[Testing and Tweaking]Nightshade Tactics

Discussion in 'Modding' started by Syphonix, Jun 11, 2012.

  1. Syphonix

    Syphonix Member

    Nightshade Tactics (re-imagined) V 0.9
    Description: "Your many years as a drifter, a scoundrel, and a thief has given you a unique set of skills. Some say your fighting style is even dirtier than your dancing."
    Nightshade Tactics is a skill set focused on giving rogue-types more control of the battlefield. You accomplish this via poisons, fear-inducing shadows, and a wild assortment of buffs and debuffs. Nightshade Tactics greatly rewards those who focus on rogue-like stats, such as :sneakiness:, :dodge:, :crit:, and :counter: (especially :sneakiness:, as ALL damage dealt by Nightshade Tactics scales to it).​
    The Spells:
    (Note that all spells scale to :sneakiness:, as I will not mention that in the spell descriptions.)
    Deadly Nightshade Extract (Tier 0, 36 Turn Downtime)​
    "While your time spent as an alchemist's apprentice has taught you some basics, you took the art in a slightly different direction. Mmmmm, yes indeeeeeed."
    • Passively grants 1:alchemy: 1:dmg_toxic:
    • Casts a 3x3 minefield (mines not permanent), dealing 3:dmg_toxic: (0.12 Scale) to targets within and confusing them for 12 turns.
    • Targets affected by Deadly Nightshade Extract will be afflicted with Nightshade Poison, a 20 turn debuff which causes -12:dodge:, -12:block:, -12:counter:, -3:sight:.
    Notes:
    - You can be afflicted by Nightshade Poison (intentional or otherwise), which can be consumed by Unholy Outsourcing Strike to cause a Poison Nova, dealing toxic damage and confusing targets hit for 8 turns.
    - Deadly Nightshade Extract is not a missile spell, so you can toss it right over monsters in front of you.


    Cover of Darkness (Tier 1, 12 Mana Cost)
    "You cloak yourself in darkness so dark, not even a Diggle Night-light could dispel it. Sometimes, when you dodge an attack, it is as if you were never there at all."
    • Casting Cover of Darkness grants both Midnight Shroud and Shadow Tap.
    • Midnight Shroud: a buff which grants you 6:sneakiness:, 6:dodge:, 4:magic_resist:, 2:dmg_necromatic:, 2:resist_nercomatic:, -3:resist_righteous: on a mana upkeep of 1 per 6 turns. Dodging an attack while under Midnight Shroud grants you a 33% chance to go stealth for 4 turns, and grant the next attack made while in stealth a very high chance to be a critical strike. In addition, attacks made while under Midnight Shroud have a 10% chance to cast Fear the Shadows!, a debuff that deals :dmg_necromatic: over time and causes the target to run in fear.
    • Shadow Tap: a 26 turn buff which grants you 1:dmg_necromatic:, 2:sneakiness:, 2:dodge:, 2:magic_resist:. Shadow Tap can stack up to 3 times.
    Notes:
    - Shadow Tap will be consumed by Unholy Outsourcing Strike to cast a Shadow Nova, dealing :dmg_necromatic: in an area and causing targets to run in fear.
    - Cover of Darkness is likely due a nerf.


    Unholy Outsourcing Strike (Tier 2, 28 Turn Downtime)
    "This secret technique was stolen from none other than the Necronomiconomicon, nearly at the cost of your eyebrows by the hands of an Undead Gouda Lich. This attack shifts activities performed within one's own soul to an outside entity to promote cost efficiency. Quite evil."
    • A melee attack which deals 8:dmg_necromatic: (0.28 Scale) to your target. In addition, Unholy Outsourcing Strike will consume the various buffs, debuffs, and poisons caused by the spells in Nightshade Tactics in order to cast a spell on your target or targets. They are generally quite powerful.
    Notes:
    - If you are nearing death, it may be wise to hold off on Vile Amulet until Unholy Outsourcing Strike comes off of cooldown.
    - Will consume the vast majority of buffs and debuffs in Nightshade Tactics, but not ALL of them.
    - You may want to wait to use this ability until a buff is about to expire to get the full potential of it.
    - Eventually, this attack will have interactions with skills other than Nightshade Tactics.


    Scoundrel Tricks (Tier 3, Passive Triggers)
    Hiding in the shadows, blinding your victims, poisoning their wounds... just another day at the office."
    • Passively grants 2:sneakiness:, 1:dodge:, 1:crit:, 1:counter:, 1:dmg_toxic:
    • Dodging an attack has a 7% chance to hide you in the shadows for 4 turns, and make your next attack made while hidden a critical strike (probably).
    • Countering an attack has a 30% chance to cast Blinding Dust, which paralyzes and confuses enemies directly next to you and deals 2:dmg_aphyxiative: (0.18 Scale).
    • Dealing a critical strike has a 60% chance to inflict Poisoned Wound to your target, which confuses them, deals 1:dmg_toxic: (0.14 Scale) per turn for 6 turns, and debuffs them with -12:dodge: -3:armor_asorb:. Poisoned Wound can stack up to 3 times.
    Notes:
    - Scoundrel Tricks greatly rewards a full-on rogue build. That being said, I feel it's overpowered right now.


    Vile Amulet (Tier 4, 18 Turn Downtime)
    "You stole this amulet years ago from some skeleton in a robe. The thing has been whispering recipes for preparing grilled human ever since you got here. It fires off some potent magic, but it doesn't exactly care who it uses it on. (This spell requires a target, but it may cast on YOU instead. Beware.)"
    • Passively grants 2:sneakiness:, 1:dmg_necromatic:, 1:dmg_toxic:
    • Using Vile Amulet will do 1 of 2 things: cast a damaging spell or curse on your intended target (and perhaps his friends as well), or cast a buff or nasty curse on YOU. There are currently 20 possible spells it could cast.
    Notes:
    - Most every curse can be removed from yourself with Unholy Outsourcing Strike. Excellent use of these skills can turn a curse in to a boon.
    - This spell let me sneak in a Wight Form anyway. Eat it.


