Curse

Plague · Mar 07, 2007, 08:49 AM // 08:49

Depending on how well this goes over, I may have some concept art of this class soon. The name and theme originates slightly from Norse/Slavic myth.

Desc: The Seid is a master of enpowerment: it uses a variety of skills to alter coporeal states, and to violate the order of nature. Seids have a wide view of beliefs, depending on their focused discipline: the prayers of a Seid are offered to many gods. They are raised not as fighters or mages, but as artisans of the flesh, granting them the ability to balance the mind, body and spirit to acheive any goal. While not skilled enough to occupy the roles of more focused classes, a Seid is versatile enough to utilize and enhance the skills of any profession. A Seid belongs in the thick of battle, but relies heavily on its abilities to enpower himself. However, a Seid need not invest totally in its own weapon to make use of its skills.

Seid skills typically focus on the Seid himself. A Seid can play a supporting role as a healer or buffer, but even these skills are meant to assist the Seid in its efforts as a fighter in some way. Seid skills are often high-energy with fast cast times (if any), giving a Seid ample time to continue its work on the battlefield with minimal downtime in balancing its abilities. A Seid has a small energy pool of 25 that recovers at 3 pips a second, and gains back energy from Enmity.

Pros:
*Self-reliant
*Versatile
*Mid-range
*Excellent secondary class
*Can use secondary classes as well as a primary in some cases

Cons:
*Low armor
*Slow attack speed
*Skills usually have downsides
*High energy cost for skills
*Low energy pool

Weapon: Polearm. The polearm is typically a piercing weapon, although many varieties exist. It possesses a medium range, having a greater reach than a melee weapon but a shorter reach than a bow or wand. It is a heavy damage weapon, equivilent to that of a Warrior's hammer, but is significantly slower. The weapon is typically used to apply and spread conditions or deal critical blows at range.

Atts:

Verve: Verve enhances the power and lengthens the duration of skills that augment or defend against spells and restore or improve energy.

Fervor: Fervor boosts the duration and potency of skills that enhance physical abilities and defense and restore or improve health.

Polearm Mastery: Polearm Mastery improves the effectiveness of skills that use the polearm, including skills that cause conditions.

Equilibrium {primary}: Equilibrium bolsters the strength of skills that alter physical attributes and that are affected by changes in conditions and environmental affects.

Note on "States": States are Seid-specific alterations in the balance of your character's health, armor, energy, attributes, etc. Like a stance, a state will end if another state is applied; however, there are three kinds of states: mind (energy), body (health and armor) and spirit (skill attributes and speed). For example, if you apply a State of Mind after you have already used a State of Mind, the latter will be replaced, much like a stance would be.

Skills:

Verve: skill line of energy and the very few amount of directly-offensive spells in the Seid's aresenal. Much akin to a Mesmer's Inspiration and Domination lines, or the skills of an Elementalist's Energy Storage line. This line is best played as a caster, and makes an excellent choice as a secondary line due to its heavy use of energy-centered skills.

Sanguine Bond. Bond. If target ally is above 80% health, each time that ally uses a spell, that ally gains 1...3 energy and you gain 2...4 energy. If that ally is below 80% health and uses a spell, you lose 3 energy or Sanguine Bond ends.

Sinner's Wage. Stance. For 3...15 seconds, you gain +1 in Verve and your movement is slowed by 90%.

Lyssa's Balance {E}. State of Mind. For 4...10 seconds, your health and energy are switched, but you cannot lose more than 10...4% max Health due to damage from a single attack or Spell.

Feast Signet. Signet. You gain 2...14 energy. If interrupted, you lose all energy. This skill is easily interrupted.

Glyph of Interjection. Glyph. Your next spell that targets an ally interrupts all adjacent enemies to that ally, and gives that ally 2...5 energy.

Ward of Silence. Ward. Lose all energy. Create a Ward of Silence at your location for 4...9 seconds. All enemies casting spells within Ward of Interjection are easily interrupted, and take 5...15 damage when an interrupted skill is a spell.

Insanity. State of Mind. For 5...12 seconds, your maximum energy is increased by 10, but you lose all energy. Each time you successfully hit with an attack, gain 1...3 energy. While attacking, for each point of energy you have, deal an additional 5 damage, maximum 20.

