Comments on Riskbreaker Kit, Topic split by Sikret Options

[matti]

Looks really cool but for me riskbreaker is unplayable due to his ridiculous penalty to constitution and lack of THW specialisation.

.........

Vally: "Hey, don't touch my stuff!!!"
Random Vagrant: "Oookey okey, easy dude."
;]

[lroumen]

Early game he's on the weak side, but late game he's as powerful as any other fighter kit or maybe even better. My current stance is that my suggestions in the first few posts were a bit too early as a good conclusion. He gets a lot of late-game buffing and rather conditional early game buffing (since blur gets dispelled easily).

Defense early game is poor. Casting shield from an amulet or cloak is good and blur is good, but in tough battles they get dispelled rather often. Charges run out. Critical hits are also a problem since the new golems and vampires and things can kill him with 2 or 3 critical hits (though that is also true with mages, sorcs and thieves). This is of course negated with ioun stones, just... you have to find one first.

I prefer to keep ring upgrades to a minimum. It costs a lot of resources to get 2 rings of +4, which I'd rather put into early weapon upgrades (to get the +x enchanted ones). As a result, the riskbreaker does remain a little bit on the weaker side. Mid-game to late-game you'll have a greater restoration and risk decrement to keep him alive, so AC doesn't matter that much except against certain foes. I use one protection ring and one summoning or regeneration ring mostly. The summoning ring is there to spread summons throughout my party members (each having one or more).

[Raven]

Looks really cool but for me riskbreaker is unplayable due to his ridiculous penalty to constitution and lack of THW specialisation.

I don't see how a -2 penalty to Con can be called 'ridiculous'. The kit's abilities clearly make up for this. As for two-handed weapons, can't you have the other fighty-characters in your party using them instead?

[Shadan]

I usually don't use in my party 2 fighter types who is good with 2haders. I want to try riskbreaker in my v6 game. My planned party:
auramaster protagonist (to see expanded druid stronghold)
riskbreaker (to see this kit in the game)
swashbuckler (to see thief and swashi change in v6)
Valygar (to see his new kit)
ranger>cleric
necromancer or Nalia

Sadly there is no room for 2hander specialist... Maybe I will reconsider this cause of 2hander thing and because I have only 1 arcane caster. RRR is not problem with auramaster, but only one source of Improved Haste, PfMagic Damage, Breach, spell protections seems a weak spot to me.

[matti]

In case of riskbreaker, kits abilities looks impressive only on paper, imo. Being a simple player I guess that his somewhat arcane abillities (blur, IH, special ability) are the reason for this penalty, and rightfully so, but - 2 con = less hp, am I right? Fighter with crippled hp in IA? Sorry, but no.

Yes, I have, but still....


But don't get me wrong, kit is really interesting, i'm plannig a game with him as a prot in IA6 (he will be improved in IA6?) but in IA5 simple dwarven kensai is better, imo.

[Kraitok]

My personal thoughts on the 2 handed deal are that if you are going to have a single class fighter, then 2handed weapons are probably where it's at. R/C, Ranger, F/M all tend to dual weild due to generally wanting the extra weapon to make up for weaknesses. Riskbreaker's getting 2handed makes sense partially just to put them back a hair. You don't put Kensai up front as meat shields, Riskbreakers won't be different. Big, nasty, mess your world up hits seem to be what it's about. The play style just makes more sense to me.

Also, any plans to add good scimitars or katana's with v6? There are a few, but they're rather limited and don't come anywhere near some of the other options at the moment. Same could be said for anything without a high end +5 option (clubs).

[Sikret]

You don't put Kensai up front as meat shields, Riskbreakers won't be different.

This is exactly why the lack of THW proficiencies is indeed a disadvantage for the kit. You can't put the riskbreaker in the 2nd row and use him in his full potentials. It's intentional; it's been supposed to work as a disadvantage and it does so.

@matti

Yes, the kit is improved in v6. While keeping its main disadvabtages, the kit is improved in its offensive abilities. The tests so far have shown that while the riskbreaker will still require lots of micro-management and baby sitting at low levels, he will eventually turn into a number 1 killer at high levels (though even at those high levels the kits intended disadvantages will remain meaningful, which is a good thing, otherwise, the kit would have been overpowered).

[lroumen]

I like the improved haste + 2-weapon style combination since it means you can skip whirlwind for hardiness.

[thick3]

RISKBREAKER: Riskbreakers are masters of simultaneos speed and accuracy. They have the ability to move and attack enemies in a way that only a blurred outline of their bodies can be seen. Riskbreakers have limited access to two mage spells as innate abilities. High level Riskbreakers gain unique abilities to break the risk involved in most difficult battles. The trainings required to become a riskbreaker are very demanding and require the riskbreaker to sacrifice a portion of his health and stamina during the process. Only Humans can be Riskbreakers.

