Wizard Rebalance Discussion Megathread

[babayetu83]

im not alone in thinking that as of typing this, the wizard is poorly balanced.

what i want to list out here are all of the worthless or nigh useless spells and how they could be made more viable compared to fireball and cluwne's revenge.



staff of cthulu
there's no reason to take this. it has very little benefit compared to soulguard. could be improved by increasing the potency of spells 

bull's charge
complete and total bull as the name suggests and so situational it hurts. could be improved by making so it does knockdown/bleeding or remove legs.

ice burst
pretty weak spell compared to other ones that are designed to let you flee. could be improved by making it so you can explode people if you manage to trap them in a block of ice and then hurl a fireball or something at it

animate dead 
while i think this fine, i think this could be made more interesting. why not have a choice between skeletons or zombies

knock
could be made better by stunning people

[TheNewTeddy]

I'd like to see Knock act like an all-access card. So you don't need to "activate" it, you simply walk in to any door and it opens.

[atamusvaleo]

There are quite a few wizard threads floating around, which completely support you. That being said, I'm fairly certain the staff just got buffed to allow it to be recalled to your hand, give it a more powerful melee, and brain damage to any non-wiz with the misfortune of touching it. Not sure if there was a spell buff thrown in there as well.

I'll say it again: flamethrower spell.

[Isaacs Alter Ego]

I'd like to see Knock act like an all-access card. So you don't need to "activate" it, you simply walk in to any door and it opens.

It should open absolutely anything locked/shut, including lockers and doors that have been bolted.

[Roomba]

I think any kind of wizard rebalancing thread that doesn't address the core issue that wiz rounds are straight up Not Fun is just kind of talking around the core problems. Wiz rounds are pretty much the wizard's grand single-player adventure, and 90% of the crew's interaction involves them going about their day until the moment the wiz materializes from thin air, stuns and kills them and vanishes into the ether. No amount of spell rejiggering is going to fix the fact that the crew is there pretty much to be cannon fodder on wiz rounds.

That said, I do like the ideas for Animate Dead and Knock here.

[babayetu83]

I think any kind of wizard rebalancing thread that doesn't address the core issue that wiz rounds are straight up Not Fun is just kind of talking around the core problems. Wiz rounds are pretty much the wizard's grand single-player adventure, and 90% of the crew's interaction involves them going about their day until the moment the wiz materializes from thin air, stuns and kills them and vanishes into the ether. No amount of spell rejiggering is going to fix the fact that the crew is there pretty much to be cannon fodder on wiz rounds.

That said, I do like the ideas for Animate Dead and Knock here.

well it's stylistically designed to be that way and we can't undo that

but we can diminish the effects of it

[Sundance]

The long standing issue with wizard ISN'T that the crew is cannon fodder, you could say the same about nuke ops and in general, that mode is quite fun.

It's the fact that the current load out for months on end have not changed to reflect a balanced nature, resulting instead wizards becoming repetitive and stale as fuck. Go do a quick search on this forum about wizards and you'll see what I mean.

With being fair, there has been some minor changes. Staff of cthlulu was buffed so it's now well worth the cost. Cluwne was nerfed so that you don't drop all your clothing. Shocking grasp has been changed so that it no longer instagibs (fuck instagibing)

The problem is not with either of those spells though. Fireball has become the center of attention in almost every thread, and rightly so. It's pretty much an instant "fuck you" button. It has been suggested that perhaps fireball needs to become 2 spells instead of one. One spell being a flamethrower spell similar to genetics fire-breath, and another that sets explosive traps similar to mousetrap pipe-bombs, but with the addition of only the wizard being able to see them.

I'd like to see ice blast and bulls rush buffed, but prioritizing fireball above both.

[RAWK_LAWBSTAR]

I just want more spells for being a nuisance that don't involve murderizing everyone.

[Kubius]

Fireball is pretty much the weapon of choice for no-fun wizards, but I've found on my rare Wiz rounds I almost always end up taking it simply based on the fact it's quite difficult to defend oneself otherwise. More cool alternatives would help a lot, but the Fireball situation should optimally be addressed.

-Reworks of existing spells-

Bull's Charge: I'd prefer it just be a straight up charge. Knock people over segway style, setting them on fire as you do so, and bust through windows/grilles/walls (depletes the timer faster). Would be a completely badass tool for a head-on assault.

Knock: It's good as it is, but having it be an "ID replacement" type deal (open any door, locker or crate, but can't relock anything) could be good. I think a slight cooldown (~2sec, maybe more if not wielding staff) would be useful.

