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Thread: Talk to the Team: Dragon Schools: New Schools

  1. #41

    Default Re: Talk to the Team: Dragon Schools: New Schools

    Hello everyone. This is my first post; I originally submitted it as a ticket suggestion but I was correctly notified that I should post this here for everyone to see/discuss. I hope this adds value to the discussion!

    Section 1: A question of uniqueness and diversity

    Thoughts on Adept school:

    When looking at the Adept school, I noticed that the casting potential is very diverse. Not only would such a school have access to elemental damage types not previously simply available to dragons through abilities/spells, but they also get some signature spells from various biped schools. Let us look at each of them one at a time and I will lay out the significance behind the propositions.

    "Rez (Hoard) (Superior)"
    This presumably corresponds with Superior Resurrect (given "Superior" in parentheses), which is currently exclusively available to the Healer school. This is one of the significant active abilities healers get access to, and it is unmasterable so it could never be used as any other school. The other unique and unmasterable abilities they are left with are Full Heal and the varying levels of Superior Heal. These abilities including Superior Resurrect are currently significant because:

    • They are the unique "cream of the crop" abilities as a Healer, akin to Lightning Claws as a Storm Disciple.
    • They provide a reason to play the school as your active school, as they are unavailable otherwise.


    Making one of Healer's 3 desirable, significant, and signature spells available to the dragon adept school removes some of the little (but improved) existing reason to ever play as Healer. My view as such is that this is not productive design. It detracts significance from one school to add value to another.


    "AoE Mez (Hoard) NEW (Ferocious Stare ?)"
    This corresponds directly with Sorcerer's Area Spellbind. Such a significant AoE Mez is currently exclusively available to players with Sorcerer as their active school, as it is only obtained as a Sorcerer and is unmasterable. It uses the Mind skill, which is effectively only valuable for ensuring crowd control spells such as this actually apply to targets.

    The developer proposition seems to be, for dragons, a spell that is roughly equivalent or (hopefully not) better for the purpose than Area Spellbind, which is only available to Sorcerers. This would not only devalue active school Sorcerers by making one of their most essential and unique skills available to your common adept school dragon, but it also diminishes reason to ever invest in the Mind skill, which is already lacking. The reason for the latter is that presumably, the dragon AoE mez will rely on the Primal skill, which will also benefit some of their various versatile dps spells and/or abilities (including "Bomb NEW (Primal Bomb?)"). Why invest in Mind as a biped sorcerer for the sake of crowd control quality when you could play an adept dragon where you would get crowd control quality and spell damage plus accuracy for most of your spells simply from investment into just Primal.


    Thoughts on Juvenile school:

    "Mez (Howl)"
    A simple mez is okay, and this adds to the school in a way that does not significantly detract from existing schools.

    "Root NEW"
    I'm not sure why juvenile dragons need a root ontop of their mez and numerous close and far range proposed dps abilities.

    "Self Buffs (Roar, Determination)"
    They also seem to benefit from access to personal augmentations much like a cleric or healer would. Notice the fact that they are self buffs. While this helps prevent an issue of too may cross-player buffs, it doesn't encourage group play. In fact, removing this self buff access would promote grouping with players who can provide the benefit of buffs (referring specifically to some support specialized schools).

    "Lower incoming attack (Negate) (Snarl)"
    Defensive abilities directly akin to a warrior's. To be fair, this can't hurt. It gives a nod to defensive strategies as a dragon.

    "Rez (high level) NEW (Primal Resurrect ?)"
    Now, even resurrection, previously only available to support/niche schools.

    "Gift (Self, All Stats)"
    I'm not sure why such a spell is even necessary, especially given the reasons I mentioned in regards to the other self buffs.

    My impression from the Juvenile Dragon School idea listing is that they get some of the best of every single one of the basic biped adventure schools, and then some bonus dps capabilities on top of that. It appears to be grossly overpowered compared to the basic biped schools individually (I'm referring to cleric, warrior, mage, and scout). It is effectively all of them at once, with no cost in rating, which is very significant. In particular, I can now see no reason to ever play warrior as an active school besides for the skill benefits for other schools. Juvenile does 90% of what warriors can and far more, although, they are slightly squishier. Not that the slight squishiness really matters very much when they have value from heals, buffs, rezzes, numerous forms of magic and melee dps, and both primary forms of crowd control. As is, Juvenile does not seem remotely balanced to me for all of these reasons.

    One more small but important thing to delve into further: The Juvenile school does not encourage group play, unlike the basic biped schools seem to do, as they all complement each other in combat. Juvenile, on the other hand, does everything that could be needed in combat on its own. In my opinion, Istaria's combat is at its best when the experience involves two or more players. It showcases many valuable dynamics that are not very apparent when soloing. This notion of group play being valuable should thus be capitalized upon in school design.


    Thoughts on Soldier school:

    Soldier is much more well designed than the other two for the following reasons:

    1. The school features abilities that encourage group play: "Bolster Friend", and "AoE Group Gift". Perhaps more actively used support abilities would be good as well. For example, an ability that intercepts only the very next attack made against a friendly selected target.
    2. It has its own array of dps abilities and doesn't downright steal abilities from other schools... Wait.


    Stop right there, "Enrage (More Strength) (Hoard)"! You look suspiciously like Berserker Rage, but possibly overall more useful, as you are lacking significant downsides. Hoard corresponds with wealth, and in the current state of the game, veteran players have copious amounts of wealth without much to spend it on (trinkets are helping to address this). As such, hoard cost is not a significant downside in the grand scheme of things, and thus should not be balanced around, in my opinion. As an added note, couldn't this enrage ability be abused to boost crafting/gathering skills? After all, it does provide a significant buff to strength. This problem was avoided with the various biped equivalents (Berserker Rage, Unbridled Energy) by having the abilities specifically adjust only combat related modifiers (attack delay, damage percent).


    Section 2: Resolve

    I understand that the goal is to continue to have dragons be versatile and yet unique characters, and that two of the proposed schools serve as specialization into areas of that versatility. However, versatility is not productively obtained by simply copying it from somewhere else. Not only would these proposed ability lists be eliminating what uniqueness dragons had ability/spell-wise by giving them a myriad of abilities equivalent to biped specialties, but you're removing reason to play as various biped schools. These ability lists are often taking those biped's schools most signature abilities and making them available to dragons schools which have access to a plethora of other copied specialty abilities, along with their own array of abilities.

    It raises a question of why play as an active school Sorcerer when you can play as a dragon who is very generously equivalent to Sorcerer, Healer, and Battle Mage all as active schools at the same time. After all, Dragon Adept has two of the non-masterable abilities from Sorcerer and Healer, and have the melee/magic dps capabilities of an active Battle Mage or better.

    My recommended strategy is to further build upon what uniqueness dragons already have, rather than taking the best parts from other schools and making a dragon equivalent. That way, value is strictly added, rather than creating overlap that invalidates numerous schools.

