Forums » General Pantheon Discussion

Elemental Atunements

    • 52 posts
    November 17, 2015 6:51 PM PST

    I'm actually curious if this system was in play in EQ because i absolutely loved it in FFXI. It made for some complex interactions in an otherwise simple combat system.

    What i'm referring to is that every spell as well as every mob were based around an element (Fire, Ice, Wind, Earth, Thunder, Water, Light, Dark). Certain elements were weaker or stronger against their counterparts. A lot of CC based spells were atuned to Earth. Running into an Earth based mob meant that certain CC's were difficult if not impossible to land. The same system was in place for damage abilities. Using a fire based spell on a fire based mob meant either a resist or a significant damage penalty for doing so. Again, the same went for weapon skills.

    Knowing every mobs elemental atunement was an integral part of combat. Understanding which spells and abilities were the most efficient for every situation separated the good from the average player. I'd love to see a system similar to this in Pantheon.

    • 85 posts
    November 17, 2015 11:22 PM PST

    I never played FFXI, but VG had something similar.  Certain mobs were not only immune to, but strengthened by certain elemental abilites.  Physical damage, mental abilites, fire/ice spells, etc...   I think it really adds a lot to combat and gameplay and enhances the need for grouping and cooperation.  It's a sound mechanic that adds immersiveness and strategy to the game.  Can't go wrong, imo.

    P.S.  Also, from my low level druid in VG who was (mostly) soloing the Unicorn mount quest..."F*** Ettercaps!"

    • 52 posts
    November 17, 2015 11:32 PM PST

    Sylee said:

    I never played FFXI, but VG had something similar.  Certain mobs were not only immune to, but strengthened by certain elemental abilites.  Physical damage, mental abilites, fire/ice spells, etc...   I think it really adds a lot to combat and gameplay and enhances the need for grouping and cooperation.  It's a sound mechanic that adds immersiveness and strategy to the game.  Can't go wrong, imo.

    P.S.  Also, from my low level druid in VG who was (mostly) soloing the Unicorn mount quest..."F*** Ettercaps!"

    I had forgotten about the diferent damage types as well. XI had blunt, slashing, and piercing damage which added even more fun to the rather simple base combat. Flying mobs for instance took the most piercing damage which is why rangers loved exp'ing off those mobs more than any other. Aspects like this are what i miss the most as far as combat mechanics go.

    • 9115 posts
    November 18, 2015 12:51 AM PST

    Sylee said:

    I never played FFXI, but VG had something similar.  Certain mobs were not only immune to, but strengthened by certain elemental abilites.  Physical damage, mental abilites, fire/ice spells, etc...   I think it really adds a lot to combat and gameplay and enhances the need for grouping and cooperation.  It's a sound mechanic that adds immersiveness and strategy to the game.  Can't go wrong, imo.

    P.S.  Also, from my low level druid in VG who was (mostly) soloing the Unicorn mount quest..."F*** Ettercaps!"

    Haha! My Psi hated those damn Ettercaps too! :)

    • 75 posts
    November 18, 2015 4:58 AM PST

    Come on Kilsin responding with answering = just mean :)

    I agree that knowing how to kill something is part of the fun and much better than let me just use "attack type 1" with "weapon/spell type 1"

    I loved having to swap between sword and mace to thump skeletons in LOTRO....my damn sword always missed the ribs :)

    • 9115 posts
    November 18, 2015 5:17 AM PST

    Narben4 said:

    Come on Kilsin responding with answering = just mean :)

    I agree that knowing how to kill something is part of the fun and much better than let me just use "attack type 1" with "weapon/spell type 1"

    I loved having to swap between sword and mace to thump skeletons in LOTRO....my damn sword always missed the ribs :)

    There is no questions to answer! These posts are showing support for this combat mechanic, if someone directly asked me if this would be in Pantheon, I wouldn't be able to answer anyway at this point in time lol ;)

    We are very close to speaking more about classes and class mechanics but until then, I just enjoy reading posts like this that are creative and have a good chance of being suitable for Pantheon. I am a fan just as much as you all are, so it's nice to imagine what mechanics like this might be like in Pantheon :)


    This post was edited by VR-Mod1 at November 18, 2015 5:18 AM PST
    • 112 posts
    November 18, 2015 6:31 AM PST

    Yes to all of this.

