I will move on, which is fine too. At the end of the day we're all here for entertainment, so I wouldn't worry too much :)

Edited by GuyNice
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I finally got some time to test the spell freezing of the Stag creating a Lifegiver Druid.

 

The first test fight started shortly after...

 

Moonwell? Works!

Touch of Rot? Works!

Sunlance? Works!

Plague of Insects? Works!

The Moon´s Light? Works!

.

.

.

Natures Balm? FREEZE!!! :devil:

 

So this is not a Shifter only problem but as maybe no one uses the Stag Form this was most likely unnoticed until now.

 

Deactivating all mods does not solve the problem so the bug is definitely part of the vanilla game!

 

Will write a post in the "Bug Forum"! ;)

Edited by Harpagornis
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Tomorrow i will try to expand the Evolution theme even more so the Animal Forms get stronger and/or more versatile whenever reaching a new tier - here are my suggestions:

 

Bear Passive: Bullish

Normal Form -> 10% chance to interrupt

Elder Form -> 20% chance to interrupt

Dire Form -> 30% chance to interrupt

 

Boar Passive: Regeneration

Normal Form -> 4 per 3 seconds

Elder Form -> 7 per 3 seconds

Dire Form -> 10 per 3 seconds

 

Cat Passive: Dexterity Inspiration

Normal Form -> Quick

Elder Form -> Nimble

Dire Form -> Swift

 

Stag Passive: Veil of 1000 Horns

Normal Form -> +10 All Defenses

Elder Form -> +20 All Defenses

Dire Form -> +30 All Defenses

 

Wolf Passive: Vampiric

Normal Form: 5% Life Leech

Elder Form: 15% Life Leech

Dire Form: 25% Life Leech

 

I reworked the Stag passive so it fits better into our theme. The Wolf numbers are fluid even though i think that 25% are still "okay" - at least when looking at late game encounters.

 

Feedback is always welcome! :yes:

Edited by Harpagornis
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Lots of reworks today - even more as the Stag refused to work for quite some time. Here are the biggest changes:

 

Removed the PL9 talent "Vampiric" as it was too powerful and overlapped with the Wolf.

Created the new PL9 talent "Galawains Favour" that heals the Druid (+15 health) each time he gets critically hit.

This should soften the low deflection problem a bit.

 

Proliferation, Exoskeleton Plate and Unstoppable are now self-casting automatically.

 

The casting time of the level 16 Bear ability "Rage" was increased to 3.0 seconds.

Reason: As all other Bear abilities are now instant cast i wanted to give at least the most powerful one some kind of delay.

 

All animal forms now evolve some kind of affliction resistance (PL4) and immunity (PL7) to strengthen the evolution aspect:

 

Bear: Might

Boar: Constitution

Cat: Dexterity

Stag: Resolve

Wolf: Perception

 

Furthermore all animal forms evolve another unique passive ability for even more utility:

 

Bear Passive: Bullish

Normal Form -> 10% chance to interrupt

Elder Form -> 20% chance to interrupt

Dire Form -> 30% chance to interrupt

 

Boar Passive: Regeneration

Normal Form -> 4 per 3 seconds

Elder Form -> 7 per 3 seconds

Dire Form -> 10 per 3 seconds

 

Cat Passive: Dexterity Inspiration

Normal Form -> Quick

Elder Form -> Nimble

Dire Form -> Swift

 

Stag Passive: Veil of 1000 Horns

Normal Form -> +7 All Defenses

Elder Form -> +21 All Defenses

Dire Form -> +35 All Defenses

 

Wolf Passive: Vampiric

Normal Form: 10% Life Leech

Elder Form: 20% Life Leech

Dire Form: 30% Life Leech

 

Stag and Wolf numbers got increased a bit to compensate the loss of Shields and the removal of the Vampiric talent.

 

Added descriptions for "Bullish" and "Vampiric" in the character screens as the numbers are not shown in the ability menu.

 

A first test (with potions) has shown that the Fampirs might be beatable even though it will still be a hot ride - thats how we like it. No? :biggrin:

 

Due to lots of new entries the mod file has grown a bit more - feedback is welcome! :yes:

Spiritshifting Evolution 0.91.zip

Edited by Harpagornis
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A big question right from the start was the weapon scaling of animal forms. As they do not get any extra procs from weapons i tried to give them some utility tools as well (vampiric, interrupt...).

 

But: What am i missing is experience with all those top tier weapons and how the druid claws compare to them damage- and penetrationwise.

 

I put the base penetration back to 9 while changing the PL7 talent "Vicious Strikes" into "Primal Focus" that now gives +1 PEN, +4 ACC & +15% DAM for all attacks (including spells). This puts the Claws to 9+ 4 (level-scaling) +1 (Primal Focus) = 14 Penetration at max level. Is this still okay for late game stuff?

Edited by Harpagornis
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Did some number tweaking after trying several test fights so expect many more changes coming soon...

 

The Bear Interrupt is triggering all the time cause i changed the wrong code - will upload a reworked version tomorrow.

 

I also noticed that the healing of "Primal Beast" had no timer so its healing until the end of battle. Looks a bit too much in my eyes.

 

Some test fights like the Burning Bridge ambush are making clear that the new Shifter is far from OP. At least as Single Class any ambush where he gets pressed hard is a walk on the knifes edge: If the enemies manage to interrupt "Primal Beast" its almost GG and even then the fight was interesting with lots if shifting and repositioning - nice!

