Nightblade Ability Suggestions
Posted: Tue Oct 26, 2021 12:58 am
I would do suggestions for more than just nightblades, but... well. This is all I've played. So here are some abilities I think would be nice and shore up some things.
In general, at the time of this posting, I think the greatest weakness of Nightblades is that both their magic options are just... weak. And by 'weak' I don't mean that I think they should be slinging magic like a Warlock. I mean that their magic is just not useful and does not support the core concept very well. Glyphs run out before more than a couple fights in a zone, and it's very difficult to refresh them in the danger zone, due to how long they take to draw. Durations are just too short. Shadow Cloak is a bit better, since you can refresh it anywhere, but it doesn't seem to make much meaningful difference to my rolls. I tried even using uyto to eavesdrop, and I had to refresh it every couple 'says' even with max Arcana.
HIT AND RUN
Effect: Provides a chance to automatically hide without additional roundtime after a successful ambush. Passive.
Notes: Seems like it might be potent, but it ultimately just saves you a few seconds and is otherwise a cool fluff ability, since you can already hide pretty easily after an ambush. If it seems strong, maybe require Shadow Cloak as a prerequisite, both to learn the ability and to use it?
APPRAISE WEAKNESS
Effect: Allows you to 'study' a target, requiring a brief run time much like Mark does. Maybe half as long. When complete, gives bonuses when fighting that specific enemy. Ideas for bonuses: Higher chink chance (though lower than Mark's), slightly increased odds of hitting vital areas when attacking with 'aim none', additional attack and/or defense reroll.
Notes: Nightblades are meant to "study" their enemies. Mark does this to a degree, but I think it would add to the unique feel of them if they could study enemies even when assassination isn't a possibility. With a shorter runtime, it might make them more useful in group combat as well. Should maybe require or be a prerequisite for Assassin's Mark
EYE FOR WEAKNESS
Effect: An additional chance to armor chink and attack vital areas when not ambushing. Passive.
Notes: An alternative to the previous ability, not in addition to, covering many of the same reasons. Being passive kind of makes it feel less like 'studying a foe' but it is probably more consistently useful. Assassin's Mark as a prerequisite.
SHADOW SHIFT GLYPH
Effect: Touch one glyph to be transported to a second glyph prepared ahead of time. Both glyphs must be placed in rooms with low light levels. Both glyphs must be in the same area.
Notes: I'm honestly do not know much, if any, lore behind glyphs to know if this is possible lore-wise, but it seemed like a nice way to help encourage preparation to further enable the 'get in and get out' playstyle of Nightblades.
NIGHTBLADE
Effect: Conjure a stiletto of solidified nether.
Notes: Avoiding the claws of the other game, I figured it might be nice to have a weapon that acts as the nightblade's namesake. Functionally the same as a stiletto, probably not better in stats than a regular stilletto other than triggering a nether/cold damage burst. I'm not sure of the lore of solid nether without cryomancy; if it doesn't make sense, maybe this could disable parrying as the other weapon would pass straight through. It should also be dispelled if you remove it from your hand in any way; giving, dropping, sheathing, etc. It would give an offensive use to sorcery for those of us who don't want to take ranged combat. Right now, sorcery feels like a purely RP choice without much use to be worth the ability slots, since one of the three abilities is useless to me and the other two are very niche.
CAUTIOUS STRIKE
Effect: Add a reroll to defensive rolls when in roundtime due to an ambush.
Note: There is a fair chance of getting absolutely obliterated if the ambush fails to take out a target in one hit, before one is able to flee. Some sort of ability to mildly mitigate this would be nice. Maybe locked behind Dodge 400 or something equally restrictive. Maybe Tactical Dodge or some other defensive ability as a prerequisite.
As I mentioned, I find Arcana presently pretty useless for Nightblades due to a combination of not being able to refresh them in dangerous areas (can't hide) and short duration. Here are a few different abilities that I think would help make it an actual useful tool for the nightblade kit. These aren't meant to all be used together, just a few different ideas on how to handle what I see as an issue:
FIXED GLYPH
Effect: This activation glyph is triggered by a glyph being broken or erased. Glyphs triggered this way last much longer and cannot be easily dismissed.
Notes: While I'm sure there could be other uses for it later on, the main purpose of this is to let Nightblades use their stealthy glyphs for a much greater duration than their low skill allows. The cost of being unable to dismiss them (or maybe requiring some cost to dismiss them) hopefully balances this out a bit, as many/most glyphs have a downside to their activation that one might not always want. Obviously, the name would need to fit the naming scheme of other glyphs, but I do not know how those are determined, if Rias has a particular method. Obviously, Arcanists could also have this. Maybe also Bards, as another support class with limited magic?
PRECISE GLYPHS
Effect: By practicing the ability to draw glyphs much smaller than usual, an occultists can draw their glyphs from a concealed position.
Notes: I know Rias mentioned the size of glyphs as a lore-reason for not being able to hide when drawing them, but hopefully this approach alleviates that. Nightblades, Arcanists, maybe Treasure Hunters, as another stealth class that might use glyphs to support their stealthiness? This would help the duration issue by allowing them to be refreshed in the field.
NETHER MIMICRY
Effect: The nether is known to mimic things, change its own form, and read the will of its controller. Using these traits, researchers have found a way to have nether mimic certain magical effects attached to a warlock's aura. Allows sorcery to be used (instead of/in addition to) Arcana for determining glyph duration.
Notes: Another way to make the duration of glyphs feel more worthwhile at the cost of needing to also invest into sorcery. Probably Warlocks and Nightblades only. Maybe even Nightblade only, since the Sorcery cap on Warlocks might make this too potent for them. Might be a bit of a stretch lore-wise. Might have to not apply to stuff like distyr; I can't think of any way to justify making nether glow. Blur and muffle seem doable, though.
