Lignification, Degeneration, and Torment


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Snake Sneak

Posts: 102

Joined: Thursday, 23rd November 2017, 02:14

Post Thursday, 23rd November 2017, 02:26

Lignification, Degeneration, and Torment

I'm a big fan of the change to situationally useful potions like Ambrosia instead of strictly bad ones. I think the same thing should be done with Degeneration.

Torment is usually the biggest threat in extended for any character that's not immune. It creates a huge divide between characters with Necromutation and characters without it. I personally think melee characters should have more options for dealing with torment.

So, my proposal is:

1)
Change "Potion of Degeneration" to "Potion of Effluvium". This would give:
-- stat damage (like Degeneration does now)
-- temporary immunity to torment
-- temporary immunity to negative energy

2)
Make Lignification better for late-game characters in heavy armor:
-- reduce the base armor on Lignification by 2
-- don't meld body armor in tree form
-- give Deformed Body while in tree form

ps
I'm new to the forums, but I'm not a completely new player; I've been recording a streak with some Hell runes.

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Majang

Spider Stomper

Posts: 248

Joined: Monday, 4th September 2017, 10:53

Post Thursday, 23rd November 2017, 05:21

Re: Lignification, Degeneration, and Torment

My off the cuff response is that temporary stat damage is pretty inconsequential.

Temple Termagant

Posts: 14

Joined: Monday, 5th September 2016, 03:22

Post Thursday, 23rd November 2017, 06:20

Re: Lignification, Degeneration, and Torment

Maybe give some kinda penalty like some drain, or slow, or a damage malus till the effect wears off; or even a few turns after the effect wears off. That way you trade skill levels, damage, or possibly a means to run for being able to tank Torment and Negative Energy

Slime Squisher

Posts: 377

Joined: Thursday, 12th June 2014, 06:56

Post Thursday, 23rd November 2017, 07:44

Re: Lignification, Degeneration, and Torment

Why not add rTorm to !resistance instead? That's a potion that gets pretty useless late-game, as your AC, EV, and innate/equipped resistances take over protecting you against elemental damage. This would make the potion useful for the whole game, while adding a strategic element to its use early on.

Also, FWIW, I don't think a rare consumable needs a downside - being a rare consumable is enough. The player already can't spam them.

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nago, VeryAngryFelid

Shoals Surfer

Posts: 297

Joined: Wednesday, 9th July 2014, 08:20

Post Thursday, 23rd November 2017, 08:05

Re: Lignification, Degeneration, and Torment

Alternate proposal from a while ago: Combine Might, Agility, Brilliance and Degeneration. Effects of all three for a relatively long duration, followed by big hit to all stats. Potion of doping.

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nago, Terrapin
User avatar

Crypt Cleanser

Posts: 732

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

Post Thursday, 23rd November 2017, 11:17

Re: Lignification, Degeneration, and Torment

I like the proposed degeneration tweak. Lignification already is useful occasionally. Trolls quaff it when they engage hydrae. So I wouldn't change that.
Maɟaŋ

Ziggurat Zagger

Posts: 5382

Joined: Friday, 25th November 2011, 07:36

Post Tuesday, 28th November 2017, 19:43

Re: Lignification, Degeneration, and Torment

I quaff lignification frequently if I've identified it early enough on that the AC is still enough to protect you from most threats.

I like the Effluvium suggestion but Effluvium is a terrible name. There's plenty of still relatively common, understood concepts which could be used. I'd suggest ethereal or phasing - you partially become ghostlike, and cannot be tormented (or resist torment). I don't know what Effluvium means and I suspect most players don't either. Phasing used to be a buff to EV but that's been removed for a long time, so I think it'd be safe to reuse it, if not, ethereal hasn't been used for players before as far as I know.

I agree stat gain is a weak penalty, but as mentioned the potion is limited by item generation and doesn't need a strong downside. If desired, it's possible to increase the amount of stat loss to make it more significant anyways. The goal is to make the player want to quaff the potion in the right circumstances, so the punishment shouldn't be too severe.

Edit: I gave in and looked up the word - it means discarded or useless material. So in your proposal to make the potion useful, you named it "Useless potion".

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nago

Temple Termagant

Posts: 7

Joined: Monday, 13th November 2017, 20:32

Post Wednesday, 29th November 2017, 14:52

Re: Lignification, Degeneration, and Torment

I agree with posters above that lignification is definitely already situationally useful. There are arguments for and against strictly bad potions/scrolls, but since there's already only one type of each, I don't mind them. But making them situationally useful would be fine too.

Spider Stomper

Posts: 248

Joined: Monday, 4th September 2017, 10:53

Post Wednesday, 29th November 2017, 16:51

Re: Lignification, Degeneration, and Torment

My post about stat damage wasnt so much that it wasnt strong enough, but that it was pointless. So either make it a real drawback (if needed), or just get rid of it entirely.

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duvessa

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