Makhleb's Destructions


Although the central place for design discussion is ##crawl-dev on freenode, some may find it helpful to discuss requests and suggestions here first.

Tomb Titivator

Posts: 771

Joined: Tuesday, 25th November 2014, 02:47

Post Thursday, 6th July 2017, 08:10

Makhleb's Destructions

Proposal: Reduce Minor Destruction's range from 7 to 5. Increase Major Destruction's range from 5 to 7.

Mahkleb's Major Destruction is a bad ability. It has a range of 5 and casts a spell from the following list: Bolt of Fire, Lightning Bolt, Sticky Flame, Iron Shot, Bolt of Draining, Fireball, or Orb of Electrocution. Since it can pull Fireball and Orb of Electrocution, it cannot be used safely to take advantage of bolt targeting if something is in melee range line of fire. Similarly, due to Orb of Electrocution, you cannot safely cast this spell in corridors or with various terrain features present, and is troublesome to cast at a monster at range 2. It costs piety. Finally, it competes with wands, which generally do the exact same thing and are much more reliable.

Realisitcly, Mahklebs major destruction has a use case of a group of monsters that are exactly 3-5 spaces away and not in a corridor, and casting major destruction in this case is still a wash at best against wands of acid, iceblast, or clouds.

Minor Destruction is a great ability. It has a max LoS range, costs no piety, and can be spammed as a primary ranged attack for most of the game.

This proposal trades some of the use case of Minor Destruction (which is basically whenever you want to use a ranged attack) for the use case of Major Destruction (which is still more situational due to piety costs). It removes some of Major Destruction's competition with wands.

I am not sure if this proposal is a nerf or a buff, thus it feels like it is in a good place.

For this message the author edgefigaro has received thanks: 4
Airwolf, duvessa, nago, Paperbell

Abyss Ambulator

Posts: 1233

Joined: Wednesday, 23rd April 2014, 21:57

Post Thursday, 6th July 2017, 12:43

Re: Makhleb's Destructions

It's probably a nerf, because Minor Destruction is available when other similar options are sometimes not available. On the other hand, Major Destruction becomes available by the time most characters have collected some wands or ranged weapons.

I almost never use Major Destruction, because the variance of the output is too big. In a dangerous situation, I can't rely on it doing damage, because it might pick a spell that my target is resistant/immune to. Also it costs piety, which I'd rather spend on the more predictably useful Greater Demon, although that has its own problems.

In less dangerous situations I don't use Major Destruction, because it costs piety, which again I would rather spend on something else. Although sometimes there is so much piety to go around that I throw it in a couple of times for no particular reason. By that time there are plenty of wands and ranged options available usually. And those are much more predictable.

I don't know how, or even if, it would be possible to reduce the random nature. It would help if each spell that comes out of it had the same behaviour, either bolt, single target, or explosion.

Similarly, it would make the ability more useable if there was a guaranteed proportion of physical damage to each attack, say 50%, to reduce the risk of wasting a turn.

For this message the author 4Hooves2Appendages has received thanks: 3
Gigaslurp, nago, VeryAngryFelid
User avatar

Crypt Cleanser

Posts: 732

Joined: Monday, 24th April 2017, 11:46

Post Thursday, 6th July 2017, 15:35

Re: Makhleb's Destructions

Would it be an option to make it just one guaranteed-destruction blast, probably Bolt of Magma, with extended range of 5? That would help in any situation.
Maɟaŋ
User avatar

Barkeep

Posts: 4435

Joined: Tuesday, 11th January 2011, 12:28

Post Thursday, 6th July 2017, 15:38

Re: Makhleb's Destructions

I don't actually get what Makhleb is supposed to be the god *of.* I guess risks? Possible self-harm? Demons and random damage conjurations and demon summoning and heal-on-kills and "hey did you know Zin had wrath" don't really have a very cohesive theme. And while gameplay concerns are way more important than flavor, I think flavor can help build a consistent set of mechanics, particularly with gods.

Changing destruction to, say, hurl Damnation for some significant cost (HP, rotting, contam, draining, statdrain, piety, sometimes having the damnation rain down on you too) might be more useful as well as more firmly positioning Mak as "god of demonic crap."

Destruction as "existing conjurations for people who don't train conjurations" is not generally very compelling IMO.
I am not a very good player. My mouth is a foul pit of LIES. KNOW THIS.

