Guercio
19-05-2009, 23:26
Natalya lowered herself gingerly into the chair. Her left hand toyed with the decorative skull carved into her chair's armrest as she cast an appraising glance over the Council of the Order of Mage Slayers. She ignored the pain in her back - That cursed swamp city of Kurast! she thought, and then hiking it all the way up into the bloody foothills of Arreat! But the trips were worthwhile enough... if I can convince the Council of the need for action!
"First Shadow?", a voice from the hooded figure to her left spoke up. "You have called this meeting of the council. I presume you have much to report from the Northlands?"
"Indeed I do, Fourth," Natalya replied, addressing the young woman known as Hester by her numbered designation in the Council's hierarchy, as custom dictated. "Rumours will no doubt have reached you that the Archangel Tyrael has destroyed the Worldstone." A number of barely-concealed laughs emerged from the hooded figures around her.
"Uneducated fools will happily create unbelievable stories to explain natural events, First," whispered a thin soprano from a hood to the right.
"Quite so." Natalya offered a tight-lipped grimace. "However, I can confirm that this rumour is true in every particular."
Natalya felt enveloped in noise as every hood started shouting at once. The First Shadow groped at a small dial at her waist and there was a sudden silence, as a mild Mind Blast reminded each of the subordinate Shadows of their place. "Yes, the Stone is destroyed, and with it the small measure of protection from the High Heavens and Burning Hells that we enjoyed here in Sanctuary. But more, more than this is at stake! I trust this is not lost upon us, of all people?"
Silence. She had their attention.
"As you will know, our order was founded to keep tight rein on magic users who had strayed from the path of the Light. For centuries we have neutralised corrupted sorcerers and sorceresses who would otherwise have threatened the world order. And, again, as you know, we do this through the cunning use of artifacts and our own martial prowess, to minimise the danger we shall ourselves become corrupted by the power entrusted to us.
"You will also know, although most on this world do not, that the Worldstone's purpose was, in part, to restrict the powers of the Nephalem. I wonder if you have added two and two and now realise the crisis that will face us in 20 years' time?"
Again, Natalya paused to create the effect she wanted. "A new generation of magic users will arise, stronger and more puissant than anything we have ever encountered. Without the Worldstone to limit their powers, one can only imagine the complete control of the elements these..." she paused, "these Wizards will have. They might be able to interfere directly with arcane forces, even stop time itself." She let these words sink in.
"Our path is clear. We in turn need to adapt to face this future menace. We must throw ourselves deep into the study of the Shadow, and further specialise in the use of traps, weapons and antimagical devices. To this end I have procured the services of a master enchanter and smith." All heads craned as the double doors at the end of the room creaked open.
"My name is Hratli. I am a sorcerer skilled in metal work. It'd be a pleasure to help you..."
Natalya leaned forward and adressed the muttering throng. "I sense some scepticism amongst us? I can assure you that together, this smith and I have already made huge strides in developing new weapons to defend against ranged arcane attack - mechanical bows, if you will, that propel a magical pellet at great speeds. Hratli, what do you call them again?"
"Pistols, my lady."
The reedy soprano spoke up again. "Forgive us our lack of confidence, First Shadow. But... he is just a man."
Natalya's lips again curved in half-smile. "Yes, Fifth, but if we are to truly win this war, we must learn to expand our order to include his number too. With greater power comes a greater requirement for balance, and the next generations of Assassins will be women... and men!"
----------
So, here we go, a new class, The Shadow, with some poorly thought out skill trees as follows:
1. Shadow engineering
Gun mastery - increased damage/critical strike rating with guns
Trap mastery - increased damage with traps/lower mana cost with traps
Trap of poison cloud - AOE poison damage
Trap of blazing fire - AOE fire, linear like Diablo's pink lightning
Trap of freezing - Slows enemies within a radius
Trap of Counterspell - interferes with an enemies ability to cast spells, possibly stopping every other cast?
Socket item - use up some kind of resource for a chance to socket an item - would need some thought
Spiked shield - fuse a claw class weapon and a shield to create a spiked shield with a thorns-type effect, i.e. damages attackers
Golem - skill learned from the Necromancers of old - create a minion from a metallic item
2. Shadow range
Crossbow mastery - increased damage/critical strike rating with crossbows
Thowing knife mastery - increased damage/critical strike rating with knives
Smoky bolt - enhances bolts from bows with shadow damage (could be physical? could be a new type like arcane)
Electrickery - enahnces your shadow bolt so it causes a number of charged bolts to emanate from the target
No smoke without fire - when cast upon an enemy the shadow damage done to them is amplified 500% if they have suffered fire damage in the last second.
Shadowy target - increased chances your bolts, bullets, etc, will pass through the target as if they were shadow
3. Shadowmelee
Claw mastery - of course!
Tendrils of shadow - send out shadow feelers pulling the targeted enemy into close melee range
Shadow roots - shadow tendrils come out of the ground at the enemy's feet, rooting him in place
Frozen claw - enhances your claw damage with cold (and a slowing effect)
Tesla claw - enhances your claw damage with lightning - if target already afflicted with frozen claw then the water+lightning = extra effect
Fire claw - enhances your claw damage with fire
Shield mastery - increased block chance, etc
Spiked shield mastery - increased damage by spiked shield (see above)
Kick - Knockback effect
Speed of the shadow - increased movement and attacking speed for x seconds
Smoking is bad for you - you are filled with smokin' power, your damage increased in melee is increased by 300% but all minions die and your health is drained by 3% per second
Sorry for the insane wall of text... but hey you didn't have to read it! :)
Your thoughts?
