[Suggestion] Pipe Dream for new Magic Weapon Skill Lines

Credible_Joe

Hello all. I've actually commit this to the forums before, but only as replies to threads about new / proposed skill lines. I wanted to bring this to its own topic.

Since launch a lot of us have been yearning for a viable spell-sword archetype. Discussion around it has mostly been around proposed classes or systems for empowering magic when wielding a sword with an empty off-hand. Adjacent to this is archetypes for unarmed combat, both for hand-to-hand and wielding pure magic.

Unfortunately, almost all of our damage comes from equipped weapons. And any solution that involves making exceptions to that would likely be obtuse and difficult to maintain in equal measure to the standard dev kit of equipment + weapon skill line.

I believe I have a proposal that checks all the requested boxes and doesn't require new systems development, nor any exceptions. Only a new crafting line and new weapon skill lines to go along with the new "equipment"

Crafting Line: Attuned Spells

• Attuned Spells would behave like any other equipment, both offensive and defensive. They would have a quality tier, they'd be enchantable, and have the same traits available as any other weapon. All of them are one-handed, allowing all of the above archetypes to be built with different combinations. Like with Staves presently, heavy attacks would restore Magicka.
  • Ranged
    • Flame
    • Frost
    • Shock
    • Healing / Empowering
  • Touch
    • Flame
    • Frost
    • Shock
    • Healing / Empowering
  • Ward
    • Blocking costs Magicka
    • Can only be slotted on off-hand (like shields)

Weapon Lines

• Battle Mage
  • One-handed weapon plus any attuned offensive spell. Skills and passives would revolve around equal sustain between magicka and stamina abilities, as well as buffing damage output when both values are closer together. All morphs will have a weapon version and a spell version, costing either stamina or magicka respectively.
  • Heavy attack is determined by off-hand. Main hand light attacks, off-hand heavy attacks. This also determines which resource is restored.
• Arcane Knight
  • One-handed weapon plus an attuned support spell, either ward or healing. Skills and passives would revolve around crowd control, damage mitigation, and buffing allies. Similar to battle mage, sustain is both stamina and magicka focused, with skill morphs for both.
• Warlock
  • Two offensive attuned spells. Skills and and passives are all about damage. Since this would allow for mixing two destruction elements, skills and passives would reflect whichever two elements you have equipped. Similar to the difference between 2-Handed melee weapons and dual wielding, the Warlock skill line would be about overwhelming aggression, as opposed to timing and big hits. Also a LOT of room to build around status effects here.
• Mage
  • One attuned spell of any type (either destruction or healing), one attuned Ward spell. Skills and Similar to 1-Handed and Shield in the melee weapon skill lines. Taunts, buffs, debuffs, sustain. Reflecting, absorbing, and mitigating damage, especially magic damage.
• Mystic
  • Two attuned support spells. Healing line, with a stronger focus on cleansing negative effects and applying damage shields than straight up healing spells. Reverse to the Resto Staff skill line.
• Monk
  • Two touch offensive or support spells. Similar to Battle Mage and Arcane Knight above, each morph will be stamina or magicka based. Heavy attacks would restore equal Magicka and Stamina, and passives will have multiple effects that apply to both offense and support attuned spells, similar to how Destruction staves have different line items for flame, frost, and shock. Strong focus on debuffing your opponent and buffing yourself.

There you have it. I believe I've covered most of the archetypes that are represented by NPCs in the game, but not accessible to players. There are some details to work out, like how enchanting a spell would work, but I'm sure that can be resolved without twisting the lore too badly. Anything's possible, after all, especially in Tamriel. Other things, like whether new nodes should be introduced for the crafting mats to produce these spells is open for suggestions as well. I'm inclined to think that adding more nodes won't be popular, so an alternative solution similar to Ink could be applied. Or, hell, refining ink as if it were a raw material and getting upgrade mats and refined attuned spell materials could work right in without much adjustment. Especially since scribing is coming to base game soon.

Like I said, I've made this suggestion in the past, but always in the middle of threads with little engagement. Just wanted it in its own topic for easy reference and a little more visibility while Devs are on a less delayed output schedule for content and systems. Thanks for reading, thanks for any consideration, engagement, or criticism.