Eniripsa revamp and Ouginak balancing

For this update, we'll be testing out a new devblog format. Many of you have questions during beta phases about our reasons for modifying this or that class. So we decided to write this devblog to lay out our intentions for you about the changes we're currently working on. We'll discuss what we don't like about these classes, and talk about the modifications we plan to make to them. However, our goal for now is not to exhaustively cover all of the changes and every single spell. You will find those details in the changelog when the update is released. Please also bear in mind that we may make changes to any class as part of an update, but we will only be addressing the most extensively affected classes here.

For this first devblog, we'll be talking about our two lucky picks for a makeover in the June update: the Eniripsa class, which will be seeing some major changes, and the Ouginak class, which will be modified to a lesser degree. So without further ado, here we go!

The symptoms

First introduced a long, long time ago, Eniripsas are one of DOFUS's most iconic classes. If there's one class that players are always happy to have by their side, it's the Eniripsa! The class's creativity, its very clear healer/support roles, and its easy-to-learn and highly effective gameplay have made it a popular class that many of you enjoy playing.

However, our favorite healers haven't evolved much since they first appeared, except back in the Spell Variants era, which shook up the spell kits of all classes across the board. And while that breath of fresh air did some good at the time, it wasn't enough to keep the class going for the long term. Today, there's no getting around it: Eniripsas have serious balancing issues throughout the entire game, and their aging gameplay simply isn't up to modern standards.

The diagnosis

• As mentioned earlier, the class is unbalanced in one way or another in all game modes:
  • The class's various buff spells make it much too powerful as part of a team, whether in PvM or PvP multiplayer.
  • On the other hand, Eniripsas struggle to hold their own in solo PvM, quests or in 1v1.
• Besides issues with its power, the gameplay feels outdated, repetitive and unattractive for new and old players alike.
  • Even for a one-star class, it lacks depth, and even excellent mastery of the class doesn't allow players to differentiate their gameplay styles enough.
  • The "Stimulated" state, which is supposed to be the core mechanic, is misused and somewhat artificial in its current state.
• The elemental paths aren't very clearly distinguished from one another, in terms of both identity and utility (except for the Earth path and its Vials, which do bring something interesting to the class).
• The class's creativity and potential are underused.

The remedy

• As mentioned at the beginning, we feel that the Eniripsa has always had the potential to tell an interesting story through the range of gameplay options it offers, but that this potential has not yet been properly exploited. Our desire to explore other aspects of the class has served as the foundation for this overhaul, with the goal of giving you a variety of different ways to play this class.
• Healing will of course continue to be the core of the class's identity, which everything revolves around to one degree or another.
• We've also kept the Eniripsa's "kawaii" (cute) aspects, for those who like to heal their allies with pretty flowers, sweet nothings and cutesy-wutesy wittle bun-buns.
• On the other hand, it's now possible to play your Eniripsa as much more of a threatening badass too, depending on the spells you choose to cast.
• Here are the ideas/components we've chosen to introduce to the class's gameplay and overall conception:
  • Words and Rhetoric: more variety and vocabulary to express yourself, with songs, cries, encouragements and even mockeries.
  • Alchemy, using Vials or a Coney in combination with Words.
  • The world of Fairies, playful and mischievous pranksters, who lure unsuspecting opponents into their enchanted thickets.
  • Their more hostile equivalents, the noisy and flashy Will-o'-the-Wisps, who sow chaos everywhere they go and rob their opponents.
  • The world of the Vampire, the Eniripsa who manipulates tears and blood and uses cryogenic techniques to protect themself or cause trouble for their enemies.
  • The world of the Tribal Painter, who uses various ointments, paints and war cries to send their enemies fleeing or reinvigorate their allies.

Turning back to gameplay specifics, here are the points we've focused on for improvements to the class:

• Allow for greater autonomy in solo play
• Reduce the supremacy of buff spells in team play
• Maintain the role of a healing and support character that everyone's always happy to have on their team
• Ensure easily-accessible gameplay that nevertheless offers real depth for players who put in the effort
• Offer elemental paths which each have their own distinct gameplay and roles that are useful in different situations
  • Summons with a more central gameplay role: Coney or Vials
  • A new buff/debuff system with Fairies and Will-o'-the-Wisps
  • 5 spells that can be played simultaneously for a total of 7 spells per path
  • Classic, iconic spells are improved or revisited
  • And the biggest update: new healing effects for each element!
    • The Fire path will no longer be the only path with a fixed direct healing option
    • These effects will work similarly to the "HP-restoring" effects you're already familiar with, but using the characteristic of each element as well as the "Healing" characteristic (the fixed healing provided by equipment):
      • Fire healing
      • Water healing
      • Air healing
      • Earth healing
      • Neutral Healing
      • Best Element Healing
    • This will put all paths on an equal footing in this regard. However, each path will have its own specific attributes, both in terms of the way that they heal and cause damage, and in terms of their scope of action and utility effects.

General presentation of elemental paths

In broad outlines, then, let's now take a look at the general orientations we've chosen for each class (with the obvious disclaimer that all of this is subject to change between now and the actual release):
 

Fire path, the Will-o'-the-Wisp path

• Medium/Long range
• AP & Range debuff + Positioning + "Burst" (heavy one-time damage)

Water path, the path of the Vampire

• Short/Medium range
• Splash Healing and Health Steal + close-combat "packing" + Unbewitchment

Air path, the path of the Fairies

• Medium/Long range
• Mobility debuff + Delay and Harassment

Earth path, the path of the Warrior Painter

• Short/Medium range
• Pushback + Splash healing + poisons and healing over time

The Ouginak digs in its claws

• Slightly reduce stacking of reductions to damage taken, Power bonuses and a 1 MP reduction for Animal Form.
• Animal Form will now be less rigid:
  • All spells with a base maximum range of 2 or more will not drop below 2 Range in Animal Form
• Slightly reduce the dependence on the Prey state for utility effects:
  • In each elemental path, one of the spells that had a utility effect on the Prey can now apply the same effect, but in a reduced version, when cast on a non-Prey target.
• Slightly reduce the class's vulnerability to erosion:
  • An unbewitchment effect has been added to allow Ouginaks to remove erosion or other negative effects from themselves.
• Enhance and more clearly differentiate the gameplay for the various elemental paths:
  • Thanks to a new distribution of variants, each path now has access to one additional simultaneous spell.
  • This allows for better synergy between the spells of each path, and a more clearly defined identity:
    • Earth path: health steal, reductions and major damage in close combat
    • Water path: damage that increases over time, positioning and ability to play at range, in close combat or both
    • Air path: erosion, penalties on healing received, and major damage with preparation, at short range or in close combat
    • Fire path: pushback damage, MP reduction and health steal with alternation between ranged and close combat
• More flexibility for managing Rage:
  • Easier to reduce and increase Rage
  • Ability to leave Animal Form before the effects expire

Conclusion

We hope that this early devblog has given you a clearer picture of how the various changes to the Eniripsa and Ouginak classes will affect their gameplay, and that you agree with us about the problems we've identified and the goals we're looking to achieve with these rebalancing changes. We're excited to present all of these changes in more detail, and more importantly, to let you try out the new versions of these classes for yourselves in the next beta!

Please don't hesitate to share your feedback about this devblog format as well, including whether you've found it useful and whether you'd like to see more like it for future updates.