Ideation
When Great Minds Play the Same Game
[p]We have an endless list of abilities we'd like to add for each Class, so when picking which new ability will be added, we try to choose one that fits what that Class or its Mastery needs most. For Marksman, the answer was easy: it needed a good single-target damage skill, and we were very interested in creating our own spin on Diablo 2's Guided Arrow, so we were certain that Heartseeker was the skill we wanted to add. [/p][p]What was harder to answer is how exactly it should function. [/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://forum.lastepoch.com/uploads/default/original/3X/7/b/7be2a342de94382253420e054ce858be63e5e5a1.gif"][/img][/p][p][/p]Function
And Fashion
[p]We created some quick prototypes of several different variants of the ability, trying out different mechanics for how the arrow would move or pick targets. We knew this would be a very spammable skill, so we had to ensure it was performant, would work well in online mode, and that the visuals could strike a good balance between impressive and not too noisy when used very rapidly. From those considerations, we settled on it picking a specific target and repeatedly striking it until dead, at which point it would pick a new target, always only ever striking its current target.[/p][p]The arrow only ever striking its chosen target allowed us to do some tricks under the hood to make it much more performant than traditional projectiles, and keep the visuals responsive and accurate in online mode despite the arrow's exceptionally high speed.[/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://forum.lastepoch.com/uploads/default/original/3X/d/b/db6cf20c228bbaa77c3ae2681d2d85e57a64969d.gif"][/img][/p][p][/p]Balance
As All Things Should Be
[p]What took a lot of discussion and math was the Recurve Chance. Heartseeker has a chance to "Recurve" upon hitting its target, which is what allows it to turn back and strike the target again. As this was the ability's unique property, we wanted to ensure players could scale this value up high and get arrows that persist for an impressively long time, but we also needed to avoid the stat becoming excessively powerful relative to other choices. After lots of math, formulas, and testing, we eventually settled on your Recurve Chance being multiplied by 0.8 each time it recurves. This was chosen because it helps constrain the value of stacking Recurve Chance, but also, quite importantly, it offered a simple description of its behavior that players could intuitively understand.[/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://forum.lastepoch.com/uploads/default/original/3X/0/f/0f326726374b4b509c8c01d0c7a476403ad71f65.gif"][/img][/p][p][/p]The Great Debate
[p]What ended up being most contentious was how it would look when moving. We had two camps internally, with some wanting it to move in a straight line back and forth through its target, while others wanted it to curve erratically as it returned to strike its target. We ended up settling on having it move in a straight line as a base visual, and offered the curving visuals as a node in its skill tree. As a skill tree node, though, we had to position it between two extremes - it shouldn't feel like a wasted point for players who want the alternate visuals, and it shouldn't feel mandatory for players who don't want the alternate visuals. We opted to give it some slow chance, as that is a valuable effect unrelated to damage, and which can be fairly easily provided from a variety of sources.[/p][p][/p][p][img src="https://forum.lastepoch.com/uploads/default/original/3X/8/a/8ab77bcd47c343b09e1bc2f94b65231b5f8f0a59.gif"][/img][/p][p][/p]Designing the Skill Tree
A.K.A Studio Arbor Day
[p]When designing the skill tree, our flow is to have many members of the team fill up a big list with any and every idea they'd like to see as a node, and then a single designer takes on the task of crafting the tree, using the list as a well of endless ideas to pull from. There are a lot of considerations for skill trees:[/p]- [p]The nodes and sections of the tree should be positioned in logically related spots[/p][/*]
- [p]There should be moderate amounts of depth to the tree, with a few options that are 4 or 5 nodes deep[/p][/*]
- [p]There should be a breadth of options closer to the start of the tree, especially with more interconnectedness near the start[/p][/*]
- [p]Commonly desirable nodes should be fairly accessible, while niche or unusual nodes are more difficult to reach[/p][/*]
- [p]The tree should offer a decent variety of ways to build the skill, and individual nodes should not be so potent that you feel forced to build it in a particular way[/p][/*]
- [p]Where possible, the overall layout should try to feel unique from other skill trees[/p][/*]
