Current Events > "Our mage class has 3 paths. Fire, Ice and Arcane / Lightning"

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/2/2f13337f.jpg

immediately no thank you

What's your issue with it/what do you want instead?

Kradek posted...

What's your issue with it/what do you want instead?

If I'm going to specialize in schools of magic, I want those specializations to have enough variety in themselves to be interesting and engaging in a playthrough. Elder Scrolls is a really good example of this done well.

If your schools are just 3 different elements and I'm gonna be an ice mage all game that's boring as shit to me.

SwayM posted...

If I'm going to specialize in schools of magic, I want those specializations to have enough variety in themselves to be interesting and engaging in a playthrough. Elder Scrolls is a really good example of this done well.

If your schools are just 3 different elements and I'm gonna be an ice mage all game that's boring as shit to me.

Ah ok, I feel ya now. Especially when you mentioned Elder Scrolls as I'm currently replaying Oblivion.

So it's like the WoW model you don't like, however what if you can put points into multiple disciplines?

Yeah, if my specialty is "magic" then I wanna be able to cast multiple elements. If I gotta stick to one element, I want magical and physical skills with that element as a theme in both.

Depends on the playstyle of the elements, I guess. If it's just rock-paper-scissors then that's a waste of a subclass. But I feel like there's enough potential in the typical fire/ice/lightning themes to make satisfying playstyles out of them.

What were the four elements in Summoner 2 on the PS2? Its been a long, long time, but I seem to remember the first one having pretty standard elements like fire and ice and the second one having weird ones like blood and eyes.

They should at least include paths for summoning and/or reanimating minions to fight for you, especially if they make Christian fundamentalists suffer massive heart attacks at the mere thought of games existing that include such things.

Kradek posted...

So it's like the WoW model you don't like, however what if you can put points into multiple disciplines?

Still meh to me. I would just play a different "mage" character like a warlock or a necromancer or something like that. The basic elemental mage where you only use one or two elements for your build bores me to tears.

Glob posted...

What were the four elements in Summoner 2 on the PS2? Its been a long, long time, but I seem to remember the first one having pretty standard elements like fire and ice and the second one having weird ones like blood and eyes.

Never played it.

Yeah if you're just going to have those basic ones, the classes/sub-classes have to be extremely fleshed out beyond just the elements.

Ragnarok Online lets your Mage use all three elements (plus Ghost element!) right off the bat.

Then the higher classes for the Wizard line adds Earth and Neutral into the mix, then even higher class has Shadow and Undead element.

The higher classes for the Sage line meanwhile, only adds Earth, Neutral, and Poison into the mix, but Sage line is more "half offensive half support" compared to Wizard line's "all offensive" approach anyway.

This old ass game called Outward had one of the best takes on magic builds.

Crimson_Corsair posted...

This old ass game called Outward had one of the best takes on magic builds.

Great game

Game developers are often lazy with magic, unless its extremely core to the game (i.e. atelier where the magic of alchemy and the crafting system are huge, though this is a different sort of magic than is mostly being talked about here).

But yeah, even your typical low-effort fantasy isekai will generally be more creative with magic than most games with magic. Its kinda sad.

Hambo posted...

Yeah, if my specialty is "magic" then I wanna be able to cast multiple elements. If I gotta stick to one element, I want magical and physical skills with that element as a theme in both.

Agreed. Even in series where they used to do this well, you see things getting stripped down and more boring in later games-- hello, Dragon Age, which reduces the amount of spells & specializations in each game in the series.

Summoner 2 transformations are Blood, Eyes, Sand & Tree. But thats not the same as elements, Blood could use fire.