Discuss!
Battle sprite skill details discussion
Question: can we max out all the skills on each sprite? Of course, maxing out excludes learning turning them all into ultimates.
It seems so tough to decide. Correct me if I'm wrong, but we can get more sprites other than the one we first picked, right? :)
I agree with Batabii (he asked not to be called Larry so just don't). The more I read about battle sprites, the less I am interested in them. As numerous people have already said, the game is easy enough as is. I am interested to hear about the new missions and perhaps costumes that will come along with battle sprites, so I can decide whether I will bother waiting around for them.
Wait, so what does Angelic Aura do exactly?
Does it simply raise party members defense? Or is it like Gremlin Mender's bubble shield thing that prevents enemies from going into that spot?
Drakon
Firebolt: Typical, expected, spammer-style move. Mind giving standard cooldown times?
Flame Barrier: Nice idea. Perhaps too defensive to have both fire and extra defense.
Firestorm: Why is this more worth using than flame barrier?
Seraphynx
Ray of Light: Laser fire type? Very offensive, but I see potential in its use.
Heart Attack: I like it. Creative, useful, just about perfect.
Angelic Aura: How is this better than Flame Barrier?
Maskeraith
Caustic Quills: Interesting. I think it's good.
Shadow Cloak: Recon cloak, I see. Just a bit more defense though. It seems good. Is the def boost continued after the invisiblity is broken? What's partial invisibility?
Hexing Haze: What the hex is a hex? Is that a catalyzer charge type thing? A status?
TL;DR: Drakon is a bit too strong, being a striker/guardian, Seraphynx is a nicely done guardian, and Maskeraith is a very well made recon. Defensive boosts seem too similar though... How about Angelic Aura increases the damage of whatever harness it has on? Like elemental damage when Angelic Aura is done with an elemental harness.
I like the customization built into the sprites' skills--more adaptable to a player's individual play style. My big question is the same as Paweu: will each sprite have a limited number of possible skill points as it levels up, so that we need to be careful how we assign them, or will be able to 'max' out the other skills that we don't assign the ultimate to?
Also, while I personally am still really excited about the sprites, I do agree with Maggie on the point that I am more curious about how the game is going to be balanced AROUND the addition of sprites (i.e., new, harder content, a new game mode, etc).
Angelic aura acts much like a guardian shield, absorbing incoming damage for anyone within. It's very handy when the battlefield is congested with monsters, fireballs and other things that don't like seeing living knights.
The proof in the pudding is in the eating. They'll need tested to see how each actually works in practice.
Will the sprites be in lockdown, and will there be more than just those three and the other one
If you take a sprite to max level, you will acquire enough skill points to max every augment, so while your path to max level is different from another player, the end is the same.
However, once you max all augments you can then begin to choose ultimate skills and with those you will have diversity in build amongst max level sprites of the same type.
Enchants a group of targets. If destroyed while enchanted, targets have a higher chance of dropping restorative hearts.
a question there: the increase of chance from the monster drop a heart... it affect the monster actual drop? or just make appear another heart?
i mean lets say: you kill an enemy and drop 5 crowns and 1 material
then you kill again the same enemy but you use heart attack so:
-the monster dont drop anymore 5 crowns or the material, just instead drop 1 big heart and 2 mini hearts.
-or drop 5 crowns and the material and plus a big heart.
Hope you can answer.
Maskeraith sounds like a lot of fun. It strikes me as being the most powerful out of all of them, but of course that can only be judged when we actually get to try them.
I'm not sure why I want to upgrade the ability that makes the hex last longer. Won't that just mean it takes longer for my enemies to get damaged? perhaps it'll become apparent.
Sweet-Hope: Heart attack doesn't modify the loot you would otherwise be entitled to from the monster. You can safely use it all you like.
It's my best friend nick hey ! Wanna come over my house and have a tea party ?
Thanks Nick that was one of my worries. hope you dont mind another question:
What happen with enemies like zombies, i mean lets say you have a resurrection totem and a bunch of zombies, players first kill zombies in the totem resurrection range and they get the loot, Zombies then resurrect and players now use heart attack on them. This mean they can get hearts from a zombie that has been revived? or heart attack only works on the first drop? (this mean when monster drop something).
