Howdy everyone. I wanted to get out a very preliminary set of barbarian abilities so you have some idea of what is coming. Feedback, is appreciated :P
Path of the Predator Abilities
-= Forms =-
Hawk - A combat form that bonuses the ranged weapon held in hand. Cycles every few seconds.
Piranha - A basic form that grants the user enhanced evasion and balance.
Owl - An advanced form that sharpens the barbarian's eyesight and perception.
Wolf - A form that greatly enhances engagement speed.
Lynx - An esoteric form honing the user's ability to avoid notice and hide in the shadows.
-= Berserks =-
Tornado - A basic berserk that bolster's the rager's stamina, while granting skill with shields.
Volcano - Throws the barbarian into a madman's rage where they become unkillable for a brief time.
-= Roars =-
Death's Embrace - Totally overwhelmed with fear, targets affected by this roar suffer a general defensive penalty.
Kuniyo's Spirit - The concussive blast from this roar can stun enemies, and knock them back and clear off their feet!
Slash the Shadows - A roar that can not only unhide the enemy, but also penalizes their ability to hide again for a brief time.
-= Meditations =-
Basion - Barbarian excel at shrugging off ailments capable of rendering lesser adventurers helpless. Provides protection for Save versus Stamina contests.
Seek - You can find anything, provided you know where to look. Seek opens up the possibilities, granting a bonus to Outdoorsmanship.
Staunch - Even predators become wounded occasionally. Slowing your heartrate and focused muscle relaxation techniques can halt all bleeding, for a time.
Prediction - A good warrior always thinks many steps ahead. Having prepared for all possibilities, if the barbarian gets stunned or knocked over, they can nimbly escape to an adjacent room before meeting their demise.
Path of the Flame Abilities
-= Forms =-
Buffalo - Weapons of war don't come lightly. Taking notes from the strong buffalo, a barbarian gains an increased ability to carry.
Bear - A form granting great strength, and an increased skill with warding abilities.
Monkey - A simple form granting enhanced reflexes to the user.
Turtle - A most potent form that substantially reduces the potency of incoming magical attacks. Limits the use of some other abilities while in effect.
-= Berserks =-
Famine - Ever feeding off battle-rage, the barbarian quickly regains vitality for a short time.
Cyclone - A basic berserk granting the user enhanced charisma and voice recovery.
Tsunami - As fluid as waves, the barbarian becomes resistant to all physical damage.
-= Roars=-
Tempestuous Shriek - A brief fright that saps enemies' discipline and reflex.
Mage's Lash - A powerful roar that will interrupt a mage's preparation and penalize their casting ability for a brief time.
Mana Torment - A mage cannot cast if they lack focus - scaring one of out its mind is a good start, disrupting their ability to draw upon mana is another. This roar saps a portion of the mage's mana from them.
-= Meditations =-
Flame** - Everyone gets this one for free. It gives the same indication of Inner fire levels.
Power** - Allows the barbarian to see all abilities in effect on them with textual durations.
Contemplation - Provides a bonus to all defenses for a moderate amount of time.
Dispel - Allows the barbarian to break magical effects befouling them.
Sacrifice - A fallen barbarian, not finding peace in death, rises to fight again. After severely mauling everything in close range of course!
Serenity - Invokes the most powerful of barriers, capable of ripping magic apart before it can draw close.
Path of the Horde Abilities
-= Forms =-
Dragon - Grants enhanced fighting ability with whatever non-ranged weapon (or brawling) is held at the time. Updates every few seconds.
Python - Darting in and out, the barbarian parries with incredible speed and skill while practicing this form.
Bat - Viscious, vengeful - the barbarian flowing with the bat form will inflict viscious strikes and use them to regenerate their inner fire much quick.
Toad - Shirking off the cold and heat, a barbarian finds the elements no longer affect them as much. Provides a moderate elemental damage shield to the barbarian.
-= Berserks =-
Avalanche - The barbarian quickly regenerates stamina and continues to do so for a short time.
Wildfire - A short burst of energy grants the barbarian increased strength and agility.
Earthquake - The barbarian perodically flips out and mauls everyone at close range, for a short time.
Flashflood - The ultimate survival ability. Forging in rage, the barbarian can break free of stuns, webs and other obstacles to wring the life from whatever unfortunate soul stands before them.
