Archery is a theme, not a power. Means far more flexibility.

AmbiDreamer wrote:

Doctor Tyche wrote:
Archery is a theme, not a power. Means far more flexibility.

But the actual powers would be variations on archery then right? If so, doesn't that mean it's both?

I imagine it being like this:
[img]http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/news_20061227.jpg[/img]

Where the Bow can look like a plain Bow... (or whatever bow theme variations exist)
... and the Arrow can Match your Attack powerset.

- If its Light.. then it can look like a Psyonic light. (color tint-able)
- if its Electric.. then it can look like a lightning bolt. (color tint-able)
- if its Fire... then it can look like Hot Steaming Iron just as if it was made by an Iron-worker. (color tint-able)
- if its Ice.. etc... (color tint-able)
- etc... (color tint-able)

And the Valentines Pack that you can get from the inGame Store can give us:
[img]http://i.imgur.com/HVJyrC4.png[/img] ;)

As has been said before, animations are not linked to powers. So, there could be a set of powers that seem like things you'd expect an archer to be able to do, but they would not be hardwired to animations of bows and arrows, you could pick a animations of throwing things, or firing projectiles from a grenade-launcher, or even have the effects coming out of your forehead. You should also be able to pick an animation of shooting a bow and arrow but a completely different set (pick cold-based ranged powers and now your arrows are assumed to be variations on ice arrows, for instance).

Now, *every* possible combination of animation style and power will not be possible, either for technical reasons, because the animation folks haven't gotten around to making it yet, or because it would look silly. I'm not on the tech department so don't take any of the above-mentioned things as guaranteed to be in the game, particularly at launch.

There's one other thing I've been pondering about. I've read as much as I could on this subject, but I admit, it's still a little blurry for me.

I have three questions:

1. How varied is a theme/power combination (1 theme/1 power or 8 themes/1 power or 8 themes/8 powers)
2. Once choosing your theme/power, is your power entire set's output predestined (no choice in power arrangement), or can you fine turn each ability in your power set ( I could pick 3 quick attacks (2 standard dmg, 1 with DoT), 3 cone medium attacks, 1 aoe attack, 1 heavy attack if I wanted to)?
3. If I were to make a power set for one character, which of these would/would not exist?:

Theme - Power - Output

example 1
1: Archery - Cold - Mid Range/Low Damage
2: Eyes - Cold - Mid Range/Medium Damage
3: Archery - Cold - Three Rapid Burst Mid Range/Medium Damage
4: Both Hands - Cold - Long Range/High Damage
5: Archery - Cold - Long Range/Stun/Low Damage

example2
1: Archery - Cold - Mid Range/Low Damage
2: Eyes - Burning - Mid Range/Medium Damage
3: Assault Rifle - Lethal - Three Rapid Burst Mid Range/Medium Damage
4: Both Hands - Cold - Long Range/High Damage
5: Exploding Ninja Stars - Piercing - Long Range/Stun/Low Damage

example3
1: Archery - Cold - Mid Range/Low Damage
2: Archery - Cold - Mid Range/Medium Damage
3: Archery - Cold - Three Rapid Burst Mid Range/Medium Damage
4: Archery - Cold - Long Range/High Damage
5: Archery - Cold - Long Range/Stun/Low Damage

Ok awesome. Either one I'm all about.

dragonhawk wrote:

One thing I would avoid is an area that DCU fell into. If you are going to tie powers into weapons like DCU did, so that I am shooting fire arrows if I have a bow, fire blasts from my hands if I go bare handed, heat beams if I choose eyes,..., then you need to make sure the damage wont be different for different weapons/delivery systems. If first fire attack (cal it fire blast) does 100 damage, then it should stay 100 damage whether its a blast coming from my hand, a beam from eyes, an arrow or a blast from a staff. Anything else will just lead to issues down the road, as the inevitable min/maxing kicks in. Yes animations will affect dps but if the damage baseline starts out the same then draw animations (like with a bow) wont be a big factor.

The idea that the amount of damage a power does would be different based on where it comes from seems completely arbitrary and highly unlikely given everything I've seen here. As you say the only outcome of that would be the death of diversity and Min/Maxing to the hilt - basically no one would choose a sub-optimal location for their powers.

Sounds like the folks at MWM are going to do their very best to avoid hardwiring any power directly to any weapon or focus point. This means if you want you could link your weakest attack power to a bow, your strongest attack power to a bow or anything in-between, including not using a bow at all. The whole idea is to get away from the old paradigm of "if you want power X, Y or Z you must accept specific, hardwired animations or weapons with those powers". Physical weapons in CoT then effectively become cosmetic "costume item" props that you choose to hold as far as the mechanics of the game are concerned.