by Karen Hertzberg on Apr 23, 2007
Interviewed by Mensis
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Ten Ton Hammer's druid class specialist, Mensis, works hard to make
sure the Druid community's concerns reach Sigil. As a part of his quest
to gather and provide more information on the class, he has interviewed
Michael "Avair" Mann, associate game designer for Sigil Games Online.
Please keep in mind that interviews take time to process. Some of the
questions Mensis posed a couple months ago when the interview was
submitted have been addressed by recent patches.
[Ten
Ton Hammer]:
Previous interviews mentioned that calamities will be the most powerful
spells in game. However, the opinion of many players is that their
current state is rather disappointing. Is this the final state of
calamities or can we expect to see something more "phenomenal" in the
future?
[Michael Man]:
Calamities have recently received a boost in power. This should make
them more “phenomenal”. However, I would hesitate
to say that this is the final state because games, and this one in
particular, are always evolving. We will continue to tweak these to
make sure they are good enough. We still have plans for more impressive
ones to make an appearance in the future.
[TTH]
style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">: Some believe that wonders
and calamities are not varied enough. Are there any plans to add to
these abilities? If so, could we get a sneak peek?
[MM]: Adding
more phenomena is always a possibility. The phenomena we released with
is just the base on which we will build a larger pool of phenomena. At
the same time the additional phenomena we add will probably be less
essential and more flavorful.
[TTH]
style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">: In talking about plans for
Vanguard’s “dynamic weather system,” Brad
McQuaid mentioned that we might see lightning spells have a more potent
effect when it’s raining. We’ve also heard that
druids might have spells to affect the weather. These things
haven’t materialized yet. What does the future hold for
druids and their ability to work with weather? Is there an ETA for when
these things might be added?
[MM]: There
currently isn’t an ETA for these types of things. We have
been working on getting all classes to function as we would like them
to and getting them balanced with polish. When this goal is reached we
will likely have more time to implement flavorful things such as
weather control, elemental damage, etc.
We would
still like to get these types of world altering affects into the game.
[TTH]
style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">: Many other classes have
various forms, stances and other means of changing their combat style
either on the go or through specializing. Are Druids going to see
anything similar?
[MM]: When
making the druid we felt that stances didn’t fit in all that
well with his design. He already has the ability to switch up his play
style depending on the situation. We planned 3 modes of play for the
druid. First is burst dps, using straight nukes and calamities to deal
the highest amount of burst damage possible.
Second is damage over time, using his elemental and dots to maintain
damage over time and mana efficiency. Third is the back up healing and
utility with heals and Okeli’s Shield as well as root and
snare. Of course general play is probably a combination of
all three, but those are the basic styles for the druid distilled to
their basic goals.
[TTH]
style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">: Druids are the guardians
of nature. Are we going to see any more "druidic" spells such as animal
charms, plant growth, etc. in the future?
[MM]: There
will certainly be more flavor type abilities in the future. We are also
considering tying the way that druids learn abilities with nature. The
current plan is to have druid groves throughout the world or something
similar. This would be a good solution to learning abilities and tying
druids in with their environment. We are definitely considering other
ways of tying the druid into nature and some abilities such as plant
growth would accomplish that goal nicely.
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hspace="42">[TTH]
style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">: Some druids miss the cloud
that was part of the Cloudwalk visual spell effect. When are druids
going to get their cloud back?
[MM]: We
will be returning the cloud back to Cloudwalk when we can get it
adjusted to have the cloud under the targets feet. Currently it plays
particles around the chest of your target, which isn’t
exactly walking on clouds, it’s more akin to swimming in
them.
[TTH]
style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">: What are your thoughts on
druid spell chains and finishers? Will casters ever see anything
similar to Monk chains in which the order of the spells in the chain
matter?
[MM]: As we
continue to implement changes for each class we try and spot areas
where we could flesh things out a bit more. This is frequently an area
that we target for improvement. I think that druids could certainly use
some work in this area and I’m sure in the future they will
get some love on their chains.
We aren’t ruling out multi step spell chains for casters. It
would certainly be an interesting mechanic and I think people would
like to have more of an option to unload spells. After all, having
options is always good.
