Larian Studios Forums Divinity: Original Sin 2 Divinity - Original Sin 2 - Suggestions and Feedback Baardvark's Bard Concept

Among other projects, I'm interested in implementing a bard class in the game. I had a number of concepts with statuses going around, and they all coalesced into a buff/debuff bard class. My bard focuses on randomness, AOE effects, and dynamically playing with statuses, while offering very few straight up attack skills. It is almost a pure support class as I've designed it so far.

I'm actually going to implement this (already started), not just spout out a theoretical class, so initial feedback could actually have an impact.

Primary Ability: Leadership*

Primary Attributes: Memory, Wits, Constitution

*Will be balanced accordingly, probably increasing its range but reducing its benefits per point.

Note: skill names mostly placeholders.

Primary AOE Skills

The following skills are your bread and butter, powerful ways to immediately gain a large upper hand or effect several enemies, but requiring a lot of memory between all of them. They are also unpredictable, so you'll have to work around what you get.

Song of Malice

Apply a random 2 turn debuff (non-hard CC, like burning, slowed, blind, decaying touch, diseased, etc.) to enemies with 8m. These debuffs always bypass armor.
3 AP, 2 memory, 4-5 turn cooldown.

Song of Joy

Apply a random 1 or 2 turn buff (e.g., hasted, enraged, regeneration, inspired, invisible, etc.) to yourself and allies with 8m.
2-3 AP, 2 memory, 4-5 turn cooldown.

Dance of the Elements

Apply a random 3 turn elemental vulnerability to each enemy within 8m. Vulnerability means each time a target takes damage of the relevant element, they get further resistance reduction to that element, stacking up to 5 times to -40 or -50% resist.
2 AP, 1 memory, 4 turn CD.

Inspiration

Convert a negative status you have into a 2 turn aura that effects all enemies within 8m. For example, if you're burning, then you will cause all enemies within 8m to burn. Unlike Song of Malice, this does not pierce enemy armor. This does not remove the status on yourself. If you have multiple negative statuses, it will randomly choose one among them.
2 AP, 1 memory, 4 turn CD.

Sound Burst

Deal a small amount of piercing damage and push all enemies around you back a short distance (and yes, I just confirmed there are push skills now
1 AP, 1 memory, 3 turn CD.


Individual Status Manipulation Skills

Rhyme

Give an ally the same positive statuses that you have.
1-2 AP, 3 turn CD, 1 memory (all these skills cost 1 memory).

Creative Burden

Take on negative statuses an ally has onto yourself for 1 turn, ignoring armor.
1 AP, 2 turn CD

Masochistic Melody (my favorite skill)

Apply Masochism to a character for 3 turns, allowing them to gain a damage and crit chance boost for each negative status that effects them, stacking up to 5 times for a 40% damage boost with 15% crit chance increase.
1 AP, 4 turn CD

Feedback

Remove all negative statuses on a target, dealing damage based on how many statuses were removed. Removing 1 status will be a fairly minimal amount of damage, while removing 5+ statuses will be a lot of damage.
2 AP, 3 turn CD

Resonance

Remove all positive statuses on a target, healing them for a number of turns based on how many statuses were removed this way, applying fortified with 3+ positive statuses removed, and magic shell with 4+ positive statuses removed.
1-2 AP, 3 turn CD.


These skills give you lots of control over statuses, moving them around, and taking advantage of negative ones. Use Resonance to take advantage of a bunch of almost expired or mediocre buffs on an ally, or remove 1-2 buffs on an enemy and cast decaying touch on them to take advantage of the healing.

Feedback, likewise, can remove a particularly dangerous status from an ally for a small cost of health, or as a finishing move on a dangerous foe with several statuses.


Source Skills

Ecstasy

Apply Blessed, Clear Minded, and one good random buff (like hasted or magic shell) to an ally for 3 turns each.
1 memory, 1 source, 1 AP.

Song of Despair

Steal all positive statuses from enemies within 8m, and convert all negative statuses you have into auras that effect enemies for 2 turns.
3 AP, 1 source, 2 memory.


Ecstasy is a low investment source skill that nonetheless can help an ally a lot, while Song of Despair is high investment, and depends on the situation, but can be absolutely devastating at the right times.

Don't worry, there's more where that came from (e.g., drinking songs :P).

Other Ideas

Instruments, medium-damage, two-handed melee weapons that grant 1 or 2 bard skills, perhaps also including a soundburst cone attack. Kind of like staves, but bardy-er.

Wits scaling: something I may do to encourage wits with bard (thematically appropriate) is to increase skill power in certain ways with high wits. For example, Song of Joy can apply buffs to allies for 1 or 2 turns, randomly choosing the duration. But perhaps wits can increase the chance it will be for 2 turns rather than 1. Or maybe wits will increase the chance the statuses are on the better side.

Not sure if I'll get to these other things, but I'm definitely at least doing the base skills.

So let me know what you think regarding balance wise, theme, names, or if you'd like to help design icons or animations (in the future.) Also up for other bardy suggestions (fit within the status theme, be creative.) I'd like to get people to start testing these skills sooner rather than later (yes, I know it's a bit silly to be modding already but I can't help it :), so I hope I can put out first version in a week or two.