I'm going to break off this thread from the needles thread to discuss tealizard's suggestion in that thread that positional attack spells be considered instead of arbitrary targeting. This is by no means a full endorsement of the idea so do not take this thread as a devteam sign off that we'll definitely do whatever is written, but it's interesting and I'd like to see what comes out of fleshing out
specific ideas for positional attack spells. As a working definition a
positional attack spell is a non-targeted spell which interacts with the player's position (including in this the player's tactical status, hp, mp, status effects) for determining its effects. Some flexibility is needed for this definition: the spell can be targetable but still require good positioning; for the purposes of this discussion assume the ui makes the right auto-targeting choice when in the correct position.
tealizard took an extremist point of view: remove
all targeting. I'm skeptical of this point of view since it's so intertwined with automation and ui improvements, but I'm willing to bet there are some good spell ideas (new, revision, or replacement) in specific examples.
Targeting vs positioning Ranged attacks care less about the position, since many monsters are less dangerous at range, and targeting takes no time, which limits the tactical relevance of positioning when using a ranged attack. Changing position takes time, so using positional spells effectively requires changing the tactical situation which comes at a cost since monsters react.
Regarding automation As pointed out to death in that thread there is already automagic and Lua targeter control. Automation and ui improvements are an orthogonal issue to "what tactical depth can be provided by positional spells", so let's leave it aside in this thread. If you've got an idea for a targeted spell that usually has a "best" target that requires positional set up, just assume the ui figures that out for the purposes of this thread.
Regarding summons You could make the argument that summons are "positional" in that the player has allies to position around and with respect to. With a few exceptions these should be left aside in this thread.
Facing Adding facing to crawl would be bad. Don't suggest that.
With all that said, have at it, pitch some interesting positional attack spells, generate ideas. Two ground rules: one, single target but auto-targeting is not "positional", it's a ui improvement; two, I'd like the focus to be on spell ideas, try not to focus too much automation/ui concerns in an idea unless you're certain they'll screw things up for the spell.
To kick things off, here's my list of crawl's positional attack spells with some notes, to give some examples to keep in mind.
- Tornado
- Ozo's Fridge
- Olgreb's
- Ignite Poison
- Discord
- Shatter
- Ignition
These are all AOE attack patterns, mostly with LOS radius. Tornado has some terrain constraints. The positional impacts of these spells are "can I manage the drawback (noise, -Potion, being in the open, having a frenzied monster target me) and are the monsters in the correct place to get good effects from my cast".
- Freeze
- Vampiric Draining
- Sticky Flame
- Static Discharge
- Irradiate
These are melee attack patterns. Three are targeted melee (room for automation here to make their ui more like melee weapons and reduce keypresses, but we're not focusing on ui), and the other are melee range but untargeted. The positional considerations with these spells are essentially the same as those with melee.
- Conjure Ball Lightning
- Chain Lightning
These are autotargeted patterns. The spells don't use the targeter, but don't (necessarily) hit every monster in LOS. CBL requires some open space and distance from the target because of the self-damage. Chain Lightning has its own considerations to make sure the desired target gets the mega damage.
These are targeted spells, but if you want to maximize their use then you want to bolt bounce, which means working out relative positions of yourself, monster, and wall. The positioning does lead to tactical choices "do I abandon a better defensive post to get a better killshot on monster X, or take two casts and stay where I am?" but often also needs a lot of manual targeting. The latter aspect is an automation question, so for now assume that an "optimal bounce autotargeter" exists for the automatically selected default.
- Summon Forest
- Malign Gateway
- Summon Lightning Spire
These are terrain altering summons. Unlike other summons, they are (mostly) fixed in place. Malign Gateway currently isn't that tactically deep, since it attacks out of LOS. Making it only attack in LOS would be a nerf, but also make it tactically interesting: the player must contend with the chaos effects on monsters and judge how long to stick around once it turns. Summon Forest has the dryad, which has its ally positioning that I'm leaving aside in this thread, but it also turns some walls into trees, can change los, and place water, which means that taking advantage of it after its cast requires maneuvering. SLS is targeted, but won't move once placed. The placement choice does provide it with some tactical flexibility, and as a situation evolves a player may want to move relative to it, so I think it works as a good example of how a limited targeter can play a role in a positional spell.
Finally, some spells with positional considerations that aren't translocations or attack spells, just to keep in mind.
- Silence
- Darkness
- Ozo's Armour
- Swiftness