For this message the author njvack has received thanks: 10
Blomdor, BobIsDead, duvessa, Gigaslurp, Hellmonk, invertedeye, nago, PlatinumSpider, Shard1697, VeryAngryFelid

Abyss Ambulator

Posts: 1233

Joined: Wednesday, 23rd April 2014, 21:57

Post Thursday, 6th July 2017, 17:04

Re: Makhleb's Destructions

I agree that the mix feels a bit disjointed. Health from killing is a nice mechanic, but doesn't have any connection with demons or chaotic magic.

The god of self-harm is supposed to be Yred.

I think there might be an opportunity here...

1) Create an Yred/Makh hybrid that does life-drain, pain mirror, heal on kill, etc. If any demons it should come with soul eaters, or similar. Remove the destruction powers.
2) Consider creating an Yred/Kiku hybrid. Do we really need two gods framed around hordes of undead? (They play differently, due to the training, etc.) Necromancy is strong enough, does it need a special god?

On the other hand I quite enjoy some of the strange idiosyncrasies of the current gods. Some of the overlaps and ability mixes are quite odd, but hey, it's crawl!

Tomb Titivator

Posts: 771

Joined: Tuesday, 25th November 2014, 02:47

Post Thursday, 6th July 2017, 17:25

Re: Makhleb's Destructions

njvack wrote:I don't actually get what Makhleb is supposed to be the god *of.*

Makhleb is the god of invocation based summon demon, invocation based conjurations, and a heal on kill. Three of his abilities are fine, very strong. If Major Destruction wasn't a bad ability this complaint isn't a thing.

4Hooves2Appendages wrote:I almost never use Major Destruction, because the variance of the output is too big. In a dangerous situation, I can't rely on it doing damage, because it might pick a spell that my target is resistant/immune to. Also it costs piety, which I'd rather spend on the more predictably useful Greater Demon


Moving the range to seven gives your character opportunity to use major destruction more frequently, allowing you to potentially hit an enemy or two hard at max range. It still might miss. It still may pull a bad spell. However, there aren't many other ways to hit this hard at max range barring having a fully trained ranged weapon. It also simply gives the ability significantly more chances to be used. The "this can only be safely cast vs enemies at range 3-5" is rather crippling, and the ability's use will open up significantly if it can be cast at enemies range 3-7.
User avatar

Barkeep

Posts: 4435

Joined: Tuesday, 11th January 2011, 12:28

Post Thursday, 6th July 2017, 19:02

Re: Makhleb's Destructions

4Hooves2Appendages wrote:The god of self-harm is supposed to be Yred.

Wait, what? Did you mean Kiku? Because I don't remember any way to hurt yourself with Yred. I guess you could turn on injury mirror and get hit on purpose but that would be real weird.
I am not a very good player. My mouth is a foul pit of LIES. KNOW THIS.
User avatar

Halls Hopper

Posts: 70

Joined: Friday, 2nd September 2016, 02:00

Post Thursday, 6th July 2017, 21:22

Re: Makhleb's Destructions

Does anybody even use destruction, if summoned demons last longer and often bring in their own spells?
Also, why Makhleb needs buffing at all? Last time I checked, ze was one of the strongest gods throughout the game.

njvack wrote:I don't actually get what Makhleb is supposed to be the god *of.*

Makhleb is god of demons. Ze has an entire branch with 5 runes in it.

njvack wrote:Wait, what? Did you mean Kiku? Because I don't remember any way to hurt yourself with Yred.

They meant Goza Xom Qazlal Ru.

Tomb Titivator

Posts: 771

Joined: Tuesday, 25th November 2014, 02:47

Post Thursday, 6th July 2017, 21:50

Re: Makhleb's Destructions

Lavandula wrote:Does anybody even use destruction, if summoned demons last longer and often bring in their own spells?
Also, why Makhleb needs buffing at all? Last time I checked, ze was one of the strongest gods throughout the game.

Minor destruction is amazing. Major destruction is bad. This proposal offsets a buff to major destruction with nerf to minor destruction as to not significantly change the overall power of the god, and as previously mentioned, I would argue this would be a nerf to the god as a whole.

For this message the author edgefigaro has received thanks:
duvessa
User avatar

Tartarus Sorceror

Posts: 1762

Joined: Monday, 14th October 2013, 01:05

Post Friday, 7th July 2017, 05:24

Re: Makhleb's Destructions

Lavandula wrote:Makhleb is god of demons.
That's exactly why it would make more sense for Mak to grant castable damnation than random conjurations. It's a strongly demon flavored/associated ability, only cast by demons and some worshipper-type enemy casters who also usually summon demons. That also means that this change would make those enemies make more sense because demon worshipper monsters being able to use damnation would then be consistent with the demon worshipper players being able to use damnation.

