SubClasses

Thè-Hättêr wrote:

check it out... and comment please

I haven't actually looked for new sentinels. Different sentinels would add a bit of extra variety, but we have to be careful of balance.

I am not looking to make sentinels any better. If anything, they are already too strong. So adding extra powerups to sentinels is out.

So rather than more of the same, or better, it is the sentinels that do something completely different which would be most interesting.

ok sentinels that do different you want? ok, i will think about, im a real problem solver! let me think out the box!

here is a small list..

--1) a sentinel that do damage sphere ( a small damage sphere let say 1/10 of the actual damage sphere)

--2) a sentinel that do inv sphere ( a small inv sphere)
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--3) slow sentinel, this could be like freeze in some area this sentinel can only be placed on the ground ( therefore dies quickly)

--4)poison sentinel, again this is is an area attack it could be a really weak sentinel this can only be placed in the ground.
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--5) bomb sentinel, this could be a small device that a high lvl engi set up, and must link for a long period of time ( other engis can help to link it up) and asu guessed, this can explode, but each time it explode it takes longer to explode again.. this could be like this or only 1 explosion per wave
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--6) repulsion wall, this wall is like the energy wall but it push monsters that try to pass the wall far far away

now come the technical stuff.. sentinels 1, 2. can be modify to the balance, how is that you might ask?

well the shpere sentinels can be activated in 3 ways..

1) x time per wave
the engi can only turn it on let say 20 seconds per wave.. this is up to admins ..i.e.

parasite pick up the sentry master path, and right after that he set up a damage sphere sentinel near a key spot. so parasite turn the sent on, for 10 seconds that wave next wave, he wont get 30 seconds since is not acumulative.. so next wave things get a little bit harder so he turn it on 20 seconds..

2) adren based time
the sentinel is off at the beggining, so when a player passes nearby the sentinel ( the sentinel is surrounded by a small a noticiable sphere lets say "pink" or "orange"and let say flak is in a hurry he need a inv globe or something otherwise he will die for sure, he goes to the sentinel, and the sentinel take lets say 20 adren ( could be more could be less) the the sentinel turn it on and tala-aa-a.. he is saved .. at least until the sentinel run off adren.
when that happens sentinel must rest let say 20 seconds then it can be turned again..
(there are some flaws, for example what happen when 2 players come to the sentinel player 1, has 20 adren, but player 2 has no adren, what happens..?)

engi owner get exp by people saved per time

3) by team adren..
sentinel turn on with adren and if again flak is in trouble he goes to the sentinel wishing for salvation, he got 250 adren, so he is lucky the sentinel will hold until his adren expires.. or until he goes off the sentinel sphere
what happens when 2 players are in the sentinel area? the adren that is taken is divided between those players..
(still im unsure about what happens when player 2 run off of adren, does the sentinl still protect him at cost of player 1 adren? or player 2 must run for his life?

engi owner get exp by people saved per time

what about sentinels 3, 4, this pets will activate only
1 time ( two times top) per wave.
this could be
1)when 1 monster pass
2)engis will

this can be set by orders? or an artifact could be..

I couldn't help but notice by reading some previous materials... will the turret auto pilot as proposed by Greg be implemented in the subclass build?

And while we wait for the confirmation of the subclasses... wasn't there a fix for the artifacts for how they should be arranged in the hud which was also suggested by Greg and approved by Druid. Although I do not know if the topic died out or what happened. The new arrangement was to be mainly for the engineer class and the artifact class.

Also I am curious as to the engineer specialists, what does each one posses? Because I was reading in the wiki and I know their specialty but whats the limit on the number of sentinels the sentinel specialist can summon? and of what kind? same for vehicle and turret, and what types of turrets will be available? and what type of vehicles will be available?

Elite wrote:

I couldn't help but notice by reading some previous materials... will the turret auto pilot as proposed by Greg be implemented in the subclass build?

