Update 56 Preview 2: Dark Apostate Archetype

[Lynnabel]

Howdy all! Please be sure to check out both the Producer's Letter and the Archetype Overview page before diving in here

Dark Apostate is a Cleric Archetype.

Spells/Feats/Class Features

Instead of automatically preparing Cure Wounds spells, Dark Apostates automatically prepare the Inflict Wounds spells.

Past Life: Dark Apostate: +5 Negative Healing Amplification and +5 Negative Spell Power (stacks 3 times)

New Tree: Dark Apostate
Replaces Radiant Servant

Themes: Dark healing, evil magic, negative damage, undead control and destruction

Summary: Shroud yourself in shadow as a master of darkness and negative energy magic.

Tree:

• Core 1: Dark Apostate Each core in this tree including this one grants you +5 Negative and Alignment Spellpower and +5 Negative Healing Amplification.
• Core 3: Shadow Shrouding: Toggle: Shroud yourself in Necromantic Energies and assume the form of a Shadow. While in Shadow form, you are considered an Undead, gain a base 100% Fortification, and may heal from Negative Energies. This healing comes at a cost - Undead naturally only take 50% healing from Positive Energy and take 100% more damage from Light. You gain +2 Wisdom and +2 Constitution, as well as +5% Incorporeality and Concealment as your form is partially obscured and intangible. This is a Major Form.
• Core 6: Enhanced Shadowform I: Your Shadow Shrouding gains an additional +5% Incorporeality and Concealment (for a total of 10% each).
• Core 12: Enhanced Shadowform II: Your Shadow Shrouding gains an additional +5% Incorporeality and Concealment (for a total of 15% each). Your Bestow Curse, Doom, and Bane spells no longer have a saving throw.
• Core 18: Enhanced Shadowform III: Your Shadow Shrouding gains an additional +5% Incorporeality and Concealment (for a total of 20% each). You also passively gain +1 Necromancy DC.
• Core 20: Master of Shadows: Your Shadow Shrouding gains an additional +5% Incorporeality and Concealment (for a total of 25% each). You also passively gain +4 Wisdom.

Tier 1:

• SLA: Bane
• Apostate's Skills: +1/2/3 Heal, Hide, and Bluff. Rank 3: +1 Will saving throw
• Shadowy Bulwark: +5/10/15 HP
• Apostate's Curse: Toggle: Your Favored Weapons channel the dark energies within you, twisting them into evil versions of themselves - they deal an additional 1d6 Evil Damage on hit (scaling with 100% spellpower).
• Traditionalist Caster: +3/6/10 Universal Spell Power when wielding an Orb or Staff.

Tier 2:

• SLA: Prayer
• Mighty Turning: When you successfully Turn Undead, the Undead are now destroyed.
• Enhanced Turning: +2/4/6 Turn Undead charges.
• Enhanced Curse I: (req Apostate's Curse) Your Apostate's Curse gains 2 additional damage dice, and grants your Favored Weapons Ghost Touch.
• Cursed Words: SLA for Bestow Curse. This costs 0 Spellpoints to activate.

Tier 3:

• Pray for Mercy: Your Prayer-like spells (Bless, Bane, Prayer) now resonate with Evil energies, dealing 1d6 Evil damage per Caster Level to all enemies. This damage is doubled against enemies that are Cursed.
• Endless Turning: Turn Undead uses regenerate at a rate of one every 120 seconds, or 10%/20%/30% faster if it already regenerates.
• Dark Consumption: Expend a Turn Undead charge to steal the lifeforce of target Undead, dealing 1d6 Bane damage per Character Level. You gain 1d6 Negative Energy healing per Character Level if you are in any Undead form.
• Enhanced Curse II: (req Enhanced Curse I) Your Apostate's Curse gains 2 additional damage dice. Favored Weapons are now an Implement in your hands.
• +1 Wisdom

Tier 4:

• Blessings of the Shadows: You gain +5 Incapacitation range per character level.
• Return to Dusk: While you are in any Undead form, when you are knocked unconscious, you dissolve into shadows, granting you Invisibility and Displacement. After 5 seconds, your body reforms, and you are healed for 1d6 Negative Energy per Character Level. This may only happen once every 3 minutes.
• Visage of Shadows: You are immune to natural, magical, and supernatural diseases.
• Enhanced Curse III: (req Enhanced Curse II) Your Apostate's Curse gains 2 additional damage dice.
• +1 Wisdom

Tier 5:

• Benediction: Harm now scales with 2x Spellpower and may now kill enemies.
• Ward of Shadow: Wards all nearby allies against all four alignments and light. This is Protection from Elements but for Law, Chaos, Evil, Good, and Light damage.
• Necromantic Devotion: +1 DCs with Necromancy spells.
• Ultimate Heresy: (req Enhanced Curse III) Your Apostate's Curse gains 2 additional damage dice. On crit, you apply 1d3 stacks of Vulnerability and apply the effects of the Curse spell.
• Shadows of Death: You gain +5% Negative and Alignment Spell Critical Chance

Note that this tree releases alongside the revamped Divine Disciple tree, see below!

