User blog:Eanki/Combat Masteries of Physical-Based Classes and the Elimination of RNG Mechanics

Theorycrafting a resource system for the physical-based/martial combat classes that would serve as their equivalent to mana-based resource system of the mage classes would require a thorough examination of existing systems like the Rune and Rage based resource system of World of Warcraft's Death Knight and Warrior classes, respectively. These systems would help provide a baseline with which to create the resource system of YGGDRASIL's martial classes.

One thing must be addressed first, however. Martial classes would also rely the power of their physical attacks and their passive abilities and traits would help enhance that. But current passive-based abilities tend to rely on RNG mechanics. The elimination of RNG-based mechanics is desired and the game being a virtual reality dive offers the perfect means to do just that.

RNG mechanics doesn't require skill. It requires luck.

Consider [Critical Strike]. It gives a unit a chance to deal something like 2x normal damage. It's a staple of today's games and it doesn't require skill at all. You just hit an enemy and hope RNGesus smiles upon you. Sure, you could practice crit priming so you can crit on demand. I mean, I do. But it's just once. After one strike, you're still left praying again that you crit.

It's an understandable mechanic due to the limitations of today's game engines.

But imagine a virtual reality game. You don't need chance-based crits. This is now a fully three dimensional game. You don't move according to preset actions and animations. You can move on your own. You can attack on your own. So the game can now designate units with innate weak spots on their body that when hit precisely at that area will deal critical strike. It's like the headshot in Counter Strike. You now have the ability to control where you want to hit so you should hit where it would hurt the most. And basing critical strike on that concept is much more skill-based than randomly praying for luck.

So here's a proposal for the critical strike substitute: [Mastery: Critical Eye]. [Mastery: Critical Eye] would be a martial-based skill that allows you to see precisely where the enemy's weak spots are. Say those weak spots are highlighted clearly like having laser pointers guiding you when you view a target. Now it's up to you to hit them at those spots. Investing points in the Mastery would allow you to see more weak spots and perhaps with a slightly larger area/margin to them so that you could try and hit them better. It would also allow you to deal more damage when you hit those spots (i.e. the critical damage scales with the level of the Mastery).

This doesn't just apply to critical strikes. There are other RNG mechanics that would benefit greatly from the game being set in three dimensions.

Parries, deflects, shield blocks, and weapon blocks for example could just be performed as they would be performed in real life by a swordsman and grant benefits accordingly. Shield blocks for example can reduce incoming damage to almost minimum as long as you move your shield in time to intercept the attack. Investing points in [Mastery: Shield Block] could increase the damage block values for when you block an attack. This flows nicely into the need for tank classes requiring tower shields. The larger area of the shield means they only need to move it a little to intercept and it helps cover their whole body. And why do tanks need full plate armor? Less weak spots. Trade off would be lowered Dexterity.

How about the stuns that are passive RNG-based (i.e. bash) instead of active abilities? Hit a unit in the head area and you now stun him for a couple of seconds.

Now we come to evasion. Evasion's a bitch. There's nothing like the frustration of not being able to hit your enemies. I'm looking at you Gym Leader Juan (Pokemon Emerald) and your Chesto-Resto Double Team Swift Swim One-Weakness (pre-Fairy) Kingdra in a game where the only available Dragon type beforehand is a Flygon and Gen 3 didn't have the Physical/Special split yet so you're stuck with a physical type attacker Flygon with all Dragon moves considered special type attacks. Bonus if Whiscash managed to set up Rain Dance. Good luck outspeeding a Swift Swim Kingdra with your Flygon. It's already dead to Ice Beam. And if you manage to damage it through evasion, Kingdra could just use Rest, go to sleep and repair all the damage back up, then wake up immediately because it's holding a goddamn Chesto Berry.

Also, there was that time when Dota's Faceless Void has Backtrack and could randomly choose to evade your Finger of Death/Laguna Blade ultimate. Oh, who am I kidding, I'm the carry player so I'm the Void player and it was an era of awesome.

Evasion could now be hitbox-based rather than RNG. Every unit has a hitbox and it could be smaller than their actual body area. That's where evasion comes in. It's now about being less likely to hit because you have a lower hitbox than normal. Somebody could hit your fingers with a sword and you take no damage because your fingers is not part of your hitbox. It's all logical. The higher your Dexterity stat, the better you can evade with lower hitbox. It's the fragile speedster to the (un-evasive) stone wall of the tank classes. One philosophy is to lower your hitbox, the other is to tank up so much that your hitbox does not matter. It has to be a trade-off. Logical.

Your evasion could also be lowered via lowering your enemy's ability to see your hitbox. Like when he's in-game drunk. That's where the alchemical potions and brews come in. Get your enemies "drunk" and in a daze that they can't hit a barn at 20 paces. And when you're a Drunken Brawler class, you could trade off accuraccy for damage (or damage mitigation aka the "pain tolerance" logic) by guzzling "alcohol brews".

Invisibility is not a measure of invincibility anymore. Normally, in today's game engines, you can't hit an invisible target. You need detection to target them. In YGGDRASIL, you could just randomly swing your sword and maybe you can hit him, if you have no detection. It would be preferrable if you do have detection since when you can't see him, he has the initiative. But it gives you options, when you can't.

These are some of the ways martial-based classes can fight in a three dimensional game without the need for RNG mechanics. A Mastery system that requires actual skill would be preferrable to RNG shenanigans.