[WIP] Occultist Mod Preview

[The Rock-man]

Well Munderbunny, there's no real rush is there?
Glad to hear hunting done so that rogue, spirit hunting and nature done right? is there any others I missed off this list?

[Munderbunny]

Nope, that's right. And I'm glad you guys are paying attention--helps keep me on track. I often get side-tracked modding, usually when I figure out how to do something I didn't know could be done before--the exploration ends up taking way too much time.

[OlivierJulienB]

Excellent news that one more mastery (hunting) is ready ! Is it possible to have a screenshot of it ?

Again, Munderbunny, thanks for all

[Munderbunny]

Sorry, no more mini updates w/pics and whatnot. Besides, some of those things might change yet again before I release even the beta. I've even already changed a couple icons in occult and spirit since those screenshots.

Don't worry, I'll let you know where I'm at. Right now, I don't really have time to do any modding until the 17th. :/

[kabooz]

I will play your mod when it's released NUFF said



oh wait ... i'm making a mod myself rightnow
posted my first post/thread 5 -10 minutes ago xD

just rebalance faster lvling(if the mobs have a higher lvl) higher lvlcap Xmax etc... when your mod is ready i'd like to make a ver with your mod in it too^^
hang in there^^

[Munderbunny]

I left on the 16th for Virginia, and I arrived on the 19th. Big fails on the taxis, trains, and a sweet cancelled flight in LA that left me at the airport for 7 hours with yet another fail on the standby which left me overnighting in LA. And, during all of this sleepless jogging through airports, I managed to get a nice virus.

I'm chugging gatorade and moaning in bed most of the time when I'm not sluggishly playing some dumb Kongregate game, or whining about ppl that annoy me.

Hopefully, when I'm feeling better, and after the last of my xmas shopping is done, and when the last of my pay-my-bills work is done (Jan 5th deadline for a bunch of BS), I look forward to finishing the mod.

Have happy holidays peeps. And remember, just because the 55-year old golden-haired queen gives you two meal vouches, tells you he's put you at the top of the standby list, and assures you of success, doesn't mean you'll get on that flight. Sometimes everyone shows up anyway.

[Knivel]

Man, you really had a hard time...

I wish you get better soon, at least to enjoy the Christmas night! Think positive, at least hard times are followed by good ones

[bak]

Munderbunny, I hope you'll get well soon. Just got the following idea.

It would be in a way cool to have all (or better say most) self-targeted and self-centered temporary buffs and auras converted into continuous mana-powered auras. Tapping on a quick key every few minutes or so to get another 12, 35 or 67 seconds of buff is one of the worst things about TQIT gameplay, obviously a useless rudimentary gene inherited from Diablo II.

Okay, there may be a few exceptions like Colossus Form and some stuff that does direct damage or greatly overpowers your enemies, but (personally) I feel very annoyed when I have to reactivate the Art of Hunt or Rally every few seconds instead of just keeping this or that aura fueled by my mana as long as I see it fit.

With non-arcane skills like Art of Hunt or Study Prey, Rally, etc. this also feels a bit too goofy. Why on Earth a master hunter should receive his emergency state awareness in chunks of, say, 24 seconds instead of just slowly wasting his or her energy as long as the state of awareness is active?!

So my current proposal is to convert about 99% of self-targeted, self-centered or non-arcane area buffs/curses that don't cause any direct damage or serious disability, rather just degrading the foes' stats and resistances, into mana-fueled continous auras that you can switch between.

Another good reason to do so is that turning them into auras would prevent much of the fabulous trickery that makes tick nearly invincible Haruspices and such like ilk, for you can't/shouldn't be able to have more than one continuous mana-powered aura active at a time, and stacking multiple buffs seems to have always been more of a cheat than of a game feature in TQIT, I thought after reading a few dozen themes on these forums. Even my noob 11 level hunter can already feel this!

The final good reason to do so is that you wouldn't be able to have a mana replenishing and a mana draining auras active at a time, thus making it impossible for your toon to turn into an everlasting battery, e.g. as long as you're in the Colossus Form, you can neither replenish your mana through Inspiration nor apply any other auras that would overpower the Colossus.

P.S. Sorry for not the brightest English around.

P.P.S. Study Prey can just create a circle around the hunter, and anybody within it will have their resistances pulled down... the skill starts out just with a small circle that will only do for melee, and at the top skill level it affects any creature visible on the screen, thus making it equally effective for use with bow. Mana Drain should be heavy enough to make it an emergency skill, not a 24/7 one.

[Munderbunny]

Bak, I did change herbal remedy to an aura, but none of the others. I, like many others, appreciate the dynamic that the temp buffs offer to the game. In the case of herbal remedy, it was a nuisance--the cost and the duration were such that it was a matter of just remembering to recast it, and was more akin to armor repair.

[bak]

What happened to Barbed Netting and Ensnare?

/EDIT/ Okay, I see your point here. Herbal remedy as an aura is already a great improvement, to my mind. If you want to keep Art of the Hunt and Study Prey active skills, I've come with a couple more ideas.

Perhaps Study Prey could be a more unique skill (as opposed to the many arcane feats and disciplines) if transformed into something like Favored Enemy (Mark of the Hunter, Track Prey): it targets a single creature rather than an area and applies all the same vulnerabilities, but for a much longer period of time (say 3x or 4x). If another creature is targeted, the previous Favored Enemy is canceled.

At higher skill levels, you are allowed to mark up to three enemy creatures, earlier marks canceled as newer ones are applied. That's at least something close in sense to the original skill name Study Prey - the hunter does his best to track up and kill a specific dangerous creature (or a small group of creatures), paying less attention to the lesser pests.

Also, the area effect of Study Prey can be traded in for a decrease in entrapment resistance - something the hunter badly needs if Ensnare / Barbed Netting are going to become useful skills. In its current state, Study Prey looks much like some goofy magic and its eye symbol makes me recall some Amazon ability from Diablo II or Necromancer's curses. Kinda doesn't fit the mastery's style. I always thought that curses should better be reserved for arcane disciplines, warfare and rogue masteries relying on single-target skills and aura buffs.

As for Art of the Hunt, it could switch its name to, say, Chase Prey, require more mana to cast, have a longer cooldown, and be a bit stronger, say up to 40% projectile evasion and 25% extra speed on its secondary branches. In its current state, this spammable buff looks more like an aura, and the improvements it grants would be more becoming for a constant passive bonus. I would gladly agree to a stronger, short-lasting Art of the Hunt activated only in critical situations, but what we currently have is just a spammable hand-triggered aura and nothing more.

I was also wondering, what are the new four skills for Hunting? Had been having thoughts about Scatter Shot arrows being to generic. Would be great to have Ice Shard arrows to replace the Scatter Shot ones (just graphically), and also get an option for Shock Arrows (extra lightning damage to a single target) and Flame Arrow (with a small explosion radius, a compromise between Shock and Ice Shard arrows)

P.S. Always wondered about proper patron gods for each Mastery.

Defense - Athena
Dream - Morpheus (notable for his ability to shape dreams into quasi-material entities and create monsters)
Earth - Gaia
Hunting - Artemis
Nature - Pan
Rogue / Occultism - Erebus (or Hermes?)
Spirit - Hecate
Storm - Uranus (or Zeus? despite his famed use of lightning, he has little to do with the sky's powers)
Warfare - Ares

In this layout, destructive sorcery is patronized by the primordial gods of chaos while the more civilized ways belong to the Olympians (save for Hecate and Morpheus, don't think they belong in either group)