Not yet. I did play around with directing turrets, and got the basic code working. However, I am a bit unsure about a number of things. I seem to remember the original idea was to direct empty turrets - but

There will be gameplay issues when the spawner wants to direct them, but somebody else gets in the turret. And I do not look forward to those "Get out of my turret" discussions

It basically converts unmanned turrets to directed sentinels, and to have a number of sentinels and directed turrets may be too much.
So I started looking at creating smaller turrets that couldn't be manned, that wouldn't auto-fire but would just fire at what the spawner told them to. By the time you had focused on the enemy, told the turret to target, the turret had turned to the right direction and started firing, most monsters would already be dead - it was too unresponsive. So, ok against big monsters - but titans would just take out the turrets. So I wasn't sure. Perhaps it will have more viability as an addon for turret specialists.

Elite wrote:

And while we wait for the confirmation of the subclasses... wasn't there a fix for the artifacts for how they should be arranged in the hud which was also suggested by Greg and approved by Druid. Although I do not know if the topic died out or what happened. The new arrangement was to be mainly for the engineer class and the artifact class.

I haven't looked at it yet. I think it was engineers and monster masters that wanted it. But I suppose if we are doing at, then AMs ought to use the same interface - which will slow them down, as it will be slower than the current key binding - and I haven't got around to having that argument yet.

Elite wrote:

Also I am curious as to the engineer specialists, what does each one posses? Because I was reading in the wiki and I know their specialty but whats the limit on the number of sentinels the sentinel specialist can summon? and of what kind? same for vehicle and turret, and what types of turrets will be available? and what type of vehicles will be available?

Currently I haven't changed the number of items that can be spawned - I was going to see what the balance was like and then see if it needed changing. These limits are currently

First turret at level 30, second at level 50

First vehicle at level 20, second at level 40

First sentinel at level 15, second at level 70, third at level 130
Each speciality has their own list of things that can be spawned, and so the costs can be specified differently for each speciality. For a first pass, every one can summon blocks, then vehicle specialists can summon vehicles only, turret specialists can only summon turrets and sentinel specialists can only summon sentinels. (Long term this could change to give a mix, but adjust the costs of each - so turrets are more expensive to vehicle specialists etc).
One advantage is more levels - so with 20 levels you get more of a choice as to which 2 or 3 sentinels you summon. Assuming the costs stay as for the current config, then you could get 2 energy walls, or two normal sentinels, or a normal sentinel and 2 defense sentinels. So, I haven't added any new sentinels, but there are more combinations available due to the extra 5 points.
Turret specialists get the extra option of the link turret, slightly nerfed from last time.
Vehicle specialists get the extra options of the manta or the goliath. The manta may be too fast, and might get in the way too much - we will have to see. The goliath has been nerfed a bit as it was too powerful - so it fires less frequently, and the splash damage is slightly smaller.
These lists can be configured to include all sorts of things. Since the SubClasses are not a fundamental part of any class, server admins can change them at their will. And so the list of items available to each speciality could change on a day by day basis if a server admin so wanted - just change the ini file and restart. I don't think I am the best person to say what the lists should be for DC - that is for the server admins to define. I have just started the ball rolling really.

Note also that Specialists get a damage adjustment of +30% on their speciality, but -20% on other forms. So a Sentinel Specialist will get +30% damage on his sentinels (the defense sentinel will fire faster instead), but will only do 80% damage with the link gun or from a turret.
Also Specialists cannot pick up the rod. So, specialists - very powerful in what they do, not so good at anything else.

Szlat wrote:

I haven't looked at it yet. I think it was engineers and monster masters that wanted it. But I suppose if we are doing at, then AMs ought to use the same interface - which will slow them down, as it will be slower than the current key binding - and I haven't got around to having that argument yet.

Couldn't the menu be bound to an artifact?

AMs might benefit from the same interface as well if it utilized keyboard shortcuts like the communication menu.

I am not sure on how to implement such a thing though.