    Build upon the prime skill, something bipeds do not have access to. Don't tell me it's not possible to create unique abilities or spells that don't overlap with others in a terrible way. Just look at how unique Chaos Warrior's abilities are. Those unique abilities don't even stem strictly from a damage type or skill. Rather, they derive from a concept of randomness/chaos and CHSW is a result of incorporating that into a school, along with some Energy magic for flavor.

    In closing, I'll say that I would really hate to see the uniqueness of both dragons and bipeds getting diminished by tossing around signature abilities and thus capabilities as schools. I appreciate the developers for continuing to build upon the great game I had the pleasure of growing up with, and I appreciate the time any of you have invested into reading this.

    Thank you,
    Hlec/Doloire

  2. #42
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    Default Re: Talk to the Team: Dragon Schools: New Schools

    Since we discussing making changes I thought this be the right place to discuss this. In the current Dragon Adventurer Levels 20-30 are really hard to level up and the trophy quests don't really give enough exp to make a difference and are glitchy. So those level will need a change. Maybe some new ability quests.
    Last edited by Spyrioyo; March 11th, 2015 at 03:26 AM.

  3. #43

    Default Re: Talk to the Team: Dragon Schools: New Schools

    Quote Originally Posted by ZyrimShadowheart View Post
    Since we discussing making changes I thought this be the right place to discuss this. In the current Dragon Adventurer Levels 20-30 are really hard to level up and the trophy quests don't really give enough exp to make a difference and are glitchy. So those level will need a change. Maybe some new ability quests.
    I know I quote my kid often about this but he's solo'd his way all the way to 50 so far... I wouldn't say he's struggled much at all.
    Gwain Drago - Mystic Paladin
    Arzel - Knight of creation/Battlemage
    Aurakvoar - Ancient Lunus

  4. #44

    Default Re: Talk to the Team: Dragon Schools: New Schools

    Quote Originally Posted by Calyndrell View Post
    I know I quote my kid often about this but he's solo'd his way all the way to 50 so far... I wouldn't say he's struggled much at all.
    I would quote Zyrim's post, but this is also kind of my point.
    if you know what you're doing, getting to 40 is easy solo, after which it basicly becomes an ability->tophy grind.
    Yes there are some quests which will be hard (the tomb parts of the Dalimond peninsula quest lines come to mind) but there is plenty to go around if you explore atleast each town/community once.

  5. #45
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    Default Re: Talk to the Team: Dragon Schools: New Schools

    I made that suggestion cause some people do find it difficult to level up from level 20 to 30. Not necessarily me but others seem to have a hard time . It may seem easy to some people but to other people it could be considered hard even if they know what they are doing. You got to respect that and not assume just cause you think it is easy that it is easy for everyone.

  6. #46

    Default Re: Talk to the Team: Dragon Schools: New Schools

    Quote Originally Posted by ZyrimShadowheart View Post
    I made that suggestion cause some people do find it difficult to level up from level 20 to 30. Not necessarily me but others seem to have a hard time . It may seem easy to some people but to other people it could be considered hard even if they know what they are doing. You got to respect that and not assume just cause you think it is easy that it is easy for everyone.
    Ok thats a fair point I suppose.
    Gwain Drago - Mystic Paladin
    Arzel - Knight of creation/Battlemage
    Aurakvoar - Ancient Lunus

  7. #47

    Default Re: Talk to the Team: Dragon Schools: New Schools

    Quote Originally Posted by ZyrimShadowheart View Post
    I made that suggestion cause some people do find it difficult to level up from level 20 to 30.
    To help these people, I would suggest they do all their ability quests (we are talking dragons right?), not to mention, seek out all the quests in Bristugo, the entire Daliamond penninsula and of course Dalimond itself. There's SOOO many quests to help you level it does confuse me a little that anyone could find it difficult to level from 20 to 30. If they find these quests difficult, perhaps go back to Less Aradoth and make sure they've finished all quests in Sslanis and Kion. It's also possible these people simply don't have the right scales and need to update their gear. (though we might be a little off topic of new schools)
    --- iuvenilis --- [Officer of The Alliance]
    Demonslaying since July 2004

  8. #48
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    Default Re: Talk to the Team: Dragon Schools: New Schools

    The main point is that if we going to make new dragon schools we need to make sure the easier in the lower tiers and harder in the later tiers representative the exp gain. Back to the topic if we going to make new dragons schools or changes we need to look at the current system first see what can be improved upon before even trying to add new schools or make changes to the current one.

  9. #49
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    Default Re: Talk to the Team: Dragon Schools: New Schools

    I’ll be perfectly honest. Over a decade ago, I sent the devs a ten page manifesto on why dragons being locked to a single class was a bad idea, and two possible solutions for it. It was largely ignored, possibly because that team was swamped and could not hope to implement what was needed. Instead, we got Gold Rage, and that was all the character development most dragons felt they needed… the ability to smoosh anything. I wish I still had that old document, but it’s long gone at this point; moreover, it would no longer be relevant now, over a decade later, well past the point of no return.

    That said, I don’t think there is *nothing* that can be done at this point. The game can advance, but it has to advance on the same rails that it has been stuck on, or you run the risk of alienating those people who have spent so many years of their life crafting their characters, myself included. Just looking at all of the posts here pretty much sums it up: Don’t change my character. Don’t make me have to roll a new one.

    Well, let’s have a look at what dragons are and why they are the way they currently are.


    Dragons: Jack of All Trades, Master of Gold Rage

    Late in the development cycle, almost literally weeks before moving out of beta, the dragon was completely redesigned. While I was playing beta, I was a dragon blood mage. Sure it was pretty much a reskin of a biped blood mage, but I still liked it. Some of us were a bit confused at this choice, some speculated that it was always intended to trick us so that dragons would be a whole new experience when the game moved out of beta, but most of us understood the real reason: dragons were supposed to be unique. Making them giant bipeds was not unique.

    Unfortunately, while the single-class design, quested abilities, and, added much later, the ascension, made the dragon a unique character, it was not fully designed. Some of the abilities we got were hilariously underpowered, especially compared to a multi-class biped. There was no Gold Rage then: Winteria taught an ability called Winter Strike or something of that nature, which worked something like Staggering Howl does. There was no primal revitalize, only the quested cooldown ability and breezes. There was hoard leak which, while an entirely separate issue to this post, made it so that you had a hard time getting the armor and damage most dragons now easily get from hoard. Primal spells took a very long time to cast, and most players didn’t use them. The result was that dragons felt a little bit squishy, and not at all powerful.

    As you might imagine, this experience, while unique, did not live up to players’ expectations about what a dragon was meant to be. At the time of my manifesto, we could not even fly, and there was an extreme hope that adult dragons would bring new class opportunities or some quested abilities or SOMETHING that would turn the tables. The rite certainly delivered on content and we dragons loved it, but once the glow faded, we began to realize the horrible truth: we were hatchlings with wings.

