Elemental Auras ------------------------------- General ideas: - Attacking with a weapon can apply an unmanifested aura for an element - Unmanifested auras can have "stacks" which represents the power level of the element present - Unmanifested auras can be activated using abilities with an elemental attribute - Auras triggered with the same element can increase in stack, or be expended to add to the strength of the ability being used - Auras triggered with a different element can apply a unique effect on the target based on the specific interaction of the two elements, and whether or not the triggering ability was an attack on the target as opposed to a support/healing ability - Auras triggered with the opposing element are removed - Auras must be subject to high level of control from player, and enemies to a degree. Auras should be able to be applied and removed almost at will, with little chance of them getting out of control or applying effects the player doesn't desire. Aura Application ideas: - Attacking with an enchanted weapon - Invoke an aura from enchanted equipment - Abilities can apply effects - Every character should be able to consume aura stacks to apply that type of elemental damage to a target with some sort of basic attack - Most auras applied as marks/hexes still have an element. These are removed with dispels, weakened when opposing element is used in an ability affecting target, strengthened with same element. They can also be locked without an element type to prevent casual abilities from altering its effect, thus only being dispellable by specific abilities or until the effect expires. - Goal to apply stacks to create potent effects, then lock it in place so it can't be altered without a full dispel. Emphasis then becomes extending duration of effect. Early examples: - Sera applies a regen effect on Aston (+Er Mark). Aston (and/or Sera) then "invoke" auras from their equipment to strengthen the effect (stack count, per-stack effectiveness, or duration). - Vivi applies an accuracy hex on an enemy (-Wn Hex). Vivica's subsequent attacks strengthen the effect either by attacking with a wind-enchanted dagger, or using wind-element abilities. Aura Interaction - Specific abilities/enchants/invocations can alter the existing aura on a target at varying strengths. Choosing to do this removes the aura's current elemental property, creating ("locking") a unique effect that can no longer be altered by further aura applications. The effect is committed to the target either until it is dispelled, or the duration ends. - There are three levels of effect "strength" (independent of stack count) that changes the unique effect of the interaction. The strength of the effect is determined by the ability used to trigger the interaction (generally the higher or more developed abilities contain higher strength levels). Also, in the case of invocation, equipment will contain auras in various strengths (easily identifiable by the aura icons on the particular item). - A locked effect's strength is determined by the lower of the original effect's stack, or the number of auras invoked to lock the effect. For example, if the original effect has 5 stacks, the locked effect will in turn have that many stacks, and only 5 auras will be spent. - 2nd-level auras represent a value of 2 when used to apply 1st-level effects. 3rd-level auras represent a value of 3 - Higher-level auras in abilities or on equipment can be used for lower-level interactions if such an effect is desired.