What had intrigued me prior to the stream and left me ..miiiildly interested.. afterwards was the coloured mana/relic mechanic. Now to explain what i mean, because ultimately, it may well end up so and/or it already is, ergo i misunderstood:
I had expected a mini-system that yes, was tied to the combat/casting system (in the sense that O.K., it affected our skills, sure), but with its own internal rules and functions, namely for specific scenarios or encounters. Not as a plain 'overall damage/heal buffer', ie 'wear it and hit/heal harder', period.
To showcase what my thoughts and expectations were when first reading of it:
- 'x' or 'y' mob is immune to spells (melees can still wack) unless i farm 'a' or 'a+1' relic. Enter lore tidbit about random NPC having used it in the past, extracted it from its sibling, etc.
- inversely, 'z' mob that is escorting the above two mobs is immune to melee (maybe he's aethereal?), so while casters can hit it, melees need 'b' or 'b+1' relic to harm it; ie in both cases, farm, plan, prepare. Situationally.
- certain areas cannot be accessed without certain relics, or even better cannot be accessed without certain relics and under conditions. Depleting mana, lessened dmg output, etc. You can make it even more complex, puzzle-like. Raid team one needs blue relic to use one lever, raid team two needs purple to interact with another. Proceed further only if this occurs simultaneously, or near enough.
- (just me hoping) very rare relics that coloured your mana (in whatever equally rare hue or tone) opening up mini locations or even just a small castle or something wherein lore, precious collectibles, etc could be found.
- (just me hoping) relics with constant consequences (as long as worn) such as 'cursed' status (yes, relic grants you passage, awareness, etc. but at the cost of endurance, speed, will), 'forlorn' status (NPCs hate you, even those of your own faction, but you're friendly to evil/certain hostile NPCs), etc. You could have anything from 'hidden' quests all the way up to 'informal' factions, 'rogue' status (your native city hates you), etc. Plenty of potential there, including the practical 'extra content' without adding new land mass.
- (just me hoping) if Aenra has 'c' relic and Zariya, say, has 'd' relic and both relics have a 'cursed' status, our being near one another would make the effects cumulate into something even worse; except simultaneously, said combination would allow for a chain quest to be undertaken/opened up, or some other trigger we'd never had known about without said combo active on us. Even better if said effects are brutal enough to necessitate a group, as we'd be extremely weakened and not combat ready. Extra planning. We do the 'run' once for the current bearers, another time for a different pair of people. A guild thing.
Now before someone thinks i'm being negative (i'm not), the concept of situational damage increase/outcome variation is cool, and it does allow for some extra layer of complexity in mechanics most of us will have by heart from pretty early on. So theoretically, definitely a welcome addition. Except, in actual practice, i fear that past the relic grinding (go farm this for here, that for there) it runs the risk of simply amounting to do x + 1,5x% damage and that's it. Not something i'd write home about, though yes, even that is a step onwards.
Again, i may have misundertood or better yet, have missed important info. If so, someone tell me and make me even happier. Regardless, definitely a good first step, this is NOT complaining :)
Just very interested in its potential, so thought i'd make a thread about it, is all.
The relics look like a retainer for the mana, not the actual effects. The effects from what I've seen in the vid are predefined by the spell/ability.
So I'm not really sure relics will be sort after too much from what I've gathered.. Maybe they could come with different mana capcities? I don't think the relics choose/cause the effect; the spell does..
They'll allow us to customise the spells abit more using those slots you see in the video? Something like that anyway.
reference: https://www.twitch.tv/visionaryrealms/v/53850665 @ 0:40:34
reference: http://www.pantheonmmo.com/game/living_codex/
Nimryl said:The relics look like a retainer for the mana
I'm hardly the expert, you may well have it right; but the impression i got from the video was that the colouring and filling up of the relic prior to its effects becoming 'active' signified just that.. that relics are the catalysts so to speak for said changes. I understand they are not the actual effects, since their intent is to modify pre-existing ones :)
My post was in regard to the potential behind such a modifying agent, not the ""actual"" Pantheon skills per se.. or the codex itself, since you mention it. I believe i mentioned this multiple times, but perhaps i was not clear enough.
Ahh ok, theorycrafting?
