Proposal - Empath Spell Circle Review | GemStone IV | Page 1

hidden shadow Jan 25, 2025, 12:28 AM

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/12qUoVDwNRyo_1aojhzq5z7Fkry5lyWQmyX4nNE5K19M/edit?usp=sharing

Limb Repair (1102)
System Repair (1103)
Head Repair (1104)
Organ Repair (1105)
Limb Scar Repair (1111)
System Scar Repair (1112)
Head Scar Repair (1113)
Organ Scar Repair (1114)
Rapid Healing (1116)
Troll's Blood (1125)
Solace (1140)
Regeneration (1150)```

**Healing costs for minor, medium, and major wounds standardized.

No more hard roundtime for healing Rank 1, 2, or 3 wounds.  

Healing Rank 1, 2, or 3 wounds incurs 3 seconds of casting roundtime only.

Healing Rank 1, 2, or 3 scars incurs 3 seconds of hard roundtime only.

Transformation Lore reduces all mana costs by 1% per 2 ranks with a maximum of 50% at 100 ranks.

Transformation Lore reduces all casting roundtime by 1 second at 50 ranks and 2 seconds at 100 ranks.

Blessing Lore Benefits for healing/repair spells converted to Transformation Lore.**
With all of these spells, transformation lore provides a chance that healing a minor wound will also heal scars in that location. The table below shows the minimum required ranks to activate this effect for each type of scar. The chance of success is 30% plus .5% per rank above the required amount.

                Minor        Medium    Severe
Limb        5              25              45
System    10            30              50
Head        15            35              55
Organ       20          40               60

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Level 1 Feat - Mend Minor Wounds

