Official Dark Legends Feedback Thread - Vampire Powers

There are many different powers your Vampire can spend points to obtain. After you have played Dark Legends, we would like to hear your input about these different powers. What do you like? Why do you like them? What do you think could be improved?

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Thanks!

First! I guess lol. Anyway, I was really expecting more trees or paths to follow. Still seems like in the end everyone will still be the same. Will more be added later? If so, will there be skills that reduce cooldowns or charge times?

I really like the idea of having passive as well as active skills. Now if I could just figure out the difference between attack and damage ;)

I was fascinated with the toons body movement and speed when executing skills. More "ninja" like attacks from players and enemy is what i would root for. I think the up close and personal contact in dl with all of the spec effects make it so much more entertaining. But i mean this, if the plat situation changes. Consider me a weekly customer/ daily gamer. I didnt really like the energy bar thing. Sorry but it only irritates me lol however its an awesome game and im quite impressed!!

The skills are pretty awesome, and i like the passive abilities, in all honesty tho, i think the skill tree is slightly lacking, its too small to vary much and the variations it has are mostly damage skills, i would like to see some skill that allow divisions as party buffs and tanks

I think passive and active skills are cool. I also think you should have more slots for skills. I especially think the new passive is cool, since it's more customizable to stats.

Also, I think the unlock skill level at a certain level or unlock skill at level is good and not good, first it decreases a little customization, but it also encourages you to level up.

I feel like there is not enough options though for playstyle customization. The skill tree is very shallow, and does not allow for varying roles; only damage damage damage. Only the passive abilities do this, which doesn't really change your overall playstyle much. Also, the lack of a support role really takes away from an MMO significantly.

One question though. Do abilities have combos like in PL? If not, they should also be added.

Other than that, I feel like the current abilities are a good start, just as long as they're not all they're will be.

The skill tree is a bit "bland", limiting players to play only one role, the melee class. There are a few ranged attacks, but the combat is heavily focused on melee. My favorite role of choice is the spellcaster/crowd control and healing/support class. I like to avoid from fighting in melee range, and attack from afar, and using AoE skills when I'm surrounded. Of course vampires possess superhuman strength, but "the blood flows differently in each vampire", and some may possess more wisdom and intellect, while others possess more strength and brute force than others. Any yet, there are those who could be a hybrid between the two.

There should be more skills that would be beneficial to those who choose to play the roles of spellcaster and support classes.

Incorporate Psychic Vampirisim into the skill tree. Vampires are known for possessing psychic abilities: telekinesis, telepathy, mind control, glamour, hypnosis, the abilities to see auras, pyrokinesis and cyrokinesis (this could open to so many possibilities), life force draining. But the ability to telepathically communicate with rats to attack the enemies is a bit cheesy. Just be careful about magic and spells, that could turn sci-fi/horror modern vampire them into a fantasy/magical theme.

A healing/support class would be useless, maybe an "Unholy" class specialized in curses and draining life force, creating auras and buffs for the team and sacrificing blood to heal allies (blood transfusion). Vampires are sadists and masochists, so keep that in mind.

A spell casting class could specialize in pyrokinesis and cyrokinesis, I love the thought of impaling enemies with crystalized icicles or shards of blood.

The crowd control could specialize in psychic abilities, immobilizing enemies, and glamoring/mind controlling an enemy to fight as a pet. I love the thought of using telekinesis to lift enemies in the air and slam them to the ground, or make them explode with telekinetic force.

I do understand that the game is designed so that players won't have to follow a specific class, and choose skills to create a character to their liking. I am only applying that this game could be much more diverse, allowing players to explore with different skills, roles and characters, rather than creating only one character who can access all of the same skills that every other player can access. In that case, this game will have no replay value, and get tiring quick.

This game possesses so much potential, it's just not executed properly, and if this game doesn't see any major changes soon, it will quickly fail.

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Originally Posted by Swimmingstar

I think passive and active skills are cool. I also think you should have more slots for skills. I especially think the new passive is cool, since it's more customizable to stats.

Also, I think the unlock skill level at a certain level or unlock skill at level is good and not good, first it decreases a little customization, but it also encourages you to level up.

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I want to agree with you because I love rage on my level 6 bear doubling my damage, but it does not make good game design.

Yes i totally agree with monolith. You need more of a choice in classes. Its all about melee, no choice. In life theirs choices but in here be 1 no other T_T.
The other thing i not happy about is the points u get to put into ur skills. What r the lvls ur suppose to get a point? iam lvl 17 and i got total of 8 points. I thought its every 2nd lvl u get a point but at lvl 17 i didnt get any. So its not every 2nd lvl? Is there a guide or something ive miss that tells us when we get points and is there cap lvl? The skill points r so limited in this game, i was really hoping to get a point each lvl like every other games, but then DL is totally different all together.

