I have a more comprehensive plan for orcs than this, but following the example of shapeshifters, I plan to phase it in piecewise.

The short version is that the majority of the changes will focus on higher-level orcs, and continue to expand the class in a way that keeps it unique and different from other classes. I've seen a few suggestion that struck us as "make their best skills better!", but I'm opposed to that in terms of balance-- we're not interested in creating classes where the optimal tactic is to repeat a small subset of overly powerful skills.

Orctember 1st changes:

1) Smear has been added at level 49. The helpfile is now available.

2) Last Stand has been upgraded-- the blows will occasionally skip conventional defenses and land with full force.

3) Desecration: There was a mana cost defined in the code for this, but it was never implemented. That is fixed. The movement cost has been reduced. Also, there was a bug that made sacrificing additional items irrelevant-- this has been fixed, and they will now properly "power up" the Desecration as intended. Finally, potent Desecration acts will now give orcs limited protection from holy attacks for a decent duration, stackable with any existing positive or negative conditions.

4) Fashion War Banner: There was a mana cost defined in the code for this, but it was never implemented. That is fixed. This now takes fewer items from the victim's corpse. Also, it will no longer give -AC affects, which had minimal impact on gameplay. Instead, those affects will enhance regeneration while the banner is held. Finally, forming a war banner improves an orc's morale for a good duration.

5) Skills unique to orcs have been reviewed for compatibility with Berserk. Nine more skills will no longer take a penalty for the orc being Berserk: Bloodsteep, War Shout, Last Stand, Pin, Fashion War Banner, Enslave, and the three Chieftain skills.

6) Both Grapple Weapon and Offhand Grapple will inflict extra hurting on the arm of a victim if a successful attempt is foiled by an unremovable weapon. It's probably not enough to make you spend time doing that on purpose, but if you do try it in that situation, you get more than you used to.

7) Scavenging has been moved down to level 2, mostly because Nepenthe loves that skill and thinks it would be good for newbies to see it even earlier.

More will follow on Orctember 2nd. Note that orcish calendars are notoriously unreliable and difficult to forecast.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

Would it possible to get an orc mob of the village that could identify or otherwise tell you the properties of a warbanner? For instance, it makes sense to me that a dwarf banner would enhanced regeneration better than say a dark elf banner (assuming all else is equal), but there is no way to know that for sure. Some way to identify the differing properties of a banner would sure be nice....

You could have the orc mob do ID's of regular items too, similar to Alduk, and I wouldn't complain.

Just an idea.

Tac

Would it possible to get an orc mob of the village that could identify or otherwise tell you the properties of a warbanner? ... You could have the orc mob do ID's of regular items too, similar to Alduk, and I wouldn't complain.

I have some ideas from the village, but these don't feel very orcish to me. Real orcs test things by smashing their enemies and paying attention.

It's such a lost art.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

I just read the helpfile on "Smear" which looks amazing, my only issue is why would you ever want to smear a shield when Orcs don't know how to use them? It's like Headbutt which you can do with a shield? Orcs don't know shield block, would you want to lose an offhand weapon or warbanner for a shield?

If the argument is because they can still wear it and in certain situations that might make sense I still can't see when I would ever want to use a shield even if I smeared the corpse of Ahtieli on it.

Just thinking about maybe changing the shield slot to your mask maybe since a full helm takes away from the spiked mask which helps your savage feeding.

Thanks for finally looking at Orcs, and this is in no means ment to deter you from continuing just thought I'd voice my thoughts on having Orcs ever use a shield.

That this with a pinch of salt, because I may be wrong, but...

I think orcs can headbutt with a shield in hand.

If that's the case, shield can give benefits such as the relevant armor use skill.

Also, you might potentially want a shield like boiled leather or a certain shield from hell.

Most of the time there will be better choices, but sometimes... who knows?

In general, I agree it's a horrible idea for an orc to wear a shield, but I didn't see a logical reason to prevent Smear from working on it if you really wanted to. (That said, a shield affected by Smear is a suspiciously good shield.) The decision was based on surface area.

As for the full helm, I'd again invoke surface area, and I'm also partial to providing an advantage to a gear classification that is normally a drawback. If you aren't wearing a full helm, you get two pieces of gear with two sets of abilities, and there's already plenty of incentive to do that.

(As an aside, it was an oversight that full helms aren't better than they are for Armor Use skills. I'd like to remedy that at some point to create the kind of strategic decision I allude to above.)

Even if you decide that Smear-ing a shield is nigh-useless (I'd agree, FWIW), and that you'd prefer the spiked mask or whatever to a full helm, you still have four eligible slots-- on body, about body, arms, and legs. The combined impact of that, even at a low Smear skill, is worth the practice slots in my opinion. Note also that Smear boosts Armor Use in those slots, and that they are the best slots (neglecting Shield Block, which is for wussy defensive people anyway) for deflecting blows, especially from foes shorter than you.

valguarnera@carrionfields.com

You've convinced me.

WELCOME BACK!

And good work!

Always shoot first and then call whatever you hit the target.