Hello everyone!
Today's post is a preview of stuff to come! I wanted to take some time to showcase where things are at with the new Potion system! Potions have been something which really needed addressing in Vault for sometime. They were quite easily forgettable -- and oftentimes you’d find yourself with a plethora of colorful bottles remaining at the end of a run, which you would then begin dunking on the void with.
There were a few things I wanted to address here:
Firstly -- limiting the amount of Potions that could be used in a fight. I think this was pretty important, as it very often ended up being a situation where you’d remember them at the last minute, and just unload them all in your last fight, which isn’t a super compelling choice. This was partly due to their front loading nature as well, which...
Secondly -- Potions were proactive. You had to equip one before you went into a fight, which had an emphasis on system mastery. I do like that aspect, where a player knowing they might be in a tough matchup would cause them to bring a potion. However, oftentimes, you’d be mid-fight, and things would take a bad turn, and you’d really wish you brought a Potion to help. With this new system both are possible! The key here was to allow the players to arm themselves with a "just incase" button.
And as a final goal -- continue trying to make a system that is interesting, different, and that encourages the player to make tough choices, rather than just a carbon copy of something else out there.
So, how does that look?
In Vault of the Void, Potions now have two effects, Brew and Belt. You can choose to add one to your Brew slot before each fight, and also one to your Belt slot before each fight (only ever one of each!).
When you Brew a Potion, its effects trigger at the start of combat, and often last the entire battle -- the same effect as the current system. However now you can also add a Potion to your Belt, a quick slot ability that you can cast in a moment of panic (or triumph!) mid battle. Belt potions won’t be consumed automatically either -- so if you finish a fight without using that Stealth Potion, it will be there for the next fight.
Here’s an example of a few of the Potions, with their differing effects (note: subject to change)
Potion of Stealth
Brew: Creatures will skip their first turn.
Belt: Halve your current Threat.
Strength Potion
Brew: At the start of each turn, gain 50% Rage.
Belt: Rage 125%.
Exploding Bottle
Brew: Deal 25 damage to all enemies.
Belt: Apply Vulnerable 1. Deal 40 damage. (Single target)
On top of all this -- the Potion Merchant is getting a full UI rework, and all Potions are getting new art to help with the expansion of things. If you feel this system sets itself up well for expanding into class specific Potions -- or even unique Potions from events... well you’d be right! :)
I really hope you like the new system, and are willing to give it a try! So far testing has been mostly positive, and I’m looking forward to rolling this out. The current plan is to have this live by next weekend! It should make its way to the Beta Branch a few days before that also.
Thanks everyone!
All for now
- Josh