KickStarter Solasta: Crown of the Magister Thread - now with Palace of Ice sequel DLC

[Fatberg Slim]

https://www.solasta-game.com/news/166-dev-update-32-monks-if-you-got-a-butt

Dev Update #32 - Monks: If you got a butt I'll kick it!​

27 October 2022


Hey there folks!
We're back with more information about the upcoming Inner Strength DLC (which releases November 14th), this time featuring the Monk! The perfect opportunity to make references to dumb (but fun) kung fu movies. But before that, here are some of our new hires!

Say hello to Selma and Zelda, our two newest fluffy and adorable hires!

---

I know Kung Fu
If I ask you which class runs around half-naked on the battlefield while smashing enemies left and right, you say... Barbarian, okay I guess that's correct too. But hear this - you want to go even faster? Punch people in the face and kick them in the nuts instead of relying on a big chunk of metal to swing around? Well look no further than Monks. These expert martial artists are simply the fastest among all existing classes, and although they are less durable than most other front liners their speed allows them to quickly get in and out of combat. Each of their strike may not deal large amounts of damage, but they can be empowered with Ki to add debilitating effects, such as the infamous Stunning Strike (which makes many DMs weep for their boss monsters).

First drafts of the Monk outfits
Starting at level 1 Monks get access to Unarmed Defense, allowing them to add their Wisdom modifier to their Armor Class as long as they are not wearing armor. They also get their class-defining feature Martial Arts, which grants them scaling damage when fighting unarmed (from 1d4 at level 1 to 1d8 at level 11), allows them to use Dexterity instead of Strength for those attacks and gives them the ability to do an additional unarmed strike with a bonus action.

Your face to my foot style!
At level 2 Monks get a passive movement speed increase (from +2 cells at level 2 to +4 cells at level 10) with the Unarmored Movement feature, making them the fastest of all classes. They also unlock a pool of Ki points, which is the class resource Monks spend to use most of their powers. By using 1 Ki point and their bonus action, they can use Flurry of Blows to make two additional unarmed strikes, Patient Defense to Dodge, or Step of the Wind to Disengage or Dash and double their jump distance.
At level 3 Monks commit to a Monastic Tradition, which unlocks their Subclass features. They also get Deflect Missiles, which allows them to use their reaction to lower the damage they take from ranged weapon attacks. If Deflect Missiles lowers the damage to zero, a Monk can even spend 1 Ki point to return the projectile to their attacker

Excuse me sir I believe that's yours.
At level 4 Monks get access to Slow Fall, greatly reducing fall damage and allowing them to get back up on their feet immediately after falling.
At level 5, Monks get an Extra Attack like most other martial classes, but they also unlock the bane of all Dungeon Masters... Stunning Strike. By using 1 Ki Point, they can force any creature they hit to roll a Constitution saving throw or be stunned for 1 round. This is where I remind you that Monks can attack 4 times per round thanks to their Flurry of Blows, meaning there is a very high chance whoever they're targeting is in for a very bad time.

Kill bosses with this simple trick! DMs hate it!
At level 6 Monks gain Ki-Empowered Strikes, making their unarmed strikes count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity.
At level 7 Monks gain access to Stillness of Mind, making them immune to the charm and frighten conditions

More color sketches to work on the Monk outfit
At level 10 Monks gain Purity of Body, making them immune to disease and poison. That's a lot of immunities!

---

Way of the Open Hand (SRD)

Open Hand Monks are honed martial artists who can easily take control over the battlefield. Their signature Open Hand Technique automatically adds one of three effects when they use Flurry of Blows - they can either knock their target prone, shove them away or prevent them from taking reactions. At higher levels, they get Wholeness of Body which allows them to heal themselves once per long rest, and with Tranquility they can spend 1 Ki point to cast Shield.

---

Way of Survival (Homebrew)

For Survival Monks, the best offence is a strong defense. With Defensive Stance, they get a bonus +2 AC when not wearing any armor - and they have advantage on attack rolls as long as they are under the effect of Patient Defense. At level 6 they unlock Unbreakable Body, which further enhance their toughness. Patience Defense now also grants resistance to all damage, and taking damage makes you heal a small amount of HP at the start of your next turn. At level 11, Survival Monks turn resilience into power with Unmoving Strength to add their Constitution modifier to unarmed strikes damage rolls.

