Winter Wolves - Seasons Of The Wolf

fabulaparva Aug 30, 2014

The twins will get some choices between "ultimate items" in Act 3. If you are playing with druid, you can choose between two options: a staff for a more aggressive druid-build and omg-so-cute Spirit of Ninim, who is a supportive little guy (shoulder-armor/angel).

It would be fun to get input for Spirit of Ninim's stat from more than just us few persons active in in the fixed items thread. :D

What kind of support would you think the druid needs? Would you rather have the Spirit give you a moderate to high HP-regeneration with a bit of SP-regeneration, or would you prefer a grand Magic increase and moderate to high defense against statuses and physical attacks? Note that you can't choose both the aggressive staff and the supportive Spirit as rewards.

Cast your vote and/or post an opinion. Numbers are subjected to change and all decisions are up to Jack, obviously.

Opinions on other ultimate personal items are welcome, too!

yayswords Aug 30, 2014

The spirit looks like this:

http://i.imgur.com/48xfU8w.png" style="max-width:100%">

Happiness in a spoiler.

http://i.imgur.com/48xfU8w.png" style="max-width:100%">

Troyen Aug 31, 2014

Are we forced to pick between only those two options?

yayswords Aug 31, 2014

It's possible to change a vote once it's been cast, and hopefully possible to add options to the poll. But I'm not sure people will revisit the thread to re-evaluate the alternatives in the light of a new option. So we could definitely add something if you have an idea to share, but it will probably not win the poll. Not that the poll is what decides the stats ultimately though.

What did you have in mind?

jack1974 Sep 01, 2014

Just remember that if you edit the poll, all votes are reset to zero :shock:

a big limitation of phpbb polls...

Troyen Sep 01, 2014

I'd have to look at the other weapon options to see how they compare. Normally I'd jump on regen, but with 0 other abilities, I'm not sure I would. The other option seems better, but it depends (and you don't get any tasty regen).

renke_ Sep 01, 2014

at level 20+ one of the jewellery slots filled with a zero-bonus item makes the char probably not significantly worse, stat-wise

yayswords Sep 01, 2014

It's not 0 other abilities, just 0 other significant ones. It could give like 5-10 magic for example.

However I would not think of it as a weapon (in the poll it's like a ring and a shoulder item). The story goes... rangers get a choice between weapons, because they have three styles (2h/dw/swordboard). Meanwhile, hunters who prefer the back row would pick a bow while frontliners would go for the dual weapons. Then Jack came up with dagger vs. staff for druids, but how can you make that an interesting choice? Druids don't really have very defined playstyles. Also I didn't like the dagger idea so I suggested a focus item and we got this one and well... I can't imagine that little fella as a weapon. So I suggested it give heavy regen, renke suggested heavy magic, and here we are

Franka Sep 02, 2014

I don't want to vote, since I have no idea whatsoever of what items generally are like in the game at this stage, and I've decided against playing too much (as in any at all) beta - not really enough time at the moment. Consequently, those stats pretty much mean nothing to me.

jack1974 Sep 02, 2014

Testing some battles in late ACT3 and early ACT4, the mana/hp isn't really a problem. So even giving those regen won't unbalance the game too much. You're too busy staying alive :mrgreen:

It's not like act1 or even act2, in which you can run out of mana, you have plenty of money so you can buy potions, etc. Mana availability is not an issue anymore. Of course I am not a crazy nightmare player so maybe when the "hardcore players" will finally play it you'll have a different opinion

Troyen Sep 02, 2014

That was kind of my take too. 20 HP regen on a druid doesn't seem that exciting. I don't know how prevalent SP regen is on other pieces or abilities by this point in the game, but I'm not sure 5 SP is worth giving up 30 magic/defense/resist, etc.

jack1974 Sep 03, 2014

Well is still not useless though. Those 20HP can neutralize the effect of a DOT spells for example and keep your character alive one more turn. In general they won't be that useful as healing itself but to counter the various effects. Quite often in battles I had several DOTs on my characters, I think the Druid and Bard debuffs (Purification) will be very useful in act3-4.

Again that was my experience, it depends on your party build, etc