New Paradox Mage talent suggestion

[Parcae2]

Currently, PMs are probably the weakest class in the game defensively. This is a proposal to help remedy that problem:

Maxwell's Demon

All closed systems are subject to entropy, but a living being exogenous to the system can reverse the entropy. With this talent, when the PM receives a blow that would otherwise kill her, she instead becomes invulnerable for 1 to 3 turns based on talent level.

This talent does not have a normal cooldown. Instead, a random enemy enemy somewhere on the level is tagged with the Maxwell's Demon status effect, and becomes visible to the PM regardless of its location. To recover the ability to use the talent, the PM must kill the tagged enemy, or leave the level.

[MarginalMagus]

Holy cow. Not only is that probably justifiable from a balance perspective, it's exactly the kind of intricate playstyle-defining yet manageable mechanic the Paradox Mage loves. An excellent show of creativity! However, it would make shalore practically mandatory, which is already the case for so many classes...

[Faeryan]

Weakest class, eh?
I've only played Paradox Mage once and even then not to the end; I quit around level 35 or so because it was stupidly easy.
Funny get me wrong, PM it's fun to play, I enjoyed it immensely, until to the point I quit because the lack of challenge.

Fun wise and survivability wise I feel PM is pretty much perfect.

[ohioastro]

How strong they are is very much a question of which race you pick. A ghoul PM is very durable (i'm close to a winner on one). A Shalore PM is very, very fragile (a trail of failed attempts for me with them).

This sounds like a fun ability, regardless of whether a PM is strong or weak.

[Doctornull]

Weakest class, eh?

"Weakest defensively" ? "weakest class".

PMs are very strong, and PMs also lack for defensive options. This is not a contradiction. PMs are so good at environmental and foe control, their lack of defense is not a lethal deficit (... usually).

--

I think the condition could create a random demon rather than assigning a status to an actor who might not exist (if you're killed by a trap or poison damage while alone on a level, for example).

[The Revanchist]

I like the idea of it creating one more, to be honest.

The whole concept is pretty cool though.

Would we go all out and make it part of a new tree? That'd be cool, but whether it'd be smart...

[Parcae2]

By default, the invulnerability status (Victory Rush) is Type: Other, meaning it cannot be extended by Timeless.

As for the question of whether PMs are strong or weak, I personally love the class and feel that it is quite powerful on Normal in the hands of a skilled player. On higher difficulty levels, its inability to handle enemies it can't control with status effects becomes problematic. Even on Normal, I don't think that this talent would make it overpowered. I would compare the class to Doomed, which recently received a similar upgrade.

The idea of summoning a demon is an interesting one. I would be happy either way. Thematically, I thought placing the status on an existing enemy makes sense because you're exploiting their status as a living being exogenous to the closed system that is your body to reverse that closed system's entropy.

[MarginalMagus]

I have an upsetting habit of getting oneshot on Nightmare, even as ghoul, but my competency is questionable. What would you guys recommend to counteract that given the current capabilities of the Paradox Mage?

[ohioastro]

+HP gear and an early emphasis on constitution. PMs can also go the heavy armor route, which tends to have +CON and +HP associated with it.

[Doctornull]

Thematically, I thought placing the status on an existing enemy makes sense because you're exploiting their status as a living being exogenous to the closed system that is your body to reverse that closed system's entropy.

Sure but:

rather than assigning a status to an actor who might not exist (if you're killed by a trap or poison damage while alone on a level, for example).

[MarginalMagus]

More Con it is! Thanks. Also, sorry for my writing style in earlier comments, I've been writing a college essay all day.

EDIT
Concept that could justify creating a new creature: "Life exists to increase the rate of entropy," so you could be harnessing the lowered future entropy caused by you killing a creature. That is, you cancel the disorder of your own death, but must create an external being which causes that same disorder over its lifetime. As the role of your order is to protect the universe/timeline, accelerating its heat death is counter to that function, and so you must go kill that creature before it is safe to save yourself again.

[Parcae2]

Gameplay-wise, I don't mind giving PMs a free pass on getting killed in empty levels. That doesn't happen too often anyway.

That said, I don't really mind the idea of creating a new enemy. It seems to me that the main difference between the two approaches is that the original suggestion is highly random (your tagged enemy could be the level boss, or it could be a wounded mouse sitting next to you). I'm fine with the devs deciding if the randomness is a bug or a feature.

I can think of one possibly major reason to do it Null's way, though - the headaches involved in trying to find the tagged enemy on a big level, like, say, the Race through Fire map. Even if the tagged enemy is visible to your character, it's not necessarily easy for you to find.

On the other hand, if we summon a new creature, we have to balance it. I'm thinking lots of hit points but not much offense? Maybe give it a random selection taken from your own spells, but at reduced power?

[HousePet]

It should totally spawn a temporal demon near you as punishment for distorting reality in such a way.
Excellent name too.

[edge2054]

How about something like...

Equivalent Exchange
Cooldown: 50
Sustain
When you would normally die a nearby target is instead marked for death. For the next X turns you are invulnerable and may only damage the marked target. If the target dies before the effect expires you gain life equal to X% of your maximum hit points. If no target is available, or the effect expires before the target dies, you die as usual.

[darkgod]

It should buff the target life/resists probably too; just in case!