Asymptotic
12-09-2011, 06:55 PM
Introduction
Hello again! You guys must be tired of suggestion threads from me by now, I'm sure! Anyway, without further ado...
Tactical Parry is an interesting job trait in that it gives an offensive bonus for an uncontrollable defensive action. Despite increasing in tiers to a respectable level, it is devalued in that its bonus is rarely seen due to the priority of evasion versus parry. I would like to suggest a similar job ability for evasion - although I think the name "Tactical Evade" sounds a little awkward. As for nomenclature, I'd suggest the name "Limber."
I realize that TP generally comes from one of the following sources: executing an action, receiving damage, or a magical source. In this case, it would fall under the "executing an action" category. The idea is that "Limber" grants you the ability to occasionally perform a special type of evasive maneuver (with extra flair!) which gives you a slight edge over your opponent.
Implementation
There are several jobs that are capable of achieving a highly significant evasion rate versus even high level enemies. It is obvious that if "Tactical Evade" worked as Tactical Parry does (TP is granted with every parried attack), there would be severe balance implications. For this reason, I'm not suggesting this. My suggestion is as follows:
For a character with this trait, a small amount of TP (~2) will be granted some set % of the time when evading an attack.
The trait should have multiple tiers. Tiers will not increase the amount of TP granted per activation, instead will increase the activation rate.
The trait can be enhanced by gear in two ways. Either by increasing the amount of TP granted by a small amount, or by increasing the activation rate.
I'd suggest the tiers work like this:
Limber I: 2TP granted 5% of the time upon successfully evading an attack
Limber II 2TP granted 10% of the time upon successfully evading an attack
Limber III 2TP granted 15% of the time upon successfully evading an attack.
Limber IV 2 TP granted 20% of the time upon successfully evading an attack.
As for jobs to receive it, I feel like the following jobs fit the theme of gaining an offensive advantage when evading an attack:
Thief: The most evasive job in the game - a job traditionally admired for its agility and sneakiness. It makes sense that a THF could gain a slight offensive advantage for successfully dodging an attack.
Puppetmaster: The second most evasive job in the game, and brilliant performance artists.
Dancer: Perhaps more than all the others, this fits the theme of the Dancer class. Members of perhaps the most TP-oriented class in the game, Dancers are renowned for their graceful steps on the battlefield and gaining the edge on the enemy with a flashy sidestep falls right up their ally.
Ninja: Sneaky, evasive assassins who thrive on their ability to draw attacks away from themselves and gain an offensive edge on their enemies through their abilities. Obviously, Limber would not activate on an attack absorbed by shadows, however.
Levels
This ability should be introduced at low levels to certain jobs, such that they might receive higher tiers (since some jobs should be more proficient than others), and provide a benefit when used as a support job. I propose the following level spread:
Dancer: Limber I would be obtained at level 25, Limber II at level 49, Limber III at level 73, Limber IV at level 97. The DNC class would receive the highest benefit from this ability due to their reliance on both evasion and TP gain. Additionally, the popular Dancer support job would provide Limber II, a 10% activation rate for support jobs.
Puppetmaster: Limber I would be obtained at level 30, Limber II at level 60, and Limber III at level 90. As a "performing arts" related job, a higher bonus is obtained than the remaining two.
Ninja: Limber I would be obtained at level 45, Limber II would be obtained at level 90. Once again, as a popular subjob, a small bonus would be gained.
Thief: Limber I would be obtained at level 50, Limber II would be obtained at level 99.
Gear Enhancements
Here are some examples about how gear enhancing "Limber" might look like:
Acrobat's Hose
LV 91 MNK / THF / RNG / SAM/ NIN / PUP / COR / DNC
AGI + 7 Evasion + 10
Limber + 5
Equipment with "Limber + X" would increase the activation rate for Limber by X%
Half-Cape
LV96 THF / NIN / PUP / DNC
Evasion + 7
Enhances Limber effect.
Equipment with "Enhances Limber effect" would increase the TP gained from Limber by 1.
