Devblog: Sacrier Revamp 2021-05-10 14:00

SPANISH
 

Objectives of the Revamp

We found the Sacrier inadequate because of unequal distribution between attack spells and utility spells, which made its gameplay lacking in variety in terms of offense.

This class was also, especially at very high levels, fairly unequal in terms of usefulness; while being highly effective in PvP, it struggled to find its place in endgame PvM content. Finally, the Sacrier class's unique stat thresholds, combined with punishments, present a definite issue with balancing (for in-game content, equipment, spells, etc.), although these have traditionally been part of its appeal.

Our goal with this revamp is to offer Sacriers a wider range of offensive spells in order to: add variety to their combat rotation, reduce the impact of punishments on combat, and make them less indispensable. We also want this class to still be easy to get a hang of at the start.

Our main lines of thought for this revamp were as follows:
 

How do we flesh out Sacrier gameplay while preserving its signature mechanics?

As you can tell, we're well aware of how much you love the current Sacrier and their mechanics. That's why we wanted to retain as many elements of the Sacrier class as you've known it. First off, this involves combining some of its spells, such as punishments, to make room for new ones, and then adjusting them to the new stat thresholds. We then worked to develop each elemental path around existing offensive spells.
 

How can we differentiate the Sacrier elemental paths while maintaining this class's roleplay as much as possible?

As we did with the other revamps, we wanted to highlight three aspects of the Sacrier's personality (protector, berserker, and agile DPS) through each of these paths. Each path will therefore have its own potential along with specific advantages.
 

How do we make the Sacrier more useful in a PvM group and less prevalent in PvP?

By linking the different elemental paths to the Sacrier's movement and defense capabilities, we were able to make the class less overpowered in combat, but also more specialized in turn, allowing us to enhance the effects of certain spells. Thus, the player will need to decide on their Sacrier's combat role, as the new punishments will no longer make it possible to get around this through their inordinate boost to stats.
 

What elemental path should be removed?

As with the other classes from which we removed an elemental path, we first looked at what path was the least cohesive or the least representative of an aspect of the Sacrier that we wanted to show. We then considered what path was used the least often among the various level tiers, both in terms of spells and equipment. Based on these reasons, we decided to remove the Sacrier's Fire path.
 

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Sacriers won't get a new mechanic, as we explained; instead, a change will be made to their current primary mechanic: punishments.

Besides dealing massive damage, punishments offered default bonuses to paths (CC, Lock, Dodge, Healing, etc.). They also made up one-fourth of the class's spells, and with a considerable cooldown, despite being more required than optional for playing this class.

We opted to keep just two of the Sacrier's punishment spells. One of them will become offensive, granting a power boost, to make it more versatile without offering extra bonuses; the other will be defensive, granting extra Vitality at the expense of damage inflicted. These punishments, intended to encourage diametrically opposite modes of play, will not be stackable; therefore, using one will cancel the effects of another if it's active when casting.

The goal of this change is once again to make Sacriers more specialized in their gameplay. It will still be possible to absorb or deal lots of damage, and even more effectively than before, but it will no longer be possible to do both at the same time.

With these changes, Sacriers will have three distinct elemental paths representing three different ways to play. These elemental path spells will be complemented by utility spells.
 

• Earth path: defensive, based on health steal and the ability to keep enemies in close proximity
• Water path: offensive, based on significant damage, but the Sacrier is endangered when using spells
• Air path: based on harassment, allows the Sacrier to move around on the battlefield very freely while inflicting less damage

Through these three paths, we hope to provide this class with the tools to handle a variety of situations, in PvM as well as in PvP.
 

List of Spells by Elemental Path

Earth Path

 

• Sacrier's Foot (Level 1)
• Coagulation (Level 9)
• Condensation (Level 31)
• Influx (Level 90)

 

Air Path

 

• Projection (Level 3)
• Assault (Level 21)
• Hemostatic (Level 70)
• Light Speed (Level 100)

 

Water path

 

• Fury (Level 1)
• Puncture (Level 17)
• Dissolution (Level 42)
• Hot-Blooded (Level 80)

 

Multi-Element

 

• Flying Sword (Level 1)
• Punishment (Level 60)

 

Utility

 

• Attraction (Level 6)
• Life Transfer (Level 13)
• Martyr Punishment (Level 26)
• Transposition (Level 36)
• Vital Punishment (Level 48)
• Sacrifice (Level 54)
• Sacrier Dopple (Level 200)
• Purge (Special Spell)

 

Spell Descriptions and Acquisition Levels

Good to Know

Some of the new Sacrier spells existed in the old version, but their effects, AP cost, number of casts, range, or effect stacking may have been changed.

