Reading through various threads there seems to be a general feeling that several classes, if not most, are lacking in active and/or passive choices. And there's already a huge thread in regards to the loss and distribution of PoE's generic talent pool to only certain classes in Deadfire. Which Obsidian already plans to partially address in the next update with extending some of those back to everyone in the Proficiency menu. 

 

And it looks likes like Josh posted earlier today on Twitter that the next update will also remove spell restrictions for Priests and give them an extra bonus spell per spell level for even more options, including non-priest spells.

 

With that in mind I was inspired in the Engagement thread to re-familiarize myself with Dragon Age Inquisition's class abilities after someone mentioned one and in doing so more than few stood as being, at least broadly speaking, possibly suitable for Deadfire. So I'm curious what abilities from other RPGs with some re-imagining, or ones you just straight made up even, could fit in well in Deadfire and maybe help round out some of these classes which don't appear at the moment to be as well rounded and supported as they could/should be.

 

So here are a few abilities from DAI that stood out to me which I then gave a quick and dirty retooling/re-imagining to better conform to PoEs style:

• Payback Strike: A Modal or Passive where a Fighter receives X% chance of returning 150% of the dmg dealt to them by an enemy's melee ability and are Stunned for 6 secs, but enemy melee abilities now do ~20% more damage. 
• Block and Slash: Active, but could be reworked as Modal or Passive, ability where if an enemy attacks you with a melee ability within ~3 seconds of activating block and slash you roll a check against their Reflex and if successful deal 200% of damage they would have dealt to you and Stunning them for 6 sec. Failing the check on Reflex results in them dealing 150% dmg on you and getting Stunned.
• War Cry: Active CoE that taunts enemies to engage you, check on their Will. For the next 10 seconds you receive 50% dmg bonus to disengagement attacks and X increase to their accuracy.
• Challenge: Active Ability; taunt one enemy into engaging with your for the next ~15 seconds, check on their Will, if successful they receive a 15% bonus to dmg for the duration.
• Ring of Pain: Active AoE: For ~15 seconds you deal X% more dmg based on how low your health is, lower your health the more dmg you do, but all enemies within 2.5 meters deal 25% more dmg for the duration.
• Line in the Sand: Friendly Target Spell; 6 meter radius enemies within range will engage target for the next 15 seconds. Target gains Hardy inspiration(+5 CON & +4 AR) for duration.
• To the Death: Active Ability. You and single target get locked in engagement with each other till one of you dies, with each getting a 25% increase in recovery and 5% increase in dmg every second.

I spent a long time playing a warrior in EQ1 and I think some of their abilities could be fun in PoE for Fighters:

 

Furious: For x number of seconds the fighter ripostes every blow aimed at them

Crippling Blows: Critical hit damage is doubled when below 40% health and will stun enemies unless they pass a Fort check

Flurry: x% chance to strike two additional times with your mainhand weapon (monks already kinda have this I guess)

Edited November 23, 20178 yr by Breckmoney

As much as I enjoyed block-and-slash (ting! whack!), I think it's too reactive for a game like Pillars.

 

I'm not sure how I'd like Taunts to work in Pillars if they were implemented. A Will save sounds fine, as does Engagement bonuses, but my main problem with them is that if implemented, I should like to see enemy Fighters using them as well. And since taunts traditionally force enemies to fight your fighter, that could be annoying for players to have their dudes suddenly change targets.

 

Dragon Age-wise, I'm fond of Crushing Prison. You probably wouldn't even have to edit it that much. I've also always wished Withdraw worked like Force Field in Dragon Age: Origins, where it can be a protective spell or a target lockdown depending on whom you use it. It was a little OP, but I like multi-use spells like that. Origins-style spell combos would also be cool.

Edited November 23, 20178 yr by Lamppost in Winter

 

With that in mind I was inspired in the Engagement thread to re-familiarize myself with Dragon Age Inquisition's class abilities after someone mentioned one

Aw, shucks.

 

• Line in the Sand: Friendly Target Spell; 6 meter radius enemies within range will engage target for the next 15 seconds. Target gains Hardy inspiration(+5 CON & +4 AR) for duration.

I like this a lot. Gives you that one option, either at the beginning or halfway through a fight, to save your squishies from being targeted. I think I'd make some changes, though. Make it more like an AoE Into the Fray than forcing enemies to engage you automatically. I find that the AI tends to stick with whatever is pissing them off the most at the given moment, at least for a while, so that could be what makes all the difference.

