Suggestion: Make Durance's Staff Soulbound

[Cirein]

Apologies if this has been suggested before, as it seems...right...for lack of a better way of putting it.

It has consistently bothered me in my playthroughs that Durance's staff is simultaneously very integral to his character and also sort of...bad. It's just a normal staff. (albeit with burning lash)

Staves do not benefit from the priest of Magran talent (swords, guns) which encourages one to stash the stick and use something else on him, which I find rather immersion breaking when he starts a conversation and his staff is involved. (and it is very heavily involved in the writing)

 

My usual solution is to have him use an arquebus and just wear the staff on his back, but I've been wondering:

If it were soulbound, even a sub-par one, then it would work with the magran talent, and I'd feel a bit less silly about having him lug it around all game.

Just thoughts.

Edited February 25, 2016 by Cirein

[Luckmann]

I always figured that his "staff" should've been an arquebus.

But either way, I absolutely agree.

[Messier-31]

I always figured that his "staff" should've been an arquebus.

 

But either way, I absolutely agree.

 

So true. Plus, I always figured that this companion should've been Cadegund.

[HawkSoft]

I think you can find Durance too quickly for his staff to be Soulbound.

 

I usually give it to Eder as soon as I find more suitable weapons for Durance, in its v3 crush/fire form it's a decent 2-handed weapon early game.

[Darkpriest]

I actually like the idea of his staff to be soulbound... i mean it feels so natural for one to be such.

[JerekKruger]

I like this idea. Make the unlocks related to his conversation triggers so that you can't rush through them.

[Doppelschwert]

If you look closely at the description of the staff since patch 3.0, it not only has a burning lash but also the property of 'Best Damage Crush/Burn', which is a unique modifier no other staff shares (but is not listed as an explicit enchantment).

Further enchanting and exploiting this can make for a ridiculous effective melee weapon that bypasses normal DR for the much lower burn DR on some enemies.

It's the same for the robe, by the way - although it has listed a burn-proof enchantment, there is another big DR bonus against burn that is not explicitly mentioned in the enchant window.

 

Making the staff soulbound seems a bit like overkill to me since you can just give it to someone else and the staff is not tied to durance from a gameplay perspective. If they were to make it soulbound, I think it should be only able to bind to durance.

On the other hand, I just suggested in the bug forum to make the devils armor soulbound since you are stuck with that thing.

[Tennisgolfboll]

Seeing as it is talked about so much in his conversations it should have been impossible to remove it.

 

And it should have been very powerful.

 

 

Every game i sell it. And he keeps talking about his staff that he had for a few hours and the last months he hasnt had it but he says look here at these markings...

Edited February 25, 2016 by Tennisgolfboll

[Tennisgolfboll]

Or Chris Avellone should not have written it like that.

 

Or he should have had it his quick slot (Durance walking staff)

 

Anything but this way

[DreamWayfarer]

I support making it Soulbond, even if it will never happen. It is just so... integral to him as a character.

 

Plus, if it was soulbound, I'd benefit from Inspired Flame.

[Messier-31]

Or Chris Avellone should not have written it like that.

 

Chris did write Durance in a different manner from what you see in game. For some reason devs decided to cut a lot of his ideas...

[Ineth]

I think you can find Durance too quickly for his staff to be Soulbound.

 

Soulbound doesn't have to mean overpowered.

 

The unlock conditions could make sure that you can't upgrade it too quickly.

 

Either by tying unlocks to character levels or points in the main story line, or by using conditions like "Have 30 Might" - which is actually used by some of the White March 2 soulbound weapons and would be difficult to achieve on a non min-maxed Durance until late in the game when you have high-level buffs and Might-boosting equipment.

[Elric Galad]

Soulbound companion items would be the perfect way to make them unique.

 

Eder's armor, Sagani's bow, Durance's staff, Pellagina's armor, Manhea's armor.... and devil's...well... body

 

Companions miss unique features (except Pallegina and Devil). That would be awesome and that would compensate for their suboptimal stats, race, background and lvl 1 abilities.

 

Hey, do you remember Dak'kon's blade ?

The fabulous Dak'kon's blade ?

The very answer of the question : what can change nature of a man ?

Edited February 25, 2016 by Elric Galad

[Gromnir]

If you look closely at the description of the staff since patch 3.0, it not only has a burning lash but also the property of 'Best Damage Crush/Burn', which is a unique modifier no other staff shares (but is not listed as an explicit enchantment).

Further enchanting and exploiting this can make for a ridiculous effective melee weapon that bypasses normal DR for the much lower burn DR on some enemies.

It's the same for the robe, by the way - although it has listed a burn-proof enchantment, there is another big DR bonus against burn that is not explicitly mentioned in the enchant window.

 

Making the staff soulbound seems a bit like overkill to me since you can just give it to someone else and the staff is not tied to durance from a gameplay perspective. If they were to make it soulbound, I think it should be only able to bind to durance.

On the other hand, I just suggested in the bug forum to make the devils armor soulbound since you are stuck with that thing.

just a thought.  you could make the weapon soulbound w/o actual having it improve.  have soulbound exclusive to durance.  this would allow durance, as a priest who is not particular effective with a staff, to actual make use o' his eponymous weapon. 

