[WIP] Occultist Mod Preview

[Munderbunny]

Now that the latest patch is done, and the Uber mod is done, I have time to resume work on my mod (formerly known as the shadow rogue mod). The purpose of this post is to reveal more of what I've been working on all this time, and to get a sense if there's interest in something like this in the community. I have rather dark sensibilities, and after seeing how unpopular Uber is, I'm wondering if maybe the kind of game I want to play isn't the kind of game anyone else around here really wants to play. I know a couple of people who would probably dig this, but I'm not sure if anyone else would.

Also, it seems the community is pretty small now, and maybe too small already for the mods that are out there, and the mods that are just around the corner--after all, Lilith, Manastream, Tormentress, and whatnot, are full-on map mods that offer new locations and quests, whereas what I'm working on is just a skill mod. I get the feeling that people are pretty tired of playing through the main campaign (no matter how much we try to vary it), and integrating a skill mod with a map mod isn't easy (and often requires a lot of cooperation, which is more difficult to get than you might imagine), and there's just no way in hell I'm going to start making a map mod.

So, while I think my mod is super-ultra-mega awesome, I'm not quite egocentric enough anymore to just assume everyone else is going to find it just as awesome.

So, first, here's a gameplay video in all its buttrockian glory (me running around randomly using some of the new skills): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIvxt3_sRD4&fmt=18

Should give you a pretty good idea of what the new skills are like.

Now, a little background:

The primary goal of the mod was to make Rogue a more powerful and fun mastery to play, without compromising what it does right, and the kind of gameplay those skills offer. So, I have done my best to hold true to the fundamentals of Rogue, which means tactical gameplay, good creature control, powerful ambush-style attacks against single targets, large amounts of corrosive damage, and the necessity to use combinations of skills to achieve greater effects than the sum of their parts.

I also wanted to add some coolness to Rogue. So, I gave Rogue some shadow skills. I decided it shouldn't be more powerful than dream, so I based most of the math off of dream, and then tweaked with playtesting. However, by the time I had a playable version of Rogue, my girlfriend discovered that, like Dream, Rogue sort of made all other masteries pale in comparison. So...I began mucking with the other masteries as well, to bring them up to par.

I also increased the max mastery level, and gave every mastery 4 new skills, in addition to revising and replacing many of their existing ones.

While I have a lot of superficial work left to do, the Occult Mastery is complete enough to talk about.





From left to right, bottom to top (new skills or mostly new skills in green, old skills with changes in orange--only changes listed, not all skill properties. Also, this is not the in-game text, which is largely unfinished right now):

Flash Powder: unchanged.

Smoke Screen: allows you to throw a trap that will emmit smoke for a duration, greatly lowering enemy offensive and defensive capabilities, as well as making it near impossible for ranged enemies to hit you. % reduction to OA and DA, impaired aim, and slower movement.

Toxic Concoction: an exploding PGB type projectile that shoots out piercing shrapnel. Piercing and bleeding damage. 100% chance to pass.

Poison Gas Clusters: in addition to the shrapnel, the Toxic Concoction will now also shoot out a series of poison gas pellets that explode as well, releasing poison gas clouds. Poison and slow.

Aphotic Ichor: adds dark fragments to the Toxic Concoction, which explode and lower enemy constitution as well as cause vitality decay. Vitality decay, %resistance reduction, %damage reduction.

Envenom Weapon: unchanged.

Nightshade: removed bonus to poison damage. +1 active energy cost per second. +25 reserved energy cost.

Mandrake root: +25 reserved energy.

Toxin Distillation: removed +% poison duration. Increased +% poison damage.

Shadow Link: Opens a connection to the shadow realm, allowing the occultist to draw power at a cost. Aura. 5 meter radius. +% pierce ratio. Vitality decay damage on attack. Small %ADCtH. +x energy regen. -x health regen. -%vitality resistance (decreases with levels).

Maculate Attack (all weapons): adds a chance that weapon attacks will open a dark wound that will expose them to corrosive damage. 33% change of bleeding damage, as well as +% poison and vitality/vitality decay damage.

Shadow Lore: +% vitality resistance, as well as large boosts to bleeding and vitality/vitality decay for caster and pets.

Summon Irregularity: allows the occultist to coalesce darker energies into a shadow demon, a ferocious but difficult-to-control entity. Susceptible to damage and highly susceptible to electrical energy, it's best to be far away from this little guy should he suffer too much damage. Explodes on death, paralyzing nearby enemies and causing large amounts of physical and vitality decay damage.

Breach: occultist pries open a larger connection to shadow realm. -% recharge on Summon Irregularity.

Summon Shadow Stalker: allows the occultist to summon a powerful shadow stalker.

Greater Power: higher levels unlock more potent skills for the shadow stalker. Adds 4 skills to the shadow-stalkers arsenal--power of the skill determined by the stalker's level, not greater power level.

Calculated Strike (sword/axe/spear): a swift and potent attack against a single target that's difficult to avoid and damages the target's ability to retaliate. +150% run speed. +% chance to dodge attacks and avoid projectiles. +100% offensive ability. +%damage and +%piercing damage. Flat bleeding damage. 3 seconds of skill disruption. %reduced physical damage.