    The devs then scrambled to come up with a new solution. They obviously didn’t have the time to create new classes and balance them versus the others; moreover, giving them classes would simply put them back into the ‘biped clone’ category, which was the thing they tried to avoid in the first place. The only option that they could come up with was to remove hoard leak, create new, powerful abilities like silver strike and gold rage which would use hoard, and hope it would be enough.

    And it was. It broke my heart to see the implementation of gold rage, because I knew there was no going back from that point. Dragons now possessed an IWIN button, rather than meaningful content or choices that they had to make. And that could NEVER be undone.

    While I was personally disappointed, dragons pretty much universally lauded the changes. Dragons have since increased in power and flexibility as time passed, such as increasing spell options and spell power so caster dragons can work just as well or better than melee dragons, primal attack and alacrity and heal, and so on. Honestly, life’s been pretty good for dragons, though somewhat stale because of our lack of choices.

    Likely, this is what the devs are now attempting to combat. It’s a decade too late, but is there anything we can do?



    Current Situation

    We know for certain that players, especially the dedicated player base that has been here as long as I have, do not want to see their characters change or invalidated. What this means is that we cannot move into a multiclass scenario like the bipeds have, and we cannot alter the Dragon Adventurer class as it stands too much. In the original manifesto, I suggested specialized dragon forms for one of the options, which would have worked something like stances, increasing stats and abilities in one area while weakening them in another. That is likely too much of a change for the player base to accept at this point, and so it is off the table.

    What we must do, then, is to create changes that make the dragon still unique from bipeds, but can be easily implemented and allow vertical progression and something, frankly, to do on your max-level dragon.



    Suggestion: Specializations and Vocations

    A year or two ago, I was roleplaying on Order and came up with the idea that dragons once followed Vocations – that is, jobs – prior to the destruction of Draak and the coming of the Aegis. This makes a lot of sense, really, as not all dragons can be hunters and crafters for a society to function. There needs to be scientists, politicians, religious leaders, and so on. While most of them would not fit well into the adventuring side of things, there are a few that would, and we’ll come back to those in a bit.

    Looking back at the history of dragons and how we got to this one-class-rut, we know that the design decision was to keep dragons unique. So how can we give them classes that are not the same thing as biped schools? Specialization.

    Here is how this system would work.

    Dragons could choose to ‘specialize’ into one of three to six schools. The three main specialties would be Conqueror (melee), Primalist (spellcaster), or Windmender (healer).This choice would be semi-permanent, meaning they could not switch to another class without first forgetting the specialized school they were in. And yes I know some people have expressed worry that this should not be a permanent choice, but as long as we have the option to switch, even if it is an arduous switch, I think this decision would be fine.

    Each of these schools would have appropriate stats – as you might have noticed, dragon adventurer stat gains are quite non-specialized in everything except health, because the class is designed to be the jack of all trades. Bipeds, however, will multiclass to get the best stat gains in a statistic possible, and this choice would mirror that. For example, a Conqueror would have a 10 Strength, 4 Power, 4 Focus, 9 Dex progression, as opposed to the Adventurer’s 7-7-7-7. Skill progression, too, could be better.

    What about Dragon Adventurer, then? We should keep that just as it is right now. All abilities, quested or otherwise, should still be tied to this class, and specialization should only be allowed once that class reaches 100 – which is really not much to ask for, and frankly a really good idea for how multiclassing XP works in this game. It should not be tied to faction or age/form of the dragon. Some of the non-quested abilities might not be masterable or otherwise transfer to the new class, but the quested ones probably should for ease of implementation if nothing else.

    So, other than the stat progression, what’s the point of the specialization classes? New abilities of course. However, in order to make this still further unique to dragons, the abilities must not be simple copy-paste abilities from bipeds. For example: a Conqueror might get an ability similar to defensive stance. Rather than it just be ‘dragon gets armor for a short period,’ make it unique: Maginval’s Bulwark, which would increase armor significantly for a short duration, but also limit speed (and flight) to 0.

    What about people who want to be a mix? Let ‘em. I said three to six classes for a reason: let there be in-between specializations too. A healer-warrior would be a Champion of Drulkar, working like a paladin. They would get weaker versions of the Windmender and Conqueror’s abilities (just like real biped hybrids, getting the same skill at higher levels) and their stat progression would not be as specific (again just like biped hybrids). A warrior-mage would be a Talonmaster, using prime magic to create elemental attacks (like Winter Strike, but less useless), and a mage-healer could be a Clouddancer or Primeshifter. Could even bring back the old Storm magic for it; I loved storm magic in beta, frankly, and used it even as a blood mage.

    Not only does this system require very little work in terms of changing what already exists, it stays true to the original ‘unique’ design concept that makes dragons, well, unique. The greatest challenge will be to create truly unique abilities that will not overpower dragons beyond that of bipeds, but I fully believe this can be done, especially if they follow the line of thought of the Bulwark: making most of the abilities have some drawback to counter-balance their power, which is the same idea that led the design of Gold Rage in the first place.





    In Conclusion

    I think that it is far too late to change the direction of the dragon class. That does not mean, however, we cannot move forward. Rather than schools, let us have vocations – let us specialize to a particular calling, but be able to change it if we are willing to give up our previous specialization. Let us remain unique, but still have the ability to make hard choices and have the options our naka friends do. Let’s hope dragons fly in the right direction this time.

    Please let me know what you think on the proposal of specializations and vocations. Feel free to suggest possible skills or abilities the specializations would have as well. If you want to have a look at other vocations I came up with, feel free to search Dragon Academy (Reboot) on the Order main boards. Do keep in mind that the dev team is currently limited, so keep any suggestions within the realm of ‘possible.’
    Maekrux Vythulhar, the Blue Phoenix
    "Resurgam!"

  10. #50
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    Default Re: Talk to the Team: Dragon Schools: New Schools

    Quote Originally Posted by Kaerisk View Post
    I’ll be perfectly honest. Over a decade ago, I sent the devs a ten page manifesto on why dragons being locked to a single class was a bad idea, and two possible solutions for it. It was largely ignored, possibly because that team was swamped and could not hope to implement what was needed. Instead, we got Gold Rage, and that was all the character development most dragons felt they needed… the ability to smoosh anything. I wish I still had that old document, but it’s long gone at this point; moreover, it would no longer be relevant now, over a decade later, well past the point of no return.

    That said, I don’t think there is *nothing* that can be done at this point. The game can advance, but it has to advance on the same rails that it has been stuck on, or you run the risk of alienating those people who have spent so many years of their life crafting their characters, myself included. Just looking at all of the posts here pretty much sums it up: Don’t change my character. Don’t make me have to roll a new one.

    Well, let’s have a look at what dragons are and why they are the way they currently are.


    Dragons: Jack of All Trades, Master of Gold Rage

    Late in the development cycle, almost literally weeks before moving out of beta, the dragon was completely redesigned. While I was playing beta, I was a dragon blood mage. Sure it was pretty much a reskin of a biped blood mage, but I still liked it. Some of us were a bit confused at this choice, some speculated that it was always intended to trick us so that dragons would be a whole new experience when the game moved out of beta, but most of us understood the real reason: dragons were supposed to be unique. Making them giant bipeds was not unique.

