Some of the changes proposed herein are quite drastic, stepping away from the current mechanics of the game. While many of them are common suggestions from members of the community that, in my eyes, gel with the game seamlessly, others (namely the skill tree proposals) require almost completely reworking certain areas of the game.
1. The Health & Mana System.
With the current system, health and mana only increase by the points allotted into STR and INT, 2 points spent equating to 1 HP/MP gained. Given that over the course of the game players will naturally expect their character to get stronger, it then becomes a necessity for damage and spell cost to be capped by unorthodox methods.
If health and mana increased naturally with level as in most RPGs, players are given a feel that their character is getting naturally stronger from the core; there is more difference between a low and a high level character, greater room for customisation by the player and a lot less complication with balance as the level range increases.
STR/INT should have a greater effect on regen to correlate with the increase, ideally at level 100 you would want to regenerate at the same rate (as a percentage). Imagine that the warrior and enchanter are exactly opposite in health and mana as they are with the current system, the base values I used for calculation are:
Warrior – 154HP – 3.08H/s +11HP/level (full regen in 50s)
Archer – 112HP – 1.72H/s +8HP/level (full regen in 65s)
Ench – 98HP – 1.23H/s +7HP/level (full regen in 80s)
At the current level cap, with no points allocated to STR (or INT for MP) this would yield:
Warrior – 638HP – 12.76H/s
Archer – 464HP – 7.14H/s
Ench – 406HP – 5.08H/s
Perhaps not the ideal values for balance, however I feel that with these amounts, and some tweaking to PvP/PvE damage, it would balance quite nicely, also making higher dungeons harder for low level characters as they should be.
Using the current skill system, by level 61 characters will be accumulating skill points with no place to spend them. I’m sure you’re fully aware that freeform customisation was a key feature in the (early) success of Star Wars Galaxies and allows a player to create something truly wonderful and unique.
While customisation is already available to some degree, the inflexibility of the skill system as well as the forced race/class combinations puts a choke hold on this past a certain point. Customisation currently works because all three characters, despite being completely different types of class, have almost identical skills to allow them to adapt to different play styles, they can all debuff, boost defense etc. Rather than explaining the obvious, I’ll come straight to the point with my ideas for reform.
Skill trees seem to be the most popular suggestion from the community, with very little in the way of opposition. They are a very flexible way to allow players to develop their characters into something that fits their own style of play.
So far it has been suggested that each race/class be given two branches to pursue, each representing a style of play typically available to these class archetypes in RPGs. Instead of this, I would suggest that all 6 branches be open to allow any race to make their own skill set. I remember seeing someone say in a thread, “What, allow everyone to be everything – no thanks” however I see one of the core limitations in this game is restricting each race to one class and one skill set.
2.1. Warrior.
Defensive tree.
A pure tank designed as a real team player, low damage output but incredible survivability & ability to hold aggro, especially against large groups of enemies. Natural resistance to debuffs and root/snare.
- Weaker attack & stronger taunts
- Heavy HP/Armour & HP regen buffs
- Hit % buff
- Small Hit debuff
- Beckon
- Stun
- Passive increases to Armour/HP, Regen & Debuffs
Offensive tree.
DPS tank, still able to tank well but substantially worse than a pure tank, not as good at holding group aggro but good enough for single targets, respectable damage output. Given that the pure tank will be able to absorb massive amounts of damage, the DPS tank should be able to break root/snare through the use of some form of ‘Berserk’, balancing out their ability to contend in PvP.
- Stronger attack & weaker taunts
- Light HP/Armour buff
- Attack speed buff
- Small Crit/Hit buff
- Small Dodge % debuff
- Beckon
- Root
- Passive increases to Damage & Hit. Weaker passive increases to Armour/HP
2.2. Archer.
Burst damage tree.
More focussed on damage output overall, very much pure DPS aided by single target debuffs. Still with substantial Dodge for survivability, yet due to lack of debuffs, more fragile than the DoT Archer.
- Strong attacks with longer delays
- Heavy evade buff
- Attack speed debuff
- Armour debuff
- Root
- Snare
- Knockback
- Passive increases to Hit, Crit & Dodge.
Damage over Time tree.
More focussed on debilitation of opponents, still with formidable damage output (higher than a DPS tank) a valued team player with some very sought after AoE debuffs. Lower damage balanced by increased survivability as a result of debuffs.
- Weaker attacks with DoT & Debuffs (Damage, Regen)
- Heavy evade buff
- Hit debuff
- Armour debuff
- Root
- Snare
- Knockback
- Passive increases to Hit, Damage & Dodge.
2.3. Enchantress.
Offensive tree.
The traditional wizard, massive burst damage potential, some minor protection buffs and heavy roots to allow for survivability.
- High damage single target nukes
- Weaker AoE nukes
- AoE snare
- Root
- Damage debuff
- Hit debuff
- Weaker mana shield (Lower armour buff with lower absorption percentage)
- Passive increases to MP/Regen & Magic damage (possibility of spell crit?).
Defensive tree.
Essentially a heal/buff machine, a very valued team player, focussing on debuffs & DoT as an offense and HP/regen/armour buffs for defense, culminating in a class with potential for good survivability but one that is easily overcome if mistakes are made.
- Weaker DoT spells
- Heavy group HP/Regen/Armour buffs
- Heavy heals
- AoE knockback
- Stronger mana shield (Better armour buff with either less mana drain or higher absorption percentage)
- Passive increases to MP/Regen & Heal strength (possibility of heal crit?)
How skill trees work exactly is something that would obviously require much testing, if a character could follow multiple trees simultaneously, or if a character would be restricted to a primary tree until certain levels, when secondary/tertiary trees would be optional, and if these trees would be as powerful/mana cost effective as secondary/tertiary choices compared to being the primary.
As a footnote, skills should not be limited by stiff variables i.e. -50 damage, any clarification you could give as to why this has been done would be much appreciated. Mana cost should also increase with skill level, restricting the use of very high skills at lower level.
Overhaul
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