[1.0.4] Arcane Ascetic (playable beta)

[ajfluffy]

Incorrect version numbering

I think I figured out what you meant, and fixed it. Thanks!
(Could you check if it's correct now?)

it would help, yes:). But maybe not tie it to staves so much? Kinda forces you into staves, period..to live:)

Well, yeah.
In my head this guy is the Arcane Magic Staff Monk.
Staff is fairly integral to that!

Is that a mistake?
What else would he be wielding?

Tree trunks?

[Doctornull]

The wards look about right, and I'd say the res all would add to the defensive value of keeping a ward up.maybe at tlvl 5 for the warding talent, you could make command staff instant, so you can get to a ward you need right away.

I'm on the fence about allowing instant Command Staff. That could be really strong, since Command Staff costs nothing and has a quick cooldown.
(The other way I'm thinking to buff it would be to give a free random melee attack after you use Command Staff.)

IMHO having Shield Runes as your default UH-OH!!! option is pretty decent. This Ward talent would be Instant, but with a longish cooldown (~20), so being strategic with your Staff Aspect should be an important part of play.

Tree trunks?

All his talents are Dex, Magic and Cunning!
What's he doing with a tree trunk?
Silly Ascetic, put down the tree trunk and go get yourself a nice proper Vilestaff.

[spiralrazor]

Incorrect version numbering

I think I figured out what you meant, and fixed it. Thanks!
(Could you check if it's correct now?)

it would help, yes:). But maybe not tie it to staves so much? Kinda forces you into staves, period..to live:)

Well, yeah.
In my head this guy is the Arcane Magic Staff Monk.
Staff is fairly integral to that!

Is that a mistake?
What else would he be wielding?

Tree trunks?

Common Monk weapons are staff, mace and unarmed. If you incorporated those, you would have a decent spread of item finds, and give people a choice of a different Brawler type, which may be more work, but ultimately a more rewarding accomplishment:)

[Doctornull]

Common Monk weapons are staff, mace and unarmed. If you incorporated those, you would have a decent spread of item finds, and give people a choice of a different Brawler type, which may be more work, but ultimately a more rewarding accomplishment:)

You play your Brawlers by using a mace or staff?

That's ... not how I play them.

[getter77]

Well, there's always the Exotic weapons category? Still not much done with that for the outstanding majority of classes and whatnot.

[Rufferto1]

I have just tried play this. My initial problem is that whenever I try autoexplore, after resting it would just stop. If i try autoexplore again it stays stopped, but once I have moved (any amount) it will autoexplore. My second question regards the number of unlocked categories, should there not be many fewer?

[Avernite]

Lvl 31 yet.

The class seems balanced but kinda boring. All I do in combat so far is just hitting things with bolts from my staff occasionally using Illuminate.
I think adding some aoe spells wont hurt because of the damage of the ascetic is a bit low now.
It would be great to add some class-specific trees.

Also I love how I can use staff for both ranged and melee. Channeling is preferred though because it never misses and does 120% damage. There is just no point in getting to the melee range. That's sad as I am more of a melee person

Anyway. Thx for the mod! I've been waiting for someone to make a staff based fighter.

[Doctornull]

Well, there's always the Exotic weapons category? Still not much done with that for the outstanding majority of classes and whatnot.

River's Fury could be good for someone who got Water / Ice.
What other Exotic magic-boosting weapons are there?

(Ascetic doesn't get Water or Ice so it's moot for this class, but another class could make it work.)

I have just tried play this. My initial problem is that whenever I try autoexplore, after resting it would just stop. If i try autoexplore again it stays stopped, but once I have moved (any amount) it will autoexplore. My second question regards the number of unlocked categories, should there not be many fewer?

Autoexplore worked fine for me.

Do you have any other mods installed?

What platform are you playing on?

[HousePet]

Anyway. Thx for the mod! I've been waiting for someone to make a staff based fighter.

Q_Q

[Doctornull]

Lvl 31 yet.

The class seems balanced but kinda boring. All I do in combat so far is just hitting things with bolts from my staff occasionally using Illuminate.
I think adding some aoe spells wont hurt because of the damage of the ascetic is a bit low now.
It would be great to add some class-specific trees.

Also I love how I can use staff for both ranged and melee. Channeling is preferred though because it never misses and does 120% damage. There is just no point in getting to the melee range. That's sad as I am more of a melee person

Anyway. Thx for the mod! I've been waiting for someone to make a staff based fighter.

Very glad you're enjoying it!

Could you talk a bit about how useful you found the different spells & combat techniques? Did you ever use Rush + Blunt Thrust / Dirty Tactics?

I had the idea that if you invest in Cunning / Tactical -> Counter Attack, then you ought to get frequent free attacks when an enemy misses you in melee, and with Spells / Phantasms -> Shield of Light, you ought to get free damage if they hit you, so that's a reward for being at melee range. Plus the stuns, of course.

[Avernite]

Lvl 31 yet.

The class seems balanced but kinda boring. All I do in combat so far is just hitting things with bolts from my staff occasionally using Illuminate.
I think adding some aoe spells wont hurt because of the damage of the ascetic is a bit low now.
It would be great to add some class-specific trees.

Also I love how I can use staff for both ranged and melee. Channeling is preferred though because it never misses and does 120% damage. There is just no point in getting to the melee range. That's sad as I am more of a melee person

Anyway. Thx for the mod! I've been waiting for someone to make a staff based fighter.

Very glad you're enjoying it!

Could you talk a bit about how useful you found the different spells & combat techniques? Did you ever use Rush + Blunt Thrust / Dirty Tactics?