Thanks again
It sounds to me like it's the duration the miasma is active that is increased, not the duration of the hex.
Mmmm... So I didn't read it carefully enough the first time. New questions: Will flame barrier move with the player? Will it have a chance to burn fellow knights? And again, what's partial invisibility? Is it that already-aggroed enemies will stay aggroed but non-aggroed won't be aggroed? Will defensive boosts be for just one type of defense? Or all types of defense?
-snip-
Also, will harnesses be something we can change on the fly at arsenal stations? Or are they something more permanent?
EDIT: Snipped out the first question. I went back to refresh my sprite knowledge and re-read that harnesses only affect damage output.
Once the Ray of Light has been activated is it possible to redirect it's aim, or will it remain aiming at the same point until its timer has run out?
While all this stuff looks cool, I don't think it belongs to SK in its current state, mobs already die fast, most of the missions (since they now define the game) are easy enough, I fail to see how another buff to knights will enhance the joy of playing? And even if you introduce some challenging missions, it won't change the fact the game as a whole is too easy to justify the use of battle sprites. So unless some nerfs are reversed and difficulty reconsidered, this feels out of place...
Is it possible to switch out battle sprites if one doesn't like it?
Qwote: The early sprite missions will allow you to test drive each sprite, but once you complete the mission that has you choosing one for good, it's yours to keep.
So, given that I really like to mix things up, what will I have to do to get access to all ultimate abilities, or all permutations of them if I cannot unlock all of them? Or can I even do this? Because it'd really suck if I had to choose one thing permanently over the others... like, with all the existing stuff, I can just craft a 2nd sword, and then I'll have access to both of them. Are battle sprites like this?
- Focus - Reduces cooldown
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- Focus - Reduces cooldown
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- Focus - Reduces cooldown
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- Focus - Reduces cooldown
Don't take this the wrong way, everyone like cooldown reduction but that ain't everything... Mind I suggest something for the ray of light?
Ray of Light
Continuously fires a concentrated beam of light that damages anything passing through it.
Augments:
- Multiple Light - Increase the number of time ray of light can be used by 1 with it's own cooldown.
- Magnify - Increases the reach and power of the ray of light.
- Enduring Light - Increases the duration of the ray of light.
Personally as a guardian you could block more efficiency with 2-3 beam than 1 that you can spam more...
That's just a thought...
id have to see the pets in action
so far ive experienced upcoming pets with skills in 2mmos
they were a let down in dps and had all their focus on crowd control
however, seeing how the pets directly affect the knights, i think some of the monsters nerfs would have to be reverted in order for the difficulty lvl to be increased to a point, where using the pets as an advantage actually feels like a benefit
otherwise wed be using them for the harder places, while the easier ones will become even easier, which is fine and all, but im not quite sure, if that supports the basic idea of preventing overkill in lower tiers
i think the pets are a great thing like presented(really awesome)
im looking forward to nice animations and maybe knockback(awesomeeee)
the problem is, that sk itself is a huge mess in terms of pve - now just for a sec, not talkin about pvp and weapon balance trouble, just pve - the REAL difficult places do not live up to their rewards, while the already easy as pie places have been further nerfed down to a point, where it gets BORING
no offense to the game or anything, but i havent gone to the clockworks for a long time, because its just that much of a mess. although i play ld alot, i still havent tryed out shield bash up till now, because the thought alone of going into pve maps is repulsing
BUT.. if we do get pets, we will want to use them SOMEwhere. there arent many options, that i can think of
training hall(lol), clockworks, boss areas, missions, shadow lairs, ld
again, the real difficult places are certainly not worth their rewards and while players might go there for the MERE "challenge", as they argue, i wouldnt even dream of wasting my time, so that leaves
training hall(lol), easy clockworks maps, boss areas, easy missions, ld
i personally dont mind wreaking havoc in colisseum, but judging from other peoples preferences, i think ld is out of question too
so all that we have left, are the few places, which are not difficult and thus worth their reward, but which have all been nerfed and weakened and crippled to a point, where they are boring
rather odd to say all that, having in mind, that im actually looking forward to pets
and thats all i can say about it
Will Ultimate Skills be obtained through something like a Skill Tree? Akin to something like the Borderlands-Franchise? (If you've ever played it, I can't really think of a good 90s example which I'm sure is something you'd have bound to know) And will materials play in with how you obtain these Ultimate Skills?
