More gear for niche builds...
Posted: Mon Dec 30, 2013 5:45 pm
I'm a huge fan of the short-staves as it afforded me the luxury of building a shield-wielding fire mage, which was awesome.
There should be more of that. For mages in particular, I'd like to endorse a tanking build that isn't entirely dependent on micro-managing one's mana pool. That's boring and tedious.
With that in mind, I'd like to suggest some equipment that would buff armor (and maybe lower defense), the earth spells, and light. Perhaps some overlap with the Sun Paladin in terms of having a light-shield. Maybe a robe that has high armor and a significant boost to the earth skill (like 0.3) but no boost to damage.
Specifically what I'm trying to express is the idea of making niche builds viable without creating anything overpowering for normal characters.
The tanking mage, in particular, is of interest to me because I hate, hate, hate having to manage my mana pool obsessively and it's already SO close to being a viable build. I'm thinking of an earth, light, and cold build… up close combat with Shivgoroth, giving back light damage and maybe picking up a category or skill from a Sun Paladin. Pumping light damage and reducing incoming damage.
More racially specific gear. Not that it would be restricted but that it would offer bonuses to racial trees or a specific skill. Perhaps some things that would make odd racial combinations more viable… who knows?
How about gear that offers bonuses to infusions or runes? How about amulets or rings that offer increases to damage output at the expense of increased incoming damage or vice-versa? How about equipment that increases some ability at the expense of speed?
Also, how about equipment that reduces cool downs on all skills at the expense of reducing their level .2 or something like that?
I'd also love to see gear for Cursed that maintains their level of hate (i.e. it doesn't drain) at the expense of constant life drain or a reduction in stats. Perhaps a weapon or shield so that you could switch to it on your second slot, or not and have to commit to it heavily. It could be used by any character but would be pretty destructive on most any other character.
There's a bit of this stuff later in the game but early on, there's nothing. I'd also like more, early-level niche gear.
Ultimately, I find the gear the most boring part of the game because most of it is similar. It'll be ten robes with tiny, tiny variations of the same thing, etc. I'd love to see more interesting stuff. Especially things with trade-offs. Something bad plus something GREAT. That would facilitate more niche builds but also some greater specialization in the normal builds. What if you had a staff that did -.2 to water category but plus 2.3 (or whatever, something dramatic) to chain-lightning?
Thoughts?
There should be more of that. For mages in particular, I'd like to endorse a tanking build that isn't entirely dependent on micro-managing one's mana pool. That's boring and tedious.
With that in mind, I'd like to suggest some equipment that would buff armor (and maybe lower defense), the earth spells, and light. Perhaps some overlap with the Sun Paladin in terms of having a light-shield. Maybe a robe that has high armor and a significant boost to the earth skill (like 0.3) but no boost to damage.
Specifically what I'm trying to express is the idea of making niche builds viable without creating anything overpowering for normal characters.
The tanking mage, in particular, is of interest to me because I hate, hate, hate having to manage my mana pool obsessively and it's already SO close to being a viable build. I'm thinking of an earth, light, and cold build… up close combat with Shivgoroth, giving back light damage and maybe picking up a category or skill from a Sun Paladin. Pumping light damage and reducing incoming damage.
More racially specific gear. Not that it would be restricted but that it would offer bonuses to racial trees or a specific skill. Perhaps some things that would make odd racial combinations more viable… who knows?
How about gear that offers bonuses to infusions or runes? How about amulets or rings that offer increases to damage output at the expense of increased incoming damage or vice-versa? How about equipment that increases some ability at the expense of speed?
Also, how about equipment that reduces cool downs on all skills at the expense of reducing their level .2 or something like that?
I'd also love to see gear for Cursed that maintains their level of hate (i.e. it doesn't drain) at the expense of constant life drain or a reduction in stats. Perhaps a weapon or shield so that you could switch to it on your second slot, or not and have to commit to it heavily. It could be used by any character but would be pretty destructive on most any other character.
There's a bit of this stuff later in the game but early on, there's nothing. I'd also like more, early-level niche gear.
Ultimately, I find the gear the most boring part of the game because most of it is similar. It'll be ten robes with tiny, tiny variations of the same thing, etc. I'd love to see more interesting stuff. Especially things with trade-offs. Something bad plus something GREAT. That would facilitate more niche builds but also some greater specialization in the normal builds. What if you had a staff that did -.2 to water category but plus 2.3 (or whatever, something dramatic) to chain-lightning?
Thoughts?