Excited About Coming Skill Mastery System

[Niixed]

Lots of goodies coming down the pipe, some of the major beats include...

...Skill Mastery that will allow you to further expand and customize your characters.

When Justg posted that little gem in the last Producer's Letter, I think it got overlooked by most readers who focused on other news items such as arcane weapons, the client, and the expansion.

I think the skill mastery announcement is much, much bigger than it appears to be.

Why?

It may be a true game-changer. As we all know very well, the skill system in Arcane Legends is very outdated. The game has simply outgrown it. The level 56 cap would grant 10 additional skill points, putting the total at 55. The skill system can handle 75, but there are many upgrades that are either broken or useless. In short, we're running out of places to put skill points. At some point in the last year STS decided to shelve re-tooling the current skill system. It wouldn't be crazy to assume that the skill mastery system is direction they went instead.

Will the Skill Mastery System replace the current skill system? Maybe. It will either replace or complement it.

I took the liberty of doing a little research on what a skill mastery system is. In other MMOs it means different things. "Blacksmithing" is the most common example used in describing a skill mastery system, but it seems more likely that STS' version of Skill Mastery will be combat-oriented, just like the current system. For example, the Sorcerer skill 'Lightning Strike' may have 10 levels, each with it's own requirements.

A skill mastery system usually involves characters having to meet conditions in order to advance in a skill. For example, 'use the skill 1,000 times', 'kill a specific boss with a particular weapon' or 'successfully craft a skill-related item.' MMO developers often implement "skill trees" that have multiple branches of progress characters can pursue. Typically, each level of advancement is progressively more difficult and only the most dedicated and tenacious players reach the final power level.

If this is what STS has in store for us, I think it will make the game seriously more fun. It would mean we'd have a lot of new goals to achieve and new skill levels to play with and learn. It's possible the reason we haven't had a free respec weekend in forever is because the skill mastery system is in the latter stages of development.

What exactly did Justg mean when he wrote that we'd be able to "expand and customize?" I can't help but be eager find out.

[Befs]

Tbh this, expansion, and the lock thing were the main things I cared about.

I am beyond hyped for this, and I hope it will be a skill tree style, like StS did in DL.

[Vixenne]

Can't wait to read more updates

[Veenihiv]

http://www.spacetimestudios.com/show...ducer-s-Letter

[Zylx]

As I've always said before, the skill system needs to be retuned in order to make the game feel great again.

I'm also excited about the next skill system revamp. It will drastically make the gameplay more interesting and further allow unique customization to keep players diverse with their builds.

My one hope is that the new skill system doesnt offset any current balances or imbalances even more than they are now. In a perfect world, every build would have only its circumstantial advantages and disadvantages to other builds, and it would be interesting to see a rock-paper-scissors style of balance to keep one specific build from being op over all the rest like we see today.

[kinzmet]

Actually when the Q1 was posted, I was more interested on the Skill Mastery rather than the new items and events since those would sure be outdated by 10 levels once the expansion comes. I just hope that the Skill Mastery is the STS' answer to the PvP unbalance and PvE classism issues. It would be awesome to play a class with many different skill build variation that could customize our gameplay according to our preference. Like you guys, I'm hyped and looking forward to this!

[Morholt]

I've been long waiting for the skill system to be revamped. After 36, there were just too many skill points to use. Hopefully it'll be good.

Inb4 sts disappoints us with it just being "if a skill is 5/5, you can then use your skill points to 'further master it' which gives the skill 1% extra damage for each point added.

Inb4 sts reads this post and makes an announcement that they'll be delaying the new skill system, as they need time for more revamping & testing.