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[Role Playing Game] Dynamic Combo Skill System

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Day's End RPG

Hey guys, so this originally started as a thread specifically devoted to getting feedback on my custom combo skill system for an RPG that I am working on called Day's End, but as the project is pretty large and I would like a good amount of feedback on all planned aspects of it. Therefore this thread is instead going to be dedicated to all custom systems for the game.

Side-note: While reading this, it is only naturally to assume that I am full of s**t and that none of this will get accomplished. Although I make no guarantees that this game will be finished or all of these features will be included, many of the systems such as Dynamic Items and Dynamic Combos have already been implemented and work. Thus I am at worst only sort of full of s**t.

What I want from you

As the main purpose of this thread is to gather feedback to refine my ideas and the final game, I would like your opinion, no matter how wrong it is. So give me some feedback. If you do not know where to start here are some good starting points:
1. What systems do you like? Why?
2. What systems do you dislike? Why?
3. What do you think is missing/if you could add any system what would it be?
4. Does this project interest you? If so what excites you most?
5. If you have any ideas for classes, abilities, or changes shout them out!

Also if you have a model that you think would be perfect for this project or would like to work with me to provide some models, I am always looking for new models!

Overview

This is going to be a quick and general rundown of the game so you understand a bit of what it is about. Since this is primarily a systems thread, it will not go into things such as plot, questline, etc. At a very high level Day's End is a multiplayer RPG (up to 8 players) in which players take control of a hero to work their way from killing lowly Kobolds to fighting Fallen Gods. In a high fantasy setting, players dungeon crawl by themselves or as part of a team to level from 1 to 100. On their way, they acquire powerful items, hone their individual build, take place in faction wars to grow their reputation in the world, and complete quests.

Class and Leveling System

Day's End is a class based RPG. This means that each hero has a specific class and skill set. Though classes can be customized to some extent through their builds, overall no two heroes are the same. This provides some structure to the game as well as replay value for players.

Despite this classic take on classes, this is in fact a custom system. Rather than allowing you to choose any class from the start, Day's End requires that you earn your advanced class. At the start of the game, a player can pick any of three Base classes. All other classes must be found by acquiring essences at different points in the game. Once a player has acquire an essence, they may use it to change to this new class. Although they retain their items and Essence count (see below), they start again at level 1 and must master their new class.

Leveling in Day's End also works differently than normal Warcraft (though it does follow a formula familiar to many in the RPG genre). Rather than automatically gaining experience, killing enemies grants a hero Essences. Essences are the primary form of currency in the game, and can be traded to NPCs for goods and services. Essences also can be used to level up the hero; however, only if the hero has enough to gain a full level. A hero can lose some of their Essences however, as when they die, they lose 10% of the current essences they hold.

Base Classes

Soldier - A frontline fighter, the Soldier charges his problems head on. As an introduction to melee oriented classes, the soldier can be diversified greatly even without changing his class. And maybe for those who are willing to wait, can achieve great things.

Ranger - A dexterous archer, the Range slips through forests unseen. With good close combat capabilities as well as his trusty bow, the Ranger can deal out a good amount of damage for a base class. And maybe for those who are willing to wait, can achieve great things.

Mage - A practitioner of the arcane arts, the Mage is a mere shadow of the elemental mastery that a Sage can wield. Due this lack of specialization, the Mage has much greater utility as a magic user.

Advanced Classes

Guardian - A classic tank that shields his party. With abilities focusing on survival and threat, the Guardian is the cornerstone of any party. Alongside his tanking characteristics, the Guardian can support his allies.

Barbarian - A heavy melee hero, the Barbarian boasts the highest health of any character, while also capable of dealing damage to swarms of enemies. Although very strong in combat, the Barbarian struggles to adapt to different roles.

Phoenix Knight - Wielding magic and strength together in a deadly combination, the Phoenix Knight ignites his enemies dealing increasingly more damage over time. A potent damage dealer at his base, the Phoenix Knight can learn to channel his fire to fill different roles.

