AST cards rework idea (share your own, too!)

[Blueyes]

Rework Goals

• Restore lore and card variety
• Increase consistency and reliability
• Provide options for every card

Rework Outline

Arrow - Increases attack speed by X%
Balance - Increases direct hit rate by X%
Spear - Increases critical hit rate by X%
Bole - Reduces damage taken by X%
Ewer - Increases HP recovery via healing actions by X%
Spire - Converts portion of damage dealt into HP

Lady of Crowns - Restores target party member's HP. Cure Potency: X*

Arrow, Balance, Spear -> Lady of Crowns

Lord of Crowns - Deals unaspected damage with a potency of X*

Bole, Ewer, Spire -> Lord of Crowns

Divination - Expands the effect of the next card to nearby party members. Reduces potency to 50%

* To go with the theme of cards that have an active duration, these effects could be changed to healing-over-time (HoT) and damage-over-time (DoT) respectively.


Rework Breakdown

This is mostly a return of the previous card system with a few alternations. Arrow, Spear, and Bole have retained their previous effects while Balance, Ewer, and Spire have been changed. I'll break down why these cards have been changed.

• Balance was widely regarded as the "best" card which left the rest seemingly "useless" by comparison. Adjusting this card from a raw increase in damage to a boost in direct hit rate tones down its supposed superiority.
• Ewer previously provided MP regeneration, and while such a card certainly had its value, SE has since removed all methods of providing MP recovery to party members. Although MP management isn't perfect right now, I don't think the return of the original Ewer is the answer. For these reasons, its effect has been replaced.
• Spire is no longer necessary with the removal of TP. As such, its effect has been revamped. This is one of three cards that have been allocated for tanks which helped to determine the type of buff that would be applied.

Cards have been designed in such a way that half of them are intended to be given to DPS while the remaining three cards are meant for tanks. Arrow, Balance, and Spear increase damage output while Bole, Ewer, and Spire provide healing and mitigation.

Minor Arcana will provide either the Lady of Crowns or the Lord of Crowns with 100% consistency based on the type of card that is converted. Arrow, Balance, and Spear are converted into the Lady while Bole, Ewer, and Spire are converted into the Lord. What that means is, no matter what card you draw, you always have the choice of using that card as either a source of damage or as a source of healing/mitigation.

Divination has been reworked along with the removal of Seals. Divination functions as buff to the caster that enhances the next card played by greatly expanding its radius at the cost of potency. To ensure that it is still possible to stack the effect of Divination on top of individual card buffs, Divination causes a different buff to apply (Expanded Balance instead of The Balance, for example) with a slightly altered status icon to distinguish it from individual cards.

[Rivxkobe]

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I like this idea. It's honestly the only one that looks like you even thought about balance while also making it about as mechanically intensive as it is now. You know, instead of just making the cards blatantly overpowered or making it a mess of a bunch of new buttons to press and pay attention too.

I don't think SE is ever going to change the card system during 5.x though.