---

Way of Light (Community)

The winner of the Wishing Well, Light Monks are specialized against creatures who dwell in the dark - such as Soraks! They learn the Light and Shine cantrips with Luminous Ki, and creatures hit by Flurry of Blows automatically start emitting bright light. This enables their level 6 feature Radiant Strikes, which adds radiant damage to each of their attacks when hitting enemies under the effect of Luminous Ki or Shine. Lastly at level 11 they get Blinding Flash, which allows them to use 2 Ki points and their bonus action to deal radiant damage and blind enemies surrounding them.

---

Way of Freedom (Lost Valley)

Freedom Monks are a tempest of blows flying accross the battlefield. With Swift Steps, Flurry of Blows grants them the effect of Dash for free and advantage of their next attack. At level 6, Swirling Dance allows them to use their reaction to counterattack right after an enemy misses them with a melee attack. And at level 11, Unending Strikes improves their Flurry of Blows to attack three times instead of two.

Alright folks, this is the end for today! Next time we'll be talking about the Warlocks. Thank you for reading, and don't hesitate to drop by our Forums or our Discord Server.

I've been holding off on starting this until all of the extra classes are available, but I've been underwhelmed by the info on the Bard and Monk so far. Do the base classes plus Primal Calling and Lost Valley provide enough class variety?

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

I've been holding off on starting this until all of the extra classes are available, but I've been underwhelmed by the info on the Bard and Monk so far. Do the base classes plus Primal Calling and Lost Valley provide enough class variety?

Since Solasta is limited to a party size of just 4, there was never a reason to await the addition of further character classes before playing it. Niche classes such as bard serve, at best, to add variety for subsequent playthroughs.

 

[Lacrymas]

Has this game become good yet?

 

[Cpt. Dallas]

Adding classes won't make this game 'good' and is in general a huge tell that a game is mediocre.

 

[rojay]

https://www.solasta-game.com/news/166-dev-update-32-monks-if-you-got-a-butt

Dev Update #32 - Monks: If you got a butt I'll kick it!​

27 October 2022


Hey there folks!
We're back with more information about the upcoming Inner Strength DLC (which releases November 14th), this time featuring the Monk! The perfect opportunity to make references to dumb (but fun) kung fu movies. But before that, here are some of our new hires!

Say hello to Selma and Zelda, our two newest fluffy and adorable hires!

---

I know Kung Fu
If I ask you which class runs around half-naked on the battlefield while smashing enemies left and right, you say... Barbarian, okay I guess that's correct too. But hear this - you want to go even faster? Punch people in the face and kick them in the nuts instead of relying on a big chunk of metal to swing around? Well look no further than Monks. These expert martial artists are simply the fastest among all existing classes, and although they are less durable than most other front liners their speed allows them to quickly get in and out of combat. Each of their strike may not deal large amounts of damage, but they can be empowered with Ki to add debilitating effects, such as the infamous Stunning Strike (which makes many DMs weep for their boss monsters).

First drafts of the Monk outfits
Starting at level 1 Monks get access to Unarmed Defense, allowing them to add their Wisdom modifier to their Armor Class as long as they are not wearing armor. They also get their class-defining feature Martial Arts, which grants them scaling damage when fighting unarmed (from 1d4 at level 1 to 1d8 at level 11), allows them to use Dexterity instead of Strength for those attacks and gives them the ability to do an additional unarmed strike with a bonus action.

Your face to my foot style!
At level 2 Monks get a passive movement speed increase (from +2 cells at level 2 to +4 cells at level 10) with the Unarmored Movement feature, making them the fastest of all classes. They also unlock a pool of Ki points, which is the class resource Monks spend to use most of their powers. By using 1 Ki point and their bonus action, they can use Flurry of Blows to make two additional unarmed strikes, Patient Defense to Dodge, or Step of the Wind to Disengage or Dash and double their jump distance.
At level 3 Monks commit to a Monastic Tradition, which unlocks their Subclass features. They also get Deflect Missiles, which allows them to use their reaction to lower the damage they take from ranged weapon attacks. If Deflect Missiles lowers the damage to zero, a Monk can even spend 1 Ki point to return the projectile to their attacker