Soulguard: Should really clear radiation and toxins.


-New Spell Stuff-


(disclaimer: I went fookin' nuts)

Ley Walker: Free starter spell. Allows you to create and move through travel salts (explaned below).

Magic Salts: These are available infinitely on the Wizard's Shuttle and allow a skilled Wizard to prepare traps and countermeasures.

Each bag can spread onto eight tiles, and spells can only affect a group of up to eight tiles (excepting Travel Salts, which do not have a limit). They are slightly transparent, but still fairly easily visible (excepting Travel Salts again - explanation below).

There are two main ways to use them: Infusion and casting. Infusion involves casting the spell on the bag held in your inventory, regular casting involves casting the spell on un-infused salts on the ground. Both involve a regular cool-down, meaning spell preparation takes time.

A third way is with a ring, which amplifies specific spells.

• Forcewall: When infused into a bag of the Salts, it creates Force Salts that (when placed) block projectiles and thrown items until cleaned away. When cast normally while near a line of ordinary or Force Salts, it causes the entire line to turn into a Forcewall instantly.
  
• Magic Missile: When infused into a bag of the Salts, creates Spark Salts that form into individual piles when placed and explode in a puff of smoke when stepped on, temporarily stunning the victim. Magic sandals prevent this.
  
• Blind: When this spell is cast on Magic Salts, it causes all of the connected salts to create a 3x3 field of pitch-black darkness.
  
• Warp: When this spell is cast on Magic Salts, anyone standing on any of the connected salts is instantly teleported to another location. Magic sandals prevent this.
  
• Ley Walker: When this spell is infused into a bag of the Salts, it causes them to become Travel Salts, which are invisible to anyone but a Wizard or Chaplain (however, they can still be cleaned by anyone if they know where the salts are). These allow you to travel along them Voltron-style for an indefinite period of time, but they create sparks the same as a Voltron does. If the tile you're Ley Walking in is cleaned while you're in it, you are brought out of Ley Walking and dealt major damage.
  
• Clairvoyance: When this spell is infused into a bag of the Salts, you gain Seeing Salts that give you a 3x3 radius of sight near them, through all walls, and they tell you when they've been cleaned ("You feel your incantations being disssipated in (area)") with a few-second cooldown.
  
• Animate Dead / Summon Golem: When cast while you and the target are centered within a ring of Magic Salts, cooldown is reduced by 10 seconds.
  
• Spell Shield: When cast while you are centered within a ring of Magic Salts, the shield lasts 25 seconds instead of 10. (You're still vulnerable due to salt washing and the 5 second gap, plus dislodgement and immobility risks.)
  
• Pandemonium: When this spell is infused into a bag of the Salts, it becomes a Light Grenade, cup of mugwort tea, or bee at random. When cast on a group of basic magic salts, it causes them to turn into regular salt and scattered glitter.
  

[locusts]

I said it in the other thread, but I would prefer it if wizards were more oriented towards weird fuckery. Stuff like stealing the station pets for a ritual, or turning the botanists into living, screaming crystals, making the AI gigantic, animating the head surgeon and he starts performing unnecessary surgeries etc. etc. Throw in those objectives and a free, situational spell that only works to complete those goals, at least then there'd be some encouragement to not go on a wiz rampage.

[Ed Venture]

I just want more spells for being a nuisance that don't involve murderizing everyone.

Pretty much this. The hardest wizards I ever fought are the ones who's main goals are to annoy everyone on the station.

[VictorMAngoStein]

I'd like to see Knock act like an all-access card. So you don't need to "activate" it, you simply walk in to any door and it opens.

Knock is pretty pointless when you can phase shift and most wizards have blink or teleport on top of that.   Give wizard an "animate food" spell that turns food and plants into maneaters, killer tomatos, etc

[Roomba]

Knock is currently pretty much the 'steal shotguns' spell, so keep that in mind. I'm no big fan of shotgun wizzes, but at least they (usually) have to dedicate a fairly useless spell to it.

A thought I had to make Animate Dead more fun:

Standard chance: turns a corpse into a skeleton/pile of animated angry gigs

Low chance: turns a corpse into a zombie

Exceedingly low chance: wraith

[Frank_Stein]

One thing I think that would make animate dead better is if it was an area of effect spell that brought everything back to life a certain distance from the wizard. After the skeletons die, casting the spell again just keeps bringing them back.

[UrsulaMejor]

My opinions on the matter:
http://forum.ss13.co/showthread.php?tid=5560
http://forum.ss13.co/showthread.php?tid=3752