Anyways, this time we've got an interesting quote about the skill system.
Official Blizzard Quote:
Diablo: The skill system revision is in full force. Trees begone! I think it might be a winner. Jay says hi.
So there we have it, skill trees might be out for good. This could be a good thing though, we've just grown so accustomed to skill trees that we haven't taken time to consider what benefits may come of a tree-less skill system.
First off, no longer would we have to waste skill points in skills we never use. Remember in Diablo II, when you had to put a point into Sacrifice to get Blessed Hammer? Nine times out of ten, that was a wasted point that never saw any usage. No longer would we need to waste our points in skills we'll never use.
Also, this will open up countless character customization options. Sure, cookie cutter builds could become even more widespread, but for those players who liked to experiment with new and innovative builds, this will be a godsend. Now, we may be able to take a sampling of skills that work well together, but don't fall into the same skill tabs.
But, in classic Blizzard fashion, they didn't tell us more than we need to know. They left us to ponder what the new skill system could be, and knowing Blizzard, it will probably blow our socks off.
Also, props to Kamori for noticing it first, throw some rep at him if you've got the time.
Now if there are no pre req to any skill then what is stopping me from doing what they don't want me to do and that is horde my points till I hit X level and then put them all into the skill I want? They remove 1 problem and make 1-2 more.
Now the idea is very rough, since I haven't given much though to it. Instead I'm just going to write it out as it appears and let you guys sort out the details.
Since the beginning of time, (or RPG games) there have been skills. Skills are leveled up by clicking on them upon the gain of a new skill point.
Click* +1 to skill.....Skill reaches next level and thus goes up in strength with all kinds of predefined levels of usefulness.....
What if , upon reaching a new level, we would be given the choice to level a certain perspective of a skill instead of a skill as a whole. This would mean that instead of....
Click* +1 to Fireball = +damage, +radius, +fire, etc....
We first unlock the spell or skill (maybe with a quest/prerequisites or even class specific books) then every level we gain we are given skill points (not the same as D2 skill points) but simply points that would be used to directly level up certian aspects of skills.
(Reach a level) +20 Points
Click to customize whichever skill you need to customize...
For example, I'm a wizard, I like using a mix of teleport and disintegrate.
I use a tactic that heavily relies on placement and focus fire to eliminate large groups standing in a row with a direct beam.
So I could choose to level my tele speed, or distance and level up the disintegrate range in order to maximize the ammount of monsters I hit per cast.
I use this tactic for a few levels since I notice it's doing good, but then when I enter a new dungeon I notice that my spell power is lacking. So I then decide to spend the next point on damage instead of range.
All boosts could also be complemented with drawbacks. More range could mean less width of the beam. More damage could mean more mana usage per second. More width could mean a slower cast speed. etc etc. This way, it could prevent users from becoming too uber in a short span of time by simply leveling one skill. And it would make sure that we wouldn't end up maxing out a skill by level 10.
I wanna write some more but my wife says we gotta head out, so I'll let you guys talk some more about it.
- This gives players a HUGE number of ways to level up their character but that limits the skills useable alot. People will be to concentrated on leveling up say FB to top range, top width, top damage, instead of going dmg here, width on this skill, ect.
- What about Barbarian battle order type skills? Do we cut them up and have 1 skill point as life and 1 as mana?
The idea is good but flawed in the fact that it just rips skills apart and substitutes points that would be used on useless skills to just complete what is now just 1 skill.
I can't wait to see what Blizzard has under their sleeves cause they have some serious issues here with their skill systems and skills, and have said numerous times they want all the skills to be useful and better off then they were in D2...but maybe they bit off a little more then they can chew cause obviously they are having some issues.
2013 anyone?
Let's say we still have 20 skill levels of fireball, and you can choose to upgrade cast rate, damage, range, and area of effect. Once you reach the 20th level of fireball, you have effectively maxed the skill, but not all portions of the skill.
Eg. If you have maxed Fireball, you can either have maximum range and maximum damage, which would benefit long range shooting (Like a sniper rifle). Or, you could have maximum cast rate and the biggest area of effect (Like an Uzi with huge bullets). Or, you could have max cast rate and range, meaning you deal lots of low-powered fireballs.
You add these combinations on top of the runes to create even more variety in how people can use the one skill.
The problem is though, whilst I can see this working for some active skills like fireball, how would you go about doing something like whirlwind? Spinning rate (higher = damage), speed (higher = quicker, but less damage), range (higher = further at same speed) and perhaps Damage bonus (higher = more damage)
How about if we took that concept a little further by directly linking skills together. So basically this would mean that a player would choose his main skills and have them linked together to create new skill effects.
This would make nearly every skill usefull in the way that they would complement each other as well as create a way for the player to get more for his buck. It would only be done with none passive skills.
For example, if you mixed whirlwind with that smash skill it would create a new version which would spin the character and as soon as you released the button, your character would simultaneously perform a big finish to his WW by smashing the ground in front of him.
Kinda like the combo from God of War. Basically chaining different skills together for various effects. A zombie dog linked with wall of zombies would create a pet that attacked targets and upon a successful hit, zombies would come up and hold him in place to further enable the player to deal ranged damage to it.
Fire Bomb with Terror would create a bomb that replaced it's fire damage with a terror effect. Notably usefull for clearing out some potentially deadly monsters from a room without having to go in and suicide.
Those were just a few examples so to try to get the idea out there.
What u guys think?
U realize how much time they been, and still have to work on it....
Though, It doesn't necessarily mean that I am really thinking it could be done or not on Diablo3. It's Not like most of the stuff people talk about out here is taken seriously anyways.
Guess it's just to share what we believe might be cool ideas.
[/quote]You don't hunt for champions, they are randomized and appears as you play the game. You don't get more champion kills by going to a certain area or doing a certain thing.[/quote] They are randomized and thus I have to search and hunt through the game to find them, that's not very fast or convenient and takes you out of the action cause you are spending time looking for these champions just so you can unlock a skill.
So these skill books then just unlock skills, what if I get a skill book I don't want? Do they work for any skill? I search and find a champion after 20 mins and bam, he drops me a bash skill book when I wanted a leap attack skill book...time to search again.
If 20% are for my class why would only 4% be for my build? Also they would have to implement a system where monsters only drop your character class skill books which would turn into a hassle with multiplayer and if they didn't people would just trade em off.
Also, if you still limit peoples skill points with drops, then people will just horde their points until the finally get a skill that they wanted. Hording skill points is something they wanted to change from D2.
Why not have each skill have its own experience? The more you use a skill the more powerful it becomes. I don't know how this would work with passives... maybe if it boosts life, the more damage you take the stronger it becomes. You could also have new skills tiers unlocked at certain levels. That way you still get better skills at higher levels. I think to work, if a skill is idle (you stop using it in favor of a different skill) it begins to wane.
The whole book thing seems too unnecessarily complicated in my opinion. And I like mattheo_majik idea of increasing certain aspects of a skill. Maybe instead of 20 points to invest in any skill, you can only improve 1 skill, but as you wish.
Like, instead of doubling fireball damage, I'd like to x1.5 it, but also increase it's area of effect. Each aspect would have a limit, so you don't have a massive fireball that does virtually no damage.
Before d2 release, I hoped the return of books. When I knew that each character will have there own unique skill, I continue to hoped that the books bring standard spell that any character be able to use (like healing, resurect, teleport...) But I be disapointed...
Maybe they will do that with the books but now I hope each own characters skills will not work with books.
For who my english quality hurt you, I'm sorry !