Sorcery - "new" point of view

UPDATED 5.4.

Now i believe this should not replace Sorcery, but it should exist together with it (perhaps it should be added prior Sorcery release)

Since sorcery is scraped (for now) and FC mentioned that Orbs were intended to be part of Sorcery anyway i came to this conclusion.

Lets call it Alchemy:
We have items with magical properties, like orbs, explosive jars, traps, potions, war paints and several attributes but 2 major that differs game “classes” or play styles…
strength = melee
accuracy = ranged

In order to make it work we would have to reduce damage of orbs, traps and jars by lets say by 50% and make Orbs effective only vs T1, players, creatures and NPC so this new attribute would make sense. Also the “Alchemyst” would most likely prefer to wear light or medium armor since they are focused on “mental strength”

now Imagine new attribute “Alchemy” - every point spent in alchemy would increase effectiveness of orbs, explosive jars, traps, potions by 1% per level invested and perks would be like this:

  1. A variant) warpaint duration increased by **%
    B variant) warpaint duration increased by **% based on your corruption level
  2. A variant) light and medium armor provides you with **% more armor, but heavy armor provides **% less
    B variant) light and medium armor provides you with **% more armor, but heavy armor provides **% less,
    depending on your corruption level
  3. A variant) Orbs can be crafted without thrall. Orbs, traps deal **% higher damage and aloe extract,
    bandages are **% more effective
    B variant) Orbs can be crafted without thrall. Orbs, traps deal **% higher damage and aloe extract,
    bandages are **% more effective, based on your corruption level
  4. orbs can now damage T2 buildings
  5. A variant) explosive jars (placable or trebuchet) are **% more effective
    B variant) explosive jars (placable or trebuchet) are more effective by **%, depending on your corruption
    level

Modified 23.3. 15:45
I add this A and B variants because this could be more interesting with corruption and it would also make it work for some players who would really love to see corruption as part of sorcery

So lets say that after reaching last perk of the Alchemy, the “Alchemyst” would done the sme damage with orbs, traps and jars as it is done by every player right now or Official servers or even 10-20% more, and would most likely wear light or medium armor.

now we would have 3 major stats to differ “classes” or play styles…
strength = melee - with preferred heavy armor, but also some medium armors would fit as well
accuracy = ranged - with preferred medium armor, but also light would fit as well
alchemy = sorcerer, alchemyst, shaman - with preferred light armor, but also medium would fit as well

what do you think guys?

PS: i might change the concept a little… this was just quick concept before lunch :grinning:

  • I would prefer to see FC concept of Sorcery
  • I would prefer to see some concept like “alchemny” mentioned in this post

0 voters

5 Likes

I like the idea of having these stats to differ the playstyle of pseudo class mechanics. I do like the ideas you give for “alchemy” giving increased durations for warpaints, but lets add to that potions aswell :D. Also i find it interesting if we have such a stat that players in the grand scheme of things will become more of a supportive role, like if you remember Subotai in Conan 1982 .

Throwing grenades, oils and more for CC and defense during a purge or clan war.

1 Like

aye, i thought of potions to be part of 1. perk as well but then it would be to easy for everyone to reach increased healing effects. So as a “matter of balance”, i skipped that

Well maybe it can be as a higher tier feat of the perk, getting it really soon in the game can be really OP. Or maybe as a whole the perk can have a chance of creating a second duplicate potion or an added effect, instead of having a longer duration.

yes, perhaps a s a part of 4. or 5. perk, but i aimed for increased damage instead. When it comes to “creating a second duplicate potion or an added effect” this would be cool but also it would me more complicated and it would also mean that you could reset your stats/perks and craft tons of potions or potion with added effects and then simply switch back to your “warrior” build and use this benefits without any need “real” clan member who is the “alchemyst”. That is why i would prefer to have all perks character locked just. Strength and Accuracy does not provide similar effect as well.

I believe that in the last stream the devs said that they were preparing more content for alchemy for launch. It should allow more variety. I do not know about having a dedicated stat though. It seems a bit much. I would like to see some of the existing perks broadened to be more inclusive of alchemy. For example, there is a perk that influences the effect of consumables. Does that extended to warpaints? If not, maybe it should. Do accuracy perks affect orbs? If not, maybe they should. As far as influencing the effects of alchemy craftables, I believe kits, like with weapons and armor, applied to potions and orbs are the way to go.

1 Like

well that would not be so interesting and acceptable from lore point of view, but at least it would be better than nothing

Thanks for exploring this concept. I think you’re definitely on the right track. Bringing an Alchemist class to the game could definitely add some interesting angles. The canon of Conan certainly has magic and alchemy involved so it’d be a shame not to have a few defining points regarding it.

2 Likes

I’ll be the first to politely disagree. Firstly I really appreciate your post. There’s some more Alchemy/Sorcery stuff coming down the line (the devs hinted at the ‘Eyes of the Innocent’ harvestable from baby animals), and so your desire for more sorcery content will no-doubt be sated. I mainly disagree with your ‘Alchemy’ attribute suggestion, while adding more Alchemy recipes is something I agree with.


Alchemy is rare in the world of Conan. We don’t have the ability to stat up in our ‘Smithing’ skill, or our ‘Stonemason’ skill, so I feel adding to an ‘Alchemy’ attribute would be out of place. The attributes refer to your physical characteristics — your strength, your vitality, grit, accuracy, agility. These are barbarian attributes.

