I think the community as a whole would not mind for an early release with the loss of Nightmare. Let's be honest... How many times do we actually think 713 gets cast in a month from all sorcerers added together? =) Not too many!

Rontuu

I use it in CvC, but could live without it.

For various behind-the-scenes reasons, I've decided to do a couple pieces of the Sorcerer circle review a little early. We're previewing one of these pieces tonight in this post.

Keep in mind as you read this that none of these things are official yet. The team is still reviewing this spell, so any of these details may change at any time.

The current spell in the 713 slot, Nightmare, will be combined with the current spell of Curse to become one of many new features of that spell. In its place will be Balefire, a new ball-type aimed spell. It will use existing ball spell mechanics, meaning among other things that a successful hit can result in an explosion that damages multiple targets, and the Multi-Opponent skill will increase the minimum number of targets struck. Demonology lore will be the factor that increases the maximum number of targets, as well as increasing the amount of damage dealt to the first target.

The damage being done is plasma-based, and features a completely new damage table (for those who like to experiment with such things).

In addition, if the caster has a minor demon present, the demon can be forced to contribute damage to the initial strike at the cost of a few of the demon's mana points, never more than 3. The cost can be reduced based on the sum of the caster's Spiritual Mana Control and Elemental Mana Control bonuses. The damage done by this extra attack will be roughly proportional to the critical damage done by the caster in the initial strike.

The type of damage done will depend on the demon's native valence:
Grik'tyr: randomly either disintegration or crushing damage
Shien'tyr: randomly either vacuum or unbalancing damage
Lorae'tyr: randomly either steam or disruption damage

Example:

---

>prep 713
You trace an intricate sign that contorts in the air while forcefully invoking Balefire...
Your spell is ready.
>cast troll
You gesture at a jungle troll.
You hurl a ball of greenish-black flame at a jungle troll!
AS: +232 vs DS: +66 with AvD: +39 + d100 roll: +52 = +257
... and hit for 66 points of damage!
Skin blasted away leaving exposed and bloody muscle!
The jungle troll is stunned!
An inquisitive pure white imp shudders slightly as chaotic energy is drawn from its form and fused with the attack.
(Your pure white imp loses 2 mana.)
... 20 points of damage!
Blow leaves an imprint on the jungle troll's chest!
The ball of greenish-black flame strikes a jungle troll, blossoming into a much larger sphere of flame upon impact.
... 40 points of damage!
Intense arc of energy flays the jungle troll's arm to the bone!

A burst of flame from your ball of greenish-black flame flies off and hits a jungle troll.
... 45 points of damage!
Superheated energy causes the artery in the jungle troll's leg to explode!
It is knocked to the ground!
The jungle troll is stunned!

A burst of flame from your ball of greenish-black flame flies off and hits a jungle troll.
... 40 points of damage!
Searing wave of plasma cuts through skin and muscle on the jungle troll's leg!
It is knocked to the ground!
The jungle troll is stunned!
Cast Roundtime 3 Seconds.



That's with 50 demonology ranks, versus the trolls' natural brigandine-like hide. As you can see, the spell has been completed on the development server, and some of the other GMs have already been trying it out. I can't give any indication of when it might be ready for release, however, because the spell introduces a number of incidental issues like the two below:

I anticipate that people will complain that demons, like most pet-type creatures, have a habit of lagging behind the owner by a few rooms, and that in a combat situation where timing is critical, that bonus attack will often be lost while the demon is catching up to a fast-moving owner. We plan to address that by changing these creatures so that they follow much more quickly, possibly instantly.

People will also be quick to point out that the presence of a direct aimed attack spell represents a major change in the composition of this spell list which makes it similar to the other pure caster's profession lists, and yet there is still a glaring disparity in the lack of a bolt AS enhancer. We already have plans for this, but that will be discussed in another (future) thread.



-Strath

Can you expand on some of the other things you hinted at in your post? Such as changes to curse, the AS for bolting issue (which you said you would talk about later) and anything else?

All in all, it looks good, from this sorcs POV, despite just recently detaining via my yearly fixskills all my SA ranks. heh!


-Taakhooshi, and Me

For the Story of Taakhooshi:
http://www.gsguide.net/index.php?title=Taakhooshi

First of all, that looks pretty sweet, Strathspey. Well done team =)

Second...I don't know WHY this is sticking in my head the way it is, but I'm going to throw it out there just so I can get rid of it. What if the spell did two different types of crits (not counting the demon bonus)? I'm thinking Fire damage on the initial bolt and then Plasma for the ball flare (or vice versa)?

Maybe I'm just thinking about it because against a troll that'd be yet another flare ;)

But it just feels like it could be a hybrid damage spell, with the whole green-black thing and all.

Meh, I'll try to come up with more reasoned feedback later. Awesome preview =)

~ Lumi

Not that it needs it, and it wouldn't be plausible after all that development, but it would be neat if it did random elemental damage.


~ Nuadjha, the Briar Fox

You inhale deeply upon your pipe, puckering your lips as you send out three rings of smoke before you, then puff out a small vine of smoke that darts right through all three which causes them to disperse in a hazy shroud!

Just wanted to drop a quick note (half asleep here...) that the development looks good. I know a lot of us have petitioned for a bolt spell for years. I really like the demon tie in. All in all, looks like it will be a great addition to the circle. I'm excited about the development of the profession in general. Can't wait to see more.

Rontuu

Here I am, thinking we're not going to get jack until the elemental lore review, and meanwhile my spies tell me Naos is not near completing that.

Then you come and spring this on us. A very welcome wonderful surprise.

Ball spell, check.
nightmare moving to curse, check.
AS booster, check (and considering I probably have invested in AS already more than any other sorcerer, with 50 ranks of enhancives... a native spell is going to put me to rimalon level bolting).

