Techmagic Talk

One aspect I would be interested in seeing is something like... well, more mobility, but without actually making it overpowered. Standing still while fighting enemies is certainly a challenge, but as it is, if you don't have the Blink tech, it's really difficult to utilize to its fullest.

That being said, I was able to defeat the last mech boss thing using a stave and some shields using a strategy I found that someone had posted somewhere. It was kind of challenging-yet-fun in its own way.

Still, I can't help but wonder what it would be like if the staves worked differently...

Perhaps you could only charge the staff while standing still, but if you move, you are still able to retain the charge you've had thus far. Maybe as another balance point, you'd also only be able to FIRE it if you were standing still as well - so no hopping around like a madman and using it in the middle of falling/jumping(which, I find, makes it a bit difficult to place correctly anyways). Maybe it could still CHARGE when you're jumping or falling.... but you have to actually be standing on ground to release the attack.

Another possibility, in addition to the previous, could be that your energy regenerates more slowly when you're holding a charge and moving. I'd say "no moving while holding a charge and also regenerating energy at the same time at ALL" but that would probably cause its own fair share of problems.

Maybe that would be a bit unbalanced with the current damage of staves and whatnot, but it could be more fun than relying on a tech you aren't even guaranteed to get by the time you get a stave at all.

 

*cough* Sheild tech also works *cough*

 

Ah. Can't say I've ever really tried that one, isn't it one of those ones you need to have your ship upgraded all the way for(or close to it)? In which case, it's still difficult to get when you first obtain the staves.

 

I don't like it. The devs said no magic, but then they decided to jump into a loophole so they could have another cliche Melee/Ranger/Mage set up (which really doesn't help with the "Starbound just steals things from Terraria" comments). Mechanics-wise, they're ok, I suppose. I haven't done much with them, and while I'm sure some people enjoy them, I prefer guns. The sprites for them are also very nice. I'm thankful the Mage set provided me with a better energy pool for my guns, though, because Ranger armors are useless.

But, no, I don't really like them. Not from a lore standpoint (glitch I could use using a staff, but everyone? seriously?), nor the way it feels like the devs are slipping through loopholes on their no-magic claim, nor the fact that it brings us another generic M/R/M based game.

 

it is generally more useful to have energy to use at any point in time

in a boss fight, if you dump all of your energy asap on magic attacks, you will do very high damage very quickly

but then your energy is locked up

and not only does this prevent you from using any other attacks for as long as it takes to fully charge an empty energy bar, it also keeps you from using techs during this time

the reason it is more efficient to not lock the energy bar is because it allows you to still have access to techs and magic spells if you need them; even if it takes the same amount of time to begin recharging, with an energy bar that is not fully depleted, you will never have to wait as long between tech / magic uses as you will if you just dump the entire bar

it is a constant, steady flow of magic, rather than a gigantic explosion followed by 10 seconds of vulnerability



on the topic of magic

while i think it is not as bad as it is made out to be, i agree that it would be nice if it were reworked

at the moment, magic has a medium skill floor with a medium skill ceiling

it can be semi difficult to get used to using, but once you do, there is nowhere to go in terms of improvement

if you are used to using magic, you have already mastered it

i would suggest adding magic utility weapons instead of everything doing damage

have some magic be a source of knockback

let us use that spell that monsters use that makes people float and then makes them fall

this way, mages can use their energy reserves to displace the enemy rather than themselves to avoid damage,

melee and range can hybrid with magic utility that complements their playstyle (a melee build with a staff that momentarily incapacitates enemies to give them time to close the gap or just breathing room, etc),

and there can be an actual use to switching between different kinds of staves for different situations, because right now i can just use the same 1 or 2 staves for everything and it will work fine

magic is viable as it is, yes

but it is very boring and i do not like it

 

I'm on board with utility magics. Howabout a singularity generator that traps enemies that're caught in the event horizon, Doing minimal damage but leaving them vulnerable to some hackey slashy goodness? Bonus points if it can trap projectiles while active then fling them out in every direction once the singularity dissipates.

 

I am amused by the synergy one can create with Technomancy and the Techs. Some of them I never thought of and Ill have to mess around with all of them. I'd be offering better anything but I've been too busy for starbound~

For anyone looking; do you think Staves should have some sort of 1) Universal or b) unique right click? Like a right-click projectile, or 'staffsmack' or a unique spell to go with the main click. I think that'd be interesting as a lower use of the stave.

 

A lower powered charge-less projectile would be nice. A melee attack would also be reasonable. I'm still for more random staffs in the game, so these ideas just help flesh out generation possibilities in my head. I should learn to mod. LoL