Suggestion: Actives!

vheraun · May 2013

One of my most favorite things in RPGs (mainly NWN and Baldur's Gate, but any who might have this option), is the option to use items with active abilities. Sort of like the Cloak of Useless Items, they could emit light, do a spell once a day, stealth the player, give infravision, and all sorts of interesting things. Such enchanted items are one of the trademarks of D&D, and since it can be done (like the aforementioned cloak), I would welcome it.

Obviously, most of these items should be quite rare and/or expensive, perhaps except for the ones that are just for immersion and don't actually help in terms of gaming (e.g. a ring that projects light).

On a side notice, I think racial actives would be awesome as well. Think of the tieflings' seduction, the drows' shadow spheres and faerie fire... (I know the latter exists, but it's not active)

I am a roleplayer and I think that such items would grant the game another level of depth and immersion. Any thoughts?

braxzana · May 2013

Somewhere along the way I picked up a cloak that gives me invisibility for, like, 30 seconds or something with an hour recharge. I haven't actually tried USING it to see if it'd let me sneak past foes without aggro (the raw stealth of a rogue won't --- assuming you could get in and out of aggro range while it lasted). I imagine the pet would aggro, so you'd need to get rid of that, before trying.

I wouldn't be averse to having such active devices as long as they did not occupy a gear slot or, if they did, their function was not intended for immediate combat so you would have time to swap out.

gummibear2 · May 2013

Also the guardian of neverwinter pack have a ring that gives a purplish trail after you (at your hand ofc), unfortunately it stat snot really good past lvl 15-20 or so and you cant change appearance of rings

vheraun · May 2013

braxzana, I NEED to find this cloak!

But yes, both of you guys, this is the kind of stuff I'm talking about, I'd just like them to be more than a couple.

enderlin50 · May 2013

I had a cloak in NWN2 that could cast web 1x/day it was really useful if I needed to break off from a large group and catch my breath.

enderlin50 · May 2013

Honestly they could make this happen. You just put the item where your potions go, the Cloak of Useless items can go there. Like my post ^, a Drow from Menzo may have a cloak with Web, or maybe you have a ring that can do a single Teleport(like CW shift) every 5min, AoE blind(daze within melee range), And ofc these could be unique or if you have a duplicate they share cooldowns or however to make them not get abused.

ranguren · May 2013

yea I agree, those "item skill" is so special in NWN, well this game might not be NWN but why not? it is still NW right?

vheraun · May 2013

This is exactly what I'm talking about enderlin, you put it better than I did. It would add so much immersion and depth in no cost at all.

Ranguren, thanks for the support

vheraun · May 2013

Bump. (I didn't know the post needs to be long enough, but this bracket here should suffice)

braxzana · May 2013

The cloak I was talking about was, I think, a quest reward so if you just do the story missions you'll eventually get it. I want to say it was Cloak of the Maelstrom but I may be mis-remembering (I'm at work :P)

vheraun · May 2013

Bumping...

drewbert1 · May 2013

I wouldn't be averse to having such active devices as long as they did not occupy a gear slot or, if they did, their function was not intended for immediate combat so you would have time to swap out.

ah no... Frodo has to actually slip the ring on his finger before he turns invis, otherwise it doesn't make much sense. The trick is to balance things in such a way that items have competitive stats along with the secondary power. Or make hot swaps possible in other cases, which comes down to a skill issue.

vheraun · May 2013

drewbert1 wrote: »

ah no... Frodo has to actually slip the ring on his finger before he turns invis, otherwise it doesn't make much sense. The trick is to balance things in such a way that items have competitive stats along with the secondary power. Or make hot swaps possible in other cases, which comes down to a skill issue.

I'll agree to that, we would need to actually wear the amulet/ring/whatever for its powers to work. Isn't it like this with all enchanted equipment?

braxzana · May 2013

Not all - you can use the Robe of Useless Items, for example, from inventory -- it doesn't equip it on you. I -think- the invis cloak I have works from inventory, too, but I hardly ever use it, so I could be wrong.