"First Shadow?", a voice from the hooded figure to her left spoke up. "You have called this meeting of the council. I presume you have much to report from the Northlands?"
"Indeed I do, Fourth," Natalya replied, addressing the young woman known as Hester by her numbered designation in the Council's hierarchy, as custom dictated. "Rumours will no doubt have reached you that the Archangel Tyrael has destroyed the Worldstone." A number of barely-concealed laughs emerged from the hooded figures around her.
"Uneducated fools will happily create unbelievable stories to explain natural events, First," whispered a thin soprano from a hood to the right.
"Quite so." Natalya offered a tight-lipped grimace. "However, I can confirm that this rumour is true in every particular."
Natalya felt enveloped in noise as every hood started shouting at once. The First Shadow groped at a small dial at her waist and there was a sudden silence, as a mild Mind Blast reminded each of the subordinate Shadows of their place. "Yes, the Stone is destroyed, and with it the small measure of protection from the High Heavens and Burning Hells that we enjoyed here in Sanctuary. But more, more than this is at stake! I trust this is not lost upon us, of all people?"
Silence. She had their attention.
"As you will know, our order was founded to keep tight rein on magic users who had strayed from the path of the Light. For centuries we have neutralised corrupted sorcerers and sorceresses who would otherwise have threatened the world order. And, again, as you know, we do this through the cunning use of artifacts and our own martial prowess, to minimise the danger we shall ourselves become corrupted by the power entrusted to us.
"You will also know, although most on this world do not, that the Worldstone's purpose was, in part, to restrict the powers of the Nephalem. I wonder if you have added two and two and now realise the crisis that will face us in 20 years' time?"
Again, Natalya paused to create the effect she wanted. "A new generation of magic users will arise, stronger and more puissant than anything we have ever encountered. Without the Worldstone to limit their powers, one can only imagine the complete control of the elements these..." she paused, "these Wizards will have. They might be able to interfere directly with arcane forces, even stop time itself." She let these words sink in.
"Our path is clear. We in turn need to adapt to face this future menace. We must throw ourselves deep into the study of the Shadow, and further specialise in the use of traps, weapons and antimagical devices. To this end I have procured the services of a master enchanter and smith." All heads craned as the double doors at the end of the room creaked open.
"My name is Hratli. I am a sorcerer skilled in metal work. It'd be a pleasure to help you..."
Natalya leaned forward and adressed the muttering throng. "I sense some scepticism amongst us? I can assure you that together, this smith and I have already made huge strides in developing new weapons to defend against ranged arcane attack - mechanical bows, if you will, that propel a magical pellet at great speeds. Hratli, what do you call them again?"
"Pistols, my lady."
The reedy soprano spoke up again. "Forgive us our lack of confidence, First Shadow. But... he is just a man."
Natalya's lips again curved in half-smile. "Yes, Fifth, but if we are to truly win this war, we must learn to expand our order to include his number too. With greater power comes a greater requirement for balance, and the next generations of Assassins will be women... and men!"
----------
So, here we go, a new class, The Shadow, with some poorly thought out skill trees as follows:
1. Shadow engineering
Gun mastery - increased damage/critical strike rating with guns
Trap mastery - increased damage with traps/lower mana cost with traps
Trap of poison cloud - AOE poison damage
Trap of blazing fire - AOE fire, linear like Diablo's pink lightning
Trap of freezing - Slows enemies within a radius
Trap of Counterspell - interferes with an enemies ability to cast spells, possibly stopping every other cast?
Socket item - use up some kind of resource for a chance to socket an item - would need some thought
Spiked shield - fuse a claw class weapon and a shield to create a spiked shield with a thorns-type effect, i.e. damages attackers
Golem - skill learned from the Necromancers of old - create a minion from a metallic item
2. Shadow range
Crossbow mastery - increased damage/critical strike rating with crossbows
Thowing knife mastery - increased damage/critical strike rating with knives
Smoky bolt - enhances bolts from bows with shadow damage (could be physical? could be a new type like arcane)
Electrickery - enahnces your shadow bolt so it causes a number of charged bolts to emanate from the target
No smoke without fire - when cast upon an enemy the shadow damage done to them is amplified 500% if they have suffered fire damage in the last second.
Shadowy target - increased chances your bolts, bullets, etc, will pass through the target as if they were shadow
3. Shadowmelee
Claw mastery - of course!
Tendrils of shadow - send out shadow feelers pulling the targeted enemy into close melee range
Shadow roots - shadow tendrils come out of the ground at the enemy's feet, rooting him in place
Frozen claw - enhances your claw damage with cold (and a slowing effect)
Tesla claw - enhances your claw damage with lightning - if target already afflicted with frozen claw then the water+lightning = extra effect
Fire claw - enhances your claw damage with fire
Shield mastery - increased block chance, etc
Spiked shield mastery - increased damage by spiked shield (see above)
Kick - Knockback effect
Speed of the shadow - increased movement and attacking speed for x seconds
Smoking is bad for you - you are filled with smokin' power, your damage increased in melee is increased by 300% but all minions die and your health is drained by 3% per second
Sorry for the insane wall of text... but hey you didn't have to read it! :)
Your thoughts?