 

HA! Good Fun!

[boffmoffet]

I like the idea! Some custom weapons and armor are so heartbreaking to give up. I made poor Haer'dalis use chaos and entropy well past their prime, just like Durance and his staff.

[Elric Galad]

 

 

If you look closely at the description of the staff since patch 3.0, it not only has a burning lash but also the property of 'Best Damage Crush/Burn', which is a unique modifier no other staff shares (but is not listed as an explicit enchantment).

Further enchanting and exploiting this can make for a ridiculous effective melee weapon that bypasses normal DR for the much lower burn DR on some enemies.

It's the same for the robe, by the way - although it has listed a burn-proof enchantment, there is another big DR bonus against burn that is not explicitly mentioned in the enchant window.

 

Making the staff soulbound seems a bit like overkill to me since you can just give it to someone else and the staff is not tied to durance from a gameplay perspective. If they were to make it soulbound, I think it should be only able to bind to durance.

On the other hand, I just suggested in the bug forum to make the devils armor soulbound since you are stuck with that thing.

just a thought. you could make the weapon soulbound w/o actual having it improve. have soulbound exclusive to durance. this would allow durance, as a priest who is not particular effective with a staff, to actual make use o' his eponymous weapon.

 

HA! Good Fun!

The problem is that soulbound weapon can't be enchanted. So making it simply soulbound would actually make it potentially weaker.

 

It is basically more simple to keep the balance by making it evolving soulbound.

[Elric Galad]

Double post.

Edited February 26, 2016 by Elric Galad

[evilcat]

Yes staff should be Soulbound. Lore-wise it is. Just progressing Durance quest will unlock next levels.

[Gromnir]

 

 

If you look closely at the description of the staff since patch 3.0, it not only has a burning lash but also the property of 'Best Damage Crush/Burn', which is a unique modifier no other staff shares (but is not listed as an explicit enchantment).

Further enchanting and exploiting this can make for a ridiculous effective melee weapon that bypasses normal DR for the much lower burn DR on some enemies.

It's the same for the robe, by the way - although it has listed a burn-proof enchantment, there is another big DR bonus against burn that is not explicitly mentioned in the enchant window.

 

Making the staff soulbound seems a bit like overkill to me since you can just give it to someone else and the staff is not tied to durance from a gameplay perspective. If they were to make it soulbound, I think it should be only able to bind to durance.

On the other hand, I just suggested in the bug forum to make the devils armor soulbound since you are stuck with that thing.

just a thought. you could make the weapon soulbound w/o actual having it improve. have soulbound exclusive to durance. this would allow durance, as a priest who is not particular effective with a staff, to actual make use o' his eponymous weapon.

 

HA! Good Fun!

The problem is that soulbound weapon can't be enchanted. So making it simply soulbound would actually make it potentially weaker.

 

It is basically more simple to keep the balance by making it evolving soulbound.

 

fair enough.  a weak soul bound weapon exclusive to durance doesn't sound bad.  have the thresholds for improvement simple be levels... or levels and companion quest thresholds.   that being said, am doubting that fans is gonna be satisfied with a weak soulbound... at least based on past experience with such scenarios.  fanbase iwd2 kit suggestions were a low watermark for a game from these developers, but has never improved. 

 

HA! Good Fun!

[why]

fanbase iwd2 kit suggestions were a low watermark for a game from these developers, but has never improved.

I don't understand this.

[Gromnir]

 

I don't understand this.

 

iwd2 were initial planned to be 2e d&d just as were iwd.  as such, the black isle developers post a few preliminary suggestions for kits (myrmidon were one such)... which the fans lashed out in anger at.  the black isle suggestions "sucked," or worse. so the fans started making better suggestions-- almost complete munchkin bait.  this went on for a couple days with improved baldesingers and homebrew priests o' mystra having their merits debated. apparently the black isle developers lost patience, so they released revised kits.  developer offers some kinda ridiculous overpowered deathmaster kit-- were a joke. were meant as a joke.  fans didn't get the joke.  fans Loved the deathmaster.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Cirein]

I like the idea! Some custom weapons and armor are so heartbreaking to give up. I made poor Haer'dalis use chaos and entropy well past their prime, just like Durance and his staff.

 

I did this too. Worse, I played a blade my first time through, which just made it that much more obvious how gimped he was with them.

Or Chris Avellone should not have written it like that.

 

Or he should have had it his quick slot (Durance walking staff)

 

Anything but this way

 

It's very good writing, though. Items and landscape and such give atmosphere to a scene. Durance wouldn't be half the character he is without the actions he takes during them, which mostly relate to manipulating flames (usually with the staff, btw). Without those contextual cues, he's just your average Trump supporter, angry and racist and keen to torture.

 

I think you can find Durance too quickly for his staff to be Soulbound.

 

Soulbound doesn't have to mean overpowered.

 

The unlock conditions could make sure that you can't upgrade it too quickly.

