Meaningful Buffs and Debuffs

Reagen Lionel

Id like to open a discussion about meaningful buffs and debuff. In regard to Ashes of Creation, with its many class combinations, I'd like there to be meaningful buffs. Not from every class, but tangible blessings you can really feel, that may not be necessary but very appreciated when you get them.

Much like in the early days in WoW, when you got buffed by a priest. It was a good substantial blessing that generally everyone benefited from that boosted a characters max health. Or from Paladin's that had a handful of blessings they could distribute tailored to what he/she felt would be better for the individual, but that lasted for a shorter period.


On the opposite coin, I was wondering about impactful debuffs. And I dont mean like your standard combat debuffs that lowers attack speed or something like that in combat. But wondering if there are monsters and creatures that can inflict some lasting impactful debuffs like curses or diseases that dont just wear out in a few minutes time, and actually impacts your characters. That you'd actively seek someone to cleanse them, that not every class will be able to do.

An example,

You journeyed in a tomb after it recently became opened. Found a hidden door with a treasure chest. However as you opened that treasure chest, you opened a hidden coffin in a wall. A undead mummy leaps on to you to attack you. If you choose to combat the mummy, there may be a chance that mummy as some point will inflict you with a Mummy curse. At first you may not realize it, cause you've just dispatched it and now seeing what treasures you've gotten. But then you've began to notice some of your limbs seems to be decaying, starting at your left hand. Basic interactions such as harvesting are taking longer than usual, resources for your abilities are taking more effort to use than normal.You seek to get it cleansed but a simple Cleric isnt enough, A cleric/bard isnt even enough to mend it. Then you hear of a cleric/mage nearby, as they agree to perform the rite for free even. The cleric/mage cleanses the curse as well as sealing off its remnants as its effects reverses. They inform you, that the curse would have subsided in few ingame hours time on its own, though you didnt want to deal with it for that long, and offer to donate a bit of coin to have the curse removed.

Another example

could be traveling the desert, as a basilisk creeps forth from a maw opened up in the desert that you was sure wasnt there the last time you came through.These basilisks you havent even seen in these deserts last time. As it ambushes you, it inflicts a certain bite on you before you decide to either dispatch it or flee. As the bite begins to take effect, you've come to realise you're afflicted with something a sort of disease from the bite. Its making your movements slower, and a slow creeping rash is expanding from the wound. Your character is slowly becoming petrified by the stone-flesh disease. Fortunately it takes a long time for it to fully work its due, though due for some reason, it never fully takes you, but it becomes cumbersome to keep for a long time. So you seek out Cleric of some sort in a nearby post, since travel would be taxing with a debilitation like this, would send messages to get someone to come to you to cleanse it. Though none are around that has the expertise to fix it. Though an alternative approaches, that theres a Ranger/Cleric that can cleanse such a bite. the ranger/cleric agrees to cure the disease on the note that they accompany them to a hunting area nearby that they need to get by that they cant get by by themselves. Agreed the Ranger/Cleric begins treatment where the petrified remains begin to break away, brittle like a shedding an outer layer. Once more you have your full freedom of movement returned.

Tangible and substantial afflictions and blessings that you can actually see upon your character to know they even have an affliction, or benefits you can really feel. That not every class can easily cure or bestow. Such as ever cleric shouldnt be able to cure curses, diseases. Though particular ones can cure one thing. Where clerics in general can cure lesser debilitations like maybe poisons, physical ailments cause by abilities or common monsters that dont last for no more than a few minutes usually. It also helps the world feel more immersive and the classes have additional uniqueness, and healing and even sub classes having more in thier arsenal to offer. I didnt use any specifics like what classes can cure what, cause thats not really the point, but the concept This was something wanted to hear about in the recent AMA and it seemed to almost have come up in a dev interview but didnt quite get there, which is something I was interested in hearing. So I'd like to open discussion for it.

RahkstarRPG

Do you really think buffs need to be long-term to be meaningful?

Something like a 10 second 25% attack speed buff with a 10 second recast timer is potentially far more meaningful than a simple hour long health buff.

Same really goes for debuffs, though I agree that having some debuffs that you basically need other classes to handle would be interesting.

Heartbeat

The way those debuffs sound make it seem more like a chore to deal with and get rid of, a lot of MMOs get grindy enough, imagine not being able to deal with such debuffs in the timeframe you would like to so you just have to deal with your character being substantially impacted by it even if you're out of danger or the environment. It sounds like an added layer of annoyances rather than something that's just "debuffing" your character. Also having to find a specific type or cleric/healer to cure an affliction almost make it sounds like you want some afflictions to be permanent until healed which is a big no from me, also imagine again not being able to find someone to cure you or it just happens to be a class type that's the least played.

I like the idea of having buffs and debuffs able to be felt on your character, but super lengthy debuffs sound like an annoyance the way you're describing them rather than something that's just mildy impacting your character which is what most people would think of when they think debuff.