Lightnig - Thunderstorm - call it whatever you want

[tux9th]

Hi,
I wanted to ask your opinion about a new spell I'm developing.
It is a AOE Spell (Area of Effect) which attacks all Mobs which are standing next to the player.
At the moment the spell works like the #itenplz or aggravate spell the difference is you not only aggravates Mobs but also deals damage.
What I don't really know is how to balance it, what the cost should be, where to learn it, how much dmg it should deal, what the area it affects should be etc.

Link to picture what it does
http://sagdas.net/bilder/manascreenshotwave.png
Don't judge on looks alone. Looks can change so fast :>

Now what I want to know from you
First off if there are any questions regarding what the spell does just ask. Next I want to know if you like the spell IN GENERAL. Please don't say: "It's to big, deals too much damage ..."
I don't really know how to balance it so please give me hints
- What should it cost
- How much mana
- Cooldown
- How much damage should it deal
- how big should the area be

Now the fun part
Names
- Lightning
- Thunderstorm
- Death-Wave
- ...

:>

best regards
tuX9th

[Crush]

AoE spells are tricky to balance in general.

Theoretically, an area-of-effect spell could hit every monster on the map, provided that they are positioned accordingly. So theoretically it would be N times better than a single-target spell, where N is equal to the average number of monsters on a map. But this ignores the fact that there is a hidden cost for getting the monsters in position. Herding monsters is both time-consuming and dangerous.

The time it takes to herd each monster is the real cost of an AoE spell, and this cost increases linearly with the reward.

The question is: how many monsters do you want the players to round up before the AoE spell becomes a better option than killing them all with alternative equally powerful single-target spells? That number is how much more costly it has to be than the single target spells.

[Gatekeeper]

Name: LightningStorm
Cost: 1 Ruby Powder and 10 Iron Poweder
Mana: 100
Cooldown: 5 Minutes

Area: Like the same as Kaflosh
Effects: Like the ingrav but more of them

[ZdlN]

Name: Flamestorm
Cost: one ruby is a good idea from gatekeeper (or ruby powder)
Mana: 100
Cooldown: over 2k
Dmg: like one flar
useful: f.e. in Candor many mages use #itenplz to aggrevate monsters arround - if they now use this new spell it is a good thing in my opinion

mybe the caster can use alternate gemstones for alternate spells - other dmg, area and cooldown?

[tux9th]

@Crush
I like your thinking. I'm thinking more practical. How much damage does it have to deal so that it is usable, because you damage all mobs around you (area is yet to be specified) and then they attack you. So if you damage too many mobs you'll die anyway (if it deals 1000dmg or 10). So I'm not sure what to do with this.

It would be awesome to use this spell in Candor as runner e.g.
I think the area shouldn't be much larger than ingrav. And damage output, cost and cooldown depend on each other.
If its a low cooldown, low cost it has to be low damage, if its high cooldown high cost it has to high damage. And the cost can't be x times greater then a strong single spell because you'll never know how many mobs it'll hit.
So saying it could hit 10 mobs with dmg of 1 ingrav so 10 times the cost is too much.

I'm also thinking about making the range variable, from litle to gigantic.

@zdln, gate:
I like the 100 Mana, Cooldown 2seconds is okay. I don't like the idea of putting Rubies on because ... then I'll never be able to farm Red Slimes in peace

greets

[tux9th]

Okay I have an update for you.
The spell should be something named like thunderwave, because as sfx I use the lightnings from ingrav.
I decided on making the spell insanely strong and expensive. I thought about it and thought about the cost of ingrav to balance it with:
Ingrav has 5 - 10 charges. So I figured to make it even the spell will cost 3 Iron Powders and 100 Mana and has a Cooldown of 2seconds. So if you say, ingrav has 7charges and costs 1 IP, with 3 IP you can hit 21 monsters. Since the range isn't gigantic I figure it's okay (read below)
Because it costs 100 Mana you can't spam it anyway.

As for damage:
I didn't use Elemental Damage just normal Damage (which only means there is just a damage bonus, no malus iirc)
- Basedamage is the spellpower
- bonusdamage depends on level

The Area of Effect is Level / 10. I tested it and I think its okay. You can use it at lvl 60 - 70 and it's range is okay. At lvl 90+ it isn't a lot better but it is better. (ingrav has range 7)

That's it for now.
Please comment

greets

edit:
Now that I think of it I have to implement the rain thing as well if I use lightning. Might overthink that decision becaus it's awefully hard to script

[evadem]

Better yet, why not just make a spell that kills everything and everyone in TMW. "#kerplunk" would be a good spell casting phrase for it.

[tux9th]

Better yet, why not just make a spell that kills everything and everyone in TMW. "#kerplunk" would be a good spell casting phrase for it.

thx for this productive and great feedback.

[o11c]

Better yet, why not just make a spell that kills everything and everyone in TMW. "#kerplunk" would be a good spell casting phrase for it.

We already have that, it's called @doom