CrystalTears
01-14-2003, 10:32 PM
This phase of Growing Pains implements major changes to many aspects of the game, with the most substantial changes including the conversion of many spells to self-cast, implementation of skill requirements for magic item activation, and modifications to spell bonuses, durations, creature casting strength, armor casting hindrance, and damage reduction. A (lengthy) summary of the changes follows. In some cases, more detailed information on the specifics of the changes will be provided in future posts on these message boards.
These changes are expected to be released next weekend.
Many defensive spells have changed to self-cast only, and several have seen changes to magnitude of their bonuses. A few spells have been completely replaced with new spells. Each spellcasting profession still retains a handful of shareable spells.
In a major change to the TD system, all TD boosting spells have been designated as Spirit, Elemental, or hybrid. Full TD bonuses apply vs attack spells of that same magic sphere, and lesser bonuses apply vs attacks from other spheres of magic. The result will be that spellcasting characters will find themselves very resistant to magics from their sphere(s) of knowledge, and somewhat less resistant to magics from other spheres. Coupled with these changes to TD, fifty-nine creature types have had their CS reduced, some well in excess of 100 points. Ten creature types had their CS increased, most of which were creatures under 10th level that previously had extremely ineffective spells (sea nymphs and death dirges, for example).
In addition, most spells that previously had durations based on caster level now have base durations that increase as the caster's spell knowledge increases. For spells that are activated from items or via scrolls, durations will increase with the knowledge of Magic Item Use or Scroll Use, respectively.
The use of magical trinkets now requires skill in Magic Item Use in most cases. The exceptions are some items distributed as "common" treasure (small statues, gold rings, blue crystals, etc.), drinkable or edible items, and some unique or nearly unique items. Failed attempts to activate magical trinkets or invoke scrolls will now result in 3 seconds of Cast Roundtime and greater failures may have detrimental results. The increased hard roundtime for waving wands while encumbered has been replaced with increased hindrance in properly activating the wand. Recharging of magic items with spells that are not known to the caster will be more difficult, and recharging will now eventually degrade an item until it can no longer accept a charge, similar to the way that Imbed currently works.
Armor spell hindrances have been revised to be spell circle-specific, meaning that Ranger hindrances are now different from Minor Spirit hindrances, and Minor Spirit hindrances are different from Major Spirit hindrances. Each armor type has a maximum spell hindrance, regardless of how far undertrained a caster may be for the armor. Spell failures resulting from armor hindrance will now result in 3 seconds of Cast Roundtime. Donning armor will also now incur roundtime based on the armor type.
The MSTRIKE verb has been changed in several ways, providing more control to the player, adjusting the roundtime determination, making increased training in Multi-Opponent combat desirable, reducing the screen scroll, and implementing a short duration fatigue effect. TRIP has been revised to factor in the attacker's stance.
Many weapons and bolt spells have seen adjustments to damage and speed attributes, and bastard swords are being revised to be more user-friendly via a new GRIP verb. Improvements to Ranged and Thrown weapon attack and defense are also part of this release.
Major Shock has seen a reduction in DF, while Minor and Major Cold saw increases. Wizard Bolt AS rate of increase concerns have been addressed with modifications to Elemental Focus (513) to increase its offensive bonus with increased training in the Major Elemental circle.
Two-weapon fighting has been revised to no longer automatically increase roundtime when the weight of the offhand weapon is >= to the primary weapon. The speed of the offhand weapon compared to the speed of the primary weapon and the weight of the offhand weapon with respect to the attacker's strength are now factors.
Damage reduction for highly physical characters has been revised to shift Swimming and Climbing skills to from primary to secondary skills, to include all weapon skills as secondary skills, and to consider spell training on a spells learned per level basis. Those characters with less than two spells per level will eventually receive some amount of damage reduction. Damage reduction has not been capped, but the benefits at the very high end have been revised to increase at a slower rate.
Finally, treasure output has been adjusted to substantially increase the number of imbeddables that are released. Players will find that many trinkets are found already imbedded with spells, and some will even be Wizard rechargeable. The spells available on scrolls have been revised significantly, as well.
Discussion of these changes should be directed to the Game Balance topic in the Strategy folder.
