SP - General Please remove Focus Points and change how Attribute Points work

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Never liked the character progression. Leveling up is way too slow, the perks often offer unsatisfying and conflicting bonuses, and it is overall too much busywork identifing the right ones for each different type of character/companion type.
Just picking the bottom perks of a skill, for example, is never 100% the right way to level up a specialized char, it would make things a bit easier tbh, if that could be the case.
Just to name a few specializations you might want to lvl up:
Town or castle goveneur, you can't have both, bow or crossbow archer, 2handed axe fighter, 2handed Sword Rider... I think there are too many paths without using actual paths, making the process super murky. Just look at all the hidden loyalty bonuses hidden across different skills. I would have prefered them to be all in the Steward tree. Maybe even just +1 for every 50 Points to offer more room for more situational, and less "must have" perks. But perk rebalance, if we ever get another one is not my main topic.

Thought about a new design, maybe a tree like progression, but I think the ship has sailed when it comes to revamping the system, so instead I came up with a different idea that might solve some of the major issues, without throwing too much out the window.

If Focus Points would get removed, all xp modifiers should be at 100%, forever, regardless of lvl and experience in that skill.
The experience gains might need some adjustments but what now the max x10 multiplier is could be a starting point. Maybe x15 is better. Needs testing. (should be a game setting anyway)
I think it would spice things up if game mechanics could influence these skill xp modifiers, positively or negatively.
Eating good food could improve athletics xp +25%, winning a battle could improve all weapon skills until the next battle.
Loosing on the other hand could give your heroes a debuff until they win another one.
Winning a tournament increases charm xp for 2 days, special armor could do it permanently, as well as traits.
Traits in general should get more love. I think there is potential to give your companions and yourself more character, like they do in Rimworld with the colonists. (Cannibal companion? :grin:)

Attribute Points would be the only points you spend every level. They don't affect the xp multiplier, but they should have secondary bonuses. Probably best if it is hero/companion or player only.
I really like what the Better Attributes mod is doing with them: https://www.nexusmods.com/mountandblade2bannerlord/mods/3434
  1. Vigor - Cut Through (+Slice Through Chance)
  2. Control - Morale Increase
  3. Endurance - Health Increase
  4. Cunning - Increase effectiveness of other bonuses (I think critical chance could be an alternative here)
  5. Social - Party wage decrease
  6. Intelligence - XP rate increase

These are the effects from the mod, an alternative could be a combination of general bonuses, some from the skills and their perks related to them.
For example Intelligence would add each rank:
+ 0.5 loyalty (steward)
+ chance for combat bandage on hit (medicine, new autoheal mechanic, like an evade, just with the damage delayed after combat.)
+ Siege engine and wall health (engineer)

Attributes could also unlock Waymark Perks, that you only get with a certain amount of points spend. So there is an incentive to level them alongside the auto xp gained from using skills, but it is not 100% necessary.
Edit: These extra bonuses could have additional requirements, for example 4 Int, 125 Steward and 75 Medicine, basically a skill-combination perk, allowing the removal of those thematically scattered perks on more foreign skills.
Again, +loyalty comes to mind, or +health. In this case these would be either on Steward/Medicine, or on their shared attribute, Intelligence and no longer in athletics, smithing, onehanded and so on. I wouldn't say hp is strictly intelligence related, so making it an endurance or vigor waymark would also make sense thematically.

More freedom!

Edit: I can't stop thinking about other effects for attributes, so here is the rest:

Vigor:
+ 2% chance to shrug off blows (resist stagger effect)
+ 0.5 tough skin (natural armor, but the cut through chance from the mod is also a good idea tbh)
+ 0.5% chance to disarm enemy

Control:
+0.2% chance to catch arrow (range evade and refill if quiver equipped)
+0.5% chance for bullseye hit (extra damage)
+0.5% chance to find an extra javelin after throwing one

Endurance:
+ 2% chance to resist horse stagger
+ 1% sprint increase (new mechanic with extra keybind, 15% base sprint bonus)
+ % Smithing Stamina regen while traveling

Cunning:
+ 1% pursue speed (only enemy parties)
+ 1% flagbearer effect (flag attached to the back of some units, boosting morale and maybe dmg, potential for extra/reworked perks)
+ 5% better sneak effect (into besieged ally or enemy settlements in general)