Will we be able to test this content to an extent before it gets publicly released or are you holding back so everyone can try it out all at once?
I'd ask more questions but most of them are things you most likely cannot answer. Also, I see you spent some time creating that post, Nick. Since the creation date was 19 hours ago.
Epic! I can't wait! Stop teasing us...it's killing me. >.<
I'm going to take my mind off it by designing my own sprite or two. This will be fun! I can even get the skills more accurate! Hmm....maybe I'll call it Rosanoire? (I'll explain the name later...) Also, more stuff to add to my fan game! Sprites would be fun to play around with, don't you agree?
Oh, I suppose you want me to say which one I'll chose. I can't decide! I need to give 'em all a test drive...and also I need to know if/when I get more than one starter.
"Drakon"
You can do underline tags? :o
-more detailed response later just saw that lol-
I'm ridiculously excited, if only to see the game take a step towards more major gameplay evolutions.
Gimmeh my pets and take my money!
So...we are able to choose one of the three starter sprites. However, will we be able to acquire the other two? Also, will there be other sprites that we will be able to acquire? If so, how will we acquire new sprites?
@Nick
Ooooh. Thank you for explaining that. Angelic Aura actually sounds really good. Can't wait to try it out. :D
I was worried that Maskeraith was going to be mostly about defense, I'm glad it's not, since trying to be a wall in this game is very difficult and unpopular... Maskeraith and Drakon would both work for my solo style, but I'm probably going to go with...
Seraphynx! I'm so excited! Whenever I play in a party, particularly in boss fights, I like being support- tossing water at Vana, keeping the minis away from JK and tossing poisons and curses at him, and reviving downed party members. Seraphynx seems so perfect for it! :D
Also, are there going to be more sprites eventually? You keep talking about "starter" sprites, which makes it sound like, eventually, these three will only be three options out of many? Or is it going to be like Nonna, where you say there'll be more, but there never are?? -narrows eyes-
So excited!
Since these are starter sprites, will there be different ones in the future?
Same as up above question :P
I'm really interested in this skill in particular. So it deals damage on termination right? Does the damage take place when the timer runs out or can you manually terminate? Is it like "ok you're marked, now I can press the skill button again to inflict damage" or "by the time the clock hits 0 my target will already be dead"
I really would like to know about this skill and how it works, because I'm afraid that the target would be destroyed before it even inflicts damage.
In the words of Reggie Fils-Aime: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Gc5cuekQto
i see there great partner for doing fsc. Although the poison and additional dmg from Maskeraith poison will be awesome in fight with Vanaduke, the "Sera-beam", depending on dmg output could be fun everywhere. Angelic aura should work great in shadow lairs together with heart attack. Still some people will chose sprite to match their costume set. There will be more sprites propably later, the most important is so they have unique skills which provide just more fun to game :)
Cant wait to choose my Sera!!
Hmm, I just happened to think: so Seraphynx is the only one of the three starter sprites that doesn't have an attack that inflicts a status? I could kind of understand that as balancing Heart Attack, but since Maskeraith both inflicts a status with Caustic Quills and the duration of Hexing Haze (which feels like the counterpart to Heart Attack) can be extended by acquiring more targets, on paper it sounds like poor Seraphynx might prove to be a bit underpowered in comparison. Maybe consider adding stun to Ray of Light?
So I'm guessing that the Ray of Light is going to be a bit like that energy-activated turret's attack (that one in Aurora Isles: Jelly Farm)? Or is it something completely different?
- Focus - Reduces cooldown.
if we already have CTR MAX , then what does this feature do?
Cooldown of the ability itself, it has nothing to do with weapon CTR :P
Oh yea i read that carefully , yeah it means cooldown on those 3 abilities.
Thanks.
This'll be interesting. At first I tought Drakon would win because dragons but I missed an obvious fact. Fire won't work in FSC.
