Three classes to cover today, including one with lots of changes beyond the new perk.
The Ranger’s new perk “Hellhound” is a completely daft one. Your dog polymorphs whenever it gets excited! This can be pretty useful:
…or it can turn into a chicken.
Since a self-polymorphing Dog could end up way too fragile far too often, I’m trying out a change to Polymorph alongside this. Polymorphed creatures will now keep a fraction of their original health instead of just getting the bar appropriate to their new form. This reduces the impact of Polymorph slightly. I’m still playing with this change; if it sucks, I’ll put it back and look at ways to make Hellhound more durable when shapeshifted.
The Paladin gets a much more controlled perk. I wanted to make something which really emphasises the Magic Burn mechanic and gives the Paladin a class-appropriate direct damage spell. What I’ve come up with is the new perk “Forbidden Arts”, which replaces Holy Armor with the new magic spell “Mania”. Mania crazes an enemy into instantly striking and damaging everyone nearby. It’s a good way to use a powerful enemy against its allies:
Of course—this being a Magic spell, it costs 2hp to cast. I think that’s an OK trade for some situational guaranteed damage.
That’s all for those two! The class with the most changes today is the Pugilist.
The Pugilist is something of an odd one out. Since they don’t use weapons, they have to get all their damage scaling through the talent tree. That’s in addition to getting regular, non-damage upgrades from talents if they’re going to stay competitive! Since their skill tree covers these two different roles, the talents in it need to be about twice as good as anyone else’s—and most of them weren’t.
The Pugilist’s “Celerity” is now “Lightfooted”, which gives +1 attack as well as +1 speed. The “Headbutt” talent will now only daze you one time in ten, so it’s a pretty straight upgrade from Uppercut (but still has a tiny bit of flavour). “Come At Me” now gives enemies -4 defense instead of just -2 defense, and I’ve bumped “Toughness” from 6 hp to 7 hp. Meanwhile, the “Fatality” talent is getting a big overhaul. Now, when you kill an enemy with “Fatality”, enemies standing next to you or your victim are paralysed with terror by the bloody mess.
Gear wise, I wasn’t happy with how much stronger the Boxer’s Boots were than any other gear option. I’ve changed the speed buff on Boxer’s Boots from +2 to +1; the Fightin’ Mitts now give +1 minimum damage; and Fightin’ Stuff gives you two Potions of Invincibility, not just one. I hope that levels it out a bit!
Finally the Pugilist’s new perk is “Spitting Blood”, both figuratively and literally. With this perk, you get better at fighting as you lose health! Above three-quarters health, you’re down 1 point of attack; but below half health your chance to land a critical hit improves by 25%. Even better, any critical hits you land this way will temporarily blind your enemy. Right in the face!
I feel the net effect of all these changes and improved options is to make the Pugilist even stronger in the mid- to late-game. To balance it all out, I’m taking a point off the least important base stat: Defense. I’m sure you won’t miss it. 🙂
On Wednesday I’ll go over the new Alchemist perk and all the upcoming Thief changes. See you then!