Information in italics is the changes or corrections done following the initial testing mentioned in this report.

Sacrier's Foot – Level 1

Steals Earth health in an area of effect and applies a Dodge penalty.

Flying Sword – Level 1

Summons a biddable Flying Sword that steals health and heals allies in the Perfusion state by 50% of damage inflicted.
Deals less damage at lower levels and more damage at higher levels.

Fury – Level 1

Inflicts Water damage and increases the caster's damage.

Projection – Level 3

Inflicts Air damage on enemies. Switches places with the target.

Attraction – Level 6

Attracts a target toward the Sacrier.

Coagulation – Level 9

Inflicts Earth damage. The caster also gains a stackable shield whose value is based on damage inflicted on the target.
Damage is properly absorbed by the shield generated by the spell.

Life Transfer – Level 13

Transfers some of the Sacrier's HP to their allies and applies the Perfusion state.
The Perfusion state can no longer be applied to a Sacrier on the team.

Puncture – Level 17

Inflicts Water damage and heals allies in the Perfusion state.

Assault – Level 21

Steals HP and inflicts Air damage. Heals allies in the Perfusion state.

Martyr Punishment – Level 26

Increases the caster's Power each time damage is received. Removes the effects of the Vital Punishment spell.
The amount of maximum power received has been increased.
The effect duration of the bonus gained has been reduced.

Condensation – Level 31

Steals Earth health from enemies. Draws targets toward the center of the area.
An attracted target can no longer go outside the center of the spell's area of effect.
The attraction system has been modified; an attracted target can no longer go outside the center of the spell's area of effect. We changed how it works to make movement easier to grasp.

Transposition – Level 36

Switches places with the target. Kills the caster's Flying Sword if it is the spell's target. 
The spell can no longer be cast during the first turn.

Dissolution – Level 42

Sacrifices some of the caster's health, then steals Water HP around the caster.

Vital Punishment – Level 48

Reduces damage suffered on the current turn each time damage is suffered.
Can be stacked 5 times.
Removes the effects of the Martyr Punishment spell.

Sacrifice – Level 54

Allows the caster to take damage suffered by targeted allies. If the caster's Flying Sword is hit, it distributes 100% of its HP to allies in the spell's area of effect.

Punishment – Level 60

Inflicts damage in the caster's best attack element, plus neutral damage based on eroded HP.
The spell's base damage has been increased for each spell level so that it can be used more effectively earlier in combat.

Hemostatic – Level 70

Inflicts Air damage and increases the caster's MP Parry.
The spell's range has been reduced. Its maximum range is now 4. This range is no longer modifiable.

Hot-Blooded – Level 80

Brings the caster closer to the target, inflicts Water damage on the enemy, and reduces the target's and caster's Dodge for 1 turn. The caster enters the Gravity state until the end of their turn.

Influx – Level 90

Inflicts Earth damage in an area of effect, healing allies in the Perfusion state.

Light Speed – Level 100

Teleports the caster to the targeted cell, marking enemies along the way. At the end of the turn, inflicts Air damage on marked targets, which increases with each enemy traveled through. If the spell doesn't hit a target, it cannot be recast during the current turn.

Purge – Special Spell

Reduces the duration of effects on the caster and grants the caster a damage bonus for 2 turns.

How stats are distributed will also change in the update:
 

• For Strength, Chance, Intelligence, and Agility, the point cost to increase a stat will be 1 up to 100, 2 up to 200, 3 up to 300, 4 up to 400, and then 5 after 400.
• Vitality will now only give 1 for 1 instead of 2 for 1.
• Wisdom will keep its fixed cost of 3.

When the new Sacrier comes out, the stats and spell points of players in the class will be reset.

The class set will change accordingly.
 

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We hope these changes will meet your expectations, and we'll see you in the coming weeks for some real in-game testing! In the meantime, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section.