Response to Thomas' request, featuring a quote from Thomas about a type of rune that isnt currently in the game

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For context, the summary of thomas’ recent twitter post :

hey what sort of non-melee classes would you like to see in the game?

I had two ideas, two different sorts of magic-oriented runes that can create / expand certain playstyles that arent currently present/fleshed out in this game. I got most of these from

  1. Something thomas implied in an interview, that didnt make it into the game
  2. Mystic Knight from Dragons Dogma, a magic-oriented class with a magic shield & several spells that can (or not, if you so choose) have a trap-like role.

The first part id like to mention is stuff with magic/enchanted shield skills, with a mild emphasis on magic ripostes and multiplayer/support oriented spells for it. With that im personally thinking of being a magic-tank frontliner that typically stands between the big threats and my allies.

I really like parries/blocks and shield stuff, but i feel these currently get a bit one dimensional/repetitive in Wicked at the moment. And i rarely ever see cool magic shields in videogames. Id really like to be able to, for example, enchant my shield with different elemental ripostes, using it as a channel to unleash a potent spell when i parry an enemy attack.

When it comes to supportive/multiplayer oriented spells for example, i would like to be able to enchant my shield with a broad magical barrier/wall around it, as if expanding the shield’s size. That way i can, for example, protect my allies standing behind it from ranged attacks, that sort of thing.
Among other possibilities, which would synergize with what a dev once said about wanting shields to have some attacks and runes.

As for the other type of rune, id like to refer to 22:33 of the interview from Rhykker with the directors :

Thomas : first i need to kite this enemy, and then this other guy i need to hold off with a rune (motioning someone away with his hand)

That thing really brought my attention when i re-watched it recently, because that a rune that does that straight up doesnt really exist in this game. Almost is either pretty much some sort of attack, or some sort of attribute boost/heal/etc. I would really like to see defensive/area denial/supportive/etc runes that are mechanically interactive.

  • What if i could slam my magic shield, or something of the sort, into the ground to create a protective magic barrier, or some sort of area-of-effect around it?

  • What if i could have a setup skill akin to some of Mystic Knight’s gimmicks, like his Magic Sigils? One of them is kind of like a trap that will blast away and deal some damage when an enemy goes near it, which also serves as a nice charged-attack if you just do it directly next to an enemy. The other sigil is kind of like a funnel that pulls nearby lightweight enemies.

  • Being able to have the previously-mentioned large shield could also be cool in the situation described, of dealing with multiple foes and trying to hold someone back

With both of these ideas, i wanna emphasize that i really want to see more mechanically-different and interactive runes and playstyles.
Right now runes are mostly just a variety of typical attacks, or something like a damage boost/health boost/etc.
In fact, the current state kinda emphasizes the “Explosion, explosion, explosion!!” behavior that Thomas mentioned in the interview, after all thats what you do with the current mages in this game. You primarily spam your projectile flurry or Eruption or something of the sort, over and over. So thats why id like to see anything akin to Mystic Knight in the mage class : Someone centered around mechanically interactive gimmicks and building over a very particular playstyle

So yeah, please gives us more mechanically diverse and interactive runes like that from time to time.

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We’re in agreement on this. They definitely leveraged the visuals of Wicked when making the runes but it seems that was the focus, at least on spells.

I have not played Dragon’s Dogma but this sounds like Magus from Pathfinder, where you essentially load a spell into a normal attack but in this case a parry for Mystic Knights. I’d be down for that, the most magical knight class in games are usually Paladins, and the most I’ve seen from them are in Diablo II.

I think it would do well to think of concrete fantasies for the classes and their elements. It’s hard to distinguish magic, or ranged classes in general, if the foundation for what they are isn’t established. What is the difference between a Cleric and a Wizard? A Druid and a Sorcerer? Continuing the Mystic Knight dialogue, from what I can tell it is your premier “warrior mage”. What would this entail?

  • A focus on shielding, primarily perfect blocking parrying.
  • Strong in defense.
  • Prefers supporting allies.
  • Crowd Control and Utility-oriented.
  • Enchanter.

I’ve gleamed these from looking online but these are the traits that one would want to take note of. Now it becomes a game of how do we make runes that capture these elements.

I didn’t mean to make this sound like a Ted Talk. :rofl: But I think we’re in this position because Moon Studios just threw runes at the wall and looked at what stuck. For what it’s worth, I’m very on board with any Sword ‘n’ Board class that has a stronger focus on magic. It’s underrepresented in fantasy media.

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yeah thats a pretty accurate description of mystic knight. lots of stuff for perfect parries, more defense and tankiness than most characters, quite a few supportive skills, has a bunch of aoes and debuffs to enemies, and can enchant the weapons of everybody. Unfortunately he is kinda shafted by how DD1 limits the ammount of skills you can select to a bit too few for some of its classes

i wonder if playing mystic knight will be much more fun if i get the mod that lets you add more than 3 skills per weapon