--- Goals ---
The goals of the Crystalshaper are:
- To provide players with a new Dragon school that extends their capabilities, brings new challenges, and fills an open niche in the Trade-skill system.
- To provide the game with a unique school that extends the lore of the game-world.
- To provide a Trade school that adds a level of inter-dependency between those who favor Crafting and those who are Adventurers, both of Dragon and Non-Dragon characters.
--- Crystals ---
As expected by the name of the school, Crystalshaper focuses primarily on the creation of consumable crystals that provide temporary buffs to the player. These crystals have effects that include resistance and armor buffs, damage conversion, healing, as well as some more unique effects.
Crystals will be created using three components - Focused Azulyte, Infused Orbs, and Shards of Emotion. Crystals will be tiered within each category and will use a Crystalshaping ability as well as a Crystalshaper machine.
--- Resources ---
The primary resource used to make crystals will be Shards of Emotion, of which there will be seven types in each Tier. The emotions include Rage, Vitality, Fear, Bliss, Apathy, Courage, and Peace. Slivers of Emotion are harvested from monsters, processed into Shards (using the Transmutation skill), and then used in the final production of Crystals.
Slivers themselves are obtained by looting them from defeated monsters throughout Istaria. However, characters won’t simply be able to loot the Slivers without first obtaining a series of abilities called Inspirations. These abilities, which are available to both Dragon and Non-Dragon characters, will allow players to “Inspire” specific emotions in the monsters they fight and when these monsters are defeated you will loot the Slivers of Emotion from the monster’s corpse.
So, for example, you might acquire the ability called Inspire Rage. You would then use that ability to give yourself a buff that while active would allow you to inspire the emotion of Rage within monsters that you attack. When the monster is defeated you would have a chance to loot Slivers of Rage from the corpse. This additional loot would not impact the chance for any regular loot to drop.
Slivers, Shards and Crystals, like all other resources in Istaria, would be stackable, storable in Silos, and tradeable on the Consigner or between players.
--- Quests ---
Like other Dragon schools and abilities, the Crystalshaper school will require a quest series to be completed in order to begin your journey. The quests will teach you of the Lore of the school and some of its more infamous members, you will learn more of the Council of Elders as well as Relstaroth and Balennos, and you will venture into the Fiery Rift, a new mini-dungeon, to complete the final step of your journey.
The Fiery Rift is intended to be both a source of completion for the Crystalshaper quest series as well as a source of continuing adventure for players, both Dragon and eventually non-Dragon.
--- FAQ ---
- What are the requirements to join the Crystalshaper school? The requirements currently planned are that the player must be an Adult Dragon, at least a level 80 Adventurer and have at least 20 levels of Lairshaper.
- Why Level 80 and Adult and not Level 20 like other Prestige schools? The Crystalshaper school, unlike most other Prestige schools, is meant to be more of an end-game type of school and so we want it to be more highly restricted.
- Can Non-Dragons purchase and use the Inspire abilities? Yes, the goal of this portion of the system is for both Dragons and Bipeds to be able to acquire the full line of Inspire abilities and to participate cooperatively in the acquisition of Slivers of Emotion.
- Where are the Inspiration abilities obtained? These abilities are purchased from a specific NPC located in the Fiery Rift that will be added to the game. The cost has not yet been determined.
- Does the new Crystalshaper School use the Primary Skill System like the Lairshaper school? Yes, the Primary skill system will be implemented with this new school.
- What is the Primary Skill System? The Primary Skill System is a system where a school has a one or more skills that it identify its school and through which it will gain XP. Other skills the school gains are called Secondary Skills are anything made using those skills will now grant XP. For example, in Crystalshaper the Crystalshaping skill is the Primary one. So, if you make a Resistance Crystal you will gain XP. But, the Essence Shaping skill is not a Primary skill, so if you make Infused Essence Orbs, you won't gain any XP.
- How will the new Crystals differ from looted Crystals? Crafted crystals will be consumable for their effects, while looted crystals will be socketable. In addition, the effects given by both types of crystals will remain separate and different. Consumed crystals will provide more direct effects that are predictable (boosts to armor or a specific resistance, for example) unlike looted crystals which are often based upon random chance.
- Can these new crystals be socketed? No, these new crystals are meant to be consumed to gain their effects and so they are not socketable like crystals that drop as loot.
- Will there be multiple Trainers in the game-world? Yes, trainers will be added to both Dralk and Chiconis from which you will be able to obtain the standard Mastery quests every 20 levels and from whom you will be able to switch back to the Crystalshaper school if you choose to do so.
- What kinds of crystals will be available? Several types:
- Resistance Crystals - Crystals that provide a sizable boost in your resistance to a particular element, but at a cost.
- Armor Crystals - A limited set of crystals that can be used to provide a significant boost to your physical or ethereal armor.
- Damage Crystals - Crystals that provide damage conversion to a particular element while they are active, but at a cost.
- Healing Crystals - Crystals that provide an instantaneous sizable heal, but tend to have lingering side-effects.
- Primal Crystals - Crystals that operate in a similar manner to some old, favorite techniques such as Primal Vengeance, Eminence, Vital Defiance, and Dismissal.
