LS 1.7 Class/Abilities Update

Introduction

Ranks: The proportion between Ranks has changed. The difference between Rank I and Rank II is the same as it’s been since LS 1.5 (20% increase), while taking any ability to Rank III will increase its effectiveness by 25% (up from ~22.22%). So the current proportion is: 100/120/150. Players will hardly feel the difference of a ~2.28% increase, but this helped me a lot to simplify the maths involved.

• I was considering changing this proportion once more to 100/150/200. I also thought about adding another Rank (IV, 200%). However, 1) it would be exhausting, as a player, to take all existing abilities up four Ranks, 2) Ranks would be unbalanced, and 3) if the output of any ability changed dramatically over the course of the game, it would be pointless to get a better equipment or to spend Talent Points to actually increase parameters.
• Ranks are there for the pure purpose of balance: I don’t want players to focus too much on them.

Ranks were added to some abilities that used to have none. Taking abilities to further Ranks does not only improve their effectiveness/output: sometimes the buff they provide lasts longer, their cool-down is shorter, their cost is lowered, they affect all targets instead of one, etc.

Update: all abilities need to be used at least 20 times before they can be taken to their further Rank. Also, a general 5-level-range rule applies: for instance, if one ability is learnt at L.13, it cannot be upgraded to Rank II before L.18, and to Rank III before L.23.

---

As I have mentioned, all animations have been updated: please check the video below to see them live. I must thank and credit this artist for making the animation layers I used.

Classes

SOME OF THE MAJOR CHANGES:

There are literally hundreds of abilities in the game at the moment: despite my efforts to keep all abilities useful or interesting at all levels, I do realise that some abilities will serve their purpose best in early game, while players will easily forget about them later on. However empowered in their final Rank, abilities like Hoimi or Prayer are unlikely to be used during late-game encounters. The rotation between all abilities available, while still situational, should be way simpler at that stage. Before reaching L.50, players should be confident enough experimenting with different rotations and team compositions, that they shouldn’t need to concentrate any more on the details presented below.

---

Priest:

• Mending (New) is now a class passive ability which can be triggered by any of the Priest’s heals and shields. It has the same chance to proc as Endurance (Passive), which is about 50%. When triggered, Mending will recover another 9% maximum health at the end of every turn. It has a 2-turn duration, but it can be refreshed continuously.
• Endurance (Class Passive) increases the target’s maximum health by 7% for 4 turns (5 Stacks, refreshable). The new amount of HP is not automatically updated (New), which is why Priests can never fully heal their allies when applying Endurance: Mending should now work as a filler.
• Celestial Bulwark (I, II, III) (New): shields one ally/all allies, absorbing all damage taken by up to 10,284/12,341/15,426. Lasts for 2/3/4 Turns. It naturally wears off upon receiving damage equal to the absorption shield. Celestial Bulwark (I, II, III) can trigger both Endurance and Mending. While the shield is active on the target, all damage-over-time effects are automatically cancelled.
• Redemption (No Ranks) (New): deals Holy damage scaling off 9.38 * 200% Spirit and recovers 16% of the Priest’s maximum Mana. This technique has no cost.
• Behomazun OD (I, II, III) (New): grants Health Regeneration and 38% increased healing received from the Priest (All Allies). Further Ranks increase the spell’s direct healing.
• Lesser Megazaru OD (No Ranks) (New): heals one ally for 3.38 * 52%  of the Priest’s current health. Also removes all Status ailments. (In the video below, Lesser Megazaru actually used 72% of the Priest’s current health, which is why its healing output turned out to be so high).
• Purify (New): removes all Status ailments (All Allies). Does not apply either Endurance or Mending. Works exactly like Shanaku, except it targets the whole Party.
• The Mana cost of Hoimi (I, II, III), Behoimi (I, II, III) and Behoma (I, II, III) has been increased, while the Mana cost of Lesser Behomarā (I, II, III) and Greater Behomarā (I, II, III) is now considerably lower compared to the previous Beta.

