Incentivize class variety by changing Class Minor Buffs to account for hybridization (ideas)

TaxiDriver2116

To this day, hybridization feels weird and half-baked due to damage and critical chance still being split into separate buffs. We also now have Nightblade & Sorcerer, and Templar & Dragonknight stepping on each other's toes with their class minor buffs being redundant 90% of the time. To solve this and encourage trial groups to use a greater variety of classes, I propose the following changes:

"Spell Damage" and "Weapon Damage" are now combined into "Attack Damage"
"Spell Critical" and "Weapon Critical" are now combined into "Critical Chance"
"Spell Penetration" and "Physical Penetration" are now combined into "Attack Penetration"

Major and Minor Savagery grant Critical Chance. Major and Minor Prophecy have been removed from all sources.
Major and Minor Brutality increase Attack Damage. Major and Minor Sorcery have been removed from all sources.

Nightblade's Hemorrhage passive grants Minor Savagery.
Templar's Illuminate passive grants Minor Brutality.
Dragonknight's Mountain's Blessing passive now grants a Minor Buff that increases the player's status effect chance by 50% or 100%. This new buff could even be called Minor Prophecy or Minor Sorcery, since the old versions of these buffs no longer exist, and both words feel thematically fitting.
Sorcerer's Exploitation passive now grants Minor Force, which has been removed from the skill Trap Beast and morphs.

Please also consider updating the skill Force Shock to have similar AoE potential to the current version of Silver Shards. Staff builds could use the love.

Turtle_Bot

The class unique minor buffs definitely need a look at, but I'd go slightly different than above, to better tie in with the class designs/themes:

Prophecy for sorc (just crit chance, not only spell crit)
Force for NB
berserk for DK
courage for plar
brutality for warden
new buff (minor efficiency?) for status chance for necro to replace the savagery named buff now that all crit chance is just prophecy
new buff (minor potency?) for status damage for arc to replace the sorcery named buff now that all weapon/spell damage is just brutality

- Sorc's kit is designed around having as many critical strikes as possible to proc things like crit surge, while not caring if those crits deal the max damage, so crit chance would be better suited for the Sorc kit.
- NB's kit is designed around the 1 big critical strike to "assassinate" the target (it's why cloak has the guaranteed crit), therefore giving NB the critical damage buff as its "unique class bonus" would be a better fit with the design of the class.
- DK is designed around the tanky warrior/berserker class archetype, so giving it berserk fits with the class that leaps into battle.
- Templar is designed around the whole paladin archetype, courageous knights, so minor courage seems like a fitting buff for the class that is all about rallying its allies in battle, giving them the courage to defeat their foes.
- Warden could be brutality to fit with the nature/cold themes of the class and how brutal nature can be.
- Necromancer is all about life and death, undeath, etc, with unique access to all elements within the class kit, so maybe a new status effect chance or damage buff would be fitting here.
- Arcanist revolves around illusion and other arcane arts, so could just go with the other buff to status effects that necro doesn't have (i.e. if cro has chance, arc has damage or vice-versa).

Could even do this for defensive buffs too with:
resolve for DK
evasion for NB
mending for plar
toughness for warden
expedition for sorc
protection for arc
vitality for necro

This gives each class a unique buff to bring to groups for both offense and defense.

Of course this would have to come with a lot of reworks to sets, scribing abilities and non-class abilities to remove many of the named minor buffs from those to allow the classes to bring those buffs without just having a stronger class wear X-set or slot X-ability to gain the buff anyway.

TaxiDriver2116

Turtle_Bot wrote: »

The class unique minor buffs definitely need a look at, but I'd go slightly different than above, to better tie in with the class designs/themes:

These are great ideas too! I was mainly just trying to give examples where we merge the redundant buffs into one class each, and then come up with new buffs to fill in the two gaps.

It is a bit weird warden and arcanist don't have any damage buffs, but at least they have toughness and evasion. It would be really nice if warden could give out toughness without healing an ally so it isn't forced into the healer role. Arc is so powerful as it is it almost doesn't need a buff, but I wouldn't say no to it having a unique one too.

I understand the original intent for necro was to debuff enemies instead of buff players, but I agree vitality could be a thematic choice for a buff.

The details of these changes don't have to be exact, but I think it's really necessary that each class has something truly unique. I've heard of a lot of trial groups dropping their nightblade because they have a sorcerer, and vice versa.

VixxVexx

Wow buddy slow down, they are still phasing out veteran ranks.

But seriously, they started doing hybridization at the end of 2022.
Somehow class passives, potions, etc. still haven't been touched.

Lykeion

VixxVexx wrote: »

Wow buddy slow down, they are still phasing out veteran ranks.

But seriously, they started doing hybridization at the end of 2022.
Somehow class passives, potions, etc. still haven't been touched.

and Mundus Stones.

I really hope they merge the WD & MD stones into one and offer a more interesting stone

olsborg

Sorry if I "snipe" your thread here, this is also about that hybridization.

They also said they would finish the Alchemy system with hybridization in mind, they have not yet done so. Alot of potions still give different buffs like magic resist or physical resist etc.

TaxiDriver2116

Bumping this thread because even though we have subclassing now, the point still stands that we have several Major and Minor buffs that do the same thing due to hybridization, and this is a great way to encourage a variety of skill lines.