Weapons, armor, and perks.

Post » Thu May 05, 2011 6:11 pm

well, i was sitting here thinking and an idea came to me. would it be a bad idea to have equip-able weapons, armor, ext... that have the constant effect of perks? like an ax the grants a "push back" or "knock back" skill perk the usually only could be achieved though the perk tree. or a wizard's staff that granted a "splash damage" perk to fire spells. or a pair of moccasins that granted silent running.

other elder scrolls games had items the raised specific skill's like blade or sneak so it may not be that big of a step to have weapons that grant perks when equipped. if anyone has ever played diablo II then you should remember that skill points had to be invested on a skill tree and that item drops could have some very very useful skills built into them. i really liked that aspect of diablo II and i know this is an Elder Scrolls game, but i can't help but feel there might be some potential here.

well, tell me what you think. would this break the character customization and role playing aspects of the game? if not breaking it, could it do damage to the game? or do you think it could help strengthen the game by adding to the already insurmountable awesomeness that skyrim is becoming? if this has already been mentioned somewhere else then i'm sorry and was unaware. thanks for reading.
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adam holden
 
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Post » Thu May 05, 2011 1:15 pm

Do you mean weapons and armor enchanted with constant effect perk abilities?
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Rachel Briere
 
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Post » Thu May 05, 2011 6:44 pm

Hmm, the only thing I could possibly compare it to would be Diablo II where some items gave you points in a skill. It would be nice if you picked up a two-handed sword that gave you the (Example) "Cleave" Perk, allowing you to hit multiple enemies. I would hope if items had this kind of potential that they were placed in the rare and hard-to-find artifacts catagory. If it were random on certain weapons, it would probably be a bit overpowered. Personally, while I think it would be nice I would be against this idea. The perks should feel special, something unattainable until you work hard enough to gain the priviledge to obtain that perk.

Hopefully perks can only be obtained through leveling, and not through getting magic enchants that boost your skill to perk levels, like OB. The idea has some merit, and would give certain items a unique, and powerful, feeling. What I'd like to see would be special items that enhance already acquired perks, like in Auruin's wonderful example the Fire Spell "Splash Damage". Usually single-target Fire Spells hit nearby enemies on impact for....50% of the total damage to all enemies excluding the main target. While following Dragon droppings for a lead on your soon-to-be-dead Dragon target. you find an old ruin that contains a staff that enhances the "Splash Damage" perk's damage to 100%. Or maybe if your an Axe-wielding Warrior, you find an Axe that gives your "Axe Bleed" perk a long duration, or more bleed damage.

Perhaps if there were random items with perk enhancers that fit the item intelligently (Let's not find a Enhance Bleed Damage Two-handed Staff) this could give players a better chance at finding something during their travels instead of a static item that is always at a location. The chance might be low, but it would add excitement to what could become yet another boring dungeon.

Back on topic, I guess we'll see when the game is released, but hopefully at the very least Perks are obtained through dedication to a skill.
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Lory Da Costa
 
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Post » Fri May 06, 2011 1:54 am

yep. i meant enchanted. sorry. sometimes i don't remember to use the specific terminology.

and Fire Flamazo, when i wrote that i was thinking more that these perk enchanted items be rare and hard to find artifacts. i don't like the idea of random loot from the first dungeon having that kind of potential. i see it as something more like you have to work for it. i'm thinking of an armor i can't remember the name of in morrowind. southwest of vivic there was a grotto that lead to some lost ruins. i don't think any quest lead you to that, you just had to be able to find it. it felt so damn good when i stumbled a crossed that. It was one of my definitive morrowind experiences where i realized just how good morrowind really was.

i do see some conflict if your character is an ax user so he should already have ax associate perks and it would only be reasonable for that ax to have those same related perks. it would be hard to find combinations that would be useful to your class and still be equitable with that specific weapon.

and that leads me to Fire Flamazo idea, which i liked, of weapons being able to enhance perks.... or maybe they even could have their own effects, but that would be hard to implement. with... 280 perks?.... already it sure would be hard to come up with a few more unique effects specifically designed one weapon. maybe a fire ax will have fire based destruction perks that a normal ax user would not be investing in.

i don't know to much about programming but i would assume this would be something that there would still be enough time to implement. all the elements are already in the game, they would just have to be thought out organized in a workable manner. if something like this is implemented wrong, it could really have a negative effect.... but like i said before, i do feel there could be some potential in the idea.

and thats all i can think of for now.
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Philip Lyon
 
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