Demipower Review and Brainstorming

Orael

As noted in the Endgame proposal - we're looking at adjusting weights and powers. This thread is showing you the current ideas that we have but also asking for your help in brainstorming ideas that would bring meaningful changes to these powers. 

Below is a list of the powers we are considering changing, as well as some ideas on how to change them. These are all initial thoughts and are all subject to change.

• Seek
  • Current Effect: SEEK from havens to see anyone's location (bypasses Veil)
  • New Effect: Remove and roll into KnowledgeAwareness
• PlanarQuickening
  • Current Effect: Halves gateweaving time (maybe pathways too)
  • New Effect:
• DivineBeast
  • Current Effect: Boosts Beast health/mana/ego by 25%
  • New Effect:
• Anchor
  • Current Effect: Allows to set a spot to return to later (one at a time, but think there's an artifact for two)
  • New Effect:
• Dessicate
  • Current Effect: Destroy an item for 10,000 essence.
  • New Effect:
• BeastAura
  • Current Effect: Doubles beast regeneration
  • New Effect:
• Gift
  • Current Effect: 10% chance to replenish 1-5 of all herbs capable of growing in that environment or just 1-5 of a single herb
  • New Effect:
• Harvest
  • Current Effect: once an IC month, get 10-200 of an herb.
  • New Effect:
• Destruction
  • Current Effect 800+8% fire damage against players, 750 against mobs, War domoth throne adds 250 damage, 3.5s balance, costs 200/25 essence against players/mobs
  • New Effect: Allow them to choose a damage type.
• HavocCry
  • Current Effect: 1/8 universal damage buff for 15 mins - can do 5x a day
  • New Effect: Add a 10% boost of damage outside the bodyscan system
• Thunderclap
  • Current Effect: Destroy walls in the room instantly (any wall)
  • New Effect:
• PurityOfSoul
  • Current Effect: Gain souls to use as power instead of reserves by rezzing people.
  • New Effect:
• FortunateWindfalls
  • Current Effect: 1% chance to get 10 powerstones or 10-200 of a comm
  • New Effect
• Dispersal
  • Current Effect: disperse and end up somewhere else (like Night Flight)
  • New Effect:
• QuietMind
  • Current Effect: 3/10 universal influence buff
  • New Effect:
• PlenipotentiaryOfPeace
  • Current Effect: Reduces parley costs
  • New Effect:
• BeateousWorkings
  • Current Effect: Special mark on items and increases their prestige
  • New Effect:
• OstensibleDreamer
  • Current Effect: Increases the ability to see through illusions 
  • New Effect: Increases illusion effectiveness as well? Maybe guarantee illusion bypass (hides illusion line?)
• IntrinsicUnderstanding
  • Current Effect: Reduces mana usage by 10%
  • New Effect: Extend to mana drains as well
• DistantPerceptions
• Current Effect: Can eavesdrop on says up to 75 rooms away in a straight line.
• New Effect: Can eavesdrop 5 or less rooms away (no longer need straight lines) 

Again, these are initial ideas - feel free to propose others. 

Daraius

Would like all tongue studs deleted and the effect reimagined as a demipower. ChoiceVoice (with all the domoth- and org-themed options you'd expect) and CustomVoice for the demidivas.

Kali

For the beast ones, maybe a slightly faster beast balance for divine beast?

Xenthos

And a demipower that disables them on the receiving side. <_<

Are people going to get a refund for removed powers if they already bought it and it gets removed?  For example, Seek in the list above.

Can you make the Destruction power at least equivalent to whip damage?  And War throne ups it by 100 or so?  It'll still be trounced by gnomeweapons/wonderwands.  Anyone who can buy the power isn't going to use something worse than a whip for hunting.

Xenthos

Nature power: An aura that makes the room count as "Natural" for you and all your allies (so anything that requires being in natural terrain is activated no matter where you are).

Another nature power: The ability to use hunting pathways if you don't already have boots of pathfinding or the ability in Hunting.  If you have either of those, the power makes it cost no balance/eq.

Jolanthe

Dessicate is a way you can always have to remove a cursed item, and has some other little niche applications. Planar Quickening is also kind of nice since it is pretty cheap and can spare you having to pick up a dimensional needle if you need to do some gateweaving.

And I love Beauteous Workings. I think it's important to point out it also affects prestige by a huge margin, and also gives you a little extra space to work with for artisans, and the mark difference itself is fun flavour, and gosh how ever did it end up on the chopping block? Mine!

Xenthos

It's not necessarily on the chopping block; you can suggest that it keep the current behaviour and do some other things too.  Like being able to spend essence to repair something (including furniture)?  More essence based on the # of comms used to make it?  Feel free to put in other ideas if you've got something that would add on well and think more people would snap up.

Pysynne

OstensibleDreamer is virtually useless because Illusions are 95% useless. Would like to see it reworked into something that actually fits within the new game meta, unless the BYPASS means it would bypass SSC, in which case it might be worth

Jolanthe

Pysynne said:

OstensibleDreamer is virtually useless because Illusions are 95% useless. Would like to see it reworked into something that actually fits within the new game meta, unless the BYPASS means it would bypass SSC, in which case it might be worth

How to make everyone hate OstensibleDreamer - play up the "ostensible" part and make it a mirror to Ahkooshlumang.

Sapphira

Some of these powers might gain more use simply by being available to everyone, and having to previously make the inevitable hard choice between RP powers and pk/utility powers. More flexibility is amazing.

Jolanthe

Oh, a better OstensibleDreamer alternative - being able to write your own room poses. Just more opportunity to flex that sense of expression!

