Spell Balancing
by Eli McClanahan · in General Discussion · 08/16/2002 (3:50 pm) · 4 replies
I was wondering about the magic system today, and thought to myself, "What's the use of having so many types of attack spells?"
To resolve this, I've figured on several things about the elemental attack spells (the most common ones):
In effect:
Earth > Water
Water > Fire
Air > Earth
Fire > Air
Those are the counters. Earth won't work on Air but works wonders against Water. You get the idea.
To further this idea, as players aren't going to be made out of fire, I'd suggest allow players to create items, on their own accord, that can be used at any time (only one at a time) to create elemental barriers.
They start out with say, 3 flasks, which they can fill with magical energy. After they're full with the selected element (they can hit "F" for flask, then upon request, select "F" again for "Fire"), they can throw them or drink them to create a barrier.
Whatever element it is will have the strengths and weaknesses of its elements, which means that if you use an Air flask, you'll start to float, which makes you invulnerable to Earth spells, but very weak against Fire spells.
Still, the player won't take damage until the barrier is gone. (This is because people will see someone floating, select a fire spell and run over to fight them for an easy kill.) Rather, the barrier will act like a magical shield (not a physical shield, unless the physical attacks are magical in some way, IF we do that).
Essentially, a Fire spell could take out an Air barrier in one hit, whereas Earth spells can't do damage, and the other elements would take two or maybe three hits to remove the barrier.
So how does that sound? I was thinking up spells for balancing, and I thought up floating, which would help you float across water for instance, and then thought, "Hey, if you're floating, earth spells shouldn't work on you." So, here I am. :p Those type of flasks may also be used for other affects besides barriers, which I haven't thought up yet.
To resolve this, I've figured on several things about the elemental attack spells (the most common ones):
In effect:
Earth > Water
Water > Fire
Air > Earth
Fire > Air
Those are the counters. Earth won't work on Air but works wonders against Water. You get the idea.
To further this idea, as players aren't going to be made out of fire, I'd suggest allow players to create items, on their own accord, that can be used at any time (only one at a time) to create elemental barriers.
They start out with say, 3 flasks, which they can fill with magical energy. After they're full with the selected element (they can hit "F" for flask, then upon request, select "F" again for "Fire"), they can throw them or drink them to create a barrier.
Whatever element it is will have the strengths and weaknesses of its elements, which means that if you use an Air flask, you'll start to float, which makes you invulnerable to Earth spells, but very weak against Fire spells.
Still, the player won't take damage until the barrier is gone. (This is because people will see someone floating, select a fire spell and run over to fight them for an easy kill.) Rather, the barrier will act like a magical shield (not a physical shield, unless the physical attacks are magical in some way, IF we do that).
Essentially, a Fire spell could take out an Air barrier in one hit, whereas Earth spells can't do damage, and the other elements would take two or maybe three hits to remove the barrier.
So how does that sound? I was thinking up spells for balancing, and I thought up floating, which would help you float across water for instance, and then thought, "Hey, if you're floating, earth spells shouldn't work on you." So, here I am. :p Those type of flasks may also be used for other affects besides barriers, which I haven't thought up yet.
#2
08/17/2002 (5:57 am)
I agree actually to completelly be able to block a spell is kinda not a good idea ... however you could go into something like maybe if you use exactly the same element it wont do any damage. But if you use the opposite it will hurt a ton plus break the barrier.
#3
How do you make it so that you have a bunch of attack spells that are all useful? Make them do different things! We don't need a "fireball," an "iceblast", a "lightening spark" and 10 other magics that all just fire an exploding projectile.
I can think of tons of offensive spells that would be useful in different situations.
08/17/2002 (3:13 pm)
It seems to me just a guessing game like rock, paper scissors. Not much skill involved as far as I can tell.How do you make it so that you have a bunch of attack spells that are all useful? Make them do different things! We don't need a "fireball," an "iceblast", a "lightening spark" and 10 other magics that all just fire an exploding projectile.
I can think of tons of offensive spells that would be useful in different situations.
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