Curse

nebojats · Jan 31, 2007, 08:50 PM // 20:50

Hello folks... here's another specimen from my CC Laboratory. I'm open to supportive criticism and communal brainstorming. For skimming ease, I've divided the post into three sections:

I. The Shrift - For the skimmer: concept art, a quick explanation of the basic concept, attributes, strengths, weaknesses and originality.
II. Tactics - For those with some time on their hands, a brief illustration of a few battle strategies.
III. Skills - For the ambitious reader, a tentative list of skills.

I. THE SHRIFT:

Click here for more examples of work by combatchuck.
Click here for more examples of work by jademonkeyx88

Background

A fervent missionary, the Shrift stops at nothing to convert new followers and execute unbelievers. To commune with his deity, the Shrift explores his own mortality through suffering. He is covered in painful piercings which are constant reminders of his own corporeal flaws. On the battlefield, he viciously attacks heathens with his flail while zealously preaching the glory of his deity. Acting as a shield to his allies, the Shrift redirects damage towards himself. Pain only reinforces his faith, and terrorized opponents can do nothing but tremble in awe before him.

Function:

The Shrift acts as a true tank (unlike any class to date). He redirects damage towards himself, shielding his teammates from harm. This damage is converted into energy by his primary attribute. He then utilizes his expanded energy stores to neutralize enemies by using: 1) hexes which redirect opponents' skills; or 2) calls and shouts which debuff attacking opponents in non-damaging ways.

The Shrift has Warrior level HP, armor, and energy. Damage from the flail (think anything from a free-swinging mace to a cat-o-nine-tails) is 13-16, at a rate of one attack per 1.33 seconds. The flail becomes more deadly as the Shrift takes damage. Read below for details.

Attributes:

1) Masochism (Primary Attribute) - Increases damage-to-energy conversion and improves the flail's damage by 0%...25%.
2) Flagellation - Determines the range and effectiveness of Flagellation enchantments.
3) Penance - Affects calls and chants which weaken attacking enemies.
4) Condemnation - Affects spells which redirect and disable opponents' skills.

Strengths:

1) The Shrift redirects damage from his allies towards himself.
2) The Shrift redirects enemy skills.
3) The Shrift gains energy from taking damage.
4) The Shrift inherently deals more flail damage as his health lowers.

Weaknesses:

1) The Shrift generally needs a Flagellation enchantment to maintain energy.
2) The Shrift has little self-heal.
3) The Shrift is especially vulnerable to Area of Effect, Damage over Time spells; if the Shrift is protecting four teammates and an Elementalist casts Fire Storm on him and those he is protecting, the Shrift can conceivably take 1200 damage in 10 seconds.

Originality:

Flagellation

There are three main innovations with this class. First is the Shrift's Flagellation enchantments. Unlike any other class in the game, the Shrift may act as a true tank. Although Warriors can draw the attacks of mobs in PvE play by rushing in first, such a tactic is useless in PvP play. When competing against human players, opponents have the choice to attack who they wish. The Shrift takes this choice away. Instead, it is he who decides who receives what damage. Furthermore, the Shrift is the only class who inherently converts received damage to energy.

Condemnation

The second innovation is the Shrift's Condemnation attribute. Although there are skills which make opponents take damage because they deal damage, there are very few which actually redirect damage and effects. The Condemnation attribute provides a whole sub-set of spells devoted to redirecting damage and effects. For instance, enemy monks can accidentally heal the Shrift's allies, an enemy elementalist can accidentally injure his own Warrior, and enemy fighters may accidentally hit an adjacent teammate or themselves.

The Flail

The third innovation is the Shrift's weapon: the Flail. Like the Shrift himself, the flail becomes more powerful as its master takes damage. This weapon's max damage raises x% as the Shrift's health lowers x%. At full health, the flail does 13-16 damage. At 75% health, the flail does 13-20 damage. At 50%, the flail does 13-24 damage. At 25% health, the flail does 13-28 damage. In this way, the flail normally does less damage than a sword. However, if the Shrift loses more than half of his health, the flail deals more damage than a sword (although with a much wider range). Furthermore, the Flagellation attribute adds an additional 0%...25% damage modifier.