    Unfortunately, while the single-class design, quested abilities, and, added much later, the ascension, made the dragon a unique character, it was not fully designed. Some of the abilities we got were hilariously underpowered, especially compared to a multi-class biped. There was no Gold Rage then: Winteria taught an ability called Winter Strike or something of that nature, which worked something like Staggering Howl does. There was no primal revitalize, only the quested cooldown ability and breezes. There was hoard leak which, while an entirely separate issue to this post, made it so that you had a hard time getting the armor and damage most dragons now easily get from hoard. Primal spells took a very long time to cast, and most players didn’t use them. The result was that dragons felt a little bit squishy, and not at all powerful.

    As you might imagine, this experience, while unique, did not live up to players’ expectations about what a dragon was meant to be. At the time of my manifesto, we could not even fly, and there was an extreme hope that adult dragons would bring new class opportunities or some quested abilities or SOMETHING that would turn the tables. The rite certainly delivered on content and we dragons loved it, but once the glow faded, we began to realize the horrible truth: we were hatchlings with wings.

    The devs then scrambled to come up with a new solution. They obviously didn’t have the time to create new classes and balance them versus the others; moreover, giving them classes would simply put them back into the ‘biped clone’ category, which was the thing they tried to avoid in the first place. The only option that they could come up with was to remove hoard leak, create new, powerful abilities like silver strike and gold rage which would use hoard, and hope it would be enough.

    And it was. It broke my heart to see the implementation of gold rage, because I knew there was no going back from that point. Dragons now possessed an IWIN button, rather than meaningful content or choices that they had to make. And that could NEVER be undone.

    While I was personally disappointed, dragons pretty much universally lauded the changes. Dragons have since increased in power and flexibility as time passed, such as increasing spell options and spell power so caster dragons can work just as well or better than melee dragons, primal attack and alacrity and heal, and so on. Honestly, life’s been pretty good for dragons, though somewhat stale because of our lack of choices.

    Likely, this is what the devs are now attempting to combat. It’s a decade too late, but is there anything we can do?



    Current Situation

    We know for certain that players, especially the dedicated player base that has been here as long as I have, do not want to see their characters change or invalidated. What this means is that we cannot move into a multiclass scenario like the bipeds have, and we cannot alter the Dragon Adventurer class as it stands too much. In the original manifesto, I suggested specialized dragon forms for one of the options, which would have worked something like stances, increasing stats and abilities in one area while weakening them in another. That is likely too much of a change for the player base to accept at this point, and so it is off the table.

    What we must do, then, is to create changes that make the dragon still unique from bipeds, but can be easily implemented and allow vertical progression and something, frankly, to do on your max-level dragon.



    Suggestion: Specializations and Vocations

    A year or two ago, I was roleplaying on Order and came up with the idea that dragons once followed Vocations – that is, jobs – prior to the destruction of Draak and the coming of the Aegis. This makes a lot of sense, really, as not all dragons can be hunters and crafters for a society to function. There needs to be scientists, politicians, religious leaders, and so on. While most of them would not fit well into the adventuring side of things, there are a few that would, and we’ll come back to those in a bit.

    Looking back at the history of dragons and how we got to this one-class-rut, we know that the design decision was to keep dragons unique. So how can we give them classes that are not the same thing as biped schools? Specialization.

    Here is how this system would work.

    Dragons could choose to ‘specialize’ into one of three to six schools. The three main specialties would be Conqueror (melee), Primalist (spellcaster), or Windmender (healer).This choice would be semi-permanent, meaning they could not switch to another class without first forgetting the specialized school they were in. And yes I know some people have expressed worry that this should not be a permanent choice, but as long as we have the option to switch, even if it is an arduous switch, I think this decision would be fine.

    Each of these schools would have appropriate stats – as you might have noticed, dragon adventurer stat gains are quite non-specialized in everything except health, because the class is designed to be the jack of all trades. Bipeds, however, will multiclass to get the best stat gains in a statistic possible, and this choice would mirror that. For example, a Conqueror would have a 10 Strength, 4 Power, 4 Focus, 9 Dex progression, as opposed to the Adventurer’s 7-7-7-7. Skill progression, too, could be better.

    What about Dragon Adventurer, then? We should keep that just as it is right now. All abilities, quested or otherwise, should still be tied to this class, and specialization should only be allowed once that class reaches 100 – which is really not much to ask for, and frankly a really good idea for how multiclassing XP works in this game. It should not be tied to faction or age/form of the dragon. Some of the non-quested abilities might not be masterable or otherwise transfer to the new class, but the quested ones probably should for ease of implementation if nothing else.

    So, other than the stat progression, what’s the point of the specialization classes? New abilities of course. However, in order to make this still further unique to dragons, the abilities must not be simple copy-paste abilities from bipeds. For example: a Conqueror might get an ability similar to defensive stance. Rather than it just be ‘dragon gets armor for a short period,’ make it unique: Maginval’s Bulwark, which would increase armor significantly for a short duration, but also limit speed (and flight) to 0.

    What about people who want to be a mix? Let ‘em. I said three to six classes for a reason: let there be in-between specializations too. A healer-warrior would be a Champion of Drulkar, working like a paladin. They would get weaker versions of the Windmender and Conqueror’s abilities (just like real biped hybrids, getting the same skill at higher levels) and their stat progression would not be as specific (again just like biped hybrids). A warrior-mage would be a Talonmaster, using prime magic to create elemental attacks (like Winter Strike, but less useless), and a mage-healer could be a Clouddancer or Primeshifter. Could even bring back the old Storm magic for it; I loved storm magic in beta, frankly, and used it even as a blood mage.

    Not only does this system require very little work in terms of changing what already exists, it stays true to the original ‘unique’ design concept that makes dragons, well, unique. The greatest challenge will be to create truly unique abilities that will not overpower dragons beyond that of bipeds, but I fully believe this can be done, especially if they follow the line of thought of the Bulwark: making most of the abilities have some drawback to counter-balance their power, which is the same idea that led the design of Gold Rage in the first place.





    In Conclusion

    I think that it is far too late to change the direction of the dragon class. That does not mean, however, we cannot move forward. Rather than schools, let us have vocations – let us specialize to a particular calling, but be able to change it if we are willing to give up our previous specialization. Let us remain unique, but still have the ability to make hard choices and have the options our naka friends do. Let’s hope dragons fly in the right direction this time.

    Please let me know what you think on the proposal of specializations and vocations. Feel free to suggest possible skills or abilities the specializations would have as well. If you want to have a look at other vocations I came up with, feel free to search Dragon Academy (Reboot) on the Order main boards. Do keep in mind that the dev team is currently limited, so keep any suggestions within the realm of ‘possible.’
    I kind of agree with your post it should start after 100 level but also with this chance the quests that only happened when your ancient should be allowed at normal levels like the 90s or at level 100 for adventurer, but also should allow change schools with in reason and also allow in-between like hybrid schools and they shouldn't be tied down to fraction that would be a horrible mistake.