Excuse me sir I believe that's yours.
At level 4 Monks get access to Slow Fall, greatly reducing fall damage and allowing them to get back up on their feet immediately after falling.
At level 5, Monks get an Extra Attack like most other martial classes, but they also unlock the bane of all Dungeon Masters... Stunning Strike. By using 1 Ki Point, they can force any creature they hit to roll a Constitution saving throw or be stunned for 1 round. This is where I remind you that Monks can attack 4 times per round thanks to their Flurry of Blows, meaning there is a very high chance whoever they're targeting is in for a very bad time.

Kill bosses with this simple trick! DMs hate it!
At level 6 Monks gain Ki-Empowered Strikes, making their unarmed strikes count as magical for the purpose of overcoming resistance and immunity.
At level 7 Monks gain access to Stillness of Mind, making them immune to the charm and frighten conditions

More color sketches to work on the Monk outfit
At level 10 Monks gain Purity of Body, making them immune to disease and poison. That's a lot of immunities!

---

Way of the Open Hand (SRD)

Open Hand Monks are honed martial artists who can easily take control over the battlefield. Their signature Open Hand Technique automatically adds one of three effects when they use Flurry of Blows - they can either knock their target prone, shove them away or prevent them from taking reactions. At higher levels, they get Wholeness of Body which allows them to heal themselves once per long rest, and with Tranquility they can spend 1 Ki point to cast Shield.

---

Way of Survival (Homebrew)

For Survival Monks, the best offence is a strong defense. With Defensive Stance, they get a bonus +2 AC when not wearing any armor - and they have advantage on attack rolls as long as they are under the effect of Patient Defense. At level 6 they unlock Unbreakable Body, which further enhance their toughness. Patience Defense now also grants resistance to all damage, and taking damage makes you heal a small amount of HP at the start of your next turn. At level 11, Survival Monks turn resilience into power with Unmoving Strength to add their Constitution modifier to unarmed strikes damage rolls.

---

Way of Light (Community)

The winner of the Wishing Well, Light Monks are specialized against creatures who dwell in the dark - such as Soraks! They learn the Light and Shine cantrips with Luminous Ki, and creatures hit by Flurry of Blows automatically start emitting bright light. This enables their level 6 feature Radiant Strikes, which adds radiant damage to each of their attacks when hitting enemies under the effect of Luminous Ki or Shine. Lastly at level 11 they get Blinding Flash, which allows them to use 2 Ki points and their bonus action to deal radiant damage and blind enemies surrounding them.

---

Way of Freedom (Lost Valley)

Freedom Monks are a tempest of blows flying accross the battlefield. With Swift Steps, Flurry of Blows grants them the effect of Dash for free and advantage of their next attack. At level 6, Swirling Dance allows them to use their reaction to counterattack right after an enemy misses them with a melee attack. And at level 11, Unending Strikes improves their Flurry of Blows to attack three times instead of two.

Alright folks, this is the end for today! Next time we'll be talking about the Warlocks. Thank you for reading, and don't hesitate to drop by our Forums or our Discord Server.

I've been holding off on starting this until all of the extra classes are available, but I've been underwhelmed by the info on the Bard and Monk so far. Do the base classes plus Primal Calling and Lost Valley provide enough class variety?

 

[rojay]

If you're expecting the sort of variety in the Pathfinder games, you will be disappointed. There aren't anywhere near as many options on level up, either. Usually the "feats" are inferior to just getting two more ability points in my experience. But overall the combat is well-done, and there are a number of pretty good fan-made modules available. They're continuing to release improvements to the DM tools, too, which were pretty bare-bones on release. I think it's a good game.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Usually the "feats" are inferior to just getting two more ability points in my experience.

Many of them give you additional attributes as well as benefits. The only reason to pick attributes is if you really want something that won't get raised by picking anything else, and even then, many of those feat benefits are useful for different characters.

 

[Artyoan]

If you're expecting the sort of variety in the Pathfinder games, you will be disappointed. There aren't anywhere near as many options on level up, either. Usually the "feats" are inferior to just getting two more ability points in my experience. But overall the combat is well-done, and there are a number of pretty good fan-made modules available. They're continuing to release improvements to the DM tools, too, which were pretty bare-bones on release. I think it's a good game.

