Stoneshard Update #31 - Stats & Perks
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The latest development update for Ink Stains Games' roguelike RPG Stoneshard talks about the game's stats and perks. The former have recently been revamped thanks to some feedback from a number of users who played the free demo of the game. And the latter is a new feature that should add some variety to character development. Have a look:
Hello!
From now on we resume our regular devlogs. We successfully ported the game to GMS2, and while the rest of the team fixes some remaining problems, I decided to write about what changes of our attribute system should you expect in the full game. I emphasize that everything described below is so far mostly a concept and can change in the course of direct development.
So, what are the most important problems we have identified based on the feedback from the players?And now to the changes. First, let's see how the new system of attributes will look like:
- The system of attributes was too cumbersome and overcomplicated. Some of the stats could have been combined or completely removed without decreasing the overall depth.
- Imbalance (aka "level up Strength only"). Making an attribute that simultaneously boosts your health and damage was a mistake that will be corrected.
- Many stats were too situational. For instance, if you play as a pure warrior (I speak of the full game, where you won’t have Firewave from the very start) in the current system you have literally no reasons to level
Intellect or Willpower at all.Well, seems like everything was covered. Now let's move on to the main new feature – perks.
- Intellect and Willpower are combined into single "magical" primary stat, Willpower. Intellect was replaced by Vitality – a new primary attribute showing your survival potential.
- Mana was replaced by Energy (a temporary name very likely). Most "physical" skills will also cost Energy now, but less than magical spells. Due to this, most skills cooldowns will be decreased, thus making combat more dynamic and tactical at the same time. “Flee to reset your cooldowns” strat is no more!
- A number of attributes have been merged. Old Vitality and Fortitude are grouped into one stat, the same fate befell Critical / Miracle Chance and Fumble / Fizzle Chance. Finesse was removed. Instead Agility points will directly reduce Fumble Chance. Alertness was also cut out, so all attention checks will now be tied directly to Perception.
- Added some new stats – for example, Block Power, necessary for the blocking system rework.
- Some attributes will work differently. In short: Stealth and Health / Mana Restoration will no longer be chance-based, and are now strictly deterministic. I will tell more about their new mechanics some other time. Spell Power was renamed to Magic Power, since now it will affect any magical damage dealt by your character. Accuracy is called Hit Chance now, and it also became more transparent, since it shows your default to-hit chance.
Perks are special traits and abilities that your character is guaranteed to receive after reaching a specific thresholds of the primary stats. They are intended to make levelling system more deep and variable, and also give players more meaningful choices regarding character development.
Many of these perks are not final (especially the numbers), and I even marked with asterisks those we are especially unsure about. Also, if you have carefully read all the descriptions, then for sure you will notice a lot of hints of unannounced new mechanics or changes to existing systems.