As much as I enjoyed block-and-slash (ting! whack!), I think it's too reactive for a game like Pillars.

 

I'm not sure how I'd like Taunts to work in Pillars if they were implemented. A Will save sounds fine, as does Engagement bonuses, but my main problem with them is that if implemented, I should like to see enemy Fighters using them as well. And since taunts traditionally force enemies to fight your fighter, that could be annoying for players to have their dudes suddenly change targets.

 

Dragon Age-wise, I'm fond of Crushing Prison. You probably wouldn't even have to edit it that much. I've also always wished Withdraw worked like Force Field in Dragon Age: Origins, where it can be a protective spell or a target lockdown depending on whom you use it. It was a little OP, but I like multi-use spells like that. Origins-style spell combos would also be cool.

Fair points. I definitely thought of that exact issue with regards to Block and Slash, as well as the fact that enemies show ability icons when they're about to use them, but I think if worked out right it could be a decent high risk, high reward ability for one of the Martial classes, which I think the game is lacking and could use more of. Similar to To the Death and Ring of Pain in that regard.

 

Alternatively said Taunts could work so that they only effect enemies already engaged rather than pulling enemies into engagement.

 

 

 

 

With that in mind I was inspired in the Engagement thread to re-familiarize myself with Dragon Age Inquisition's class abilities after someone mentioned one

Aw, shucks.

 

• Line in the Sand: Friendly Target Spell; 6 meter radius enemies within range will engage target for the next 15 seconds. Target gains Hardy inspiration(+5 CON & +4 AR) for duration.

I like this a lot. Gives you that one option, either at the beginning or halfway through a fight, to save your squishies from being targeted. I think I'd make some changes, though. Make it more like an AoE Into the Fray than forcing enemies to engage you automatically. I find that the AI tends to stick with whatever is pissing them off the most at the given moment, at least for a while, so that could be what makes all the difference.

That's not a bad idea. I had a hard time wording that one and coming up with the mechanics for it, as how it works in DAI doesn't really work well with PoEs mechanics, but I think the overall idea behind is solid. Just a matter of getting it to mesh well with PoE. 

 

Alternatively it could work like this: Friendly Target Spell; ~15 seconds, enemies engaged with target get -50% to Stride and any enemy that disengages target suffers disengagement attacks for as long as they are within 2 meter radius of target. And maybe the target gets some Inspiration to Might or something.

Edited November 23, 20178 yr by Enduin

I really liked the combo abilities with party members from Tyranny.

I really liked the combo abilities with party members from Tyranny.

Those were fantastic. They could make for some interesting high level abilities for Singe Class Characters. Implementation is quite tough though give the whole multi-class/sub-class and character created party members aspect of the game. Way way more options and factors compared to Tyranny.

Pet Pal

 

Just browsing through the Pathfinder feat list for inspiration, I would be interested in the following:

 

NOTE -- bear in mind it's been over a year since I played POE, and I haven't spent *that* much time with the beta, so there's a good chance several of these abilities are already represented in the game and I've just overlooked/forgotten them.

 

Acrobatic spellcaster = in Deadfire it could be an ability that gives you the concentration blessing at the cost of accuracy or something like that (in PF it avoids AOOs)

 

Armor training = in Deadfire, it could reduce recovery penalty from a specific armor type (in PF it lowers armor check, raises DEX bonus).

 

Brutal coup de grace = an ability that, if used for the killing blow, causes fear to enemies within AoE (in PF it's pretty much the same, but derives from coup de grace mechanic)

 

Critical X = PF has feats like "critical bleeding" or "critical staggering" that cause status effects on a critical hit. I vaguely recall some of these existing in POE. Deadfire could stick some of these in the rogue tree or in the general pool. I suppose they could also be mastery skills; i.e., if you put a second proficiency point in the same weapon, you get a special effect on your critical attacks with that weapon. 

 

Hold the Blade = Fighter ability where, if you have a free hand, you can take the full damage of the next melee attack but you get an immediate counter w/ a boost to accuracy and pen (in PF it's an AC penalty for a chance to disarm)

 

Technology Adept = bonus resistance to firearms

 

Bouncing Spell = Wizard ability that costs arcane source (in other words, you will pay the source for this ability plus the spell you are casting) but lets you cast a spell and, if it fails, redirect it against another enemy.

 

Quicken Spell = Wizard/priest ability that costs arcane source (see above) but allows instant cast of what would otherwise be a long-cast spell.