Alchemist - An incredible diverse and adaptable hero, the Alchemist imbues himself and his allies with different elements, changing the effects of his spells. Alongside his magical components, his pet giant allows him to go toe to toe with nearly any foe.

Brawler - A hero that thrives in center of combat, the Brawler is adept at taking and dealing damage at a close range. Although naturally a good tank, the Brawler's true power lies in his ability to switch between defensive, aggressive and mobile stances, granting him tons of adaptability.

Oracle - The Oracle wields his insight to strengthen his allies and weaken his enemies. With these large scale buffs and debuffs, the Oracle is capable of completely changing the outcome of any battle.

Bishop - The Bishop lies between the common roles of Paladin and Priest. An adept healer, the Bishop is also capable of sustaining himself in melee combat. With the ability to shield himself and weaker party members, a competent Bishop can ground any party.

Sage - The classic powerhouse of magical abilities, the Sage casts spells of nearly every elemental type. Thriving in the chaotic nexus created from these different elements, the Sage is capable of outputting more damage than any other class, making up for his inability to fulfill other roles.

Lancer - An extremely mobile hero, the Lancer thrives on her combos and skill. With a highly demanding skill set, the Lancer requires a high level of focus to thrive. But when this level of focus is reached, the Lancer is capable of outputting a huge amount of damage to single targets and is invaluable in boss fights.

Priest - Devoted to the holy arts, the Priest fills a key role in any party. With great abilities to keep a party, the Priest takes on a large amount of responsibility in the success of his party. Alongside the ability to heal, a skilled Priest can cause significant damage to his enemies.

Druid - With the highest flexibility of any hero, the druid can fill any missing role in a party. By transforming himself into different wild-shapes, the Druid alters how his skills work and combine, filling a different role with each shape.

Inquisitor - The Inquisitor takes great pride in his ability to punish enemies. Between skills that weaken enemies, his abilities to stun, control and immobilize enemies, and draining abilities, no enemy fights the Inquisitor at full strength. With his unique ability to silence and disrupt enemies, the Inquisitor is capable of stopping bosses from wiping out an entire team.

Assassin - A dexterous mid range fighter, the assassin can inflict huge amounts of burst damage on a single target. Alongside this, his abilities to hinder his chosen mark, allow teammates to deal much more damage.

Rifleman - Supported through his large array of unique and distinct bullets, the Rifleman can penetrate even the thickest armor. Although not as mobile as many ranged heroes, the Rifleman targets his enemies from a very far distance, making up for this defect.

Skill, Glyph, and Combo System

Skills

The foundation of combat for a player in Day's End is their skills. Each hero has 6 unique skills which are divided into 3 or 4 Actions and 2 or 3 Spells depending on the class. Actions and Spells fulfill different roles. Actions modify the hero's next attack or causing the hero to trigger a new attack with some effect. These Actions can be combined with one another to perform deadly Combos, which I will go into more detail further on. Spells are a units strongest abilities which can dramatically impact combat when used properly. With higher cooldowns and greater effects, spells do not need to be and cannot be combined with Actions or other Spells to increase their effects.

Glyphs

In order to diversify the possible builds for characters, each class unlocks 10 glyphs. These glyphs are unlocked every 10 levels with the first being available at level 10. Out of these 10 glyphs, a player may choose up to four to have active at any time, allowing for over 200 combinations per hero. The active glyphs act as passive abilities, modifying the heroes Skills or natural abilities in different ways. Glyphs can be swapped in and out at any time, allowing for a player to change their build on the fly.

Dynamic Combos

The heart of the combat system is the ability for players to create dynamic combos with their Actions. Built to be easy to learn/hard to master, any player may mash buttons to execute combos, but a skilled player will choose each Action used and the order of each Action.

Each Action is treated as an instant skill which applys to an attack of the hero. Thus a player can chain multiple Actions together onto a single attack, creating a dynamic combo. This also means that these are not predefined combos, although there may be specific spell behavior that is altered by the flow of a combo.

