Mastery Descriptions - WIP

[medierra]

Just wanted to share some descriptions I was working on for the 3 mostly finalized skill masteries. Some of the names are still up for debate; I tend to not finalize all the terminology until the end when everything is solidified. Naming is always tricky.

Combat Mastery (name not finalized)
In the imperial army, Soldiers are trained to survive in the most hellish conditions and hold the line against the deadliest enemies of the empire. Soldiers are oriented toward close combat with sword and shield. What they lack in outright damage-dealing, they make up for in endurance and self-sufficiency.

Demolition Mastery
Sappers are the pyrotechnic engineers of the imperial army, their primary duty: blowing stuff up. Fighting best from a distance, Sappers engage enemies with guns and a wide variety of fire and electrical traps, bombs, and ammunition. Whether the target is hard or soft, Sappers have the right explosive for the job and they deal out massive damage with an insane zeal.

Occult Mastery
Once hunted by imperial forces in an effort to control arcane power and knowledge, Occultists wield diverse powers granted to them by the three witch gods and rely heavily on the eldritch creatures they are able to summon. Along with summoning, their arcane repertoire includes blessings, curses, and offensive spells that inflict damage with poison, acid, and chaotic energy. Occultists excel with neither sword nor gun but can use either to augment their offense.

[aj99]

Sounds awesome . the name military dosent sound quite right to me but it looks like its still up for debate. Nice Job

[i.n.s.a.n.e]

Originally Posted by medierra

electrical traps
chaotic energy

I like the descriptions, good job!

Could you please elaborate more on the quoted stuff? I would just like to know how did you handle the graphical effects of these? Are you working with Lightning effects from TQ or did you change them significantly? What will the Chaotic energy look like, Liche's Soul Blight/Arcane Blast ability?

Thanks, man!



By the way, some thoughts of mine on the "Military Mastery":

- Warfare Mastery
- Duel Mastery
- Combat Mastery
- Militia Mastery
- Militant Mastery
- Force Mastery
- Power Mastery
- War Mastery
- Arms Mastery
- Rival Mastery
- Imperial Mastery
- Soldier Mastery
- Strength Mastery
- Martial Mastery
- Soldierly Mastery
- Service Mastery
- Strike Mastery
- Battle Mastery
- Officer Mastery
- Commander Mastery
- Armed Mastery
- Support Mastery
- Veteran Mastery
- Infantry Mastery

Most of them are stupid I guess, but it might get you, ones skilled in English, some inspiration.

[matthewfarmery]

for Military Mastery, I don't think the name really fits, maybe warfare mastery or Soldier mastery probably could work better, but I like the descriptions and the other names

so overall fine

[jiaco]

Out of all the options so far in this thread, warfare fits best...seem to remember another game with that mastery from somewhere...

[matthewfarmery]

yes I barely remeber, I think it began with T or was it Q?

[Harlequin]

Military Mastery (name not finalized)
Soldiers of the imperial army ... .
Soldiers are oriented toward ... .

You should always avoid starting two following sentences with the same word. It makes the text less fluent to read. It becomes especially apparent when you put them under each other. I often got a fat red "WW" in school whenever I did this in an essay. (WW, German for "WortWiederholung" meaning repetition of words)

Demolition Mastery
Sappers are the pyrotechnic engineers of the imperial army, their primary duty: blowing stuff up. Sappers fight best from a distance, engaging enemies with guns and a wide variety of fire and electrical traps, bombs, and ammunition. Whether the target is hard or soft, Sappers have the right explosive for the job and they deal out massive damage with an insane zeal.

Same as above, starting two following sentences with the same word.

"blowing stuff up"
While a common phrase it does sound a bit sloppy or maybe too "slang".

Occult Mastery
Occultists were once hunted by imperial forces in an effort to control arcane power and knowledge. The Occultist relies heavily on the eldritch creatures they are able to summon and powers granted by the three witch gods, including an array of blessings, curses, and offensive spells that inflict damage with poison, acid, and chaotic energy. Occultists excel with neither sword nor gun but can use either to augment their offense.

You open with "they were once hunted" and in the 2nd sentence you directly go into the class-description. Maybe a few more words about what changed in the present?

I don't want to be harsh or anything but I thought since you asked for opionions I might as well do it right. I hope I didn't nit-pick too much. :/

Class names: I like Demolition and Occult. Well Demolition could be named Pioneer-class maybe. Or maybe this could be the actual class-name as in TQ where mastery name was != class name.


Edit: Since you edited your first post I will give additional feedback. :3

Once hunted by imperial forces in an effort to control arcane power and knowledge, ... .

With this wording you imply that something has changed now. Maybe give us a few words in the mastery-description about that? Right now you leave this open which might be a bit irritating.

Maybe something along the lines of:

Once hunted by imperial forces in an effort to control arcane power and knowledge, the Occultists are now important allies in the fight against the demonic intruders. They wield diverse powers granted to them by the three witch gods and rely heavily on the eldritch creatures they are able to summon. etc.

[medierra]

Damn, I just pwned by writing etiquette! Changed things up a bit, thanks.

I'm thinking maybe combat for the soldier's mastery name? Either that, or maybe we could change "Mastery" to "Profession" and then just use it as the class name?

The one issue with that really is that Demolitionist is too wordy.

On the other hand, sticking with the current scheme, maybe the Occult mastery class name should be witch?

Warfare would certainly work but I think it would be bad for us to have too many parallels to TQ... for legal reasons.

Could you please elaborate more on the quoted stuff? I would just like to know how did you handle the graphical effects of these? Are you working with Lightning effects from TQ or did you change them significantly? What will the Chaotic energy look like, Liche's Soul Blight/Arcane Blast ability?

New lightning effects, although, it isn't radically different. We can't use any effects from TQ. Chaos energy is red and black, although sometimes it ends up looking reddish-purple. It is usually an additive red energy effect and then a gritty, sooty looking black cloud.

There is a good shot of it here, although, since it is a dark background, you can't really see the black cloud effect too well. http://www.grimdawn.com/screenshots/...ront04_lrg.jpg

[Harlequin]

Originally Posted by medierra

Damn, I just pwned by writing etiquette! Changed things up a bit, thanks.

np, I know this stuff is annoying but it really increases the readability if you pay attention to it.^^

I'm thinking maybe combat for the soldier's mastery name? Either that, or maybe we could change "Mastery" to "Profession" and then just use it as the class name?

Combat-Mastery sounds like a skill that increases your dmg in combat.^^

The one issue with that really is that Demolitionist is too wordy.

What about Pioneer-Mastery? It is what the mastery describes but not as wordy. Then again might sound awkward...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assault_pioneer

On the other hand, sticking with the current scheme, maybe the Occult mastery class name should be witch?

Witchcraft maybe?

[Renevent]

Originally Posted by medierra

Combat Mastery (name not finalized)
In the imperial army, Soldiers are trained to survive in the most hellish conditions and hold the line against the nastiest enemies of the empire.

Very minor...but some reason that line doesn't convey the same tone as what precedes it. Goes from "hellish"...which sound grim and brutal...to "nastiest"...which I dunno just sounds kinda lame. Mosquito bites are nasty, rotten eggs are nasty...deadly enemies of the empire should carry a little more dread than that

I'd personally write something like:

Combat Mastery (name not finalized)
In the imperial army, Soldiers are trained to survive in the most hellish conditions and hold the line against the brutal/vicious/demonic/imposing/deadly/unrelenting/savage/mortal/wicked/bloodthirsty/ferocious* enemies of the empire

*choose one