I, like a few that posted here, am a fan of the support abilities. I can also see an interesting pattern in that 3 of the abilities I would consider more useful to a 'tank' role don't scale with damage, allowing them to focus on defence. Whether that's intended or not...

My main concern is with Curse. I love this ability and would like to see it flourish. Unfortunately it has a few problems...

Firstly, the cooldown. 40 seconds? A charged Vermin Swarm stuns for 5 seconds on only a 10 second CD...and it does damage. A Dark Binding will root for 5 seconds, 7 with an aoe charged, on a similarly short CD...with a better defence reduction! These abilities alone make them far more health efficient for a similar task.

The other problem is that being a fixed reduction in stats, as gear gets better and mobs get harder, that same fixed value will lose effectiveness and eventually fall out of favour. Make it a percentage! Even if a 50% reduction in defence isn't noticeable on a mage-type, a 50% reduction in damage will hit em hard n make up for it...for example.

I know, more targets, no need to charge and with a longer duration. And in the case of ranged attackers and rooting them, actually useful to mitigate damage...all good arguments for leaving Curse slightly underpowered. But make curse great instead of just sometimes useful and you have an interesting, unique ability (in a game currently swamped by very standard abilities) that could be something role-defining.

I apologise for the rant, I just love this game and really want to see STS succeed.

The changes are dramatic and the potential is great, but I have to say the skill tree is a complete fail system. No offense, but perhaps some of the guys there should revisit one of their favorite rpgs and re-learn how a skill tree system is supposed to work.

First we start off with Unholy Force which is a good start, a skill that does decent damage has an area of effect around the user and adds knock down. From that initial skill EVERYTHING branches off, that is a bit of a mistake. Shouldn't there be a different branch of the tree; perhaps one that supports a different type of play? Say a ranged start point such as Hell Blade, or even a quicker more in-and-out tactical skill like Shadow Dance? I just don't understand why everything begins with Unholy Force.

From there we run into another problem, lack of consistency. Unholy Force can be followed by Shadow Dance, since they can employ the same strategy of getting surrounded while charging and hitting all in your range... but the next skill in line is Unholy Blessing which is a buff and the only active buff in the tree... and we put behind that we put one of the only powers that works on multiple targets instead of just those in the toon's vicinity, coupled with a damage per second enhancement instead of just raw damage like every other power. So now I have to waste at least 1 point on a buff that I may or may not want in order to get to what (on paper) seems like one of the best powers yet. There is also the fact that the tree does the same thing on the other side, I have to spend a point in the only debuff, to gain access to one of two multi targeting powers.

Wouldn't the tree be a much better idea if a player could spend points in only powers that they will use (especially since I can only hold up to 4), instead of wasting one or two here and there just to gain access to the fruit at the end of the branch? Put the gathering up enemies while charging skills all on one track: Unholy Force, Shadow Dance, Fatal Burst, Leap; ranged powers together: Hell Blades, Vermin Swarm, Fire Aura; and buffs/debuffs together (Unholy Blessing, Curse). The other three powers all seem to be based on a range, I would like to see them be used via a drag and charge system instead of just the 10m area around the caster.

I have to agree with gluttony on this one, there is a distinct lack of consistency. At the moment my toon can't afford to put a second rank in any skill because every point I'm getting is being invested into prerequisites I don't like, want or even use since I'm forced to get, just so I can get to 1 skill I want. And all the skills I want are magic based ones that seem like they should be more or less grouped together; curse, dark binding, vermin swarm and fire aura

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Originally Posted by Zel

I have to agree with gluttony on this one, there is a distinct lack of consistency. At the moment my toon can't afford to put a second rank in any skill because every point I'm getting is being invested into prerequisites I don't like, want or even use since I'm forced to get, just so I can get to 1 skill I want. And all the skills I want are magic based ones that seem like they should be more or less grouped together; curse, dark binding, vermin swarm and fire aura

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My post (My overall thoughts on the game.) brings up this very issue which you should check out and give some feed back c:

You have the right idea that the skills need to be moved, but they need to also maintain balance. To have Vermin Swarm and Dark Binding in the same tree would remove even the vaguest resemblance of balance. I don't know if there are diminishing returns on CC abilities, but if not, you could keep up to 6 people (more than an entire CTF team) rooted indefinitely by cycling between the two. So for reasons like that one, abilities can't necessarily be grouped by "theme". Instead they should be grouped based on their effect.

Leap doesn't belong in mid branch since it's completely opposite of Hellblade and Dark Binding's effect, and instead should be in the top branch to synergize with Shadow Dance and Fire Aura (Shadow Dance to get to the enemies, activate Fire Aura since you're right next to them, and then Leap to keep them in range longer). Fire Aura makes more sense to be in the top branch so you can use Shadow Dance to get enemies in range of it.

