Hello dead subforum,
I come to you humbly seeking some input. As we all know these forums are moribund because the game itself has proven hugely unpopular, particularly in the endgame. The most commonly brought up issue is limited rewarding and progressive itemization depriving players of incentive to keep playing. In my opinion the game has an even more fundamental problem - it’s based on a primitive ‘model’ of combat going back to the dawn of computer gaming that is most stirring in the sugar-coated, candy-@ss memories of aging millennials. In other words I believe the simplistic nature of combat is itself an enormous problem.
Being an underachieving unemployed millennial myself I’ve decided to try to redeem my cohort. It didn’t take all that much thought to conceive of a concept I refer to as a compound ability tree, which is kind of like a regular skill tree that you can actually “Play Your Way”*. I call it what I call it because it branches off an ability - more specifically, a button. The way I figure if you’re going to advance the combat of this game beyond certified tard level you’re going to need more actions. The problem is more actions mean more buttons, which becomes potentially thorny. So I thought of a ‘clever’ alternative that makes great use of the standard four buttons. Welcome to the unheralded future of gaming.
You click on a non-basic or non-core ability button, activate one of the standard abilities as normal, but instead of the button subsequently going unused on cooldown you enter the compound ability tree. The four buttons are remapped to the first level of the CAT. You execute one ability from the level and progress to the second level. You have to finish the tree, i.e. going through all its levels, but one button can be reserved to exit the tree if you wish to use the other normal abilities.
In terms of game lore the tree is equivalent to a tablet, which is a containment structure for ability fragments and passages of conjunction. Ability fragments are the abilities exclusive to the CAT that you can slot in, remove, and reslot at no expense. Passages of conjunction are effects that trigger in between the levels… to make the thing snazzier. These three elements are encountered by the player mostly as loot in the endgame thus improving the itemization reward progression aspect everyone finds so crucial.
I’ve leveled a Barbarian almost to level 30 in season one and naturally I feel like an expert in the class, deciding to make an initial example of the concept based on this class. You may disagree with my decisions, unadvisedly even with the whole thing:
Tablets
Introductory
- 1 level, 2 ability fragment slots
- 1 level, 4 ability fragment slots
Intermediate
- 2 levels, 4 ability fragment slots
- 2 levels, 4 ability fragment slots, 1 common passage of conjunction
- 3 levels, 4 ability fragment slots
- 3 levels, 4 ability fragment slots, 1 common passage of conjunction
- 3 levels, 4 ability fragment slots, 2 common passages of conjunction
- 3 levels, 4 ability fragment slots, 1 common and 1 rare passage of conjunction
- 3 levels, 4 ability fragment slots, 2 rare passages of conjunction
Advanced
- 4 levels, 2 rare passages of conjunction
- 4 levels, 3 rare passages of conjunction
- 4 levels, 2 rare and 1 legendary passages of conjunction
- 4 levels, 1 rare and 2 legendary passages of conjunction
- 4 levels, 3 legendary passages of conjunction
- 4 levels, 3 legendary passages of conjunction, level 1 is of level 2 ability fragments (it may make more sense to allow the use of both ability fragment levels especially considering the random stuff I’m coming up with), levels 2 and 3 of level 3 ability fragments
- 4 levels, 3 legendary passages of conjunction, level 1 is of level 2 ability fragments, level 2 is of level 3 ability fragments, levels 3 and 4 of level 4 ability fragments
- can have variations where you start with more powerful ability fragment levels and/or sandwich
Ultimate
-
5 levels, 3 legendary passages of conjunction, variations of ability fragment levels with the last reserved for level 5 ability fragments
-
Nothing is set in stone… pun intended, as this is brainstorming.
Ability Fragments
Level 1
- Arsenal Warm-up - Perform a rapid series of single-target attacks with all three weapon types.
- Frustrated Fury - Get a free use of a core skill that deals 50% damage but gives you fury equal to 1.5x its fury cost.
- Internalized Weakness - Remove debuffs from surrounding enemies, doubling the effects they would suffer from these debuffs if reapplied for the next 4 seconds.
- Homicidal Ideation - Newly inflicted bleeding damage is increased by 66.6% over the next 4 seconds.
- Evasion - Give Evade unstoppable for 2 seconds.
- Amplified Shout - Extend duration of active shouts by 2 seconds.
