Game Mechanics Making Ritualist More Coherent (Ritualist Mini Revamp!)

Hey y'all!

First, I wanna thank @Elysium_ for the support and inspiration! Elysium has an eye for aspects of the ability tree that could use some improvement. He gets me working on a project whenever I feel uninspired, which I really appreciate! Elysium my man you are very very epic and I hope you get the most perfect daredevil and propeller hat in the game

Ritualist's design is a good baseline for an interesting archetype, and the recent changes has shown just that! Abilities like Totemic Shatter, Haunting Memory, and Chant of the Lunatic just shows how further one can flesh out ritualist's kit. However ritualist still has a lot of room for growth. Particularly, the archetype can be very boring and repetitive (*cough* shatter spam *cough*) despite the many options it offers. This playstyle, however, is effective, despite it's repetitiveness.

In this post, I'll be adding more to the ritualist's ability tree that would invite players to make use of the archetype's whole kit, without reducing the effectiveness of some playstyles that are already established!

Spoiler: Mask of the Lunatic

The first thing I want to talk about is Mask of the Lunatic, and how it became less popular for ritualists with the introduction of Totemic Shatter. Mask of the Lunatic's Hymn of Hate is especially controversial because of how unimpactful the ability can be in most at-level situations. While the ability can be strong in its own right, it has become overshadowed by Totemic Shatter in terms of general viability.

Another thing about Hymn of Hate is its massive aoe potential. With the introduction of newer abilities like Totemic Shatter, Haunting Memory, and Chant of the Lunatic, it has been evident that the archetype is supposed to have a smaller range (which is also what the official website says about ritualist).

I redesigned Hymn of Hate in a way that would make Aura more spammable but with a shorter range, which I believe is a solid identity to establish for ritualist abilities!

Spoiler: Current Node

How does it work?
If you are wearing the Mask of the Lunatic, Aura will trigger 0.4s after you cast it. However, it will instantly deal its damage to all enemies up to 14 blocks away from your Totem, or up to 14 blocks away from you with the Major ID Geocentrism.

If you have the ability Shocking Aura, then the delay would be reduced to 0.2s. If you have the ability Rebound, then Aura will trigger one more time after the same delay (0.4s without Shocking Aura, or 0.2s with Shocking Aura).

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This Hymn of Hate change would make staying Mask of the Lunatic more powerful and viable in a more impactful and noticeable way. With Aura becoming more spammable, Mask of the Lunatic becomes a better option for DPS compared to Totemic Shatter's delayed damage.

I want to mention that acolytes already prefer Mask of the Lunatic over Mask of the Fanatic due to Totemic Shatter's lack of synergy with Sacrificial Shrine *cough cougH*. I do not know how many players use Hymn of Hate with Sacrificial Shrine outside of xp grinding in grind spots. However I do believe that this change would make the ability more enticing to pick for dps-oriented acolytes, which can further diversify ritualist-acolyte hybrid builds!

Spoiler: Mask of the Fanatic

Totemic Shatter was successful in making Mask of the Fanatic more relevant in the ritualist gameplay. "Shatter Spam" became a popular playstyle since the ability's release, and for a good reason! Other than Totemic Shatter's good damage potential, it's sustain combined with Mask of the Fanatic's resistance buff makes for a consistent and reliable gameplay.

However I believe that staying on one Mask for a long time should be for special cases only; no Mask should be viable long-term in most cases. This way, the player's mask choice becomes an impactful decision in combat, which we can then give more fruitful rewards to.

By shifting Mask of the Fanatic's strengths towards tanking damage and sustain, we can specialize the Mask's strengths towards defense in favor of other stats, allowing the other Masks to take their place in the ritualist gameplay.


(nerfed walk speed)


(yes, this is Totemic Shatter. we're renaming it for that epic naming convention)

Spoiler: Current Nodes

Why the changes?
These two changes combined would nerf Mask of the Fanatic's damage and mobility in favor of more survivability from Hymn of Mania (renamed Totemic Shatter). Hymn of Mania making Totem plummet to the ground is mostly a quality-of-life change that would make Totemic Shatter/Hymn of Mania more spammable, however it would also nerf Mask of the Fanatic's mobility further by reducing the window within which the player can cast Haul to reposition (before they take the reworked Frog Dance at least *cough*).

By making Mask of the Fanatic's weaknesses more noticeable, players are encouraged to rely more on the other Masks in most situations. However in situations where mobility is irrelevant (like when fighting The Canyon Colossus), staying on Mask of the Fanatic becomes a better choice with the Mask's ability to mitigate a lot of damage and face enemies head-on.

Spoiler: Mask of the Coward

I have discussed Mask of the Coward's problems in a previous post and designed two nodes for the Mask: Hymn of Panic, and a new Frog Dance. If you want to know how the abilities would work, then check out the post!


