Lowering enemies' Will by 30 points with a Morning Star

[Elric Galad]

46 minutes ago, MaxQuest said:

- Mental Grit (once-per-encounter): psion channels his inner resolve and temporary gets: +10 deflection/will/fort?, and his focus generation is not paused by plain hits. This lasts for a number of seconds equal to his Resolve. (also it could give 1 Concentration; or vice-versa consume 1 Concentration to activate)

Or upgrade telekinetic burst (that I don't use that often) so it provides 100% Hit to Graze for something like 6s unmodifiable seconds as Psion Psychic Energy deviates attacks ? (or something similar)

EDIT : Partially Ninja'ed
EDIT 2 : Maybe the push away of TKB should be removed to simplify it a bit ? Not sure at all, just debating.

EDIT 3 : It costs 10 focus and pseudo-guarantee a gain of 6s x Psion Generation factor. For a lvl 20 max level MC Psion without PL tricks, it guarantees a net gain of 14 Focus.

Edited November 4, 2021 by Elric Galad

[MaxQuest]

6 hours ago, Testlum said:

What if you tied it in with Telekinetic Burst? Given its function of shoving enemies away, it's clearly meant to give the psion some space to gain Focus. I could envision something like enemies being struck by Telekinetic Burst not being able to disable Soul Mind for X seconds. Granted, that sounds like a hassle to put together in the code.

That "not being able to disable" thing would be a hassle indeed)

-----

-----

It would be easier to add new effect to an existing ability than to a new one.

But Telekinetic Burst doesn't feel fitting for that Mental Grit description; maybe for something else.

The Burst's purpose seems to be to push away enemy linebreakers that have gone through the frontline to the ranged psion. So he pushes them and can run away without getting disengagement attacks.

Edited November 4, 2021 by MaxQuest

[Elric Galad]

20 minutes ago, MaxQuest said:

That "not being able to disable" thing would be a hassle indeed)

-----

-----

It would be easier to add new effect to an existing ability than to a new one.

But Telekinetic Burst doesn't feel fitting for that Mental Grit description; maybe for something else.

The Burst's purpose seems to be to push away enemy linebreakers that have gone through the frontline to the ranged psion. So he pushes them and can run away without getting disengagement attacks.

If you're pushing people away, having some persisting psychic energy that repel a bit incoming attack for a short duration doesn't feel so weird IMHO  

That's why I'm suggestion a Hit to Graze conversion. No Hit, no disabling and you don't even have to code a new effect.

Edited November 4, 2021 by Elric Galad

[Elric Galad]

On 11/4/2021 at 10:47 AM, MaxQuest said:

- Mental Grit (once-per-encounter): psion channels his inner resolve and temporary gets: +10 deflection/will/fort?, and his focus generation is not paused by plain hits. This lasts for a number of seconds equal to his Resolve. (also it could give 1 Concentration; or vice-versa consume 1 Concentration to activate)

Just another technical remark that comes to my mind : I haven't found any way to implement an effect scaling with a specific attribute (outside of the traditional bonuses). You can do it with Skills or PL, but not attribute. Attribute threshold is possible, but not incrementing effect (although a super tedious 35 thresholds could technically emulate attribute scaling  ).

I'm also not a big fan of per encounter abilities*.

A way to combine both of these issues into a solution could be to implement a pseudo cooldown, through a self-inflicted hostile effect when Mental Grit ellapses that prevent reusing it. Hostile effects are decreased by Resolve, so...

That could be complicated, and I think implementing it a pseudo-cipher power (such as Telekinetic Burst or even Soul Annhilation) could be more simple. Cost, duration, cast time could be adjusted to so it won't be OP. 

(*Another note that has nothing to do with the topic : I always regret Druid can't bring back their Spiritshift. I wonder if a new Druid Spell couldn't provide a special Spiritshift, something like Tier 6 (because Tier 6 is a bit meh ^^), so you can still benefit from your Spiritshift Talent)

[MaxQuest]

19 hours ago, Elric Galad said:

If you're pushing people away, having some persisting psychic energy that repel a bit incoming attack for a short duration doesn't feel so weird IMHO  

I feel unsure about this, and I still don't quite understand why. Hmm.

• I don't feel happy about it because there is no limit on how many times Telekinetic Burst can be used; and at 10 focus cost psion could have that "no focus pause from hits" almost permanently. So what we have achieved here is adding more tedium.
• Telekinetic Burst has 4s recovery. I would feel a sense of loss here; unless playing a somewhat squishy psion/chanter.

That's not really a constructive criticism here, and more like rationalization. But I would keep looking for some other approach, until it just clicks.

 

19 hours ago, Elric Galad said:

No Hit, no disabling and you don't even have to code a new effect.

Not having to code a new ability is definitely a plus :D

 

1 hour ago, Elric Galad said:

Just another technical remark that comes to my mind : I haven't found any way to implement an effect scaling with a specific attribute (outside of the traditional bonuses). You can do it with Skills or PL, but not attribute. Attribute threshold is possible, but not incrementing effect (although a super tedious 35 thresholds could technically emulate attribute scaling  ).

Indeed... I was thinking about DynamicValue, but I have checked now, and it's Stat property cannot be tied to an attribute.

Although your multi threshold idea, is definitely a possibility 

 

1 hour ago, Elric Galad said:

I'm also not a big fan of per encounter abilities*.

Could I ask: why?)