    • 1778 posts
    November 18, 2015 8:33 AM PST
    As an XI vet I definitely agree. In answer to your unsaid question. I cant speak with authority but I can speculate based off current info.

    If youve read the FAQ and a couple other pages on main site. You might be familiar with the auras or atmospheres they plan on having. And also the info from the living codex. Well piecing it together. There will be strengths and weaknesses based off the mana color you use depending on the climate you use it in. Its a different take than just elemental but its similar in feel.

    Completely making this up for the purpose of example. You have a class that uses green mana in a "rotting" environment so maybe it halves the effectiveness of your green (nature) spells. But in a rain forest environment it increases those same spells by 50%. This was just an example but i fully expect something along these lines. And because of that I think it also possible that sometimes monsters in these enviroments might have their own mana color as well and in some cases not matching the environment they are in. Which would increase the complexity of the interactions.
    • 808 posts
    November 18, 2015 8:42 AM PST

    Aldie said:

    I'm actually curious if this system was in play in EQ because i absolutely loved it in FFXI. It made for some complex interactions in an otherwise simple combat system.

    What i'm referring to is that every spell as well as every mob were based around an element (Fire, Ice, Wind, Earth, Thunder, Water, Light, Dark). Certain elements were weaker or stronger against their counterparts. A lot of CC based spells were atuned to Earth. Running into an Earth based mob meant that certain CC's were difficult if not impossible to land. The same system was in place for damage abilities. Using a fire based spell on a fire based mob meant either a resist or a significant damage penalty for doing so. Again, the same went for weapon skills.

    Knowing every mobs elemental atunement was an integral part of combat. Understanding which spells and abilities were the most efficient for every situation separated the good from the average player. I'd love to see a system similar to this in Pantheon.

     

     

    In EQ I don't know that I would call it attunement, but mobs did sometimes have resistances to the elements, and even sometimes were immune. So having the proper equipment to deal with certain mobs was paramount to success.  Players often had several sets of gear based on it's elemental resistance. You would have to know early what your groups/raids plans were so you could make a bank run to switch out to the proper gear. Since weight mattered in EQ, you could not carry all possible gear with you at all times.

    Sometimes you'd switch your weapon to a lower damage weapon because it contained an addition elemental effect, that could inflict additional damage or have some other property that could be beneficial to the fight. Choices, equipment and strategy were extremely important in EQ in many places and fights, but not always a concern if you were just doing basic xping in the open world.

     

     

     

    • 72 posts
    November 20, 2015 7:55 AM PST

    I'm all for this as long as it doesn't render some classes completely useless during raids.

    If classes are built around specific elements (Let's say druids deal only lightning/nature damage and magicians only deal fire/water) and you come across a boss that is completely immune to lightning/nature or a boss that is completely immune to all fire/elemental damage, then you've in essence rendered those classes inept.

    Now, the upside is that druids instead of dealing additional damage can focus on additional healing, whereas a mage (in this scenario) has to sit on their thumb ;)

    As long as classes aren't built around such a small niche of damage (Proper example being mages can do fire/water/ AND physical damage (imagine a mage picking up a piece of ground and hurling it at the mob) so they're never rendered completely useless for a fight, then this will add a lot of depth to the game.

     

    • 1778 posts
    November 20, 2015 9:31 AM PST
    Yea i think it would come down more so to just how effective abilities are. Not necessarily rendering them useless. Besides the Living Codex looks like it lets you nullify that at leasr with the Prime abilities. So even if you are fighting something strong towards your mana color you probably wont be useless. That being said you would be able to build up that skill to be more effective in said situation. At least thats what Im gathering from the Living Codex page.