As this is a fairly complex system which will require a large amount of user experimentation to get the hang of, the best explanation is an example. Let us look at the Guardian class:

---Guardian Action---
Execution - Your next attack deals increased damage to the target, has an increased critical chance and deals a small amount of damage to all enemies in a line. If the target is killed, the Guardian is healed.

Shield Stance - The next time you are attacked, damage is greatly reduced. Also you automatically Riposte triggering an attack that deals increased damage and causes bleeding.

Defensive Sweep - Damage all enemies in a cone in front of you. The Guardian gains increased damage reduction for every enemy damage.

Charge - Charge a target, triggering an attack. The target is briefly stunned and takes increased damage for a few seconds. All enemies in an AOE around the target are damage.

---Combo Examples---
Charge + Defensive Sweep - Charge an enemy. On hit stun the enemy and deal damage to all nearby units. For every unit hit, gain damage reduction.

Shield Stance + Execute - When attacked, reduce damage and riposte for a large amount of damage to the attacked and a smaller amount to all units in a line. Increased critical chance. All enemies hit bleed. If attacker is killed, the Guardian heals.

---Glyph Interaction---
Glyphs may also alter how combos work and open up new combination. As an example, here are three of the Guardian's glyphs:

  1. Defensive stance can be cast a second time in quick succession to cast Bunker- second defensive stance. Greatly Slow move and attack speed for 3 seconds. Every second a aoe low damage attack. Decrease damage passively by 50%
  2. Defensive sweep can be cast a second time in quick succession to cast shield bash - push enemy back slightly and stun for 2 seconds. Deals strength damage.
  3. Step back - any combo with a finish of Defensive Sweep causes the guardian to launch himself backwards gaining 40% damage reduction for a few seconds
---Combo Examples---
Charge + Defensive Sweep (+Step Back Glyph) - Charge an enemy, damaging all nearby units and gaining damage reduction for every unit hit. Then immediately leap backwards gaining additional damage reduction for a few seconds.

Defensive Stance + Bunker + Defensive Sweep + Shield Bash - Passively increase damage reduction. Every second, attack all nearby enemies, stunning enemies and increasing damage reduction for every enemy hit.

Items, Crafting, and Artisan[/h3]
The Item system in Day's End is built to be a key part of the game and can greatly change your hero build. To support this there is a much larger array of stats than base warcraft. The stats a hero has are: Attack Damage, Strength, Agility, Intelligence, Health, Critical Multiplier, Armor, Cooldown Speed, Critical Chance, Damage Reduction, Skill Damage, Healing, Elemental Damages (Fire, Lightning, Holy, etc...), Attack Speed, Healing Recieved, and Evasion.

To support unique items, every item has a dynamic roll. These roles effect the quality of an item. For every stat, an item is assigned a roll between 70% and 130%, this increases that stat from the base value by that much. Therefore some drops are naturally better than other drops. This is done through dynamic item and tooltip generation.

Many items in the game are acquired through completing dungeons, though just as many are crafted from different components. Crafted Items are separated into three categories: Blacksmith Crafted Items, Faction Crafted Items, or Artisan Crafted Items. Blacksmith Crafting is the simplest and most prolific form of crafting items. It can be done at any town blacksmith. Faction Crafting can only be done at specific Faction blacksmiths and requires a certain amount of experience with that faction to craft (See Factions and War below). Artisan Crafting requires a specific Artisan level and type to craft the item and then the player can craft the item.

Artisans[\h3]
As a player adventures, they may pick an Artisan Skill. Each player can pick from: Enchanter, Armorer or Alchemist (Note: looking for more Artisan types, please comment with what they should be able to make). These Artisan Skills allow a player to craft new items and enhance their current equipment. As a player uses their chosen Artisanship, they gain levels in it, increasing what they can craft.

Each item can be upgraded with one Artisan upgrade. The type of these upgrades depends on the Artisan and the strength depends on the level of the Artisan.



War and Factions

To further the gameplay world, there will be many different Factions throughout the world. These are mainly for higher leveled players (50+) and provide additional quests as well as the chance to participate in faction conflicts and wars.