Discussion
I find that abilities which give offensive bonuses for uncontrollable defensive actions to be highly interesting, and I think that this particular ability would be a strong asset to all of the jobs mentioned in my implementation, without tipping game balance.
Please discuss this idea, and any ideas of your own.
Thank you for your time and consideration!
New Information
In response to multiple questions about the power of this ability, the choice as to which tier each job can get, and some general comments on new ideas:
I set the activation rate pretty low for that exact reason. Most enemies attack with 240 delay, or once per 4 seconds:
So even at the maximum 20% chance I have set obtainable naturally, since evasion caps at 80%, you'd only be activating 16% of the time.
Assuming the monster is attacking with 240 delay (once per 4 seconds), it would take 1250 seconds (20 minutes) to see a full 100TP come from this JT.
In the ~30 seconds it takes to get 100TP for a fast attacking job like DNC or NIN, you'd only see, on average, 1 activation of Limber (assuming capped evade rate) - a meager 2TP contribution.
Other stipulations I'm considering for this Job Trait:
1.) You must be engaged to receive the bonus
2.) When multiple targets are attacking, the activation rate is halved for each additional target (flooring at 1%). From a "lore" standpoint, it's because multiple attackers would be distracting. From a balance standpoint, it's to prevent large TP gains from holding multiple enemies.
3.) Limber should have 100% activation during Perfect Dodge.
Notes:
1.) I've given DNC the highest tier for the same reason DNC has the highest tier of Tactical Parry - it's the most TP reliant job.
2.) I've not given THF the highest tier specifically because THF is the most evasive job (in other words, a THF has to make fewer offensive sacrifices to maintain a high evasion rate), although I'm considering giving it Tier III in my design.
3.) My other idea was to leave THF at Tier II naturally and provide it with JSE gear to allow it to match DNC in it, with interesting bonuses specific to THF:
Fingerless Gloves (Hands)
THF 98
Attack - 5 Evasion + 10
Limber + 3 Limber: Critical Strike (After limber activates, your next regular melee attack will be a critical hit)
Thoughts?
(Updating first post with this information)
Hello again! You guys must be tired of suggestion threads from me by now, I'm sure! Anyway, without further ado...
Tactical Parry is an interesting job trait in that it gives an offensive bonus for an uncontrollable defensive action. Despite increasing in tiers to a respectable level, it is devalued in that its bonus is rarely seen due to the priority of evasion versus parry. I would like to suggest a similar job ability for evasion - although I think the name "Tactical Evade" sounds a little awkward. As for nomenclature, I'd suggest the name "Limber."
I realize that TP generally comes from one of the following sources: executing an action, receiving damage, or a magical source. In this case, it would fall under the "executing an action" category. The idea is that "Limber" grants you the ability to occasionally perform a special type of evasive maneuver (with extra flair!) which gives you a slight edge over your opponent.
Implementation
There are several jobs that are capable of achieving a highly significant evasion rate versus even high level enemies. It is obvious that if "Tactical Evade" worked as Tactical Parry does (TP is granted with every parried attack), there would be severe balance implications. For this reason, I'm not suggesting this. My suggestion is as follows:
For a character with this trait, a small amount of TP (~2) will be granted some set % of the time when evading an attack.
The trait should have multiple tiers. Tiers will not increase the amount of TP granted per activation, instead will increase the activation rate.
The trait can be enhanced by gear in two ways. Either by increasing the amount of TP granted by a small amount, or by increasing the activation rate.
I'd suggest the tiers work like this:
Limber I: 2TP granted 5% of the time upon successfully evading an attack
Limber II 2TP granted 10% of the time upon successfully evading an attack
Limber III 2TP granted 15% of the time upon successfully evading an attack.
Limber IV 2 TP granted 20% of the time upon successfully evading an attack.
As for jobs to receive it, I feel like the following jobs fit the theme of gaining an offensive advantage when evading an attack:
Thief: The most evasive job in the game - a job traditionally admired for its agility and sneakiness. It makes sense that a THF could gain a slight offensive advantage for successfully dodging an attack.