(this would replace Seeking Totem)

Spoiler: Current Nodes

Spoiler: Frog Dance's new location on the tree

Current:


New:

With these two abilities combined, players utilizing the Mask of the Coward can make use of it's reduced Haul cost to spam Frog Dance and become incredibly mobile, while Hymn of Panic would make the player's Totem adjust to the player's position while helping them with its faster damage and heals.

These abilities would make Mask of the Coward more helpful in combat by allowing ritualists to recover from sticky situations brought about by the other Masks' more impactful weaknesses. In situations where maintaining distance from a mobile enemy is crucial (like when fighting The Nameless), Mask of the Coward would shine with its incredible utility, allowing ritualists to build however they want without worrying about not having enough mobility!

Spoiler: Haunting Memory

The next ability I want to talk about is Haunting Memory, a new ritualist node. This ability is ritualist's own version of Uproot, which gives ritualist the capacity to hybrid with the other archetypes. However the ability itself can be quite underwhelming and unimpactful for full ritualists.

Elysium and I wanted Haunting Memory to be more noticeable in combat by making it deal damage in an explosion like regular Uproot. However we also took this as an opportunity to integrate melee to the archetype!




(this would replace Masquerade)


(and this would replace Depersonalization)

Spoiler: Current Nodes

How do these work?
Whenever you switch Masks with Uproot, or whenever you remove your Mask with Shift + Uproot, throw your previous Mask forwards as a fast projectile. Upon colliding with an enemy, or once it reaches its maximum range of 14 blocks, the Mask explodes with mystical energy that deals damage and Haunts enemies within 4 Blocks of the explosion. Afterwards, the Mask will return to you.

While a Mask hasn't returned to you, you will not receive its effects. You may not use Haunting Memory if all of your Masks haven't returned to you.

Haunted enemies will receive a debuff that will change based on the Mask you are currently wearing: if you are wearing the Mask of the Lunatic, then Haunted enemies will have reduced resistances; if you are wearing the Mask of the Fanatic, then Haunted enemies will become slowed; if you are wearing the Mask of the Coward, then Haunted enemies will deal less damage. Enemies immune to resistance reduction, slowness, or damage reduction can still be Haunted, but will not receive the respective debuff.

Haunted lasts for 4s. Hitting Haunted enemies with Haunting Memory will reset its duration.


If you have the ability Invocation, then hitting a Haunted enemy with your Main Attack will reduce the mana cost of your next Uproot by -30%. This effect does not stack. This mana cost reduction is removed once you cast Uproot, or when you stop holding the same weapon.

If you have the ability Conjuration, then Invocation will reduce your next Uproot's mana cost by a total of -50%.

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Why the "Haunted" mechanic?
I will admit, this mechanic makes Haunting Memory a bit more complicated than before. However the purpose of this special status effect is to add a specific gameplay loop to ritualist: hit enemies with Haunting Memory, then hit them with your Main Attacks, then hit them with Haunting Memory again. One can simplify this by removing the Haunted status effect and making Invocation trigger on enemies as long as they have a debuff, which is... fine.., however it would give ritualist an unprecedented level of synergy with other classes/archetypes since a lot of them can apply debuffs to enemies. I do not know how balanced this would be, so I decided to add a Haunted status effect to make Invocation's trigger condition more specific. If this simpler version wouldn't be too powerful, then I'm fine with Haunting Memory's Haunted effect being removed!

Another change I added is Haunting Memory triggering on Mask removal: Shift + Uproot. The main reason for this is... well... a spoiler for a different post I'll be making in the future *cough*. However this would also allow ritualists to use Haunting Memory in the early game, when the player only has one Mask!

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Why is Invocation/Conjuration designed this way?
Ever since spellbound was released, Main Attacks have become less relevant in the classes' gameplay. We started exploring ability designs that integrates melee to the archetypes' kits, which we believe would make the gameplay more varied and engaging! @Elysium_ ultimately came up with the idea of adding an incentive to using Main Attacks against enemies hit by Haunting Memory, which not only would integrate melee to ritualist's kit, but would also make Haunting Memory more useful for the archetype!

The reason why it reduces Uproot's mana cost instead is because we wanted this playstyle to contribute towards building up Awakened (which I also changed btw so keep reading!). This way, constant Mask switching and deliberately using Haunting Memory for damage becomes a bit more viable, and would contribute towards using ritualist's most powerful ability!

Spoiler: Simplified Chants

All of the changes so far are designed to make both proactive and reactive Mask-switching happen more often, which would make Chants trigger more often. Currently, ritualist's Chants are different from each other, which adds a whole new layer of decision-making that could make Mask-switching more complicated than it needs to be.