Level 2
- Psych-out - Give yourself berserk for 5 seconds.
- Fortified - You are fortified for 5 seconds.
- Overpowered - Your next three core and weapon mastery skills overpower.
- Run - Increase movement speed by 100% for 8 seconds.
- Self-Immolation - Set yourself on fire, damaging close enemies, leaving a trail of fire burning and lighting enemies on fire, lose 35% of your health gradually, and gain 40 fury gradually over 4 seconds. (I literally hadn’t seen Wrath of the Berserker when I wrote this, but it should still be distinct enough.)
- Uppercut - Swing at an enemy with your two-handed bludgeoning weapon, dealing moderate damage to them and launching them backward knocking down all enemies in the flight path and at the landing location for 3 seconds.
Level 3
- Ancient Spear - Throw out a chain spear that inflicts serious bleeding damage to all enemies it passes through and pulls you to its end-location. If it ends on an enemy inflict double the bleeding damage to it.
- Basic Trained - Increase the speed of your basic attacks by 40%, they gain an area of effect, and deal 80% more damage for 5 seconds.
- Chosen Warrior - Execute a normal enemy, eat its innards, and restore 80% of your maximum health.
- Deadly Assault - Run to an enemy and pummel it with repeated blows for severe damage, fearing nearby enemies. Target is knocked down for 3 seconds.
- Pest Controller - Slam your two-handed bludgeoning weapon around you dealing moderate damage and stunning enemies for 3 seconds.
- Furious Shout - Channeled over a maximum of 4 seconds replenishing all fury.
Level 4
- Elite Charge - Become unstoppable and rush at will for 4 seconds, pushing enemies with you, damaging them, then swinging through them for double damage and knocking them back.
- Massacre - Take wide jumps forward from side to side, swinging through enemies with your two-handed slicing weapon dealing significant immediate damage as well as heavy bleeding damage.
- Discombobulate - Sweep/undercut enemies around you with a chain slowing them by 50% for 10 seconds, spin a second time to collect them with a chain, then scatter the clump outward with your two-handed bludgeoning weapon for moderate damage and dazing enemies for 3 seconds.
- Simplicity - Basic attacking a particular single enemy increases basic and core skill damage by 20% stacking up to 200%. Lasts 12 seconds.
- Kill Zone - Taunt enemies in a sizable range, gain 60% damage reduction, and deal serious splash damage around you with repeated blows.
- Tactical Retreat - Gain unstoppable, run back recovering 40% of your maximum life, then run forward striking the ground with your two-handed bludgeoning weapon, rupturing it, dealing moderate damage, and stunning enemies for 2.5 seconds.
Level 5
- Massive Earthquake - Strike the ground twice creating a far-reaching earthquake that pulses every 3 seconds, slowing enemies by 50%, making them vulnerable, and dealing moderate damage each time.
- Sundering - Sunder the earth in a long line, dealing heavy damage and shoving enemies to the side, stunning them for 4 seconds.
- Yes, these are Thrall’s ultimate abilities from Heroes of the Storm, another game with potential Blizzard mismanaged.
Passages of Conjunction
Common
- Extend effects of following level ability fragments by 10%.
- Reduce cooldowns by 2 seconds.
- Deal 5% more damage for 2 seconds.
- Generate 15 fury.
Rare
- Improve duration of effects of following level ability fragments by 20% or at minimum 1 second.
- Reduce cooldowns by 5 seconds.
- Reduce ultimate ability cooldown by 10 seconds.
- Deal 10% more damage for 4 seconds.
- Generate 30 fury.
- Increase bleeding damage by 20% for 4 seconds.
- Extend ranges of effect by 20% for 4 seconds.
- Increase movement speed by 20% for 4 seconds.
Legendary
- Improve duration of effects of following level ability fragments by 30% or at minimum 1.5 seconds.
- Reduce cooldowns by 10 seconds.
- Reduce ultimate ability cooldown by 20 seconds.
- Deal 15% more damage for 5 seconds.
- Generate 50 fury.
- Increase bleeding damage by 30% for 5 seconds.
- Extend ranges of effect by 30% for 5 seconds.
- Increase movement speed by 30% for 5 seconds.
- The chosen ability of the following level gains a second charge.
- The following level requires two abilities to be used.