Compound Illness. Spell. Target foe takes 6...20 damage. If that foe was casting a spell, that foe takes an additional 6...20 damage. If that foes was suffering from a condition, that foe takes an additional 6...20 damage.

Fervor: skill line of health, restoration and strength. This line plays home to the support skills of a Seid. Fervor uses skills that renew the vitality of a Seid, or accessorize its abilities. A support role can also be played with high Fervor: healing and protecting allies, albeit in less-direct methods than a Monk might employ. Typically, Seid support skills focus on or benefit the caster in some way: either helping allies to improve the Seid, or being skills that can be used on the Seid himself.

Balthazar's Pact. Enchantment. For 3...6 seconds, target ally attacks 33% faster. When Balthazar's Pact ends, that ally gains 4...9 health for every hit landed while under the affect of Balthazar's Pact.

Heavy Breathing. State of Body. For 10 seconds, you have half your maximum health, but skills that target allies also heal for an additional 5...15% of your maximum health.

Brotherhood. Spell. Target ally is healed for 15...40 health. If that ally is not you, you and target ally are healed for an additional 5...25 health.

Brutal Bond. Bond. You and target other ally have +1 health regeneration and deal 5...15 more damage with physical attacks. Each time you are hit with a physical attack, target other ally is healed for 50% of that amount. When target other ally is healed in this way, you lose 4 energy or Brutal Bond ends.

Glyph of Blood. Glyph. Your next spell that targets an ally heals that ally for an additional 10...40 points. If any enemies are adjacent to that ally, 5...20 health is transfered from those enemies to you.

Writhing Poultice. Skill. You gain +5...10 armor, your attacks deal +3...12 damage and you gain 1...4 health regeneration for 3...8 seconds.

Epiphany. State of Spirit. For 4...15 seconds, the next time you cast a spell, that spell's attribute is increased by 1 for 4...15 seconds, and all of your other attributes are reduced by 1.

Berserker's Blessing. Enchantment. Target ally gains +1...3 health regeneration for 10 seconds, and that ally's attacks deal an additional 5...15 damage. If that ally's health drops below 50%, Berserker's Blessing ends.

Polearm Mastery: skill line of the polearm. Unlike the weapon lines of other fighter classes, the Seid's Polearm Mastery is also used to accessorize the Seid for combat.:

Sewn From Flesh. State of Body. For 4...10 seconds, your skills are disabled and you move 33% slower, but attack 33% faster. Each time you successfully land an attack with a polearm, you steal 3...16 health from target foe.

Flight of the Dishonored. Stance. If you are below 20% health, you gain 10...50 health and move 33% faster for 3...15 seconds. If you are wielding a polearm, also gain +20 armor for 3...15 seconds.

Legacy of the Damned {E}. Polearm Attack. For each party member with less than 50% health, you deal 5...15 more damage with this attack. If any allies are dead, this attack dazes target enemy for 5 seconds.

Viper's Inhabitation. State of Spirit. For 10 seconds, all of your attributes except Polearm Mastery are reduced by 5. All of your successful polearm attacks poison and cripple foes for 5...15 seconds.

Triple Jab. Polearm Attack. Strike three times at target foe. The first attack causes bleeding for 3...12 seconds. The second attack has a 70...30% chance of failure but poisons target enemy for 3...12 seconds if successful. The third attack has a 90...50% chance of failure but causes disease on target enemy for 3...12 seconds if successful.

Desperate Jab. Polearm Attack. If you are below 20% health, knock down target foe for 1...3 seconds and cause a deep wound for 5...15 seconds. You are knocked down when you use this skill.

Plague Sweep. Polearm Attack. Perform a sweeping polearm attack at your current location. All of your conditons and their remaining durations are transferred from you to adjacent foes. You lose 5% health for each condition removed in this way.

Bear's Inhabitation. State of Body. For 10 seconds, your attack and movement speed is reduced by 33%. All of your successful polearm attacks knock down foes for 1 second and always result in critical hits.

Equilibrium: skill line of balance and physical order, the essence of a Seid. For each point of Equilibrium, you have a 1% chance to increase skills' attribute levels by 1 while using skills, and you gain 1 energy when you recover from or cause a condition.

Focus of the Wild. Stance. For 5...15 seconds, you lose 2 energy when using skills, but have an additional 5...15% chance of increasing used skills' attributes by 1. Focus of the Wild ends if your energy drops below 10.

