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[Gargulec]

This suggestion is greatly inspired by wonderful game known to us as Diablo 2 and the concept of runewords. It is meant to add an additional level of depth to the game without making it harder to learn.

1). Arrays

Array would be created via a combination of certain mods (both normal and unique/exotic ones) that 'socketed' together on a given piece of equipment would grant additional effects beside those conferred by them, in a manner similar to aforementioned runewords. Players would be given choice if they want to create an array.

Array would consist from two (basic arrays) up to four mods (complex arrays) of any type (indeed, some array may consist of double mods of the same type). Some arrays would be universal (working on any type of equipment) and some would require specific type or even would work only for a single type of weaponry/armor/whatever else. Arrays would be available on exotic equipment too.

Since currently only one mod can mounted on any given piece of equipment without Whizzkid, I suggest that if the arrays were to be implemented, this cap should be raised to two, so that basic arrays are available for every player, in order to avoid making Whizzkid too powerful.

Array effects stack.

2) Sample Arrays ideas

Basic (2 mods):
Technical + Agility: Speedloader, -25% to all reloading times (weapons only)
Bulk + Power: High Caliber, doubles the effects of all power mods on a weapon, but decreases the magazine capacity by 10% (weapon only)
Power + Technical: Armour-Piercing, changes damage type of the weapon to plasma or normal in case of shotguns (weapons only, useless for plasma weaponry)
Nano + Onyx: Emergency Cybernetic Integration, makes upgraded item impossible to remove, but also automatically regenerates health at the rate of single HP per turn if reduced below 10HP (armor and boots only)
Agility + Sniper: Causes upgraded weapon to ignore armor altogether (weapons only, works for shotguns)

Advanced (3 mods):
Bulk + Power + Power: Sledghammer Rounds. Upgraded weapon knocks hit enemies one tile regardless of damage. Stacks with normal knockback (weapons only)
Technical + Technical + Power: Demolition Rounds. Adds one tile splash to weapon, changes damage type to fire (only non-explosive weapons)
Technical + Technical + Technical: UAC Interface. Gives information about the types of levers, the same way as Intuition does (boots and armor only)
Agility + Power + Bulk: Custom Rifle. Changes chaingun damage to (4d6)x1 and accuracy to +5 (chainguns only)
Nano + Agility + Technical: Instantaneous Nano Manufacture. Changes the rate of nano-pack ammo and armor manufacture to 10/turn (in both ammunition and durability percentage).

Complex Arrays (four mods)
Agility + Power + Power + Bulk: Custom Plasma Rifle. Changes Plasma Rifle damage to (7d6)x1 and accuracy to to +4 (plasma rifle only)
Firestorm + Technical + Bulk + Bulk: Rocket Massacre System. Changes Rocket Launcher magazine to 4 rockets and weapon damage to (6d6)x2, thus changing RL into chain-weapon.
Bulk + Bulk + Bulk + Technical: Portable Nuclear Shelter. Allows the wearer of the armor to survive nuclear explosion, but is destroyed in the process (armor only)

[Shoop da Whoop]

Now this is crazy idea! But I like it, if player will know about possible combos.

[Fanta Hege]

Reminds me a bit of engineering & socketing in WoW.

I do like this, but it could get a bit complicated at times, and the rareness of the mods could make a bit questionable aswell.. Would be pretty nifty for Ao100 though.

[MaiZure]

This is good!

[thelaptop]

Reminds me a bit of engineering & socketing in WoW.

I do like this, but it could get a bit complicated at times, and the rareness of the mods could make a bit questionable aswell.. Would be pretty nifty for Ao100 though.

If there is a more compelling reason to support this scheme, this would be it.  Current Ao100 gets pretty boring after a while, but with this system in place, it makes Ao100 a more interesting challenge to play, instead of just "yet another meaningless grind".

[Kornel Kisielewicz]

More ideas requested! This feature will make it into the game next beta :)

[rchandra]

some general comments:

with whizkid 0/1/2 weapons could allow 2/4/6 mods, armours 1/2/4. (allowing 2 in both armour and weapons without whizkid is probably not so good)
to make use of a lot of the ideas above, 2 mods of the same type should be allowed in armour (though BBPP red might let you get from megasphere to megasphere too easily - perhaps other than the "array" effects, duplicate mods in armour do nothing?).

ooh, just had another idea.  How about assembling the arrays _before_ putting them in?  so if you want an array effect you need to be saving the mods.  Then each array takes one slot, and you don't need to change the 1/3/5 and 1/2/3 mod systems.