I want to make Mask-switching more intuitive and predictable by simplifying and standardizing Chants. This way, players will only have to think about when to switch Masks, allowing players to focus on the change in gameplay instead of other details like where to switch Masks.






(basically Sona's abilities from League of Legends, really)

Spoiler: Current Nodes

How do these work?
Upon switching to a Mask, begin performing a Chant. The Chant would always surround you, would be circle-shaped with a radius of 8 blocks, and would last for 3s.

The Chant grants you and allies within its range a buff: if you switched to Mask of the Lunatic, then you and allies are granted a damage bonus; if you switched to Mask of the Fanatic, then you and allies are granted a resistance bonus; if you switched to Mask of the Coward, then you and allies are granted an increased walk speed. The buff of the Chant would stack with the buff of your current Mask.

When an ally leaves the Chant's area, they would immediately lose this buff. However they can regain this buff by entering the Chant's area again.

Only one Chant can be active at a time; switching or removing a Mask will immediately end its Chant. Once a Chant begins, it will be put on an 8s cooldown during which switching to its Mask will not trigger this Chant.

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Why are they designed this way?
These abilities basically serve as a temporary power boost to Masks, which not only would allow players to appreciate the Masks' strengths without making them too powerful overall, but would also incentivize proactive Mask-switching even further. These new versions of Chants would establish the idea that the Masks are reliant on each other by covering for each other's weaknesses: the sudden burst of power allows ritualists to adapt to the bad situation brought about by the previous Mask's weaknesses; once the buff is gone, ritualists would need to face the weaknesses of the new Mask, and switch again when necessary.

Spoiler: Awakened

These changes so far would make the Masks' strengths more noticeable, but specialized. However I do understand that constant Mask-switching is not always the answer, and there are cases where staying on a specific Mask is the best decision to make. I still want to make these Masks satisfying to use, especially when used right.

The final ability I'll be talking about is none other than ritualist's ultimate ability: Awakened!

After the recent change to Awakened making Masks switchable again, the ability turned to an empowered version of the same boring-but-effective gameplay. The ability is no longer as satisfying to use since it no longer significantly impacts one's gameplay despite being an ultimate ability.

I reimagined Awakened and turned it to a new and powerful ultimate ability that allows ritualists to realize a Mask's full potential, and possibly overcome any adversary through its sheer strength. Behold, the apotheosis of your devotion!

Spoiler: Current Node

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How does it work?
Whenever you cast a Spell with its cost reduced by any of your abilities, the amount of mana discounted will contribute towards building up Awakened. Abilities that reduce the mana cost of your Spells include: Mask of the Lunatic (Aura), Mask of the Fanatic (Totem), Mask of the Coward (Haul), and Invocation/Conjuration (Uproot). Once you have saved 150 mana this way (90 mana with the Major ID Alter Ego), casting Shift + Uproot will not remove your Mask or throw it with Haunting Memory. Instead, the Mask will become Awakened.

While a Mask is Awakened, you will not receive its debuff. The mana cost reduction of this Mask is increased to -100%, making its respective spell free: Aura for Mask of the Lunatic, Totem for Mask of the Fanatic, or Haul for Mask of the Coward. If you have the respective Chant of this Mask, then its cooldown is reset and this Chant will be active for the whole duration of Awakened.

Upon making a Mask Awakened, the ability goes on a 15s cooldown during which your mana cost reductions would not build up towards Awakened.

When you switch Masks with Uproot, remove the Mask with Shift + Uproot, or once 10s has passed (7.5s with the Major ID Alter Ego); the Mask will lose its Awakened state and its Chant will immediately end.

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Why is it designed this way?
I designed this version of Awakened based on a currently existing ability that is known to be very fun to use: Timelock!

Despite being a short period of time where you spam a single ability, Timelock feels incredibly satisfying to use with how it makes all of your spells free. I took inspiration from this design to make ritualist's own spell-spam just as fun! This new version of Awakened allows players to use whichever Mask they like in any situation by giving it a short but powerful buff. This way, players are rewarded for making use of all of their abilities to adapt to situations with a satisfying culmination of power!

The reason why you can "cancel" this ability by switching or removing Masks is because I want to allow players to change their mind after committing to a Mask with Awakened. On the other hand, I don't want Awakened to be transferrable to other Masks because it would undermine the ability's main purpose: make staying on one Mask viable regardless of the situation. This design, however, completely counteracts with Haunting Memory since you can only use it by casting Uproot. This is especially bad for players who wants to use Haunting Memory as a main source of damage.

As a compromise, I designed a complementary node to Awakened that would allow players to use Haunting Memory while a Mask is Awakened.

Spoiler: Embodiment's location on the tree

Current:


New:

This ability gives ritualists the freedom to spam Haunting Memory without changing their Mask or interrupting Awakened, allowing them to use the ability with whichever Mask they like!