For this message the author Shard1697 has received thanks: 6
Blomdor, duvessa, Gigaslurp, nago, PlatinumSpider, VeryAngryFelid

Crypt Cleanser

Posts: 689

Joined: Saturday, 12th December 2015, 23:54

Post Friday, 7th July 2017, 06:25

Re: Makhleb's Destructions

Hurl damnation as a makh ability sounds good af. Will implement in hellcrawl.

For this message the author Hellmonk has received thanks: 3
Blomdor, nago, VeryAngryFelid
User avatar

Crypt Cleanser

Posts: 732

Joined: Monday, 24th April 2017, 11:46

Post Friday, 7th July 2017, 06:46

Re: Makhleb's Destructions

Shard1697 wrote:
Lavandula wrote:Makhleb is god of demons.
That's exactly why it would make more sense for Mak to grant castable damnation than random conjurations. It's a strongly demon flavored/associated ability, only cast by demons and some worshipper-type enemy casters who also usually summon demons. That also means that this change would make those enemies make more sense because demon worshipper monsters being able to use damnation would then be consistent with the demon worshipper players being able to use damnation.

I agree with the flavour part of this, but I am worried that hp-powered damnation in conjunction with Makhleb's HP restoration is too strong a gimmick. I guess you'd be able to use and even spam it at the end of Lair. Who or what could stand against you?
Maybe it would work if damnation only becomes available from a certain Invo skill, say 20.
Last edited by Majang on Friday, 7th July 2017, 06:51, edited 1 time in total.
Maɟaŋ
User avatar

Tartarus Sorceror

Posts: 1762

Joined: Monday, 14th October 2013, 01:05

Post Friday, 7th July 2017, 06:49

Re: Makhleb's Destructions

Presumably it would cost piety.

I will note that Beogh already gives fairly cheap smiting which ignores EV and AC just like damnation and is quite powerful with invo training.
Not much can stand up to a player who remembers to use powers by the end of lair even discounting that anyhow. What enemy can stop a player who casts oka buffs?

For this message the author Shard1697 has received thanks:
Rast

Vaults Vanquisher

Posts: 443

Joined: Thursday, 16th February 2017, 15:23

Post Friday, 7th July 2017, 12:53

Re: Makhleb's Destructions

Hellmonk wrote:Hurl damnation as a makh ability sounds good af. Will implement in hellcrawl.


Makhleb is already extremely good in post-stair hellcrawl, so prob need considerable hp and piety cost to keep it reasonable.
*Lana Del Rey voice* , video games...
User avatar

Tartarus Sorceror

Posts: 1698

Joined: Saturday, 18th June 2016, 13:57

Post Friday, 7th July 2017, 13:26

Re: Makhleb's Destructions

How about a damnation bolt? I don't think it exists anywhere else. Or bolt of inaccuracy, I don't think there are other sources left.
I Feel the Need--the Need for Beer
Spoiler: show
3DSBeTr 15DSFiRu 3DSMoNe 3FoHuGo 3TrArOk 3HOFEVe 3MfGlOk 4GrEEVe 3BaIEChei 3HuMoOka 3MiWnQaz 3VSFiAsh 3DrTmMakh 3DSCKXom 3OgMoOka 3NaFiOka 3FoFiOka 3MuFEVeh 3CeHuOka 3TrMoTSO 3DEFESif 3DSMoOka 3DSFiOka

Swamp Slogger

Posts: 139

Joined: Friday, 13th March 2015, 13:33

Post Thursday, 28th September 2017, 13:11

Re: Makhleb's Destructions

just want to bump this cus OP's thoughts on mahk issues are pretty sensible. Minor destruction is incredibly overpowered and could take a nerf, while major destruction is probably the least used god power in the game (can someone check this).

Any of the proposed ideas in this thread seems fine compared to the current state of things imo. Personally, i think a non-random ranged attack should replace major destruction. Spending piety on a random spell that might not do anything seems bad when you could just summon a demon instead.

Swamp Slogger

Posts: 174

Joined: Saturday, 16th September 2017, 21:17

Post Thursday, 28th September 2017, 15:59

Re: Makhleb's Destructions

I really like the damnation idea, it totally fits.

Return to Game Design Discussion

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 40 guests

cron
Powered by phpBB © 2000, 2002, 2005, 2007 phpBB Group.
Designed by ST Software for PTF.