-Dirge- (WIP)

[Spottswoode]

Dirge is a class based wad based on Hexen. Players are divided into four classes.

Classes:
The classes now favor specific roles instead of general types of play. The four roles are Brute, Cannon, Support, and Striker. Monsters will also follow these classes in structure, for the most part. Brutes are heavy melee damage types with lots of health and a weakness to magic. Centaurs are an example of Brutes. Cannons are heavy magic throwers with a weakness to physical damage. Mages are usually Cannons. Support monsters are equally good with melee and magic and can heal monsters in rare cases. Imps are an example of Support monsters. Strikers are fast heavy damage dealing monsters with at least one form of long range magic; they are usually pretty frail.
More details on specific class roles are listed in the Class descriptions below.
Enemies:
Enemies are obviously going to be dark fantasy themed. Expect the usual assortment of fantasy enemies. Here's some specific categories of enemies.
Devils:
Devils were once the faithful servants of many kind and beneficent cosmic entities and gods among the heavens. One by one, they all fell to their own ambitions and greed. For their sins, they were disfigured and cast out. Now they swear revenge against the creators and scheme the downfall and enslavement of all creation.
Devils are all dark elemental. Many have other subtypes, but all are immune or heavily resistant to dark damage. Logically, they are weak against light and particularly weak against holy damage. Devils have strong magic and at least moderate melee stats. They have high health as well. Devils can enslave lesser creatures, as it was they who taught blood magic to mortals. Imps are an example of devils.
Demons:
After the devils were cast out, they began to experiment by combining their new dark powers with other creatures during birth. The eventual results were the first demons. Demons, unlike devils, are creatures of pure malice, violence, and malevolence. Demons have no schemes, and so were used as cattle and drones at first, by the devils. Soon afterward, the devils were surprised to see the radical change intelligence and cunning exhibited by many demons. The beasts quickly adapted to rebel against their masters, but only the strongest truly succeeded.
Demons are necro elemental. They, like devils, have many other subtypes but are immune or heavily resistant to necro damage. They are equally weak against holy and light damage. Demons have at least simple magic with very strong melee stats. They have moderate to high health. Demons can corrupt lesser beings into demons after their deaths. Hell knights are an example of demons.
Undead:
While they were experimenting with other creatures, the devils learned to reanimate many of the corpses of failed subjects. These first undead were extremely powerful and loyal to the devils for some time. After some aeons, they dispersed among the many worlds through a variety of means. It's not known when mortals and other beings learned to create undead, but it's assumed they were taught by the first undead. All undead can only create lesser undead after all. Today, their progeny can be found almost anywhere one can find corruption.
Undead are all necro elemental. All undead are immune to necro and at least somewhat resistant to dark damage. They all have a strong weakness to light damage and a very strong weakness to holy damage. Undead have varying magic but strong melee. They have varying health as well. Liches and Deathknights are examples of undead.
Abominations:
Although devils try and take credit for the first abomination that was created, it was actually a demon that created the first one. It's success was followed by a massacre and the eventual total destruction of the creature by cosmic forces unknown. Abominations were created to spite the gods and greater entities of the universe. The wicked perversions that they are, they tend to devour and destroy everything they see as a result. Abominations have since been created by mortals (who have created horrors both greater and more blasphemous than the original) and are found anywhere there is magic and too much free time.
Abominations vary in element, but are always weak to holy damage. Abominations tend to have weak magic but strong melee. They also tend to be weak to magic in general. They vary in health. Weredragons and sabreclaws are examples of abominations.
Magic:
Magic is divided into four primary elements: Fire, Air, Earth, and Water. There is one subtype of each primary: Fire (Steam), Air (Lightning), Earth (Acid), and Water (Ice). Any enemy that is resistant or immune to the primary is vulnerable to the subtype and vice versa. Enemies that are weak against one are also weak against the other. There are also two divine types of magic, each with a subtype: Holy (Light) and Necro (Dark). Holy and Necro are opposed to each other. Unlike the four primary magics, mosters resistant/immune to one type of divine magic are also resistant/immune to the subtype. Holy and Necro have a chance of instantly killing some enemies.

All subtypes count as the type for weaknesses. A monster that takes 2x damage from fire also takes 2x damage from steam.

Physical damage:
Physical damage is also divided into four categories: Stun, Impact, Piercing, and Explosive. Brutes are weak to stun and resistant to impact. Cannons are weak to impact and resistant to explosive. Strikers are weak to piercing and resistant to stun. Support monsters are weak to explosive and resistant to piercing.
Flying monsters are weak to piercing and explosive. This does not include monsters that go into flight after they spawn.
I'm considering adding backstab as another type of damage.

