Click to enlarge

In recent forum posts Basilisk Games revealed a new collection of feats available in the upcoming Eschalon: Book II. Based on weapon skill levels the feats add more depth to the game's combat system. Book II will continue the storyline from the previous game and feature a variety of new skills, new creatures, and a larger world to explore.

Does this mean that during Alpha development, the 'Piercing Weapons' skill has been modified somewhat, so the player won't get a chance at 3 strikes per round at Level 20? Or does this mean that the 'Feat' the player would implement at Level 20 in Piercing Weapons would involve 3 strikes in that round instead of just 2?

BasiliskWrangler: Good question! Well, it turns out that the idea for "multiple strikes for piercing weapons" worked really well, and it was clear that all weapon skills should have some sort of "special ability" tied to them. So from the original multi-strike piercing weapon idea came the Skill Feats idea.

The Piercing Weapon's multi-strike ability was altered slightly to behave more like the other Skill Feats. Rather than being an automatic ability based on a chance of occurrence (which is how all Skill Feats were originally implemented), it is now a feat that "recharges" between uses, and can be used at will rather than randomly or automatically.

As for two or three strikes- right now it is set for two (Double) strikes and as it is, a double-strike Piercing Weapon can be extremely powerful. An example would be a Dwarven Steel War Spear, striking twice- if by chance you get a critical roll on both To-Hit checks (damage x2) , and high damage rolls, you can deliver a ridiculous about of damage to a target. It's rare for all the rolls to go just perfectly, but when it does it is devastating to an enemy. Based on this observation, it has not yet been determined if we will raise this back to allow for triple-strikes at level 20 or not. More balance testing will be needed.

These are feats based on your skill level in the following categories:
Swords: Gains "Masterful Parry" blocking all enemy attacks in a single round.
Cleaving: Gains "Great Cleave" - strikes primary target and adjacent target.
Bludgeoning: Gains "Critical Pummel" - Maximum weapon damage x2, and permanently reducing enemy AR by 50%
Piercing: Gains "Double Strike" - delivering two separate attacks in one attack round.
Bows: Gains "Intense Focus", a guaranteed precision attack on a vital spot delivering 3x damage
Thrown: Gains"Overwhelming Volley", up to eight weapons thrown at once, showering the target and adjacent tiles.
Unarmed Combat: Gains "Fury Strike", a powerful fist blow delivering 4x damage to one target.

Basilisk Games Forums: Book II Combat Feats Q&A

Basilisk Games (add to watch list)

Eschalon: Book II (add to watch list)

Buy Eschalon: Book II

Search for other Mac games news stories or browse our Mac Games News Archive.