While autumn started knocking on the door all of a sudden, this week I was focusing on adding more content to the Fabled Lands build.
What can I say, I sure did enjoy gathering some scorpion venom from the corpses of my enemies! ːsteamhappyː
Combat at the moment is at a middle stage. This is the biggest gameplay change from the source material becoming a full grid-based combat instead of one vs one melee combat. The first thing I want to mention for sure is the size of the grid.
The size of the grid is really not that big but I can give you my reasoning behind it. The game is PvM as opposed to controlling a whole party. However, real time combat on the world map with monsters appearing and attacking you just wouldn't fit neither the pacing nor the mood of the game. I decided turn-based was the way to go and I wanted to experiment with a hex-based grid as I have experience in that in one of my previous titles. If the grid is too big you just run away indefinitely and recharge your cooldowns/shoot with a ranged weapon and it becomes quite easy.
The absence of a party really is a challenge for the tactical aspects. So aside from terrain modifiers and obstacles, I decided to play around with spell patterns. I.e. you have to position yourself accordingly to be able to gain maximum utilization of your spells' hex patterns. Add on top of that some passive skills that may adjust the effects depending on how you apply them and I feel it starts to be interesting. There are summoning spells as well like the Wayfarer's animal companion or the Troubadour's illusion. These spells instantly elevate the positioning element of the combat as well.
I will talk a lot more about combat in the future updates with the development of active and passive skills and ranged weapons and ammo and how this would affect the gameplay. My biggest challenge would be the emblematic boss fights and how to turn them into challenging and interesting encounters.