0010063: Encourage use of ammo spells, discourage hoarding of ammo - Arcen Idea Tracker (Bugs and Features)

ID	Project	Category		Date Submitted	Last Update

0010063	Valley 2	Suggestion - General Idea		Dec 20, 2012 11:29 am	Dec 20, 2012 11:53 am

Reporter	Penumbra	Assigned To
Status	closed	Resolution	no change required

Summary	0010063: Encourage use of ammo spells, discourage hoarding of ammo
Description	Change from ammo to a long cooldown for 4th slot abilities. While ability is on cooldown, apply a small buff to the player. There could be "stacks" of charges built up over time, which would allow multiple uses of the ability quickly, while also dividing up the bonus across the number of used charges.
Tags	No tags attached.

Internal Weight	New

Penumbra Dec 20, 2012 11:29 am reporter ~0029186	On the "ammo" special ability. I find myself never using this. I hoard the ammo. And then I don't spend it. A little comes back with each pickup. But finding the right time to use it is "difficult". I was thinking a few different things. One would be that it charges up with damage dealt. So, like a rage bar or something. That way you would be encouraged to use it more often. Of course, then I would just kill enough to earn one use, then save it until the "right" time and be back where I started. So, next I thought of a long cooldown ability. Would that cause a player to just sit and wait the few (10?) seconds to use it again. That would be boring. Also not encouraging use. This brings me to my suggestion (finally! ;) ) I think there needs to be a way to encourage the use of the ability instead of hoarding it. What if you mix the cooldown with a buff? Say, if the ability has a 10 second cooldown, your character gains a small buff while it is on cooldown. This encourages using the ability as much as possible! I would want the buff, I would want the ability. I would use it a lot. You could balance the cooldown and the buff on a per class basis (as everything else is). Long cooldown, strong ability. Maybe even the buff could be utility based, like slightly faster move speed. They could be defensive or a whole range of things. Even a small percentage increase to damage done would encourage the use of the ability.

madcow Dec 20, 2012 11:39 am reporter ~0029187 Last edited: Dec 20, 2012 11:52 am	I'm inclined against this. While I can agree with the issue of wanting to hoard ammo - I don't think this is the solution. And there's some classes which I use the ammo shot with more - as well as some enemies I tend to like using them on. I think when we have more enemy variety there might be more situations where you want to push a "kill it now" button. After all the different enemies are in, it might be worth taking a look at ammo costs/effects of those spells though. Edit: deleted a paragraph not really related to this issue.

tigersfan Dec 20, 2012 11:53 am reporter ~0029191	Trying to encourage the use of ammo is part of the reason that the ammo drops now blow up if they don't get used. :) That said, I like the intent here, but I'm not sure this is the best way to execute it. This has some problems like being hard to balance. Plus, some ammo spells actually hurt you, so we don't necessarily want to encourage their use too much.

Date Modified	Username	Field	Change
Dec 20, 2012 11:29 am	Penumbra	New Issue
Dec 20, 2012 11:29 am	Penumbra	Note Added: 0029186
Dec 20, 2012 11:39 am	madcow	Note Added: 0029187
Dec 20, 2012 11:43 am	madcow	Note Edited: 0029187
Dec 20, 2012 11:52 am	madcow	Note Edited: 0029187
Dec 20, 2012 11:53 am	tigersfan	Note Added: 0029191
Dec 20, 2012 11:53 am	tigersfan	Internal Weight	=> New
Dec 20, 2012 11:53 am	tigersfan	Status	new => closed
Dec 20, 2012 11:53 am	tigersfan	Resolution	open => no change required