They are adding bosses to the DM in the next patch. Should help. They really need to program the AI to allow for custom monsters to cast anything and have the parameters of those spells be customizable. That could make the difficulty of the DM a lot more complex. As it is now, a custom low level caster is near worthless at high levels as they cast ineffective spells.

The DM really could be something great if they keep at it. More tilesets, more monsters, just more. As it is now, its still good though. Well worth looking into beyond the official campaigns.

 

[rojay]

If you're expecting the sort of variety in the Pathfinder games, you will be disappointed. There aren't anywhere near as many options on level up, either. Usually the "feats" are inferior to just getting two more ability points in my experience. But overall the combat is well-done, and there are a number of pretty good fan-made modules available. They're continuing to release improvements to the DM tools, too, which were pretty bare-bones on release. I think it's a good game.

They are adding bosses to the DM in the next patch. Should help. They really need to program the AI to allow for custom monsters to cast anything and have the parameters of those spells be customizable. That could make the difficulty of the DM a lot more complex. As it is now, a custom low level caster is near worthless at high levels as they cast ineffective spells.

The DM really could be something great if they keep at it. More tilesets, more monsters, just more. As it is now, its still good though. Well worth looking into beyond the official campaigns.

I've been relatively happy with enemy AI; even in custom modules. Playing through one called "Lost Isle" or something now and enemy spellcasters not only cast things like lightning bolt (which they seem to prefer to cast when they can line it up) they frequently also move behind cover or try to get out of range of my melee characters.

Usually the "feats" are inferior to just getting two more ability points in my experience.

Many of them give you additional attributes as well as benefits. The only reason to pick attributes is if you really want something that won't get raised by picking anything else, and even then, many of those feat benefits are useful for different characters.

There are a few feats I've found useful, and some of those also give you an attribute point. The one that allows a follow-up strike if you have a two-handed weapon equipped is good, and I sometimes take archery/ambidextrous feats. What are the best feats in your experience?

 

[Artyoan]

If you're expecting the sort of variety in the Pathfinder games, you will be disappointed. There aren't anywhere near as many options on level up, either. Usually the "feats" are inferior to just getting two more ability points in my experience. But overall the combat is well-done, and there are a number of pretty good fan-made modules available. They're continuing to release improvements to the DM tools, too, which were pretty bare-bones on release. I think it's a good game.

They are adding bosses to the DM in the next patch. Should help. They really need to program the AI to allow for custom monsters to cast anything and have the parameters of those spells be customizable. That could make the difficulty of the DM a lot more complex. As it is now, a custom low level caster is near worthless at high levels as they cast ineffective spells.

The DM really could be something great if they keep at it. More tilesets, more monsters, just more. As it is now, its still good though. Well worth looking into beyond the official campaigns.

I've been relatively happy with enemy AI; even in custom modules. Playing through one called "Lost Isle" or something now and enemy spellcasters not only cast things like lightning bolt (which they seem to prefer to cast when they can line it up) they frequently also move behind cover or try to get out of range of my melee characters.

Usually the "feats" are inferior to just getting two more ability points in my experience.

Many of them give you additional attributes as well as benefits. The only reason to pick attributes is if you really want something that won't get raised by picking anything else, and even then, many of those feat benefits are useful for different characters.

There are a few feats I've found useful, and some of those also give you an attribute point. The one that allows a follow-up strike if you have a two-handed weapon equipped is good, and I sometimes take archery/ambidextrous feats. What are the best feats in your experience?

The AI isn't too bad as it is. They would need to accommodate any unit casting potentially any spell ideally. As it is now, I can't customize monsters that are casters nearly enough to make them a balanced threat at any level. I can customize melee or archer enemies almost entirely as I would want, but a skeleton mage will still cast the exact same stuff no matter how much I change his attributes. At high levels only the archmages and dragons can really provide that AoE pressure, which is limiting.

If you're playing the Forsaken Isle, that is my campaign.

 

[Darkwind]

I've been holding off on starting this until all of the extra classes are available, but I've been underwhelmed by the info on the Bard and Monk so far. Do the base classes plus Primal Calling and Lost Valley provide enough class variety?

