Wardancer revamp
Once again, it's time for one of my profession revamp projects. Getting close to being finished with these!
This time, Wardancer is the profession that we'll be updating. The exact list of changes is still in a bit of a flux, so just a somewhat brief outline of what is coming.
For starters, a somewhat cosmetic change is that we'll probably rename the profession from Wardancer to Berserker or a similar name - this is tentative, but seems quite likely, as the current theme isn't really working very well.
As far as mechanics go, we'll be merging the existing three skills into two, removing a few abilities, and adding one new skill.
The first skill will contain all the weapon and shield attacks, with a few useless ones removed or merged. The venom-less shield attacks will also be removed, and so will feint, riposte, and blade spin.
The second skill contains mobility and all the dances (with some dances reworked, and others getting a thematic reskin). War masks and war paint are included - the latter will now also receive some mechanical effects.
An important change is that all the kicks are going to be removed. DoubleTime and BladeThirst are going bye-bye as well, to be merged in into the individual attacks as needed.
Finally, the third skill. This one is almost entirely new, and will focus on a wide variety of war chants and battlecries. These will provide both offensive and defensive options (mostly offensive, this is berserker, after all). These will operate on their own balance, and are intended to be used together with the blade/shield attacks (just like kicks are now). The defensive ones will last for a limited time, with the option of making one of them permanent.
Along with warchants, a concept of "rage" will be introduced - each time you use a warchant, your rage increases. Higher rage allows you to sometimes use an extra chant for free and gives a few other bonuses - however, if your rage becomes too high, you will receive a recklessness-like effect until you lose some of the excess.
I'll be posting more information on all this once we have more of these finalized and coded in. As always, we'll also be running a (hopefully) short beta to prepare the updated class for a release.
This time, Wardancer is the profession that we'll be updating. The exact list of changes is still in a bit of a flux, so just a somewhat brief outline of what is coming.
For starters, a somewhat cosmetic change is that we'll probably rename the profession from Wardancer to Berserker or a similar name - this is tentative, but seems quite likely, as the current theme isn't really working very well.
As far as mechanics go, we'll be merging the existing three skills into two, removing a few abilities, and adding one new skill.
The first skill will contain all the weapon and shield attacks, with a few useless ones removed or merged. The venom-less shield attacks will also be removed, and so will feint, riposte, and blade spin.
The second skill contains mobility and all the dances (with some dances reworked, and others getting a thematic reskin). War masks and war paint are included - the latter will now also receive some mechanical effects.
An important change is that all the kicks are going to be removed. DoubleTime and BladeThirst are going bye-bye as well, to be merged in into the individual attacks as needed.
Finally, the third skill. This one is almost entirely new, and will focus on a wide variety of war chants and battlecries. These will provide both offensive and defensive options (mostly offensive, this is berserker, after all). These will operate on their own balance, and are intended to be used together with the blade/shield attacks (just like kicks are now). The defensive ones will last for a limited time, with the option of making one of them permanent.
Along with warchants, a concept of "rage" will be introduced - each time you use a warchant, your rage increases. Higher rage allows you to sometimes use an extra chant for free and gives a few other bonuses - however, if your rage becomes too high, you will receive a recklessness-like effect until you lose some of the excess.
I'll be posting more information on all this once we have more of these finalized and coded in. As always, we'll also be running a (hopefully) short beta to prepare the updated class for a release.
6
Comments
I'd like to preemptively suggest that shields have their offensive stats normalized for Berserkers, and that they be restricted to sword-and-board combos.
"On the battlefield I am a god. I love war. The steel, the smell, the corpses. I wish there were more. On the first day I drove the Northmen back alone at the ford. Alone! On the second I carried the bridge! Me! Yesterday I climbed the Heroes! I love war! I… I wish it wasn’t over."
"On the battlefield I am a god. I love war. The steel, the smell, the corpses. I wish there were more. On the first day I drove the Northmen back alone at the ford. Alone! On the second I carried the bridge! Me! Yesterday I climbed the Heroes! I love war! I… I wish it wasn’t over."
Also, because Iniar decided to go Magick instead of AM, I think that Berserkers should use warhammers.
"On the battlefield I am a god. I love war. The steel, the smell, the corpses. I wish there were more. On the first day I drove the Northmen back alone at the ford. Alone! On the second I carried the bridge! Me! Yesterday I climbed the Heroes! I love war! I… I wish it wasn’t over."
I'm honestly sort of iffy on more bleed based kills.
IMO, it really doesn't work out very well because your ability to stick a bleed-based kill is based almost entirely on your ability to stick haemophilia which realistically turns any bleed-based offense into an affliction offense. Also, any worthwhile bleed-based offense is going to pose ridiculously huge synergy problems with Outrider and it'll be even worse if Templar ever gets a viable longsword method.
"On the battlefield I am a god. I love war. The steel, the smell, the corpses. I wish there were more. On the first day I drove the Northmen back alone at the ford. Alone! On the second I carried the bridge! Me! Yesterday I climbed the Heroes! I love war! I… I wish it wasn’t over."
"On the battlefield I am a god. I love war. The steel, the smell, the corpses. I wish there were more. On the first day I drove the Northmen back alone at the ford. Alone! On the second I carried the bridge! Me! Yesterday I climbed the Heroes! I love war! I… I wish it wasn’t over."
