New Bindings Deep Dive
I’m Albert A from the design crew. We got a few new Bindings to draft into for this upcoming season. I’ll take you through each one along with their ascensions and tell you our design process behind making them.
Draftable Bindings have been a separate challenge from making Aspect Bindings. Aspect Bindings have varying degrees of inter-play between each other and the passive. Some Bindings are ‘builders’ like Mosscloak’s Scavenger’s Dash or Clairvoyant’s Psionic Pulse, while others are ‘finishers’ like Magma Miner’s Smash or Clairvoyant’s Spirit Bomb. That sort of built-in combat rotation doesn’t apply to draftable Bindings, they need to stand on their own and be interesting to use within a broader set of builds.
When we first went out to make draftable Bindings, we underestimated the power level for them to be interesting to use, causing some players in testing to ignore them altogether. Over time, we buffed draftables a bunch leading up to release, and one or two of them got even more buffs for this upcoming season. While I show you these new Bindings, keep in mind that some values are still subject to change as we continue playtesting.
[h2]Grasp[/h2]
1 Will, 4 Base Cooldown, Physical
Deal 100 damage to a single Enemy. Pull them towards you. Inflict Marked.
Of the bat, we knew we needed a few more Physical Bindings, since the current pool was already loaded with Magic bindings. One gameplay niche that was sort of missing from the pool was a low cost, set-up type of Binding. Marked only existed in a handful of vestiges and on Mosscloak, so it was the perfect opportunity to allow the rest of the Aspects to have access to Marked. We have the ingredients for a good setup, some physical damage and some Marked, but the other thing that was missing was a little flavor. It needed some ‘pull’, and so we added a pull.
Grasp Casting Sequence at Max Range:
[h3]Ascensions
[/h3]
Ascensions are really about creating interesting gameplay decisions. And creating interesting gameplay decisions is all about finding ‘core tensions’ and pushing them as far as you can. A core tension can be about mechanical trade-offs, ascension A is weaker than ascension B in damage, but might provide more utility. Or it can be about the theme, you might choose the character you play purely on ‘vibes’.
Or, sometimes it’s both! Like when I started Baldur’s Gate 3, choosing between a Wizard vs a Sorcerer was as much as it was the ‘theme’ of the character as it was the kind of class mechanics I wanted to interact with. They’re just as important as each other, because both theme and mechanics are a framework for the player to make decisions, and is what gives the decision meaning.
For designing the Grasp ascensions, and for pretty much any ascension, you would just break it down to the most fundamental gameplay components, then try to see how that ability would feel if you scaled each component high or low. For Grasp each core component would be:
So the Grasp ascensions came naturally out of that process:
[h2]Quicken[/h2]
1 Will, 6 Base Cooldown, Physical
Reduce your other Cooldowns by 1.
Non-damage bindings are always fun to make, because they need to have enough utility to justify using them over dealing damage. Having the ability to just press a button and reduce your cooldowns opens up a lot of possibilities. As Weaver, that means you could probably Constrict twice in a turn, or Dash multiple times as Mosscloak. It also means if you’re out of range but have a Will to spend, you can sink it into reducing your cooldowns instead.
As with anything that reduces cooldowns or Will cost, the thing we’re always trying to avoid are infinite combos. In a game like this, where we’re opting to give players high-power high-impact choices, it can almost be inevitable for the occasional infinite combo to sneak in. There are a few Bindings and vestiges that we’re keeping an eye on for potential infinites that pop up, and this one along with its ascensions is definitely on that list.
Quicken Casting Sequence:
[h3]Ascensions[/h3]
So you try to break down the components of the base ability, you’ll get:
Which isn’t a lot to work with. You can probably make two interesting ascensions from that, but we need one more. We can break it down further and include these two as additional levers that you can push or pull with any Binding.
So what do you do? This is why theme is just as important as mechanics when it comes to crafting interesting decisions, since a lot of the time, theme can inform not just the player, but also the designer for an interesting direction to go. Going into making the base Binding, I knew I wanted to evoke the feeling of ‘being quick’, so that opened up movement being a core mechanic for one of the ascensions.
