Here's my proposal (originally posted
here):
Introduction
Ever since aura twisting was removed as a mechanic (which was a good idea, as all it amounted to was tedious busywork), we've heard that a new one would be introduced in its place. As It hasn't materialised yet, it sounds like a good idea to discuss what could it potentially look like.
In my opinion a new mechanic should ideally be:
1. More involved.
2. Easy to learn, hard to master.
3. Allow the players to showcase their good judgement and skill.
Aura mechanic Overhaul
I propose reducing the effect of active auras by a significant amount (to 1/2 or perhaps even 1/3 of their current value). In return each aura could be "
consumed" (which could be called
Battle Shout for Knights and
Call to the Gods for the Chosen) and provide the following effects (mechanically, it could perhaps be done with pressing the hotkey for a relevant aura again; if that's not possible perhaps something akin to a stance bar, with every aura on it could work):
- Drastic increase in aura effect (in the area of 240 stat points or 360 reduced resistances with all the points in the relevant path);
- Secondary effect, different for every aura (Press the Attack! and Dreadful Fear with 5% melee critical chance increase, Discordant Instability and Gather Your Resolve! with 5% magical critical chance increase, etc.);
- Both primary and secondary effect would last 5-10 seconds only;
- "
Consuming" any aura would render it inactive and would have a 60 second cooldown (other, currently toggled passive auras couldn't be "consumed" during that period either).
I believe that would help achieve all three goals outlined above and would significantly increase the fun factor of these classes. It would introduce some interesting tactical choices to fights and significantly raise the skill ceiling for Knights/Chosen. A well used
Battle Shout/
Call to the Gods could potentially turn the tide; a badly chosen/timed one would carry a significant cost.
It'd also be interesting if we'd see some variance between the aura effects for each class, to avoid perfect mirroring.
Path of Glory/Path of Discord overhaul
To further enhance this new mechanic, I also propose to rework the Path of Glory/Discord and make them the dedicated aura trees, with all the tactics and abilities focused solely on that aspect of the classes.
Examples:
- Change the 11-point tactic into something that increases the duration of the
Battle Shout for Knights and
Call to the Gods and reduces their cooldown (10 second duration, 45 second cooldown);
- Exchange Unbalancing Attack with a new aura.
- Change the 7-point tactic into one that allows you take you one additional passive aura.
Aura secondary effects
Here are some examples of what secondary effects (after an aura was "
consumed") could be like. Keep in mind these are short, 5-10 second effects and as a Knight/Chosen, you can only have one of these active every minute (and you also have a strong primary effect, as described above):
CONQUEST/DREAD
1.
Press the Attack!/Dreadful Fear
- 5% melee crit.
2.
All Out Assault!/Dreadful Agony
- In this case I propose just one AoE pulse, but much stronger.
3.
To Glory!/Dreadful Terror
- (Knight) 50 AP restored initially, 40 AP every 5 seconds;
- (Chosen) 50 AP drained initially, 40 AP every 5 seconds;
VIGILANCE/CORRUPTION
1.
Stand Strong!/Corrupting Wrath
- 5% chance to be crit reduction.
2.
On Your Guard!
- 5% parry.
2.
Corrupting Wrath
- 5% disrupt.
3.
To Victory!/Corrupting Horror
- (Knight) 50% chance set back an enemy on a hit, decrease allied cast times by 0,5 second.
- (Chosen) 50% chance set back an enemy on a hit, increase enemy cast times by 0,5 second.
GLORY/DISCORD
1.
Gather Your Resolve!/Discordant Instability
- 5% magical crit.
2.
Now's Our Chance!/Discordant Turbulence
- 50% outgoing healing debuff.
3.
Stay Focused!/Discordant Fluctuation
- 25% increase in incoming healing (Focused Mending is removed).