Weapons:
The original primary weapons for the Fighter, Mage, and Cleric are still there. They have had new effects added to them and will have more effects later. The weapons will charge and gain more charge levels as you go up the chain (cleric staff will have 1, flame has 2, Wraithverge has 3) that will cost more ammo (obviously) as you go up in charge. The rogues weapons are all going to be custom. A new addition as well is that primary weapons only require one type of mana. The altfires will use the characters MP. The altfires will also charge in the same manner. MP will regenerate based upon the weapon. Weaker weapons charge faster and recharge faster and the class (Mage recharges the fastest and charges the slowest) will have differing charactersitics as well.
Secondary weapons are more effective in the hands of some classes then they are in others. The classes have a relative skill that comes with the class. Secondary weapons do not use mana in most cases, but they can use MP sometimes. Secondary weapons use different types of ammo: Bolts, Grenades, and Crystals to name a few. Secondary weapons also do not charge in most cases. They are substantially weaker on average than the third tier weapons. (arc, flame, hammer) Their main purpose is to add extra capability and can help you better suit your preferred style of play. My planned secondary weapons so far: Crossbow, elemental wands, elemental melee weapons, and staffs of varying effects. (I have one that summons Imps.) Each of the classes will also start with a secondary weapon.
Subweapons are something you already know, I've just renamed them. They are single use weapons like the flechettes from hexen and will use different effects based upon class. Subweapons focus on a single damage type, so they can be useful in a pinch. I'm also planning some scroll subweapons that add buffs or attack based on class.
Items:
The Hexen armor system has been scrapped. There are now individual armors that can be bought, found, etc. Armor pickups will look for the type of armor to repair. Health pickups will look at the class to determine how much health to give. Every class will also start with an infinitely reusable item with a cooldown timer on it.
I've also introduced a second wind. Characters can spend it and regain one third of their health. Only the cleric and certain pickups can refill it.
I will eventually replace these parts with custom graphics.
Crafting:
There will some gems you can collect and enchant to add effects to secondary weapons. The gems can be mined from enemies and processed in the village hub. They come in three types: small, large, and enchanted. They can be found in any type, but obviously enchanted drops are rare. They can all be sold for gold at value. (Meaning you can exchange them by selling one and buying the same size of a different type.) The small ones are common drops from stronger enemies. Large are common from minibosses. Enchanted are most common from bosses, but some minibosses have a fair chance of dropping specific enchanted gems.


Class Descriptions
The monsters depicted in these screenshots will not be in the first release.

You know. You love him. And some of you probably hate him. He's fast and vicious. He has lots of health and Armor.
The fighter retains most of his utility in short range that he had in Hexen. He now has added utility with the addition of AOE (area of effect for you non mmo-ers) melee attacks. He starts with the most armor and health. He jumps and runs really fast. He also takes 50% more damage from magic sources and the same amount less from most melee sources. He is especially weak to blood type damage. His special damage type is antimagic from the Quietus.

Classic with a taste of massive explosions. The mage retains all of his long range potential from Hexen and has even more now with the addition of several multitarget attacks. The mage is the best at attacking several enemies at once now via several explosive altfires. He can also now use the other end of his wand to reflect projectiles back at his enemies. He starts with the lowest health and armor. He also has the lowest jump height and speed. The mage takes 50% more damage from most melee sources and 50% less from magic. He is particularly weak to Antimagic. His special damage type is blood damage which has a small chance of enslaving his enemies.

Our god of smiting and healing. The cleric retains his original mix of melee and missile with some new powers thrown in. He can deal more AOE damage in this incarnation and deals DOT (damage over time) to most enemies. He can also outright smite some enemies. Parias has the second most health and armor. He has the middle ground in speed and jump. He is somewhat resistant (25%) to most damage. He is especially weak to Dark damage. He has two special damage types: Holy and Light.

Our mystery man. The rogue is an alternate mix of melee and missile with the focus being on dealing high damage to single enemies. He also has several debilitating effects at his disposal. He runs and jumps like you wouldn't believe. The rogue starts off with light armor and more health than the Mage. The rogue takes somewhat more damage from most sources but is fast enough to evade most attacks with clever timing. The rogue takes particular damage from light attacks. He also has two special damage type: Stun and Dark.

The rogue weapons are the Darkbow, twin daggers, the Nightstaff, and the Sword of Lestat.

The Darkbow is the only starting weapon to use secondary ammo, bolts, and uses no ammo on its alt fire, where it fires a single dark elemental projectile. It's a fast weapon that is made to quickly deal out damage at range but lacks the effective capacity to fight several enemies at once. Through some quick action you can manage several enemies but you'll wear down if you take on too many.

The twin daggers, later to be renamed, are a 7 hit combo weapon. The final hit in the regular fire combo has a high critical chance with massive damage, but it's slower than the alt fire combo which has a chance to stun.

AAHH!! NO PICS YET! still working on the rogue.

First release priorities:

• Get all of the four base classes working.
  Introduce a total of 10 secondary weapons
  Replace enemy spawners
  Create 5 bosses

Screenshots: http://s1263.photobucket.com/albums/ii6 ... e11/Dirge/
Videos: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL ... e=view_all

Any comments or criticism is appreciated. I'm not asking for assistance until I finish the base four classes.

[Captain Ventris]

I've always liked the idea of a mod with clearly defined, in-built gameplay balance. It makes it easier to create interesting situations for the players, and each player can have a clear purpose. Sounds like something that'd be great for LAN parties.

[Spottswoode]

The problem I have with design is deciding how to make gameplay independent for the specific classes. Combat is only going to be part of it though.