Advantages:
- +2 Bonus to save vs. Breath Weapon.
- Makes critical hits at a roll of 17 or better (instead of the usual 20).
- Gains "Blur" every 5 levels.
- +2 bonus to Armor class for every 6 levels.
- Gains "Improved Haste" at levels 11 and 14.
- Once the Riskbreaker reaches level 15, each of his successful hits will have 15% chance to apply a random effect picked from the following pool: "Hard Hit" on target (applies 10D8 +8 additional damage), "Risk Increment" on target (applies -4 penalty to AC for 2 rounds), Healing the Riskbreaker for 20 hp.
- Gains the ability "Chain Breaker Stance" at levels 17 and 20.
- Gains the innate ability "Risk Decrement" at levels 18, 24 and 30.

Chain Breaker Stance:
This ability applies the following effects to the caster for 10 rounds:
- Improved Haste
- 25 strength
- Regenerating 12 hp per round

Risk Decrement:
When surrounded by lots of enemies and when most other warriors may fall or surrender in despair, a high level riskbreaker is more than capable to break the risk involved in the toughest situations.

Risk Decrement has the following effects:
- Heals the riskbreaker completely.
- Applies a massive attack to all enemies around the riskbreaker inflicting 8D10 crushing damage with no saving throw.
- Has a good chance to throw back all or some of the enemies.

Disadvantages:
- Cannot wear any armor.
- Cannot wear any helmet (other than Ioun stones).
- Cannot use gauntlets and shields.
- Cannot use ranged weapons.
- Cannot specialize in two handed weapons.
- Cannot be proficient in single weapon and Two handed weapon styles.
- Receives a -2 Penalty to constitution.
- Is immune to "Spirit Armor" and "Barkskin" spells.
- Requires 12 Intelligence.
- Cannot dual class.


Is this the final v6 kit description?
Currently deciding weather to start another v5 game or wait v6 :/
Any concrete release date, author?

[Sikret]

The final description of the kit is this:

RISKBREAKER: Riskbreakers are masters of simultaneous speed and accuracy. They have the ability to move and attack enemies in a way that only a blurred outline of their bodies can be seen. Riskbreakers have limited access to two mage spells as innate abilities. High level Riskbreakers gain unique abilities to break the risk involved in most difficult battles. The trainings required to become a riskbreaker are very demanding and require the riskbreaker to sacrifice a portion of his health and stamina during the process. Only Humans can be Riskbreakers.

Advantages:
- +2 Bonus to save vs. Breath Weapon.
- Makes critical hits at a roll of 17 or better (instead of the usual 20).
- Gains "Blur" every 5 levels.
- +2 bonus to Armor class for every 6 levels.
- Gains "Improved Haste" at levels 11, 16 and 21.
- Once the Riskbreaker reaches level 15, each of his successful hits will have 15% chance to apply a random effect picked from the following pool: "Hard Hit" on target (applies 10D6 +5 additional damage), "Risk Increment" on target (applies -4 penalty to AC for 2 rounds), "Avert Risk" (heals the Riskbreaker for 20 hp).
- Gains the ability "Chain Breaker Stance" at levels 17 and 23.
- Gains the innate ability "Risk Decrement" at levels 18, 24 and 30.

Chain Breaker Stance:
This ability applies the following effects to the caster for 5 rounds:
- +25% resistance to physical damage
- 25 strength
- Regenerating 12 hp per round

Risk Decrement:
When surrounded by lots of enemies and when most other warriors may fall or surrender in despair, a high level riskbreaker is more than capable to break the risk involved in the toughest situations.

Risk Decrement has the following effects:
- Heals the riskbreaker completely.
- Applies a massive attack to all enemies around the riskbreaker inflicting 8D10 crushing damage with no saving throw.
- Has a good chance to throw back all or some of the enemies.

Disadvantages:
- Cannot wear any armor.
- Cannot wear any helmet (other than Ioun stones).
- Cannot use gauntlets and shields.
- Cannot use ranged weapons.
- Cannot specialize in two handed weapons.
- Cannot be proficient in single weapon and Two handed weapon styles.
- Receives a -2 Penalty to constitution.
- Is immune to "Spirit Armor" and "Barkskin" spells.
- Requires 12 Intelligence.
- Cannot dual class.

As for the v6 release date, it's close, but I can't give an exact date of the day right now.

[Vuki]

The final description of the kit is this:
...
- Once the Riskbreaker reaches level 15, each of his successful hits will have 15% chance to apply a random effect picked from the following pool: "Hard Hit" on target (applies 10D6 +5 additional damage), "Risk Increment" on target (applies -4 penalty to AC for 2 rounds), "Avert Risk" (heals the Riskbreaker for 20 hp).

