Hello everyone!
In today's devlog, we're taking a look at a new ability tree coming in our next major update, "Ancient Echoes". And as you may already realize, it's dedicated to wands.
Wands are the final weapon type we had planned for the game - their magical nature made them particularly interesting to design on a conceptual level. Our overarching goal was to retain the traditional roguelike idea of wands being reliant on a charge mechanic, while also keeping them viable as proper primary weapons rather than mere "pocket spells". Creating meaningful synergies with every existing and future school of magic was just as important.
We considered many different approaches before arriving at the final design. This is what we ultimately settled on:
Wands are one-handed hybrid weapons. Their standard attacks are melee-based, while investing in their ability tree unlocks ranged options.
They can be freely combined with any piece of equipment, whether that means another wand, a shield, or any other one-handed weapon.
Their main focus is supporting spellcasting and mixed playstyles where magic and weapons are used in equal measure.
In terms of specialization, wands fall into three general categories: the first sacrifices direct offensive power for a greater boost to magical stats, the second works best with the Wands tree itself, and the third is intended primarily for melee.
The Crit Effect for staves has been changed to +50% Stagger Chance (from +50% Energy Drain), as it better suits this weapon type.
This raises an obvious question: if wands synergize with magic, how do they differ from staves? The distinction comes down to their intended playstyles. Staves are equally well suited to pure casters who treat their weapon as nothing more than a stat stick and to those who want to engage in close combat, supported by spells or otherwise. Wands grant fewer passive benefits, but are even more powerful in the hands of characters who plan to alternate between spellcasting and a mix of ranged and melee attacks.
Let's move on to the ability tree itself. As usual, it follows the classic symmetrical structure of 5 active and 5 passive abilities.
The ability tree's key resource is "Wand Charge", an effect representing residual magical energy that fuels most of its skills. Stacks of "Wand Charge" can be gained in three ways: by casting spells, using certain Wand skills, or landing critical hits with wands. The effect also inherits an element: for example, Pyromancy spells generate "Fire Charge", causing your Wand skills to deal Fire Damage. Only one "Charge" type can be active at any given moment: casting a spell from a different school transforms the preexisting "Charge" in the same way it transforms "Seal of Power". By default, Wand skills and crits generate "Entropic Charge" - Entropic Damage is a new magical damage type that will also be used by Geomancy. Gaining stacks this way, however, won’t change the element of an already active "Wand Charge".
Active Abilities
"Locus Strike"
A melee attack with bonuses to damage, Accuracy, and Fumble Chance that can Daze and Stagger its target. These bonuses become stronger with each accumulated "Wand Charge" stack. Hitting the target also lowers its Magic and Nature Resistances and grants two stacks of "Wand Charge".
"Flare"
The ability tree's core skill, which spends a stack of "Wand Charge" to fire a bolt of energy at the target. Every newly gained "Charge" stack also reduces the skill's cooldown.
"Ley Alignment"
Generates two stacks of "Wand Charge" and reduces the cooldowns of all spells and Wand skills. Then activates an effect that increases Magic Power, Miracle Potency, Spell Accuracy, and Spell Armor Penetration, while allowing "Flare", "Locus Strike", and basic wand strikes to deal part of their damage to every enemy adjacent to their main target. Using Wand skills increases the effect's strength and duration, while using spells reduces its number of stacks.
"Conflux"
Spends a stack of "Wand Charge" to alter the flow of energies within a selected tile - the more "Charge" stacks you have, the longer the effect lasts. While standing on this tile, enemies receive a stacking penalty to Fortitude, Move Resistance, and Control Resistance, take continuous damage, and replenish your Energy when hit by spells. Wand strikes and skills used against them also gain a chance to Immobilize.
"Sundering Ray"
Spends all stacks of "Wand Charge" to fire a piercing ray that hits every enemy in its path. The damage increases with each "Charge" stack spent and with the number of magical and elemental debuffs affecting the target (standing on a "Conflux" tile counts as well). Hitting enemies with the ray also prolongs the duration of their magical and elemental debuffs, while killing them reduces the skill's cooldown and grants stacks of "Wand Charge", allowing a well-timed blast into a crowd to be immediately followed by another one.
Passive Abilities
"Discordant Energies"
Directly improves "Locus Strike": it now generates a stack of "Wand Charge" before delivering an attack. Landing the strike reduces the target's Accuracy and increases its Fumble Chance, while also greatly contributing to the buildup of a special effect corresponding to the element of the current "Charge", such as Burning.
"Refined Technique"
Wands lose their Durability much more slowly - a handy bonus, considering that Wand skills burn through it at an accelerated rate. The rest depends on your loadout: when wielding a single wand, the ability tree's skills gain additional Range and shorter cooldowns, while basic attacks deal more damage and score critical hits more often. When wielding two wands, you receive a bonus to Off-Hand Efficiency and can choose an additional target when using "Flare".
"Disintegration"
Successful wand hits, whether delivered by an attack or an ability, make the target more vulnerable to all types of damage. This effect stacks. If you're wielding a single wand, the effect is applied twice per hit.
"Sustained Flow"
Dealing damage with wands slightly reduces all spell cooldowns, and using spells increases the damage of your next Wand skill. Using "Flare" with a single stack of "Wand Charge" no longer removes the effect.
"Aether Weave"
Using spells reduces wands' Durability loss for several turns. Using Wand skills reduces Backfire Damage and Damage Taken, while also granting a bonus to Dodge Chance. If you're wielding a single wand, this effect triggers twice per turn.
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As you can see, the Wands tree turned out to be highly versatile and should appeal to both battlemages and more conventional sorcerers.
And to finish things off, here's a teaser for another upcoming mechanic - or rather, two of them combined:
Until the next devlog!