Dragon Age Modding: Part 7!

Wildkin Adept Specialization-Blue Mage Style Monster Skills

Download Link: here

Version 1.0 - 10/01/2010

By: Orgolove

DEMONSTRATION VIDEO

This video showcases many of the new monster skills as the Wildkin Adept destroys darkspawns, a revenant, an ogre boss, and the high dragon using their own skills against them! Breathe fire, throw giant rocks at them, knock them down and pound them! CHECK OUT THE HD!

The video is for DEMONSTRATION PURPOSES. It has been intentionally made with a character specifically altered to showcase all the abilities in its most spectacular forms. The actual mod will -not- make you god-like.

INTRODUCTION
For Lore information, go to section titled "Background Lore."

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Quick features list:

40+ MONSTER SKILLS WITH FULL WORKING CUSTOM ANIMATIONS
3 NEW LINKED SKILLTREES
CUSTOM ICONS THAT CANNOT OTHERWISE BE SEEN IN-GAME
A PASSIVES SKILLTREE THAT FITS PERFECTLY WITH THE MONSTER SKILL FIGHTING STYLE
CAREFUL BALANCE FOR A FUN GAMEPLAY
COMPATIBILITY WITH MOST MODS

Whenever I fought the High Dragon and other assorted bosses, I always felt it unfair that Bioware included so many spectacular skills within the game only for monsters to use. I wanted to breathe fire, throw stones the size of small cars, and slam the ground so hard that enemies were thrown off the feet!

So I decided to mod them into the game as a specialization.

I had to edit many of the animations to fit within the humanoid skeleton, debug so many things that didn't go through, make sure none of the alterations changed the monster mechanics, test 100+ skills and check for animation conflicts, make custom icons for all the new skills, figure out why the !@#$ the skill wasn't dealing damage, etc etc... It was a lot of work, but I finally did it! So I present to you:

WILDKIN ADEPT

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The Wildkin Adept is a new rogue specialization that includes three sub-specializations and 40 monster abilities, all 100% tested to work flawlessly! The skill tree is divided into two directions - the "physical attack" route (Feral Tree), and the "supernatural attack" route (Elemental Tree), plus a route that contains the passives (Wildkin Mastery Tree). The physical attack route contains many of the melee range direct contact skills, while the supernatural attack route contains most of the ranged "magic" style attacks like fireballs, vortexes, etc.

Wildkin Adept uses either strength or magic as their primary stat depending on the skill tree chosen, in addition to the regular dexterity and cunning for rogues. The Wildkin Adept is intended as a separate leveling path for rogues, beginning at level two. However, it is your choice as to how deeply you want to invest in the class - the most useful abilities are near or at the end of the skilltrees, but you can just take the starting few skills to add some options to your regular repertoire if you want. However, I would recommend at least getting all 4 passives, as otherwise you will have +25% fatigue penalty for all your skills.

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All the monster skills have specially designed humanoid animations that match the mechanics of the skills. I particularly like how the grab animation, the overwhelm animation, and the fire breathing animation worked out. I'll probably repeat this multiple times in the document, as I know most people don't read through the whole thing, but the faces of the characters that use the monster skills get temporarily warped into hideous representations of the monster the skill belongs to. There's an explanation for this in the lore section, but don't worry - the effect is temporary, and will return immediately as soon as the animation for those particular skills are finished. (Or just use a helmet >.<)

Because this mod directly uses the same skills used by monsters, no changes can be made to them without altering the general enemy power level as well. I've tried to balance the mod in other ways, such as forcing the rogue to take magic stats (an otherwise nearly useless attribute for rogues) or strength stats (not the primary damage stat for rogues). Plus, all of the monster skills have level requirements that prevent them from being used at too early a level, and the specialization directly causes a fatigue of 25% that can only be reduced when you take the last level of the passives tree, which is only available after level 20.

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That said, I still welcome all feedback. The monster skills have been carefully selected and arranged to remain on the same general power level as other classes throughout the course of the game, including the added expansion levels.

BACKGROUND LORE

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"A fire to fight a fire...
A thief to catch a thief...
A beast to kill a beast..."

Practitioners of an ancient art secretly passed down among scholars from a land far to the east, Wildkin Adepts train their minds, bodies, and souls to defeat the enemies of mankind by turning their own powers against themselves. These bestial fighters, who could scarcely be called men anymore, can mimic the awesome powers of monsters that far exceed the normal boundaries of mortals in the form of a person. Only a very few ever have a chance to cast their eyes on one of these beings, and even smaller among those that dare battle these warriors return to tell the tales of their strength. The few scattered accounts that tell of such a being speak of encountering not only a skilled weapon master, but their worst nightmares from the wilds around them: the petrifying scream of an ash wraith, the flaming breath of a dragon, the virulent poison of a thousand beasts, all from one terrifying source - the Wildkin Adepts. Each Wildkin Adept can choose to specialize in either feral or elemental aspects of the supernatural. The feral focus requires immense strength, while the elemental focus requires arcane aptitude.

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"It is said that they have forsaken the very essence of mortality in exchange for untold power..."

Because the art is so secretive and so difficult to obtain, Wildkin Adepts are rarely encountered and even less understood. Most mortals with some affinity to nature choose to become a poor imitation of the beasts using Fade Energy, or lure some of the weak-minded animals to further their ends. But Wildkin Adepts can command the very powers of the essence of any foe they experience while remaining in their bodily form. While mages risk demonic possession because of their direct connection with the fade to interact with the forces of magic, Wildkin Adepts harness the natural processes exhibited by all kinds of beasts and monsters to bring forth "magical" powers without ever touching the Fade.

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"I have all the powers of your worst Nightmares at my disposal. Who are you to question me?"

As a Wildkin Adept gains power, she turns further and further into a beast, and thus gains the ability to mimic abilities of ever greater complexity and power. Only the Adepts themselves know the true secrets of learning the supernatural skills of beasts and monsters, and intermittent reports show that efforts by chantry scholars to replicate this phenomenon all ended in complete failure. To unfamiliar eyes, the demonstration of an Ogre's strength by a waiflike woman is a wondrous scene to behold.

"Blue is the color of monster's blood, and the color of our future. Assuming we have a future..."
- From the diary of a Wildkin Adept

The practices of Wildkin Adepts are not without mortal danger - the techniques of dragons and ogres were not meant to be realized in the form of a person, and in doing so, the Wildkin Adepts place enormous strain on their physical self. The energies required for such skills forcibly warp her body into hideous representations of each emulated beast, and it is only with difficult training that the caster can recover her original face and form after completion of each routine. As a Wildkin Adept brings forth increasingly powerful abilities, this strain reaches beyond the physical realm and affects her very soul. Only those with the strength of spirit to resist and withstand the enduring pain their bodies go through - and those willing to sacrifice a future to carry out their duty - have the necessary qualities to walk the path of the Wildkin Adept.

Dragon Age Modding: Part 7!

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