[AStranger]

ooh, just had another idea.  How about assembling the arrays _before_ putting them in?  so if you want an array effect you need to be saving the mods.  Then each array takes one slot, and you don't need to change the 1/3/5 and 1/2/3 mod systems.

This sounds like a good idea. Making whizkid better benefits ammochain too much and I think ammochain is fair where it is. Making each array before putting them in the weapon is probably the easiest way to handle it, that way there is no confusion over say T+B+P versus B+P (if those are recipes).

One thing that I hope doesn't get over looked is melee weapons. It'd be awesome to have five mod slots with whizkid instead of one. Then have a melee "runeword" or two that takes the combat knife and makes it awesome. That with a working berserk would be my dream Ao100 game. I wish I could think of a decent melee runeword, maybe something that increases berserk chances, reduces taken ranged damage or maybe even stunned a monster for a turn.

Oh yeah, one runeword per item per household, it's in the fine print.

[Thomas]

Agility + Technical (Swift Armor) - Sidestep chance increased by 10%.
Agility + Power (Ironman Boots) - You can run for twice as long as normal without getting tired.

Technical + Power + Bulk (Personal Fortress) - While doing anything other than moving, you gain 1 armor and become immune to knockback.
Agility + Agility + Technical (Jet Boots) - After any action (aside from moving) you move randomly. Also makes you immune to floor damage. Also indestructable.
Agility + Agility + Agility (Sonic Shoes) - You can only run for 25% of the time you normally would before getting tired. Running mode makes acid/lava do 1 damage instead of half damage. Running mode sets your movespeed to 0.1s.
Firestorm + Technical + Technical (Portable Turret) - Any attempt to fire the weapon regularly will do its altfire instead. During the third turn of chainfiring (and every turn afterwards) the weapon will have its firing time halved. (Rapidfire only obviously)
Power + Power + Bulk (Mortar Cannon) - Never misses target, can be aimed at empty space, shot travels over the heads of enemies in the way. (Rocket Launcher Only)

Technical + Technical + Technical + Agility (Runnin' Gun) - Firing time set to 0.1s. (Double Shotgun/Rocket Launcher/BFG)
Technical + Technical + Bulk + Power (Taser) - Stuns non-boss enemies for 1 second, boss enemies for 0.1 seconds. (Any melee)
Agilty + Agility + Technical + Power (Plasma Chainsaw) - Can be loaded with up to 100 plasma cells. Costs 10 cells to attack in melee range, 100 cells to attack something up to 4 squares away. Attacks penetrate enemies a la the railgun. (Chainsaw)

A lot of the advanced/master assemblies could also work (or would perhaps work better) as unique items.

[Game Hunter]

Since it is basically how they appear in-game, I'm going to use a different format from the one used before.

Sticky (boots + BT) - -90% knockback
Springloaded (boots + AT) - +50% knockback, move two spaces per step
Sawed-Off (any shotgun + PT) - damage boost (+2d), larger damage spread, faster drop-off rate[1]
Shield Sword (combat knife + AB) - adds 2 armor, -25% knockback, damage stays 2d5
Nuclear (any ranged weapon + NT) - changes alt. reload to "overload", causing a nuclear explosion w/ 10-second countdown sequence.[2]

Piercing (bullet weapon + PTT) - changes damage type to plasma
Flak Shotgun (combat shotgun + PPB) - alternate fire type, burst: fires two shots simultaneously, at 1.5x firing time
Vertigo Cannon (plasma rifle + PAT) - enemies that are hit by shots are "disoriented" for 0.3sec per shot, stacks[3]
Expandable (armor + BBB) - can store extra ammo while equipped[4]
Incendiary (rapid fire/rocket launcher + TTF) - reduces attack damage to 1d1 per shot; adds "fire" damage, dealing four pure damage per second[5]
--rapid fire: hurts for one second per shot, stacks up to 8 seconds
--rocket launcher: lasts five seconds, affects everything in splash
C4 Launcher (rocket launcher + PAA) - precision attack (lands on target tile); shot remains "frozen" until detonated; alternate fire type, detonate: all frozen shots are activated and deal damage

[1]: This will effectively turn a combat shotgun into a normal, a normal into a double, and a double into a VERY close-range shotgun. It doesn't affect the maximum range of the weapon, however, so although you'll be hurting less at farther distances, you'll still hit and probably aggravate stuff the same way.
[2]: With Nano, this turns any weapon into an equivalent "exotic" nuclear weapon. Sometimes you need a nuke: this is just another way to get one.
[3]: Disorientation just means if it tries to move or attack, it will do so in a random direction. Alternatively, to prevent being WAY too awesome (hard to say without testing) attacking could just incur a -50% to-hit penalty (or the number equivalent).
[4]: Not too sure how this would be implemented, whether a Backpack-like effect would work or if if the armor itself just has "storage space" for, say, four or five slots that can only be used with ammo.
[5]: For obvious reasons, fire damage doesn't affect Arch-viles.