---

Acolyte:

• Holy Aegis (New) mitigates all magic damage taken by 28% (2 stacks). It is granted by all of the Acolyte’s heals. It is not triggered any more upon casting Elysian Grace, Salvation or Divine Blessing OD. Also, Holy Aegis does not increase the healing received from Acolytes any more.
• Prayer (I, II, III), Inner Light (I, II, III) and Daylight (I, II, III) had their Mana cost reduced, while Luminance (I, II, III) and Sunshine (I, II, III) are now far less Mana-efficient. Also, Prayer (I, II, III) had its internal critical chance increased (14/17/21%). All other heals have no greater critical chance than the Acolyte’s.
• Salvation (No Ranks) (New) cuts all damage taken (–5,754) and restores 16% of the caster’s maximum Mana. Salvation (Status) is applied to one ally and it lasts for 2 turns. (In the video below, Salvation still affected all allies). Obviously, all damage taken over that amount (5,754) will damage the target.
• Divine Blessing OD (New) prevents K.O. in combat and greatly increases all healing received from the Acolyte (+48%). It wears off when absorbing fatal damage or after 4 turns. It automatically cancels Elysian Grace.
• Divine Spirit (Passive) (New) does not increase Spirit any more. Instead, it increases the Mana recovered by Focused Mind (Passive) (+16%). While other classes recover Mana from 50% Spirit at the end of every turn, Acolytes will recover Mana scaling off 66% Spirit.
• Replenishment (OD): grants increased Mana Regeneration (4 turns). This ability can be learnt only by Traben when handing the quest Elder Silentall (in Erene). Glowing Star: Removed: change it as I might, it still felt either over-powered or useless.

---

Mystic:

• Combat Stance (Status) is no longer required to successfully select Rupture (I, II, III), Punishment (I, II, III) and Arcane Volley (I, II, III). Combat Stance still increases Stamina (+15%) and Strength (+22%) at the expense of Intellect (–42%) and Spirit (–67%), but it is not a requirement any more to use class-related abilities scaling off Strength. On the other hand, all healing abilities still require Restoration Stance (Status) to become available.
• Restoration Stance (Status) increases Intellect by 12% (down from 15%) and Spirit by 4% (down from 22%). It has no impact on Stamina, but it severely decreases Strength (–88%). I basically reviewed how Stances were working in the previous Beta: I still want Mystics to rely on their chosen Stance, but the idea of switching during combat turned out to be a waste of time. While Restoration Stance is still required to use Mystics as healers, Combat Stance (New) is now closer to a buff, and it does not persist through K.O. any more.
• Rejuvenate (I, II, III) now targets all allies instead of just one. Its healing output has also been adjusted.
• Consecration OD (I, II, III) (New): further Ranks now apply the corresponding healing-over-time effects. Also, its direct healing has been increased. (In the video below you will see it healing for 31,701 HP).
  • Update: The problem with Consecration OD is that its healing output is currently insane. On the one hand, it is an overdrive ability affecting one ally and it requires Restoration Stance (Status) to be cast. On the other hand, it’s basically a burst heal with three healing-over-time effects applied at once, which recover another 8,208/8,967/9,975 HP over 3 turns. That’s why I have decided to keep only the direct healing.
  • Update: Vitality (New) increases all healing received from Mystics by 16% (4 stacks): it is now a stacking passive with a 3-turn duration, refreshable. All of the Mystic’s HOTs, with the exception of Quietude, have had their duration decreased to either 1 or 2 turns, so the removal of these effects is no longer a real con: on the other hand, it takes Mystics 4 spells to build 4 stacks of Vitality, and to lose all of them for an emergency heal makes definitely more sense. Consecration OD (I, II, III) (New) now removes all of the Mystic’s HOTs Vitality.
  • Update: Even if there’s not enough room in the description field to add this piece of information, Quietude (Status) (New) will keep cancelling all of the Mystic’s HOTs for all its duration – 3 turns. It means that for the following 3 turns, after casting Quietude, Mystics will not be able to apply any of their HOTs or stacks of Contemplation (Status) on any target benefiting from Quietude (Status).
• Raging Blows can now be learnt also by Mystics at L.18.
• Rupture (I, II, III), Punishment (I, II, III) and Arcane Volley (I, II, III) (New) can be selected only if the Mystic has a Sword or an Axe equipped. Also, the damage output of all these abilities has been increased by ~27%. Update: I am currently trying to make these three abilities a little bit more fun.

---

Necromancer:

This part will be covered at a later time. However, the video below shows the Necromancer in action.

---

The video below is meant to show how battles look like in the current Beta: I must have used a rather poor screen recorder, because I can tell you that it wasn’t so laggy in-game. However, I am working on a way to reduce lag anyway.