by Sanzuwu13 » Tue Nov 26, 2013 4:43 am
As my thoughts evolve slightly, here's what I'm thinking. I've numbered my point because this will be a long post.
1: Location and climate. Temperate, comparable to Silveroak Forest with some conifers added, but further east, just north of the Footless Desert.
2: No demons and no spiders. Demons would be more relevant for expansion of dark wastes; I'm thinking the enemies are trying to expand the desert. Spiders LIKE forest and wouldn't be seeking its destruction.
3: No orcish troops. While I still like the idea, I think that would best be something for a different expansion, as this one would already have a number of other major elements to focus on.
4: Alleria Swiftwind. Call of the Wild, active, same as first game. Multishot, active, similar to the first game, possibly dealing true damage. Poison ability (need cooler name for this one), passive, much lower damage than Rangers Hideout Poison Arrows, but longer duration and can stack; this would be more of a single-target ability than a way of spreading out the damage. Fey Agility, passive, increasing chance to dodge ranged attacks. Healing, passive, communion with nature and knowledge of herbs providing massive regeneration. Alleria would still not have the highest DPS of all the heroes, but with the last two abilities she would gain decent survivability, especially against ranged enemies. More on balance later.
5: As yet unnamed Dark Elf hero. Would have bow attack with lackluster DPS, but compensated for by abilities; run speed similar to Alleria's. Curse of Weakness, active, AOE, low magic damage, temporarily reduce enemy armor and magical resist by 1/2/2 levels; higher levels increase AOE. Curse of Slowness, active, AOE, low magic damage, temporarily reduce enemy move speed by increasing amount. Headshot, active, deals high physical damage to a single target with a chance of instakill; upgrades increase both damage and instakill chance. Dark Vitality, passive, increasing health boost, first level with armor boost. Insidious Shadow, passive, dark magic-based abilities also apply a curse that deals magical damage over time; damage increases with level.
6: Stages and stage specific content. Four levels, the last two, set at the Seelie and Unseelie Courts, both being boss stages. Sylvan Elf Hall, same as in Silveroak Forest in the first game. Halfelven Rangers, Ranger's Hideouts from the first game. Shadow Elf Hall, trains Shadow Archers, basically Sylvan Elf Hall with nerfed DPS but with passive reduction of one armor or magic resist level, depending on the enemy hit. Stage specific hero for Seelie Court stage, high elf queen, possibly named Titania; essentially an elven paladin with high health and armor but not the best damage; abilities would be a heal and a damage boost affecting nearby towers. Stage specific hero for Unseelie Court stage, dark elf queen, possibly named Mab; more damage oriented than Titania with lower health and armor but high damage from wielding twin blades; abilities would be a whirlwind attack dealing decent damage in melee AOE and a short (but not melee) range attack stunning a single target and dealing magical damage.
7: Enemies present. Desert Thugs, Dune Raiders, Desert Archers, Dune Terrors, Immortals, and Sand Wraiths (and resultingly Fallen) from the previous desert levels. Desert Bandits, essentially Dune Raiders with medium magic resist instead of low physical armor, would probably be the most common enemy in this campaign. Desert Shamans, healing aura, ranged magic attack, high magical resist; while they will appear more like Sand Wraiths, they will in terms of gameplay be more like a more powerful version of a cross between a Shaman from the first game and a Witch Doctor from Frontiers. Desert Warmages, ranged magic attack, medium magic resist; they wouldn't have extra abilities like Sand Wraiths or Desert Shamans do, but their attack would be considerably higher. Desert Marauders, a little like Marauders from the first game, but with much more health and physical armor and with AOE attack; they would effectively be the half-way point between a Yeti/Gorillon/Saurian Brute and a Dark Slayer/Bloodshell. I am not sure what the bosses would be yet, but probably at least one of them would be a powerful mage of some sort.
8: Gameplay balance. Most enemies resist magic, but the Desert Marauders have high physical armor, preventing the player from winning by simply spamming . The bulk of the enemies favor physical damage, the marauders true and magical damage; all would favor armor debuffs. Alleria with Healing and Fey Agility would be ideal to go up against the ranged magic users, but her Wildcat would perish quickly; also, even with her poison ability, she wouldn't deal super awesome damage against the marauders. The Dark Elf archer hero would have poor regular and curse DPS, and her armor wouldn't protect her from spellcasters; however, Headshot would be very effective, especially against mages, and her Curses of Slowness and Weakness would be very useful to soften up all the enemies for towers to deal with.