For GemStone (or any MMO), development is never complete. There is almost always something that can be done to improve a profession or the game. It just comes down to the amount of resources and priority. Comparatively speaking, Empaths have received a lot of development work in the last couple of years and overall, they're in a good position. That isn't to say they couldn't use more updates or never will again, but we're currently focusing on some other areas in the game.

For Empaths, I would definitely like to fill the 1135 and 1140 spell slots (and welcome any player ideas for these). In addition, I'd like to make healing more interactive and dangerous, and further differentiate healing and hunting Empaths via training options. It's doubtful any guild skill work will be done, as the amount of work required for them usually doesn't justify the end result.

GameMaster Estild

My one plea is that, when thinking of ways to differentiate "hunting" vs. "healing" empaths, focus on field healing rather than town healing. There are a lot of things that on paper look like good ideas for spicing up town healing when you have all the time in the world to interact with patients, but to me the ideal image of a healer stands in a raging battlefield suffering every blow to keep her allies alive as long as she can still draw breath. Saving people from certain death in the field, and knowing it was only possible because you chose a healer's path, would be a whole lot more fulfilling than -x seconds roundtime while sitting in a sanctuary.

<<what happens to a scar with an overlying wound? It just stays there?>>

Taking a wound that's over top of a scar eliminates the scar entirely. It's been like that for well over 12 years, and is the basis of the empath practice of 'cleaning up.'

Gretchen

Meeting Nilandia: http://gsguide.wikia.com/wiki/Nilandia
Nilandia's GS4 Info Repository: http://www.nilandia.com
AIM: Lady Nilandia

>>- Damage equivalent to taking a crit of the rank you're healing along with the wound.<<

Please elaborate how this would work.

Instead of just "taking" a rank 3 missing arm wound you would "suffer" an arm loss like a physical blow. It would deal damage as if you'd just been hit hard enough to rip your arm off and maybe even a stun. It would add a random damage element to an empath taking wounds that would add some element of danger to healing.

>>- Remove the base healing spell RT reduction from empath spell training and put more of it into transformation lore instead.<<

Meh; that's a wash either way. You can always train in FA and heal down with herbs.

Yeap or you can train in transformation lore and reduce the RT from your healing spells. Either way it's extra training and/or cost a healing empath has to incur that would differentiate them from a hunting empath.

>>- Some lore related addition to allow empaths to transfer scars, preferably with a lore that isn't useful to combat empaths<<

That's fine as far as just pure scars go; what happens to a scar with an overlying wound? It just stays there?

PatientX has a scar. Empath with the right lore can transfer that scar. PatientX has a wound. The empath just transfers that wound as normal with no change. This is suggesting an added ability to transfer scars from people who healed down with herbs and possibly even get experience from them.

>>- Lore requirements for transferring wounds<<

Absolutely not. How would young empaths who don't have enough TPs for much lore training ever get to transfer a wound? Would also penalize combat empaths who hunt in groups (not to mention their party members if they can't get healed in the field anymore!)

Well if they want to be a healer they would dedicate the points to healing much like a locksmith rogue dedicates the points to picking. The whole point here was "how do we differentiate healing empaths from hunting empaths through training" wasn't it? Empaths who hunt in groups would have some minor base ability to heal with troll's blood for their group or they could train for it.


I'm not married to any of the ideas here. I was just spit balling but the idea is to make healing have a cost so an empath has to choose to be a great healer, a great hunter or a mix of being decent but not great at both. The answer to every idea can't be "but that would stop an empath from being able to do everything" because that is kinda the point.

Keith/Brinret/Shiun

Be nice to Wyrom or I will cut you!

Glad I got a discussion going! :)

Not glad to hear no more Empath guild skills forthcoming. :(

Will start thinking about 1135 and 1140. Are mass target attack spells a possibility? (one idea: move empathic link to 1135 or 1140, open cast leads to mass targeting based on lores, go from there)

Rishi
- Player of Kembal

---

Speaking to Plur, Belnia says, "You're no Kembal."

>>Instead of just "taking" a rank 3 missing arm wound you would "suffer" an arm loss like a physical blow. It would deal damage as if you'd just been hit hard enough to rip your arm off and maybe even a stun. It would add a random damage element to an empath taking wounds that would add some element of danger to healing.

I don't see the appeal to this. That said, if you are going to do this then there would need to be some kind of reward to offset the new danger. Not sure how you would go about that, but if you are going to make healing dangerous in the equivalent of hunting then there needs to be some way to make it equally rewarding as hunting.



1135 - as mentioned in the spells thread, I like the idea of a crowd control spell equivalent to 435. Mass Heal/Harm Does blood loss to all critters present and puts them into RT or stuns.

And why should healing anyone in town have any sort of risk attached in the first place?

Quite simply because every other experience gaining activity of note involves some level of risk.

Keith/Brinret/Shiun

Be nice to Wyrom or I will cut you!

>>Quite simply because every other experience gaining activity of note involves some level of risk.<<

Seriously? That's your rationale? Fail!

OK, I will ignore the fact that you can hunt quite a few areas of the game risk free if you tank up with outside spells, nor will I mention that it is possible to locksmith almost totally risk free as well (ooops, I just mentioned it; oh well ...), and simply counter with the argument that no other experience gaining activity directly benefits other characters so directly; penalizing this would be counterproductive to all.

The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me

Keep the fun factor in mind while tossing around these ideas people. Some of the ideas mentioned above could leave it in need of a Cleric.

If the ideas finally used screw over the empath profession badly enough many will stop healing others in most cases. Think before you strike.

Yeah, I don't see people sitting around waiting for patients these days.

About the only idea I like is the use of stamina when transferring wounds. Nothing too drastic, but small amounts for minors (2-5 pts for minors, double that for bleeders, and maybe a racial penalty of 1-2 pts if transferring from a different race. Nothing for transferring blood, since it is easily possible to kill yourself doing that already.)

Also, guild skill to transfer scars? (I know, guild skills are too much work. But this seems an appropriate way to make this happen...)

Rishi
- Player of Kembal

---

Speaking to Plur, Belnia says, "You're no Kembal."

Do Healer's really need more difficulties with healing others? Particularly when out with a hunting group.

We already have:

Long healing RTs, a level three wound, no Transformation Lore RTs and figuring wound healing RTs are half the scar RT, would be something like 15 seconds for the level three wound, 15 seconds for the level 2 wound, 8 seconds for the level one wound, 32 seconds for the level three scar, and 32 seconds for the level two scar. A total of 102 seconds of waiting for the healer to deal with that one wound. Someone fairly beat up has three or four wounds and the RTs all add up. The hunting group has to sit and wait for the Healer to sit through all the RTs instead of spending that time continuing to have fun hunting. A real speed bump in the fun of a hunting trip each time a member of the party gets wounded. Especially if the Healer is only single trained in Harness Power and has to wait for his mana to regenerate so he can finish dealing with the wounds and scars.

Any level two scar not healed up blocks the Healer from dragging anyone to a safe spot for healing.

Any level two head scar, and likely nerve scar, not healed up blocks clearing your mind limiting learning to 1 point of experience every couple of minutes.

Any 2 level 2 scars not healed up on his arms and hands, or level 2 eye, head, or nerve scars will block a Healers casting Spirit spells. All he can cast are empath spells.

Some level 2 scars block searching a monsters body for loot.

The Healer, likely a pure caster these days, also has to wait on mana to regenerate so he can join back in with having fun hunting. So he faces even a longer wait and not have fun time than the hunting group that has to wait on his going through all the healing RTs so he's not limited by his unhealed scars and can fully join back in unimpaired by scars.