Does the Wizard start with too little SP

[slayernz]

Looking at the different characters, you get a sense of what they should be. The Warrior is your tank, wading into the combat smiting foes both large and small. He NEEDS high HP.
The Thief is constantly poking her nose into places that she shouldn't, and occasionally, almost loses said nose for doing so. She isn't big and bulky, but she is athletic
The Cleric is used to wielding cudgels and can handle herself in a fight, but also relies heavily in the spiritual world to ensure her party is healthy and hearty.
The Wizard is kind of a weedy sort of a fellow, covering his scrawny body in a large hooded cloak. However, he resonates with a kind of power that only the most shifty-eyed of people can muster.

However, their stats don't necessarily reflect expectations.
Yes the Warrior has low SP relative to the others, but it's only 15 points less than the Thief, and the thief has about 70 HP less.
The Cleric clearly has high SP to counter her average HP.
The Wizard ... well he's the 60lb weakling that you would expect with 72HP, but he only has 130SP, or 34SP less than the Cleric. Really?!?

Class	HP	SP
Outlander	172	76
Cleric	101	164
Thief	103	91
ole Shifty-Eyes	72	130

My feeling is that the Wizard should have more SP than the Cleric ... and in fact, I would almost recommend the SP of the Cleric and the Wizard are swapped.
For further balance, maybe the Warrior shouldn't have quite as much SP as he currently starts with.

Feedback anyone?

[johndramey]

Nov 3, 2013 19:52:12 GMT -5 slayernz said:

My feeling is that the Wizard should have more SP than the Cleric ... and in fact, I would almost recommend the SP of the Cleric and the Wizard are swapped.
For further balance, maybe the Warrior shouldn't have quite as much SP as he currently starts with.

Feedback anyone?

Good idea! I would agree that the Cleric and the Wizards SP could be swapped, and the Outlander starting with... maybe..... 30% less SP would make using his empowered skills a little more tactical.

Good idea in my book, what do others think?

[beuns]

I agree with you slayernz the wizard has less SP that he should have. I even think that the thief has too much HP. As you said, she poke her nose everywhere and sometimes she pay the price for it, she shouldn't have higher HP than the cleric (I don't think that raising the cleric HP would be a good idea, she would become a bit overpowered).

So IMO, the wizard should start around 170 SP, the outlander around 60/70 SP and the thief around 90 HP.

[fallen]

I have completed a few small tweaks for the character's starting and long term totals - should make y'all happy.

[Cory Trese]

I think the changes Andrew made are spot on.

It's a bit difficult to judge the game just based on the few levels in the alpha -- starting points are one thing and growth curve another.

[eldur]

What is the vision for the wizard once the SP are gone?

Is he supposed to have some melee capability?

Should spears be included in the list of weapons for Wizards to use? (Staff is Dex, Spear is Str, so maybe not?)

Does the Polearm skill actually boost staff melee damage?

I haven't found a staff upgrade, so 4-10 damage from melee seems too little reward for the risk of stepping into melee range to deliver a wizard love-tap.


Thanks

[fallen]

eldur - that he goes looking for a blue potion? Raising his polearm skill does not increase damage, just his melee defense and offense. The Wizard lacks the strength to use a spear. Originally, he had a talent called Emberblast that was a 1 range burst of flame that cost 0 SP. However, as you can't upgrade the basic attack talents, the damage was never going to go up, so you ended up with a really worthless talent.

Suggestions on this? Maybe we could modify Staff damages, put some magical fire around the talent image for the Wizard's staff and call the talent "Channel" and he walks up to people and blasts energy through the staff instead of actually swinging it? Still 1 Range, but then the damage could grow with staffs.

Still, the net result is: "It's still suicide."

EDIT: the Sorcerer, next casting character in the works, can use Light Blades and 1-H Swords and has some magical talents that are triggered by his attacks -- so, he's very different from the Wizard in that way.

[eldur]

Nov 14, 2013 11:56:07 GMT -5 fallen said:

eldur - that he goes looking for a blue potion? Raising his polearm skill does not increase damage, just his melee defense and offense. The Wizard lacks the strength to use a spear. Originally, he had a talent called Emberblast that was a 1 range burst of flame that cost 0 SP. However, as you can't upgrade the basic attack talents, the damage was never going to go up, so you ended up with a really worthless talent.

Suggestions on this? Maybe we could modify Staff damages, put some magical fire around the talent image for the Wizard's staff and call the talent "Channel" and he walks up to people and blasts energy through the staff instead of actually swinging it? Still 1 Range, but then the damage could grow with staffs.

Still, the net result is: "It's still suicide."

EDIT: the Sorcerer, next casting character in the works, can use Light Blades and 1-H Swords and has some magical talents that are triggered by his attacks -- so, he's very different from the Wizard in that way.

Is it possible to give him one of the following type of abilities?

1) Combat Focus - The wizard draws energy from the nearby combat action to gain SP (not sure if you have the option for combat only abilities, maybe this could be a curse that replenishes the wizard SP every time the cursed enemy attacks)

2) Vitality Drain - The wizard damages the enemy (ranged or melee, maybe for staff damage) and the damage recharges the wizard SP pool

3) A self buff for staff damage, maybe lasts 8 rounds that will allow the wizard to do comparable melee damage that the others can do. Obviously there would be melee risk, but it would open up the option for a wizard that boosts constitution and dexterity (maybe raises to-hit) in order to melee. (this is similar to what you describe as a Channel)

4) A damage shield with a sign that says "hit me"...you would need to build a lot of defense to pull this off lol

The first 2 abilities would likely use 2/3rd of your AP in order to use the remainder for a fireball. (or something like that)
They would need to be combat only abilities so that they don't end up like the current cleric sacrifice (unless you want the Wizard to be able to Meditate back to full at any time out of combat)

[fallen]

eldur - I like #1 the best and will think a bit about combining that with my Channel attack above.