Edited November 23, 20178 yr by anfoglia

Pet Pal

 

We all know your character in POE is a murder hobo. No animals survive the onslaught. . but ye always liked the idea of this

Shield Slam from WoW. Instead of the pathetic bash shield we have in PoE, make it actually clatter the guy and do some damage.

I would like to see some chanter phrases similar to everquest songs. Mcvaxius' Rousing Rondo would be a sweet high level one. It would increase attack speed, might, and create a damage shield (as in, deals damage to those attacking an ally during this chant). Levitation would be a cool effect just to avoid triggering traps under foot and reduce noise made (enhance stealth?). Lots of cool chanter options in everquest 1.

I really liked the combo abilities with party members from Tyranny.

 

And from Dragon Age Origins !

 

 

Freeze -> Stone Fist -> shattered \o/

On my part, I really liked Rogues' sneak attacks in Neverwinter Nights 2.

 

The ability to debuff enemies by hitting them where they're most vulnerable was cool.

 

 

Would love a rogue talent to inflict debuffs on crits.

As much as I enjoyed block-and-slash (ting! whack!), I think it's too reactive for a game like Pillars.

 

I'm not sure how I'd like Taunts to work in Pillars if they were implemented. A Will save sounds fine, as does Engagement bonuses, but my main problem with them is that if implemented, I should like to see enemy Fighters using them as well. And since taunts traditionally force enemies to fight your fighter, that could be annoying for players to have their dudes suddenly change targets.

 

Dragon Age-wise, I'm fond of Crushing Prison. You probably wouldn't even have to edit it that much. I've also always wished Withdraw worked like Force Field in Dragon Age: Origins, where it can be a protective spell or a target lockdown depending on whom you use it. It was a little OP, but I like multi-use spells like that. Origins-style spell combos would also be cool.

I'm no fan of simplistic, repetetive combat from Dragon Age Origins. It was better in sequels, where you could put status effect on enemy and then triggered it with cross class combo. It added more tactical value to combat in the series since DA:O.

 

About Taunts - it could work similar to Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition. Tank use ability which do something + taunt enemy/enemies. Taunted enemy can attack whoever he wants, but all attack rolls against other than tank who taunted him are made with great penalty to hit chance (-5 if I'm correct, so after translation to d100 in Pillars it would be like -25 accuracy).

 

I would like to see abilities from p&p RPG rather than computer games. If I could, I would pick Time Stop (it was hell of a fun in soloing Baldur's Gate II and Neverwinter Nights) so it's doable (probably) plus some kind of teleport spell - in combat or world map.

 

We already have some abilities from Diablo, like leap.

All great ideas where Obsidian can just copy and paste to add more options and choices.

I like the idea of D&D 4E-style "taunts". It's more organic than just forcing enemies to attack a particular target, while still protecting the squishies. It also works much better when it's enemy fighters (or whichever class would get it) that use it.

 

As much as I enjoyed block-and-slash (ting! whack!), I think it's too reactive for a game like Pillars.

 

I'm not sure how I'd like Taunts to work in Pillars if they were implemented. A Will save sounds fine, as does Engagement bonuses, but my main problem with them is that if implemented, I should like to see enemy Fighters using them as well. And since taunts traditionally force enemies to fight your fighter, that could be annoying for players to have their dudes suddenly change targets.

 

Dragon Age-wise, I'm fond of Crushing Prison. You probably wouldn't even have to edit it that much. I've also always wished Withdraw worked like Force Field in Dragon Age: Origins, where it can be a protective spell or a target lockdown depending on whom you use it. It was a little OP, but I like multi-use spells like that. Origins-style spell combos would also be cool.

I'm no fan of simplistic, repetetive combat from Dragon Age Origins. It was better in sequels, where you could put status effect on enemy and then triggered it with cross class combo. It added more tactical value to combat in the series since DA:O.

 

About Taunts - it could work similar to Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition. Tank use ability which do something + taunt enemy/enemies. Taunted enemy can attack whoever he wants, but all attack rolls against other than tank who taunted him are made with great penalty to hit chance (-5 if I'm correct, so after translation to d100 in Pillars it would be like -25 accuracy).

 

I would like to see abilities from p&p RPG rather than computer games. If I could, I would pick Time Stop (it was hell of a fun in soloing Baldur's Gate II and Neverwinter Nights) so it's doable (probably) plus some kind of teleport spell - in combat or world map.

 

We already have some abilities from Diablo, like leap.