Social:
+1% dialogue retry (adds to a 5% base, helps with savescumming)
-2% army influence cost
-2% weight reduction for trade goods

Many of these effects should affect every hero, not just the player character, some are more for a party leader thing. I tried not to make one that only affects the player/clan leader.
The individual skills like Steward (+party size) already have similar effects, so I tried to come up with new, interesting ones. My goal was to affect the gameplay in a positive way, without making things overpowered, but obviously this needs to be tested in the end.
Some effects are not yet implemented, but most of these new mechanics have been added by mods at least once, so my guess is they won't be that complicated to program into vanilla.
 
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Just picking the bottom perks of a skill, for example, is never 100% the right way to level up a specialized char, it would make things a bit easier tbh, if that could be the case.
This is the only part I disagree with. I´m happy with a trade-off, that there are 2 things I would have wanted. Othervice, if at each perk-level there were one perk for fighters and one for governors, all fighters would look the same exactly and all governors would too. I would like an even more branched perk-tree, for unique builds and replayability.

As said, the rest is +1!
 
This is the only part I disagree with. I´m happy with a trade-off, that there are 2 things I would have wanted. Othervice, if at each perk-level there were one perk for fighters and one for governors, all fighters would look the same exactly and all governors would too. I would like an even more branched perk-tree, for unique builds and replayability.

As said, the rest is +1!
Thanks for the feedback! You are actually right, I described that a bit too vague. There shouldn't be a single go to path, but that is not what I am trying to create.
My experience was just while leveling up my goveneurs or companions for combat that it looked like it was intentional design to have a visual help in terms of arragement, just that once in a while suddenly the perk on the opposite site made more sense. Let me check bannerlordperks.com if I can find an example:

One handed skill, lvl 100
Code:
Duellist
20% more damage while wielding a one-handed weapon without a shield.
You get double renown from tournaments.

This is a more offensive perk on the top path of onehanded, even though there are multiple perks giving bonuses to shieldbearers in that path (5), supporting a more defensive style, and only one on the bottom path (shield wall). I think it is just a logic problem that I am seeing here, and making it a bit more streamlined couldn't be wrong. It would be just a visual thing.
In this case defensive perks on top, offensive one perks (mostly one handed specific) on the bottom. You still have to choose between these two, and how for example defensive that character will be.
There will still be similar perks and conflicts like shieldwall vs arrow catcher at lvl 125, making the desicion a bit harder, but it is at least arranged more clearly. Btw shield wall is a more defensive/situational perk and should be with the other shield perks on top, not the bottom. :wink:
 
I have never seen 2 paths in Bannerlord leveling my charachters often has a mix from top and bottom line. Maybe you are right, with some logical rearrangement I should probably see paths too. But do you think paths are intended? With a mix as we have now, you need to think what perk to unlock, not just "I´m a tank", "I´m a DPS" kind of thing where the game tells you how build to not fail :smile:

I would like more perks and I would like the perks to do more. "My infantry captain levels his weapon. Wow, two perks boosting Clan leaders and Governors. Brilliant!"
 
I get what you are saying @Tryvenyal.
Instead of stat boosts in perks, literal skills like slice through, disarm or trip could be a nice alternative to some perks in the combat category.
Could be a cool way to personalize companions. Of course they need some kind of cooldown or chance to trigger.
Just thinking about it, what else is possible?
- jump attack
- rush (quick sprint to next enemy)
- knockdown (combination with rush)
- head butt
- kick
- pocket sand
- spit
- battlecry (scream generating morale)
- shieldbrother (shield health boost to nearby shieldbearers)
- eagle eye (next shot is a guaranteed hit)
 
I´m kinda against limits and locks in games.
I know in theory how to headbutt my opponent, how to pocket sand, spit and kick! Of course I can improve all aspects of it but to lock the function behind perks are wrong. So I tend to lean on stat or effect-boosts.
 
Think about it more like a skill you learn. You might think you know it, but you don't do it effectly, especially in combat and with proper consistency. Unlocking the perk that unlocked the skill means you mastered the art of spitting someone at the right time, the right velocity and the right... viscosity. ?
 
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