There has been some talk about the lack of a high fantasy element to Conan Exiles. Now I am firmly against the idea of including high fantasy into Conan Exiles. However, it got me thinking (and with the help of Grim Dark (Half Off)'s video on popular gods), I came up with what I think is a great idea!
Let us add in Xotli as a new religion (once Zath is cleaned up (as in the trainer has dialogue and seneschal priests can spawn)). Image a religion focused on destruction via cheaper, weaker and lighter orbs! That should scratch the itch from the high fantasy people, while keeping to the themes and lore of the current game, a win win. It could also have a cheaper, and weaker abyssal armor build to entice new players into sorcery as well as provide abyssal armor sorcerers with a backup kit to use when harvesting the resources for the main kit. If you modify abyssal bow to be able to accept different ammunition, you could have a really interesting build and experience that shouldn’t threaten the meta too much, while still adding something to the game. Lastly in regards to Xotli, the avatar might allow for nearly the full high fantasyish experience for the minute you have the avatar (which mechanically and thematically would make sense).
On this road, I would like to suggest a newish concept, nomadic gods. In particular, The Great Bear and Varnae, would make excellent gods that don’t have an actual building for their stuff (or the building serves a different purpose). The Great Bear would involve the player simply handcrafting the various items you can get from the religion (mostly items that would thematically work with a nomadic playstyle). Varnae, on the other hand, would involve a new “arcane staff” like item to cast rituals to the god. There would probably be a method of crafting pouches using something like this (basically, a god explicitly centered around survival as a sorcerer).
I also second that Sobek be added in, along with Dagon (at tier 3 would have a tier 3 Ymir like recipe for scales of dagon) and Jhil (would involve transformations if that ever got added to the game [ngl, the idea of transforming into a crow or a horse for movement sounds awesome]). I think there are some really cool ideas that can be used with those gods to make them fresh and unique.
If well thought out and not a copy/paste of what’s already here, more can be interesting. More outright evil gods could be an option.
In addition, I’m for more utility uses of shrines, like a tier 2 transformation (you mentioned turning into an animal, for example).
Being able to turn into a crow for like 1 minute that dispels when you land isn’t too bad. Or a wolf with 2-3x running speed. Or horse with increased carry capacity.
Not sure what would be reasonable cost for this, or if they could only be activated at the shrine, but I would prefer these be niche/specialty things and not spammable.
What did you think about the nomadic “shrine”? Where crafting is mostly done by hand.
I agree that transforms should not be spammable.
I am thinking that Sobek, some tier 2 armor that looks like the Sobek armor, and hide to reptile hide (I think this is fairly balanced compared to what already exists). I am also thinking that he would have a bunch of simple transmutes (plant fiber to vine or the like) to represent his protective nature.
Gullah might be cool too, particularly if he had some more hide options (representing the strength to kill said foes).
I think a mobile shrine is interesting, but it should still be some kind of destroyable thing… something like a thrall, or placeable totem that can be picked up (like the main quest staff).
Alternatively, a totem made with various animal parts that once placed allows a degree of crafting/buffing, but has a limited lifespan and destroys itself after several minutes. Perhaps this can be extended by making offerings of meat/trophies.
If religion is to be bigger though, I think there should also be some restrictions for choosing one over the other. Sure, make a way to change your main religion, but worshipping X should make it so you can’t use Y. (Eg. Set and Mithra are opposed)
In the case of a Bear Spirit, I think it would need to be balanced carefully to avoid everyone just using it. Something like a cooldown, or the totem requiring special items etc.
The problem with a mobile shrine is that everyone would use it out of convenience without care unless there were clear downsides/costs… a similar problem with how everyone basically has sorcery without actually using it/being corrupted.
I personally believe the religion system needs an Age style overhaul. In fact it probably can build off the Sorcery system pretty well. Almost like an Age of Sorcery 2.0 in a sense.
In the Hyborian Lore, the gods are basically cosmic entities. Dealing with them is like dealing with outer void entities (could potentially just be stronger versions) and demons. The more you do it, the more corrupted you become.
So with that said, I’d like to see the religion system be almost like a set of spells you can unlock through the Altars, similarly to how the Thaumaturgy Benches work. The religion symbols would not only be used to gather materials, but also to cast spells (Light attack for one, Heavy for the other).
But there’s a bit of a twist. While you can lean the knowledge to make each altar and some of the stuff therein. You cannot learn the spells of all religions at once. You have to choose one. You’ll have the ability to change this religion by some ritual or speaking to the trainer or whatnot. But when you do it resets you back and you have to go through the spell research process again.
But as far as offensive magic. We’re pretty saturated with offensive spells already. I’d like to see more defensive spells, blessings, curses (that affect an area), and so forth.
The idea is these new spells would still give corruption (yes including Mitra, he’s still an alien cosmic entity as Set and Yog are). But add to the repertoire that we already have.
Well the idea is that like abyssal armor, your manifestation is locked to your character. So if you die, your progress is reset.
I don’t think exclusivity really adds much, and it isn’t consistent with how religions generally work in reality or in the Conan lore. Most gods end up in pantheons, whether they want to or not. Many have a presence with different forms/identities and relationships. That they don’t allow their temples to be built too close to each other makes sense to me, except for The Great Bear and Varnae as one is animist, the other is a man made religion (a man became a demon).
I am not sure about a complete overhaul. I already don’t like witchdoctor being removed from the game. Not sure I would like any of the current religion stuff removed.
True. I agree that we need more defense and buffs, but the point is to reduce any impact calls from the high fantasy crowd will have on the game. By having a specific mechanism that delineates a border, it can isolate the issue to Xolti. Further, by integrating it to the current religion system, the boundaries are clear.
Religious abilities could be implemented as alchemical items: Followers of Xotli, for example, might be able to craft a Potion of Fire Breath, that gives you an orb-like fire attack with on your block key for a certain time and number of uses.
Jhebbal Sag should get some way to summon animal followers, e. g. spend 10 units religious harvesting material to get a rune that summons a panther for 10 minute that goes berserk after 5 minutes, similar to the demons we already can summon.
There are, in my view, many way to introduce “magic” abilities that don’t break the low-fantasy feeling of Conan Exiles.