Game Design So...... The Shaman Movement Spell.

I'm sure 90% of the players who have played shaman will know how frustrating and annoying the shaman movement spell is, especially compared to other classes. For the 10% of players who don't know, I'm going to explain how the shaman movement spell works, and why it is horrible.

The shaman movement spell is the only movement spell in this game that you can't cast directly. This means that in order to use Haul/Soar, you are required to place your totem first. Now don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the idea of having a placeable totem that casts my 3rd spell, but it's just not great for movement. You see, the shaman "totem" is not a particle effect like other skills, but it is an actual entity (armour stand) that gets thrown. The problem with it being an entity is that when you throw it, it can get stuck on ceilings, bounce off blocks, and basically have all kinds of problems that will make it land where you don't want it to land. This is ok in the overworld when you just need to make some quick jumps or quickly return to your totem, but when you get into smaller spaces, like Caves or certain Dungeon areas, your movement spell just gets rendered useless.

Not only that, the shaman movement spell compared to those of the other classes, compared to warriors, it doesn't have the horizontal distance or the control over direction, compared to archers, it doesn't have the vertical height or the speed boost after the skill, compared to mages, well mage blink is just op. Compared to assassins, it doesn't have the speed, distance, or height. (Note that I am NOT talking about use within combat, but the movement aspect of the movement spell itself) All in all, the shaman's movement spell is not only tedious to cast but also underwhelming in general, not only this but it also doesn't feel unique to the shaman class.

So! I propose several different methods:

1) To change the movement spell entirely
The new movement spell I propose:
(Sh/Sk) Root Throw/Cyclone
At rank 1: Mana Cost 4 Damage modifier 0% elemental % none
The shaman/skyseer gets pushed up into the air by a root/cyclone up to 8 blocks. after a short while throwing the shaman/skyseer in the player's mouse direction. Pressing Shift will throw the player straight away.
At rank 2: Mana cost 3 Damage modifier 100% elemental % none
Casting Root Throw/Cyclone will now knock back mobs in a 2 block radius, doing damage.
At rank 3: Mana cost 2 Damage modifier 100% elemental 10% earth
Root throw/cyclone will now create a ground slam when the player lands, knocking targets up in the air in a 3 block radius, doing earth damage. OR alternatively: Summoning a totem at the impact location. (this is cooler tbh)

explanation: This edit will free the movement spell from the totem entirely, and make the movement spell more unique to the shaman class/skyseer class. Also making it more versatile and less frustrating to use.

2) To edit the totem spell
The edited totem spell:
(Sh/Sk) Totem/Sky emblem
At rank 1: Mana cost 4 Damage Modifier 20% elemental 20% Air
Have a totem/sky emblem rise from the earth/fall from the skies at mouse location (15 block range) doing damage to targets around it and giving 35% strength to yourself and 15% to allies. 20-second duration.

At rank 2: Mana cost 4 Damage modifier 20% elemental 20% Air
The totem/sky emblem now heals for 3% of the casters maximum hp every second. Healing amount affected by water damage %. (no change)

At rank 3: Mana cost 4 Damage modifier 20% elemental 20% Air
The totem/sky emblem now deals damage upon rising from the earth/falling from the sky, doing 100% damage with no elemental %. Knocking targets in the air. (No change)

Explanation: This edit will solve a lot of the frustration of using the totem spell, having it not go where you want it to go, and having to wait for it to land before it is active. It also makes more sense, If you look at the actual texture of the totem, you'd see moss/grass growing at the bottom of the totem. Personally, I've not seen shamans throw their totems in any other game. they always get planted manually, rise from the earth, or be created out of magic.

Thanks for your time reading this :D please vote below.

 

Bumping this
I like the idea, haul is kinda sad

 

I like except that haul cost should stay at 4 for all grades/ranks/tiers whatever they’re called