Berserking
Syntax: BERSERKING ON|OFF
Allowing your bloodlust to rule your psyche can be a two-edged weapon. Having
this ability active will increase your strength and the speed with which you
may strike, but you will be less likely to dodge blows as well, you will become
fatigued faster, and casual assessment of your health and mana will be
ineffective.
When you have been greatly damaged and are near death, you will go berserk,
which will allow you to use the anger in your soul to speed up your quickjab
attacks. You will cease being a berserker after a short time, and will not be
able to go berserk again for a while.
"On the battlefield I am a god. I love war. The steel, the smell, the corpses. I wish there were more. On the first day I drove the Northmen back alone at the ford. Alone! On the second I carried the bridge! Me! Yesterday I climbed the Heroes! I love war! I… I wish it wasn’t over."
For now, as a bit of a teaser, here are the ability lists. Please keep in mind that anything can still change.
Maiming offers the following abilities:
[spoiler]
Maiming offers the following abilities:
Slash The basic attack of the Berserker.
Combo Swiftly combine your attacks.
Raze Destroy the defences that would keep your weapons out.
Gripping Keep your weapons in hand.
Trip Trip your foe with a scoop of your weapon or shield.
Posture Handle heavy shields with natural ease.
Absorb Absorb the damage from physical assaults.
Envenom Coat a weapon or shield in toxins.
Parry Deflect the blows of your foe.
Streamers Bind colorful streamers to your weapons.
Strike A slower, yet more powerful attack.
Envelop Disarm the weapons of the enemy.
Distract Cause them to lose concentration..
Ward Ward your soul from harm.
Barrier Protect your body from harm.
Bloodletter Let their blood flow freely.
Strip Strip the defences of your foe.
Spin Confuse your opponent.
Gash Attack swiftly in the heat of the battle.
Impale Pin them to the ground.
Stun Stun an incapacitated foe with your shield.
Arc Strike all your foes in the room.
Reprise Parry and strike.
Twist Twist the blade impaled in your foe's innards.
Knockout Knock them out with this powerful attack.
Pulverise Weaken magickal sigils.
Crash Knock someone from your area.
Fleche Charge in and impale your foe.
Cleave Finish your foe in one mighty blow.
Fling Throw your shield at the enemy.
Throw Bring the enemy to you.
Transfix Mesmerise your foe into inaction.
Entrench Deflect all physical blows.
Disembowel Remove the innards of your impaled foe.
For more information, type AB MAIMING <ability>.
[/spoiler]
Rampage offers the following abilities:
[spoiler]
Handspring Spring into the room, striking your foe.
Warpaint Paint yourself as a true Berserker.
Blue Paint yourself blue to bolster your courage.
Frontflip Evade your foes, despite your afflictions.
Block Do not let them escape.
Spurn Cure many ailments with your strength.
Rage Throw off pacifying afflictions.
Flexibility Nothing can keep you pinned for long.
Red Paint yourself red to become more flexible than ever.
Clotting Stop your bleeding with sheer will.
Bemuse An erratic dance to confuse your foes.
Gold Paint yourself in gold to enhance your bemusing efforts.
Warmask The mask of the master Berserker.
Backflip Escape the traps of the enemy.
Dive Descend from the treetops.
Elusion A fluid, weaving dance of the warrior.
Backhandspring Hit them while fleeing the room.
Highjump Leap into the trees.
Forwardroll Bring them down to your level.
Purple Paint yourself purple to strengthen your chants.
Balancing Stay on your feet.
Sentinel The dance of the Shield.
Escape Escape those who threaten you.
Kipup Instantly regain your feet.
Beguile The beguiling dance of the warrior.
Yellow Paint yourself yellow to improve your beguiling.
Mirage Escape into the distance.
Eviscerate Strike your foe until they perish.
Green Paint yourself green to enhance your eviscerating moves.
Doubledance Combine multiple dances into one.
For more information, type AB RAMPAGE <ability>.
[/spoiler]
Warchants offers the following abilities:
[spoiler]
Warchants Manage your warchants.
Shout A simple, yet effective shout.
Toughen Steel yourself against physical damage.
Heal Rid yourself of afflictions.
Rejuvenate Slowly restore your mental clarity.
Persistence A chant that just keeps going.
Restore Healthy warriors can fight longer.
Regenerate Slowly recover from battle wounds.
Bleed Inflict bleeding wounds.
Stun A stunning cry to leave them reeling.
Terrify Reign supreme on the battlefield.
Empower Steel yourself against elemental damage.
Rage Let your battle senses overcome you.
Release Release the accumulated rage.
Warsong Enhance the power of your chants.
Disorient Disorient your foe with the power of your voice.
Resonate No one can hide from your wrath.
Invigorate Benefit more from healing elixirs.
Weaken Weaken your foe with a forceful yell.
Numb Yor fellow fighter shall feel pain no longer.
Bloodflow Keep that blood flowing.
Echoing Punish all who dare to oppose you.
Pierce Inflict suffering to a disoriented foe.
Bewilder Inflict suffering to a weakened foe.
Enrage Whip your allies into a fighting frenzy.
Dualchant Maintain two persistent chants at once.
Scream Inflict damage to everyone nearby.
Vesselburst Cause weakened blood vessels to burst.
Overwhelm Gain the upper hand, then capitalise on it.
Equalize The last stand of a warrior.
Shatter All weaklings must perish.
For more information, type AB WARCHANTS <ability>.
[/spoiler]
EDIT: Alternatively are Warchants on a separate independent balance and 'persistent warchants' are like, persistent buffs? That is less scary.