Since Solasta is limited to a party size of just 4, there was never a reason to await the addition of further character classes before playing it. Niche classes such as bard serve, at best, to add variety for subsequent playthroughs.

This is why everyone should be running the Community Patch from NexusMods which increases default party size to 6. That way you can add in those "niche" classes in the last 2 slots to see what they bring to the table as well.

 

[Lacrymas]

4 Bards meta.

 

[rojay]

If you're expecting the sort of variety in the Pathfinder games, you will be disappointed. There aren't anywhere near as many options on level up, either. Usually the "feats" are inferior to just getting two more ability points in my experience. But overall the combat is well-done, and there are a number of pretty good fan-made modules available. They're continuing to release improvements to the DM tools, too, which were pretty bare-bones on release. I think it's a good game.

They are adding bosses to the DM in the next patch. Should help. They really need to program the AI to allow for custom monsters to cast anything and have the parameters of those spells be customizable. That could make the difficulty of the DM a lot more complex. As it is now, a custom low level caster is near worthless at high levels as they cast ineffective spells.

The DM really could be something great if they keep at it. More tilesets, more monsters, just more. As it is now, its still good though. Well worth looking into beyond the official campaigns.

I've been relatively happy with enemy AI; even in custom modules. Playing through one called "Lost Isle" or something now and enemy spellcasters not only cast things like lightning bolt (which they seem to prefer to cast when they can line it up) they frequently also move behind cover or try to get out of range of my melee characters.

Usually the "feats" are inferior to just getting two more ability points in my experience.

Many of them give you additional attributes as well as benefits. The only reason to pick attributes is if you really want something that won't get raised by picking anything else, and even then, many of those feat benefits are useful for different characters.

There are a few feats I've found useful, and some of those also give you an attribute point. The one that allows a follow-up strike if you have a two-handed weapon equipped is good, and I sometimes take archery/ambidextrous feats. What are the best feats in your experience?

The AI isn't too bad as it is. They would need to accommodate any unit casting potentially any spell ideally. As it is now, I can't customize monsters that are casters nearly enough to make them a balanced threat at any level. I can customize melee or archer enemies almost entirely as I would want, but a skeleton mage will still cast the exact same stuff no matter how much I change his attributes. At high levels only the archmages and dragons can really provide that AoE pressure, which is limiting.

If you're playing the Forsaken Isle, that is my campaign.

That's what I'm playing, and it's really great.

 

[mediocrepoet]

Usually the "feats" are inferior to just getting two more ability points in my experience.

Many of them give you additional attributes as well as benefits. The only reason to pick attributes is if you really want something that won't get raised by picking anything else, and even then, many of those feat benefits are useful for different characters.

There are a few feats I've found useful, and some of those also give you an attribute point. The one that allows a follow-up strike if you have a two-handed weapon equipped is good, and I sometimes take archery/ambidextrous feats. What are the best feats in your experience?

Archery and ambidexterity as you mention are decent and worth a +1 dex. Eager for battle gives advantage on initiative and +1 dex.
Hauler gives +1 strength and extra carrying capacity which is pretty much always useful. Sylvan archer (+1 dex and ignore half and 3/4 cover when firing a bow) is probably the best overall imo for an archer.

Some of the non-stat boosting stuff that's decent are things like twin blade (for a dual wielder) - use reaction to get +3AC vs. melee. Similiarly raise shield lets you use your reaction to get +3 AC vs. ranged and shield proficiency if you didn't already have it. Hard to kill is alright and offers +1 CON as well as advantages for anyone that's downed if you're playing something where that might be an issue. Armor master has no attribute boost but gives +1 AC in all armour, which is decent if you're dex capped in your armour.

etc.

Anyway, imo most of them are at least situationally better than +2 attribute points. Of course, attributes are more valuable in a point buy situation than in a rolled attribute situation. Either way though since your attribute maximum is 20, bonuses are only on even amounts and point buy will start you with some odd values like 15, you're going to be just as well off taking a +1 as a +2. The only feats that are sort of lame imo are the saving throw feats, the spellcasting ones, and the non-stat boosting weapon proficiency ones.

