Release: Caster Subclass and Keyword Tweaks

[Lamppost in Winter]

https://www.nexusmods.com/pillarsofeternity2/mods/363/

Did some cleanup and refinement of my existing caster keyword/subclass mod and rolled my new Priest subclass mod mod together.

Description from the mod page:

Quote

Effects:

Keywords:
 

• Adds Wizard keywords (Conjuration, Enchanting, Evocation, Illusions and Transmutation) to all spell abilities.
• Changes the keywords of Priest spells to match the Community Patch keywords (thanks to MaxQuest and Phenomenum for making this and for allowing me to use their files). Briefly, Restoration=healing, Inspiration=applies Inspirations or non-defensive buffs, Protection=applies defensive buffs, increases beneficial effect durations, suspends or reduces duration of hostile effects, or summons a creature, Condemnation=applies debuffs and Punishment=deals damage. This includes most of the changes from the Community Patch file, but I still recommend installing that.
• Adds Priest keywords (Restoration, Protection, Inspiration, Punishment and Condemnation) to Paladin and Chanter abilities, in accordance with the Community Patch definitions. Might consider adding at least the Inspiration and Protection keywords to some appropriate Cipher and Druid abilities in future.
• Adds the Deception keyword to spells in other classes (loosely defined as mind-affecting spells, which seems to how it's applied in vanilla). Beguiler bonuses will now apply to these spells.

Subclass passives:

Ciphers:

 

• The Empty Soul passive now applies to spells targeting Will from all classes.
• Beguiler bonuses apply to Deception spells from all classes.

Druids:

 

• The Fury passive bonus now applies to Fire/Frost/Electricity/Water/Wind spells from all classes, not just Druid "Elements" spells.
• The Lifegiver power level bonuses now also apply to Restoration abilities from all classes. The penalty still only applies to Druid Rejuvenation spells.

Priests:
All Priest subclasses now have a unique passive bonus. These also apply to enemy Priests.

If you are loading an existing save, you will have to respec your character to gain the bonuses for Berath, Eothas, Woedica and Gaun. The rest should apply to existing characters.

 

 

• Berath: When scoring a Hit with a Decay attack, or when an ally or enemy falls in combat, gain increased Power Level on the next Restoration or Rejuvenation ability used.
• Eothas: When under an Inspiration effect, nearby allies gain Resistance to Resolve Afflictions. When under a Protection effect, nearby allies receive increased healing.
• Magran: On scoring a hit with a weapon, gain bonus Armor Rating and Concentration for 10 seconds, and bonus Accuracy on the next Fire or Punishment attack. On scoring a hit with a Fire or Punishment attack, the Priest and all allies gain bonus Accuracy, Penetration and Damage on their next weapon attack.
• Skaen: Condemnation and Punishment attacks gain bonus Accuracy from stealth, invisibility, or against Sneak Attack targets. From stealth, invisibility or against Sneak Attack targets, Punishment attacks deal additional Raw damage over time.
• Wael: Deception, Mind and Illusion attacks Interrupt against Sneak Attack targets. When missed by an attack, the Priest has a chance to gain duration on beneficial effects.
• Woedica: Targets hit by Condemnation or Punishment attacks suffer increased damage and Interrupt the next time they take damage. Allies near targets hit by Condemnation or Punishment attacks have Intellect Afflictions cleared.
• Harvester of Gaun: When scoring a Hit with a Plant attack, or when an ally or enemy falls in combat, gain increased Power Level and Action Speed on the next Inspiration or Protection ability used.
• Rymrgand: Targets hit with Decay, Frost or Poison attacks suffer increased duration of hostile effects. Targets Crit by Decay, Frost or Poison attacks additionally suffer penalties to Armor Rating and Action Speed.

Wizards:

 

• Bonuses for keyword spells now apply to spells from any class (e.g., the Druid's Sunbeam has the Evocation keyword, and the Evoker's passive bonuses for Evocation spells will now apply to it)

Other ideas I may toy with in future:

• Add Priest keywords to appropriate Cipher and Druid abilities - the mechanical benefit here may outweigh the flavour dissonance.
   
• Rework the Trickster subclass - right now, while powerful, it feels like just a Rogue who can cast spells and only offset by a mildly nerfed Sneak Attack. May use the Wael bonus from the Priest mod as a starting point to set it apart more from the vanilla Rogue (or Spellblade).
   
• Rework Blood Mage - the defense penalty for it is very arbitrary, so I definitely want to find a replacement for that. Other things I might explore are removing the random nature of Blood Sacrifice and allowing it to restore spells in other classes.
   
• Rework Wizard subclasses - I feel like they could use more active bonuses to set them apart from each other. Problem is that most don't really map well onto a specific playstyle.
   
• See if I can apply the Cipher keywords to more spells or passives as they're very underused.

Edited November 24, 2019 by Lamppost in Winter