Bugs fixed since last Lamannia:

• inflict mass spells may now heal the caster
• can take 2nd wis in dark apostate
• vfx for pray for mercy is no longer caster centered on non-caster centered spells
• dark apostate form and weapon imbue no longer have 30s cooldowns
• dark apostate protection from alignment now works
• shadowform no longer drops on death and relog
• Dark Apostates now have a spontaneous casting feat that explains their spellbook

Bugs fixed since last Lamannia but are not reflected in this preview:

• dark apostate cores now buff the shadowform properly
• protection from alignemnt effects now have better icons and descriptions
• fixed the double-harm bug

[Lynnabel]

This tree has very strange core abilities. It will not make sense unless you look at it in-game.

Core A: Multiselector:

• Emissary of Light: Req Cleric 1, antireq Emissary of Darkness: You have chosen Light as your path. For each Core Ability you take in this tree, you gain +5 Light and +5 Universal Spellpower.
• Emissary of Darkness: Req Cleric 1, antireq Emissary of Light: You have chosen Darkness as your path. For each Core Ability you take in this tree, you gain +5 Negative and +5 Universal spellpower.

Core B: Multiselector:

• Aspect of the Sun: Req Cleric 3: You gain +2 to all Saving Throws and +3 PRR.
• Empowered by the Darkness: Req Cleric 3: You gain +2 to all Saving Throws and +3 MRR.

Core C: Multiselector:

• Light Spellbook I: Req Cleric 6: Your Cleric spellbook gains Sunbolt as a Level 3 spell.
• Dark Spellbook I: Req Cleric 6: Your Cleric spellbook gains Enervation as a Level 3 spell.

Core D: Multiselector:

• Light Spellbook II: Req Cleric 12: Your Cleric spellbook gains Sunbeam as a Level 6 spell.
• Dark Spellbook II: Req Cleric 12: Your Cleric spellbook gains Necrotic Ray as a Level 6 spell.

Core E: Multiselector:

• Light Spellbook III: Req Cleric 18: Your Cleric spellbook gains Sunburst as a Level 8 spell. You gain +1 caster level and max caster level with Light/Alignment spells.
• Dark Spellbook III: Req Cleric 18: Your Cleric spellbook gains Power Word: Stun as a Level 8 spell. You gain +1 caster level and max caster level with Negative Energy spells.

Core F: Multiselector:

• Priest of Endless Light: Req Cleric 20 and Emissary of Light: Your mastery over Light has granted you impossible power. +4 Wisdom, +2 to all Saving Throws, and +10 Light/Alignment spellpower and positive healing amp. You gain +1 caster level and max caster level with Light/Alignment spells and +1 evocation DCs.
• Deacon of Endless Darkness: Req Cleric 20 and Emissary of Darkness: Your mastery over Darkness has granted you impossible power. +4 Wisdom, +2 to all Saving Throws, and +10 Negative spellpower and negative healing amp. You gain +1 caster level and max caster level with Negative Energy spells and +1 necromancy DCs.

Tier 1:

• Nimbus of Light vs Inflict Light Wounds SLA
• Defense of the Heart: +2/4/6 PRR
• Multiselector:
  
  • Divine Smiting I: +2% Light, Negative, and Alignment Spell Critical Chance
    
  • Domain Smiting 1: +2% Fire, Cold, Acid, Electric, and Force Spell Critical Chance (requires both Light and Dark Core 1) (yes, both light and dark cores... this tree is funky fresh)
• Defense of the Soul: +2/4/6 MRR
• Spell Points: +30/60/100 Maximum Spell Points

Tier 2:

• Spell Penetration: +1/2/3 Spell Penetration
• Improved Metamagic: Empower/Enlarge/Maximize/Quicken
• Multiselector:
  
  • Divine Smiting II: +2% Light, Negative, and Alignment Spell Critical Chance
    
  • Domain Smiting II: +2% Fire, Cold, Acid, Electric, and Force Spell Critical Chance (requires both Light and Dark Core 1)
• Shield of Dusk and Dawn: When struck, attackers are dealt 1/2/3d6 Light and Negative damage, scaling with your spellpower. Rank 3: When enemies critically hit you, they are Blinded for 2 seconds with no save.
• Light and Dark: Whenever you cast a Light, Alignment or Negative spell, you gain +3 to your Negative, Light, and Alignment Spell Power for 6 seconds. This stacks up to 3/6/10 times.