Puppetmaster: The second most evasive job in the game, and brilliant performance artists.
Dancer: Perhaps more than all the others, this fits the theme of the Dancer class. Members of perhaps the most TP-oriented class in the game, Dancers are renowned for their graceful steps on the battlefield and gaining the edge on the enemy with a flashy sidestep falls right up their ally.
Ninja: Sneaky, evasive assassins who thrive on their ability to draw attacks away from themselves and gain an offensive edge on their enemies through their abilities. Obviously, Limber would not activate on an attack absorbed by shadows, however.
Levels
This ability should be introduced at low levels to certain jobs, such that they might receive higher tiers (since some jobs should be more proficient than others), and provide a benefit when used as a support job. I propose the following level spread:
Dancer: Limber I would be obtained at level 25, Limber II at level 49, Limber III at level 73, Limber IV at level 97. The DNC class would receive the highest benefit from this ability due to their reliance on both evasion and TP gain. Additionally, the popular Dancer support job would provide Limber II, a 10% activation rate for support jobs.
Puppetmaster: Limber I would be obtained at level 30, Limber II at level 60, and Limber III at level 90. As a "performing arts" related job, a higher bonus is obtained than the remaining two.
Ninja: Limber I would be obtained at level 45, Limber II would be obtained at level 90. Once again, as a popular subjob, a small bonus would be gained.
Thief: Limber I would be obtained at level 50, Limber II would be obtained at level 99.
Gear Enhancements
Here are some examples about how gear enhancing "Limber" might look like:
Acrobat's Hose
LV 91 MNK / THF / RNG / SAM/ NIN / PUP / COR / DNC
AGI + 7 Evasion + 10
Limber + 5
Equipment with "Limber + X" would increase the activation rate for Limber by X%
Half-Cape
LV96 THF / NIN / PUP / DNC
Evasion + 7
Enhances Limber effect.
Equipment with "Enhances Limber effect" would increase the TP gained from Limber by 1.
Discussion
I find that abilities which give offensive bonuses for uncontrollable defensive actions to be highly interesting, and I think that this particular ability would be a strong asset to all of the jobs mentioned in my implementation, without tipping game balance.
Please discuss this idea, and any ideas of your own.
Thank you for your time and consideration!
New Information
In response to multiple questions about the power of this ability, the choice as to which tier each job can get, and some general comments on new ideas:
I set the activation rate pretty low for that exact reason. Most enemies attack with 240 delay, or once per 4 seconds:
So even at the maximum 20% chance I have set obtainable naturally, since evasion caps at 80%, you'd only be activating 16% of the time.
Assuming the monster is attacking with 240 delay (once per 4 seconds), it would take 1250 seconds (20 minutes) to see a full 100TP come from this JT.
In the ~30 seconds it takes to get 100TP for a fast attacking job like DNC or NIN, you'd only see, on average, 1 activation of Limber (assuming capped evade rate) - a meager 2TP contribution.
Other stipulations I'm considering for this Job Trait:
1.) You must be engaged to receive the bonus
2.) When multiple targets are attacking, the activation rate is halved for each additional target (flooring at 1%). From a "lore" standpoint, it's because multiple attackers would be distracting. From a balance standpoint, it's to prevent large TP gains from holding multiple enemies.
3.) Limber should have 100% activation during Perfect Dodge.
Notes:
1.) I've given DNC the highest tier for the same reason DNC has the highest tier of Tactical Parry - it's the most TP reliant job.
2.) I've not given THF the highest tier specifically because THF is the most evasive job (in other words, a THF has to make fewer offensive sacrifices to maintain a high evasion rate), although I'm considering giving it Tier III in my design.
3.) My other idea was to leave THF at Tier II naturally and provide it with JSE gear to allow it to match DNC in it, with interesting bonuses specific to THF:
Fingerless Gloves (Hands)
THF 98
Attack - 5 Evasion + 10
Limber + 3 Limber: Critical Strike (After limber activates, your next regular melee attack will be a critical hit)
Thoughts?
(Updating first post with this information)