Interview Lionheart shotgun interview 9 at RPG Vault

[Saint_Proverbius]

Tags: Eric Dallaire; Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader

<a href="http://rpgvault.ign.com/">RPG Vault</a> has posted up another what I call a <a href="http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/392/392845p1.html">shotgun interview</a>, which is one question posed to gobs of the <a href="Http://www.reflexive.net">Reflexive</a> developers of <A href="http://lionheart.blackisle.com">Lionheart</a>. Here's the question and an answer from our favorite guy there, <b>Eric 'SPECIAL ED' Dallaire</b>:
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<blockquote><b>Jonric: Among the range of weapons available as you make your way through the game, what are a couple that you consider especially cool or fun, and why?
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Eric Dallaire
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Lead Writer and Designer, Reflexive Entertainment</b>
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One of my favorite weapons is an item you can help Leonardo DaVinci create. DaVinci has a design for a special crossbow that needs some finishing touches before it can be used for combat. To complete the weapon, you'll need to assemble a handful of exotic materials, the first of which requires that you have an interaction with one of the machines in his workshop. It's an interesting side quest that allows you to get a valuable magic weapon early on for an archer character.</blockquote>
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That's kind of nifty, but what if you're not an archer? And does the archer really need <i>ph4t l3wt</i> bows in the beginning to be effective?
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These are the things I gots to know!

 

[Eric Dallaire]

<a href="http://rpgvault.ign.com/">RPG Vault</a> has posted up another what I call a <a href="http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/392/392845p1.html">shotgun interview</a>, which is one question posed to gobs of the <a href="Http://www.reflexive.net">Reflexive</a> developers of <A href="http://lionheart.blackisle.com">Lionheart</a>. Here's the question and an answer from our favorite guy there, <b>Eric 'SPECIAL ED' Dallaire</b>:

<blockquote><b>Jonric: Among the range of weapons available as you make your way through the game, what are a couple that you consider especially cool or fun, and why?

Eric Dallaire
Lead Writer and Designer, Reflexive Entertainment</b>
One of my favorite weapons is an item you can help Leonardo DaVinci create. DaVinci has a design for a special crossbow that needs some finishing touches before it can be used for combat. To complete the weapon, you'll need to assemble a handful of exotic materials, the first of which requires that you have an interaction with one of the machines in his workshop. It's an interesting side quest that allows you to get a valuable magic weapon early on for an archer character.</blockquote>

That's kind of nifty, but what if you're not an archer? And does the archer really need <i>ph4t l3wt</i> bows in the beginning to be effective?

These are the things I gots to know!

It's a side quest, so if you're not an archer, you don't have to complete the quest. If you still want to do it, you can sell the xbow for good money and all quests give experience when you complete them. As for your second question, the archer doesn't need the weapon early on, but it helps!

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

It's a side quest, so if you're not an archer, you don't have to complete the quest. If you still want to do it, you can sell the xbow for good money and all quests give experience when you complete them.

Works for me. I was hoping you weren't going to say, "Well, you can't get the quest without archery skill."

As for your second question, the archer doesn't need the weapon early on, but it helps!

I'm kind of worried about the archery in Lionheart because it's both real time and you have to deal with to-hit rolling. That can be a really tricky balance proposition, one that's incredibly difficult to work out so that players don't get hosed by it.

 

[Eric Dallaire]

It's a side quest, so if you're not an archer, you don't have to complete the quest. If you still want to do it, you can sell the xbow for good money and all quests give experience when you complete them.

Works for me. I was hoping you weren't going to say, "Well, you can't get the quest without archery skill."

As for your second question, the archer doesn't need the weapon early on, but it helps!

I'm kind of worried about the archery in Lionheart because it's both real time and you have to deal with to-hit rolling. That can be a really tricky balance proposition, one that's incredibly difficult to work out so that players don't get hosed by it.

Archers have the potential to be the masters of critical hits. With a high perception, they get critical bonuses, and with high ranged skill archers can also get additional critical chance. By using the targeting doll to target a vulnerable spot, archers have better chances for serious crits to the legs and heads of enemies. Knocking down and stunning opponents with arrow crits is nice, because it adds about 3-4 extra volleys while the creature is on the ground, which seems to usually spelll the doom for a mob. Interesting note, some QA people have told me that archery is too strong right now, something we're looking into.

 

[triCritical]

Don't nerf the archers!

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

What's the formula for the critical chance on that, then?

 

[Vault Dweller]

May be it's a secret formula, like that of Coca-Cola or something :D

 

[triCritical]

May be it's a secret formula, like that of Coca-Cola or something :D

Just is long as its not the *new* formula.

 

[Eric Dallaire]

What's the formula for the critical chance on that, then?

Using a ranged weapon, a Perception of 8-9 adds a 1% critical chance. PE of 10 adds 2%, 11 adds 3%, 12 adds 4%, etc.

 

[Spazmo]

Just how far can one's stats actually go in Lionheart? What's the highest single stat you've seen once magic modifers are applied?

 

[Jed]

By using the targeting doll to target a vulnerable spot, archers have better chances for serious crits to the legs and heads of enemies.

I'm concerned how well using the targeting doll works out in real-time. I'm afraid the answer is, "Pause to use it," which begs the question of why not just make it turn-based, etc., blah, blah, blah. Maybe I just shouldn't ask...

 

[Saint_Proverbius]

Just how far can one's stats actually go in Lionheart? What's the highest single stat you've seen once magic modifers are applied?

Yeah, I'm curious about that as well. How exactly do you get a perception of 11 through 12+?

 

[triCritical]

By using the targeting doll to target a vulnerable spot, archers have better chances for serious crits to the legs and heads of enemies.

I'm concerned how well using the targeting doll works out in real-time. I'm afraid the answer is, "Pause to use it," which begs the question of why not just make it turn-based, etc., blah, blah, blah. Maybe I just shouldn't ask...

I would agree. And as much as I dislike the idea of a bastardized combat system, I think it would be incredibly difficult to do targeting without a pause.

On a different note, what I really want to know is how feasable an archer is before he is swamped by enemies and is useless. Or is an archer a character that can cripple enemies slowing them down enough to buy time and then kill them all afterword?.

 

[Rosh]

An archer would pretty much be a one at a time character, as can be seen in Diablo 2, and other games that have such a system. Most others, however, have some sort of crowd-control fire.

Frankly, the run, pause, aim, unpause and fire, or any modification of that, would be a tan annying to time just right.

 

[Spazmo]

Diablo 2 makes amazons with bows viable by giving a number of skills that can hurt mutiple enemies, like multishot, which divides one arrow into several, hurting a whole mob. Whether or not LH features such balancing elements remains to be seen.