Ability Designs | Patreon Weekly #94

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Now that patches for v0.9.2 are finally done, I’m going to be focusing a bit toward implementing side content for v0.9.3 this week. I spent a fair bit of last week on ability and talent design though, so here’s more info on that!

Subclass Armor Abilities?

As I mentioned previously, I’ve been mulling over the idea of each subclass having one armor ability. After doing a bunch of design iterating on this concept, I’ve decided to scrap it in favor of keeping all armor abilities class-specific.

The main reason for this was the ideas I was coming up with kept feeling like they competed with the existing subclass mechanics more than they complemented them. I found the best way to make abilities complement subclasses was to not have them tie into the subclass directly.

But then, why not just make that ability available to the class generally? Some armor abilities may be made with certain subclasses in mind, but I think it’s best if they all work generally, instead of risking them treading on subclass mechanics.

Some Early Ability Designs

So, what are some of these abilities then? Let me list out a few of them! Some of these are extensions of existing abilities, and some are totally new:

• The Warrior might get a shockwave effect that harms enemies in a cone AOE in front of him. This would probably be more useful for disrupting and disorienting enemies than damaging them. Talents could add to the effect of this ability, increase its range, or grant the warrior a self-buff when he uses it.
• The Mage might get an elemental blast ability, which is an extension of his current molten earth ability. Rather than just using fire, this ability would create an AOE effect that’s based on the wand imbued in the mage’s staff. Talents might make this AOE larger, increase the effect duration, or grant the Mage a self-buff.
• The Rogue would retain Smoke Bomb, as an ability both for mobility and disorienting enemies. Smoke bomb works really nicely as it gives both the Assassin and Freerunner tools that they like. Talents might enhance the mobility or disorientation properties of the ability.
• The Huntress would retain Spectral Blades, but with the power emphasis a bit less geared toward hitting a huge number of enemies. The ability essentially lets her use her melee weapon as a ranged weapon for one attack, which is very neat. Talents might add more power or flexibility to this, including giving it back some of the multi-hit power it currently has.