Warden
GP3: Armor Hindrance
Unfortunately, I do not know of a way to force these new forums to display a table in a nice format.
The following table shows the changes to the Armor Hindrance for casting spells. Base hindrance is as shown for each AsG. If a player is undertrained for their armor, the penalty is increased. The increased penalty will never exceed the Maximum penalty shown in the rightmost column.
Warden
.
.AsG..MnSp..MjSp..Cler..MnElem..MjElem..Rang..Sorc ..Emp..Wiz..Bard..Max
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
...1.|..0.....0.....0......0.......0......0.....0. ....0....0....0.....0
...2.|..0.....0.....0......0.......0......0.....0. ....0....0....0.....0
...5.|..0.....0.....0......0.......0......0.....0. ....0....0....0.....0
...6.|..0.....0.....0......0.......0......0.....0. ....0....0....0.....0
...7.|..0.....0.....0......0.......2......0.....1. ....0....2....0.....4
...8.|..0.....0.....0......0.......4......0.....2. ....0....4....3.....6
.
...9.|..3.....4.....4......4.......6......3.....5. ....4....6....3....10
..10.|..4.....5.....5......5.......8......4.....7. ....5....8....3....13
..11.|..5.....6.....6......6......10......5.....9. ....6...10....3....16
..12.|..6.....7.....7......7......14......6....13. ....7...14....8....19
.
..13.|..7.....8.....8......8......17......7....16. ....8...17....8....22
..14.|..9....10....10......9......20......9....18. ...10...20....8....25
..15.|.10....13....13.....11......25.....10....22. ...13...25....8....28
..16.|.12....15....15.....13......30.....12....26. ...15...30...19....32
.
..17.|.19....21....21.....19......35.....19....29. ...21...35...19....41
..18.|.22....26....26.....25......40.....22....33. ...26...40...19....44
..19.|.27....32....32.....30......45.....27....39. ...32...45...19....47
..20.|.32....45....45.....40......50.....32....48. ...45...50...50....50
GP3: Spell Changes
Following is a list of spell changes that will be implemented with this phase of Growing Pains:
101 ? 10 Spirit TD, 10 Bolt DS, except acid
107 ? 15 Spirit TD, 25 Bolt DS, except acid
120 ? 20 Spirit TD, 25 Generic DS, self-cast
150 ? Self-cast
219 ? 30 Spirit TD, 30 Bolt DS, except acid, self-cast
303 ? Up to 40 Generic DS, self-cast, will be renamed Prayer of Protection
310 ? Up to 20 Generic DS, Spirit TD
313 ? Maneuver bonus, 10 Bolt DS, no TD bonus, no longer self-cast
401 ? 5 Generic DS, 5 Elemental TD
406 ? 10 Generic DS, 10 Elemental TD
414 ? 25 Generic DS, 15 Elemental TD
430 ? Up to 50 Generic DS, Up to 25 Elemental TD
507 ? Self-cast
508 ? 20 Elemental TD, self-cast
513 ? Bolt AS bonus increases with training, uncapped
613 ? 25 Generic DS, 20 Spirit TD, +5/+5 at 35 and 50 Ranger spells known
625 ? No longer provides TD bonus
712 ? To be revealed later.
905 ? 20 Generic DS, self-cast
913 - To be revealed later.
919 ? Self-cast
1006 ? To be revealed later.
1010 ? 25 Generic DS, 15 Elemental TD, does not increase
1035 ? Up to 75 Generic DS
1106 ? 15 Generic DS, 10 Spirit TD
1119 ? Up to 50 Bolt DS, Up to 25 Spirit TD
All values are subject to change as we finalize testing.
TD benefits are full bonus vs same-sphere (Spirit/Elemental) attacks, 3/4 bonus vs hybrid attacks, and half bonus vs opposite sphere attacks. Example: If a spell provides 20 Spirit TD, then the player will gain 20 TD (full bonus) vs Spirit spells, 15 TD (3/4 bonus) vs Sorcerer spells, and 10 TD (half bonus) vs Elemental spells. If a spell was to provide 20 Sorcerer TD, it would also provide 15 TD (3/4 bonus) vs Elemental and Spirit CS attacks.