When a player joins a faction, they start at the Initiate rank and can rank up overtime while helping that faction (note: player rank is saved but not faction status in the world). To rank up, a player can complete quests for their faction or participate in wars and battles with their faction. Factions dynamically declare war on one another, attacking different strongholds of other factions or simply fighting in random areas. Anytime a battle occurs, the player may rush to join their faction, gaining faction reputation based on how the battle ends. These battles also effect faction standing in the world (how much other factions dislike them, what units they can muster, and how many strongholds they control).

Factions and Wars also give the chance for PvP. Although members of different factions are not immediately hostile towards one another (as this would reduce the ability to work as a team in dungeons), they become hostile towards one another when entering a battlefield. Slaying a hero of an enemy faction also greatly increases your reputation with your current faction.

As players increase reputation with their faction, new crafting recipes and shops open to them. This allows them to gain more powerful faction based items.

Dungeons, Bosses, Threat, and Rifts

A key part of the game is dungeon crawling. Located throughout the world will be many dungeons. When a player find the entrance to a dungeon, they must gather their party (or just themselves) before preceding in. Once a dungeon is entered, all enemies in the dungeon dynamically scale based on the number of players in the dungeon, making it possible to play alone or in large groups (though some dungeons may be mechanically very difficult to solo). As well as dungeon difficulty, dungeon loot increased based on player numbers, providing more loot for larger parties. Finally, players have the chance to personally scale up dungeons. If a stronger player would like more loot or just a greater challenge, they can scale a dungeon up to the strength of a full 8 players and play through it themselves.

Bosses are a key part of the world and dungeons. There are two types of bosses, world bosses and dungeon bosses. World bosses are hidden at various locations and tend to be much stronger and do not scale with player count. They drop many items that are very necessary for end game progression.

Dungeon bosses are found throughout dungeons. They tend not to drop many items, with dungeons providing a treasure horde after the whole dungeon is complete. The exception to this is optional bosses. These bosses are often much harder than normal dungeon bosses but can be skipped by the players and the dungeon may still be completed.

Bosses are equipped with specific AI mechanics. This includes changes to their auto-attacks as well as triggered spells and event. These mechanics scale with player numbers as well.

To promote team play, a threat system is implemented. Threat is generated based on damage done and constantly degrades for bosses as other players deal damage. A boss always targets the highest threat player with their auto-attacks and may be more likely to cast spells on that player. Tank units tend to have Skills which allow them to generate additional threat.

Rifts

Rifts are a dynamic event in the world. Randomly, rifts may open up in random locations. If a player can reach this location, they may enter the rift, spawning hordes of enemies that attack them. If a player survives the waves of enemies, they get a chance to fight the Rift boss, a random choice from a few unique bosses. Rifts are dynamically scaled based on the level and number of heroes that enter them
 
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The class principle seems sound, but only three base classes seems restrictive (for example, I would have thought Priest and Druid were base classes). Also, you mention a Paladin class, but it doesn't have an entry.

Also, an idea: gaining levels in classes gets you a small passive bonus that carries across classes (as with DQ IX's class system).
 
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The three base classes is fairly restrictive but the idea is that some of the advanced classes would be opened up fairly early on. (~level 15-20 you could access some of the advanced classes). The base classes are more of an introduction to not overwhelm new players with complex classes and each contains a mix of abilities (mage will have some healing abilities).

Classes like the priest and guardian which fill necessary roles in dungeons would actually be able to be found quite early in the game and not require a high level character/completing dungeons to acquire them. More niche classes such as the Lancer and Alchemist would be found later in the game. Therefore players could access some of the easier to use classes early in the game.

Note about the Druid class: this is actually pretty far from a base class. It’s implementation is one of the most complex to play actually with very high potential as filling any role but difficult to learn how all the skills interact. The plan is it to be found only in the late game as a boss drop.

I also do really like the idea of gaining a small passive bonus for certain levels in a precious class. I am playing with the idea of saving each class level so once you unlock a class you can switch back at anytime and have the same level. It would add significant load code bloat is the only downside.
 
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