Natural Alignment. Skill. For 120 seconds, if you are under the affects of a nature ritual, conditions you apply last 5...20% longer and conditions you suffer expire 5...20% sooner.

Seething Might {E}. State of Spirit. Lose all energy and 75% of your current health. For the next 5...15 seconds, all of your attributes are raised by 1.

Intoxicating Power. State of Body. You are poisoned, diseased and dazed for 10 seconds. For every conditon on you, you deal an additional 5...15 damage with physical attacks. When Intoxicating Power ends, all adjacent enemies are poisoned, diseased and dazed for 5 seconds.

Bond of Madness. Bond. Target other ally's attributes are increased by 1. Each time that ally casts a spell, you are dazed for 5 seconds. Each time that ally uses a skill, you lose 15...5% health. Bond of Madness ends if your health drops below 50%.

Glyph of Martydom {E}. Glyph. Your next 1...3 spells that target a foe have an increased attribute level of 1...3. For each point of energy that spell cost, you are set on fire for 1 second, maximum 25...10.

Imparted Knowledge. Maintained Enchantment. Each time you use a skill with an attribute level higher than 18...13, gain 100...250% of the energy cost of that skill as health. Imparted Knowledge ends if any of your spells are interrupted, or if your energy falls below 5.

Aura of Insanity {E}. State of Body. All of your energy is restored. For 30 seconds, your gain +2...8 health regeneration, move and attack 33% faster, but have -3 energy degeneration and all of your skills are disabled. Each time you hit with a physical attack, you lose 2 energy. When Aura of Insanity ends, you lose 15...5% of your maximum health for each point of energy you have. Aura of Insanity ends prematurely if your energy reaches 0.

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So there you have it. The key idea here is that it's a mid-range melee class by nature that relies heavily on self-buffs, which also double as support skills. Inspirations for this concept were berserkers and battle mages, although I'd hesitate to call the Seid that. Of course, "real" Seids played a role, too. I'd hope this kind of class would fill the gap between a ranger's range and any of the melee classes, and would also help to accessorize existing classes with an excellent secondary, rather than seeing /Mo everywhere, or people taking an entire secondary profession to use one skill in the no attribute line.

I don't feel like the primary attribute is unbalanced, although it can certainly be powerful. +1 in an attribute at 16% isn't bad, considering weapons can allow you an extra 20%. I can think of at least two skills that also boost an attribute by 1: Glyph of Elemental Power and Awaken the Blood. That's a potential +3 in a secondary attribute. Couple that with one of the Equilibrium skills and you could have a 18 attribute secondary skill ready to cast, with downsides of course. Conditions aren't incredibly common on the battlefield, and less so when applied on single targets due to their expiration times. They take time to be removed, and reapplying them wouldn't trigger an energy gain. Plague Touching them away would, which is why I made some of the skills the way they did: to make yourself into a condition factory.

Anyway, I could ramble on. I didn't list energy requirements, cast times or recharge times because that's a little too much information, and people just start pointing out what they think is unbalanced instead of looking at the big picture, like retards. I think some of the skills I made up are unbalanced, but I just wanted to get the general idea across. If you see a skill that you think is unbalanced, attach either a 25 energy cost to it or a very long recharge, and you might go, "Oh, okay."

Anyway. Enjoy. Concept art would take a few days, but I picture something very... "northern," and inspired by Vikings, Berserkers and Seids, of course. Very brutal looking, but also with an appearance of keen intelligence.

[M]agna_[C]arta · Mar 07, 2007, 09:12 AM // 09:12

Intresting, maybe it would go with the next campaign cause it's based on antartic so maybe theres norse mytho also so this one and my valkyrie(changed it now to judge) might go for the next Campaign.

Picture:

Maybe your looking something like this?

System_Crush · Mar 07, 2007, 10:25 AM // 10:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Plague

but as artisans of the flesh

Hookers!

Other than that I love the idea, a lot of it sounds very very nice.
Though if they are sinners, having names of the gods in their skills is a little off though, sinners don't worship any god if i'm correct(thasts why fire eles have Rodgort as their patront, who is a demon instead of a god, even though they also pray to baltazar who is the god of fire, I guess they arent as honerable or coregeous as warriors so Baltazar does not like them enough)

The primary is quite orginaal I've not seen a tribute increaser up to now, also its overpowered perhaps, a succesful plague sending would land you 40 energy easely.

