Removing relocate and battle jump's ability to traverse cliffs is a mistake in the long term

RedIO

So a bit of background, I bought fractured almost entirely because of the idea of a game where both pve and pvp combat are dynamic and require strategizing to defeat even the most basic mobs, something that's common in the souls-like genre but mostly unheard of in top-down/isometric games

When I first heard of relocate, I thought crossing cliffs and other terrain was an intentional and part of the above design philosophy. Obviously I was upset when it was removed but knew in its current state was OP both in and out of combat.

Where I disagreed was nerfing relocate instead of buffing the baseline options, and I hope that's what's planned for release/beta and this change is only temporary, but I'm not sure.

This is what I suggest for the next alpha to fix relocate, make both pvp and pve more exciting, and make the world navigation more interesting:

Instead of impassible and flat terrain, change it to four levels based on the angle from the ground:
- flat (0-20)
- inclined (20-45)
- steep (45-65)
- impassible (65-90)
inclined and steep terrain can be walked through, but they nerf dex based stats (evasion, attack and movement speed) by a base amount that is then reduced based on str (so high str low dex characters almost ignore terrain, while low str high dex characters want to circumvent them or remain in stealth while passing them.)
inclined and steep terrain have different animations (similar to the difference between walking up stairs and climbing a ladder) and the penalties are doubled for steep terrain.
blinks and jumps ignore all but impassible terrain
being knocked to the ground (or killed) on an incline or being stunned or ensnared on steep terrain moves your body to the bottom and the time spent moving does not count down their duration
ranged attacks are easier from above steep terrain while melee attacks are easier above an incline
implement certain skills that interact with terrain like hookshots from pirates; they pull enemies closer to you, by a long distance if it pulls the enemy into steep terrain, but being easier to hit if above them by steep terrain for less movement

This would be a great first step in making fractured more dynamic than it currently is in combat, and out of combat it raises interesting questions on what route is faster and what route is safer (do pvpers/bandits block the flat roads where wagon-goers will bottleneck to? Or do they wait atop steep cliffs for stray travellers? it also makes stealth scouts valuable for large groups then)

Also, please mark roads and impassible terrain more clearly in the maps, the gray and green really blend together when I'm not focusing on them

Edit: Something that might be cool would be to add the above hook skill, and let it target allies as well. So a designated 'guide' can speed up travel with low dex/str characters by climbing quickly then pulling their allies up

yneternum

You can jump walls, cliffs,... with both spells, you only to adjust more the position and the place where you do the click