Tier 3:

• Necrotic Bolt vs Searing Light
• Improved Metamagic: Empower/Enlarge/Maximize/Quicken
• Multiselector:
  
  • Divine Smiting III: +2% Light, Negative, and Alignment Spell Critical Chance
    
  • Domain Smiting III: +2% Fire, Cold, Acid, Electric, and Force Spell Critical Chance (requires both Light and Dark Core 1)
• Multiselector:
  
  • Disciple of Dusk: You gain +5/10/15 Negative Healing Amplification. Rank 3: +5 Negative Spellpower
  • Disciple of Dawn: You gain +5/10/15 Positive Healing Amplification. Rank 3: +5 Light and Alignment Spellpower
• +1 Wisdom

Tier 4:

• Order's Wrath vs Holy Smite vs Chaos Hammer vs Unholy Blight SLA
• Improved Metamagic: Heighten
• Multiselector:
  
  • Divine Smiting IV: +2% Light, Negative, and Alignment Spell Critical Chance
    
  • Domain Smiting IV: +2% Fire, Cold, Acid, Electric, and Force Spell Critical Chance (requires both Light and Dark Core 1)
• Multiselector: (select what you did not select in Tier 3)
  
  • Disciple of Dusk: You gain +5/10/15 Negative Healing Amplification. Rank 3: +5 Negative Spellpower
  • Disciple of Dawn: You gain +5/10/15 Positive Healing Amplification. Rank 3: +5 Light and Alignment Spellpower
• +1 Wisdom

Tier 5:

• Multiselector:
  
  • Holy Power (req only Light cores): Your Holy Smite spell now deals full damage to all enemies, regardless of alignment.
  • Unholy Power (req only Dark cores): Your Unholy Blight spell now deals full damage to all enemies, regardless of alignment.
  • Balance of Power (req both Light and Dark cores): Your Chaos Hammer and Order's Wrath spells now deal full damage to all enemies, regardless of alignment.
• Multiselector:
  
  • Transcend Light: Req having only Emissary of Light cores. You now gain the Spellbook spells of the Path of Darkness.
  • Transcend Darkness: Req having only Emissary of Darkness cores: You now gain the Spellbook spells of the Path of Light.
  • Bring Balance: req having both Light and Dark cores: The Word of Balance spell is added to your Spellbook at level 7. (yes, both light and dark cores... this tree is funky fresh)
• Multiselector:
  
  • Divine Smiting V: +2% Light, Negative, and Alignment Spell Critical Chance
  • Domain Smiting V: +2% Fire, Cold, Acid, Electric, and Force Spell Critical Chance (requires both Light and Dark Core 1)
  
  
• Multiselector:
  
  • Condemnation: +5% Light, Negative, and Alignment Spell Critical Damage
    
  • Acceptance: +5% Fire, Cold, Acid, Electric, and Force Spell Critical Damage, +2 Caster level and Max Caster Level with those spell elements
• Divine Empowerment: +1 DCs with Evocation and Necromancy spells

Bugfixes since last Lamannia:

• DD core 2 now increases saves correctly
• DD no longer does weird stuff to spellcrit
• core B of divine disciple is now named correctly and in the right place

[Pandjed]

• Holy Power (req only Light cores): Your Holy Smite spell now deals full damage to all enemies, regardless of alignment.
• Unholy Power (req only Dark cores): Your Unholy Blight spell now deals full damage to all enemies, regardless of alignment.
• Balance of Power (req both Light and Dark cores): Your Chaos Hammer and Order's Wrath spells now deal full damage to all enemies, regardless of alignment.

This almost sounds like it would hit golems for full damage. If that's not the intention, something like "Your [X] spell now treats all enemies as [Y] to determine its damage."



Also vastly disappointed, that going dark path still don't give as much alignment spellpower as going light. Will look into the rest later and do some testing.

[Lynnabel]

This almost sounds like it would hit golems for full damage. If that's not the intention, something like "Your [X] spell now treats all enemies as [Y] to determine its damage."



Also vastly disappointed, that going dark path still don't give as much alignment spellpower as going light. Will look into the rest later and do some testing.

