Integrating crafting and PvM combat - Dealers

[Bobbity]

(Ryogure's post refers. Also see my previous post titled 'Crafting - Alchemy Craft levelling benefits and tweaks'.)

Hi! Do you like crafting? Yes? Great! What about killing mobs? Good stuff, right?

Except Rose Online forces you to choose between crafting and combat. Oh boy, and just wait til you hit max level. Then you'll REALLY know the difference between those two.

 

This suggestion proposes using crafting from level 10 on, right up to 250. It does so by

- extending PAT crafting downwards below the Artisan level and into the Dealer level, either by splitting the skill into PAT Craft and Advanced PAT Craft or by creating a similarly themed skill that functions only for the purposes of PvE combat.

- including additional recipes in Alchemy Craft and Advanced Alchemy Craft for combat purposes

- adding additional mechanics related to summons and PAT

 

Let's start with the PAT crafting itself.

 

Basic PAT Crafting

So, you're level 10, a freshly-minted Dealer raring for drops, zulie and your next crafting ability. But wait! Shouldn't you be adding skill points to your combat passives and skills? Hmm... but combat is dangerous - you could die! Let's not die, or expose ourselves to risk; it's just not fiscally responsible. Much better to use summons. 

Our choices of summons are ... few. We have Hunters who deal ranged attack and are pretty damn good value for skill points, and we have Warriors, who deal melee damage. They don't really have any abilities. Dread Knights and Terror Knights do, but you can't easily have more than 1 of each, can you? We need something in-between, something that will leverage our EXISTING skill point investment in crafting, instead of starting another sub-tree.

 

Enter: turrets, landmines and minis ... and Castle Gears.

Turrets are stationary 'magic items' that deal ranged damage. How much damage do they deal? You decide! Give the turrets their own guns or launchers. Hell, give them hardened weapons, why not. They live in the PAT tab (for now) due to how they are assembled.

Turrets have HP and ammo. Upon depletion of either, the turret can no longer attack. They are pseudo-consumable, in that they are deployed from the Consumables tab but are not one-shot items. (Yes, I know what I said, this is confusing to me too.) They use about the same amount of summon gauge as a hunter but benefit from upgradeable DPS and ammo.

 

Minis are basically mini-Castle Gears. They are mobile deployable summons that function much like hunters and warriors, except their components are hot-swappable. They live in the PAT tab but are also deployable from the Consumables tab for now. If implemented, I hope turrets and minis can deploy from the same skill window as the Drive Cart/Drive Castle Gear skill. (Or something better, of course.) They are made of materials similar in form and function to their Honor shop versions but everything can be made from basic earlygame lootable NPC materials. (As such, these minis will look mostly wooden.) They can also be equipped with the same weaponry as players.

Minis are the gateway drug to Castle Gears. To truly enjoy such a creation, CGs should be both deployable as a summon (remotely controlled) or as essentially an exosuit mechwarrior piloted by their Dealer. And yes, while CGs might still be available to everyone, not everyone will gain the combat boosts from them. Dealers should have a passive that specifically grants them increased stats while piloting their Castle Gear. This is not to say that other classes shouldn't gain something from their CG, but that Dealers should have a significant and overwhelming advantage. The idea is that crafting mini-CGs should naturally lead the Dealer into wanting to create their masterpiece, their pièce de resistance. 

TL;DR: Miniature CGs as mobile craftable summons and turrets as stationary DPS. Leads into crafting your CG bit-by-bit, working your way up to it the way an apprentice smith works their way up to becoming a journeyman. 

PROS: 

- Leverages existing skill points in PAT crafting all the from 10 to 50 and up to level cap

- Dealer already feels like a crafter, feels effective and useful

CONS:

- Damage output almost fully dependent on loot and summons

- 'Free' hunters and warriors are still extremely attractive, despite the skill points required

 

 

Alchemy Crafting

 

Grenades and explosives are pretty nice melee-range nukes with debuffs. They are crafted from mostly looted mats. Their only weakness is... nobody uses them due to the current meta. A nice clutch stun grenade + flashbang works wonders when facing a tough monster. That said, explosives don't contribute much to a steady level grind due to their single-target damage and debuff.

But... there is another. Landmines a.k.a. proximity mines are stationary, invisible 'magic items' that are crafted from the same materials as explosives like grenades and such. They are deployed onto the ground and detonate upon contact or proximity with hostile units. They are consumable like hand-thrown grenades and explosives. They use a small amount of summon gauge and more advanced forms of landmines offer higher yield/damage and area of effect (similar to Scout traps but without the slow).  They are not PAT and do not live in the PAT tab but combine into one playstyle.

 

A well-placed field or line of landmines together with turrets grant dealers a unique playstyle that leverages their movespeed passive (and active in the case of bourgs) and makes levelling so much easier. Lure and run, mobs go BOOM! Or pew-pew along a designated track and watch them die before they even get close enough to smell. This works in PvP as well with more careful placement and positioning. A nice bonus is the crafting exp gained in the field while grinding.

 

PROS:

- Dealer doesn't need to spend money and mats on hardening and refining unless they want to (for turrets/minis/own use/sale)

- Dealers continuously gain crafting exp

CONS:

- Can run out of mats

- ??? 

 

 

I've been asked to consider the idea of re-usable landmines. While this is good if you're invested in weapon DPS, I feel this does two negative things: 

- removes the crafting exp gained from constantly refilling your stock of mines

- effectively gives you a freebie like the hunters and warriors

It also moves you out of the mentality of crafting for success. The idea has merit, though and could be considered for Artisan-level Advanced Alchemy Crafting.

 

 

I will update and edit this post throughout the day based on time available at work as well as feedback. This is an incredibly rough and unpolished proposal. Also, most of what's in this suggestion has been said before, so just give feedback on the concept.

 

EDIT: Updated for clarity.

Edited February 26, 2023 by Bobbity
Basic formatting/clarity

[dbeeeee]

Too much work imo. If they spend all this effort doing this, they might as well just fix a couple of other skills to make dealers more balanced.