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Gear- hoping to avoid Number Soup
clone63
Member
I didn't play the Alpha and can't find exact info on the stats gear has from it, but being still in development, I suppose there is always room for another completely welcome opinion, lol
One thing I never liked about most RPG's is how gear for some reason boosts tons of stats, especially pertaining to your class. I guess the intention is it's all magical or something but like... it's just annoying to look at and have to compare with a hotkey like a spreadsheet.. If one is a big roman helmet thingy, the other is leather hood with snake fangs... They shouldn't really be similar except in relative worth, not actual effects.
I would like to see it represented a bit simpler and logically by offering glaring trade offs and a low amount of stat effects (if any) among equipment types and see more of the character's stats and trait choices be the impactful expression of a character's power/abilities. Like a metal breastplate... provides a lot of armor but negs agility... anything else would come from magic effects bestowed.. or Leather tunic provides a bit of armor, slightly impacts agility.. Might be more viable for certain classes to pick one or the other based on activity, upkeep cost, etc.. Thus you could even have 2 equally matched same-class ppl fighting where one is geared up and the other just a weapon but in simple clothes, could still be dangerous, he just couldn't take hits much at all.. but if utilizing certain skills/consumables/ spec'd quite differently, he might be able to utilize his mobility to be viable.. And of course if they're different classes then.. the gear is relative to each of them respectively and there can't be much of a comparison. Even a mage could consider gearing in the heaviest stuff available to try and iron man their way through a rough road or something in place of fighting.
This also allows for customizations, enchantments etc. to feel a lot more personal and influential instead of just.. +66 str now instead of +60 str...
If gear is going to deprecate, break or be expensive to fix, or maybe even be stolen/ lost depending on what you're doing, then it allows much more variety in managing what is available to you or worth wearing at the time, as opposed to something like WoW's "level up, get the next 2% better stuff" mechanic.. Finding gear/mats isn't just "ooo auction time" but instead might be "Not great but I should keep this if my helmet breaks" or "Worth keeping for hunting other players" etc...
Stats that can't actually be physically represented like.. crit %, disarm chance, w/e, would be derivative of the base stats gear core effects (strength, intellect, etc) or would be on the things that don't really have physically representable benefits- rings and accessories, or some rarer gear items. Certain gem/metal types could be associated with certain boons like Crit, movement speed, etc etc...
Keeping gear on the simpler side with bigger ranges of influence really help that horizontal progression I keep seeing and hoping for- Making trade offs to play the you want/need to in a given situation rather than just constantly looking for stuff slightly better than what you had.
The looks of what you choose to equip would actually provide a bit of indication to your character's intentions as well.
The non-armor type of gear can carry this concept just as easily. Almost more so since you can design whatever magic material or lore to suit what you need.. As an example...
CinderCloth robe is skimpy and gives a big boost to Magic damage but worst armor and durability. Maybe preferable in situations where you have a tank or need to do some AoE vs. swarming mobs.
MagicCloth robe is traditional looking and offers a mana pool boost with moderate armor position. Ideal perhaps when you aren't sure what to expect or just wandering PvE farming to not need as much restorative time.
LeafCloth vestments are bulky, padded, offer buffs to healing done, reduces mobility slightly and offers greatest armor. You get the idea...
One thing I never liked about most RPG's is how gear for some reason boosts tons of stats, especially pertaining to your class. I guess the intention is it's all magical or something but like... it's just annoying to look at and have to compare with a hotkey like a spreadsheet.. If one is a big roman helmet thingy, the other is leather hood with snake fangs... They shouldn't really be similar except in relative worth, not actual effects.
I would like to see it represented a bit simpler and logically by offering glaring trade offs and a low amount of stat effects (if any) among equipment types and see more of the character's stats and trait choices be the impactful expression of a character's power/abilities. Like a metal breastplate... provides a lot of armor but negs agility... anything else would come from magic effects bestowed.. or Leather tunic provides a bit of armor, slightly impacts agility.. Might be more viable for certain classes to pick one or the other based on activity, upkeep cost, etc.. Thus you could even have 2 equally matched same-class ppl fighting where one is geared up and the other just a weapon but in simple clothes, could still be dangerous, he just couldn't take hits much at all.. but if utilizing certain skills/consumables/ spec'd quite differently, he might be able to utilize his mobility to be viable.. And of course if they're different classes then.. the gear is relative to each of them respectively and there can't be much of a comparison. Even a mage could consider gearing in the heaviest stuff available to try and iron man their way through a rough road or something in place of fighting.
This also allows for customizations, enchantments etc. to feel a lot more personal and influential instead of just.. +66 str now instead of +60 str...
If gear is going to deprecate, break or be expensive to fix, or maybe even be stolen/ lost depending on what you're doing, then it allows much more variety in managing what is available to you or worth wearing at the time, as opposed to something like WoW's "level up, get the next 2% better stuff" mechanic.. Finding gear/mats isn't just "ooo auction time" but instead might be "Not great but I should keep this if my helmet breaks" or "Worth keeping for hunting other players" etc...
Stats that can't actually be physically represented like.. crit %, disarm chance, w/e, would be derivative of the base stats gear core effects (strength, intellect, etc) or would be on the things that don't really have physically representable benefits- rings and accessories, or some rarer gear items. Certain gem/metal types could be associated with certain boons like Crit, movement speed, etc etc...
Keeping gear on the simpler side with bigger ranges of influence really help that horizontal progression I keep seeing and hoping for- Making trade offs to play the you want/need to in a given situation rather than just constantly looking for stuff slightly better than what you had.
The looks of what you choose to equip would actually provide a bit of indication to your character's intentions as well.
The non-armor type of gear can carry this concept just as easily. Almost more so since you can design whatever magic material or lore to suit what you need.. As an example...
CinderCloth robe is skimpy and gives a big boost to Magic damage but worst armor and durability. Maybe preferable in situations where you have a tank or need to do some AoE vs. swarming mobs.
MagicCloth robe is traditional looking and offers a mana pool boost with moderate armor position. Ideal perhaps when you aren't sure what to expect or just wandering PvE farming to not need as much restorative time.
LeafCloth vestments are bulky, padded, offer buffs to healing done, reduces mobility slightly and offers greatest armor. You get the idea...
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Comments
More importantly, a Mage can mix and match Heavy Physical Armor with Light Magic Armor.
Several of the stats you mention, like crit %, disarm chance are also governed by Passive Skills:
https://ashesofcreation.wiki/Category:Passive_abilities
Your suggest here would make armor selection extremely one dimensional.
All armor would have a single thing it did for you, and nothing else. You would select an armor type early on, and then the decision to use one piece of armor over another would come dow to literally just that one stat that it offeres. No trade offs, no decisions to make, no gain to be had from knowing how the game works - just upgrading armor to increase that one stat.
I am not sure how it would improve the game to make it so the any item type only has one valid stat.
Just learn what each stat does for you.