  11. #51

    Default Re: Talk to the Team: Dragon Schools: New Schools

    With the majority of active dragon players still reeling from all the very recent dragon changes, I think adding any schools or changing anything else right now is a bad idea for dragons. We who play dragons need time to readjust to the new way things work. (and that includes combat not being solely dependent on Gold Rage or Breath of Flame Burst anymore.) I can't see after all the major recent changes done, there being any major changes like schools being added.


    You see an Ice Wall Corner, I see a Tardis.
    "

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  12. #52

    Default Re: Talk to the Team: Dragon Schools: New Schools

    I don't like the "semi-permanent" portion.

    You are wrong that once Gold Rage was added, Dragon's had an IWIN button. For about a year after doing all the new quests for Gold Rage VII, I rarely used it. It ate hoard. Hoard was hard to get. It didn't turn in to an IWIN button until hoard started dropping extremely plentifully. Shield of gold was so expensive to use that for years, I simply never did use it. Even now I only occasionally use it when I remember, for certain epic boss pulls.

    Dev's have hated gold rage ever since.

    Well the whole new class or re-work the old class decision has been made and implemented. Gold Rage is severely nerfed, which is all the whole "new class" was really about anyway, doing 25% of the damage at 5x the old cost (1 use in the span it used to be useable 4 times). Dev's said they didn't want dragons to be a one trick pony. Other abilities would all get buffed to compensate. Fine. But the buffs to the other abilities doesn't compensate anything near the lost DPS. To make up for that, a typical Ravage attack would need to do 900-1100 per swipe x 5. The rest of the abilities would all need damage about doubled as well (including breaths).

    So anyway, the change has been implemented to Gold Rage. And I feel the game has suffered for it. The coffin is almost nailed shut at this point...

    Dragons really are just a biped in a big model that flies. The Dragon Adventurer class is probably semi close to battlemage, but the mage part being fairly weak. (but the melee part made up for, well it used to). Sure we at least get most abilities from quests, which is great btw. But bipeds end up with higher stats (things like health and strength), and it doesn't make sense for a dragon to have 3200 health. For adults the hp/level should be doubled, and for ancients it should be tripled. Then we might start to feel like dragons. But a typical biped gets to 4.5k health easily, and I've seen them at 5k (probably with some multiclassing). The typical maxed (gear with some classes as well) biped has about 1k more health than a dragon. Does anyone else not seriously see that as incongruous?

    I have to agree with Arzel, messing with dragons at this point would be iffy at best. New Schools seem to me like it would just be more bad news in a new wrapper. And the existing DRAG school would just get broken even worse than it is now. No thanks.

  13. #53
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    Default Re: Talk to the Team: Dragon Schools: New Schools

    If that's the case I think dragon's should get more health at least 1000 more points of health. Then do need to make it more balanced for the Gold Range Change, and the nerf to Breath of Flame Burst. I think they should reduced the nerf by 10% I noticed sometimes it does less than 200 damage. Also I agree with Guaran it shouldn't be semi-permanent.

  14. #54
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    Default Re: Talk to the Team: Dragon Schools: New Schools

    Quote Originally Posted by Guaran View Post
    It didn't turn in to an IWIN button until hoard started dropping extremely plentifully.
    I press a button, a mob dies. It wasn't a CHEAP IWIN button, but it was *always* an IWIN button.

    Quote Originally Posted by Guaran View Post
    But the buffs to the other abilities doesn't compensate anything near the lost DPS.
    Much like the original implementation of Gold Rage, these changes were made without there being something good or better balanced to look forward to. We're not going to get that damage back. Frankly, we never should have had it in the first place. It may be scary and new, but if it's a chance to make things better than they currently are, post GR nerfs, I'd rather there be something to try to fill in the void in our lives that is GR nerfs.

    Quote Originally Posted by Guaran View Post
    But bipeds end up with higher stats (things like health and strength), and it doesn't make sense for a dragon to have 3200 health. For adults the hp/level should be doubled, and for ancients it should be tripled. Then we might start to feel like dragons.
    That wouldn't be a bad idea. Unless there is some limit on how much health you can get per level, why not have the health also increase with the other statistics? Blanket doubling and tripling isn't going to happen, but we should be able to have more health than bipeds.



    As for the semi-permanent matter, I wanted to stay true to the original vision without going full-on biped. If dragons going full-on biped is okay with you, then we can skip the semi-permenant thing and keep the number of classes to three, which we can master them all. Might even get enough new abilities that can help to change the paradigm.
    Maekrux Vythulhar, the Blue Phoenix
    "Resurgam!"

  15. #55

    Default Re: Talk to the Team: Dragon Schools: New Schools

    I sign whatl Guaran said.

    The changes might have hit the uber dragons only- all other might have gotten real benefits.
    I have been playing and testing more than I did in the last years- desperately trying to get back to old strenghth.
    And there have been days I was so annoyed and frustrated, that I thought about rage-quitting- indeed cancelled Luna`s sub for a while.
    Cause it makes no sense to play 2 drags that are set up nearly the same. Cause I feel forced now to play my drags more hybride than I already did in the past, to succeed.

    But I also say: The new system is not bad. Its more lively-and I would even say its more demanding.
    Though it seems, its very resistant to tactics and a lot seems nothing but random.That annoys me.

    Another annoyance: The new scales are kinda sham:
    If a group of fyakkie hit you with: Cleave, armor piercing attack, wrack, rend armor and power strike (and other) -
    you could go without armor at all^^

    And yes Guaran- the health- I have more now that I ever wanted and needed- but we have to wear the new scales:
    I compared with my old ones , individual designed ones -and those cant compare.
    The new broken scales: Easy button- noone has to think about anymore- just wear priceless-and you are well dressed.

    GoldRage- it was only one of my attacks in the past- and I use it less often than before: What is a GR worth that always hits (Noone ever asked for that) if it hits with 0 dmg?
    Or Blight Hounds- yes their hp have been reduced- but now they have a crazy amount of armor and high dodge skills.
    I have probs with casting during a fight- there might be a bug too- but casting times HAVE TO BE REDUCED!!!
    I cant be that a casteris slower in attacking than a melee- both have learned their school and lessons- PLS DEVS- change that asap!
    I could go on with a list of complaints.
    The nerfes have been significant- but I think only for the vet players with uber dragons.
    All other might have a better game experience now.

    Conclusion? I did not stop playing. I trained my dragons and well I`m kinda satisfied with the results-
    still hoping to get back my old status quo.
    Since weeks I (Flame too) spend more time ingame than we did the years before.
    We have fun (oops- did I really say this^?) and learn to like the changes-
    as those will not be withdrawled anyway. And that is ok for me: Drags had kinda dust of ages on their scales.

