Torment - revisited
Posted: Wednesday, 2nd June 2021, 07:04
A lot of the extended game play is almost solely based around Torment. Ok, well Hellfire and mummy curses too, but Torment is what I want to focus on here and now. For the record, I understand it is meant to be the balance for otherwise overpowered players, but, it also has the very ill side effect of creating what I feel like is a far too narrow set of parameters almost required for players that routinely want to play 100% of the game content (and shouldn't it be enjoyable as well as a 3 or 5 rune experience?)
There's a lot of variables and I don't feel up to explaining every angle (nor is it productive), so I'm just going to assume anyone taking torment changes seriously already knows the game well. Here's my proposal:
When a player is tormented, remove a large portion of their life, just like it is now (and isn't recoverable by killing the source monster), BUT, add a torment flag that lasts, let's say at least a few turns, and you are either immune or take even less damage from subsequent torments than the current formula while you have the flag. How long exactly, this is debatable and should probably be determined through closer statistical analysis. Why? Because the possibility of multiple torments is simply too harsh of a risk for builds that aren't made to resist it. The primary counters include:
Greater measures:
Necromutation - annoying how much xp it requires to get functional and still have a working build.
Mahkleb - Rush to replenish health after being tormented to try to avoid a mathematical probability of death.
TSO - Rush to replenish health after being tormented to try to avoid a mathematical probability of death.
Lesser measures:
Regen - Needs to be pretty massive, not a true option, but for some races like DemiGods it's all you can get beyond necro spells and it's a lot of hit 'n run.
Vampiric Weapons - Mostly joking.. you might drain a few monsters but this is a sketchy counter in extended.
Zin sanctuary, Ru Ely, or Gozag heals... healing potions (laugh), not very easily sustainable.
That's about it.
Now, if the gripe is that it means extended won't be hard enough, that should be solved by adding additional dangers that put characters at risk in a more balanced way, but that are also countered by other strengths besides the three primary strategies mentioned above.
I know this is a big thing for crawl, and it's a tall order, but I think it's also important to help diversity what can reasonably play the full content of the game, while taking a shot at what is somewhat of a lazy solution for difficulty that frankly isn't all that interesting. Besides the three counter-tactics listed, extended game comes down to mostly, prioritize killing the tormenting monster first, or maybe a hellion. Is that an oversimplification of extended game? Yeah, okay a bit, but not by a lot.
There's a lot of variables and I don't feel up to explaining every angle (nor is it productive), so I'm just going to assume anyone taking torment changes seriously already knows the game well. Here's my proposal:
When a player is tormented, remove a large portion of their life, just like it is now (and isn't recoverable by killing the source monster), BUT, add a torment flag that lasts, let's say at least a few turns, and you are either immune or take even less damage from subsequent torments than the current formula while you have the flag. How long exactly, this is debatable and should probably be determined through closer statistical analysis. Why? Because the possibility of multiple torments is simply too harsh of a risk for builds that aren't made to resist it. The primary counters include:
Greater measures:
Necromutation - annoying how much xp it requires to get functional and still have a working build.
Mahkleb - Rush to replenish health after being tormented to try to avoid a mathematical probability of death.
TSO - Rush to replenish health after being tormented to try to avoid a mathematical probability of death.
Lesser measures:
Regen - Needs to be pretty massive, not a true option, but for some races like DemiGods it's all you can get beyond necro spells and it's a lot of hit 'n run.
Vampiric Weapons - Mostly joking.. you might drain a few monsters but this is a sketchy counter in extended.
Zin sanctuary, Ru Ely, or Gozag heals... healing potions (laugh), not very easily sustainable.
That's about it.
Now, if the gripe is that it means extended won't be hard enough, that should be solved by adding additional dangers that put characters at risk in a more balanced way, but that are also countered by other strengths besides the three primary strategies mentioned above.
I know this is a big thing for crawl, and it's a tall order, but I think it's also important to help diversity what can reasonably play the full content of the game, while taking a shot at what is somewhat of a lazy solution for difficulty that frankly isn't all that interesting. Besides the three counter-tactics listed, extended game comes down to mostly, prioritize killing the tormenting monster first, or maybe a hellion. Is that an oversimplification of extended game? Yeah, okay a bit, but not by a lot.