Magic and Mages - Opinion Poll

[Astantos]

Hey everyone!
I'm Astantos. For those of you who don't know, I'm the content manager here at Dyescape

We've been working hard getting the server ready for Alpha, and we've got a question for you all.

Currently, we have several different possible implementations for the Mage class - specifically, the resource bar, and they way the entire class is put together. So go ahead and tell us what you guys prefer out of the following options:

TRADITIONAL
There will be a mana bar. Spells will cost a certain amount of mana, as well as possessing different cooldowns. When a mage is out of mana, they will not be able to cast spells.
Keep in mind that some other classes will not have resource bar limitations on ability use. That being said, in this option we will be sure to balance the mana regeneration rate so that there are no advantages or disadvantages

LIVING FONT
There will be a resource bar known as the Living Font. For simplicity's sake, we'll call it a mana bar. Spells will cost mana when used, but they do not actually REQUIRE mana. Instead, the amount of mana remaining will increase the effectiveness of the Mage's abilities.

SPELL CHARGES
There will not be any resource bar. Instead, after a certain number of spells have been used, the next spell cast will have an additional/increased effect. What exactly this does will depend on the spell. For example, an offensive spell might deal increased damage, while a slowing spell may instead stun the entity.

OVERCHARGE
When the Mage is at 100% Mana, spells can be "overcharged", consuming the entire mana bar to increase the spell's effectiveness. This is done by casting the spell while the SHIFT button is held down.
Mana regeneration will depend on which ability was just overcharged. E.G. a level 1 poke ability will take 1 second to regenerate the entire mana bar, whereas overcharging an ultimate means mana wont come back to full until a good 2 minutes later (these numbers are just examples)

 

[MrStefan]

Intresting, but how will Overcharge work if you haven't 100% mana, Will it work like the traditional way, or different?

 

[MrDienns]

Intresting, but how will Overcharge work if you haven't 100% mana, Will it work like the traditional way, or different?

It simply won't overcharge as far as I know. It would only work if the Mana is 100%. @Astantos would have to confirm though.

 

[MrStefan]

It simply won't overcharge as far as I know. It would only work if the Mana is 100%. @Astantos would have to confirm though.

I mean, how would a mage play after an overcharge, traditional, living front, or something else?

 

[5py0n]

So for traditional mage mana limits spells usage so you can't just spam powerful ones and ultimates all the time (+cooldown on spells?)
For living font you could spam, but if you have less "mana" than spells cost - it will be a (much) weaker version of the spell (if I understood correctly?), so this also prevent from spamming (+cooldown on spells)?
For spell charges I didn't really get it.. No mana, so you can use any spells you want and whenever you want, only cooldown is the limit?
Overcharge.. sounds a bit too complicated. So if you overcharged ultimate spell and used it, then (from your example) you will not have any mana for 2 minutes, so you can't do anything these 2 minutes? Just hit mobs with your Wooden staff for 0.01 dmg?

 

[MrDienns]

I mean, how would a mage play after an overcharge, traditional, living front, or something else?

So for traditional mage mana limits spells usage so you can't just spam powerful ones and ultimates all the time (+cooldown on spells?)
For living font you could spam, but if you have less "mana" than spells cost - it will be a (much) weaker version of the spell (if I understood correctly?), so this also prevent from spamming (+cooldown on spells)?
For spell charges I didn't really get it.. No mana, so you can use any spells you want and whenever you want, only cooldown is the limit?
Overcharge.. sounds a bit too complicated. So if you overcharged ultimate spell and used it, then (from your example) you will not have any mana for 2 minutes, so you can't do anything these 2 minutes? Just hit mobs with your Wooden staff for 0.01 dmg?

No no, Mana is only used as extra in case of overcharge (and a few others). In case of overcharge, skills will be cooldown (time) based, which is completely irrelevant from Mana. Each skill has its own cooldown time in seconds, just like all other classes. The overcharge would simply deal extra damage when the bar is full and the overcharge feature is used.

 

[Aeternum]

I Like the idea of Living Font and Overcharge in combination for higher level players, or maybe after a critical self discovery quest line about magic. And noobs and low level players have a combination of Traditional and Overcharge.

 

[Astantos]

I've already answered this question on Discord. However, I thought I'd better clarify it here on the actual post as well, so here we go:

I mean, how would a mage play after an overcharge, traditional, living front, or something else?

Overcharge
Overcharge will not be called mana. Think of it as a separate cooldown bar or the equivalent of Nitro. Mages will be limited ONLY by their cooldowns for spells, spells will have no actual mana cost - but don't worry, this will be balanced so that it isn't OP. The thing is, none of the other classes are limited by a resource bar at the moment, so if anything, a mage would be at a DISADVANTAGE using a mana bar.

As far as how Overcharge works: When its up, you can choose ANY spell to overcharge, giving it additional effects. But if you DO choose an Ultimate to Overcharge for example, then it takes 2 minutes for the bar to regenerate back to full i.e. 2 minutes before you can Overcharge again. You can still cast all your spells, since there's no mana cost. You just can't Overcharge them.

@S_Weel @5py0n I hope that answers your question!