Let's talk combat

[jack1974]

I'll have a new build later today, I'm fixing some bugs though, so probably 3-4h left

[yayswords]

Oh crud, I thought I could cast PB on anyone, not just the hunter

Maybe it's for the best though, it would be the next mana battery ability in line, even though it's not as bad as IP. But man I had such a beautiful party concept worked out

[Anima_]

You could maybe change it so that it's an effect that reduces the SP costs to 0 for the next skill. It's pretty much the same idea but doesn't has a scaling problem and it also doesn't prevent resource management. A bit more complicated to code though.

[renke_]

Just a thought (because nightmare seems to be the main topic here): Should it be really desirable to enable a win on this difficulty every time? Some comments here (and please understand that I don't judge, but comment ;)) are more like nightmare is not a _real_ nightmare but just one level more to routinely master. Personally I don't see it as disadvantage that nightmare requires luck to win.

[yayswords]

Maybe some people would enjoy that. I wouldn't play it if I constantly had to reload until Lady Luck saw fit to smile upon me. I think nightmare should just force you to make the right decisions. Not sacrifice the right virgins.

[jack1974]

Yes if happens sometimes, like you fight a battle and 5 times out of 10 you can win based on some random luck is acceptable. But if is 1-2 out of 10 by luck, it gets a bit frustrating I think? I never play games in max difficulty anyway
Anyway I think next build should be the good one, but I'm having issues implementing some traits at the beginning, like the HP/SP 10% bonus and such

[renke_]

What if the Mana-Prayer is redesigned to deliver a fixed amount of MPs over a few rounds? Say 15 MP for 5 rounds: It will make a difference for long(ish) battles (one Druid nuke every 2 rounds + change), but it's not that useful anymore as a quick recharge - one has to delay the battle end for using the complete effect of the spell [in my experience most fights are finished in 3-4 rounds]. I believe this would be conform to the idea of the skill (stamina longevity) without the possability to misuse the character as a mana battery.

[yayswords]

Quick recharge isn't really my gripe with the spell though, but yes it would fix that. However, it still wouldn't stop me from using it to end battles on pretty much full mana and health.

In the long run though, once we can get heavier SPregen we can be doing this anyway, with or without IP. I'm not really sure what to do about that problem. As much as I fight against it, I like having to pick and plan my battles. If you force me to win battles before round X, I will still be regenerating until round X-1. And that wouldn't be nice anyway, people might feel forced to run bursty setups to be sure to beat the timer. The best thing would be if the game could detect when you're not trying to win but rather just turtling for regen, but I don't know how it would easily figure that out. It's hard to think of a mechanic that wouldn't punish players who just want to run a tanky lineup.

What if your maximum mana was reduced for each battle until you rested? NM/Hard only. I think someone even suggested this once.

[renke_]

once we can get heavier SPregen we can be doing this anyway, with or without IP. I'm not really sure what to do about that problem.

Decrease the regeneration. For plausibility reasons the idea of SP/HP regen items only working in combat is stupid/unlogical anyway.

I would like an in-game explanation of "limited energy, only activated because of the fight's stress level" (or something like that); regen starts with the nominal amount, but is reduced by one point per round.

[yayswords]

For plausibility reasons it is illogical that I can't heal my mortally wounded characters between fights and have to hope they don't get killed before my healer can act if we go down that road I could just lobby for casting IP while on the map and the next step would be that hunter parties automatically heal to full between fights to save us the clicks.

Your method works (although one point per round sounds a tad aggressive) but it discourages any kind of tanky setup.