So all Darkfall Veterans are aware that Destro is an archery class with heavy armor on and it requires very good aim to succeed. I have come to realize that even though Darkfall players will deny it, they really do love to roleplay. It's probably some psychological phenomena that drives a person to subconsciously gravitate to various choices in life and more importantly in Darkfall. Such as choosing to be a Destro to shoot arrows when their real underlying desire was not to put themselves in a situation that requires excellent aim. It was quite literally to roleplay a non-wizard. This was seen in DFUW where Skirmishers were essentially Archers that used old DF1 spells that were Arrows instead of "magic". People really loved being an "archer" even though it was the closest thing to a Darkfall mage that there was in DFUW. My suggested new Archery Abilities (spells): 1.) Incendiary Shot Cost: 2 Sulfur Cast Time: 1.5x attack speed Cooldown: Same as mage r90 Effect: 20% less damage than a standard arrow. Using the Magma Storm spell from Fire Magic, the projectile model will be an arrow with a ball (bomb) attached to the tip. Essentially the splash damage of an r90. No knock-up. Puts r90 spells on Cooldown (maybe an additional +2 sec to other r90s) to remove incentive for mages to use this ability. 2.) Corrosive Shot Cost: 1 Resin; 1 Sulfur Cast Time: 1x attack speed Cooldown: 8 seconds Effect: 10% less damage than a standard arrow. Standard Arrow projectile that inflicts a DoT (Acid Damage). Purpose: Use to attempt to kill players who bunnyhop to 1 hit. 3.) Focused Shot Cost: 1 Nacre; 1 Sulfur Cast Time: 1.5x attack speed Cooldown: 10 seconds Effect: 20% less damage than a standard arrow. Uses the same mechanics as any bolt spell (faster travel speed, limited distance, straight flight path). Animation: uses the standard arrow model, maybe with an exaggerated trace line. Just simple Arrow damage, no DFUW stamina/mana damage. The goal here is to make shooting standard archery hits higher DPS if they land, then have these optional Archery Abilities (spells in disguise) that the player could use alternatively. The damage I listed here should cause them to be lower DPS, and only the Incendiary Shot and Focused Shot would increase the archer's hit rate. The shared cooldown with r90 spells ensures that a mage won't have an additional spell in their tool belt, but an option to go with archery OR magic. Destros who have good aim will still deal more DPS than those that use these spells. The big issue here will be: What happens when a good player who already does exceptionally well with archery adds in Incendiary Shot and Focused Shot to their tool belt? Hopefully the cast time and stat cost will be limit enough, but in case it's not enough of a balancer, I was thinking that using any of these spells could cause the archer to debuff themselves with Archery Slow (that doesn't stack with the mage version) to a small degree for 2-3 seconds (named Noch Fatigue). Low and Medium skilled archers might gravitate toward focusing on these Archery Spells rather than standard shots to increase their hit rate. While High skilled players may only use them sparingly due to the lower direct damage and lower overall DPS. Other ideas: Short Duration Debuff Arrow Shots (4-6 seconds) Hitscan Arrow Shot Smokebomb Shot (like Icestorm coverage) Archery doesn't have to be a full on Spell School. Just a few things to use similar to Melee having Whirlwind, Knockback and Power Attack.
I never understood why people kept asking to be able to cast spells with a bow instead of with a staff, especially in a game with no classas, but you make a good point about role-playing. But I personally think (others will surely disagree) such abilities should be part of their own specialization, rather than tacked on to Destro.
Well essentially anyone can use these abilities, they're only attached to Archery as a "school". --- Post updated --- Transmutes are just regular arrows.
GO PLAY UW LOL KID --- Post updated --- dont listen this topic starter,or your last active online player will go play dnd
I wouldn't like to see those kinds of things. But it would be nice to see the slower-drawing, heavier damage bows have a faster velocity. Like a 100 lb draw vs a 40 lb draw on a bow. Would give more reason to use slower bows. I imagine people would be using slow draw bows over longer ranges and short draw bows over shorter ranges.
I think you'd just see people use slow draw constantly, because faster projectiles are easier to hit. The low attack speed bows aren't really all that much slower than a fast one especially once you factor in haste. It would just be another destro buff.
Great post man, I am sure you will get the turds who will say no but this game needs some changing. It's stale. Mage is cool but archers in this game get the dick. A few cool arrow shots would really bring some new life to the game.
I don't know. I think the slower drawing bows are better DPS over all. I see most people using faster bows almost invariably and the benefit of using a faster projectile would be minimal at short range. Presently a speed upgraded bolt is faster than a bow over long range as a bolt takes a flat trajectory whilst a bow shot takes an arc.
nah... i just looked it up, and we're using different definitions for 'skill floor' and 'skill ceiling' i blame moba-trash games for muddling the proper definitions
Ehh, no. So your DPS is higher if you land shots with normie arrows. If you splash a r90 arrow your dps will be lower, but you can still hit once every 10 seconds. Thus the floor is lowered, but the ceiling is the same. This is where it gets complicated: How good is the best archer in DF? If the hit rate for arrows is 80% of all total shots on the very best player, but 50% on the average or low end player. How much of an advantage gain is the explosive shot for the very best player? Does the explosive show increase the the high end dps or is it about the same, but the floor is lowered for the worst player?
Hold on a second. Honest question: is this thread a troll? Because I remember very well how nothing short of appalled this community was at anything even resembling archery "spells" potentially being in this game; particularly you, Beargrim. I remember when myself and others merely suggested Archery Skills, that were NOT spells in disguise, but actual utilitarian skills that simply added to the playstyle and offered it more depth to even remotely compare to that of a mage's repertoire, the lynch parties were out in full force at the mere insinuation. And now you're here essentially suggesting we directly emulate DFUW, and it's OK? My, my.
Well in DFUW it was a class. In my thread, it's a set of spells in disguise for all players, but certain lockouts such as the r90 arrow sets the r90 spells on cd.
That's all well and good. Not a suggestion I'd personally be a proponent of, because I believe, just as I always have, that Archery should be separate from Magic and some additional depth via skills that do NOT resemble or emulate magic are all that is needed. But you have to admit, it's nothing short of astonishingly hypocritical and arrogant that when others brought this up well over a year ago, myself included, we were labeled heretics to the "fundamental values" of this game, lynch-mobbed 20v1, which you yourself were a part of, all without an iota of support or intervention from the developers. Spoiler Whereas now when the game has crashed and burned, you're willing to start having this conversation again, as long as it comes from you, and people like Fengor, who "liked" every single lynching post back then, is now "on board" with that which he lynched prior. I sincerely hope you guys take a damned good look in the mirror and realize how your attitude has, without any conceivable doubt, contributed to alienating players from the very start, and to what has become of this iteration. And I hope you learn from it, moving forward. Even if it is basically too late.