[TTH]
style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">: Wolf-shape along with
other melee buffs grant substantial melee bonuses. This seems to
indicate that close range combat is important for the Druid class.
However it's a little controversial and certainly unconventional for a
cloth-wearing caster to go up close and melee. Is there a future for
meleeing druids, and if so could you tell us about how it will be
realized?
[MM]: We
like the idea of the druid having a melee undertone, it was more
conventional and we felt it represented the wrathful aspect of our
druid very well. Through discussion it was decided that we already had
enough melee classes and that we lacked a strong caster presence, so he
remained a complete caster. We wanted to leave the option open in the
future to have a melee aspect to the druid, so you will find that he
has many tools that grant melee bonuses. This is certainly something
that almost was and that we might revisit in the future.
[TTH]
style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">: Does endurance have any
effect for Druids? Are there any plans to make it more useful?
[MM]:
Endurance doesn’t currently have much of any effect for
Druids. As mentioned earlier it might have a use in the future.
[TTH]
style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">: Taproot solves the spell
inefficiency problem for Druids. Is there a
chance for Druids to see any more "root" spells which give benefits but
root the caster to the ground?
[MM]: The
Taproot spell has proven to be very effective solution (perhaps a
little too effective) for the mana efficiency issue that Druids suffer
from. We might consider other “Root” spells in the
forms of new calamities or wonders as well as flavor abilities. There
are no current plans to do so, but we aren’t against the idea
of adding more.
[TTH]
style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">: Tranquility is perceived
as a rather situational spell at the moment. The fact that the target
cannot do anything while under its effect makes it extremely difficult
to use in a group situation. Do you have any comments on this?
[MM]:
Tranquility is a very situational spell and was designed to be so.
Situational abilities are what help players make up strategy throughout
the areas of the game. Combat would degenerate to the use of just the
best abilities all the time if there were no situational abilities. So
these types of spells, while not broadly used, can be used to great
effect some of the time and those times are what will make being the
class with these types of abilities rewarding.
[TTH]
style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">: Regarding the Wolf Pack
wonder, some people find the wolf shape annoying because they cannot
see their character's actions. As a result, many opt to ignore this
buff, even though it is one of the most effective in the game. Are
there any plans to improve this?
[MM]:
Originally the wolfshape/wolf pack ability was going to transform
characters into a werewolf model, which is much more conducive to
casting animations and particle effects. With our time constraints and
available resources we were not able to get the model we needed. We
used the wolf model instead and it is not the optimal situation. In the
meantime I can make the ability have two icons, one for the buff and
one for the shape shift. This way players can click off the wolf form
if they choose and still reap the benefits of the buff.
[TTH]
style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">: Summoned berries are a
really nice concept. However, they have a rather weak effect right now
and are also difficult to hand out. As a result, they are almost never
used. Do we have a chance to see a change for berries?
[MM]:
Recently I asked the class leads for every class to send me a list of
what they perceived to be their classes top 5 issues. This was one of
them and has been addressed. These are now summonable in the back packs
of others. The Roseberries have also had their strength increased.
[TTH]
style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">: Are there any plans for
druids (and maybe rangers) to have some sort of relation with the
natural world; something along the lines of automatic faction with
woodland creatures or benefits when adventuring in forests?
[MM]: It was
part of the original plan but is not in yet. We hope to add it at some
point, but I do not have an ETA on this.
[TTH]
style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">: Where do you see druids
right now in terms of balancing? What are your future plans for the
development of the Druid class?
[MM]: We see
the druid being a little low on the DPS we targeted him for, though his
utility is strong. I know when I play I like to have a druid in my
group because they fill in the holes of the group and can deal some
nice damage as well.
Future plans would involve implementing much of what is asked about in
this interview. We want to add things like flavor abilities, more
phenomena (including making them look more impressive), more chains,
Druid Groves and allowing the druid to have an impact on the world
through weather. We picture all of these in the final package of the
druid.
[TTH]
style="color: rgb(51, 0, 153);">: Thanks for your time! Is
there anything you’d like to add?
[MM]: Thanks
for the allowing me the opportunity to answer some questions. Please
continue to contribute feedback on the forums. Even though we may not
post often, we do read the forums and try to post when we can. Thanks
again.