Theory of Design - Rift Classes

Over the next few weeks I'm going to toy around with various aspects of game design, essentially for fun but hopefully with some feedback too.

To start, I'm going to create four new souls for Rift - the Primal Mage, the Acrobat, the Theologist, and the Vanguard.  I'd like to say that each is the work of hours and hours of deep thought and careful consideration, but the truth of the matter is I just blurted each one out as fast as I could.  These are rough drafts, ripe for feedback and iteration.  Sadly we can only theorycraft, and not test them in game.  Note that numbers (especially damage numbers) are completely made up and based on nothing but rough guesses as to what might be appropriate.  A great deal of tuning is required.

Trion Worlds -- in the unlikely event you like any of these, call me!  I'm up for a career change and move :)

Anyhow, first up is the Primal Mage!

Primal Mage

The Primal Mage wields relatively primitive elemental magics to deal damage, buff themselves, and debuff their foes.  Unlike the other Mage souls, the Primal Mage needs to get up close and personal to inflict heavy damage on the enemy, but has a number of tools to make sure doing so isn't suicide.  In some ways the Primal Mage is a mage based version of the Riftstalker.

The Primal Mage deals melee fire and earth spell damage, has the ability to self heal, and at higher levels can create shields to deflect some incoming attacks.  They can take on a tank role using Earth's Blessing, but lose the ability to deal any significant damage with anything other than Primal mage powers.  There won't be any Pyromancers clearing the battlefield while sporting tank-like defenses.

The Primal Mage should pair well with the Archon and Chloromancer souls, mildly well with the Necromancer, Warlock, Dominator, and Elemetalist souls, and not well at all with the Pyromancer or Stormcaller.

Root Abilities:

Points	Ability	Description
0	Fire Talons	Encase the caster’s hands in flame and make a bare handed melee strike for 10-15 fire damage.  Applies Primal Vulnerability to the target, increasing all elemental damage taken by 3% for 15 seconds.  This effect can stack up to 5 times. Cast Time:  Instant Range:  Melee Cooldown: None Modified By:  Spell damage
0	Combust	Consume the Primal Vulnerability debuff on the target, causing them to burst into flames and suffer 5-8 fire damage per stack of Primal Vulnerability. Cast Time:  Instant Range: 20m Cooldown: 6 seconds Modified By:  Spell damage
2	Earth Strike	Bear down on the target with the speed an inevitability of an avalanche, closing to melee  range and dealing a crushing blow with a hammer of stone for 12-16 physical damage.  Inflicts Primal Vulnerability. Cast Time:  1 second Range: 20m Cooldown: 15 seconds Modified By: Spell damage
4	Slow Burn	Drive the power of elemental fire into the heart of your opponent and leave it there, slowly burning them from the inside out.  Deals 35 fire damage over 14 seconds. Cast Time:  1.5 seconds Range: 20m Cooldown: None Modified By: Spell damage
6	Fire’s Blessing	The power of fire infuses your limbs with vigor, granting the power to move faster than normally possible.  Fire’s Blessing grants +10% to run, attack, and cast speed for 30 minutes and is active both in and out of combat.  Only one Blessing can be active at a time. Cast Time:  Instant Range:  Self Cooldown:  None Modified By: Nothing
8	Primal Aid	Exploit a target’s vulnerability to draw upon the healing powers of earth.  Consume stacks of Primal Vulnerability to heal the caster.  Each stack consumed heals 5% max hit points (maximum 25%). Cast Time:  Instant Range:  20m Cooldown:  None Modified By:  Nothing
10	Tremor	The caster channels the power of stone through their fists and slams them into the ground, causing the earth to leap and fragment in the area immediately around the mage.  Up to 10 targets are knocked down and take 45-56 earth damage. Cast Time:  Instant Range:  5m PBAoE Cooldown:  10 seconds Modified By:  Spell damage
12	Liquid Stone	Use the power of stone to mold the ground around the target’s feet, rooting them in place for 15 seconds.  Damage may break this effect. Cast Time: 1.5 seconds Range: 20m Cooldown: None Modified By: Nothing
16	Flame Lash	Strike out with a whip of flame, hitting all targets in an arc in front of the caster for 55-67 fire damage.  Cast Time: Instant Range: Melee cone Cooldown:  5 seconds Modified by: Spell damage
20	Earth’s Blessing	Draws the strength of earth into the caster, making them tough as stone but dramatically reducing their ability to use anything other than Primal magic.  +200% armor, +60% endurance, improved health regeneration, and all attacks generate additional threat.  However, the effect of all non-Primal spells are reduced by 50%.  Only one Blessing can be active at a time. Cast Time:  Instant Range: Self Cooldown: None Modified By: Nothing
26	Flash Fire	Explode in a blast of fire for 120-134 fire damage, hitting up to 15 targets in a 10m radius.  Targets suffering from Primal Vulnerability will be stunned for 1 second per stack. Cast Time:  1.5 seconds Range: 10m  PBAoE Cooldown:  30 seconds Modified By: Spell damage
32	Primal Blessing	Draws on the power of the elements to increase all Primal spell damage by 15%.  Only one Blessing can be active at a time. Cast Time:  Instant Range:  Self Cooldown:  None Modified By:  Nothing
36	Splinter	Strike the target with a blast of stone that explodes in a spray of splinters that tear through nearby enemies.  The attack does 145-168 physical damage to the target and copies any stacks of Primal Vulnerability from the primary target to up to 10 enemies in a 10m radius.  These stacks of Primal Vulnerability will last for 10 seconds unless refreshed by Fire Talons. Cast Time:  Instant Range: Melee, 10m PBAoE Cooldown:  1 minute Modified By:  Spell damage
44	Lava Blast	Combine the powers of primal fire and earth into a huge ball of molten lava that can be hurled at a single unfortunate target.  Lava Blast deals 341-372 fire damage and knocks the target down. Cast Time:  4 seconds Range: 30m Cooldown: None Modified By:  Spell damage
51	Primal Fury	Transform into a creature of shifting elemental fury for 30 seconds.  The form is chaotic in nature, and will switch randomly between fire and earth forms, each with their own abilities.  The fire form has very powerful attacks and increased movement and attack speeds.  The earth form has strong attacks, increased defenses, and constantly regenerates health. Cast Time:  Instant Range:  Self Cooldown:  5 minutes Modified By: Spell damage

