07-12-2003, 03:52 AM
This is ONLY the beta, and I'm still teaching myself how to CREATE synergies. Keep in mind that my last mod was a WIP spanning several YEARS. Keep in mind that before I embarked on a modding endeavor, I had been in Diablo II since the Closed Beta. What does all that add up to?
1) I didn't jump into modding right away. I was WELL aware of every little nook and cranny of D2, from the good to the bad, thereby enabling me to guage what needed fixing, and how.
2) This is not a one-stop-shop. This project is going to be big, just like the last one - one I'm going to take my time on, even if I have to undo and redo stuff ten times over.
3) I still have to actually play through the game at least a bit, to get a feel for the new D2. Coming out with a perfect, or even near-perfect, product won't be for probably close to another year.
4) Given all the new stuff that has changed, I have a LOT of learning ahead of me, but also a lot more options.
My point in posing these questions, in starting this topic, was to get a general consensus as to where to go. I know D2 is not a once-size-fits all. I've been modding for several years, which anyone who knows me knows well about. ;) I don't settle for half-assed fixes or big band-aids that just paper over the real issues. I like to get right in and solve the problem at its source. I'm not looking to see "Oh, all characters should have single tree synergies", or "They all should have their synergies spread out as much as possible". I'm looking to see where people think each best fits, in general, for each character class. I'm looking to hear general ideas on what you'd expect from synergies (WarBlade briefly touched upon this, but not nearly enough to satsify me ;)).
Right now, I have just learned a strong breakthrough into how to make Synergies. As a test, I gave Prayer a 10% healing bonus from each BASE slvl of Holy Bolt and Redemption invested, while keeping the original healing gain per slvl of Prayer. What this means is that skill point investment into Holy Bolt and Redemption will allow for a boost to Prayer's healing, but +skills in those areas will NOT. Boosting Prayer, by skill point investment OR +skills will indeed boost the healing, exponentially when you factor in HB + Red. Keep in mind this was ONLY a test to see how synergies were made, within the files. Having learned a great deal, I can now customize this any way I see fit. :) I've started on the road to salvation. ;)
Getting back to some of the original questions / points I raised in my original post, what is a good GENERAL layout for skill / synergy matchup? Is it better to enhance skills that ALREADY are paired together, or is it better to open up more options, even if those new options are for lesser-strengthed skills? Let's take an example. We all know that a Barbarian who invests in Iron Skin will probably invest in Shout, and vice versa. Does it then make sense to make these two skills synergistic to one another? I.e. Shout boosts IS, and IS boosts Shout? Provided, of course, that they are balanced. Or would it be more advisably to, say, boost Iron Skin with Natural Resistance? Or with Concentrate? Things like that. Is it advisable to keep a general theme, to stick skills that work together into the synergy pool, or to force branching out? It's a very hard road to tread, especially when balance is your number one focus (like it is for me), but I'd like to hear people's thoughts.
An Amazon who focuses in the Spear side of the tree is not likely to get much use out of the Javelin side, and vice versa, at least the way it is set up now. Due to the fact that Javelins allow you to wear a shield, combined with the fact that they are a ranged attack, it makes much more sense to utilize them and their corresponding skills over the Spear side. But, what if Spear skills boosted Javelin skills, and vica versa? What if investing in Fend gave you more power to Lightning Fury? What if boosting Plague Javelin gave you more power to Lightning Strike? It doesn't make much "sense", obviously, at least in terms of a common theme. But it DOES allow people to branch out, does it not? Obviously, there's a fine line between giving new options, and stretching a character's development too thin. But that's not a line I'm concerned with just yet. That line can be altered in other ways, via skills as well as items, monsters, etc. It's not something I need to be concerned with yet, and it's not something I want you to be concerned with in your replies. Stick to the base idea, and give me your thoughts.
Ultimately, I want to know people's thoughts and feelings regarding synergies. Simple as that. Give me your ideas, give me examples, tell me whatever you can and will about it. The more information I gather, the better off I can plan and develop.
1) I didn't jump into modding right away. I was WELL aware of every little nook and cranny of D2, from the good to the bad, thereby enabling me to guage what needed fixing, and how.
2) This is not a one-stop-shop. This project is going to be big, just like the last one - one I'm going to take my time on, even if I have to undo and redo stuff ten times over.
3) I still have to actually play through the game at least a bit, to get a feel for the new D2. Coming out with a perfect, or even near-perfect, product won't be for probably close to another year.
4) Given all the new stuff that has changed, I have a LOT of learning ahead of me, but also a lot more options.
My point in posing these questions, in starting this topic, was to get a general consensus as to where to go. I know D2 is not a once-size-fits all. I've been modding for several years, which anyone who knows me knows well about. ;) I don't settle for half-assed fixes or big band-aids that just paper over the real issues. I like to get right in and solve the problem at its source. I'm not looking to see "Oh, all characters should have single tree synergies", or "They all should have their synergies spread out as much as possible". I'm looking to see where people think each best fits, in general, for each character class. I'm looking to hear general ideas on what you'd expect from synergies (WarBlade briefly touched upon this, but not nearly enough to satsify me ;)).
Right now, I have just learned a strong breakthrough into how to make Synergies. As a test, I gave Prayer a 10% healing bonus from each BASE slvl of Holy Bolt and Redemption invested, while keeping the original healing gain per slvl of Prayer. What this means is that skill point investment into Holy Bolt and Redemption will allow for a boost to Prayer's healing, but +skills in those areas will NOT. Boosting Prayer, by skill point investment OR +skills will indeed boost the healing, exponentially when you factor in HB + Red. Keep in mind this was ONLY a test to see how synergies were made, within the files. Having learned a great deal, I can now customize this any way I see fit. :) I've started on the road to salvation. ;)
Getting back to some of the original questions / points I raised in my original post, what is a good GENERAL layout for skill / synergy matchup? Is it better to enhance skills that ALREADY are paired together, or is it better to open up more options, even if those new options are for lesser-strengthed skills? Let's take an example. We all know that a Barbarian who invests in Iron Skin will probably invest in Shout, and vice versa. Does it then make sense to make these two skills synergistic to one another? I.e. Shout boosts IS, and IS boosts Shout? Provided, of course, that they are balanced. Or would it be more advisably to, say, boost Iron Skin with Natural Resistance? Or with Concentrate? Things like that. Is it advisable to keep a general theme, to stick skills that work together into the synergy pool, or to force branching out? It's a very hard road to tread, especially when balance is your number one focus (like it is for me), but I'd like to hear people's thoughts.
An Amazon who focuses in the Spear side of the tree is not likely to get much use out of the Javelin side, and vice versa, at least the way it is set up now. Due to the fact that Javelins allow you to wear a shield, combined with the fact that they are a ranged attack, it makes much more sense to utilize them and their corresponding skills over the Spear side. But, what if Spear skills boosted Javelin skills, and vica versa? What if investing in Fend gave you more power to Lightning Fury? What if boosting Plague Javelin gave you more power to Lightning Strike? It doesn't make much "sense", obviously, at least in terms of a common theme. But it DOES allow people to branch out, does it not? Obviously, there's a fine line between giving new options, and stretching a character's development too thin. But that's not a line I'm concerned with just yet. That line can be altered in other ways, via skills as well as items, monsters, etc. It's not something I need to be concerned with yet, and it's not something I want you to be concerned with in your replies. Stick to the base idea, and give me your thoughts.
Ultimately, I want to know people's thoughts and feelings regarding synergies. Simple as that. Give me your ideas, give me examples, tell me whatever you can and will about it. The more information I gather, the better off I can plan and develop.
Roland *The Gunslinger*