Sorcery would (and may yet) fulfil this purpose. The way Sorcery was originally envisioned is that it was an alternate progression track that opposed the regular attributes. Your corruption would eat away at your vitality, your grit. A powerful sorcerer would end up weak and enfeebled by their corruption, a glass cannon hidden away atop a black tower.

Alchemy is a great dynamic, if left to just being a crafting mechanism. The player is not capable of skillful alchemy (skill in this is rare, and must be taught rather than self-learned), but can find thralls among the Exiles Lands who do have skill in Alchemy. Those thralls can craft more orbs, more efficiently, and faster. Alchemy, stonemasonry, and smithing are skills that are left to the experts.

The game is moreso a Barbarian game above any other conventional ‘RPG class’. You play as a character, left to the sand-blown wastes, who adapts to their harsh environment, growing their muscles, gaining endurance, and learning to survive amid warring clans. The game has a very specific and deliberate design, which makes it feel very cohesive as a whole. I’d rather it stick to its central idea as being a Barbarian game, and develop that, rather than branch out to provide extra classes (defined by attributes as you suggest).

2 Likes

Thank you for the feedback,

Yet I really doubt that they will ever add sorcery (chances are even lower for it to be balanced). And if alchemy is rare, then sorcery is legendary rare and as such has no place in our hands at all. That is why i came up with “this”, to give players who would choose mental power instead of muscels (not everyone in Conan s world is like Arnold S.). We can call it *Shamanism or Invoking or something else that would fit to Conans world better then Alchemy. And tbh general idea of sorcery made by FC is totaly out of this game concept.

But still… another person, another opinion. As i stated, this came to my mind 30 minutes before my lunchbreak and i had to put it somewhere. I would prefer something like this than Sorcery (there are other games if you wanna cast fireballs or shoot lightning)

3 Likes

That is a nice idea and you thought very well about it.

But I do not think that there is any chance that the developers and game designers put enough time in a balanced alchemy system as you described.
They for sure are more than busy until the release.

To be honestly I would prefer a popper implementation of the originally planned sorcery system. With all this corruption thingy and visual effects. And to be even more honest I would gladly pay for it in a paid downloadable extension.

I really like the way this game has evolved. And I would love to see the Conan Exiles team taking it even further. But I do not think that this will happen without money involved. After all Funcom is a company that has to pay its employees.

2 Likes

Yeah, it’s very interesting. A player could do a second class by going heavily into Accuracy for a ‘Ranger’, or even Survival / Encumbrance for a ‘Builder’. It’s nice to have a few choices besides the default ‘Barbarian’.

I’d love to see something a lot like Subotai from the Hollywood Conan the Barbarian. Divining player locations, seeing through walls or doors. There’s a lot of potential for the Sorcery system, and I’m partly glad that it’s being delayed until after release. That way the developers can learn a little more about how people actually play, and how Sorcery can fit in to our playstyles.

They would need to make the ingrediants a bit more accessible for the orb crafting but otherwise great concept.

Reason I say increase the material collection rate is the traitline would feel obsolete quickly given the orbs weigh quite a lot more than arrows, have a long aftercast animation, and are a bit hard to aim. Group those with a quick depleting supply it would be a large investment with little return.

1 Like

well of course there is much to be discussed when it comes to concept like this and so far i had no ambition to go that deep into it. There is question of resource balance, damage output, effective duration, effective range and area, synergy with other stats, weapons and armors… and many other things. I really appreciate every feedback.

But what do you think guys…? My personal opinion is (based on what FC gave us about sorcery and how they intended to implement some more alchemy related stuffs to it) that this would fit to our universe of exiled lands much better than some groups of random dudes from Conans world who became Sorcerers.

I would love to see some Boss or Bosses who could do Sorcery, or even some named/legendary Thralls that would use magic instead of bows and axes, but i dont really think this belongs to us, players. The “Alchemyst” is just some dude who is not so “dumb” to use only melee weapons and arrows but is inteligent enough to make use of items and ingredients with magical properties = soft version of Sorcery

I agree with the overall intention. I personally am dubious of having sorcery in the game as a PC. Sorcerers are meant to be adversarial and rare. Having alchemy take center stage as the default “sorcery” is more in keeping with Conan. A server should only ever have one or two true sorcerers but if sorcery is a player mechanic you can count on dozens of sorcerers or demi-sorcerers running around.

3 Likes

exactly. That is why made this. It is also option for players who would like to do some more siege damage with orbs and jars

added voting, just out of curiosity

i think it whould be cool on “short” implementation by an after release update (may 8th) , we know sorcery isnt dead, even could come to game some day (a barbarian can hope hehe), i play on public pvp server and alchemy (got thrall alchemist lvl4) is best “conventional” ofensive weapon to raid and our explosives factory our most protected and hidden spot, so i think alchemy should be improved and let the player do som choices to make about it, and not only a thrall thing:thinking:

1 Like

i added some corruption / no corruption variants to perks, basically it is just that **% you receive for that perk is fixed by the per definition or by your corruption level. In that case we would need some potions that would cause your character to not be “healed” by dancers from corruption…or something

That was always a question of mine in regards to sorcerers. Then again corruption hasn’t even been updated since the beginning so there is a lot of room to update how it is applied, what it does and how it’s removed.