2016 Necromancer Revamp

[Batlas]

I originally posted in wrong channel

http://massivelyop.com/2016/11/17/dark- ... cromancer/

I don't see any threads on these changes. Does this mean that DOL is still using the original necro implementation?

Patch Notes: http://darkageofcamelot.com/content/112 ... atch-notes

[Leodagan]

Yes DOL is still using the original necromancer implementation...

The revamp brought by broadsword use a lot of specific spell handlers with really custom behavior (shapeshift with specific buffs, fighting style with summoned weapon, custom pets etc...), and after the 1.122 release there have been some balancing in following versions, and I think the necromancer revamp was also meant to be balanced with pet class revamp and buff specialist revamp in current version (Enchanter, Cabalist, Spiritmaster are heavily modified, Druid, Cleric, Shaman also received some drastic changes...)

I think there are even more balancing updates to come, the Pet Class revamp already had small balance changes in mostly every patch since they implemented new pets, and broadsword seems to be pretty brutal when bringing class balance patch...

Maybe it would be better to wait for newer patch when broadsword find some stability in all these class changes (for record, Warlock has also been completely revamp, and Archer classes all received tons of skills to counter assassins classes, and there are also improvements around support class like warden and paladin, and light tank class received specific stance to match different roles, there is really a lot of skill changes since 1.110+ era...)

[Batlas]

Yeah. I recently subbed to live and was checking out some of the changes. I have a 50 warden. The change I saw with them was getting tireless for free (don't remember level) and being able to run multiple chants.


Admittedly, it's been a while since I've really dug into DOL code (It's been a headache trying to get one running on my local), but most of the necro changes should be pretty straightforward. Painworking will need a rewrite to handle the new necro 2h sword, but aside from that, it's morphing, pets (with upgrades based on form) and buffs on transform. Though admittedly, I haven't touched sight, so I'm not sure what changes are there.

That being said, the level 45 and 50 spells for servant would be pretty interesting to write.

[PlanarChaosRvrtwo]

I have a 50 warden. The change I saw with them was getting tireless for free (don't remember level) and being able to run multiple chants.

That is that way now for nearly 8 years ...

And to Necro:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JCzWml3W1I

http://www.excidio.net/charplaner/

[Batlas]

I have a 50 death servant necro on ywain 4 atm. My buddy is leveling a painworking necro. Some of the stuff is pretty straight forward to implement. Somethings, like the new necro weaponline from painworking, not so much.

[Batlas]

Code: Select all

/// <summary>
/// Special weapon type requirements
/// </summary>
public abstract class SpecialWeaponType
{
/// <summary>
/// Both hands should be holding weapons to use style.
/// Shield is not a weapon in this case.
/// </summary>
public const int DualWield = 1000;
/// <summary>
/// Stlye can be used with 1h, 2h, dw.
/// Used for Critical Strike line.
/// </summary>
public const int AnyWeapon = 1001;
}


Did these numbers come from packet sniffing, or is this an internal ID that we are using to distinguish weapon types? The necro style requires the castable painworking sword to be used, and this seems like the best place to put it.


EDIT: I should mention I do agree with Leo. Considering all the changes that have been made, just adding in one changed class could tip balance pretty tremendously. That being said, there is nothing wrong with having a lot of the work done for when that time comes. I remember when we worked on archery all those years back, we set a flag in the server properties to enable/disable the new archery revamp. That was a good compromise, and I don't see why we couldn't do that again for necros/animists/bds/etc.

[ontheDOL]

having an pndated version would be pretty nice, and i guess like leo was suggesting, Broadsword has been known to drastically change a class, and then revert changes the following patch (making it hard/ frustrating to implement new changes)

Im all for server properties or other options for people to choose what they want

[Leodagan]

Well Skill Tree are based on data stored in DB now.

So you will have to create mirrored skills for database maintainer to distribute depending on the targeted game version.

That's less easy than just making a server property switch, the archery example typically don't work anymore, you have to update archer classes careers to received old-style archery spec instead of receiving the newest one.