My plan for world domination grows closer every day.

Now I just need more demonology lore.

I wonder what the base DF is on the spell, if it is comparative to 510/1110/910 as the other higher level bolt spells.

And I suppose we can assume the lore progression is the same as other bolt spells as far as the DF increase goes.

This is really very exciting. Looks great!

Also exciting is the combination of Nightmare and Curse. I just hope you don't get rid of the TD pushdown on Curse from guarded stance. There are so few spells that allow us to artificially reduce TD that I think it should stay.

A.

>>13 mana is quite a high total for a bolt spell

Just to clarify, it's not a bolt spell - it's a ball spell. It won't just hit one target like 910 or 1110; it will splash.

GameMaster Oscuro

Rogue Team
Cleric/Empath Team

Since some people are commenting that the spell isn't sorcerous enough, what if the spell also had a chance to prevent the target from casting a spell for a set duration? Or if it had a chance to drain a spirit point? Chance to curse? Chance to be followed by an MD attack cycle? What if it had a side-effect of making the target forget any spell it has prepped, or even burned its nerves for the amount of mana of that spell? 13 mana is a lot for a ball spell, after all (says the thorn-mage). Compare it to 1110, which has plasma crits, a great DF, and Harm-like CS cycles.


~ Nuadjha, the Briar Fox

You inhale deeply upon your pipe, puckering your lips as you send out three rings of smoke before you, then puff out a small vine of smoke that darts right through all three which causes them to disperse in a hazy shroud!

>>Correct, the cheapest one being Major Cold, which is available at just under half the cost. So...yeah.

The cheapest warding spell is 1 mana, so should Dark Catalyst cost 1 mana instead of 19? I'm not following the logic that just because there are cheaper spells, this one should be cheaper especially when it is the strongest ball spell yet.

GameMaster Oscuro

Rogue Team
Cleric/Empath Team

>Ball spell disease with instant HP-loss splash! You too can infect an entire room with your choice of diseases! -farmer

That's actually not a bad idea. We've already a BALL BOLT spell via 111. I don't know if there are any plans for Disease, but how about a DoT splash with a similar effect? Maybe a capped rank 1 splash damage, but with the high chance of additional damage being done via X lore/skill? The splash effect looks almost MADE for some DoT action.

Something like

A burst of flame from your ball of greenish-black flame flies off and hits a jungle troll.
... 5 points of damage!
Sickly green flames slither their way along the length of the Jungle Troll's left leg!

5-10 seconds later

The lingering balefire ignites, burning ichor-like designs along the Jungle Troll's left leg!
... 5 points of damage!

OR ... How about being able to augment the amount of damage the BALL BOLT splash with something BESIDES level? Necromancy ranks would be a fine tie-in. I don't know how much, if any, you can tweak the BALL BOLT mechanics.

>>Glad to see you're keeping a close eye on balance, Oscuro. Why is it the strongest BALL BOLT spell, again? Because of the demon tie-in? That has two additional costs. 1. A demon being present, and 2. Up to three mana. Without it, you're talking about DF's. Is there a substancial DF increase beyond what wizards can manage with their lore-based upgrades? And remember, lore doesn't factor into balance of spells, else we should revisit ANY NUMBER of equations which might begin to look lopsided. Right?

The base DF is the highest of ball spells. It has the exact same lore benefits as 907 and 908 for DF and number of targets, the same MOC benefits for number of targets and also has the demon tie-in. Ignoring mana cost, it is objectively the best ball spell in the game. Considering mana cost, it may not be the most efficient, but high level attack spells always sacrifice mana-efficiency for power.

GameMaster Oscuro

Rogue Team
Cleric/Empath Team

>The base DF is the highest of ball spells. It has the exact same lore benefits as 907 and 908 for DF and number of targets, the same MOC benefits for number of targets and also has the demon tie-in. Ignoring mana cost, it is objectively the best ball spell in the game. Considering mana cost, it may not be the most efficient, but high level attack spells always sacrifice mana-efficiency for power.

Sounds good to me.

How about this for a Tie-in. Balefire would be able to be cast in a non-offensive form with a duration based on X (Demonology, Mana control, sorcerer ranks, whatever). It may have a few RP type verbs, it may not. Perhaps just ambient scripts. HOWEVER...

With enough Demonology ranks, you can choose to Throw/Hurl the Balefire at your target just as you would with the normal casting of the spell. This would expend no additional mana (beyond the initial cast and the Demon infuse), yet allow you to keep the spell available even as you cast others, and use it as a time of your choosing. The benefits would be ...

1. Pre-paid mana cost. This is an expensive spell, and this would help us balance that to a degree.

2. Setting the target up first, then immediately following up with a sure-fire shot not subject to anything but perhaps a fumble (No hindrance, that's on the initial cast)

3. RP tie-in with being able to summon the Balefire as a toy.

4. Benefit to open-handed casters, including Runestaff users.

The spell could be further balanced by having a mana-cost for keeping it in that form. Perhaps 1 mana every 30 seconds, or something of the like.


Thoughts?

Honestly, thinking of the ability, I would love to see it available to many different spells, be it for sorcerers, or any other caster. It fits for any spell which hurls a physical substance.

It would make an awesome improvement to runestaves to have this innate ability.

OR we could just keep it for Balefire, cuzz we're greedy like that.

Will the spell be imbeddable?

-Keleborrn.

dan/gnimble

I'd really rather see some more effects from the spell instead of just crit/damage. I've been trying like hell to suggest attack spells that lower the Resistances of the creature, a la my Sorcerer bolt idea, Necrosis Bolt.

Like Thought Lash (1210)?

GameMaster Estild
Cleric/Empath Team

Like Thought Lash (1210)? -Estild

I guess?

---

-- dan/gnimble