Posts from Expedition: general discussions. Auto-translated

The more ON – the more boring, but practical, stat bonuses to the character.
Like in Cataclysm? I had stat increases earlier than in that game, in one of the systems. But this isn't a very good idea, as it only reduces the flexibility of character customization (and my system wasn't the most flexible to begin with). Stats and skills become even more closely linked, there's no "oh, skills will take care of my defense, I'll buff strength for damage" anymore; instead, it's "I'd like to level up strength, but they give me stamina."

making characters more relatable

I don't quite understand how this will be achieved, except perhaps by addressing the min-maxing issue.

removing skills within specializations altogether, as players generally choose a more or less uniform set of skills, leaving the least useful ones behind.

I wouldn't say it's that bad. Of course, there are skills that are excessively strong or weak, but there is still some variety in builds. If national, racial, and religious skills are combined into one, and considering the removal of character attributes, the characters will become indistinguishable from each other.
The idea of removing attributes is good, as is the idea of reducing speed.

Combat training

Skill

And what skill is this?

I had stat bonuses before her, in one of the systems, actually.

Hmm, okay...

no "oh, skills will take care of my defense, I'll buff strength for damage" instead, it will be "I'd like to level up strength, but they give endurance."

That won't happen, I'll make sure of it.

I still think it's not a great idea. Bonuses to, say, strength for leveling up warrior skills would only further encourage specialization. Unless leveling up grants stats that are not specific to a particular skill, but rather the opposite. But then hybrids would be favored more than specialized characters, and hybrids that take very specific skill groups.

Well, that's exactly what it is. Rewarding specialists with more advanced skills and clearly defined stats. Rewarding hybrids by providing a real opportunity to acquire a variety of skills without compromising overall performance, as stats can be finely tuned over time, rather than relying on the usual approach. I might be repeating myself, but the goal is to create something similar to the Dofus system, although it achieves the balance between hybrids and specialists through different methods.

The point is that hybrids will underperform with this system; it won't help them. To prevent them from underperforming, you need to give hybrids additional unique features (like in Dogma, for example). For instance: A Warrior is strong, attacks multiple times per round, but his attacks aren't very powerful. A Mage can destroy an opponent with a single spell and at a distance, but is fragile and casts spells infrequently. A hybrid, however, can channel spells into their melee attacks. Their spells are weaker than a pure mage's, and they are less durable than a warrior, but their total damage per round is higher than pure classes, as long as they have mana. Of course, their mana will run out quickly, but they will have time to cause more chaos in the early stages of the battle.

I won't be adding any special skills, of course, but there will be its own synergy, skills that are much more useful for hybrids, its own perks, in short. And the same goes for stats. Some will have clearly defined one or two stats, while others will be more or less balanced. Since there are no separate magic, ranged, and melee stats, both systems turn out to be viable. The layout is roughly as follows: - pure melee/ranged character - we maximize two stats, or we go into hybrids with other professions, or we study "military affairs," trying to fill the gaps. - pure mage - maximizing one stat. If we go into a dual-element build, then we also have a secondary stat. - mage-ranged/mage-melee - one main stat, one to three additional stats. Potential weaknesses are compensated for by magic buffs.

Oh, here's another interesting idea – compensating for weaknesses with buffs. These characters seem good on paper, but in reality, they have a slow ramp-up. Arec, for example, tried to create an overpowered hybrid character, Darien. Instead, he ended up with a useless buffer who pierces allies with spears.

I pierced both myself and my enemies with spears. And in general, it was focused on character progression and revealed itself as the level increased; that was its core idea.

Why create a character that focuses on leveling up in the second half of the game?

because it wasn't possible to do it that way from the beginning.

Aretz, for example, tried to create an overpowered hybrid of Darien. Instead, he ended up with a weak buffer who pierces allies with spears.

Because when you need to level up physical and magical stats separately, nothing else can come out. When every stat is useful for both mages and warriors, the picture is the opposite. For understanding: imagine that Darien has all stats twice as high. Viable?
The ramp-up isn't particularly long either, by the way, because of the action point system. That is, if you don't engage in useless or marginally useful actions, you lose... well, half a round.

Ment, to understand the phrase "His stat helps him in all actions," examples are not needed. And, by the way, now it sounds like you have a bias towards hybrid builds. Well, I already wrote about such an outcome above. In short, I need to see your system in action. I can only judge based on the old ones, and there's little flexibility and a lot of useless skills.

Heh, okay. Since I'm still struggling with the program, I won't start outlining skills right now. But, by the way, I noticed in the latest Revenant expansion that, due to the stat mechanics, some interesting ranged-melee hybrid builds emerged. For example, Narya, even though she didn't really have any skills besides invisibility and beheading, performed very well in combat, both as a melee fighter and as a ranged attacker. I think she could also serve as a reference point, if needed.

Nari had a special skill, and she was most useful for decapitating enemies. She wasn't a great archer, and she only had enough mana for a couple of kills. She was agile, but that was due to her race and exceptional dexterity.