 

Either by tying unlocks to character levels or points in the main story line, or by using conditions like "Have 30 Might" - which is actually used by some of the White March 2 soulbound weapons and would be difficult to achieve on a non min-maxed Durance until late in the game when you have high-level buffs and Might-boosting equipment.

 

I think tying the unlocks to his quest conversations would be ideal.

 

I don't think it needs to be anything hilariously OP, I'm mostly interested in Inspired Flame working with it.

I would use it with its current abilities if it just improved the base damage/accuracy with the conversation unlocks. A few minor fire-themed abilities would be welcome, but not needed.

 

Or, even, as Gromnir said, just have it soulbound and not improve. (though we wouldn't be able to enchant it? which is why I prefer just having it improve the base stats and keep its crush/fire) Again, I just want it to work with Inspired Flame so I don't feel like a doofus having him use it all game.

 

As it stands, it's actually quite a powerful weapon...provided Durance isn't the one using it. Which is silly.

Edited February 25, 2016 by Cirein

[Doppelschwert]

 

 

 

If you look closely at the description of the staff since patch 3.0, it not only has a burning lash but also the property of 'Best Damage Crush/Burn', which is a unique modifier no other staff shares (but is not listed as an explicit enchantment).

Further enchanting and exploiting this can make for a ridiculous effective melee weapon that bypasses normal DR for the much lower burn DR on some enemies.

It's the same for the robe, by the way - although it has listed a burn-proof enchantment, there is another big DR bonus against burn that is not explicitly mentioned in the enchant window.

 

Making the staff soulbound seems a bit like overkill to me since you can just give it to someone else and the staff is not tied to durance from a gameplay perspective. If they were to make it soulbound, I think it should be only able to bind to durance.

On the other hand, I just suggested in the bug forum to make the devils armor soulbound since you are stuck with that thing.

just a thought. you could make the weapon soulbound w/o actual having it improve. have soulbound exclusive to durance. this would allow durance, as a priest who is not particular effective with a staff, to actual make use o' his eponymous weapon.

 

HA! Good Fun!

The problem is that soulbound weapon can't be enchanted. So making it simply soulbound would actually make it potentially weaker.

 

It is basically more simple to keep the balance by making it evolving soulbound.

 

fair enough.  a weak soul bound weapon exclusive to durance doesn't sound bad.  have the thresholds for improvement simple be levels... or levels and companion quest thresholds.   that being said, am doubting that fans is gonna be satisfied with a weak soulbound... at least based on past experience with such scenarios.  fanbase iwd2 kit suggestions were a low watermark for a game from these developers, but has never improved. 

 

HA! Good Fun!

 

 

To be honest I think it is quite hard to tie the staff more to the narrative. You basically have two options, either you force it on durance or you don't.

 

If you don't force it on durance, the tie to the narrative is broken but the player has total control.

 

If you want to force it on durance for the sake of narrative, you have two options:

You make it like devils armor and force him to keep it equipped or you make it unsellable, only usable by him and maybe even soulbound on top. I don't think it is possible on a technical level to force the staff to stay in durances inventory.

 

If it is a forced equipment, people will complain about being locked (just like with the devil), if it is not equiped by force it may as well be in the stash which basically means it is not tied to the narrative anymore.

 

------------

 

Personally, I don't think there is a need for soulbound. Make it equipable only by durance and give it the 'universal' property which means it stacks with magrans deity talent (point being this property is already implemented, so an easy change).

Making it soulbound or not is just a matter of powercreep then - do you want to hand the player a unique superb item for free or do you want him to spend ressources on it. As long as it is only equipable by durance, it doesn't really matter much except watering down the other soulbound items in terms of uniqueness. That being said, of course it would work very well as a soulbound item tied to his quest.

 

But has anyone of the people complaining about the staff being weak actually tried using the staff with its 'best crush/fire' effect?

I think the staff is already really powerful by the time you get access to it. I don't have any statistics in mind but my impression is that there are quite a lot of enemies in the game that have high differences between crush and fire DR:

Enemies with high crush DR often have normal fire DR and then fire is a weakness of quite some enemy types as well, yielding a lot of extra damage in these scenarios. People praise the storm bow all the time, and I think a good part of its effectiveness apart from all the passive abilities is that it takes the best of pierce/shock damage.

Personally, I think this enchantment is much more powerful than a lot of other custom effects, so the staff is already plenty strong now, even if it is not a fancy soulbound weapon.

 

IMO, complaining about the devils armor suggests itself much more.

[Gromnir]

universal and equippable only by durance sounds like an ideal compromise.  sure, we will miss being able to use the staff on our priest o' wael, but it always felt silly that or priest would get more use from the staff than durance.  personally, we have always liked durance's gear, but the fact that durance were relative ineffectual with his signature item struck us as a bit curious.  universal but only equippable by durance?  sounds good to us.

 

HA! Good Fun!

[Cirein]

Universal and Durance only would be a good compromise. I was unaware that it was a property on its own that could be applied outside of soulbound. I don't think it needs to be more powerful, just more useful to Durance.

Edited February 26, 2016 by Cirein