This means that when you cast, for example, Holy Smite, it deals 1d6+4 damage to everything that isn't Evil, and versus Evil it deals the doubled 2d6+8. So no monsters should be immune to its damage, regardless of their alignment.

Noted on the Alignment Spellpower - that being said, given that the cores now grant Universal, it's still a pretty significant bump up from where DD was at before.

[Targal]

• Ward of Shadow: Wards all nearby allies against all four alignments and light. This is Protection from Elements but for Law, Chaos, Evil, Good, and Light damage.
  
  Like I said before, I don't get why Dark Apostate can be more potentailly protective than standard clerics against alignment/light damages

• Inflict Wounds / Harm spell
  
  These really should be ranged spell, not touch range. It's really annoying to cast a touch ranged spell - especially since It isn't as fast as how sorc spells are. Or give us an enhacement changing its range.

• Spell Power in Dark path DD
  
  Your spell power for alignment type is 30 less than light path. I am not sure if it's intentional.

• Elemental spells supports in DD
  
  Unless a domain system becomes a thing (like 3.5 pnp original), It is a bit meh. I believe you're going to retouch domains any time someday

[Lotoc]

This means that when you cast, for example, Holy Smite, it deals 1d6+4 damage to everything that isn't Evil, and versus Evil it deals the doubled 2d6+8. So no monsters should be immune to its damage, regardless of their alignment.

Noted on the Alignment Spellpower - that being said, given that the cores now grant Universal, it's still a pretty significant bump up from where DD was at before.

Old DD did have the little note in the first core that all sources of negative and light spellpower in the tree also granted alignment rather than being just directly attached to light spellpower, it'd be nice for that to be a feature of the revamped DD as dark dd is far more reliant on backup danage types in practice than light.

[Pandjed]

This means that when you cast, for example, Holy Smite, it deals 1d6+4 damage to everything that isn't Evil, and versus Evil it deals the doubled 2d6+8. So no monsters should be immune to its damage, regardless of their alignment.

But the "full damage" portion may make people believe, that alignment absorption (which is a thing with golems) will also be ignored, especially considering that we have so much immunity strip and several resistance lowering enhancements.

Noted on the Alignment Spellpower - that being said, given that the cores now grant Universal, it's still a pretty significant bump up from where DD was at before.

I agree, huge boost in general.

But light and alignment are already a very good combination, as light is a better damage type than negative (which faces a lot of immunities), and item enchantments do pair light and alignment together. So having some more alignment base via the tree would make maybe 2-3% of people consider going dark instead.

[Lynnabel]

• Ward of Shadow: Wards all nearby allies against all four alignments and light. This is Protection from Elements but for Law, Chaos, Evil, Good, and Light damage.
  
  Like I said before, I don't get why Dark Apostate can be more potentailly protective than standard clerics against alignment/light damages

• Inflict Wounds / Harm spell
  
  These really should be ranged spell, not touch range. It's really annoying to cast a touch ranged spell - especially since It isn't as fast as how sorc spells are. Or give us an enhacement changing its range.

• Spell Power in Dark path DD
  
  Your spell power for alignment type is 30 less than light path. I am not sure if it's intentional.

• Elemental spells supports in DD
  
  Unless a domain system becomes a thing (like 3.5 pnp original), It is a bit meh. I believe you're going to retouch domains any time someday

Er, there are domains in the game currently, which is why I've fleshed out the elemental support for DD. And Harm is not and has never been a touch spell.

[QuantumFX]

Why did you take out the WIS to Hit and Damage with favored weapons?

Also, weren't you working on Warpriest changes as well?

[Targal]

Er, there are domains in the game currently, which is why I've fleshed out the elemental support for DD. And Harm is not and has never been a touch spell.

the spells you get from the domains aren't a thing, to be honest.

Water: Solid Fog / Cone of Cold / Greater Creeping Cold
Earth: Melf's Acid Arrow (the worst spell in the game) / Stoneskin / Earthquake
Air: Shocking Grasp / Lightning Bolt / Chain Lightning
Fire: Scorching Ray / Wall of Fire / Firestorm

Clerics won't even try such elemental type in Epic Destinies (except for fire/air), that's why I thought it was weird.
Like, that you get 15% spell crit for Cold/Acid/Air is... eh... 15% Acid crit for Acid Arrow only, or 15% Cold crit for Cone of Cold/Greater Creeping Cold only...
well, still better than nothing, but I feel weird.


and I think I am confused about harm range with inflict range too. thanks for the correction

[Lynnabel]

Also, weren't you working on Warpriest changes as well?