Crian

HavocCry

• Current Effect: 1/8 universal damage buff for 15 mins - can do 5x a day

• New Effect: Add a 10% boost of damage outside the bodyscan system 

I'm going to be iffy about anything which does increased damage outside of the bodyscan system. That quickly will become a requirement for any min-maxing, especially with damage spam combat.

Uzriel

Crian said:

HavocCry

• Current Effect: 1/8 universal damage buff for 15 mins - can do 5x a day

• New Effect: Add a 10% boost of damage outside the bodyscan system 

I'm going to be iffy about anything which does increased damage outside of the bodyscan system. That quickly will become a requirement for any min-maxing, especially with damage spam combat.

I didn't notice that on my first read through, completely agreed. Please do not do things outside the bodyscan system. Same reason I'm against a vitals increase on leveling past 100.

Crian

Crian said:

HavocCry

• Current Effect: 1/8 universal damage buff for 15 mins - can do 5x a day

• New Effect: Add a 10% boost of damage outside the bodyscan system 

I'm going to be iffy about anything which does increased damage outside of the bodyscan system. That quickly will become a requirement for any min-maxing, especially with damage spam combat.

To add one thing to this. I'd be ok with it if it was PvE only, or something akin. I just don't want it unbalancing PvP!

Aramel

Jolanthe said:

And I love Beauteous Workings. I think it's important to point out it also affects prestige by a huge margin, and also gives you a little extra space to work with for artisans, and the mark difference itself is fun flavour, and gosh how ever did it end up on the chopping block? Mine!

Seconded. As someone who used to (and will probably again soon) have access to this power, I can confirm that it is one of my all-time favorites. I'd call it an RP power rather than a combat power, but nevertheless I definitely don't want to see it chopped.

Daraius

Can you customize how you beauteous mark looks? 

Daem

Orael said:

• IntrinsicUnderstanding
  • Current Effect: Reduces mana usage by 10%
  • New Effect: Extend to mana drains as well

I don't have a good idea here for replacement, but as a mana draining class, I don't like the idea of this one. Mana usage is cool because it's owned by the demigod themselves, this seems like it would make things harder to balance when you have a variable like this. It seems like an effect specifically to counter to Wiccans (affecting banshee, and lash-like moves). If it is unbalanced I'd rather it affect everyone, not just folks who have this power.

Unless this is talking about mana drains in a different format that I'm not aware of.

Daraius

What if vanilla Demis only had access to “choice” flavor powers, then the first few “perks” for buying new levels were “custom” entrance/exit, teleport, shout, zap, tells, etc. That way they’re special and desirable, but don’t disrupt pvp or anything.

Enya

It's notable that even some PvE effects verge into player vs. player play when worldgames/ascention happen, and a lot of prizes are on the line in some of those.

Feoragan

Removing anything RP based is a bit iffy? If anything, more RP based powers should be added. 

Also, agreed on not reducing mana drains. Even reducing mana drains on your own stuff is actually slightly iffy.

Kali

For dessicate, maybe have it be able to remove a certain number of months off the decay time? Useful for making the overly-mended tailoring clothes.
Or maybe for a higher essence cost, be able to destroy an item you own and return all attached runes to your inventory?

Tsakali

I'd be happy with a power that removes the beast balance cooldown when bashing mobs. 

Enya

The original idea with dessicate was to allow demigods to remove items *in room* that were flamed down or otherwise hard to remove. I personally can't see any slight modification to its current "like putting something in the nexus but you're reeeeeaaally impatient and can't stand extra items in your inventory for as long as it takes you to get there" functionality pushing it to usefulness.

Just make it destroy a flamed object in room . Perhaps a short (6-8s?) channel  if there's some strong reason to be squemish of that.

Aurik

A question that came up in conversation about the new changes - with Ascendant weight lowering and things changing, will there be any changes or adjustments to the cost of raising Vernal Ascendants? With lowered weight and everyone having access to Ascendant powers, I could see the cost being reduced, but I can also see that might not be something desirable, so it seemed worth asking.

Malayn

I would suggest against intrinsicknowledge lowering drains, purely because you'd be offering (and some other powers may be too) a demi power that directly effects specific offenses.

Keegan

(Flamed monos are super strong and probably should have a counter ala desiccate)

Auriella

Keegan said:

(Flamed monos are super strong and probably should have a counter ala desiccate)

Enchanters can disenchant them.

Keegan

Yeah, but that's a super long balance and counters to a universally available technique should be universally available. 

Zagreus

Seek
Current Effect: SEEK from havens to see anyone's location (bypasses Veil)
New Effect: Remove and roll into KnowledgeAwareness
Opinion: This is an upgrade to veil for worldgames, and makes KA required (one most all demigods cannot access). Alternate idea, keep demigod seek, make it 0 weight. Give it a 10-30 second balance to use to prevent the horrendous spam.

HavocCry
Current Effect: 1/8 universal damage buff for 15 mins - can do 5x a day
New Effect: Add a 10% boost of damage outside the bodyscan system
Opinion: Not a fan, keep vitals/buffs system as absolutes. Instead, make HavocCry give 13/13 buffs. Most people are 10/10 on at least main damage source from Desolate Might, so 13 seems still impactful.

The rest look good at first glance.

Daraius

I’m a little perplexed that buffs outside the buff system are on the table at all. It seems like you all went through an enormous amount of trouble to address the issues that system addresses, I can’t imagine you’d want to break it open again.

Zagreus

Right, also RESOLUTIONS need to be deleted or changed to be within buffs system. I was told the new wheel buffs are not valid during world events, resolutions need to be changed to that too. 

/offtopic but relevant.