[h2]Smoke Bomb[/h2]
1 Will, 4 Base Cooldown, Physical
Deal 50 damage in a large area. Inflict Dazed.
Like Grasp, Smoke Bomb gives broader access to another status effect that’s sparsely used, which is Dazed. Despite being a small damage reduction, inflicting it on heavy hitting enemies, or even a large group of enemies could mean taking even less damage than you would if you had casted Shield Wall or Restoration.
But the other strength of this draftable is its AOE size, and is probably the main reason you might pick this vestige, especially for classes that are a bit AOE starved such as the Weaver. We realized we needed a go-to AOE option since the other AOE options such as Poison Vapor or Cone of Frost don’t deal immediate damage, and sometimes you just need to take out a group of biters before they hit you. Also, this draftable was actually a suggestion from one of our playtesters, SybilznBitz! One of the great things about Early Access is being able to get feedback directly from our players and being able to read and implement suggestions directly during the development of the game. That’s why some of our vestiges are named/inspired off of some of our testers!
Smoke Bomb Casting Sequence:
[h3]Ascensions[/h3]
As a general rule, we want to keep the bones of the base ability around with the ascension, so that you don’t feel like you ‘lose’ anything once you get the ascension. But sometimes it can make sense to do so, if you’re trying to create a unique mechanical or thematic tension. In this case, Cluster Bomb didn’t need to inflict Dazed, since the whole purpose is to be a purely offensive version of Smoke Bomb. And since you’re always presented with two ascensions, you never need to ‘lose out’ on inflicting Dazed.
Draftable Bindings are really only one component of the kinds of decisions we want you to make during a run. Hopefully you enjoyed this deep dive of going into the process of designing Bindings and their ascension, if there are any other deep dives ya’ll would be interested in, let us know! And check out our new Aspect deepdive by one of our other designers ModusPwnenz!
Draftable Bindings have been a separate challenge from making Aspect Bindings. Aspect Bindings have varying degrees of inter-play between each other and the passive. Some Bindings are ‘builders’ like Mosscloak’s Scavenger’s Dash or Clairvoyant’s Psionic Pulse, while others are ‘finishers’ like Magma Miner’s Smash or Clairvoyant’s Spirit Bomb. That sort of built-in combat rotation doesn’t apply to draftable Bindings, they need to stand on their own and be interesting to use within a broader set of builds.
When we first went out to make draftable Bindings, we underestimated the power level for them to be interesting to use, causing some players in testing to ignore them altogether. Over time, we buffed draftables a bunch leading up to release, and one or two of them got even more buffs for this upcoming season. While I show you these new Bindings, keep in mind that some values are still subject to change as we continue playtesting.
[h2]Grasp[/h2]
1 Will, 4 Base Cooldown, Physical
Deal 100 damage to a single Enemy. Pull them towards you. Inflict Marked.
Of the bat, we knew we needed a few more Physical Bindings, since the current pool was already loaded with Magic bindings. One gameplay niche that was sort of missing from the pool was a low cost, set-up type of Binding. Marked only existed in a handful of vestiges and on Mosscloak, so it was the perfect opportunity to allow the rest of the Aspects to have access to Marked. We have the ingredients for a good setup, some physical damage and some Marked, but the other thing that was missing was a little flavor. It needed some ‘pull’, and so we added a pull.
Grasp Casting Sequence at Max Range:
[h3]Ascensions
[/h3]
Ascensions are really about creating interesting gameplay decisions. And creating interesting gameplay decisions is all about finding ‘core tensions’ and pushing them as far as you can. A core tension can be about mechanical trade-offs, ascension A is weaker than ascension B in damage, but might provide more utility. Or it can be about the theme, you might choose the character you play purely on ‘vibes’.
Or, sometimes it’s both! Like when I started Baldur’s Gate 3, choosing between a Wizard vs a Sorcerer was as much as it was the ‘theme’ of the character as it was the kind of class mechanics I wanted to interact with. They’re just as important as each other, because both theme and mechanics are a framework for the player to make decisions, and is what gives the decision meaning.
