Monday, November 23, 2009

Battle Healer (Putting the Spoils in SSPL)

I've been getting kind of excited about a strange idea. Now, before anyone reading this gets too excited, I've been very busy, so this is more brainstorming for a distant future. So the idea: basically it is a new healing item that will come in moonstone, merc, and cad forms (no asklepian).

It can heal players as normal, but the difference is it can be used on monsters. If used on a monster you "heal" them as normal, but instead of getting healed the monster builds up a healing "charge". After being healed for X seconds (or Y (where Y is less than X) seconds after the monster is not actively being healed by the healer), the monster will start getting healed by that charge, and the charge will reduce. When the monster is killed, the charge disperses, probably in the form of little globs that can be picked up for a chunk of health, exactly like blood from monsters is picked up for spirit.

The healing will probably also have a small ramp up period. Starting out slowly and increasing over time as you continue healing the same monster. The exception being burst healing. This part will be very hard to implement.

Obviously the healing will be more effective in some way. Maybe it takes less health away when it heals, more likely it would add additional "faustus" once it ramps up. Or maybe a combination of the two. I'm not at the balancing point yet. How many ranks it will cost, whether it will be capped, and all that is for later.

The basic reasons for all the mechanics:
1) Healing monsters - I wanted a more battle-focused style to be viable. For those fighter-minded healers. Or healers who just want something different.
2) Monster starting to be healed after X seconds - Encourages faustus/bursting, and introduces decision making and risk. Forces the healer to consider which monster is likely to be targeted next.
3) Slow ramp up - More decision making, you need to choose the right monster. It can't be about to die, because you need some time to heal it. But it can't be too tough, otherwise you'll make it even more powerful. Unless you want to keep it alive so people can tag, of course.
4) Monster starting to consume healing from the charge Y (Y < X) seconds - More decision making. You have to pick a monster and stick to it.
5)Healers being able to pick up their own blobs - Alternative self-heal option. Potentially very powerful. I need to be careful with this.

This is how early brainstorming goes. It will be interesting to see what happens in the end, if it every gets implemented.

Some questions I've asked myself, and the answers I'm leaning towards now:

Q: Can a healer be healed by their own globs?
A: Hell yes.

Q: Is this unfair for moonstoners, since they need to get up close and personal with the monsters and can't continually heal some monsters, like feralers?
A: Maybe there needs to be some adjustment for this, but keep in mind they're also closer and ready to pick up the globs when they come out. So if you're a rodding moonstoner (likely) then you're primed to pick up some bonus healing right away. Any consideration for moonstoning should be focused on making rodding interesting.

Q: Can I burst?
A: You betcha.

Q: Why different items?
A: Because in order to interact with monsters they have to be "sticky" when you bump a monster (except for the cad, since it can't burst.) You really don't want your prime moonstone to be sticky.

Q: Wouldn't it be cool if instead of healing normally it did some kind of weird charge-heal over time-splurt blobs when dead kind of thing for exiles like it does for monsters?
A: Maybe that can be worked on. If it could be balanced and interesting.

Q: Aren't players going to heal a vermine for like, an hour, and then use the healing globs to heal a PND.
A: We probably need limits based on the health of the creature, and fallens probably can't pick up the globs.

Q: Seriously, we're calling them globs?
A: Yes. Globs.

Q: Can this heal befriended creatures?
A: I have no idea.

Q: Can this heal friendly creatures?
A: Probably.

Q: Does spirtus/rodnus count for the people picking up the blobs?
A: Probably not. (This would make it much harder to balance, especially if you can pick up your own droplets, but the healing will attempt to be more effective to counteract this. This means that this is generally better used to heal fighters faster, rather than healers. Which is actually kind of desirable for the goals I'm focusing on.)

3 comments:

  1. Wow Slarty. Keep thinking. Sounds fun.

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  2. The more I think about this, the more I think of how handy bloodmages damage over time abilities would be to counteract the healing charge's healing, also killing something slowly/then switching to blam so the healer has time to charge em up the critter to be smashed the second they are done.

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  3. Sounds interesting, but the health payout seems like it'd have to be pretty considerable to make it worth doing. Lots of ifs involved. Monsters consuming charges kind of worries me in particular.

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