Monk Resource: Spirit


Nocturne Posted: November, 1st 11:34 PM 2010 \| Post #1
The Nightfall Posts: 541	Hey all, A big topic of discussion for these characters has been their energy resources. Blizzard has said that each hero has a unique energy source that should reflect the focuses of your various heroes. For the monk, spirit is used. The gauge on the left side of the player UI fills up as you hit people. Unlike fury, Spirit stays static until it is spent. Thus, I hit an enemy and fill 40 spirit points. These points can then be spend on more powerful/useful skills. Most of your skills will require spirit to be used, which means that you need to be in constant contact with foes to reach your hero's full potential. While this acts a catalyst for PvE gameplay, I fear that such an energy resource will be extremely hindering in PvP. To make your spells/abilities contingent on a relatively scarce resource (since you are spending it so often), it seems almost lackluster compare to the Witch Doctor or Wizard who can come at you full-tilt from the start of battle. What are your guys' thoughts on Spirit?
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Archian Posted: November, 2nd 6:18 PM 2010 \| Post #2
♪ ♫ Posts: 26	You got a good point regarding Sprit in PvP. Plus, if you're battleing against a teleporting Wizard, I guess it can be hard to get any blows in that will increase Spirit. I can imagine a Monk constantly chasing the opponent around the arena... While interesting against mobs of demons, I think it might fail PvP, as such, I think Spirit should be reconsidered. Although, one would probably have to test it, before being able to properly jugde it.
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Jayou Posted: November, 4th 8:25 AM 2010 \| Post #3
Posts: 27	Don't forget the dashes, slow moving effects, stuns etc. All that plays a big roll to balance it all. Still to early to say but I can see it having its cons. What I do see is the monk being wanted by 3v3s or 2v2s considering it will be the only class that has some sort of 'heal'
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brainwasher5 Posted: November, 4th 8:55 AM 2010 \| Post #4
The Game. Posts: 1,668	Good point Nocturne. Perhaps in PVP worlds they'll revert back to the old mana they used in D2, though I can see how that'd drastically affect stats of abilities. This whole thing's gonna be a huge pain to balance out, hope they do it right.
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Nocturne Posted: November, 4th 3:48 PM 2010 \| Post #5
The Nightfall Posts: 541	I'm somewhat worried about balance Brainwasher, since they already said that balance won't take center stage. They want PvE to be the focus, and PvP the sideshow. I really find that to be a shame. There's a lot of potential for PvP play.
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Archian Posted: November, 4th 5:48 PM 2010 \| Post #6
♪ ♫ Posts: 26	Nocturne - Nov 4, 04:48 PM There's a lot of potential for PvP play. True, but that has never been the concept of Diablo.
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Nocturne Posted: November, 4th 7:19 PM 2010 \| Post #7
The Nightfall Posts: 541	Archian - Nov 4, 06:48 PM True, but that has never been the concept of Diablo. I wouldn't say that, necessarily. I think that is the direction they're going, but not exactly the where they've been. PvP has been a part of Diablo since the beginning of the franchise. In Diablo 2, it was really the only outlet for varied gameplay for the veterans of the game (such as me). There's a point where loot collecting and boss runs reach critical mass, and unless you're an online D2 item seller, PvP ends up being the best outlet for continued re-playability. Granted, Diablo 3 will be a game changer as far as a solidified direction goes. I feel that Diablo 2 left an open ended path for a sequel, as the devolution of the game and reliance on cookie-cutter builds and runewords were indications for simplification for viable, competitive PvP gameplay. However, I feel that Diablo 3 will end up in a very similar situation regardless of the concept they're using as their foundation. But when it comes down to it, PvP has a lot of potential. Balanced or not ;)
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Archian Posted: November, 5th 6:38 AM 2010 \| Post #8
♪ ♫ Posts: 26	Nocturne - Nov 4, 08:19 PM I wouldn't say that, necessarily. I think that is the direction they're going, but not exactly the where they've been. PvP has been a part of Diablo since the beginning of the franchise. In Diablo 2, it was really the only outlet for varied gameplay for the veterans of the game (such as me). There's a point where loot collecting and boss runs reach critical mass, and unless you're an online D2 item seller, PvP ends up being the best outlet for continued re-playability. Indeed, for Diablo 3 we may see a lot of potential for PvP. They might even end up hosting Tournaments like SC2, WC3, WoW this time. But for Diablo 1 & 2, I think it was merely an option players had. I didn't like the fact that players could simply run back to town for safety. And sometimes, without any reason some guy would turn hostile, and you hear that annoying warning sound. It was never something I considered an actual game feature. Diablo 3 has changed that, luckily.