The changes to the Masks, Hymns, and Chants would make the ritualist Masks more intuitive to use by making their purpose clearer, while the changes to the other abilities would make the archetype's kit feel much more interconnected. Overall, these changes would make for a more engaging gameplay that puts versatility at its core, testing the ritualist's capability to adapt to many situations and make smart decisions on the fly!

Thank you so much for reading! Remember to like the post and vote in the poll, and feel free to leave constructive feedback in the replies!

 

YES PLS ADD THIS

 

I. NEED. THIS.
Especially the chants, I love the new designs for those.
One thing:

Why the delay? (Also, Geocentrism would work the same as totem aura with this, right?)

I hope so too.

 

I'm glad y'all like them!!

The delay is mostly to give it interactions with Shocking Aura and Rebound. However it also makes Aura not totally spammable, which is great for balance especially with Awakened.

Also yeah, if you have Geocentrism then it would cast from your location instead! I forgot about that Major ID.

 

Ok yea that makes sense.

 

Made a small edit and mentioned how Hymn of Hate interacts with Geocentrism, and how Awakened interacts with Alter Ego!

 

as always very amazing indeed

 

Ritualist rework finally! Glad to have worked with you on this one.

 

this is a really cool suggestion but sir i advise you to please decelerate the rate you are making them (not really as long as its good, which has been a pretty great rate so far). there are so many good ability revamps you are doing that im just gonna link your signature in my signature.

(Also a bit of more serious feedback: Cool suggestions but it'd be nice if you could put what the ability you're changing is in the descs of the abilities (mainly cuz im too lazy to look up the abilities as they are now but e)

 

Thank you for the continuous support, my man!!

Thank you, I couldn't have done this without your help!!

gasp Thank you so much!!! I appreciate it a lot, man!

No probs, you got it!

I'm pleased to inform you that I already got another archetype revamp in the works!

 

Made an edit and added the current versions of the nodes, as well as the current versions of Page 6 and 7 since they're mentioned in the post!

PSA: You can only upload up to 25 images on a post!

 

I don't want to sound like a broken record here but oml your suggestions just continue to be of the highest quality, without fail


(that being said)
(you should probably take attack speed into account with your Invokation ability, slower weapons getting more than 2% per hit and faster ones getting less, sort of like how powder specials work right now.)

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Also, I actually like Chant of the Coward as it is now. I understand that it doesn't quite fit thematically with your other chants, but the way that it currently works is that, when you switch on to the "mask of running away", you get that little extra boost of knocking back enemies, and, while buffing players would technically do the same thing in the realm of "giving you a little boost", I just personally like the knockback more. Probably just a me thing, though.

also how do you make those custom abilities that look like actual things on the tree

 

gasp Thank you!!!!!

Good point! Invocation actually originally had a 2s cooldown to make its performance consistent across all attack speed tiers. I don't remember why I removed it. I definitely should add it back, though.

I actually prefer CotC's knockback mechanic too! The only reason why I turned it to a walk speed buff is to make it work with the new Awakened's interaction with Chants. Unfortunately, I couldn't think of a way to make switching to MotC knock enemies away without compromising CotC's interaction with Awakened.

I make them in a minecraft world! Maybe I should make a tutorial post for making ability tree stuff.

Anyway thank you for your feedback, and welcome back!

 

The tree placement is the easy part. Idk how he makes descriptions, but you just need the wynn resource pack and a whole ton of stone axes to make the tree look the same.

 

Making those descriptions are also pretty simple: I just use a minecraft item generator!

 

ah

 

I absolutely agree with everything proposed, with the exception of Hymn of Hate. It's probably just a personal preference thing. I don't really get the point of having to wait 0.4s for it to cast, since the Mask of the Lunatic is already supposed to be damage only. Also, if the proposed Hymn of Hate was implemented, I'd hope that there was some sort of animation on the Totem to show that it was 'charging up' the Aura or something. Otherwise, great post, like all of your other ones!

 

Hey, man!

That's a valid concern! Another reason why I added a delay is because I don't want Aura to be completely spammable, especially with Awakened. However the 0.4s delay is actually very short: it's just as short as the delay between Totem ticks! This would still considerably bump up ritualist's aura dps without making it too strong.

I agree! Some particle and sound effects right after casting Aura to prompt players that it's about to do its thing would be beneficial!

But yes thank you for the feedback, my guy!

Thank you!!!

 

Hey, y'all! Here's what the reworked Frog Dance would look like!

 

Would be funny if Frog Dance made your totems jump with you as well, matching your launch speed and momentum, so that your position will always maintain inside the Totem range, or give you the ability to bulk-move your Totems, and it will also trigger Totemic Smash again every time it lands.