II. TACTICS:

In general:

The Shrift may enter the frenzy along with other point-blank attackers, increasing the likelihood to receive damage. Alternatively, the Shrift may remain with the spellcasters, acting as a tank to protect them. After setting up a Flagellation enchantment, the received damage of allies in range is redirected towards the Shrift. As foes attack, damage received is converted into energy which the Shrift then uses to call out Penance shouts/chants, slowly rendering attacking foes useless. See further below in the thread for examples of such skills.

As well as drawing fire and crippling enemies, the Shrift may also blur the lines between friend and foe by using Condemnation skills. These skills can make enemy monks accidentally heal allies, make opponents deal damage to other adjacent opponents, etc. For examples of Condemnation skills, look further down in the thread.

Offensive backup:

The Shrift rushes behind melee attackers, casting Subservience and then Celestial Aid. Doing so minimizes both the damage dealt to his allies and the personal health loss suffered by the Shrift (although not the actual damage redirected to the Shrift). All the while, he gains energy from the damage he receives. Using his new energy stores, the Shrift weakens opponents' attacks by using Penance skills. Yelling "You Are Pitiful!" and maintaining Stifling Ballad greatly reduces opponents' offensive capabilities. This in turn allows the Shrift to redirect a greater percentage of their damage towards himself (e.g. advancing from Subservience to Holy Agony). An enemy warrior with a sword, instead of dealing 15-22 damage to an ally in range, now only deals 4-6 to that ally while the Shrift receives the remaining 4-6 damage. If the Shrift is able to re-establish Celestial Aid, then even this minimal damage he receives may be healed immediately. With his remaining energy, the Shrift may cast further Penance skills or utilize his Condemnation attribute, leaving opponents an easy prey for his allies.

One on one:

The Shrift sets up "I relish pain!" and Celestial Aid. In this way, the Shrift takes more damage than he would otherwise (consequently converting more damage into energy), but ends up losing less health. Using his rapidly expanding energy stores, the Shrift can now spam Condemnation hexes (Self-loathing, Corporeal Flaw and Distracting Ballad would be particularly useful in a one-on-one situation) and flail attacks. The end result in this situation would be an opponent who effectively deals less damage, has a random skill disabled, may accidentally attack himself and has a greater chance to receive critical hits. The Shrift would exploit the weakened opponent with flail attacks. With a secondary healing class, the Shrift would be able to minimize the little damage he takes from his enfeebled foe.

III. SKILLS:

Masochism

"I relish pain!" - 15e, 30r. Elite Shout. For 15...39 seconds, your maximum Health is doubled and you receive double benefit from healing, but you take double damage from all sources. When "I relish pain!" ends, you're healed for 50...202 Health.

Celestial Aid - 5e, 25r. Stance. For 10 seconds, after each hit received you heal an amount of damage equal to the damage taken, to a maximum of 3...15.

Invigorating Torment - Stance. For 3...10 seconds, after each hit received, you gain 3 energy.

Masochistic Mantra - For 20 seconds, Mantra of Masochism does nothing. When Mantra of Masochism ends, 25...50% of all the damage that was done to you is dealt to all adjacent foes.

Whirling Flail - Flail attack. Perform a spinning flail attack, striking for +4...10 damage to all adjacent opponents.

Blessed Blow - Flail attack. If this attack hits, you strike for +5...17 damage.

Hallowed Swing - Flail attack. If this attack hits an attacking foe, that foe is knocked down.

Flagellation - ***Only one Flagellation enchantment may be used at a time. Depending on the level of the attribute, Flagellation enchantments may range from nearby to one half of the aggro circle.

Mortification - Elite Enchantment. For 5…15 seconds, 100% of damage is redirected from allies within range to yourself.

Humility - Elite Enchantment. For 5...15 seconds, all conditions and their remaining duration on allies within range are transferred to you.

Servility - Elite Enchantment. For 5...15 seconds, all hexes and their remaining duration on allies are transferred to you.

Zealous Prostration - Elite Enchantment. For 5…15 seconds, allies within range can’t lose more than 5% maximum health from a single attack. When you prevent damage, you lose 45…15 health.