Wasn't sure... I'm not the brightest guy in the world when it comes to reading. (dyslexic - taught myself out of most of it)
Nimryl said:I'm not the brightest guy in the world
Me neither, so no worries there :))
And yeah, guess you call it that.. just wondering 'what if' you know?
Amsai said: In certain atmospheres it might be just the boost you need or have to have for say a difficult encounter.
Yeah and a welcome addition for sure, bit more depth never hurts :)
Was just curious as to whether they are a system (relics) that's to be expanded further; and if so obviously, in what ways!
I think if you are in the right environment it fills your relic with mana, then by what they said in the twitch video it will help you hit harder ie more damage and gives you a better chance to hit the mobs also. So I'm guessing the weather and relics are tied togiether along with the mobs in that area/weather. Now I'm hoping a Druid can change the weather to benifet the party so if you are fighting say in the tundra the druid can change the imediate area to warm and toasty and wizzies and others can shoot off fire and roast some ice mobs. It might even help protect you from said elements dunno have to get in and test but excited how ever they do it.
I do have a question for the team will there or are there debuffs in Pantheon like there was in VG that if a rogue hits with a bleed that a warrior can hit with a slash and get a bonus to his hit cause the rogue put a bleed up? Also sorcs and druids could throw up fire buff using fireball or burning hands or whatever and ice too. Will this be in game? I saw the bleed from the rogue just wondering if Aradune was capitalizing on it with his warrior.
Explained in detail here on podcast: https://soundcloud.com/pantheon-rotf/developer-round-table-22815-part-2#t=0:00
They did mention during the stream that Red mana was buffing the fire spells and Blue mana was buffing the ice spells of the wizard that was being played.
Whether it had any impact on the other spells that did not benefit as greatly is unknown. That level of parsing of the spell dmg is probably beyond my time investment :P
Obviously alpha/beta testing will be key in any adjustments, tweaks, or balancing that occurs.
Pyye said:
Explained in detail here on podcast: https://soundcloud.com/pantheon-rotf/developer-round-table-22815-part-2#t=0:00
Pyye, I tried to copy your old post but you edited it! :) So, I was going to say exactly what Pyye had just posted. However, if you listen to the podcast the system, as they explained it before, was much more complex than what we saw in the stream. I'm not sure if that's from it just being pre-alpha development, or if they are still tweaking/changing the system. I hope it's the latter because the original system seemed much more nuanced and deep.
Yeah sorry...
I just figured it was easier for people to listen to their own interpretation. Also, I am hoping that Joppa's (Chris) explanation is still holding true toward the future. I like the level 25, level 50 focuses which will define your character. I think there is a long way to go and I am sure some things have changed. It will be interesting to see what they finalize, and how it relates to class specific abilities or uniquness!
From what I understand the colored mana system was touted as a way to spec your character to do something beyond it's primary role but not to an extent that it's profient at it as the class who's role it was (i.e Healer switching to Red mana and keeping up with a Wizard). The relic is simply a way to apply the effect to a player to carry with them instead of bindin it to certain locations your in only. But now it sounds like they may have switched to boosting current abilities of it's primary role. However that being said pre-Alpha super subject to change and all that. :)
Aenra,
Got to come out and say it I hate mobs with damage type immunities unless it's time scripted. It's not fun to be the class to farm material so you can do the same damage another class that doesn't. However I do see merit in using an item to say access a different part of a dungeon or to allow you to disguise yourself to go into a hated faction area to pick up quests that allow you to raise your faction, etc. There is some possibilites for good gameplay there.
@leafnin plenty of titles from that era (when people like yours trully still had MMOs to play) 'offered' such mobs, along with the mechanics to counter them. If the implementation, on any a one game in specific, left you disappointed? Doesn't mean the premise is wrong. Besides, you appear to have neglected that ..effectively.. i am not requesting for the addition of mods we can't damage. I am simply wondering about the possibility of being in a game where certain mobs = more 'work' prior to engaging them. Personally, i'm a very big fan of "working" my way to something.
To everyone else:
I (think i) understand what is the current direction; the purpose of the thread however was to enquire as to whether the concept of 'relics' can be expanded further? Hence the examples posted in the OP. Like, no offense, but forget about the damage bufs/spell variations for just one second type of thing? :)
We seen a red and blue relic. Will there be a combination of both? For example a purple relic that will give both red and blue effects?