Psionicist Specialization

Mindtaker · 02-25-2007, 05:32 PM

*Direct copy of post I made on TTH Psionicist boards*

Okay, I had just turned level 17 (started and hit 18 on rogue, rerolled for obvious reasons) on my psionicist and I have been checking around the boards for information trying to play the class the best I can. I see many threads about how the class has changed, how people want to play a certain role and how people just want a description of what their class will be in the future. This got me thinking about how they compare to the other classes and the Shaman stood out the most to me.

What if a Psionicist, at a certain level, were able to specialize into a specific type of Psionicist learnings? I am unsure of how they work, but I believe a shaman has at least two options, one being the bear form and the other the form of a firebird. What if a Psionicist had options similar to this? Breaking down the Psionicist I could see at least three branches one would even want to go down. The specialty branches would be able to use common to psionicist spells while also allowing them to become something more personal to their play style. I don't believe concentrations will be enough, but again I don't have them all yet.*EDIT* Did some quick research and the shaman at level 15 has three choices; Bear, wolf or phoenix pet/form. They offer different playstyles to the class and give the player some more personalization.

Branch One: Damage
A Psionicist that desires to have the base class spells while being able to specialize into doing more damage via spells than a differently specced Psionicist. This could be done with Direct Damage and/or Damage Over Time spells.

Branch Two: Support
A Psionicist that desires to have more utility to a group allowing them to gain different buffs than the differently specced Psionicist. This branch could also include better CCing abilities or a seperate option branch may be used for more CC, but I don't think CC is what Sigil desires most for the Psionicist.

Branch Three: Charm
A Psionicist that desires to have the base Psionicist spells with the advantage in charming monsters over differently specced Psionicist. This could lead to being able to charm monsters longer, charm without losing the power(4 dot down to 3 dot) of the charmed mob or something to just make them better at charming than Psionicists that don't spec for it.

I know this is not the ideal fix, I would like Psionicists to get everything they want all in one character, but as is I can see this being an option and deserves some thought for a fix to those Psionicists that desire to be something similar, yet different. The branches could be altered to fit the class better, but this is just an idea I threw together to get things going.

*EDIT2* To do this properly some current abilties would most likely have to be toned down and they may also need to be placed into one of the branches that they belong to. All the different choices should be able to fill a certain class role of which the devs desire them to fill, while also being able to specialize a little for themselves. Just give every Psionicist a chance to specialize and be different, similar to how Shamans get a choice.

Mindtaker

cloudymind · 02-25-2007, 05:46 PM

Branch one == sorceror
Branch three == druid
Branch two == pisionicist

Mindtaker · 02-25-2007, 05:56 PM

Bah lol, it is an idea to give more personalization for the Psionicist. It didn't have to be those three branches, I just don't want to force all Psionicist's to have the same playstyle, so what if multiple classes can do similar things, as it is currently I have never seen any caster get special treatment over another except for the ToD Dailuk boss fight where Sorcerers are a big help on the adds that spawn. I don't like to force everyone into one style and give them more options similar to WoW Talents, DAoC Specs or anything similar to that. Take one class and give it different flavors to fit a players style more.

Mindtaker

cloudymind · 02-25-2007, 06:05 PM

Sure it's a nice idea. But more branches/subclasses means more balance issues. And dev already have their hands full right now.

Mindtaker · 02-25-2007, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cloudymind

Sure it's a nice idea. But more branches/subclasses means more balance issues. And dev already have their hands full right now.

With the balance issues at hand now, it may be easier in the long run to do it now, plus if it is done in the future they would have to rebalance the class entirely. I understand what you are saying though, just playing devil's advocate.

Mindtaker

leviathan123 · 02-26-2007, 09:04 AM

The skill of the Psionicist lies in shifting from one state to the other, knowing when you need to power something down, handle the overall situation, conserve mana, etc.

The Psionicist is a complex class to play well and get full potential out of it, I'm 36 and I'm just scratching the surface of our potential. I don't want to be "specialized" I want to be special because of all the things I can do

Puuma · 02-26-2007, 09:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by leviathan123

The skill of the Psionicist lies in shifting from one state to the other, knowing when you need to power something down, handle the overall situation, conserve mana, etc.

The Psionicist is a complex class to play well and get full potential out of it, I'm 36 and I'm just scratching the surface of our potential. I don't want to be "specialized" I want to be special because of all the things I can do

I agree with Lev on this one. Specialization may be neat, but utility and being well rounded are much more useful.

Mindtaker · 02-26-2007, 07:50 PM

Every Psionicist would still be able to fill the current role, its just that you have the choice of making on branch of that Psionicist even better. I brought it up because as it has been said, there were Dev posts in beta claiming that all classes would end up getting a branch choice similar to that of the shamans. It is more of a way for players, after all the nerfs go through to damage/charm/etc, to be able to pick a branch similar to that of which they envisioned their class to be.

Mindtaker

Kimi · 02-27-2007, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cloudymind

Sure it's a nice idea. But more branches/subclasses means more balance issues. And dev already have their hands full right now.

Actually I think that eventually that will come.

Not soon, perhaps 6-12 months. But it will probably be like extra stats or an ability that you can spec in for like 5-10% more damage or whatever.