[rchandra]

Slug shotgun - combat or assault shotgun + AT.  fires a single projectile instead of the spread.  no damage dropoff due to range.  (perhaps even regular shotgun, though double / super seem pretty odd conceptually)

lightsaber - chainsaw (or knife?) + TTFN.  plasma damage.  not sure how much.

[Thexare]

lightsaber - chainsaw (or knife?) + TTFN.  plasma damage.  not sure how much.

Disclaimer: This is all based on my incomplete understanding. I could be wrong.

Melee weapons can't take more than one mod of a single type and can't take Firestorm or Nano packs. While one of these can be overruled by the assembly, as seen on Tactical Armor and Boots, you have three problems. I would say TPAF if we're using four mods. This also has the added benefit of the first three mods still doing something; Firestorm and Nano on a knife would have no effect until the assembly was completed.


Defensive Shield: Large weapon (Chaingun, Rocket Launcher, BFG, etc) + AB: Adds either 1 point of armor or 10% dodge chance* as long as the weapon is equipped. Maybe base it on which mod is used first. Name has "w/shield" at the end - Chaingun w/shield, etc.

* Yes, it'd be more awkward to handle, but the dodge chance would be to simulate the shield absorbing some impacts instead of you being directly hit.

[MaiZure]

lightsaber - chainsaw (or knife?) + TTFN.  plasma damage.  not sure how much.

I'm not sure AoB players go for Whizkid builds on the off chance they could come across the required mods.

So we have Ao100 where we are very very unlikely to come across a chainsaw...

In the end, any build like this would be so rare that I don't see it happening outside of sandbox.
Thoughts?

EDIT: My position on this is that it is OK to add it or something like it to the game. We just won't ever see it happen

[Thexare]

I'd say it should use a Combat Knife, specifically to make it reasonable to get in Ao100 - it's already calling for a Unique mod and three others (or two unique mods in the original idea), no point in also requiring an Exotic unless it ends up being the strongest weapon in the game or something close to - it'd have to compare favorably to the Longinus Spear and the Dragonslayer to justify that level of rarity, in my opinion.

[Game Hunter]

I'm not sure AoB players go for Whizkid builds on the off chance they could come across the required mods.

So we have Ao100 where we are very very unlikely to come across a chainsaw...

In the end, any build like this would be so rare that I don't see it happening outside of sandbox.
Thoughts?

Don't wanna spoil anything huge, but given what little I've seen in the master assemblies, I wouldn't be surprised if they're almost exclusively meant for Ao100 runs. In my opinion this is perfectly acceptable, because they ARE master assemblies and so creating them should allow for masterful control of the game. Learning them at all already takes some skill and patience.

That said, maybe we could switch some of the rarity of such assemblies by requiring the base to be exotic/unique instead of (or in addition to) exotic/unique mods? Stuff like:

Terminator Armor (Cybernetic Armor + PBTT) - -80% move speed, -100% knockback, 25 armor of infinite durability, only armor-repairing powerups and armors heal you (armors would act like med-packs, with every point of protection corresponding to 25% health). Vampyre only heals an amount equal to enemies' armor (Imps = 1 HP, for instance)
Beam Rifle (Laser Rifle + PPPB) - Damage now 5d7, costs five cells, Railgun effect. Attack spreads out to three tiles [1]
Mass Driver (Super Shotgun + PSBB) - Single-target (a lot like slug shotgun, see other post), accuracy set to +6 (sorry, even sniper doesn't make this easy to aim), damage now 27d4. Holds six shells, requires all six per shot
Diamond Armor (Onyx Armor + (PABB) - protection raised to 6, reflects half projectile damage (or full damage, half the time)
Telefragger (Combat Translocator + AAAS) - Automatically teleports target enemy on top of nearest other enemy relative to original position. If only one enemy is currently in vision, teleport is random

Just some ideas. Actually I'm not sure that this isn't the case, but there's only five masters so far so I wouldn't really be surprised either way.