I also haven't tried hot-swapping equipment during combat... except, I think may have dragged a healing potion from inventory into the belt pouch hotkey bar once when I realized I was OUT, unexpectedly. So it may be possible to swap in combat (although they may prohibit swapping ARMOR and just allow swapping potions/devices in the belt pouch).

vheraun · May 2013

Well, I think it would be more immersive to have to wear the item to use it. And I never was one for hot-swapping. These are details though, all I want is for this idea to catch on.

drewbert1 · May 2013

braxzana wrote: »

I also haven't tried hot-swapping equipment during combat... except, I think may have dragged a healing potion from inventory into the belt pouch hotkey bar once when I realized I was OUT, unexpectedly. So it may be possible to swap in combat (although they may prohibit swapping ARMOR and just allow swapping potions/devices in the belt pouch).

It should be a part of basic strategy. Like in NWN of yore if you faced a mixed encounter of undead with a tough construct you would dispatch the undead with a mace of disruption, then swap out for something to deal with the golem. But I suppose that's too mind blowing of a concept for people around here to grasp. Wow does away with such considerations entirely, of course, and I don't expect this to be any different.

uvirith1 · May 2013

drewbert1 wrote: »

It should be a part of basic strategy. Like in NWN of yore if you faced a mixed encounter of undead with a tough construct you would dispatch the undead with a mace of disruption, then swap out for something to deal with the golem. But I suppose that's too mind blowing of a concept for people around here to grasp. Wow does away with such considerations entirely, of course, and I don't expect this to be any different.

The poster you quoted talked about prohibit changing ARMOR, not everything.
Your sample with the mace is perfectly fine. But starting to change your pants in the middle of the fight while surrounded by undead and a construct should most definitely be prohibited. Unless you are trained in Supermodel-Fastchange of course.

panderus · May 2013

We purposefully steered away from items with active powers that are useful in combat since the potion tray effectively becomes an extension of your power bar. But it is a very D&D thing so we may explore the idea later on, who knows.

That said, we want way more "Fundrous Items" as we have been calling them. Similar to the Robe of Useless Items and Ring of Violet Light. There might have been one the other day involving a chicken...

ambisinisterr · May 2013

panderus wrote: »

We purposefully steered away from items with active powers that are useful in combat since the potion tray effectively becomes an extension of your power bar. But it is a very D&D thing so we may explore the idea later on, who knows.

That said, we want way more "Fundrous Items" as we have been calling them. Similar to the Robe of Useless Items and Ring of Violet Light. There might have been one the other day involving a chicken...

D&D isn't complete without people like Jarlaxle and their Batman Utility Belt.

Batman would be jealous of this.

vheraun · May 2013

ambisinisterr wrote: »

D&D isn't complete without people like Jarlaxle and their Batman Utility Belt.

Batman would be jealous of this.

Seems I'm not the only one who thought about this...
Thanks you, panderus, and I hope to see more such items soon!

Everybody else, thanks for the support and ideas.

vheraun · May 2013

I'll bump this a few more times, want to see more opinions on the subject...

wininoid · May 2013

I'm sad that my Robe of Useless items is just an inventory item and isn't an actual robe I can wear in my Costume outfit page.

<---- me being sad.

enderlin50 · May 2013

panderus wrote: »

We purposefully steered away from items with active powers that are useful in combat since the potion tray effectively becomes an extension of your power bar. But it is a very D&D thing so we may explore the idea later on, who knows.

That said, we want way more "Fundrous Items" as we have been calling them. Similar to the Robe of Useless Items and Ring of Violet Light. There might have been one the other day involving a chicken...

I made a suggestion long time ago for items that give racial illusions. It would fit into "Fundrous" since it doesn't effect combat at all.

Another thing could be a "Coin" that when clicked from your bar has the player flipping a coin over and over... Could be a neat thing for Tymora followers.

slowshield · May 2013

This is one of the *BEST* suggestions that have been raised since closed beta. I wonder if DEVs have considered implementing this?
Having items with ACTIVE abilities will make the game so much more fun for everyone, role-players or non-rp players alike... like boots of higher jumping + 5 cm would be so cool?

slowshield · May 2013

panderus wrote: »

We purposefully steered away from items with active powers that are useful in combat since the potion tray effectively becomes an extension of your power bar. But it is a very D&D thing so we may explore the idea later on, who knows.

That said, we want way more "Fundrous Items" as we have been calling them. Similar to the Robe of Useless Items and Ring of Violet Light. There might have been one the other day involving a chicken...

Thank you for your reply! Great to know you guys are considering it. Yes it is a D&D thing and we really look forward to it.

Suggestion: Actives!

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