2.41 Sacrier

Briss|2017-03-14 15:22:02

Here are the modifications we have planned for the next Beta Update. It is possible that changes occur before then and it is just as likely that some level of tweaking will be performed during the beta based on your feedback (as usual).

The biggest modification is on the Punishments: they will no longer have bonuses that vary depending on the Sacrier's health. Their bonuses will increase based on the number of turns spent under a specific Punishment. That means that a Sacrier who changes Punishments every turn will only partially benefit from their bonuses, whereas a Sacrier who sticks to a same Punishment for several consecutive turns will benefit from the full extent of it.
The bonuses will increase for 3 turns: during the first turn there will be a small bonus, during the second turn that bonus will increase and during the third turn it will increase again. Then, the third turn bonus is kept until the Sacrier chooses to swap Punishments.

Parallel to this modification, the effects and casting limitations of the Punishments will be reworked:

• It will be impossible to cast two Punishments during a single turn: you will have to wait at least for your next turn before swapping Punishments.
• The Punishment penalties will be removed.
• The bonuses will be reworked:
  • The Flayed Man's Punishment will only increase spell damage: 10/25/50%
  • The Voyager's Punishment will no longer deactivate the lines of sight on some spells, will give MPs (1/2/2), and will reduce the damage taken from a distance (10/20/30%). Starting on its third turn of being active, it will give the Unlockable state.
  • The Survivor's Punishment will no longer increase vitality but will give a Lock bonus (10/25/40) and reduce the damage taken in mêlée combat (10/25/40%)

Furthermore, some spells will no longer be available to cast unless the Sacrier is under the effects of a given Punishment. It's not as harsh or limiting as the Masqueraider or Pandawa can be: we're only talking about a single spell per Punishment.

• The Survivor's Punishment will allow you to cast Convalescence
  • Convalescence will be reworked as well: it will only be available to cast once per turn, it will no longer reduce the damage dealt and will provide better healing if the Sacrier is below 50% of their health.
• The Flayed Man's Punishment will allow you to cast Punishment
  • Punishment will now apply the Gravity state on top of its base effects.
• The Voyager's Punishment will allow you to cast Transposition
  • Transposition will no longer require a line of sight.

We have also reworked some damage spells in order to make them more coherent. For example, some will lose an anecdotal part of their effects, while others will be more in line with the modifications brought to the Punishments:

Light Speed:

• The Dodge bonus granted if the caster has less than 50% of their health will be removed.
• The increase to damage will be removed. This bonus was incoherent with the abilities of the Sacrier who was then able to increase the damage of all his team using a mobility spell.

Safe Position: the effects of the spell will become basic life-stealing.

Projection: same as above.

With that configuration all Water spells steal life, no matter the Punishment that is being used at the moment of casting. This should make these spells more interesting, especially when combined with the Flayed Man's Punishment.

Blood Bath: the healing effect that unlocks if the caster has less than 50% of their health will be removed

Lightweight: the 1 MP bonus will be replaced with an increase to its own spell damage for 3 turns. That means that the more you cast that particular spell, the more damage it deals

Sacrifice will revert to its old effects: a 2-cell circle area of effect, a 2-turn duration and 3-turn cooldown. However, its range won't be modifiable (and will be 5 at maximum, at level 6), and it will require a line of sight.

In closing about the spell effects, the way Flying Sword works will be modified as well: it won't be the Punishment that is active at the moment of summoning that will determine the Sword's effects, but the Punishment the Sacrier is currently under the effects of. So, should a Sacrier summon a Flying Sword while under the effects of the Flayed Man's Punishment, and then swap to the Survivor's Punishment, the Sword would swap to its Survivor effects as well.
The effects of the various Punishments on the Sword are reworked as well:

• Survivor: damage reduction and Lock increase
• Voyager: MP bonus, Unlockable, 2 attacks per turn
• Flayed Man: area-of-effect damage and increased damage.

Furthermore, the heals won't be based on the damage it deals anymore, but will be fixed, and depend on its Intelligence and Healing bonus (which are independent from its summoner's characteristics) in order to limit weird interactions with spells such as Ecaflip's Luck or damage interception spells (Sacrifice, Living Bag). We're still talking about Heals that are more or less the same as they are now.
The characteristics of the Sword itself are reworked: most notably, it will have Lock from the get-go, more life, and its resistances will depend on the chosen Punishment.

Less importantly, we've decided to change the names of some spells*:

• Lightweight becomes Fury
• Flayed Man's Punishment becomes Bloody Punishment
• Voyager's Punishment becomes Swift Punishment
• Survivor's Punishment becomes Hardy Punishment
• Safe Position becomes Frenzy

I think that's about it for the modifications. As I've already said, while you can (and should) expect some tweaking prior to and during the beta, the spells such as we plan to modify them seem to us to be far more interesting, with a far better potential than the version you currently have. It seemed to us important to lay the foundation for a better Punishment mechanic, one on which it will be simpler to make iterations than it is with the current one, which is unstable because it is dependant on systems we cannot readily control (the health percentage of characters) and that leads to situations that are much too binary.