Different spell channeling requirements
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I have probably missed some, but I have counted 52 skills available to everyone and 92 available to spell channeling weapons.
This huge amount of skills gated behind the spell channeling weapons makes it so that "mages" enjoy a huge range of different skills, while "non-mages" are feeling very limited in the choice.
Can the spell channeling property be converted from "Spell channeling" to "Spell channeling 1, Spell channeling 2, Spell channeling 3" (we can call them minor spell channeling, spell channeling and greater spell channeling?), so that spell channeling 1 allows all memory 1 spell channeling skills, spell channeling 2 allows memory 1 and 2 skills and spell channeling 3 all skills?
This way you greatly increase the build options and design space.
The way I see it, they should be attributed in the following way:
Spell channeling 3: Staves, maces, unarmed. (Very iconic spell casting tools)
Spell channeling 2: Dagger, Rapier, Shortbow, Scimitar, Quarterstaff. (Current spell channeling weapons)
Spell channeling 1: Long Sword, Club, Morning Star, Hand Axe, Battle Axe, Longbow (Weapons which are sometimes tied to casting archetypes)
Non Spell channeling: Spear, Warhammer, Great Axe, Great Sword, Halberd (Weapons too heavy to cast)
This way instead of having 2/3 of the skills gated behind a weapon property, the distinction is a lot more fluid.
It also becomes possible to empower a bit the memory 3 spells (which are currently a bit lacking), since they become restricted to only the most spell focused builds.
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Iam with you the options for melee build are not equal to mage.
Also the spell channel staging are an interesting aproach from your side.
I would support the idea
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I like the idea but doesn't it already exist with the weight restrictions? Light Medium and None. So you're idea is doubling up the system or would you remove the weight restrictions to keep things simple?
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I certainly would not mind some more care and thought given to the big mage spells to make them more viable.. Right now -no one- uses them as they are just not worth it.
The situation is also not as unbalanced as you depict it is as a lot of those mage spells are element specific and thus useless against many mobs or any player with the immunity up, while the effect of battle abilities will always be viable in far more situations -concussive strike, battle jump, decimate, etc...-
note that you do not need spell channeling for many of the archer abilities already and thus are free to use longbow.I have been testing and building a unarmed monk esque mage, and they are incredibly underwhelming, even with the talents, high dex, high int, and elemental fist abilities. Considering the versitility and use of weapons (enchantable, crafted with special materials, etc..) I again call for the use of fist wraps as unarmed weapons.
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This is actually not true. Combat skills are more limited than mage skills. Once you have selected your weapon and armor, that's it. You pretty much have already selected your skills, because most combat abilities are tied to specific weapons. That's why I'm proposing this, to extend their choices.
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@Ablabla No, you keep both.
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@spoletta
let us count...
1 t2 light armor option for 20+ skills. If you want to use any of those abilities you have only 1 armor choice... And since there is only 1 weapon type -mage staff- that does 9.6*int damage, slow attack speed, you are also limited to 3 of 4 (and more coming) staff damage types, which have absolutely no real effect as they give no stacks and have no impact on abilities. -how i wish there was a difference between using a magic staff when casting magic missile vs using a fire staff- so when going out to fight you only are able to account for 3/5 of the enemies resistances to find that right match- This also is the case with fighting mobs or pvp.Meanwhile Melee casters have : 1 light armor set, 3 medium armor sets, and 2 heavy armor sets (T2) not counting hunter and warlock.
And -so sad- out of 153 skills they only get to mix and match 133. what a sacrifice for the greater options of equipment and the greater protection they all give.
And weapons? well they get to pick their stat of choice between Dex OR Str for their weapon and many of them not only have spell channeling but ALSO do two different types of damage ! meaning they can be used for 2/3 of the abilities available to them if not more since many are -not- restricted. And to top it off there are only 3 physical damage types so you can easily carry all 3 at the same time, thus always have an answer to the enemies build, whatever it is.
Let us not forget that they have 13 weapon choices 4 of which are spell channeling. Also note that their two handed, slow attack speed, weapons -without channeling- do str * 14.8-18 per auto attack and in an Area of Effect ! Before they even take one skill ! Note too that their skills do STR*20, to that AOE while -sometimes- also applying meaningful status effects ! (yes this is presumably temporary and eventually elemental stacks other than acid and sometimes ice? will mean something)Why give more options to the already bountiful melee fighter when the mage is so massively crippled in choice?
And you are saying that Melee is more limited than mage? Please, illuminate how.
As a side note:
I think everyone would love to see a elemental damage scythe that has no spell channeling and does int *18 damage in a aoe cone like the monster great sword.
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You completely misunderstood.
You are comparing someone with a spell channeling weapon and someone else with... a spell channeling weapon but limited in armor choices. Yeah, I'm not sure what is the point you are trying to make there.
I'm talking about someone with a spell channeling weapon compared to someone without it, which is indeed VERY limited in choices (you have usually less than 30 skills).
What I proposed by the way also fixes what you want, because someone with a spell channeling sword/bow/dagger would have access to less skills than someone with a staff.
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I like the suggestion—doesn't seem restrictive, but I also wanted to chime in to mention that the schools of fighting and schools of magic are not yet complete, so we may eventually see more abilities that do not require a weapon with spell channeling.