In addition to the above spell modifications, Sign of Dissipation and racial resistance bonuses have been adjusted.
Lullabye and Spikethorn have also been adjusted.
Warden
These changes are expected to be released next weekend.
Many defensive spells have changed to self-cast only, and several have seen changes to magnitude of their bonuses. A few spells have been completely replaced with new spells. Each spellcasting profession still retains a handful of shareable spells.
In a major change to the TD system, all TD boosting spells have been designated as Spirit, Elemental, or hybrid. Full TD bonuses apply vs attack spells of that same magic sphere, and lesser bonuses apply vs attacks from other spheres of magic. The result will be that spellcasting characters will find themselves very resistant to magics from their sphere(s) of knowledge, and somewhat less resistant to magics from other spheres. Coupled with these changes to TD, fifty-nine creature types have had their CS reduced, some well in excess of 100 points. Ten creature types had their CS increased, most of which were creatures under 10th level that previously had extremely ineffective spells (sea nymphs and death dirges, for example).
In addition, most spells that previously had durations based on caster level now have base durations that increase as the caster's spell knowledge increases. For spells that are activated from items or via scrolls, durations will increase with the knowledge of Magic Item Use or Scroll Use, respectively.
The use of magical trinkets now requires skill in Magic Item Use in most cases. The exceptions are some items distributed as "common" treasure (small statues, gold rings, blue crystals, etc.), drinkable or edible items, and some unique or nearly unique items. Failed attempts to activate magical trinkets or invoke scrolls will now result in 3 seconds of Cast Roundtime and greater failures may have detrimental results. The increased hard roundtime for waving wands while encumbered has been replaced with increased hindrance in properly activating the wand. Recharging of magic items with spells that are not known to the caster will be more difficult, and recharging will now eventually degrade an item until it can no longer accept a charge, similar to the way that Imbed currently works.
Armor spell hindrances have been revised to be spell circle-specific, meaning that Ranger hindrances are now different from Minor Spirit hindrances, and Minor Spirit hindrances are different from Major Spirit hindrances. Each armor type has a maximum spell hindrance, regardless of how far undertrained a caster may be for the armor. Spell failures resulting from armor hindrance will now result in 3 seconds of Cast Roundtime. Donning armor will also now incur roundtime based on the armor type.
The MSTRIKE verb has been changed in several ways, providing more control to the player, adjusting the roundtime determination, making increased training in Multi-Opponent combat desirable, reducing the screen scroll, and implementing a short duration fatigue effect. TRIP has been revised to factor in the attacker's stance.
Many weapons and bolt spells have seen adjustments to damage and speed attributes, and bastard swords are being revised to be more user-friendly via a new GRIP verb. Improvements to Ranged and Thrown weapon attack and defense are also part of this release.
Major Shock has seen a reduction in DF, while Minor and Major Cold saw increases. Wizard Bolt AS rate of increase concerns have been addressed with modifications to Elemental Focus (513) to increase its offensive bonus with increased training in the Major Elemental circle.
Two-weapon fighting has been revised to no longer automatically increase roundtime when the weight of the offhand weapon is >= to the primary weapon. The speed of the offhand weapon compared to the speed of the primary weapon and the weight of the offhand weapon with respect to the attacker's strength are now factors.
Damage reduction for highly physical characters has been revised to shift Swimming and Climbing skills to from primary to secondary skills, to include all weapon skills as secondary skills, and to consider spell training on a spells learned per level basis. Those characters with less than two spells per level will eventually receive some amount of damage reduction. Damage reduction has not been capped, but the benefits at the very high end have been revised to increase at a slower rate.
Finally, treasure output has been adjusted to substantially increase the number of imbeddables that are released. Players will find that many trinkets are found already imbedded with spells, and some will even be Wizard rechargeable. The spells available on scrolls have been revised significantly, as well.
Discussion of these changes should be directed to the Game Balance topic in the Strategy folder.
Warden
GP3: Armor Hindrance
Unfortunately, I do not know of a way to force these new forums to display a table in a nice format.
