Class Complexity

FleshRipper

In regards to the upcoming Solomon's Keep remake, a curious sort of thought has been drifting in my head: one of the main, fun points of the original Solomon's was the ability to keep playing over and over due to the sheer complexity of the combinations and synergies between various skills one could have. 

For the Wizard, it can clearly be seen how such complexity can be reached, because, of course, they exist currently to the public and can be played at any time. 

For the other classes though, will they have the depth that the Wizard already has? Will a Thief be able to 'weld' abilities? Do Paladin abilities follow the schema of two sub-abilities, as per the Wizard main attack spells? 

While, not terribly important if they do, since sometimes easier or less complex classes are good for younger or more casual players, I am just curious. 

Thank you!

Raptisoft

The answer is yes and no:

Magic naturally has a lot of capability to it-- you can literally go infinite with the spell types.  That same kind of thing will be available for the necromancer, who has a whole array of black magic at his disposal that doesn't overlap much with the normal wizard.

But it's true that an archer or a swordsman doesn't have the same range.  I could put in 50 different "sword moves" but all they would be is basically the same move with a different animation and a different damage rating.

Where "those who fight with weapons" are different is that they have a smaller natural skill tree... but a much much much larger set of equipment to choose from.  Furthermore, as of this time (I don't THINK this will change, but note that during game dev anything is possible) you actually gain experience in weapons as you fight with them, which unlocks more stuff in that weapon as you go along.  And the weapons all have funny rules... here's a sword that does a special trick, but only when you're at full health.  Here's a shield that wants to save your life when you're dying if the contained spell likes you.  That kind of thing.  It's not going to just be "+x damage" everywhere.

So while the non-magical types certainly have a smaller skill tree, they have a larger equipment tree, which unlocks similarly to keep the game going.

Note that the non-magic skill trees aren't TINY, they're just not as big as the magic user's.  The paladin and archer will still have somewhere between 25-40 skills to play with (and remember, my big rule is "no overlap" so there won't be "sword strike" and then another skill "sword smack" which is just a stronger sword strike).

Tears_Of_Asariel

i think thats a nice balance, and definitly the weapon gaining exp, sounds like you can make some very interesting combos, i cant wait to actually try it out

DuckEcho

How about when warriors or rogues get enough experience with a single weapon, they can pay for a ritual to be performed that will bond the character with the weapon, sort of like making the weapon a familiar? Maybe unlock a special ability for that weapon? You could even maybe make the item an npc with a randomised personality! :D I think it'd be funny to have a sword that complained when you smacked him into zombies every now and then, or a snarky bow that makes wisecracks as you explore the dungeons :3

vvllaadd99

I second DuckEcho's great notion, at least with the item personalities.

windslayer

Gain xp in weapons huh, sounds like Infinity Blade :p

Weapons having personalities is a kewl idea, but I hope it won't bloat up the app size too much xD

FleshRipper

Ahh! I see. Thank you much, Raptisoft! You have increased anticipation and eased concerns with your words.

OmegaNecros

with the past few posts, there should be some weapon personalities for high end magical weapons, but not for lesser weapons. on weapons of true magic energy should have things to say.

vvllaadd99

just to simply agree with posts (such as the one above I second), a like style button should be implemented into this forum

Janus

@vlad99 yes, definitely.

Some ideas I had for possible new skill trees would be enchanting items yourself, possibly healing spells, poison damage (maybe for the necromancer,) and absorb health/mana attacks (like Monoclus).

Also, I think you should be able to take Charles's Hammer when you kill him :P

xglsuperbounce

That would be sweet ha. maybe not like every time, but like you can get it as a super rare drop and its like unbelievably good, and if you try to put it in the cabinet it will say something like "How am I supposed to fit this thing in there??"

Janus

lol yes. that sounds like SK to me...

OmegaNecros

Ya know, it think i have a great way to describe the class complexity.

Mages are the base of the game. Spells, abilities, ect.

Each element is like its own class.

The Fun bit of mages is they can multi-element.

Non Mage classes will be like a single element.

Weapon based abilities and talents make up for the multi-element mages have.

Just my take on it.