For designing the Grasp ascensions, and for pretty much any ascension, you would just break it down to the most fundamental gameplay components, then try to see how that ability would feel if you scaled each component high or low. For Grasp each core component would be:
- Damage
- Targetting
- Pull Distance
- Status Effect
So the Grasp ascensions came naturally out of that process:
- Envelop: Set-up for more enemies
- Harpoon: More damage
- Luring Net: Better set-up for a single enemy.
[h2]Quicken[/h2]
1 Will, 6 Base Cooldown, Physical
Reduce your other Cooldowns by 1.
Non-damage bindings are always fun to make, because they need to have enough utility to justify using them over dealing damage. Having the ability to just press a button and reduce your cooldowns opens up a lot of possibilities. As Weaver, that means you could probably Constrict twice in a turn, or Dash multiple times as Mosscloak. It also means if you’re out of range but have a Will to spend, you can sink it into reducing your cooldowns instead.
As with anything that reduces cooldowns or Will cost, the thing we’re always trying to avoid are infinite combos. In a game like this, where we’re opting to give players high-power high-impact choices, it can almost be inevitable for the occasional infinite combo to sneak in. There are a few Bindings and vestiges that we’re keeping an eye on for potential infinites that pop up, and this one along with its ascensions is definitely on that list.
Quicken Casting Sequence:
[h3]Ascensions[/h3]
So you try to break down the components of the base ability, you’ll get:
- Cooldown Amount
- Cooldown Bindings Targeted
Which isn’t a lot to work with. You can probably make two interesting ascensions from that, but we need one more. We can break it down further and include these two as additional levers that you can push or pull with any Binding.
- Will Cost
- Base Cool-down
So what do you do? This is why theme is just as important as mechanics when it comes to crafting interesting decisions, since a lot of the time, theme can inform not just the player, but also the designer for an interesting direction to go. Going into making the base Binding, I knew I wanted to evoke the feeling of ‘being quick’, so that opened up movement being a core mechanic for one of the ascensions.
- Accelerate: Movement and CD.
- Expedite: Reduce cooldown for free.
- Hasten: Reduce more cooldowns.
[h2]Smoke Bomb[/h2]
1 Will, 4 Base Cooldown, Physical
Deal 50 damage in a large area. Inflict Dazed.
Like Grasp, Smoke Bomb gives broader access to another status effect that’s sparsely used, which is Dazed. Despite being a small damage reduction, inflicting it on heavy hitting enemies, or even a large group of enemies could mean taking even less damage than you would if you had casted Shield Wall or Restoration.
But the other strength of this draftable is its AOE size, and is probably the main reason you might pick this vestige, especially for classes that are a bit AOE starved such as the Weaver. We realized we needed a go-to AOE option since the other AOE options such as Poison Vapor or Cone of Frost don’t deal immediate damage, and sometimes you just need to take out a group of biters before they hit you. Also, this draftable was actually a suggestion from one of our playtesters, SybilznBitz! One of the great things about Early Access is being able to get feedback directly from our players and being able to read and implement suggestions directly during the development of the game. That’s why some of our vestiges are named/inspired off of some of our testers!
Smoke Bomb Casting Sequence:
[h3]Ascensions[/h3]
As a general rule, we want to keep the bones of the base ability around with the ascension, so that you don’t feel like you ‘lose’ anything once you get the ascension. But sometimes it can make sense to do so, if you’re trying to create a unique mechanical or thematic tension. In this case, Cluster Bomb didn’t need to inflict Dazed, since the whole purpose is to be a purely offensive version of Smoke Bomb. And since you’re always presented with two ascensions, you never need to ‘lose out’ on inflicting Dazed.
- Cluster Bomb: More direct damage.
- Smoke Screen: Take less damage.
- Hidden Mist: Set-up for later damage.
Draftable Bindings are really only one component of the kinds of decisions we want you to make during a run. Hopefully you enjoyed this deep dive of going into the process of designing Bindings and their ascension, if there are any other deep dives ya’ll would be interested in, let us know! And check out our new Aspect deepdive by one of our other designers ModusPwnenz!