Unholy Blessing is fine and all in top branch, but it would be much better in the bottom branch since it has obvious synergy with Fatal Burst.

Curse should be move to the middle branch since something from the bottom branch has to move, and it can't be Fatal Burst (and for other reasons described below).

On final change is that a fourth ability (A TRUE support ability) should be added to the middle branch not only to add a support role to the game, but also since middle branch is the only one to lack a fifth ability.

With these changes the following things would be established.
Top Branch: DPS tree that sacrifices long disables for large amounts of damage (This should have the highest DPS out of all the branches)
Middle Branch: Between Curse, the Root and -Armor from Dark Binding (and hopefully a new support ability to make up for the lack of a fight ability) this would function as a Support Branch.
Bottom Branch: DPS tree that doesn't do as much damage as Top Branch, but has more utility with long range abilities and long disables.


Other than making a new ability for Middle Branch, this would be a very simple change to add consistency and defined roles to the various Branches.

I think there's a common sentiment shared between each player on this thread myself included. Lemme' sum up:

The gameplay is great. Animations feel smooth and killing=satisfying.
There is simply not enough content or depth throughout every aspect of this game. Skill tree (notice singular) is meh, passive skills are far from groundbreaking, and personal customization is almost non-existent.
The game has such great potential though it is overshadowed by the troubling feeling that it has not been engineered to improve enough to generate a lasting interest.

The higher level skills. (Vermin swarm and leap) are epic! I would like to see a heal skill so I can be support. Always have been healer, always will be! So please please please add a heal

the vampire powers are a good start. but just like the clothings, etc... we all want to stand out and be different. but its difficult to be different/ unique when there are so few skills to choose from, especially when compared to games like Zenonia, etc...

perhaps the powers can be adjusted later on (when that happens, would be good to have a FOC skill reset) to have more skills, dependencies (like need these two before you can get another one), etc...

one suggested skill -- invisibility/ stealth

No invisibility or stealth!!!

All that encourages is ganking and griefing, because that is the nature of those type of toons.

Also, nerf the snares for pvp or allow for useable counters. As it stands chaining together stomp, frenzied burst, and vermin swarm will immobilize, stun, lock down your skill tree, perform a knock back, and similaniously do high burst and dot damage.

Unholy blessing isn't a suitable counter because stomp locks out the tree, and you take all the damage and get the knock back before you can activate it, making it pointless as suitable counter.

Either, make unholy blessing grant full immunity to snares and knock backs so it can be used preemptively...

...or make knock backs erase snares and snare erase knock backs...

...or put both vermin swarm and frenzied blast on higher cooldowns. Like 60 seconds fo vermin swarm and 45 for frenzied blast, to discourge people from using both skills in one build.

...and/or impliment global cool downs to counter chainig skills.

In any case, the snare, dot, and knock back mechanics of frenzied blast and vermin swarm -- especially when they are chained -- are way too overpowered, and this combo is what pvp has come down to.

I tend to agree about stealth. Though the mechanic is fun and thematically viable.

A heal would almost feel OP in a game like this, but I do think the game needs skills/spells that can affect team mates, maybe something that reduces skill blood cost for x seconds, or reduces incoming damage?

I love the powers a lot, just I wish the first respec for them would be free then charge plat to do it

I can't workout why when I use leap sometimes it has no effect no knockdown nothing , they walk straight through it without holyblessing being used. I've also been caught by someones fatalburst from almost the whole distance of deathmatch room, yet I've used it on people loads closer and nothing, without anyone else near nor zombies and again no holyblessing

why Can not delete a role? I want to change the name. I have Reserve my name for Dark Legends,But do not know how to use.

I like the powers well enough and I expect the way they are organized on the tree is meant to support gameplay balance. They don't perfectly fit my image of what vampiric powers should be but the powers that work for an RPG like "Vampire: The Masquerade" are no doubt extremely difficult to implement in an MMORPG in a good, balanced way.

On a purely GUI level I do wish I could "try on" powers and not have them be final until I hit save - e.g. the attack and defense passive powers also affect other stats like health and I can't see what all the changes are until I buy the power and then I'm stuck.

I also think that more room for customization would be enjoyable. One system like that which I like from a console game involved collecting power points in areas like range, speed, efficiency, luck, damage and combining those to make higher levels - like combining 3 range points to make a level 2 range point. Combine 3 level 2 range points, get a level 3, etc. I'm not suggesting that method exactly but I'm not against it - what I am suggesting is being able to put points into powers in a more granular way - put points into the speed of shadow dance and you move faster; put points into the range of shadow dance and the aoe is extended; put points into efficiency and it costs less blood; etc., etc.

This could be a secondary attribute system that complements the main one where you buy access to the power (or level 2, 3, etc. of the power) or it could replace it altogether. This would allow for much more personalization and variety in gameplay.