-= Roars =-
Anger the Earth - An introductory roar capable of knocking enemies off their feet.
Trothfang's Butchery - Enemies grow less eager to approach, and are less able to hit you as a result of this scary roar.
Serpent's Hiss - Enemies flee the room when hit by this.
Wail - The perfect immobilization roar.
-= Meditations =-
Unyielding - Mentally preparing for the challenge ahead, the barbarian finds athletic hurdles easier to overcome.
Tenacity - Clearing the mind and maintaining a silent focus, the barbarian can sense and avoid a single incoming targeted magic attack. No roars can be used while this is in effect.
Focus - Improves a barbarian's ability with Augmentation, improving the potency of all beneficial abilities.
Feats
Note - Names are placeholders as I finish investigating what makes sense from a guild standpoint. Don't want to go stealing any titles from other guilds now...
Strategist - New Warhorn Calls and Effects
Tribalist - Allows beneficial effects when using warpaint (We plan to remove the random stat modifiers with the rewrite).
Intimidator - Grants the ability to roar at a room full of enemies (normally can only roar at single targets, and anything engaged). Needed to make full use of roar helms.
Powermonger** - Gives an in-game power bar when using Meditate Flame, and time durations when using Meditate Power.
Theorist - Allows you to identify spell preps (may require several feats).
Juggernaut - Grants the new and improved Warstomp ability.
Dervish - Grants the new and improved whirlwind ability.
Brute - Grants a new and improved called shot ability.
Templar - Provides new ways (and new magic items) that can be destroyed.
Infusor - Grants the chakrel bonus without actually wearing chakrel, and allows infusing of chakrel. Note - infused chakrel will be improved versions of perfect chakrel, planned for stone carving.
Misc feats for Expertise abilities.
Expertise
My current plan is to allow barbarians to pick a favored weapon at circle 1. This weapon then gets a new set of abilities that, when used in lieu of normal attack maneuvers, uses and teaches expertise skill. It would also allow for "finishing moves" with fanciful messaging.
An example would be REND, a more powerful and costly SLICE type attack. Combat 3.0 is moving away from combos, allowing a warrior to inter-mix these attacks in to their normal fighting routine.
A second favored weapon would be allowed at some higher circle. May allow a limited-quest to repick at some point.
Note - Not currently planned for 1.0 release. Look for it to come shortly therafter. Experise will not be required to circle in the meantime.
Barbarian Items
Warhorns - Staying mostly the same, but getting some new calls with the proper feat.
Warpaint - Staying mostly the same, losing stat bonusing unless the user knows the proper feat.
Sharksteeth - Not sure they have a place in Barbarians 2.0 just yet. Open to ideas.
Chakrel - Rough, Perfect and Infused varieties. Reduce meditation time. Possible other uses. Never required, though.
Roar Helms - Changing a bit to have a larger downtime and possible IF cost if you lack the proper feat.
Anti-Fear Cloaks - Not sure here. WvW bonus is quite powerful, may evaluate its bonus and downtimer. Will stay rare.
Chakrel Weapons - Likely will have a tie-in to crafting. Still in the process of developing a bigger picture for them with lore.
In Review
These abilities are NOT final. I repeat. They are NOT final, heh. We currently have about half of them coded up and being exercised, but will continue to tweak and adjust up to and past releasing them. Your favorite roar/berserk/etc may be missing, but I had to keep the ability list manageable and balance for our initial stab at this.
I've mentioned before but... Inner Fire skill will determine how many Forms and Berserks can be in use at once. End-Game you are looking at something like 4 Forms + 2 Berserks + 1 Meditation with occasional roaring. Or, more lopsided on one ability side if you want.
Abilities intentionally don't overlap so you never "outgrow" them. I've also avoided saddling abilities with horrible side effects (like old berserks), as we all feel if the point of an ability is to give a bonus, we shouldn't be making you hunt for work arounds.
And really, there is still plenty of time to nudge things in a different direction if need be. My primary goals were:
1). To provide many more choices for character development.
2). Fix the longstanding issues such as 30 minute unstoppable berserks, inability to unlearn roars, and so on, give more feedback on IF usage and ability durations.
3). Bring the guild back in line with global caps and found it upon a skill system, not a stat one.
Please let me know what you think!
"I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories instead of theories to suit facts."
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes
