User talk:LEAFIARA

Here I write about Gemstone Life, The Gemstone Universe, and Gemstone Everything!

Thoughts on Alchemy

Alchemy is a great idea. For execution, though... Other than the [[::Enchanting_potion#Pre-tempering_Potions|pre-tempering potions]] and fancy new titles, is anything from alchemy worth it?

Look at a [[::Wisdom_potion#Greater_wisdom_potion|greater wisdom potion]], for example... It's +10 Wisdom for two sips of 30 minutes each. That sounds great, but you have to throw tens of millions of silvers into mastering potions and then still have to give up like 50k of materials to make one.

Compare that with forging, which can improve every attack for the rest of your life forever and is less time consuming to master and only costs one or two million silver to master! Or even compare it to recharging [[::Enhancive_item|enhancives]].

The payoff to alchemy is just really lacking.

Wishlist

• Decrease difficulty (e.g. lighting cauldrons)
• Decrease RTs
• Make the stat-boosting potions last longer, maybe even having Magic Item Use add duration on top of the basic thirty minutes

Note: I'd call improving alchemy by far one of the lower priorities of changes I'd like to see, but I definitely won't object if some GM takes it up as a pet project!

Thoughts on Bards

First the bad news: level 0 to 34 as a bard was probably the most bored I've been playing a profession. Even at level 35 I think I would have bored for a while longer if not for my wizard supplying near-endless mana for [[::Song of Tonis (1035)|Song of Tonis]] the moment she learned it. Either that or I'd have to burn deeds on Symbol of Mana. (To be fair, that's one of the better reasons to burn deeds!)

But after bards get going they're really a blast--at least up to level 62, where mine is right now! They have a wide, fun variety of tools like [[::Vibration Chant (1002)|Vibration Chant]], [[::Lullabye (1005)|Lullabye]], [[::Stunning Shout (1008)|Stunning Shout]], Feint, and Trip or Hamstring (depending on weapon type), among other things.

At high levels I hear that bards can more or less spam [[::Song of Sonic Disruption (1030)|Song of Sonic Disruption]], which definitely isn't my style and won't be what I do when I get there, but I'm sure power hunters love it.

Also, I consider bards a must for any multi-accounter, and I'm not even saying that because of their group buffs--after all, some professions and builds won't even care about [[::Song of Luck (1006)|Song of Luck]] or [[::Kai's Triumph Song (1007)|Kai's Triumph Song]] and a few might not even care about Song of Tonis. But everyone cares about silvers and loot and that's where bards pay off huge because of [[::Purification Song (1004)|Purification Song]] and loresinging.

Wishlist

Since those early levels are so rough and bards are supposed to be the purest of the semis, maybe bards could get something like empaths have with [[::Bone Shatter (1106)|Bone Shatter]] where they get TD pushdown early on. It can be crazily frustrating trying to hit with bard base against TDs that seem like they're defending against, I dunno, maybe wizards' [[::Elemental Strike (415)|Elemental Strike]]. Either that or I just didn't know what I was doing. Totally possible!

Thoughts on Cobbling

One of my favorite ideas in Gemstone and I absolutely love GM Elidi's dedication to it! Making custom shoes for everyone you know, with your own hallmark and design, is just one of the greatest things.

Wishlist

• A new cobbling punch that lets me [[::WIGGLE_(verb)|wiggle my toes]] while wearing sandals and everyone else will see!!!
• A way to make cobbled shoes [[::Unarmed_combat_system|UAC]] compatible, possibly even with a bonus to MM
• Decrease RTs

Thoughts on Empaths

Easily the profession I'd recommend soonest to anyone, empaths are masters of all trades and jacks of none.

They're amazing at warding, amazing at [[::Bolt_spell|bolting]], amazing at swinging, amazing at utility, amazing at [[::SKIN_(verb)|skinning]], amazing at foraging, amazing at leveling (because they don't even need to leave town), amazing against creatures one on one, amazing against swarms with [[::Empathic Link (1117)|Empathic Link]], amazing at rescuing, amazing in Guardians of Sunfist, amazing in the Order of Voln, amazing in the Council of Light...

And despite jokes about fat empaths, they're even amazing at not being encumbered since they don't have to carry 15+ pounds of herbs. They're amazing at being someone's only account since they never need to track down healing. They're amazing at multi-accounting since other than maybe wizard spells there's nothing more valuable to more professions than healing on demand.

Wishlist

Nothing. I'd never suggest nerfs for anyone and I also can't suggest buffs to a profession I already think is the best in the game. I mean, I'm so enamored with empaths that whenever I think about what I'd like developed for clerics, I usually have to ignore the Major Spiritual circle because anything in it would also have to be balanced around empaths and it's too much of a hurdle for me to have to consider.

Thoughts on Forging

Other than maybe fletching, which I've never tried, this is the least tedious artisan skill and has the biggest payoff. Perfect forged weapons are awesome for upgrading with certificates from the [[::Duskruin_Arena|Duskruin]] high end scrip shop. Also, even though it might seem like such a small thing, having your own crafting mark on your own weapon is hugely important to many characters RP-wise!

Wishlist

Something like a cobbling punch except it adds scripts to toothpicks.

Thoughts on Paladins

Paladins are the overkill profession that's great fun for quite a while, and maybe even forever if your main enjoyment is just feeling like a powerhouse. In everything they do, paladins either have sky high numbers or at least look like they have sky high numbers--sure, paladin [[::casting strength|CS]] isn't exactly sorcerer CS, but it can sure feel like it when you compare enemy TDs against paladin base to their TDs against sorcerer base!

Still, eventually they got dull to me when it became apparent that [[::Aura of the Arkati (1614)|Aura of the Arkati]] followed by attacks or [[::MSTRIKE_(verb)|mstrikes]] is all they need to do. Or maybe that's just a consequence of my paladin and empath being a hunting duo throughout their lives, as my warpath did a wider variety of things in almost every level range, which is more fun to me.

They're also a pretty weirdly non-social profession. They do have group spells, sure, but for sharing buffs without joining the hunt they only have a single not-that-great spell in [[::Mantle of Faith (1601)|Mantle of Faith]]. I personally love armored fluidity since I have a trio of mutant pures wearing chain mail or leather breastplate, plus a Tonis bard who doesn't like losing mana, but most people prefer armor support by far.

Paladins do have [[::Divine Word (1640)|Divine Word]] too, but that's like [[::Symbol of the Proselyte (340)|Symbol of the Proselyte]] where I only ever see it given out if the paladin or cleric takes the initiative to offer--nobody ever seems to ask for it.

Wishlist

Mostly I just wish paladins could unlock a superpowered version of [[::Divine Strike (1615)|Divine Strike]] with lores or a really high number of ranks in paladin base. Right now it's silly to me that I'm playing a profession that can take 202 spell ranks and I have no desire to go past 70 or at absolute most 90 (if I decide I still want [[::Wall of Force (140)|Wall of Force]] after getting 202 Dodging).

Training more spells means giving up redux, which is a very big part of being a paladin to me, so I'd need a huge payoff. But, as far as I know, a 162/40 paladin won't come even close to the magical power of 127/75 bards. And it's not like bards even sacrifice physical ability to get that magical power since they're perfectly on par with paladins thanks to Song of Tonis. Bards do admittedly have worse TD and DS.

Still, to be honest, in a way paladins don't even feel like semis to me. Yes, they have to cast Aura of the Arkati or [[::Judgment (1630)|Judgment]] as setup spells, but many rogues cast [[::Elemental Wave (410)|Elemental Wave]] and nobody says they feel like semis.

Despite people who hear about me asking for buffs to war clerics and say I should have made a paladin (not knowing I have a paladin), I do think my cleric is slightly better at hunting with a weapon than my paladin is at hunting with magic. (It's not saying much!) And it's more enjoyable to me to be able to hunt and switch between the two than go with one or the other, so for a cleric I ask for buffs to melee and for a paladin I ask for buffs to magic.

(Weirdly enough, everyone who's ever heard me talking about war clerics and didn't like it has always brought up paladins--no one's ever said I should have made an empath, wizard, bard, or ranger. If they did, I don't think I'd have any argument to push back with except an RP-based one.)

Coming Later

Thoughts on clerics, hunting grounds, pay events, post-cap, profession diversification, [[::society|societies]], [[::war mage|warmages]], maybe more!