View Full Version : The Shadowknight - A "Demonic" Shapeshifter
The idea of a character with demonic abilities is certainly not a new one. It had been brought up a number of times even before a heated thread broached the subject (among others) eight months ago. (link) (http://diablo.incgamers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=710381&page=1) It is not universally accepted but seems to have quite a large following and I think it could provide an intriguing antithesis to the holy champion of Zakarum, the Paladin. I give you the Shadowknight.
Lore/Back story: information already a part of the Diablo cannon will be in italics.
The creation of the world Sanctuary and its inhabitants, the human race, came about through the love and cooperation of renegade warriors from both the High Heavens and the Burning Hells. Their creation of Sanctuary was peopled with the progeny of angels and demons. After the fallout between the leading angel and his demon mistress destroyed most of the firstborn, humanity has been in danger of destruction or enslavement by both first parent races. Angels are not the embodiment of good that they are in our culture, nor are demons always an incarnation of absolute evil. The theology of Sanctuary is much more gray. The Archangel Yaerius visited the mortal realm and caused the founding of the Zakarum religion. The Knights of Westmarch grew as an offshoot military order of the central Zakarum church and stressed unquestioning total devotion to the Light.
Within the last half century one high ranking member of the Knight council discovered concealed documents that accounted the true nature of humanities' creation and its near destruction by the heavenly hosts venerated by his order. Documents long covered up by his order. He began to see the gray inherent in a world he was always taught was black and white, good and evil. He delved into mysteries forbidden by his order and barely escaped a blade sent to silence him by those he once thought could do no wrong. In his old age he founded a new knightly order and opened its ranks to both the men and women of Sanctuary. Military discipline and training were married to an understanding of the latent powers within man, granted by their demon ancestors. Thus were born the Shadowknights.
This character is not a demon. He is a human who has learned to tap the demonic powers inherent in all humankind due to their dual angelic and demonic origins. He uses this darker side of his ancestry to gain strength to fight the incursion of the Burning Hells. Nor is he in collusion with demons. He does not summon demons to do his bidding and his ability to shapeshift is not dependent upon possession from an outside force.
This character is order where the barbarian is chaos. His strikes are precise and calculated. His movements are quick and deliberate. He is a deadly and disciplined fighter. His equipment is not worn down or ragged. It has been meticulously cared for by a military mind. Dark yet polished to a high gloss, we will see the Shadowknight in primarily in black, dark blues, and grays. Full plate, unadorned and efficient, without the outrageous embellishments of the Barbarian, is the Shadowknight's armor of choice. Often equipping a sword and shield, the Shadowknight is also practiced at wielding other one and two hand weapons.
Skills:
As this is a Shapeshifting class we will start with the Shape shifting tree called “Demonic Visage.” The forms are broken up among the tiers with the final Inferno Knight being available in Tier 4. The change that drastically alters gameplay from the D2 Druid is that you cannot remain in a shapeshifted form indefinitely. Even with maxed passives increasing the time a character can remain in the demonic forms a cool-down timer ensures that you cannot immediately revert when your transformation time expires. Another important distinction between the Shadow Knight class and the old Druid of D2 is that there are not skills specific to a particular form. In fact all skills including those from the other two trees can be used at all times. Instead each form has intrinsic characteristics specific to that form that alter gameplay. The Scourge is useful against masses of weak monsters (fallen beware) while the Elemental Specter would be the form of choice against either powerful mage monsters or monsters with high physical immunity. The choice of which form to use at what time makes the Shadowknight a more dynamic character then his Druid predecessor. Some of the skills list a % value but it would all be subject to balancing.
Demonic Visage:
Scourge – a small, upright scavenger-like creature with bony protrusions, large hands, and long arms.
Offensive form with lightning fast Zeal-like attacks
Weapon range increased three times
Up to 5 attacks with a max of 2 attacks per enemy
Negative armor and life modifier
Obsidian Golem – humanoid black rock monolith with shifting light patterns under the surface
Defensive form with high survivability but negative damage modifiers
All attacks have a 30% chance to stun
Large +armor and +damage reduction to mitigate physical attacks
Elemental Specter - a smoky, indistinct humanoid form
High elemental resists
Damage converted to equal parts fire/cold/lightning
Inferno Knight – a large red humanoid demon with burning skin and folded wings. He holds the characters specific weapons but they are engulfed in flames.
Highly offensive form that suffers from a large life drain while transformed
All attacks have a 30% chance to create an AoE explosion on point of impact
All attacks (magical and physical) receive an increased 20% in damage
In addition to the shape shifting forms the Demonic Visage tree contains the passive skills:
Mortal Will (passive)
The Shadow Knight increases their ability to exert their will and stay in demonic form longer without succumbing to irreversible corruption
Demonic Vigor (passive)
Demonic forms gain an increase in life while shifted
Final Assault (passive)
When the Shadow Knight reaches 5% life a massive, high damage explosion engulfs all surrounding enemies. More points in Final Assault raise the life percent that triggers the explosion. Note: There is a cool-down timer so a character cannot yo-yo back and forth around the trigger point.
The other two trees are the Combat and Dark Magic trees. Combat deals with the Shadowknight’s martial prowess and training. Dark Magic skills are magical arts learned from the study of our characters demonic ancestry. Both trees would have passive skills that modify the basic active skills below.
Combat:
One hand specialization
Increases damage and attack rating when using one handed weapons
Shield Bash
High damage attack with knockback if shield is equipped
Demonic Skin
Increases armor rating and gives a small damage shield
Reverse Cut
Physical short range AoE damage in a frontal arc. Functions similar to Barbarians Cleave but is shown to be two quick swings, a forward and then reverse cut.
