Stealthy Pigments, Dyes and Paint- Artist Proffession

Mionikoi

So, you go to a new biome with a bit of alchemy, mining, herbalism and lumerjack skills. You're not here to collect building or equipment materials. You are here to make record and create colors. Your brush is not simply for covering a canvas but for collecting.

Every biome has a set of colors, and these can change seasonally. You have been commissioned not to fill a mayor's hime with lovely paintings but to help a scouting party hide in plain sight. You are an artist of camouflage.

I thought it would be awesome if there was a profession that can help create equipment that blends into a the background. Of course, it isn’t perfect. A few feet away and a guy hiding behind a tower shield painted to look like a part of a rocky outcropping reveals unnatural shadows, a rogue wearing a cloak with green shrubbery can't entirely hide the stitching.

But from meters away? You are one with the world around you, and your name plate's visibility could reflect that.

What do you all think? What kind of disadvantages do you think could be used to balance players who spec in camouflage?

Do you think there is room for another profession? What about stealth mechanics like a color pallet check?

Raven016

Mionikoi wrote: »

What do you all think? What kind of disadvantages do you think could be used to balance players who spec in camouflage?

CC should be allowed on then even if they are green.
But they should also get a natural speed boost when moving without mount.

CROW3

Yep. Camouflage is a good thing, no idea the best way to implement this. Visual color is one dimension - disruptive and distributive patterns. The big question is what happens to a player’s tag.

A ghillie suit with a bright white tag over it isn’t awesome.

Depraved

i'd prefer if only rogues could stealth tbh

Mionikoi

Player A (camoflaged)
Player B (searching/hunter)
I wouldn't call camouflage 'stealth' like using a skill to absolutely disappear like rogue classes from other games do. But more of a passive mechanic that reduces how how close Player B needs to be to a Player A in order for them to be seen. The most extreme case would be a well camouflaged character only being seen by Player B if they were standing ontop of them, where the name tag would be shown.

I actually don't like the idea of a camouflaged player being fast. To balance this mechanic, for every meter of detection camouflage reduces, I think a movement deduction should be placed.

I also would like to suggest a reason for this mechanic being used. Most think gankers. I am thinking spies, surveyors, and porters.

So maybe movement penalties could be maxed as far as devs think should be allowed before things become grueling, and unfun. What about attack speed?

I don't want to discount surprise attacks from being allowed, but maybe specing into this mechanic makes you really have to put your all into that single attack, because that might be all you get.

If course, this could be abused. But it has a lot of risk.

Depraved

as steven said, stealth wont be full invisibility in aoc... this is just more stealth for everybody.

Mionikoi

Sure, why not? And, why not have the opposite as well with this mechanic, where you can stand out and be seen even more depending on what you are wearing, how it is dyed, and if you use camoflage at all, or if that camo is even compatible to that environment.

Enigmatic Sage

I imagine they'll have something for cloak/cape manipulations, a transmogrification or something. Lots of cosmetic options. Not sure a build your own ghillie suit would be ideal for ashes with the whole transmogrification system in place. Each biome may have a bit different flora but sometimes colours and patterns can achieve the same thing.

If they did allow customisation with flora, I hope it's limited to the cloak slot.
Usually leaf cloaks and matching armour works best in certain forest zones.

Enigmatic Sage

I made a suggestion in another game years ago with the same thing except having it as a combinational outcome. Depending on the order and even the input options could change the items layered pattern.

Input types would be Organic vs Inorganic vs Environmental

Organic = flora
Inorganic = stones
Environment = seasonal/biome

Example:

Cloak - one camouflage token slot


input 1 - leaf type/pattern
input 2 - grass type/pattern
input 3 - wood/stick/bark pattern

OR

input 1 - leaf type/pattern
input 2 - leaf type/pattern
input 3 - leaf type/pattern

OR

input 1 - soil type/rock/sand/snow pattern or colour
input 2 - wood/stick/bark pattern
input 3 - soil type/rock/sand/snow pattern or colour

This way the players can design their own unique token for each environment for flora and biome attributes.

But this could also just be a really cool thing for rangers primary archetype only. A sort of specialised craft or an ability that just applies it your cape once decided on input combinations in a menu.