 

1 hour ago, Elric Galad said:

A way to combine both of these issues into a solution could be to implement a pseudo cooldown, through a self-inflicted hostile effect when Mental Grit ellapses that prevent reusing it.

Aha) Pretty much how we have theorycrafted with Phenomenum about BDD.

 

1 hour ago, Elric Galad said:

Hostile effects are decreased by Resolve, so...

That could be complicated, and I think implementing it a pseudo-cipher power (such as Telekinetic Burst or even Soul Annhilation) could be more simple. Cost, duration, cast time could be adjusted to so it won't be OP. 

Yeah, that's also an approach that we can keep in mind.

 

1 hour ago, Elric Galad said:

(*Another note that has nothing to do with the topic : I always regret Druid can't bring back their Spiritshift. I wonder if a new Druid Spell couldn't provide a special Spiritshift, something like Tier 6 (because Tier 6 is a bit meh ^^), so you can still benefit from your Spiritshift Talent)

Was also thinking about something like that) E.g:

• Frenzied Transformation (rank 6) ability: spiritshift for 15s. During duration druid is frenzied and cannot cast spells.
• Master Shifter (rank 9) talent: +8 CON while in animal form. Shifters additionally benefit from +8 DEX, while non-shifters get 1 additional spiritshift usage.

But haven't checked yet if it is implementable.

Edited November 5, 2021 by MaxQuest

[Elric Galad]

21 minutes ago, MaxQuest said:

Could I ask: why?)

Because they can't be regenerated by any means, meanwhile classical pools of ressources can be (through Brilliant, His Heart did Fill... - buffed by BPM, and finally Potion of Enlightenment that BPM introduced to avoid overreliance on regenerating ressource classes ofr Megabosses fights).

21 minutes ago, MaxQuest said:

Was also thinking about something like that) E.g:

• Frenzied Transformation (rank 6) ability: spiritshift for 15s. During duration druid is frenzied and cannot cast spells.
• Master Shifter (rank 9) talent: +8 CON while in animal form. Shifters additionally benefit from +8 DEX, while non-shifters get 1 additional spiritshift usage.

But haven't checked yet if it is implementable.

I think it should be, or something close enough.

The tedious part if about how to implement the various spiritshifts. Could be an extra form. The cancellable modal 

I'm not a big fan of the cannot cast spell restriction cause it is supposed to be the unique drawback of Shifters. Shifters are "sorta OP" IMHO, not because they are that much stronger, but because their drawback is almost unsignificant. Exact interactions with Lifegiver subclass should be thought about if you lift the no spell restriction. Spiritshift is strong, but require talents to really shine and not to the point it requires a specific drawback.

Impossibility to cancel the Form could be the specific drawback of the Spiritshift spell. That could solve the 2 issues above.

 

"1 additional Spiritshift" uses could be tedious to code, and is sorta covered by the extra spell. IMHO you could spend your effort on something else   

[Elric Galad]

By the way, I'm probably going to experiment a bit with a simple "Focus Regeneration canceled on Hit/Crit" without other adjustement.

That's because my current run involves a Psion and I feel like cheating a bit now that it is acknowledged that the CP variant is a tad too strong.

He's a Wand & Board ranged Wael's MC (so has access to Mirror Image and Minor Avatar to reduce Hit/Crit).

[Testlum]

One of my future projects involve overhauling the druid subclasses, and coincidentally it involves repeatable Spiritshifts. Haven't actually tested yet, but this might do the trick for "repeatable" Spiritshifts:

1. Give Spiritshift unlimited casts but only able to be cast with a trigger status effect active on the character
2. Apply trigger to self at the start of combat
3. Spiritshifting clears the trigger
4. Apply trigger on doing X action
5. Spiritshift again!

Edited November 5, 2021 by Testlum

[dgray62]

Since shifting comes with a big malus for shifters, it would be nice if shifting for them was more like a modal (with a cool down). You could go back and forth as much as you want, but would have to wait before re-shifting. Since you'd likely be casting a spell or two when you leave the spirit shifted state this wouldn't be a big problem.

[Elric Galad]

On 11/5/2021 at 1:32 PM, Elric Galad said:

By the way, I'm probably going to experiment a bit with a simple "Focus Regeneration canceled on Hit/Crit" without other adjustement.

That's because my current run involves a Psion and I feel like cheating a bit now that it is acknowledged that the CP variant is a tad too strong.

He's a Wand & Board ranged Wael's MC (so has access to Mirror Image and Minor Avatar to reduce Hit/Crit).

OK, the experiment is going well for now. Faced the Lich Dragon and Nemnok (and his troups) and the Psion was doing his job quite well.

Backrow though.

On 11/4/2021 at 1:31 AM, Testlum said:

What I did in my own mod was to make the Psion gain bonus defenses while their Focus Gain is disabled, though I'm not sure if that would fall within the scope of the Community Patch since it's basically a totally new feature instead of tweaking Soul Mind.

Honnestly, I think this would be a good compromise. With a Hit or Crit pauses regen, I would add a Hit to Graze chance (somewhere between 25% and 50%) for the duration. That would reduce the chance of being paused again.
This way, Psion would be worse at doing his usual job when (Off) tanking but a bit better at tanking to compensate.

I can see a good justification for that : when under attack, the Psion psychic power protect her/him by reflex rather focusing on her/his usual powers.

I might not be necessary, but it seems rather simple to implement and, maybe more importantly, simple to understand as a game mechanic.

Edited November 12, 2021 by Elric Galad