Holy Agony - Enchantment. For 5…15 seconds, 50% of damage is redirected from allies within range to yourself.

Subservience - Enchantment. For 5…15 seconds, whenever allies within range take damage, that damage is reduced by 15 and you take 15 damage.

Abasement - Enchantment. For 5...15 seconds, you share all conditions with allies in range. Conditions on allies expire 50% faster.

Subjection - Enchantment. For 5...15 seconds, you share all hexes with allies within range. Hexes on allies expire 50% faster.

Redirected Suffering - Spell. Transfer hexes and their remaining durations from target foe to yourself.

Penance

Interrupting Ballad - Elite Chant. For 10 seconds, if an opponent within earshot deals 50 damage to you, that opponent is knocked down.

Ballad of Confusion - Elite Chant. For 10 seconds, if an opponent within earshot deals 50 damage to you, that foe is Dazed for 5…17 seconds.

“You are nothing!” - Elite Shout. All nearby foes are stripped of enchantments.

“There is no resistance!” - Shout. Nearby foes lose 1…5 energy.

“Submit!” - Shout. Nearby foes lose 5…20 armor.

“You are pitiful!” - Shout. For 30 seconds, nearby foes deal 15...45% less damage.

Stifling Ballad - Chant. For 10 seconds, if an opponent within earshot deals 50 damage to you, that opponent loses 1…10 energy.

Ballad of Vulnerability - Chant. For 10 seconds, if an opponent within earshot deals 50 damage to you, that opponent loses 10…40 armor.

Ballad of Decrepitude - Chant. For 10 seconds, if an opponent within earshot deals 50 damage to you, that foe is Crippled for 5…13 seconds.

Dark Ballad - Chant. For 10 seconds, if an opponent within earshot deals 50 damage to you, that foe suffers from Blindness for 3…9 seconds.

Ballad of Censorship - Chant. For 10 seconds, if an opponent within earshot deals 50 damage to you, that foe is Silenced for 10…26 seconds.

Ballad of Pain - Chant. For 10 seconds, if an opponent within earshot deals 50 damage to you, that foe suffers from Deep Wound for 5…17 seconds.

Corporeal Ballad - Chant. For 10 seconds, if an opponent within earshot deals 50 damage to you, that foe suffers from Weakness for 5…17 seconds.

Condemnation

Mental Breakdown - Hex. If target foes is casting a spell, that spell is disabled for 30... 60 seconds.

Corporeal Flaw - Hex. For 10… 30 seconds, a random skill of target opponent is disabled.

Human Error - Hex. For 15 seconds, target opponent’s next 1...4 offensive skills will target an opponent instead of an ally.

Earthly Mistake - Hex. For 15 seconds, target opponent’s next 1...4 defensive skills (buff or healing) will target an ally instead of an opponent.

Self-loathing - Hex. For 15 seconds, 1...4 offensive skills directed at target ally will be redirected to the opponent who used that skill.

Accidental Smite - Hex. For 12 seconds, the next time target opponent attempts to heal, that foe deals an equivalent amount of damage instead.

Incompetence - Hex. For 15 seconds, target opponent's next 2...10 attacks do half damage.

Distracting Ballad - Chant. For 10 seconds, the next time each opponent within earshot is attacked, there is a 30…65% chance that the attack will be a critical hit.

What is important is coming up with a fundamentally new role that works within the current framework, and I think the Shrift does the job. What do you guys think? Please, no flaming?

*** I'd like to give recognition where it's due. BahamutKaiser convinced me to reconsider how Masochism works (damage is now redirected from allies rather than physically redirecting attacks from foes). actionjack shared his Extending Mind attribute for his Spell Binder/Weaver class with me, and that significantly influenced the Shrift's Flagellation attribute. draxynnic gave valuable input on balancing skills and contributed some originals to the list. I'd especially like to thank jademonkeyx88 and combatchuck... they both bring the Shrift to life in different ways with their respectively awesome artwork. Finally, I perused the "Create a Skill" thread and used some offers as inspiration (Although who I am specifically indebted to, I can't recall. Please tell me if you see your skills.).

Like what you see? Check out my CC Laboratory for more examples of my work. Any feedback is greatly appreciated!