Welp, I will start maneuvering my way back to SK now. xD
Anyways, I like it. I feel like each sprite has 3 categorized moves:
1) Main Simple Damage Attack Move
2) Defensive Move
3) Something that fits with the theme of the sprite (Drakon has enhanced damage, Seraphynx has enhanced defense, Maskerwraith has enhanced damage over time)
I remember OOO saying there are other pets to come as well.... Can't wait to hear about those. I would really dig pets that come from each monster class in the clockworks. Oh, and I would like a Tier 4 plz .-.
Question: Do Sprites EVER die? What happens if the player dies? The sprites just sit there and cry? o_o Or do they die with the player? o_o
I would have to agree with the people concerned about the difficulty level of SK. The only challenging missions in SK are the prestige danger missions, which are not worth going to because they give less CR than standard runs. When the sprites are added, there needs to be a little more difficulty added to the lower levels, or more profit in the higher ones.
Also, on top of player costumes, i think sprite costumes would be fun! i am also wondering if sprites are going to follow the player around everywhere, or just in lobbies and levels?
I am also curious to see what the other sprites will be like, what their skills are, and how to obtain them. It would be amazing if they are randomly found in the arcade levels, like the special enemies (such as imposticube) and then have a significant chance of dropping the sprite item when conquered. if this happened, battle sprites might be able to revive the arcade... Missions have taken over.
Over all, Sprites look amazing and fun... There is though, without a doubt that it will affect the overall tilt of the game. For good or for bad? only time will tell.
Can tell me Maskeraith's Quills after max level is stronger or weaker than strong poison?
Fehzor: Choosing an ultimate skill will indeed be a permanant choice, however there's no 'bad choice' as they're all materially better than the base skills.
ShAmanala: Sorry, but a cooldown reducer for each skill is something that just works as a basic augment. Not sure if any sprites in the future would ever not have it, but who knows!
Glacies: You'll gain ultimates after leveling up your sprite enough and applying all your skill points. We'll be detailing the exact procedure and what each ultimate is later on.
Saddestfiction: We're not yet ready to announce how you'll acquire additional sprites beyond the first.
Neosadus: As each hex expires, it damages the hexed monster. After initiating hexing haze, all you need to do is run around and coat monsters in your horrible hexes. Everything else happens automatically.
Narfle: Each sprite is special in their own way. My objective was not to make sure all status conditions were checked off or anything, just that each feel like they support a particular playstyle. The drakon has fire because fire is all about damage and the maskeraith poison because it's the core debuff in SK. Beyond ray of light, sera's skills are all about supporting the party's well being.
Validous: The ray of light fires in a straight line for a period of time wherever you told the sprite to do so.
Zaderules: That's pretty accurate. For the starter sprites I felt like they all needed their first skill to be a 'bread and butter' attack style skill. Future sprites however may not abide by this particular design.
Sorry if this was already answered, but I got really impatient halfway down ;)
If you have the Heart Attack on, what if you just keep spam killing slags, then use a totem to revive them? Wouldn't that mean infinite health drops?
Will we eventually have to pay to get certain sprites? Or... wait... I forecast a promo...
Sprite Fest!
Each Sprite Box has a chance of your very own pet! (yada yada, percentages, some 3-4 rare pets as a 1-3% of opening, etc.)
Hmm, quick question. If you were in a party with a masqueraith, and a friend had a seraphynx, what would happen if the masqueraith shot the poison quills onto an enemy, as the seraphynx's laser beam was hitting it? Would the laser beam's damage increase? Or does the poison quill only effect a KNIGHT's attack?
Does one particular skill's cooldown affects the usage of all other skills? Say Drakon just used firebolt and has a 5 second cooldown, but can't use flame barrier and storm in that included time?
Can we also overlap skills, such as flame barrier and angelic aura?
Wait, what if we overlap the same skills? 2 Flame Barriers! Will there be some overcharged effect? Like a 2.5x power increase?
Enemies have a flag on them that would prevent that kind of farming lol Slags were given this flag long ago.
Also, poison decreases the resistances of monsters. So if the beam of seraphynx does elemental/normal/whatever damage, it will deal more due to poison. Just like it increases shock.
Ugh I'm sick of seeing all the battle sprite hype. Just update the game already or stop taunting us.