Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
Bard Feedback: Music Mastery Song Twisting Functionality Suggestions
Rand118
Member
Hi all! Bard main here still SUPER hyped from the Bard showcase yesterday. One of my favorite parts of the Bard ability showcase was the discussion about the melodies overlapping using the 2 different options of the Music Mastery Passives in the skill tree. Bucky's description of refining the idea of a Bard "twisting" songs was super interesting to me and I'd love to see even MORE refinement or investment into the 2 different "Crescendo" or "Counterpoint" path choices.
Here are my ideas about adding extra points into the 2 different "Music Mastery" passive choices:
1) Music Mastery: Crescendo Upgrade Ideas
Music Mastery: Pianissimo Crescendo level 1: Your Melodies increase in power over the course of 20 seconds, with up to 33% greater effect at the end of the cast. (this is basically the current version as showed in the preview, except the % multiplier is lower so the higher investment points I'm about to suggest get a larger payoff)
Music Mastery: Mezzo Forte Crescendo level 2: Your Melodies increase in power over the course of 40 seconds, with up to 66% greater effect at the end of the cast.
Music Mastery: Fortissimo Crescendo level 3: Your Melodies increase in power over the course of 60 seconds, with up to 100% greater effect at the end of the cast.
As you can see, this "Crescendo" version of the Music Mastery passive rewards the playstyle of NOT twisting: basically stick with one Melody and get rewarded for it. Want to be more of a healing bard? Just play Cheerful melody and get a stronger health regen/heal buff. Want to be a full-on mana battery? Just play Pensive Melody for better mana regen. Want to be a stronger physical damage dealer? Just play menacing melody to get a stronger % damage taken modifier on enemies around you (your rogue friends will LOVE you!).
2) Music Mastery: Counterpoint Upgrade Ideas
Music Mastery: Basic Counterpoint level 1: The effects of your melodies persist for a longer period after casting finishes with increased duration the longer you perform the melody. A full Melody cast of 20 seconds will cause the melody to persist for 10 seconds after casting finishes. (Changed up the wording slightly and reduced the effect of this passive from the Bard Showcase to allow for improved "twisting" functionality with more points invested in the following upgraded levels).
Music Mastery: Advanced Counterpoint level 2: The effects of your melodies persist for a longer period after casting finishes with increased duration the longer you perform the melody. A full Melody cast of 15 seconds will cause the melody to persist for 15 seconds after casting finishes. (This effect is similar to the showcase in that it would allow 2 different melodies to be kept up for the bard, but for a slightly shorter timeframe).
Music Mastery: Fugal Counterpoint level 3: The effects of your melodies persist for a longer period after casting finishes with increased duration the longer you perform the melody. A full Melody cast of 10 seconds will cause the melody to persist for 20 seconds after the casting finishes.
This final upgrade would allow the bard to "twist" 3 songs at full upgrade, but would require a more significant point investment to cause the melodies to have a shorter cast time, but longer duration. This mimics bard song twisting from other games (like old school Everquest), but is a smoother, more refined version (like Bucky mentioned in the stream).
TLDR: Music Mastery: Crescendo upgrades lets a bard be lazy but get more value out of playing ONE melody, Music Mastery: Counterpoint upgrades lets a more active bard get more variety of buffs from playing up to 3 melodies.
All of these numbers could be tweaked, but I like the idea of giving bards the choice of how active they want to be in their playstyle, and talent spec choices like this give meaningful choices to players, which is one of Intrepid's core pillars of class design. Thoughts, suggestions?
Thanks for reading!
Rand118
Here are my ideas about adding extra points into the 2 different "Music Mastery" passive choices:
1) Music Mastery: Crescendo Upgrade Ideas
Music Mastery: Pianissimo Crescendo level 1: Your Melodies increase in power over the course of 20 seconds, with up to 33% greater effect at the end of the cast. (this is basically the current version as showed in the preview, except the % multiplier is lower so the higher investment points I'm about to suggest get a larger payoff)
Music Mastery: Mezzo Forte Crescendo level 2: Your Melodies increase in power over the course of 40 seconds, with up to 66% greater effect at the end of the cast.
Music Mastery: Fortissimo Crescendo level 3: Your Melodies increase in power over the course of 60 seconds, with up to 100% greater effect at the end of the cast.
As you can see, this "Crescendo" version of the Music Mastery passive rewards the playstyle of NOT twisting: basically stick with one Melody and get rewarded for it. Want to be more of a healing bard? Just play Cheerful melody and get a stronger health regen/heal buff. Want to be a full-on mana battery? Just play Pensive Melody for better mana regen. Want to be a stronger physical damage dealer? Just play menacing melody to get a stronger % damage taken modifier on enemies around you (your rogue friends will LOVE you!).
2) Music Mastery: Counterpoint Upgrade Ideas
Music Mastery: Basic Counterpoint level 1: The effects of your melodies persist for a longer period after casting finishes with increased duration the longer you perform the melody. A full Melody cast of 20 seconds will cause the melody to persist for 10 seconds after casting finishes. (Changed up the wording slightly and reduced the effect of this passive from the Bard Showcase to allow for improved "twisting" functionality with more points invested in the following upgraded levels).
Music Mastery: Advanced Counterpoint level 2: The effects of your melodies persist for a longer period after casting finishes with increased duration the longer you perform the melody. A full Melody cast of 15 seconds will cause the melody to persist for 15 seconds after casting finishes. (This effect is similar to the showcase in that it would allow 2 different melodies to be kept up for the bard, but for a slightly shorter timeframe).
Music Mastery: Fugal Counterpoint level 3: The effects of your melodies persist for a longer period after casting finishes with increased duration the longer you perform the melody. A full Melody cast of 10 seconds will cause the melody to persist for 20 seconds after the casting finishes.
This final upgrade would allow the bard to "twist" 3 songs at full upgrade, but would require a more significant point investment to cause the melodies to have a shorter cast time, but longer duration. This mimics bard song twisting from other games (like old school Everquest), but is a smoother, more refined version (like Bucky mentioned in the stream).
TLDR: Music Mastery: Crescendo upgrades lets a bard be lazy but get more value out of playing ONE melody, Music Mastery: Counterpoint upgrades lets a more active bard get more variety of buffs from playing up to 3 melodies.
All of these numbers could be tweaked, but I like the idea of giving bards the choice of how active they want to be in their playstyle, and talent spec choices like this give meaningful choices to players, which is one of Intrepid's core pillars of class design. Thoughts, suggestions?
Thanks for reading!
Rand118
0