Side thread, not really about gameplay, more about them.
I don’t know what you think, but vampires in fantasy settings aren’t really slow walking fleshbags that drain life from varying distances. Actually, they’re kinda agile, and usually dance from shadow to shadow, while of course feasting on their victim’s blood.
Right now, the blood magic trait line isn’t really bad, but I don’t see it really fit the vampire theme that much. Sure, we get life steal, but i don’t feel like vampire at all.
So I thought that, among the heal it already gives us, blood magic could give us some more utility (that isn’t just extending warhorn’s swiftness) – with the offset of lowering our health.
Maybe, just three traits of the line could explore the idea of an agile-like necromancer, more similar to real vampire:
1 – you move faster while using daggers, they recharge faster when above the health threshold, AND you regenerate endurance faster (like when having the boon, with which the trait could stack)
2 – the upper trait isn’t bad, but the others feel better IMO, so:
a percentage of your vitality improves your healing instead and your siphon damage, instead of your health. You get improved siphon dmg, siphon and other heals, but also your health is reduced
3 – transfusion and wells traits are ok, middle trait is meh, sooo:
you get increased attack speed based on the percentage of health missing. When under 25% health, get quickness and vigor instead. If an enemy attacks you while blinded, they heal you instead for a portion (or simply all) of the dmg they would’ve inflicted you.
Aside from “it’s too op” or “it’s ok but numbers aren’t right” (well i didn’t even put them), what do you think about it as a concept?
It’s ok that, overall, we’re the most immobile profession, but that doesn’t mean that not even a single trait line (meaning just 3 traits) can’t improve our mobility. Getting meaningful healing (it’s not too bad right now, but it could be better) and more frequent dodges (could get more than that, but i didn’t want to overdo), at the cost of reduced health could open up for more diverse gameplay.
On paper, we’re a tough, slow moving, hard cc susceptible class, that deals high dmg and drains health. In reality, you know how much of that is true…
So i’d like to see even just a couple trait lines that would offer something a bit different than usual necro play, while keeping its feeling as a death-attuned fighter, and without even changing the profession too much (thus not requiring another elite spec)
Even if it should be the vampire’s job, we can’t strike from the shadow, that’s the thieves’ job, so i wouldn’t add something like shadowstepping or blending with shadows
Aside from that, we have a trait in curses that reduces fall dmg and causes aoe fear when taking fall dmg. A single frikking, diddly trait, that does just that, like i have to think half a day over which one of the other two i should take… oh right, of the other 2, one chills when blinded, but only once everytime snow falls on the sahara desert, so it’s only one choice… yeah, let that sink in.