Flesh crafting seems really cool, imagine leatherface's mask as headgear(guy from texas chainsaw massacre)

I don't get the polerarms though, I know stafs and wands would definatly not fit them I'm not suere a halbeard or spear would either(likely it's there be couse of the mithology yes?).
Too bad scythes are taken... what kind of tool would be used during flesh crafting?

I like the state of mind/body/spirit and bond skills too, those could have quite original implementations.

I love the immage and background, keep up the good work I would definatly play this.

[M]agna_[C]arta · Mar 07, 2007, 10:38 AM // 10:38

What Image?!

Plague · Mar 07, 2007, 11:16 AM // 11:16

Well, I notice that ANet isn't very keen on using weapons that are too "out there." I originally had the idea of a "totem" weapon that was basically a sort of animal-spirit carving (not a totem pole, no) that would work at range, but I figured the idea would trip people up too much.

I basically wanted a melee class, but not another fighter that was in there with Dervishes, Warriors and Assassins. We have too many people crowded around one target. And we're missing a mid-range fighter. It would be inappropriate for this class design anyway, having a support buffer placed in the thick of things.

So, I wanted a weapon that obviously has a long reach that's easily identified by your everyday person: like a bow, sword, axe, hammer, scythe, spear and dagger. There aren't many weapons like that, and I felt like a polearm (or lance, whatever you want to call it) would be appropriate.

I was hesitant giving the whole Slavic theme, but I realized quickly that it wasn't necessary to completely carry over every single aspect of the Barbarian/Berserker/Viking heritage, considering it's only inspiring the Guild Wars world, not hopping into it. The Dervish, for example, in real life, has nothing to do with combat. So you get the idea.

As far as sinning goes, you can serve a god and still be an acknowledged sinner, heh. I tried to make the skill names denote that Seids are wanton killers, and live to serve themselves. Serving a god doesn't mean you're a good servant, after all. I notice that with all the Guild War classes, even the most sinful (Necromancers, maybe even Ritualists) are devoutly attached to pleasing a certain god. I think a Seid would have a harder time being a good servant due to his lifestyle, but would please the gods by way of his results. It's sort of like comparing a loyal dog to a vicious man-killing dog that you have to keep chained up. Both are valuable; one is just a little crazy.

MC: As adorable as Rikku is (and slutty), not quite like that. It's the right idea, being "wild" and all, but not that colorful, not that naked and not that beasty, most of the time.

System_Crush · Mar 07, 2007, 11:51 AM // 11:51

Image as in image I get due to their identity.

I do know that necro's are sinners, its exactly my point, necros have not 1 skill that has the name Genth in it.
Instead Dervishes who may not be as devoted to the aspects of the god of death as necros are they are better worshipers so they get skills such as fingers of Genth.
Its not that the necro is a bad worshiper to Genth, it's that they will use these skills for personal gain, therefor Genth ain't givin them any <3.

In other words he is keeping his attack-dogs on a chain, and letting his friendly pets represent him(Avater of Genth)

I agree; Rikku, even in the ram elite sphere is not really brutal looking(She's still much cuter than any of the others form FFX or FFX2)

Well I guess you have a good point with the polerarm it is a nice weapon, and likely it will prove a vital part of keeping the identity away from other types of casters.

One question though, since it is a nearby range weapon
(half range= in the area which would require a ridiculously large weapon if you ask me, I'd go double the melee range instead of half the ranged range)
What happens if the foes come to close, hence you will have trouble hitting them with the tip of the weapon.

Plague · Mar 07, 2007, 02:55 PM // 14:55

"Grenth's Balance"

As far as the animation goes, say if you're fighting a Warrior with a polearm, and he has a sword, there'll just be some minor clipping going on. It happens already with some weapons. ANet never seems to care.

BTW, not getting the Plague Touch thing. Say if you have three conditions on you, you get 3 energy. Send them and you get 3 more energy for getting rid of them and 3 more for causing them on a foe. That gets you 9 energy gross, not net. I think there are... about 10 conditions in the game? I think I've only gotten about 5 on me at once at any point. So even with the max amount, Plague Touching someone would get you 30 energy. And if you have ten conditions on you, none expired, I'd say you have a lot more to worry about.