BahamutKaiser · Jan 31, 2007, 09:00 PM // 21:00

I'm a bit tired now, so I haven't read over the details (just resting between sets right now). But I was just thinking about the image, with all the piercings and what not, and I thought it would look better if he had more straight piercings, with small pieces of bone sticking through the skin. Features of Aztec culture and South American influence is a good place for a new chapter, and this would be a good class in that chapter, Something like the characters in Apocalypto would be very interesting, although in other chapters they could feature "armors" which have different cultural looks.

OH yeah, its probably too late to mention, but if you just got your wisdom teeth pulled out, make sure you keep ice on it constantly for the first 10 hrs, you may take this for granted but it can prevent swelling altogether if your diligent. And make sure you keep gause in your mouth around the wound to soak up the blood and help plug it, the blood will make you sick if you keep drinking it, and it woln't heal as fast if it free bleeds.

Helcaraxe · Feb 01, 2007, 01:19 AM // 01:19

I liked it then, I liked it now

Crazyvietguy · Feb 01, 2007, 01:29 AM // 01:29

Wow, Phenominal job, also great job designing the character. I agree the aztec theme would be awesome.

I love the flail this would also give another class that uses shouts as one of their class lines. Big fan!

nebojats · Feb 01, 2007, 08:48 PM // 20:48

Thanks for the responses. To flesh out the class, I briefly added two descriptions of particular battle tactics. The general strategies make sense to me (I'm avoiding specific skill costs and recharge times for the moment, since I know there's no way to perfectly balance them without actual in-game testing). If you see any glaring inconsistencies, I'd really appreciate your insight.

Writing the one on one tactic raised a question for me: would it make sense to have some flail attacks be adrenaline-based? Doing so could allow the Shrift to be much more offensive, but I don't want to overpower the class. Thoughts?

I'm also focusing on expanding the Masochism attribute; more skills which minimize health loss by either reducing damage or (preferably) by healing damage from attacks. The list should be longer soon.

BahamutKaiser:

Yeah, when I saw Apocalypto, I couldn't get my mind off the Shrift. Some of the more extreme piercings in that movie lined up perfectly in my mind with how I envision this class looking. I added the only decent screenshot from the movie I could find.

Between sets? Are you a musician or something?

Thanks for the tips on the teeth. I thought I was good with the ice (I'm on the warm water stage now. According to the dentist, that's what I should be doing after the first day or so), but goddamnit it if my mouth hasn't swollen up like a balloon. The oozing has stopped though, so I guess I should be glad for that.

Helcaraxe:

Thanks man. If you can think of any way to improve the profession, let me know.

Crazyvietguy:

Thanks dude. The character design was done during another bout of sickness a month or so ago (immune system has been failing me lately). If you have any specific suggestions, feel free to write them on this thread.

nebojats · Feb 07, 2007, 12:44 AM // 00:44

I've been toying with weapon ideas for my other class concept, the Mannai, and I started to think about weapons whose damage is dependent upon other variables. Applying this concept to this class, I thought it would be appropriate if the flail dealt more damage as the Shrift lost health (since he becomes stronger and more resolute as he suffers). A flail's higher end damage would raise x%, where x is the % health lost. This is a max damage flail might look something like this:

Brute Flail
Slashing Dmg: 13-16

At full health, the flail would do 13-16 damage. At 75% health, the flail would do 13-20 damage. At 50%, the flail would do 13-24 damage. At 25% health, the flail would do 13-28 damage. This way, the flail would normally do less damage than a sword. However, if the Shrift lost more than half of his health, he would do more damage than a sword (although with a much wider range).

Thoughts?

bufbrtnjr · Feb 07, 2007, 09:01 PM // 21:01

i like the idea and, where did you get tht image or the renderer for it?
i would seriously like to use a render like that for my scholar class

[M]agna_[C]arta · Feb 07, 2007, 09:38 PM // 21:38

oohh oohh, How did make that image I wan't to make too for my Guardian^^!?