Is there a saving throw against the offensive effects?

[thick3]

Thx. Looks interesting, can't wait to pair him with a kensai in v6.

I'm thinking something like this for v6:
Necro
Kensai
Riskbreaker
R/C or B/C
Sorceress or Kensai/Mage

Looks good on paper

[Sikret]

The final description of the kit is this:
...
- Once the Riskbreaker reaches level 15, each of his successful hits will have 15% chance to apply a random effect picked from the following pool: "Hard Hit" on target (applies 10D6 +5 additional damage), "Risk Increment" on target (applies -4 penalty to AC for 2 rounds), "Avert Risk" (heals the Riskbreaker for 20 hp).

Is there a saving throw against the offensive effects?

No.

[bulian]

I wonder how he fares late game when warriors have lots of critical strike HLAs (main weakness in v5 IMO), though that hard hit looks pretty nasty. Inherent 12 AC vs 9-14 AC from armor end game (Red Coral Armor/great wyrm armor) are comparable, so weakness from not having armor is just elemental/magic damage resistance.

I can't decide if chainbreaker is supposed to be an "aww crap, the boss targeted him" ability (resistance + regen) or just for burst damage, though the latter seems a bit weak since you're probably close to 25 str with items around the time you get the ability. Maybe its both. Looks interesting - guess i'll have to try one to find out.

What type of damage is the "hard hit?" It would be great if it changed depending on your weapon type.
Has the casting time of risk decrement changed in v6?
Not related to this thread, but have the auramaster or vagrant kits changed at all?

[Sikret]

What type of damage is the "hard hit?"

Crushing.

Has the casting time of risk decrement changed in v6?

Its casting time is zero in IA v6. The casting time was 1 in one of the previous versions of the mod and there was a bad risk for it to be interrupted by the enemies. However, this is a relatively old change in the kit. I don't remember when exactly we changed it from 1 to zero. IA v5 was released more than 2 years and 3 months ago and we have been working on v6 since that time. To be honest, I don't even correctly remember whether changing the casting time from 1 to zero had been done in v5 or is done in v6. What Was its casting time in v5? Was your question about the same point I mentioned above (i.e. about the enemies' chance to interrupt the Riskbreaker while casting Risk Decrement)?

Not related to this thread, but have the auramaster or vagrant kits changed at all?

Auramaster's "Aura of invulnerablity" has been nerfed; but other than that, no, the kit has remained intact. However, druids in general have access to new spells and HLAs and the Auramaster is no exception.

As for the Vagrant kit, the only change is that they can now proceed to grandmastery in using axes (all other weapon types are still capped at proficient level --2 stars-- as they used to be).

[bulian]

Has the casting time of risk decrement changed in v6?

Its casting time is zero in IA v6. The casting time was 1 in one of the previous versions of the mod and there was a bad risk for it to be interrupted by the enemies. However, this is a relatively old change in the kit. I don't remember when exactly we changed it from 1 to zero. IA v5 was released more than 2 years and 3 months ago and we have been working on v6 since that time. To be honest, I don't even correctly remember whether changing the casting time from 1 to zero had been done in v5 or is done in v6. What Was its casting time in v5? Was your question about the same point I mentioned above (i.e. about the enemies' chance to interrupt the Riskbreaker while casting Risk Decrement)?

Yes, the interruption issues is what I was asking about. Never played a riskbreaker at high levels myself, but I seemed to recall reading it somewhere. Found a reference at post #4 from Nov 2008 (here) that indicates its not 0. Not sure what version was out then, though that was less than 2 years 3 months ago. I think the lesson here is that I spent (no longer!) too much time reading old threads on this forum at one point.

[thick3]

Any chance to release the new riskbreaker kit as standalone?

[Sikret]

Any chance to release the new riskbreaker kit as standalone?

No, the kit would be a bit too powerful if installed alone and out of IA's general atmosphere.

[thick3]

Hehe thats true. I just started another v5 game with a Riskbreaker, wanted to play the v6 one tho

[lroumen]

In v5, the casting speed of risk decrement can be a problem if you are truly swamped with foes. It can thus be a problem if your innate is disrupted. I've had it happen a couple of times due to bad timing and you have to rely on mages/clerics to do the rebuffing/healing for you instead.
Problematic, however, I would like to stress that if a mage or cleric is confronted with many foes and s/he has to rebuff, all of the spells have a casting time too, so they are equally prone to interruption. I don't see it as a problem for the mages/clerics, thus it wouldn't be a big problem for the riskbreaker, would it?



Quite a few people seem to be waiting for v6. I've been philosophising many different party setups now too. I think I might still take a riskbreaker along eventhough I am currently playing one already in v5.