A few thoughts on the 0.6 passive system

[GeoGalvanic]

Continuing the discussion from New layout for Passive is weird:

So finally got a new character up some levels to figure out how the passive system works.

What I like:
Fewer choices at the beginning make it easier to introduce the system without being overwhelmed.
The system favors more nodes as well as ways to get points outside of basic grinding
More visual room for each class

Things I feel are wonky:

• Points are required to level the base class to unlock master classes which require spending more points to “ascend” (it seems ascending no longer has a major perk, and there is no longer an explanation that lets the player know that they can only ascend in one master class)

How to fix- A while back the idea of using quests to unlock specializations was mentioned, and with the current passives system I think that would actually make the most sense. There was a concern that a forced quest would interrupt the gameplay, however now that there is a base class pool of nodes that can be invested into, it wouldn’t matter as much when the player completes the specialization quest(s). Ascending can remain as an unlock after reaching a certain level, or unlocked via another set of quests later on.

• There’s a general lack of information given about what is unlocked and what is needed to unlock it. Once again, quests can help address this by letting players know that a particular specialization is attained by completing a particular quest. An explanation of what is needed to ascend should be shown on the relevant class tab.

• The visual space for each tab is not used particularly well, skills are oddly pushed to the side and look pretty similar to passive nodes. The space between the nodes is large and somewhat off putting.

Some ideas - I feel the layout could benefit from horizontal rather than vertical tabs. Rather than excessive empty space it would likely be better to have larger icons. Part of the screen could likely benefit from having “measurement ticks” to indicate progress on the tree. Skill should be in a distinctly separate section of the tree (perhaps on the other side of “measurement ticks”. Once “Preview Passives” has been selected there should be a way to show the “Lock Overlay” again. The lock overlay is a good place to put more information about what is needed to unlock/ascend in a class. The large class icon is redundant as the class tab already has the icon on it. The “ascend” button should always be shown but grayed out/locked until ascension is available.

Bonus Idea:
It’d be pretty neat to have some passive nodes that are locked by quests/lost memories.

[Cygnus]

Great ideas, and agree with most of them too!

I made something real quick on photoshop in this forum post regarding skills and so forth.

I suspect we will see some changes to the tree at some point anywho

[VoodooVirus]

I certainly like the bonus idea you suggested. The same could be done with the skills themselves by giving new branches to re-specialize in or even entirely new skills acquired from quests.

[TheTruth]

@GeoGalvanic

Points are required to level the base class to unlock master classes which require spending more points to “ascend” (it seems ascending no longer has a major perk, and there is no longer an explanation that lets the player know that they can only ascend in one master class)

I think it would be interesting to have the 3 lock nodes for the master class across the top of the base class tree, similar to how it was in the last iteration, but with all three.

This would allow it to be a lot easier to visualize what’s happening, and that node could have a flavor bonus for the master class, something more powerful than a standard node that fits the theme of that master class.