I had the idea that if you invest in Cunning / Tactical -> Counter Attack, then you ought to get frequent free attacks when an enemy misses you in melee, and with Spells / Phantasms -> Shield of Light, you ought to get free damage if they hit you, so that's a reward for being at melee range. Plus the stuns, of course.

I think the free damage from Counter Attacks and Phantasmal Shield is a bit low. xd
Dunno.
CA only works on crowded melee units. Like 5% of encounters. Not a very effective way to deal with crowds (but the only one, unfortunately).
I don't see the way to use phantasmal shield. When I was at lower level I was at desperate need of mana. Essence Of Speed, Blur Sight and Defense Posture took that much of my pool that I barely could fire my staff a few times.
At lvl 30+ situation gets better but the damage from Phantasmal Shield gets too low. 100 damage at lvl 5? Blah.... I do like 400-600 damage with auto attacks.... (managed to get a high crit chance).
Also I'm not sure if the shield works all the time or only when failed to dodge?
Anyway, both those skills only works for close range.

I don't see why should I use rush when I can just shoot from the distance. I'm finding myself using hacknslash and disengage all the time.
The defence might be good but why take a chance?



In fact I only use Time Shield and Disperse Magic all the time.
The other skills are just bonuses. They just add damage or some defense or stuns.

Try to add some AoE focused trees. Now I have ~7 unused class points and nothing to spend them on. (At lvl 31. Ye...)

PS sorry for my very bad English =3

[Doctornull]

Thank you, Avernite!

Low-level sounds like it's working pretty much as intended: your Mana is really tight, but you have some good options available.

At higher levels, it sounds like the class needs:
1 - Another class tree (advanced, locked) to use class talent points after level 10
2 - Some reasons to be in melee
3 - "Crowd control"

Let me see what I can do.

[Usami Renko]

Your class has some very unique potential. As I played it I saw that this kind of magic melee could lead to all kinds of fun combos. So now, I'm going to screw up your nice class with my dumbass beginner suggestions:
1. A unique Staff skill tree that showcases martial artsy things like leap attacks, sweeping strikes, and disarms. Most importantly treats a staff as a primary and offhand weapon.
2. Dual Techniques. It is not limited to staves, but see 1 anyway.
3. Everyone's going off about this lack of crowd control. Meanwhile, you have the start of this magic monk, and he's not turning funny colors, screaming, abusing steroids, or blowing up crowds with giant balls of KIIIIIIIII! Thank you for doing none of these things. Now I'd like to see what you've got planned instead.

I should clarify what I mean by this staff skill thing. You start with a two-handed staff equipped. Then you have a sustained ability that changes the way a staff attack is treated, its power (ego?) split as though it were two smaller one-handed staves (like the two halves of the Telos staff, the only one-handed staves I've ever seen). It's the equivalent of holding the staff close to its center and striking rapidly with the edges, instead of swinging it like a club.

[spiralrazor]

Another large issue is that you have skills that require Magic, Str, Cun and Dex...thats too many bro and this after 8 or so toons.

You need to pick a 3 stats and have your talent trees match up with them.

Also, the base channel staff tree doesnt make sense for this class. You should use either the druid staff combat based off str, or the enchanter staff combat with warding/staff blast.


Meta does nothing for this class, and should be removed in place of something else.

[Doctornull]

Your class has some very unique potential. As I played it I saw that this kind of magic melee could lead to all kinds of fun combos. So now, I'm going to screw up your nice class with my dumbass beginner suggestions:
1. A unique Staff skill tree that showcases martial artsy things like leap attacks, sweeping strikes, and disarms. Most importantly treats a staff as a primary and offhand weapon.
2. Dual Techniques. It is not limited to staves, but see 1 anyway.
3. Everyone's going off about this lack of crowd control. Meanwhile, you have the start of this magic monk, and he's not turning funny colors, screaming, abusing steroids, or blowing up crowds with giant balls of KIIIIIIIII! Thank you for doing none of these things. Now I'd like to see what you've got planned instead.

I should clarify what I mean by this staff skill thing. You start with a two-handed staff equipped. Then you have a sustained ability that changes the way a staff attack is treated, its power (ego?) split as though it were two smaller one-handed staves (like the two halves of the Telos staff, the only one-handed staves I've ever seen). It's the equivalent of holding the staff close to its center and striking rapidly with the edges, instead of swinging it like a club.

Thanks for the feedback!

Hmm. The dual-weapon Staff isn't something that necessarily needs a sustain. All you need for that effect is to grant extra attacks at random targets and at 50% effectiveness. The usual benefit of dual-wielding is to get two DIFFERENT egos equipped, and with a split staff you'd just get the same ego, so it would kind of suck. However getting bonus random attacks is sort-of a form of crowd control, especially if it can't apply to a single isolated target, so maybe that'll be a thing which I can include.

Regarding the "leap attack", you've got Rush and Hack'n'Back and Phase Door. With an upcoming Sustain, you'll get an attack at the end of Phase Door, so that's three "leap attack" style things to do -- two of which work right now.

Sweeping Strike sounds like crowd control, so that's coming.

Disarm is a neat idea. It is in-theme, and there are very few ways to do that currently.

Another large issue is that you have skills that require Magic, Str, Cun and Dex...thats too many bro and this after 8 or so toons.

You need to pick a 3 stats and have your talent trees match up with them.

Thank you for playing with this so much!

You shouldn't need any Str at all. What do you use Str for? You should only need Dex, Mag and Cun -- maybe I did something wrong?

Meta does nothing for this class, and should be removed in place of something else.

I hear you. I thought that Disperse Magic at least had some potential as a de-buff, but I'll look into replacing Meta.