Nope - I said that Warpriest wasn't changing. Originally I had plans to make it more castery but instead opted to support domain casting more in DD.

[R1ncewind]

Nope - I said that Warpriest wasn't changing. Originally I had plans to make it more castery but instead opted to support domain casting more in DD.

Some love to spell you get in the domains would be so SO much appreciated in water and earth domains. plzzz

[Rosze]

Would be nice if these forms giving Incorporeality and Concealment stacked. Maybe not with each other but with other items. Currently it doesn’t really seem that great investment for something you can basically get from blur and a augment

[QuantumFX]

Nope - I said that Warpriest wasn't changing. Originally I had plans to make it more castery but instead opted to support domain casting more in DD.

Ah. I stopped following that thread when it became a pile-on. Well, unless I can find WIS to Hit/damage without needing a +12 Universal enhancement tome, I'm not sure the curse weapon imbue will be meaningful.

[Lynnabel]

Would be nice if these forms giving Incorporeality and Concealment stacked. Maybe not with each other but with other items. Currently it doesn’t really seem that great investment for something you can basically get from blur and a augment

They do! Note the bugfix section - the form was stuck at its base level This will be fixed for next Lam/the live release (hence the bugfix note).

[nobodynobody1426]

This means that when you cast, for example, Holy Smite, it deals 1d6+4 damage to everything that isn't Evil, and versus Evil it deals the doubled 2d6+8. So no monsters should be immune to its damage, regardless of their alignment.

Noted on the Alignment Spellpower - that being said, given that the cores now grant Universal, it's still a pretty significant bump up from where DD was at before.

2D6+8 vs any evil or just evil outsiders? Any plans to look at MCLs for spells? MCL10 is by far the biggest limiter on these spells, they started off really strong but then fell flat late heroics.

[LurkingVeteran]

This means that when you cast, for example, Holy Smite, it deals 1d6+4 damage to everything that isn't Evil, and versus Evil it deals the doubled 2d6+8. So no monsters should be immune to its damage, regardless of their alignment.

Noted on the Alignment Spellpower - that being said, given that the cores now grant Universal, it's still a pretty significant bump up from where DD was at before.

This is quite powerful since 75% of the game is Evil. Might be fine since there is no light-damage Meteor-equivalent to mix in (this is as good as it gets for light damage), but it also means nobody is going to specialize in the other smites who only do double damage on like 30% of the enemies. I suggest you rebalance those somehow. This is also the case with the base spells, so easiest might be to just increase their base damage a bit since you are fiddling with those anyway this patch. Maybe D6+6, or make Holy D6+3 and the others D6+5. Good probably deserves even more tbh since that is like 5% of enemies.

[cru121]

visual feedback:

* Your equipped shield is affected by neither the body shroud nor by the weapon effect. It looks weird, your entire character is dark but bam! a shiny shield.
* The particle effect of the Shadow Shrouding (violet flames and black fog) is lost when moving between areas. You remain black but without the fluff.

[Lynnabel]

This is quite powerful since 75% of the game is Evil. Might be fine since there is no light-damage Meteor-equivalent to mix in (this is as good as it gets for light damage), but it also means nobody is going to specialize in the other smites who only do double damage on like 30% of the enemies. I suggest you rebalance those somehow. This is also the case with the base spells, so easiest might be to just increase their base damage a bit since you are fiddling with those anyway this patch. Maybe D6+6, or make Holy D6+3 and the others D6+5. Good probably deserves even more tbh since that is like 5% of enemies.

Here's another way to look at it so we're all sure we're on the same page.

Before:
Against Good enemies: 0
Against Neutral enemies: 1d6+4
Against Evil Outsider enemies: 2d6+8

With T5 DD:
Against Good enemies: 1d6+4
Against Neutral enemies: 1d6+4
Against Evil Outsider enemies: 2d6+8

[nobodynobody1426]

Here's another way to look at it so we're all sure we're on the same page.

Before:
Against Good enemies: 0
Against Neutral enemies: 1d6+4
Against Evil Outsider enemies: 2d6+8

With T5 DD:
Against Good enemies: 1d6+4
Against Neutral enemies: 1d6+4
Against Evil Outsider enemies: 2d6+8

Nitpick, but they normally only do half damage against neutral enemies. Full damage against opposing enemies and double damage against opposing outsiders. The T5 makes it sound like it'll do full damage regardless and double against opposing outsiders. MCL still an issue though but that's on lots of low level stuff. Maybe introduce some level 7 or 8 alignment spells, Greater Holy Smite, Greater Order's Wrath / etc.