Devblog 2.65 - Common Spells

Was Changing Them Really Necessary?

For those at the back of the class who have not been paying attention, let's first review what common spells are. As the name suggests, a common spell is one that is common to all classes, which means it can be obtained and used by all the classes in the game. There are different ways to get them depending on the spells in question. 

There are currently 15 common spells in the game, and they can be divided into three main categories:

• Capture spells that are not used in combat: Soul Capture, Mount Taming.
• Spells related to the mechanics of certain monster families: Necronyx, Bow, Slayspirit Lantern.
• And finally, spells used in combat in certain situations: Summons Skill and Summons' Freedom,* Leek Pie, Perfidious Boomerang, Moon Hammer, Lightning Strike, Cawwot, Summoning of Arachnee, Summoning of Chaferfu, Release, and Weapon Skill.

* A variant for the "Summons Skill" spell was added in update 2.64. It lets players choose whether summons are controlled by default or not.

In this update, only spells in the 3rd category are being modified.

While fundamental to DOFUS, there were several areas of how these spells currently work that we wanted to improve:

• Not all common spells were very useful.
• Certain elemental paths had one or even two common spells, whereas others didn't have any.
• Although the variation in acquiring them was adequate, there were still some unlocking issues to fix.
• Apart from Summons Skill and its variant, which are relatively recent, there have not been any new common spells since… the launch of Dofus 2.0 (and the last balancing dates back to Update 2.10 in February 2013).

That's Cool and All but What's the Goal?

We identified several goals for these changes:

• Increase the usefulness of common spells in PvM and PvP, without making them essential.
• Have one common spell per element.
• Have situational spells – that is to say, spells that will be powerful and useful but only in specific situations.
• Add customization options based on gameplay style.
• Streamline the acquisition and use of these spells so they align with players' progression.

• Finally, just like class spells, have common spell levels so that each spell's power keeps up with the character's level.

A Glimpse at What to Expect

You will find all the details of the changes and new features added to common spells in the changelog that will be published on the day the Beta starts. But here's an overview of the various spells:

• Spell modified + variant added:
  • BURNT PIE: Inflicts damage in the caster's worst element.
  • LEEK PIE: Inflicts damage in the caster's best element.
• Spell modified + variant added:
  • PERFIDIOUS BOOMERANG: Steals health and characteristics in a random element.
  • DIAMONDINE BOOMERANG: Inflicts damage in the caster's best element and attracts the target.
• Spell modified + variant added:
  • MOON HAMMER: Inflicts Air damage. Reduces Range.
  • DARKLI MOON HAMMER: Inflicts Air damage. Increases the caster's Range.
• Spell modified + variant added:
  • GRUNOB'S LIGHTNING STRIKE: Inflicts Fire damage on enemies in an area of effect and increases the Heals of the caster and their allies.
  • GRUNOB'S LESSON: Inflicts Fire damage and reduces the targeted enemies' Heals. Rebounds on the nearest enemy in a 2-cell area of effect, max 5 times.
• Spell modified + variant added:
  • TASTY CAWWOT: Summons a Cawwot that heals nearby allies and enemies.
  • BEEFY CAWWOT: Summons a Cawwot that applies shield on its attacker.
• Spell modified + variant added:
  • SUMMONING OF ARACHNEE: Summons a biddable Arachnee that inflicts Earth damage. May instead summon a biddable Major Arachnee that inflicts Earth damage and removes AP.
  • SUMMONING OF MAJOR ARACHNEE: Summons a biddable Major Arachnee that inflicts Earth damage and removes AP. May instead summon a biddable Arachnee that inflicts Earth damage.
• Spell modified + variant added:
  • SUMMONING OF CHAFERFU: Summons a Chaferfu that attacks allies and enemies randomly. May instead summon a Chaferfu Lancer that removes MP.
  • SUMMONING OF CHAFERFU LANCER: Summons a Chaferfu Lancer that removes MP. May instead summon a Chaferfu that attacks allies and enemies randomly.
• Spell modified + variant added:
  • RELEASE: Repels allies and enemies in the caster's vicinity.
  • PROVOCATION: Attracts targets in an area of effect.
• Spell modified + variant added:
  • WEAPON SKILL: Increases the attacker's weapon damage.
  • Weapon Clumsiness: Decreases the attacker's weapon damage.
• New spell:
  • QUAGMIRE: Places a glyph-aura that removes 1 MP from targets that step on it.
  • MOUND: Places a glyph-aura that increases the Range of targets that step on it.
• New spell:
  • MANTISCROC: Inflicts Earth damage on enemies in an area of effect. The caster gains Dodge for each enemy hit.
  • DART MOCLES: Inflicts Earth damage on enemies in an area of effect. The caster gains Lock for each enemy hit.
• New spell:
  • KANNIBUBBLE: Inflicts Water damage and reduces the chance of landing Critical Hits.
  • KANNIBOIL: Inflicts Water damage. Increases the caster's chance of landing Critical Hits.