In general, at the time of this posting, I think the greatest weakness of Nightblades is that both their magic options are just... weak. And by 'weak' I don't mean that I think they should be slinging magic like a Warlock. I mean that their magic is just not useful and does not support the core concept very well. Glyphs run out before more than a couple fights in a zone, and it's very difficult to refresh them in the danger zone, due to how long they take to draw. Durations are just too short. Shadow Cloak is a bit better, since you can refresh it anywhere, but it doesn't seem to make much meaningful difference to my rolls. I tried even using uyto to eavesdrop, and I had to refresh it every couple 'says' even with max Arcana.
HIT AND RUN
Effect: Provides a chance to automatically hide without additional roundtime after a successful ambush. Passive.
Notes: Seems like it might be potent, but it ultimately just saves you a few seconds and is otherwise a cool fluff ability, since you can already hide pretty easily after an ambush. If it seems strong, maybe require Shadow Cloak as a prerequisite, both to learn the ability and to use it?
APPRAISE WEAKNESS
Effect: Allows you to 'study' a target, requiring a brief run time much like Mark does. Maybe half as long. When complete, gives bonuses when fighting that specific enemy. Ideas for bonuses: Higher chink chance (though lower than Mark's), slightly increased odds of hitting vital areas when attacking with 'aim none', additional attack and/or defense reroll.
Notes: Nightblades are meant to "study" their enemies. Mark does this to a degree, but I think it would add to the unique feel of them if they could study enemies even when assassination isn't a possibility. With a shorter runtime, it might make them more useful in group combat as well. Should maybe require or be a prerequisite for Assassin's Mark
EYE FOR WEAKNESS
Effect: An additional chance to armor chink and attack vital areas when not ambushing. Passive.
Notes: An alternative to the previous ability, not in addition to, covering many of the same reasons. Being passive kind of makes it feel less like 'studying a foe' but it is probably more consistently useful. Assassin's Mark as a prerequisite.
SHADOW SHIFT GLYPH
Effect: Touch one glyph to be transported to a second glyph prepared ahead of time. Both glyphs must be placed in rooms with low light levels. Both glyphs must be in the same area.
Notes: I'm honestly do not know much, if any, lore behind glyphs to know if this is possible lore-wise, but it seemed like a nice way to help encourage preparation to further enable the 'get in and get out' playstyle of Nightblades.
NIGHTBLADE
Effect: Conjure a stiletto of solidified nether.
Notes: Avoiding the claws of the other game, I figured it might be nice to have a weapon that acts as the nightblade's namesake. Functionally the same as a stiletto, probably not better in stats than a regular stilletto other than triggering a nether/cold damage burst. I'm not sure of the lore of solid nether without cryomancy; if it doesn't make sense, maybe this could disable parrying as the other weapon would pass straight through. It should also be dispelled if you remove it from your hand in any way; giving, dropping, sheathing, etc. It would give an offensive use to sorcery for those of us who don't want to take ranged combat. Right now, sorcery feels like a purely RP choice without much use to be worth the ability slots, since one of the three abilities is useless to me and the other two are very niche.
CAUTIOUS STRIKE
Effect: Add a reroll to defensive rolls when in roundtime due to an ambush.
Note: There is a fair chance of getting absolutely obliterated if the ambush fails to take out a target in one hit, before one is able to flee. Some sort of ability to mildly mitigate this would be nice. Maybe locked behind Dodge 400 or something equally restrictive. Maybe Tactical Dodge or some other defensive ability as a prerequisite.
As I mentioned, I find Arcana presently pretty useless for Nightblades due to a combination of not being able to refresh them in dangerous areas (can't hide) and short duration. Here are a few different abilities that I think would help make it an actual useful tool for the nightblade kit. These aren't meant to all be used together, just a few different ideas on how to handle what I see as an issue:
FIXED GLYPH
Effect: This activation glyph is triggered by a glyph being broken or erased. Glyphs triggered this way last much longer and cannot be easily dismissed.
Notes: While I'm sure there could be other uses for it later on, the main purpose of this is to let Nightblades use their stealthy glyphs for a much greater duration than their low skill allows. The cost of being unable to dismiss them (or maybe requiring some cost to dismiss them) hopefully balances this out a bit, as many/most glyphs have a downside to their activation that one might not always want. Obviously, the name would need to fit the naming scheme of other glyphs, but I do not know how those are determined, if Rias has a particular method. Obviously, Arcanists could also have this. Maybe also Bards, as another support class with limited magic?
PRECISE GLYPHS
Effect: By practicing the ability to draw glyphs much smaller than usual, an occultists can draw their glyphs from a concealed position.
Notes: I know Rias mentioned the size of glyphs as a lore-reason for not being able to hide when drawing them, but hopefully this approach alleviates that. Nightblades, Arcanists, maybe Treasure Hunters, as another stealth class that might use glyphs to support their stealthiness? This would help the duration issue by allowing them to be refreshed in the field.
NETHER MIMICRY
Effect: The nether is known to mimic things, change its own form, and read the will of its controller. Using these traits, researchers have found a way to have nether mimic certain magical effects attached to a warlock's aura. Allows sorcery to be used (instead of/in addition to) Arcana for determining glyph duration.
Notes: Another way to make the duration of glyphs feel more worthwhile at the cost of needing to also invest into sorcery. Probably Warlocks and Nightblades only. Maybe even Nightblade only, since the Sorcery cap on Warlocks might make this too potent for them. Might be a bit of a stretch lore-wise. Might have to not apply to stuff like distyr; I can't think of any way to justify making nether glow. Blur and muffle seem doable, though.