Bleed
An attack that inflicts Open Wounds like damage, physical damage-over-time.
Swirling Blades
A sword rises in the air from the character and shatters into shards in a full 180 degree short range AoE. It functions similar to the D2 Sorceress’ Frost Nova but deals physical damage.
Fervor (group aura)
Increase groups attack speed and casting speed.
Battle the Grave (group aura)
Upon death a group member is resurrected 20% larger with 110% health, 150% of all attributes (str, dex...), and +2 skills. The buff lasts for 10s. After 10s the character has a 5% chance to remain alive with original attributes and a 95% chance of instant death.
I can't wait to hear what everyone thinks of this one
Dark Magic:
Fire Storm
A wave of fire flows out from the Shadowknight and deals minor damage to all it passes. In the wake of the fire wave the earth crumbles causing damage to the creatures that remain.
Cannibalize
Enemies within a short range are dissolved into their life essence, granting health to the Shadowknight. Think of it as a life equivalent to the Witch Doctor's Soul Harvest.
Fulmination
a column of red lightning issues from the Shadowknight's hands. Similar to Diablo's “Lightning Hose” skill or an Act I fire merc with +skills gear.
Touch of Death
Instant kill up to a huge maximum amount if used against bosses. Has a long cool-down timer.
Unearthly Weapon
Places an enchantment on character or party member's weapon that deals arcane damage. The weapon has a purple, shadowy fire around it.
Dismay
Attack that decreases enemy armor, resistances, and damage
Gift of the Damned (group aura)
Grants enhanced damage and thorns to group members.
Had these notes sitting around for about seven months but hey, I had my first child and things got a bit busy ;)
Well, I'll leave the (cheesy) name, lore and 2 other Trees aside, since I mostly interested in the ShapeShifting aspect.
And for that I must say
I'm impressed. It's a very interesting way of dealing with SS. Makes the character chage forms frequently and adept to the enemies he's facing.
However, I see two problems with this method:
1. You say ALL attacks can be executed in ALL forms. How can this be done? Shield Bash, Swirling Blades etc sounds very wierd in an Elemental Specter form.
2. O.K, you have 4 Form skills and 3 Passives in the SS Tree. You need about 18. What other skills can you have? If ALL attacks from other Trees can be done with the SS, you don't need special skills in that Tree. So what other skills can you add? Maybe DON'T allow the use of other Trees' skills, but only attacks from the SS Tree?
This IS a very good mechanic. I must say I don't like it as much as the Druid's constant SS, but it's sounds more viable, fast paced and thus- More D3.
I must say 2 things though:
1. I actually don't like the from themselves. Maybe cause I can't see the image you're visualising.
2. You asked so I apply- I DON'T like Battle the Grave. It's too complicated and the whole ressurection mechanic, starting from Death Proof, is confusing and kinda of a big Pandora's Box.
P.S
Had these notes sitting around for about seven months but hey, I had my first child and things got a bit busy ;)
Congratulations! :jig:
The main focus of this class was to have the ability to utilize several different shapeshifting forms without feeling like you spread yourself too thin and ended up much, much weaker then a specialist. Who ever heard of a wolf/bear Druid?
Having skills you invest in be available in all forms, including your human form since this class requires some time outside of a shapeshift, is important for the character to always feel powerful. I put individual, intrinsic characteristics on all the forms to alter gameplay instead of form specific skills. However, maybe there could be room for a few that are specific as long as it is just a few.
The shapeshift tree was left a little bare but I think there are lots of options for passives and maybe an active skill like you mentioned.
As for the Battle the Grave (a modified group Deathproof) the specifics make it seem more complicated than it really is. It is essentially a massive buff placed upon a character that prolongs life for a limited set time. Then if you are very lucky (1:20) you get to stay alive. What I liked about it is it would add excitement to the whole group. You die and then you get a short time as the ultimate killing machine to exact revenge. How much damage can you cause in the limited time? Then there is the added bonus that you might get to stay alive :)
What was it about the forms you weren't so sure about? Was it how they would appear graphically? Was it how they would play?
I personally like the idea of Battle the Grave. After all, the idea of returning briefly to massacre the monster that killed me is sooo satisfying. But I wonder how it would work with the game mechanics. If there is an experience loss penalty like in D2, would the character lose experience and gold on the first death or just the final death?
An interesting passive could deal with some bonus for killing the monster that killed you - maybe a greater chance to stay alive after the 10 sec.
Thought I would add a pic or two of the direction I saw for this classes forms. First up is the Elemental Specter. Of course the armor would be the knightly plate described in the background and not a monkish outfit like is shown here.
http://i27.tinypic.com/2z69qjd.jpg
Maybe something like a horned face that can almost be made out within the swirls of color.
This is somewhat what I had in mind for the final tier shapeshift form. I saw the inferno knight as having burning skin and would be able to carry whatever weapon the Shadowknight had equipped but with the weapon engulfed in flames. I would also add a few pieces of armor like some pauldrons, greaves, and maybe a plackart to stick with the knightly theme. It was also important to me to have this form maintain a very human face to maintain his connection to humanity.
http://i31.tinypic.com/2i9h43s.jpg
Well with the Monk anounced and the need for a physical ranged character remaining a character like the Shadowknight is out of the picture at least until the expansion.
But the Monk did demonstrate the Shadowknight skill I was having the hardest time explaining. The Monk skill Seven Sided Strike is very similar to the ability that I saw the Scourage using. I envisioned more of a zeal like rapid strike and return but the outcome would be the same. Attacks on multiple creatures with an increased range.
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