YMMV, but I prefer the moderate boost and situational bonus. If I run out of stuff that I want, then I'll consider going for the stat boost, but with the lower level cap and few feats that you get, this isn't normally an issue except possibly on a caster.

 

[lycanwarrior]

If you're expecting the sort of variety in the Pathfinder games, you will be disappointed. There aren't anywhere near as many options on level up, either. Usually the "feats" are inferior to just getting two more ability points in my experience. But overall the combat is well-done, and there are a number of pretty good fan-made modules available. They're continuing to release improvements to the DM tools, too, which were pretty bare-bones on release. I think it's a good game.

It is an in-built limitation of the DnD 5e table-top rules. Which is why I think 5e is not really suited for video games IMHO.

 

[lycanwarrior]

Finished the Lost Valley DLC last month and had some fun with it. Although lack of variety in the environments for the different locations is a major downside.

 

[Lacrymas]

If you're expecting the sort of variety in the Pathfinder games, you will be disappointed. There aren't anywhere near as many options on level up, either. Usually the "feats" are inferior to just getting two more ability points in my experience. But overall the combat is well-done, and there are a number of pretty good fan-made modules available. They're continuing to release improvements to the DM tools, too, which were pretty bare-bones on release. I think it's a good game.

It is an in-built limitation of the DnD 5e table-top rules. Which is why I think 5e is not really suited for video games IMHO.

There is no reason why 5E couldn't work as a video game adaptation, Solasta just thoroughly fails at encounter design and it can't showcase that.

 

[lycanwarrior]

If you're expecting the sort of variety in the Pathfinder games, you will be disappointed. There aren't anywhere near as many options on level up, either. Usually the "feats" are inferior to just getting two more ability points in my experience. But overall the combat is well-done, and there are a number of pretty good fan-made modules available. They're continuing to release improvements to the DM tools, too, which were pretty bare-bones on release. I think it's a good game.

It is an in-built limitation of the DnD 5e table-top rules. Which is why I think 5e is not really suited for video games IMHO.

There is no reason why 5E couldn't work as a video game adaptation, Solasta just thoroughly fails at encounter design and it can't showcase that.

Sure it could technically work. It would just feel very shallow in comparison to DND 3.0/3.5 based games at least in terms of character customization IMHO.

 

[Larianshill]

Yeah, tell me more about that fabled 3.5 character customization. Million character options, except 99% of them are garbage and might actually be intentionally designed to be bad.

 

[Acrux]

might actually be intentionally designed to be bad.

I don't really believe Monte Cook's statement about that, at least for most of those options. Comparing "trap" choices in a tabletop game to those in a CCG - where you can control for card rarity - fundamentally doesn't make sense. I mean, that would imply the game designers don't know what they are talking about.

Anyway, yes, there are a lot of ridiculous classes and feats, but most of them are 3rd party splatbooks. Personally, I think sticking with an E6 or Pathfinder P6 game (and limiting to a select core set of books) gives the optimal experience of keeping an old-school feeling with more character creation decisions.

 

[Larianshill]

Absolute majority of the ridiculous classes are in Player's Handbook, though.

 

[Lacrymas]

There are too many classes even in 5E where they were boiled down to their barest essentials. Monk, Sorcerer, Ranger, Paladin, Barbarian are all more or less superfluous and their one gimmick can be given as a subclass or feat choice to other classes.

 

[Parabalus]

There are too many classes even in 5E where they were boiled down to their barest essentials. Monk, Sorcerer, Ranger, Paladin, Barbarian are all more or less superfluous and their one gimmick can be given as a subclass or feat choice to other classes.

But at least in Solasta Barb, Sorc and Paladin are very different from wizards/fighters?

 

[gurugeorge]

There are too many classes even in 5E where they were boiled down to their barest essentials. Monk, Sorcerer, Ranger, Paladin, Barbarian are all more or less superfluous and their one gimmick can be given as a subclass or feat choice to other classes.

There are different classes not just for mechanics reasons but for roleplay reasons. Otherwise you might as well be playing Pong.

 

[rusty_shackleford]

There are different classes not just for mechanics reasons but for roleplay reasons. Otherwise you might as well be playing Pong.

buildfags will never understand this, everything is just numbers to their autism