The following table shows the changes to the Armor Hindrance for casting spells. Base hindrance is as shown for each AsG. If a player is undertrained for their armor, the penalty is increased. The increased penalty will never exceed the Maximum penalty shown in the rightmost column.
Warden
.
.AsG..MnSp..MjSp..Cler..MnElem..MjElem..Rang..Sorc ..Emp..Wiz..Bard..Max
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
...1.|..0.....0.....0......0.......0......0.....0. ....0....0....0.....0
...2.|..0.....0.....0......0.......0......0.....0. ....0....0....0.....0
...5.|..0.....0.....0......0.......0......0.....0. ....0....0....0.....0
...6.|..0.....0.....0......0.......0......0.....0. ....0....0....0.....0
...7.|..0.....0.....0......0.......2......0.....1. ....0....2....0.....4
...8.|..0.....0.....0......0.......4......0.....2. ....0....4....3.....6
.
...9.|..3.....4.....4......4.......6......3.....5. ....4....6....3....10
..10.|..4.....5.....5......5.......8......4.....7. ....5....8....3....13
..11.|..5.....6.....6......6......10......5.....9. ....6...10....3....16
..12.|..6.....7.....7......7......14......6....13. ....7...14....8....19
.
..13.|..7.....8.....8......8......17......7....16. ....8...17....8....22
..14.|..9....10....10......9......20......9....18. ...10...20....8....25
..15.|.10....13....13.....11......25.....10....22. ...13...25....8....28
..16.|.12....15....15.....13......30.....12....26. ...15...30...19....32
.
..17.|.19....21....21.....19......35.....19....29. ...21...35...19....41
..18.|.22....26....26.....25......40.....22....33. ...26...40...19....44
..19.|.27....32....32.....30......45.....27....39. ...32...45...19....47
..20.|.32....45....45.....40......50.....32....48. ...45...50...50....50
GP3: Spell Changes
Following is a list of spell changes that will be implemented with this phase of Growing Pains:
101 ? 10 Spirit TD, 10 Bolt DS, except acid
107 ? 15 Spirit TD, 25 Bolt DS, except acid
120 ? 20 Spirit TD, 25 Generic DS, self-cast
150 ? Self-cast
219 ? 30 Spirit TD, 30 Bolt DS, except acid, self-cast
303 ? Up to 40 Generic DS, self-cast, will be renamed Prayer of Protection
310 ? Up to 20 Generic DS, Spirit TD
313 ? Maneuver bonus, 10 Bolt DS, no TD bonus, no longer self-cast
401 ? 5 Generic DS, 5 Elemental TD
406 ? 10 Generic DS, 10 Elemental TD
414 ? 25 Generic DS, 15 Elemental TD
430 ? Up to 50 Generic DS, Up to 25 Elemental TD
507 ? Self-cast
508 ? 20 Elemental TD, self-cast
513 ? Bolt AS bonus increases with training, uncapped
613 ? 25 Generic DS, 20 Spirit TD, +5/+5 at 35 and 50 Ranger spells known
625 ? No longer provides TD bonus
712 ? To be revealed later.
905 ? 20 Generic DS, self-cast
913 - To be revealed later.
919 ? Self-cast
1006 ? To be revealed later.
1010 ? 25 Generic DS, 15 Elemental TD, does not increase
1035 ? Up to 75 Generic DS
1106 ? 15 Generic DS, 10 Spirit TD
1119 ? Up to 50 Bolt DS, Up to 25 Spirit TD
All values are subject to change as we finalize testing.
TD benefits are full bonus vs same-sphere (Spirit/Elemental) attacks, 3/4 bonus vs hybrid attacks, and half bonus vs opposite sphere attacks. Example: If a spell provides 20 Spirit TD, then the player will gain 20 TD (full bonus) vs Spirit spells, 15 TD (3/4 bonus) vs Sorcerer spells, and 10 TD (half bonus) vs Elemental spells. If a spell was to provide 20 Sorcerer TD, it would also provide 15 TD (3/4 bonus) vs Elemental and Spirit CS attacks.
In addition to the above spell modifications, Sign of Dissipation and racial resistance bonuses have been adjusted.
Lullabye and Spikethorn have also been adjusted.
Warden