Edit : And archery could come in a lot of flavor now that they have been revamp'd again.

[Graveen]

Tons of classes changed. This is interesting, but more than focus on a class, having spellhandlers and being able to create multi level spells in a regular way is more interesting:
including, but not limited too:

more than 1 subspell
swarm / changes in Necro pets or BD ones - up to 5 sub pets availables
craft changes - recipes with new legendaries 4 slots / siege craft,
rvr update - siege towers, siege tents
new zones - OW / Dragon curse / Subterranean EV keep
slow spellhandler, ML spellhandler
"Salle" multi pet summons
loyal cloaks
mythril and availability of copy items / dragon mounts
cap, decap, mythical decaps

I realize IG, Broadsword worked on a lot of things. Often it ruined a part of the game, but they updated many parts of the game.

[dargon]

as far as the new zones are concerned. I have OW enabled on my shard to play with, and think I've shared it somewhere. The dragon curse zones are re purposed Catacomb zones (its why catacombs are disabled on live now) and the new EV Keep should appear if patched fully

Im currently working on the new Slow spellhandler, I'm just still working out how to make it not interrupt, sadly i get like 1 hour a day to touch my PC, and daoc isn't always my first go to. on one of my old custom shards, i had a morph that gave specific buffs, if found i could repurpose it pretty well to the necro's forms. and spirit form pets most likely would just need to see if the necro is in spirit form himself and work similar to how current /s commands on pets work, just without saying anything.

I gladly see potential in doing a lot of their new patches, and if I gain more time, I've been wanting to do live like updates to all classes, hopefully I'll get to do them sooner or later.

[dargon]

i wonder, Leo said a switch would be hard because of the new data driven careers. What if you added a field to said careers ie: IsNewCareer with a true/false value, then a server properties for UseNewCareer, and have the careers load based on these fields. i haven't looked into how they load myself, but would it be too much work to do it in a manner such as this? if not, when i work on classes, I could do this first. pretty much would have 2 specs for every specline ie: Painworking, and Painworking_New

[dargon]

Revamped Necro Checklist:
Necro "Clouds" Complete
Necro Painworking Weapons Complete
Necro Morphs Incomplete
Necro Pets Incomplete
Necro Morph Specific Spells Incomplete
Necro Styles Complete

If anyone else is working on the revamp let me know, and we can work together to get it up and running. I plan to ATTEMPT to make a server property to swich between the two necro types.

[dargon]

Was looking at the new spell effects for necromancer, and while the spell effect 15185 (Icebrand) effect works, the Icon shows up just as a [?], is this a packet handling issue, or what could be the reason for this?

[tegstewart]

Wow. Just wow.

That almost makes want to get a subscription and play live again.

Almost. Not quite enough to make up for Mythic wrongfully charging me for a year of game time and refusing to pay me back or even credit it as time going forward.

[Leodagan]

Dargon, having a server properties switch to change the behavior of database records seems like a bad idea to me...

Today you want a server property switch between legacy Necro and Newest Necro, but what about future Necro update ?

How would you handle classes that received a large amount of changes through time like Archers/Assassins or Support Classes ?

The entry point for assigning skills to classes is through the career table "ClassXSpecialization", you should be able to have multiple "Specialization" labeled like "Painworking_Legacy" "Painworking_Broadsword" or something more descriptive "Painworking_1109" "Painworking_1122" that can all be displayed as "Painworking" in game, and just provide simple SQL script that could replace the records in career table to enable one flavor or another... (you can even use the Level Acquired field to maintain all Specialization in table, but any specialization with a Level requirement above 50 would never be awarded to players...)

The DOL Server game logic is already hard to understand because a lot of variable/hardcoded values can change the behavior of the game regardless of the content of your database, nobody can use the software right now without looking through the sources to understand what's happening when they change their database records.

Most character "careers" only rely on 5-6 specializations, that should not be too hard to edit compared to a property switch (and in case of pure caster it will be 3 Spec at most...)