BahamutKaiser · Feb 09, 2007, 05:46 AM // 05:46

I still don't think the idea of a scaling weapon is very good, but a skill that offers more damage based on status would be. Simular to Critical Eye, except it could increase damage delt as your health fell, and offer a minor effect unconditionally. Perhaps something like increase damage equal to the amount of health missing (in percentage), dealing no extra damage at full health, and 90% more damage at 10% health. It may seem like it wouldn't work well, but there are skills which sacrifice and deplete health intentionally like Illusion of Weakness.

jademonkeyx88 · Feb 10, 2007, 04:09 PM // 16:09

Here's an idea of what a shrift might look like.

And a few of him with his armor dyed different colors.
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k1...nceptblack.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k1...conceptred.jpg
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k1...nceptwhite.jpg

BahamutKaiser · Feb 11, 2007, 01:03 AM // 01:03

Damn, now thats a cool character.

nebojats · Feb 11, 2007, 01:07 AM // 01:07

jademonkeyx88 works magic, am I right? There's only so much writing can do. This amazing drawing really helps to flesh out the character and bring him to life.

[M]agna_[C]arta · Feb 11, 2007, 06:50 AM // 06:50

That drawing makes me think, that guy has a low AL.
But it really looks like what it is supposed to be^^.
Does the Tatoo Give you protection?
I think in the Monk and Necro armor with Tatoo Armor, The tatoo gives them the AL, like it works like magic^^.
So, Does it work like what I said.

nebojats · Feb 12, 2007, 04:17 AM // 04:17

@bufbrtnjr and magna carta: The image I had up before jademonkeyx88 helped out was done using a screenshot of a naked Elonian ranger. I used Adobe Illustrator to add the piercings and pants. I used a variety of effects with Adobe Photoshop to add the shading, coloring, and to make the background unfocused. Bethany's thread in the Screenshot Exposition forum explains how to use Photoshop to beautify screenshots.

In response to the previous post, let's just say the tattoos and piercings give the Shrift holy protection which acts like armor. A lot of the armor in this game doesn't make sense if you look at its appearance and then compare that to the protection it provides. I'd say the same logic should apply to the Shrift. I didn't give jademonkeyx88 direction other than the general description. The drawing is his creative work, and once again, I'd like to say that it rocks.

Sunchips · Feb 12, 2007, 05:15 AM // 05:15

out of all the concept chars, this is my favorite, i would buy a new GW to get this char

nebojats · Feb 13, 2007, 08:01 PM // 20:01

Wow, thanks Sunchips! That's about the best compliment I could hope to get on a CC. If you have any specific ideas or suggestions about any of my CCs, let me know.

gameshoes3003 · Feb 14, 2007, 03:05 AM // 03:05

Nebojats is by far the best person with concept classes (though others have gotten into detail, his are just more original and not rip offs).
/signed

nebojats · Feb 14, 2007, 04:41 AM // 04:41

Thanks gameshoes3003. It's always good to hear support. If you have any ideas on my CCs, let me know.

But I really would like to make it clear that the Shrift, the Mannai, and the Revenant are all greatly indebted to the other posters on this forum. For instance, you should have seen the first draft of the Shrift (that was nearly three months ago)... it looked very different than it does now. I think it's very important to actually listen to others and incorporate their feedback. Otherwise, why post at all?

The four most helpful posters on this forum are BahamutKaiser, actionjack, draxynnic and System_Crush. They all offer constructive, honest criticism and none of my CCs would be the same without their input. And of course jademonkeyx88 completes the identities with excellent visualizations. My name ends up on the final package, but a lot of people helped to work out the details.

nebojats · Feb 16, 2007, 09:41 AM // 09:41

I was reading through the "Create a Skill" thread in the Sardelac Sanitarium and I ran into this post of wisdom by Deleet:

Quote:

Remember when creating skills that % chances are not to fun play with or against.

Don't make skills that enforce luck > skill.

He's got a point. It's been a while since I've actually thought about how the Shrift works. In my mind, it was pretty much a case closed scenario. Now that I think about it though, the Condemnation attribute might be flawed. I'm stuck at a crossroads: should Condemnation merely redirect opponents' skills, or should it also be dependent on chance (as it is now)?

Thoughts?

combatchuck · Feb 16, 2007, 09:48 AM // 09:48

It's been a long time since I've had to come up with my own design for a character. I forgot how hard that is. Here's my idea of a Shrift: