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yerkyerk
01-26-2010, 11:55 PM
After the huge success of my previous thread (http://www.grimdawn.com/forums/showthread.php?t=188) (a case of tl;dr I reckon), I decided to write up another one, this time for a heavy weapons class.

I wanted to promote the use of a ‘Rage’ bar, so I decided to write some skills up for a character that used such a bar, in the hope people might get excited about this.
What this means is that the people who choose the berserk mastery will get a rage meter (best color for this would be yellow probably - and located near the health/energy bars). This rage meter can be filled by attacking enemies and will drain slowly if the Rage skill isn’t used. If the Berserk mastery bar is filled, not only will he get strength, dexterity and maximum health, he’ll also gain maximum Rage.

The purpose of this bar is to allow for diverse tactics and keep up the pace, as the player utilizes his Rage into his more powerful attacks. Rage can be charged either by being hit or attacking enemies with the ‘Rage’ skill. This will also reward the player for getting up close and personal with his enemies, although the Rage bar can also be filled from a safer distance. Anyway, here's the mastery.

Berserk
The Berserker is your average heavy weapons dude with a twist. He’s proficient at tanking and at dealing damage and has a special way of dealing with his enemies.

Some people claim that it’s healthy to vent your anger, so you can let it loose. This is definitely not the case for the Berserker. He builds up his anger and has trained himself to transform his anger into energy, also known as Rage. Through his Rage, he gets access to his special abilities.

Rage (active)
Fills the rage bar and allows a chance for a special attack
(this skill consists of Rage + 3 passive upgrade skills and can in their workings be compared to TQ’s Dual Wield Mastery – except that Rage allows people to use it with any weapon (and the upgrades have different effects depending on the weapon used). The further the rage bar is filled (percentage-wise), the brighter the glow emitting from his eyes.

Anger Management (passive)
Increase the maximum Rage (investment is cumulative)

Whirlwind (active)
Let’s face it, everyone loves D2's Whirlwind better than any skill that tried to copy it – so this one works just as the infamous D2 Whirlwind. For those who don’t know; the character will start spinning in circles (much like a cyclone) while swinging his weapon. Everything in his path will be damaged. DPS will be used (also for ranged weapons). Uses Rage.

Powerstrike (active)
Releases all Rage the player has built up in a single powerful hit. The power will be determined by the amount of built-up Rage.

Ground Slam (active)
Smashes the ground, creating craters and stunning all nearby enemies. Damage is calculated with DPS. Uses Rage.

Battle Roar (active)
Gives a short percentage duration bonus to Rage accumulation. Uses mana. May also lower enemies defenses. I volunteer to do the voice-acting for this one :)

Defiance (passive)
Defiance gives the Berserker Rage if he’s hit.

Standing Ground (aura)
Standing Ground allows the Berserker to take more damage as his %resistance to all, %health and chance to block is increased. Uses Rage per second.

Unyielding (activated)
Damage is subtracted straight from the Rage bar, instead of the health bar. Yellow glows of Rage will spark of the Berserker on hit.

Grim Retribution (aura)
This gives both flath physical damage as well as a %total damage increase to the Berserker and nearby allies. Uses Rage per second.

Impetuous (active)
This attack allows the Berserker to strike with his weapons in rapid succession. Also gives a bonus to Offensive Abilities. Critical strikes receive an extra damage bonus. Uses Rage.

Rush (active)
The Berserker rushes forward with high speed, knocking down and damaging everything in his path. Uses Rage.

Battle Standard (active)
The same skill as in Titan Quest. Uses mana (instead of Rage). The battle standard can be thrown down and gives damage resistance, total damage, +1 skill, etc..

Blink (active)
Blinking is a skill only mastered by the few Berserkers who have full control of their Rage.
Allows the player to blink through enemies. Unless there’s a visual obstacle, the player moves with the speed of light to any target he aims for. Also increases attack speed.
Uses Rage.

Ingurgitate (active)
This is the panic button for the Berserker; he transfers all his energy and rage to his defense, giving him complete immunity against everything until his mana and Rage have worn out. Cannot be turned off. This skill is a mana and rage hog and consumes a fixed percentage of mana and Rage, rather than an absolute number.

Massive Criticals (passive)
Increases the damage done by a critical hit by a large percentage. Visually, it’ll often cause the victim to die in the most horrendous way. Requires Rage to go off.

Battle aptitude (passive)
Gives a bonus to offensive and defensive abilities, also increases stun resistances.

For shameless promotion of the other thread I give you the class names;
Ritual Mastery (http://www.grimdawn.com/forums/showthread.php?t=188) = Cultist
Berserk Mastery = Berserker
Ritual + Berserk = Fanatic

Scryer
01-27-2010, 12:16 AM
Sounds good, I like the idea of having other resources then just mana, for sure makes each class even more interesting.

Darktruth77
01-27-2010, 12:31 AM
very nice. I like to have abilities to hit more than one enemy. Seems like BLINK, RUSH and Ground Slam are on that category. This class is very similar to the barbarian Class of Diablo games. One thing you can add is that when rage is activated moving speed and attack speed increases also damage. like a combination of Battle rage and Ardor from warrior class of TQ.

keep it up! seems you have a talent for designing classes. :)

yerkyerk
01-27-2010, 01:17 AM
Thanks for reading!

Actually, Blink focuses on single targets. But Whirlwind should definetely work for widespread damage..
It's the standard heavy melee class; inspired by the Diablo Barbarian, but also Fable, Titan Quest a bunch of other games and some of my own concoctions.
Perhaps more could be done with the Rage skill itself, like attack and move speed. Oh well, it's all theorycrafting. But that can be fun :)

karmacappa
01-27-2010, 02:09 AM
Perhaps relating the rage cap and rage generation inversely to life would spice it up a bit? If a berserker is at full life, his rage builds slowly and the cap is low enough that he can't use his best abilities. As his wounds build and his ire peaks, he begins to lash out with his fury, swinging his blade with reckless abandon. Those who learn to tread a fine line between victory and the grave will be rewarded with the blood of their foes.

Another thing I'm not sure about is how well it would fit in with the setting. The implied meaning of a berserker is one who fights without care for his own safety or that of others. It wouldn't seem likely that groups of survivors would associate with one whose disregard for life puts the group in peril. Then again, they do mention that some of the humans in the world "survived possession", and the character could easily be outcast in the beginning of the game...

yerkyerk
01-27-2010, 02:32 AM
Making Rage more effective upon lower life; that does sound interesting, sets the Rage bar even further apart from being just an alternative mana bar (although it already works quite differently).

As for thematic purposes of this being a suicide cannon; well, I don't think we should care too much about that really. The sole reason such a character survives is by an ever-present 'eat-or-be-eaten' attitude. Not having disregard for others life (on the contrary), but constantly putting his own life at stake to safe others. Or just for the heck of it...

He could be the more active part of the resistance group - the part that wants to fight the alien scumbags, rather than sit around in a basement waiting for their lives to dwindle. But perhaps is kept in check by the elders, who make sure he only gets 'loose' when it's necessary.

medierra
01-27-2010, 02:50 AM
I don't think we'll be adding a new resources (such as rage) but I've enjoyed reading the skill ideas.

karmacappa
01-27-2010, 03:04 AM
As for thematic purposes of this being a suicide cannon; well, I don't think we should care too much about that really. The sole reason such a character survives is by an ever-present 'eat-or-be-eaten' attitude. Not having disregard for others life (on the contrary), but constantly putting his own life at stake to safe others. Or just for the heck of it...

He could be the more active part of the resistance group - the part that wants to fight the alien scumbags, rather than sit around in a basement waiting for their lives to dwindle. But perhaps is kept in check by the elders, who make sure he only gets 'loose' when it's necessary.

I dunno, with someone so aggressive, it seems like he would be a liability to the survival of the group. I do think it's important for the player to be able to understand the motivations and story behind the character in games like this. So how about something like this?

"You know Bob, we like you. We really do. Everyone thinks it's really quite a lark when you eat one of your mushrooms and go out to kill a Rodent of Unusual Size or something. It's hard to talk about this though, especially with you tapping that gorram big club of yours, so I'll just come out and say it. We're afraid that maybe someday you'll go out to kill something too big, and it will kill you instead. Then maybe it follows your trail back and kills us. We're also a bit worried about the way you used to be possessed and fight on their side."

"We're not saying you're not a great guy, because you definitely are. What we're trying to tell you is that there is something equally great that you have to do... out there... in distant lands. We're really sad to see you go, but Griswold made up this jolly nice cleaver that never needs sharpening, and Anna picked a bag of those mushrooms you like so much. So get out there and grab your destiny with both hands! Or just one hand, because you really shouldn't go around unarmed."

yerkyerk
01-27-2010, 03:37 AM
I don't think we'll be adding a new resources (such as rage) but I've enjoyed reading the skill ideas.
Thanks for reading! And well, it was worth the try :)

"You know Bob, we like you. We really do. Everyone thinks it's really quite a lark when you eat one of your mushrooms and go out to kill a Rodent of Unusual Size or something. It's hard to talk about this though, especially with you tapping that gorram big club of yours, so I'll just come out and say it. We're afraid that maybe someday you'll go out to kill something too big, and it will kill you instead. Then maybe it follows your trail back and kills us. We're also a bit worried about the way you used to be possessed and fight on their side."

"We're not saying you're not a great guy, because you definitely are. What we're trying to tell you is that there is something equally great that you have to do... out there... in distant lands. We're really sad to see you go, but Griswold made up this jolly nice cleaver that never needs sharpening, and Anna picked a bag of those mushrooms you like so much. So get out there and grab your destiny with both hands! Or just one hand, because you really shouldn't go around unarmed."