 

Guardian of Ukaizo was also very thrilling but when running low on resources and the Guardian was nearly dead i somehow always got stuck in some kind of permanent prone - damn bug. The BoW Dragon and the big bad Spider will most likely be too much but the testing and rebalancing has just started!!

 

I will try to start some Multi-Class Runs in the next days to see if there is any "OP-Combo" for the new Shifter. Paladin? Or good old Streefighter? We will see!

Edited by Harpagornis
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Looks like the BoW Dragon is killable for the new Shifter IF he uses equipment. :devil:

 

But even completly naked i managed to bring the beast down to heavily wounded (not far away from nearly dead) before running out of resources. So with some items and potions this one should be doable even though it wont be a no-brainer. I think we are walking into the right direction. :yes:

Edited by Harpagornis
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Version 0.92 is nearly ready and will be uploaded today.

 

After more test fights i decided to change the level 16 Boar ability "Proliferation".

Previous: +40 health per 3 seconds & robust inspiration

Now: +9 health per 1 second & robust inspiration

 

A bit less healing cause it was able to outheal too many encounters (not Fampirs!) and the healing per second looks much cooler.

 

I also dived into the spell section cause @mant2si pointed out the Druids lack some single target dot spell. As the PL 6 spells lack some punch i created this one:

 

Extinction:

143 raw damage over 9 seconds while ticking each second (!)

Kills near death enemies instantly

 

Why is it much lower than its Cipher counterpart "Disintegration" (which deals 240 raw damage over 15 seconds)?

Cause: Its instant cast without any recovery so it works perfectly with the fast paced Shifter combat while also getting +10 Accuracy!

 

More later!

Edited by Harpagornis
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More reworks...

 

As i wasnt satisfied with the new Bear Cry i put it back to its originial form where it applies "Frightened" while i only removed the recovery time for faster action.

 

I also changed "Extinction" as targeting deflection would make it  too easy finishing bosses. Therefore it now targets "Fortitude" again. Accuracy bonus was removed.

 

But will the Shifter not fail to hit the spell against big ones now? Yes and no!

 

To give him a way to increase his chances i reworked the Level 16 Wolf ability "Concussive Blow". I removed the Unconcious effect and added another effect instead: Now it applies -25 Fortitude on hit. So with other words: Concussive Blow -> Extinction -> Byebye Bosses. At least if you can get them to nearly dead.

 

If you have ideas for new combo-potentials or you would like to see something special on the Shifter that you were missing all the time: Just tell me! ;)

Edited by Harpagornis
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New version for testing - have fun! :yes:

 

P.S. I have removed many old files - much smaller again!

 

Changelog 0.93:

 

- Fixed the Bear Interrupt so it should now apply correctly and not 100% when hitting enemies.

- Set back the Bear Cry to apply "Frightened" again. Removed the recovery time for faster action.

- Fixed inifinite healing from "Primal Beast" so it should now end when the spell expires.

- Renamend "Vicius Strikes (PL7 talent) into "Primal Focus" that now gives +1 Pen, +4 Accuracy and +15% damage (melee & spells).

- Increased base penetration of all animal forms to 9

- Increased healing of "Galawains Favour" (PL9 talent) from 15 to 20

- Changed "Proliferation" (Boar level 16 ability) to heal for 9 per 1 second instead of 40 per 3 seconds. Duration increased to 20 seconds.

- Added new PL6 spell "Extinction" that deals heavy single target raw damage and will instakill enemies that are near death.

  Extinction: 180 raw damage over 6 seconds (30 per tick). Instakills enemies that are "near death". 3 second casting time.

- Removed the unconcious effect of "Concussive Blow (Wolf Level 16 ability) and added -25 Fortitude affliction for 10 seconds.

- Removed "Touch of Death" (PL9 spell).

-

-

-

Spiritshifting Evolution 0.93.zip

Edited by Harpagornis
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Any new ideas or suggestions how to make Shifters more attractive? I will not stop until Obsidian will give them "a bit" more love! :devil:

 

I think that the integration of multi-shifting combined with evolving passive and active abilities is a cool way to make them more fun.

 

Not to forget the downcycling of recovery times to get some kind of fast paced combat that not only involves auto-attacking.

 

Allowing spellcasting when being shifted seems to be okay - at least once all elemental spells went out.

 

However: More ideas are welcome! :yes:

Edited by Harpagornis
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  • 2 weeks later...

Version 3.1 of the Evolution Mod is already online and even though many things have changed there is still a lot of work ahead.

 

Therefore i appreciate any feedback about balancing the new Shifter. Which abilities, talents or combos are too strong overall? What should be pushed a bit more?

 

Thanks for your help! :yes:

Edited by Harpagornis
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To make the Shifter Mod more interesting i splitted him into two versions:
 
1. The "Minor Evolution" uses the old rules where all classes could reach maximum Shifter power. This one is for new players who want to enjoy the full package!
 
2. The "Normal Evolution" puts the Elder animal forms to Power Level 8 so they are only available for Single Class. Veteran players should still have lot of fun here!
 
I am still working on some kind of "Ultimate Evolution" that will make the Shifter much more harder to play but there are still some tests to be done.
 
If you have interesting ideas for this "Ultimate": Write them down! ;)
 
Druid Shifter: Evolution Mod

Edited by Harpagornis
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