Branch Abilities:

Tier	Prereq	Ability	Description
1	-	Earth’s Fortitude	+4% endurance per point, 1-5 points possible
1	-	Fire’s Fury	+1% fire damage per point, 1-5 points possible
2	5 points	Flame Rush	Zip forward 10 meters in a blast of fire, damaging all foes in the path for 24-29 fire damage and stunning them for 1 second. Cast Time:  Instant Range: 10m Cooldown:  15 seconds Modified By: Spell damage
2	5 points	Disorient	Each stack of Primal Vulnerability gives the target a 1% hit penalty per point in Disorient.  1-5 points possible (so max of 25% penalty with 5 points in disorient and 5 stacks of Primal Vulnerability).
2	5 points	Enfeebling Burn	Slow Burn has a 5-15% (5% per point) chance per tick of damage to inflict a stack of Primal Vulnerability.  1-3 points possible.
3	10 points	Piercing Stone	Surrounds the caster’s hands with a sharp spear of stone capable of punching through metal like paper.  Piercing Stone deals 45-51 physical damage, ignores the target’s armor, and inflicts Punctured, decreasing the target’s armor by 25% for 8 seconds. Cast Time:  Instant Range:  Melee Cooldown:  8 seconds Modified By:  Spell damage
3	10 points, Flame Rush	Sear	Flame Rush burns with extra heat and causes all affected targets to suffer an additional 50% of the total damage over 8 seconds.
3	10 points	Vindictive Flames	Increase spell critical chance by 2% per point.  1-3 points possible.
3	10 points	Lashing Talons	Increase the range of Fire Talons by 2m per point.  1-3 points possible.
4	15 points	Entomb	Encase the target in solid stone, stunning them for 8 seconds and inflicting 10-12 damage per second. Cast Time:  2 seconds Range: 20m Cooldown:  30 seconds Modified By:  Spell damage
4	15 points	Blazing Talons	Fire Talons now deals 10-50% of its damage to an additional two targets adjacent to the primary target.  1-5 points possible.  This damage does not inflict Primal Vulnerability.
4	15 points	Invigoration	Primal Aid now restores 1-3% max mana per stack of Primal Vulnerability in addition to health.  1-3 points possible.
5	20 points	Ablative Shield	Creates a shield of fire and earth energy that lasts for 10 seconds and reduces the damage of the next two hits against the caster to 0.  Ablative shield can block both physical and magical attacks. Cast Time:  Instant Range:  Self Cooldown:  10 seconds Modified By: Nothing
5	20 points	Stone of Deflection	While Earth’s Blessing is active, gain 2% parry and dodge per point.  1-3 points possible.
5	20 points	One With the Elements	Increases the Primal Mage’s earth, fire, water, and air resistances by 40-80 points.  1-2 points possible.
6	25 points	Grasping Earth	Channel primal energy into the ground, causing the earth to rise up and attack in a large area while slowing down affected targets.  Channeled ground target effect that deals 80-90 damage per target per second and slows movement speed by 50%. Cast Time:  Channeled Range: 30m, 10m radius Cooldown: None Modified By:  Spell damage
6	25 points, Ablative Shield	Superior Shielding	Ablative Shield blocks 1 additional attack per point, 1-2 points possible.
6	25 points	Frenzied Lash	Reduces the cooldown of Flame Lash by 2 seconds per point.  1-2 points possible.
6	25 points	Searing Soul	Deal 2-6% of all damage taken back to attackers.  1-3 points possible.
7	30 points, Ablative Shield	Ablative Barrier	Ablative Shield now affects every member of the caster’s party.  Inflicts Primal Reverberation for 10 seconds, preventing any additional Ablative Shields or Barriers from forming on the character.

Next up will be the Acrobat.