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Nocturne Posted: November, 6th 9:37 PM 2010 \| Post #9
The Nightfall Posts: 541	Well, I don't know. It's hard to make that conclusion in my opinion. PvP drives builds - I mean, when it comes down to it, another player will be the hardest adversary you come across - simply because of the fact that AI cannot match human reasoning and intuition. The point, though, is that people will be gearing to do the best in PvP, and that will translate over to the PvE world. Thus, PvP will be driving PvE motives - the same happened in Diablo 2. This leads me to see it as a feature. Was it a well-thought-out feature? Probably not, and it certainly wasn't maintained. However, the way PvP integrates into Diablo will always make it press back on the campaign-centric model. The main problems you noted were a product of the lack of maintenance, rather than the lack of PvP focus. I don't think they wanted it to take center stage, but I think there's a lot of background to the significance of why it wasn't maintained. And why, at large, every patch seemed to unbalance the game even more and create more problems than they fixed. But regardless - we know the game is about loot and killing monsters. But it's a two way bridge - that loot funnels into both killing monsters faster and other players faster/more efficiently. I think Diablo 2 NEEDED PvP as a feature to make it last as long as it did. I could be wrong, of course. It's merely what I've observed :)
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Spellbound Posted: December, 15th 7:25 AM 2010 \| Modified: December, 15th 7:37 AM 2010 \| Post #10
Worldmaker Posts: 1,586	I wanted to tackle this resource ages ago but never really got anything to contribute until today. I've been thinking about Spirit and it seems a bit too similar to fury (and has a big PvP drawback) to be satisfactory. So here's what I came up with: Channeling. Monks use chi (not the Diablo one, just generic oriental Monks). They channel it, control it, use it to roast a chicken and whatever the hell they wanna do with it. Okay, maybe not, but the point is, it should regenerate. When the Monk is idle, it regenerates very slowly, like 1 point every 3 seconds. But when you hit something, instead of filling up 40 points straight, the regeneration gets boosted. When you use an ability, the regeneration gets boosted again. Now, perhaps striking something with an ability (or even a normal attack) can reward you with a few bonus Spirit points instantly if the regeneration can't keep up, but this should be a very small amount since you're regenerating Spirit along the way. While using abilities will help your regain Spirit, it will also be using it up. So the bonus Spirit from striking the enemy would be there to help the regeneration keep up. Think of it as a weak Fury with dynamic regeneration. So it would be like this: Use an ability = 1 Spirit_Regen+ buff for X seconds. The Spirit_Regen+ buff can stack up to Y times. Strike a target = +Z Spirit points. You should have traits that enhance the Spirit_Regen+ value (aka, from 2/sec to 3/sec to 4/sec, etc) or even X/Y/Z. Also, for this to work, all Monk abilities must cost the same amount of spirit... or have two or three different values which trigger weak/moderate/high regeneration when used. Thoughts?
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Nocturne Posted: January, 7th 2:29 PM 2011 \| Post #11
The Nightfall Posts: 541	I was hoping/thinking this would work similarly to a rogue's energy in World of Warcraft or a hunter's focus. Basically, there is a static regen, as you said (though it is quite fast). Some skills have a chance to refund energy/focus spent, and some skills may increase regen rate, and items may also affect it. (Haste, etc). Now, I always liked the idea of having "Focus" for the Wizard's or Monk's energy currency.
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Spellbound Posted: January, 9th 11:14 PM 2011 \| Modified: January, 9th 11:17 PM 2011 \| Post #12
Worldmaker Posts: 1,586	I never played WoW (well, I did, but just as a Mage and 'twas to check out the game itself... on my own... with no one else around) so I had no idea something like Focus existed, lol. But this does bring something to mind: Rogues, like Monks, are hard-hitters, right? Critical Strikes (or damage beyond a certain threshold) could be used to cause spontaneous bursts of regeneration or simply refill some Spirit points or even refund the cost of the ability. As for Focus being used for the Wizard, idk, I always liked her having this very fast and static regeneration. Kinda like how Force is used the The Force Unleashed.
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neotheory Posted: February, 5th 5:13 AM 2012 \| Post #13
Posts: 4	I like the Wizard's resource the best since it regens fast. Seems like the DH makes for a really spammy fast paced class too. Not too thrilled about Monk's spirit right now. I can't decide which class to play and I did play a rogue in WoW too. Found some good info at progressived3.com
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Monk Resource: Spirit