Blade Fury (sword/axe/spear): a swift and potent multi-hit attack against a single target that's difficult to avoid and partly rends their armor. +150% run speed. +% chance to dodge attacks and avoid projectiles. +100% offensive ability. +%damage and +%piercing damage. Large flat reduction to armor. Strikes twice. Strikes 4-times if dual-weilding.

Nether Strike (sword/axe/spear/mace): speed through the shadow realm unseen to deliver an attack with terrifying momentum that will greatly multiply damage and penetration. +500% movement speed (lethal strike damage boosts).

Dark Vapors: shadow energies cling to your weapon as you pass though the shadow realm, greatly increasing bleeding and life damage. +% vitality/vitality decay, +%bleeding.

Agility: years of training allows the occultist to act deftly in combat and execute maneuvers with speed and precision. +% DA, +% casting speed, +% chance to avoid projectiles.

Blade Mastery (swords/daggers): enables the occultist to wield two weapons at once, and attack proficiently while dual-wielding swords and daggers. +% OA. +% attack speed. +% chance to dodge attacks.

Throwing Knives: slightly increased projectile speed. Slightly increased piercing and bleeding damage.

Flury of Knives: unchanged.

The Occult mastery has been playtested the most out of all the new mastery changes. Except for the greater skills on the shadow stalker (which I'm still tweaking). After many many changes, it now greatly improves the rogue gameplay experience, while retaining the same kinds of weaknesses rogue had, including weakness against undead, and a reliance on corrosive damage. Of course, the occultist has resources to better deal with those weaknesses, but at greater cost as well.

There are a few things I'm likely to change about this particular mastery (including many effects and a few skill icons), but for the most part, that's pretty much how it's going to be, and represents how I approached the other mastery changes (with that strong goal of preservation of what makes the mastery unique).

Although most of what I have left to do is superficial, it none-the-less takes a long time. I'm at least 2-weeks away from a version I'd be comfortable letting outsiders playtest. Not to mention, there is still a decent-sized list of problems I'd like to work though, but fortunately, all the game-breaker problems have been solved (a big one with the iceburst attack featured in the video was just solved yesterday, much to my gf's delight, as that skill is entirely her conception--"I miss stone skin. I wish storm had a stone skin. And it needs better ways to turn enemies into snow balls." She was using this weak-*** club for a while just because it had a chance to freeze enemies. Every time she lucked out and killed something while it was frozen, she'd scream "SNOW BALLS!!!" So...*******...cute).

Anyway, that's the core of my mod, and I think that can give any of you who've read down this far a very concrete sense of what my mod is, and what it will bring to the game. Please let me know if that is something you'd actually like to play. And I'm not looking for false reassurance--honestly let me know if you think it's something you'd be into. I used to think this was something I'm just doing for myself, and was going to share with the community. But, as I've discovered recently, I'm not above being motivated by other people enjoying it. If this isn't the right kind of mod for you guys, or if there're just too many better mods that will likely take up your time, let me know and liberate me from my compulsion to finish this mod.

[Munderbunny]

Oh, and I made a little vid for my gf who's in Florida right now to show her that her ice burst skill was working. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ehpo3ZrJE0&fmt=18

I'm sharing with you guys as well because I'm really proud of the underlying particle effect that makes it look like ice crawling up her body before the ice mesh bursts up. I'm thinking of like 3-layers of the particle to maybe fill it out so the transition is smoother. But still, looks so cool.

[yerkyerk]

The Ice Burst skill is amazing

That dragonbone standard looks really cool too - how'd you do that? I thought I saw it even moving after you summoned it?

Oh, and the Briar Ward cell thingy - flabbergasting

As for the sword animations, it looked really cool (a salto?!) though I haven't played warfare enough to know what it normally looks like.

And 5 wolves. I love 5 wolves; I want that in the balance patch too

Althought that giant meteor was kinda cool, it floating above the air for a few second before the huge explosion did seem a bit out of place. Isn't it better to let it land immediately and explode it on impact?

The spikes purtruding from the ground were the least impressive, I guess.

For most skills, I think I can better appreciate them if I can actually play them though

All in all, it looks really amazing.
And don't put that off as a sympathy vote.

[wraithking280878]

oh my god!!!!!! i would love that new rogue mod of yours,that is totally the
biz,rogue has allways been a bit weak for my liking but what you've done is
just made my day!!! im already thinking of a dreamkiller/dreamoccultist character
,please is it available yet?OR when will it be?

i want it,i want it,i want it PLEASE!!!!!!!!

[Munderbunny]

You and my gf will win on the meteor (I still think it looks cool sitting on the ground), but I'll concede that battle. You'll never get me to give up the bone spire (the ground thorns).

[fathersquid]

Very impressive work! Can't wait to see the final mod...

[i.n.s.a.n.e]

This is...this is....this is just AWESOME!!!!!!!!!

[gorgus]

@ Munder: dude, i hate you so much, i still haven't fixed my computer!!!

[CAP007]

Looks great Munder! I will definetly play it. I also will eventualy get to Uber, I have only been playing about a year, so still have some classes in TQ to try and more of Mastrys mod and still want at least one full pass thru Lilith. Also took a while to get a 0dxmax challenge done. Not even close to bored yet. So play time wise I am like a year behind meny of you

[mostal]

Hé Munderbunny, You Rock Heavy and Loud !

I want it for Lilith too

Possible ?