    But what I really want to see:
    - Flame burst back to 100% (Surtheim cant be that much better than a right skilled dragon)
    - Casting works as fast as melee attacks ( no reason why not- we learned our spells and can cast them even if we sleep^^)
    - A strong area mezz for dragons
    - and Zyrim`s suggestion ingame.
    (http://community.istaria.com/forum/s...ealm-Of-Blight)

    All in all- thy devs for waking an old dragoness up, and force her to train her brain and dragon body again. Will keep me busy for a while:-)
    Last edited by LOVWYRM; April 29th, 2015 at 06:26 AM.
    YOU told me to play a dragon!

  16. #56

    Default Re: Talk to the Team: Dragon Schools: New Schools

    edit

    Concerning GoldRage: If you use the right"Istarian drug" at the right time at the right mob-
    ther dmg is..uhhmm.. satisfying^^ (not going into details here, cause Amon is listening^^P)

    And I am very satisfied about the kicks other attacs got. I might be a button or 2 more to push- but lots of fights I do completetly without GR at all.
    YOU told me to play a dragon!

  17. #57
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    Default Re: Talk to the Team: Dragon Schools: New Schools

    Honestly, I don't know what there is to grumble about with dragons at this point. I'd love more class options or areas to specialize in certainly. The devs seem to be willing to add in some flexibility for dragons and I absolutely support that, but I do agree that now we could use some stability until the community gets used to the changes. The consensus in the community seems to be that any added dragon classes should be something a max level dragon would be able to integrate into so that's a pretty moot talking point I would think.

    To address Guaran's concerns:

    The recent changes to dragons have not affected any of my level 100 dragon characters significantly. Everything that I could do before the changes I can still do, and everything that required some help still requires some help. Before anyone grumbles about losing out on DPS with their dragon(s), try outfitting them in a techniqued t6 scale set. I don't have hard numbers for this but I'd say it's a good bet my hybrid's DPS went UP with the new t6 scales equipped, not to mention the boosted health and armor. Even if my DPS hasn't changed , the survivability has definitely gone way up. Pre-changes, my hybrid Machaeon could handle 3 Ulziglat Flayers (Indestructible Fyakki), maybe 4 if I was lucky. Now with the changes to dragon abilities and the new t6 scales, I have handled a group that varied from 5 to 7 of the things attacking me at once, and by the time I had no targets left to swing at I had killed a total of 12 Fyakki. That's 3 times more than I was capable of handling before the changes were made to dragons.

    I wouldn't say dragons as a whole are at all similar to any biped school, but it does depend on the build of the dragon. And I definitely wouldn't say that dragon spellcasters or 'the mage part' being weak, my pure caster dragon handles things fairly well considering he has pretty much no investment in health and wears power base scales... he just takes a bit longer to kill things than either my melee or hybrid since his GR doesn't do much. As for the health, that varies widely from dragon to dragon: I've seen level 100 dragons who don't even break 3000 health and I've also seen dragons who manage nearly 5000 health while buffed, it all depends on how much you invest in health and how much health you have slapped on your gear.

    Quote Originally Posted by ZyrimShadowheart View Post
    I noticed sometimes it does less than 200 damage.
    I honestly have no clue what you're talking about when you say that, my caster dragon who has zero invested in either strength or tooth and claw gets an average of roughly 500 damage per GR hit. And you couldn't possibly be talking about BoFB doing 200 damage since the minimum of the ability is 600. If either is doing 200 damage against something, the problem is that what you're aiming it at has armor that reduces the damage you would otherwise do, not the ability itself.

    Istara's Chosen Guildmaster
    Experienced Hunter, Healer, and Grand Master Crafter

  18. #58
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    Default Re: Talk to the Team: Dragon Schools: New Schools

    -Dragon Vocations-

    After taking some time to digest, to read through all of the discussions on the direction of dragon kind into the future, and to reflect, I decided to put forth my proposal for the dragon prestige schools, hereafter referred to as Vocations. My first suggestion was a far more constraining one, which the player base was unwilling to adapt to; the concept of locking into one school has been a part of dragon life for so long that they clearly want a change from it. I also got the message in that most players do not want their quested abilities taken from them, nor do they want them overly altered. And finally, dragons have stated that they do not want to start whole new characters to advance: they love the characters they had for years, as do I. Thus, I have attempted to refine my concept of Vocations around these ideas and within the current limitations of tech available in game.


    I did not want to have a fully biped-based advancement system for dragons, as that is one of the most important differences between the dragon and biped play experience. Vocations are the same as biped schools in that they are separate schools that must be leveled and contribute to adventure rating; however, there are a few notable differences. First of all, these are true prestige schools: these schools can only be accessed after the dragon has reached 100 in their Dragon Adventurer school (see below for changes on that). Second, the Vocations must be unlocked with a fairly lengthy quest, unlike any biped school. See [here] for the full quest text for each of the new Vocations and all of the challenges therein described. 92 glorious pages of quest text! Third, dragon Vocations receive Stances at max level; these stances cannot be mastered and serve as capstones for the school. More on this later. And finally, the option exists that the abilities listed for the Vocations below can be unlocked via questing rather than pure leveling; however, given the extreme difficulty involved in altering quested abilities in the future, I do suggest against this idea at this time. While abilities that are quested can be linked to schools, I get the feeling that they cannot be *un-linked* in the future, leading to complications of balance considerations further down the line.


    I have done my best to balance these Vocations from a purely theoretical standpoint, and it is likely there will need to be kinks to iron out. I have made this proposal as complete as possible – that means the following Vocations have fully fleshed out abilities, as close to how they would appear in game as I could make them. These show levels, advancement based on levels and abilities comparable to them, area, range, recycle, even extended lore text similar to those on Drain Strike for most of the hoard-based abilities as well as suggestions on what animations currently in game (used or unused) that would work for them. I wanted to make this as easy on the developers as possible to implement if they so choose – everything here can be simply copy-pasted into appropriate parameters. Essentially I have done everything I can short of programming it into the game myself, as that is far beyond my skill. On that note, a caveat: I do not have access to the game’s code, which means there may be parts of the ability that we cannot see in our window, such as melee or spell-based ability. These parts are, of course, missing, but I am certain common sense can be applied as I have included short descriptions of what abilities are meant to do and clarified them in (parenthesis) when necessary.


    In addition to the new Vocations, I have also added new spells (as one of the new Vocations brings in a new casting skill for dragons), suggested which techniques could apply to them, added new techniques, added new items, and suggested changes to the current items. Furthermore, I have commented on the metagame somewhat, suggested necessary changes to bring the old dragon adventurer into a somewhat more steady power curve with the new Vocations, and of course added all of the quest text and suggestions on the quests’ implementation in a separate thread. So this is a lot to read and digest. If you wish, please take the time to peruse the following carefully and offer up suggestions or criticisms on the abilities, Vocations, quests, or indeed any of the following.



    – Stances –

    Stance abilities work nearly exactly to how they are described in the Dragon Stances post on this board. They are abilities that come extremely late into the schools, and are not masterable – meaning if you want a particular stance, you will have to be in the school that has it. Since it can be assumed players will multiclass a lot and because it is entirely possible to master all of these schools, the stance choice is relatively minor, but it might make you think as not all of the abilities in these new schools are masterable of course – you might want the Myrmidon’s Stance of Blood for its melee damage potential, but you really like the elemental damage of the Talonmaster or the paladin-like Champion and his ability to tank multiple small mobs at once with his Protector’s Stance – and so choices and decisions!