    Cased the Joint (Tier 5, 95 Turn Downtime)
    "You came here a couple of weeks ago and drew up a crude map of the place. You've got a good idea of where the traps are, and you know which of Dredmor's goons are holding out."
    • Passively grants 2:sneakiness:, 1:trap_sense:, 1:trap_level:, 1:sight:
    • Passively grants a 4% chance on slaying enemies to cast Holding Out, which grants you an (hopefully useful) item.
    • Using this skill casts Consult the Map!, a 20 turn buff which reveals the map for the entire floor (lolwut) and grants you 8:trap_sense:, 2:sight:, 1:nimbleness:, 1:caddishness:. In addition, attacks made while under this buff grant a 7% chance to cast Holding Out.
    Notes:
    - I'm really afraid of having this spell around.



    Shadow Gate (Tier 6, 32 Mana Cost)
    "Your magical Tome of Town Portal has been acting funny. Maybe you should be careful with it..."
    • Passively grants -1:resist_righteous:.
    • Teleports you to your target location.
    • Leaves behind a portal at your previous location and your targeted teleport location. These portals are impassable, and are surrounded by a shadow field which deals 1:dmg_necromatic: (0.18 Scale). The portals and the shadow field last for 6 turns.
    • Casting Shadow Gate inflicts you with Nether Sickness, a 4-hit brittle buff which grants -2:burliness:, -2:nimbleness:, -8:dodge:, -8:counter:, -8:block:. Nether Sickness can stack up to 4 times, so be careful!
    Notes:
    - Spamming this spell (if you can actually afford that) could potentially get you killed. Unholy Outsourcing Strike will NOT remove Nether Sickness.
    - Probably needs a damage buff.



    Ending Notes:
    - Some passives need to be culled out, especially some :sneakiness:.
    - May need to work in some more negative effects on skills other than Vile Amulet.
    - Damage needs tweaking all around.
    - Seriously contemplate Cased the Joint. Balancing something like that is a nightmare.



    If you have comments, good or bad, I welcome them. They help me balance the mod, and make it fun to play.
     

    Attached Files:

    Cullen likes this.
  2. Werediggler

    Werediggler Member

    I had trouble loading the mod to the launcher. The problem seems to be in the fact that you capitalized the mod folder. I know it seems silly but making it lowercase seemed to work.
     
  3. Syphonix

    Syphonix Member

    Alright thanks for the heads up. I'll fix it and re-upload.
     
  4. Cullen

    Cullen Member

    Interest. looks like 1 level skill deal too much damage but well balanced with downtime.

    i wonder Geist form are polymorph? nevermind i'll check it my self.
     
  5. Syphonix

    Syphonix Member

    Actually yeah even with the downtime, it's hitting way too hard even upon hitting level 2. It's getting a nerf when I get the time to drop some more testing hours into this.

    Geist Form is indeed a polymorph.
     
  6. Syphonix

    Syphonix Member

    Ok so, resurrecting this one from the dead...

    I've re-imagined Nightshade Tactics. The form it was in was boring. It tried to appeal to mages and rogues, but could do neither because most of its power was in the polymorph form, making you sacrifice the rest of your build. I spent a considerable amount of time tooling around with what I had and decided to scrap most of it and start over. Losing your job gives you a lot of free time :p.

    I'll be updating the original post with the new skill set and the updated mod files. Please give it a whirl and let me know what you think. My goal was to make it fun and interesting with some powerful synergies. I feel I accomplished this, but not to the degree I wish. I do plan more, especially with Unholy Outsourcing Strike and Vile Amulet. In particular, I want Unholy Outsourcing Strike to consume buffs from skills outside of Nightshade Tactics to cast spells, and I want Vile Amulet to have many more spells in its repertoire.
     
  7. Syphonix

    Syphonix Member

    Ugh ok fixed the download. Forgot to remove comments from testing.
     
  8. HenrySpock

    HenrySpock Member

    Can you mod a piece of equipment for this?

    Because a Clockwork green eye as a helmet (that comes with complimentary brown hood) would be... a keeper...
     
  9. Syphonix

    Syphonix Member

    A piece of Thief-inspired gear eh? Yeah I sure could. Not good on graphics though.
     
  10. Syphonix

    Syphonix Member

    HenrySpock something like this? I am a terrible freaking artist, unfortunately. I tried to make the eyepatch look somewhat like Garrett's eye, as well as the hood.

    [​IMG]

    Need to decide the stats on it. Probably :sight:, :crit:, :sneakiness:, :nimbleness:, :trap_level: in some variety.

    Maybe this :

    Clockwork Eye Patch
    "Now you can lurk in the shadows in style! Zoom function standard. Complimentary gray hood."

    1:sight:, 3:crit:, 4:sneakiness:, 1:nimbleness: 1:trap_level:



    EDIT: I'm likely going to add new dagger for Nightshades to start with as well. Working on it soon.
     
  11. Kawauso

    Kawauso Member

    There's a problem with the zip file, cannot open it.
     
  12. Syphonix

    Syphonix Member

    That's unfortunate. This would have been the last available access I had to this mod. I had a HDD failure and had to completely format. I lost everything. With this ZIP corrupt, then this is basically dead.
     
  13. Syphonix

    Syphonix Member

    Not to mention, this version is so so many versions behind what I had actually created. That's kind of depressing.
     
  14. Kawauso

    Kawauso Member

    This is indeed unfortunate. Let's hope someone have a copy of it.