 

Dragon Age Origins never had any sequels.

 

There were, however, hack-and-slashes with similar-looking names like Dragon Age 2, and Dragon Age Inquisition.

The resemblances stopped there though.

Dragon Age 2 has virtually the same combat system as Dragon Age: Origins, only with more options and unfortunately a problem with health bloat. Can we focus on ability ideas and not elitism about old games?

Throwing equipped melee weapon/s to an enemy for a decent damage which leaves you unarmed for a short duration after, for barbarian.

 

Short duration "evade every physical attack" ability for rogues.

 

A quick attack which interrupts spell casting and silences the target for a very short duration for fighter.

 

Banners for paladins, which they plant on the ground, giving 2x the active aura bonus to allies near it but cancels auras for the duration.

Kotls (Keeper of the Light/Dota2) ability to make an illusion of oneself that keeps casting the actual spell (long casting time) while the original is gone doing something else.

Sending an enemy fighter back to the point where he was when the fight started.

An area spell that stops any melee leaving a certain area for a short time with.

 

Actually a lot of Moba abilities would be nice, though some hard to implement or too OP.

Kotls (Keeper of the Light/Dota2) ability to make an illusion of oneself that keeps casting the actual spell (long casting time) while the original is gone doing something else.

Sending an enemy fighter back to the point where he was when the fight started.

An area spell that stops any melee leaving a certain area for a short time with.

 

Actually a lot of Moba abilities would be nice, though some hard to implement or too OP.

 

Play LeBlanc, Ekko and Camille much ?

So, I've been trawling the Divinity: Original Sin and Fallout wikis for passives to nick:

 

Night Person: Bonus to Per and Stealth at night, penalty to same stats in daytime.

 

Morning Person: Revive with more health.

 

Environmental Affinity - probably suits a Druid best, but could also work as a generic: Choose one type of environment (desert, snow, etc.), and gain bonus to defense against spells with keywords that match it (e.g., fire for desert, ice for snow, plants for forest), faster cast speed when casting spells with matching keywords, and resistance to the corresponding terrain difficulty (like the slowing sand in the Poko Kohara desert).

 

Know-it-all: Bonus to Metaphysics, Religion, History, etc., but malus to faction reputation. May be too punitive. Malus to faction reputation gain instead?

What Abilities or Passive would you like to see from other games?

There is many interesting stuff, but some of it is not really fitting into Deadfire spell system. So I'll try to adjust them slightly:

- Soul Storm (inspired by Mortality from Rift) - weaken and deal high raw damage to caster and all enemies around him in a 2m radius AoE, every 3s for 9s. Damage dealt to the enemies heals the caster.

- Soul Armor (inspired by Fel and Demon Armor from WoW) - self buff - while the buff is active get a modal with two options:

-- Robust Soul Armor: get Robust inspiration (+5 CON, +4 AR, +10hp/s)

-- Brilliant Soul Armor: get Brilliant inspiration (+5 INT, +1 power level, 3rd effect)

-- (and if one gets dispelled due to affliction, you can switch to another)

- Chill to the Bones (inspired by Cold Feet from Dota) - hobble and deal freeze damage over time to an enemy target. If during 4s it doesn't remove the hobble affliction -> paralyze it for 8s.

- Blood Magic (inspired by Blood Magic from Dragon Age) - while this modal is active casting a spell costs you 25% of max hp, but doesn't consume a spell usage.

Edited November 25, 20178 yr by MaxQuest

From Dragon Age Origins, I'd like to see something along the lines of Walking Bomb/Virulent Walking Bomb.

 

Spirit Mark from Dragon Age Inquisition would also be fun. 

 

I like the idea of Spirit Blade being repurposed as a volatile Soul Whip for ciphers (edit: minus the oversized energy sword VFX), but in practice, it probably wouldn't differ much from Mind Blades or Soul Annihilation unless it was set up as a modal that drained Focus with every attack or something.

 

Abyssal Blade and Unholy Sacrifice would fit the Bleakwalkers fairly well.

 

Shield Other would similarly be fitting for the Shieldbearers of St. Elcga and The Last Sacrifice might be appropriate for them or the Kind Wayfarers, though I personally dislike abilities that only work when you've screwed up enough to get killed/disabled.

 

Turning/Controlling undead ala d&d could be fun; probably as split and mutually exclusive passive options for Divine Radiance even though I have mixed feelings about setting up priests as the anti-undead experts in the Pillars setting. 

Edited November 26, 20178 yr by blotter