    The main purposes of the Stances are to further differentiate the Vocations from biped schools and to add a layer of choice and ‘specialization’ into the new schools. I did not make fully detailed abilities of them as I did everything else because there are no current abilities other than the old Rock-Paper-Scissors stances that existed previously, but they are explained in some detail with the numbers given. These may need to be altered for balance, but that would require in-game testing.
    Maekrux Vythulhar, the Blue Phoenix
    "Resurgam!"

  19. #59
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    Default Re: Talk to the Team: Dragon Schools: New Schools

    - Changes to Current Dragon Adventurer

    While most of these speak for themselves, I’d like to add a little bit of commentary here as to why I have changed what I have. Stat-wise, we are largely fine as is – DAdv is a hybrid school capable of both casting and melee, and the hybrid stats reflect this. Health was brought up partly because it was suggested on these boards, partly because it makes sense, and partly because of the skill changes. With our main skills now reduced per level to 8, our accuracy is going to suffer, which will cause longer fights. The extra health should help offset this while not making us much stronger than we are.

    The masterable abilities are largely those that make logical sense – a dragon is always going to bite and claw at enemies, because they are uses for their literal body parts. Ravage, Claw Strike, and Silver Strike were not included in this however, because they were chosen to be ‘defining abilities’ of the Vocation and other melee-oriented Vocations will receive something similar to replace them. I know you might be worried that you are losing too many abilities, but know that each of the new Vocations share at least some of the dragon abilities you already possess – so even though Determination is unmasterable, you will get it again as a Myrmidon. This is true of some masterable abilities as well.

    I changed Galewind to primal damage because I wanted to further define it as a spell-casting ability, and as such it will reappear with the spell-oriented Vocations. In addition, Stance of Eminence was added to make the Vocation a viable option for ‘final’ school. I also changed the name of the school to Conqueror – largely because the idea of calling an ancient dragon a ‘juvenile’ feels quite demeaning after nearly 13 years of playing the game.

    There will need to be changes to the quested abilities so that the new abilities are not just ‘power on top of power.’ I’ve detailed them below, but I want to stress this so I will say it here: If you decide to implement this and test it on Blight, do NOT make any of these changes to the DAdv school until the new ones are working. Guaran’s point about the game not surviving dragons being broken for an extended period rings very true to me. If I lost my main, his progress, his lair, or pretty much anything of his for an extended period, there’s a high probability I’d unsub and others might as well.



    Dragon Adventurer – Name changed to ‘Conqueror.’

    Requirements to join: None

    -Changes to Stats-
    Health: 25
    Others: Unchanged

    -Changes to Skills-
    Primal: 8
    Tooth and Claw: 8
    Dragon Breath: 8
    Others: Unchanged

    -Changes to Spells-
    Current spells remain unchanged. They also gain the following new spells: Storm Bolt, Improved Storm Bolt, Gift of the Prime, Gift of the Myrmidon, Gift of Blood, Storm Blast

    -Masterable Abilities-
    Bite [Max: III]
    Dodge
    Tail Whip [Max: III]
    Refreshing Breeze [Max:III]
    Claw Mastery [Max: 09; Note: See the changes to weapons after the Vocation and spells sections. Some weapons have been added to reflect and enhance the changes.]
    Galewind [Max: III. Damage should be changed to primal.]
    Snarl [Max:II]
    Staggering Howl [Max: I]

    -Unmasterable abilities-
    Allowance of Power
    Silver Strike
    Determination
    Primal Roar
    Menacing Presence
    Ravage
    Claw Strike

    -New Ability-
    Stance of Eminence - +100 Armor, 25% chance to reduce incoming damage by 10% [Level: 100; Animation: X stance (I don’t know what colors are available for these, so pick whichever makes the most sense.)]

    -Quested Ability Notes-
    I recommend a loss of 100% damage adjustment across the board on Gold Rage (so GR I is 100% adjustment, GR II is 150%, etc). I know that most dragons do not want to lose this ability, and tech prevents us from losing it easily anyway, but considering all that will be available, this is not much to ask. It will make leveling a dragon and fighting some of the RoP/ARoP mobs a little more challenging, but I do not believe this will be an insurmountable change. Drain Strike should also be brought down 10% per level in the same way.

    I highly suggest that this be done incrementally, as well. Bringing it down 20% every delta or so will let people get used to the change, and will give them time to access the new abilities. The goal of this change is to spread out the power of the dragons to other abilities so that we are less of a one-button-wonder.

    While testing this on Blight, I highly suggest not making any changes to the quested abilities until such time as the new schools have all the kinks worked out of them. As Guaran has pointed out elsewhere, it would be horrible to have dragons in an unplayable state for an extended period, even on the test server; having things business as usual in the Conqueror school should help. Once the schools/unlocking quests/etc are all in working order, then making changes as described above would be best and final balance adjustments can be made.





    -- New Vocations --

    As explained above, all of the following Vocations must be unlocked with a somewhat lengthy quest which will include fighting a few epic mobs and other things. Think of them as mini-ROPs. These quests not only serve to unlock the Vocations, but also help to establish the lore for them and explain why they are not currently taught. All of the details of those quests and those mobs can be found [here].

    As I did with the Conqueror, I want to take a moment to explain a few things here. All of these Vocations have a starting description that gives a little bit of history and suggestion as to where the quests might start. It also punctuates the basic role of the class (Myrmidon is a warrior, Talonmaster is a warrior/mage, etc). Following the description are their stat and skill progressions, the spells they have access to including the new ones, shared abilities, and finally new abilities making up the bulk of the text.

    Though they do have particular roles as noted in their descriptions, I do want each of the Vocations to stand out on their own. The Myrmidon is unique for its pure physical damage (it doesn’t even get access to primal attack spells) and multi-hit abilities; the Talonmaster is unique for its elemental damage; the Champion is unique for its tanking abilities such as low but continuous damage and healing, which should help keep even Istaria mobs sticking on him; the Judicator has strong healing and flame based abilities (nearly all their abilities are based off Dragon’s Breath skill, which is quite unique); the Primalist has extremely powerful single target abilities and battle-altering mezes and snares; and the Cloudmender has the new Storm magic skill and a unique play style based on short duration, low frequency, but high damage and healing abilities (see the spell section for more notes on Storm and how to implement it). If you think that these Vocations do not stand out enough, please suggest ways at which the abilities might be altered to better fit them.