Lol, nice character-building :D

Zealuu
01-27-2010, 11:14 AM
I don't think we'll be adding a new resources (such as rage) but I've enjoyed reading the skill ideas.

Having a third, class-specific resource in addition to health and mana/energy/whatever you choose to name the blue bar would set your game apart, though. The only title I can recall offhandedly which already did this was WAR. It worked very well for them, adding another - yet fairly simple - layer of micromanagement to each class, as well as making them feel more distinct.

As for the mastery idea, I'm pretty sure I like it, but I'm not quite so sure about how well a berserker theme fits a world where humanity is inches away from extinction. Encouraging the throwing of caution to the wind, like the berserker name implies, sounds more like something you'd do only if you were certain to have a reliable supply of spare humans handy.

yerkyerk
01-27-2010, 11:24 AM
He's a friggin one man army! He eats zergs for breakfast!
Or perhaps he just escaped enslavement and is now venting his frustrations in a head-on fight - where he would surely die if he wasn't guided by the Hand of Player. Justifying the build's really not the problem.
But should you even care? What do you want in an action RPG, a cool irresponsible heavy with massive effects, high pacing and lots of uncontrolled gore, or a lame cowardly hospic who has heavily specialized in the duck and cover skill?

Sorry 'bout that :p

I agree with you though, a new layer of mechanics would set the game apart. And by keeping it relatively small, there's virtually no chance of alienating the fans.

Coridan
01-27-2010, 04:43 PM
Another great mastery idea. Keep these coming, please. I really enjoy reading them.

jiaco
01-27-2010, 05:04 PM
Ritual + Berserk = Fanatic

Anyone here read Joe Abercrombie's First Law Trilogy? There is a character that is the "barbarian" called Nine Fingers. He is a brute but also intelligent in the ways of war and battle. He also speaks to spirits. There is a scene (end of book 1 or beginning of book 2) where he is totally overpowered and goes into a "trance-or whatnot" just before dying where he rips all of his enemies to pieces and actually begins to look at his comrade as his next target before he collapses. A really well done scene for something that I actually never really liked as a skill in TQ: "triggered when health drops below X"

I bring this up here because I was reminded of it by the Fanatic class, which I feel would be my first choice of toon if these masteries existed. And it made me think of two things: 1) It would be so cool if Crate could implement an extra skill set based on the combination of masteries so that each class (mastery combination) would unlock a small set of special skills. 2) A fanatic skill that triggered when close to death would actually be interesting to try to use if you were protected from death and the gore animations were enhanced while under the trance.

Fanatic class skill: Possessed - When health drops below 10%, DA is infinite, OA is enhanced by 100% and all criticals lead to bloody acts of insane violence such as dismemberment and beheading.

EDIT: but looking at the screenshots, it seems like enhanced gore might not be possible, there is blood spouting out all over the place already.

eisprinzessin
01-27-2010, 08:55 PM
As for the mastery idea, I'm pretty sure I like it, but I'm not quite so sure about how well a berserker theme fits a world where humanity is inches away from extinction. Encouraging the throwing of caution to the wind, like the berserker name implies, sounds more like something you'd do only if you were certain to have a reliable supply of spare humans handy.
Any fighter risks his life in battle - doesn't matter if you are a skilled soldier or a frenzied berserker. Do you have a choice on hostile Cairn? Furthermore, do you have a choice if the warp transferred you to a berserker? You do it your way. :p
Anyone here read Joe Abercrombie's First Law Trilogy?.No, I did not. My first thought was Sláine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sl%C3%A1ine_%28comics%29) and his warp-spasm. :D

Zealuu
01-27-2010, 09:38 PM
Any fighter risks his life in battle - doesn't matter if you are a skilled soldier or a frenzied berserker.

There's risk, and then there's risk. The calculated risk taken by a disciplined soldier engaging in battle doesn't quite amount to the risk taken by the loincloth-clad berserker who scopes out the thickest concentration of enemies and then charges, giggling and frothing as he goes. :P

Of course, in the context of Grim Dawn, nigh-suicidal berserker charges might be so unexpected you'll end up throwing whatever it is you're currently killing sufficiently off balance to finish things quickly. That might work.

eisprinzessin
01-27-2010, 10:01 PM
Berserker is just how they are called on Cairn - they do not need to be the Berserkers (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berserker) from Old Norse literature. But has Cairn Norse roots? :p

yerkyerk
02-21-2010, 01:21 AM
Two more skills that could be interesting for this class (also befitting for the Ritual mastery);


The Pit (active)
The player casts a circle around himself - anyone (including enemies) in this circle get a flat physical damage bonus. This skill should be used carefully, as enemies will also take advantage of this.

Ignore Pain (passive)
The Berserker has a chance to completely ignore damage from a critical hit. This skill rewards players for having a low DA.