Alchemist impressions, feedback, and suggestions.
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Re: Alchemist impressions, feedback, and suggestions.
It's also relevant that the historical alchemists, worked on turning metal into gold, making the ultimate reagent (could dissolve anything) and making the ultimate healing potion. I think it woudl be interesting to try to add some of these in. That's why I suggested metallurgy. A solutions class with powers discovered while studying acidic stuff and healing stuff woudl be fun too.
Re: Alchemist impressions, feedback, and suggestions.
I agree with the Metallurgy idea but honestly if I was going to build that talent tree it would go something like this.
- Strengthen Metals
- Weaken Metals
- Transform Metals
- Golem
Imbue item is already similar to strengthen metal and Golem is already in the game (and doesn't cost a talent point and if it was made a talent it would get rid of the Initial Golem tree, which might not be such a bad idea).
As to the historical references. Metallurgy was thought to be a form of magic or alchemy for several groups of people as the knowledge moved from culture to culture which is why we today so commonly see alchemy as the act of transmutation. It never was about turning lead into gold but iron into steel which would have been far more valuable a talent before the knowledge got around.
- Strengthen Metals
- Weaken Metals
- Transform Metals
- Golem
Imbue item is already similar to strengthen metal and Golem is already in the game (and doesn't cost a talent point and if it was made a talent it would get rid of the Initial Golem tree, which might not be such a bad idea).
As to the historical references. Metallurgy was thought to be a form of magic or alchemy for several groups of people as the knowledge moved from culture to culture which is why we today so commonly see alchemy as the act of transmutation. It never was about turning lead into gold but iron into steel which would have been far more valuable a talent before the knowledge got around.
Re: Alchemist impressions, feedback, and suggestions.
I thought that alchemy (as an historical reference) was the process of creating Monoatomic gold (powder gold)edge2054 wrote:As to the historical references. Metallurgy was thought to be a form of magic or alchemy for several groups of people as the knowledge moved from culture to culture which is why we today so commonly see alchemy as the act of transmutation. It never was about turning lead into gold but iron into steel which would have been far more valuable a talent before the knowledge got around.
which by the way was used also for healing/ascension and other fun things
Could be a talent
- create monoatomic powder
every metal creates and powder with different bonuses
In the proposed Metallurgy tre...
Re: Alchemist impressions, feedback, and suggestions.
So, for the heck of it, I tried Extract gems on Old Man's Willow's Bark, which is an artifact, to see what happened. I got... a spinel! which is one of the low-tier gems 
I actually expected to be told that I wasn't proficient enough with the Extract gems talent.
Here's my suggestion : artifacts shoudn't be extractable with less than 5 points in the talent, and they could give special "uber-gems" with really nice properties, whether for imbuing or infusing. That way, an alchemist could decide to "sacrifice" an artifact but actually reap a correspondingly good benefit (instead of using it, giving to the golem or selling it)
-Edit:-
Regarding all the suggestions above to make the alchemist class more alchemist, I think there are many good ideas, but on the other hand, the class as it is feels nice as it is (combination of giving orders to the golem and two range attacks), it's quite nice once you get to the invoke golem talent. So maybe a new alchemist class could be made but something similar to the present one kept, with a diffrent name, more related to the golem idea? I don't know, animator? thaumaturger? channeler? ...?
I actually expected to be told that I wasn't proficient enough with the Extract gems talent.
Here's my suggestion : artifacts shoudn't be extractable with less than 5 points in the talent, and they could give special "uber-gems" with really nice properties, whether for imbuing or infusing. That way, an alchemist could decide to "sacrifice" an artifact but actually reap a correspondingly good benefit (instead of using it, giving to the golem or selling it)
-Edit:-
Regarding all the suggestions above to make the alchemist class more alchemist, I think there are many good ideas, but on the other hand, the class as it is feels nice as it is (combination of giving orders to the golem and two range attacks), it's quite nice once you get to the invoke golem talent. So maybe a new alchemist class could be made but something similar to the present one kept, with a diffrent name, more related to the golem idea? I don't know, animator? thaumaturger? channeler? ...?
Re: Alchemist impressions, feedback, and suggestions.
After some research I guess you're right Shani. I was basing what I said off something I heard on Nat Geo but I think the narrator may have been taking artistic liberties with the subject matter.
I did find some interesting points though.
During the 17th century traditional Chinese alchemy was more concerned with medicine while the Western Europeans were the ones who focused so much on turning lead into gold. The Islamic alchemists of the time had a wider array of interests and the creation of life was among them (which is where the golem association with alchemy probably stems from).
Rather or not Metallurgy makes more since then Water I don't know. There's support for both (distillation was spread to Western Europe by alchemists). Many alchemists where also obsessed with the waters of life. As to making them to much like an elementalist class, I think the division there is in the how. Mages create something from nothing. Alchemists transmute something into something else. Dividing what they're transmuting up into elements seems to make since to me.
I did find some interesting points though.
During the 17th century traditional Chinese alchemy was more concerned with medicine while the Western Europeans were the ones who focused so much on turning lead into gold. The Islamic alchemists of the time had a wider array of interests and the creation of life was among them (which is where the golem association with alchemy probably stems from).
Rather or not Metallurgy makes more since then Water I don't know. There's support for both (distillation was spread to Western Europe by alchemists). Many alchemists where also obsessed with the waters of life. As to making them to much like an elementalist class, I think the division there is in the how. Mages create something from nothing. Alchemists transmute something into something else. Dividing what they're transmuting up into elements seems to make since to me.