    Finally, the abilities are created primarily using information from other abilities – in other words, I wanted to make sure that whatever abilities I came up with should be possible with the tech that exists. I’ve noted when I am not certain if what I am doing actually works or not. Many of the abilities are further differentiated from the majority of biped schools by having a drawback associated with them: Malganival’s Bulwark gives you a lot of armor, but roots you; Reckless Strength greatly increases damage and strength, but greatly decreases armor and magic evasion; and so on. If you think these draw backs do not go far enough or too far, feel free to comment on that. In addition, if you have questions or comments on whether or not an ability should be masterable (as denoted by an asterisk), feel free to comment as well. The ‘Ultimate Dragon’ section puts all masterable abilities together succinctly.
    Maekrux Vythulhar, the Blue Phoenix
    "Resurgam!"

  20. #60
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    Default Re: Talk to the Team: Dragon Schools: New Schools

    Myrmidon – Dragon Warrior. These dragons were some of the most terrifying ever to take to the battle field. They allowed their inner fire, gift of Drulkar, to be stoked into an unquenchable rage. They were at the vanguard when the Kingdom of Barasavus fell, their genocidal claws frightening even their kyn. Rumors persist that one of the Myrmidons even stuck down a fellow dragon in his rage. Following this event, the school of study was banned from the Grand Academy, but the school was not forgotten – and indeed, practiced in secret by a few. Rumors persist that the Entombed was incarcerated not only for his actions, but for the manner in which he performed them…

    -Requires-
    Completed “Search for the Ultimate Warrior” questline, which itself requires a level 100 Conqueror.

    -Stats-
    Armor – 5
    Dexterity – 8
    Focus – 6
    Health – 32
    Power – 6
    Strength - 10


    -Skills-
    Dragon Breath – 9
    Evasion – 10
    Magic Evasion – 7
    Tooth and Claw – 11

    -Spells-
    Loses access to all primal and storms spells except the following: Primal Revitalize, Gift of the Myrmidon, Primal Velocity, True Grit, Primal Bolt, Improved Primal Bolt, Storm Bolt, Improved Storm Bolt

    -Shared Abilities-
    Bite [Unchanged]
    Tailwhip [Unchanged]
    Determination [Unchanged]
    Staggering Howl [Unchanged]
    Refreshing Breeze [Unchanged]
    Claw Mastery [Unchanged]
    Menacing Presence [Unchanged]
    Ravage [Level 6, 36, 66, 96 – yes, this means ravage gets one extra level for Myrmidons. Hoard cost increases to 360 for the additional level.]


    -New Abilities-

    Platinum Strike – (Upgrade to Silver Strike)
    [Level: 2, 12, 22, 32, 42, 52, 62, 72, 82, 92; Animation: Silver Strike]
    When Used: 2 extra attacks
    +11 damage [+11 per level]
    Recycle: 0:30
    Range: 0
    Hoard Cost: 100 [+100 per level]
    [Lore Text: “The best defense is a good offense. As a corollary, the best offense is also a good offense!” – Anonymous]

    Strength Boost* - 10 Strength +20 per level [Level: 29, 89]

    Reckless Rage
    – Fly into a rage, increasing strength and damage by a significant amount, but decreasing armor and magic evasion.
    [Level: 23; Animation: Menacing Presence]
    When Used
    Delay: 20
    Recycle: 3:00 [Shares recycle with Malganival’s Bulwark]
    Range: Self only
    Target Effect: Reckless Rage
    --
    Reckless Rage Effect: [Attacks Only] Does 135% of normal damage
    +350 Strength
    -600 armor
    -300 magic evasion
    Duration: 1:00
    Cannot Be Dispelled


    Whirling Dervish* – (Area attack, melee, two hits, Hoard.)
    [Level: 50; Animation: Tail Whip]
    When Used: 150% damage adjustment
    1 extra attack
    Recycle: 3:00
    Range: Self only
    Area: 6
    Hoard Cost: 1500
    [Lore Text: “Few accounts survived the fall of Barasavus. What few accounts we have suggest that, although the nation was one of the most populous ever seen at that time with a city rivaling the size of Tazoon, the dragons could hardly be approached in battle. Even if defneders tried to strike from behind, they would twist about as though they were a whirlwind of living scale.” –Archeologist Haught]
    [Dev Note: I know a revamp of the T3 areas is coming, and that includes Tazoon and the deserts of Barasavus. If there is a better scholar to attribute this quote to, feel free to reattribute it.]


    Savage – Digs your talons deep into the target with both hands.
    [Level: 5, 15, 25, 35, 45, 55, 65, 75, 85, 95; Animation: Claw Strike]
    When used:
    +3 damage [+3 damage per level]
    1 extra attacks
    Converts damage to pierce
    +10 attack skill (chance to hit)
    Recycle: 0:20
    Range: 0
    In Red Stance or Blood Stance: +7 damage [+7 per level]
    [Dev Note: If Red or Blood stance on the same ability doesn’t work, or Red stance has to disappear for the new stances, make it just Blood stance.]


    Violent Speed – Grants a burst of attack speed, but causes damage over time from overexertion.
    [Level: 53; Animation: Menacing Presence]
    When Used
    Delay: 20
    Recycle: 3:00
    Range: Self only
    Target Effect: Violent Speed, Violent Outcome
    --
    Violent Speed Effect: [Attacks Only] Modifies delay by -25%
    Duration: 1:00
    Cannot Be Dispelled
    --
    Violent Outcome Effect:
    Extra Damage: 75-103 bleed
    Duration: 1:00
    Frequency: 0:10
    Cannot Be Dispelled

    Shared Bloodlust – Shares the Myrmidon’s bloodlust with everyone around you, increasing attack and movement speed.
    [Level: 80; Animation: Determination]
    When Used
    Delay: 20
    Recycle: 1:00
    Area: 15
    Range: Self only
    Target Effect: Shared Bloodlust
    Shared Bloodlust Effect: Modifies delay by -25%
    +10 Speed
    Duration: 2:00:00
    Requirements: Current School Level Minimum (80)
    [Dev Note: This is an AE Gift spell and takes a gift slot. It conflicts with both Alacrity and Speed and overwrites both. It does both just as well, so its real strength is making sure combat speed is maxed without wasting a gift slot on it.]

    Feeding Frenzy* – Rends every foe in an area around you, using their pain to recover health.
    [Level: 8, 28, 48, 68, 88; Animation: Area Syphon]
    When Used
    Damage: 30-40 [+15-15 per level], 100% of damage done given to attacker
    Attack Type: Slash
    Area: 15
    Recycle 3:00
    Range: Self Only
    Delay: 20
    Skill: Tooth and Claw
    Hoard Cost: 460 [+260 per level]
    [Lore Text (Optional): “They slew women and children without remorse. Devoured them like demons of our darkest dreams.” –George the Dragonslayer]
    [Dev Note: I used area syphon as a base for this attack, and that might not be correct as area syphon is a spell and this is not intended to be. If this does not work, please make the necessary alterations.]


    Stance of Blood – +100 Tooth and Claw, 10% chance to increase damage by 25%
    [Level: 100; Animation: X stance (I don’t know what colors are available for these, so pick whichever makes the most sense.)]
    Maekrux Vythulhar, the Blue Phoenix
    "Resurgam!"

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