[Skill System] Mastery System

[Hureciel]

Okay so explanations are in order. This skill system is supposed to be unique in its own respect while being easy to understand for players.

Let's say your Elementalist has reached level 5. At that point, the column labeled "Level 5" and the skills under it should be available, namely Flame Strike and Bolt.

Now we must remember that skills and techniques don't have levels, because these skills get stronger the more times the player uses a certain skill. Take Bolt for example. Every time that the player uses the Bolt skill successfully, the damage of the Bolt will increase by, say, .1 damage. That in mind, if the Bolt skill were used 1000 times, the damage of the bolt would exceed 100, and that is just a first tier skill!

Now, let's pretend that our protagonist chose to mainly use Bolt about 100 times and not use Flame Strike at all. By the time the main character reaches Level 10, all skills under that will instantly be unlocked to the player, namely Flamethrower, Fire Swipe, Static Discharge, and Spark Strike. Since the character has increased the power of his Bolt ability, the skills Static Discharge and Spark Strike will immediately gain an effect bonus. Static Discharge (a paralyzing spell) will deal a bit more damage and paralyze foes for a longer duration, while Spark Strike will deal more damage and the splash damage will be more destructive as well. However, since the main character did not use his Flame Strike skill, Flamethrower and Fire Swipe, though more powerful than its predecessor, will be without its bonuses.

Now, suppose that our hero has made up for the gap in power between his flame and thunder skills, and has even buffed them evenly. Let's say he reaches level 15, and has unlocked his third tier abilities, Incinerate, Purge, and Fault Bolt. Purge, as one can see in the picture, is directly affected by a skill which is unlocked at the same time as itself, Incinerate, which may be the indicator of the damage it deals. Not only that, but the hold of Purge is directly proportional to the strength of the hold of Static Discharge. With this in mind, the moment Purge is unlocked, it will barely do significant damage. This is why the protagonist has to pump his Incinerate use in order to strengthen Purge.

Let's pretend that every successful use of Incinerate will increase its damage by 1. But let's also say that every successful use of Incinerate will increase the damage of Purge by 1 also, and Purge's damage increases by 1.2 for every successful use of the Purge skill. With this in mind, Purge can be much much stronger than Incinerate as well, making it more effective, despite having to be pumped at a late level.

Pros of this concept: Game unlocks all skills for the player's use, so that the player can be fully immersed into the profession he's chosen, while being able to personalize the abilities themselves by using it more and more.

Comments?

[Ted]

This looks like a solid skill system. Though currently we are looking at implementing a single flexi-class, due to time and resource constraints, which the player can build up according to their preference. Having one skill tree might make it look like they don't have the freedom to create the build they want. Though it is possible to make a build by focusing the pumping on skills they prefer but in the end its a mind game and they might take it as being too confined.

[Sannie]

This is coming from the point of view of a newbie, since I've really never gotten into this kind of gaming. Haha! But to me, it sounds good! Easy to understand without being too inflexible.

[Hureciel]

Ohyay! =)) thanksyouuu

@Ted: I believe that if the skill tree were to be enlarged, with more skills than intended, players would feel less confined, maybe even feeling too free with the game.