Mana Cost: 4 mana for all minor wound locations.  No mana cost for transferring from others.
Cooldown: 3 seconds casting roundtime.```
Level 5 Feat - Mend Moderate Wounds
```Description: Allows the empath to heal Rank 2 wounds (e.g., fractures, moderate bleeding) on themselves and transfer Rank 2 wounds from others.
Mana Cost: 6 mana for all moderate wound locations.  No mana cost for transferring from others.
Cooldown: 3 seconds casting roundtime.```
Level 10 Feat - Mend Severe Wounds
```Description: Allows the empath to heal Rank 3 wounds (e.g., severed limbs, severe bleeding) on themselves and transfer Rank 3 wounds from others.
Mana Cost: 8 mana for all severe wound locations.  No mana cost for transferring from others.
Cooldown: 3 seconds casting roundtime.```
Level 15 Feat - Mend Scars
```Description: The empath gains the ability to mend Rank 1, Rank 2, and Rank 3 scars on themselves.
Mana Cost: 16 mana for all scars.
Cooldown: 3 second hard roundtime.```
Level 20 Feat - Transfer Scars
```Description: The empath gains the ability to transfer Rank 1, Rank 2, and Rank 3 scars from others to themselves.
Mana Cost: No mana cost for transferring.
Cooldown: 3 second hard roundtime.```
Level 25 Feat - Trolls Blood
```Rewarded as feat now.
Blessing Lore benefits converted to Transformation Lore at current ratios or halve requirements of Blessing Lore for existing benefits.```
Level 30 Feat - Physical Healing (This is not Mandatory, Optional Feat to Learn)
```Description: The empath has gained the ability to heal all wounds using their stamina rather than their mana.
Mechanics: Stamina costs for healing wounds are double that of mana.  Roundtimes remain the same.
Transformation Lore reduces all stamina costs by 25% at 50 ranks and 50% at 100 ranks.
Transformation Lore reduces all casting roundtime by 1 second at 50 ranks and 2 seconds at 100 ranks.```
Level 35 Feat - Solace
```No change from existing spell but rewarded as feat now.```
Level 40 Feat - Empathic Surge
```Description: Heals all Rank 1 and Rank 2 wounds for the empath and nearby group members.
Mechanics: 50 stamina cost.  5 wounds per target are healed instantly.  Transformation lore increases wounds healed per target at a rate of 1 wound per 10 ranks of transformation lore.
Cooldown: 30 minutes.
Max Benefit via Transformation Lore: At 200 ranks, the empath can heal up to 25 wounds per target instantly.```
Level 50 Feat - Regeneration
```Description: Fully heals all wounds (Rank 1–3) and scars for the empath and nearby group members.
Mechanics: 100 stamina cost.
Cooldown: 24 hours.  Transformation lore provides additional uses every 50 ranks.
Max Benefit via Transformation Lore: At 200 ranks, the empath has 5 uses available every 24 hours.```

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Save.

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1101 - Corrupt Flesh

Description: Targets the enemy’s body, causing necrotic damage over time (DoT) by corrupting their flesh with empathic backlash.
Effect:
Inflicts initial damage and applies a DoT effect for 15 seconds, dealing damage every 2 seconds.
Each DoT tick causes minor health loss. If the target is affected by Disrupt Nervous System (1102), the DoT deals moderate health loss.
Mental Lore: Transformation increases DoT damage by 1% per 10 ranks, with a minimum bonus of 1 health point.
Mechanics: Success is determined by a warding roll (caster’s CS vs. target’s TD). The spell cannot be stacked but can be refreshed by recasting.
Mana Cost: 1 mana.
Messaging:
Success: "You channel empathic energy into your foe, causing their flesh to blacken and rot. The smell of decay permeates the air as their body deteriorates."
Failure: "You attempt to corrupt your foe's flesh, but the energy dissipates harmlessly."```
1102 - Disrupt Nervous System
```Type: Warding Debuff Spell
Description: Targets the enemy’s nervous system, disrupting their coordination and cognitive processes.
Effect:
Inflicts one random condition (or allows the caster to specify one) from the following: Blind, Clumsy, Dazed, Feeble, Staggered.
Amplifies the DoT damage from Corrupt Flesh (1101) by 50%.
Mental Lore: Transformation increases the DoT amplification by 1% per 10 ranks and allows multiple debuffs to be applied simultaneously.
Mechanics: Success is determined by a warding roll (caster’s CS vs. target’s TD). The debuffs last for 20 seconds unless dispelled.
Mana Cost: 2 mana.
Messaging:
Success: "You send a wave of empathic energy into your foe, causing their movements to falter as their nervous system misfires. Their eyes glaze over, and they stumble in confusion."
Failure: "Your attempt to disrupt the target’s nervous system fails to take hold."```
1103 - Empathic Implosion
```Type: Finishing Warding Attack Spell
Description: A devastating attack that causes the target’s body to collapse inward, dealing massive internal damage. This spell requires both Corrupt Flesh (1101) and Disrupt Nervous System (1102) to be active on the target.
Effect:
Deals critical damage based on the total damage inflicted by Corrupt Flesh (1101) during its duration.
Removes the effects of Corrupt Flesh (1101) and Disrupt Nervous System (1102) from the target upon casting.
Targets affected by both prerequisites receive a significant warding penalty (+30 CS bonus to the caster).
Mechanics: Requires both Corrupt Flesh and Disrupt Nervous System to be active on the target. Success is determined by a warding roll (caster’s CS vs. target’s TD).
Mana Cost: 3 mana.
Messaging:
Success: "You channel the culmination of empathic power into your foe, and their body convulses violently. A sickening crack echoes as their form collapses inward, leaving nothing but a lifeless husk."
Failure: "You attempt to unleash the empathic implosion, but your target resists, leaving your energies to dissipate harmlessly."```

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1104 - Empathic Ward

Description: Creates a protective shield around the empath, absorbing a percentage of incoming damage.
Effect:
Absorbs 20% of incoming physical and magical damage for 30 seconds.
Use of any self-healing feat extends the ward’s duration by 5 seconds. The empath must heal at least one wound for this extension to apply.
The ward cannot stack with other damage-absorbing effects but can be recast after expiration.
Mechanics:
Duration and damage absorption are fixed and do not scale.
Healing feats activate the extension effect only once per feat use during the spell's duration.
Mana Cost: 4 mana.
Cooldown: 5 minutes.
Messaging:
Activation: "A faint golden aura forms around you, shimmering softly as it absorbs incoming attacks."
Extension: "The golden aura brightens momentarily as it absorbs strength from your healing efforts."
Expiration: "The golden aura flickers and dissipates, leaving you unprotected."```
1105 - Pulse of Life
```Type: Utility Spell
Description: Releases a wave of empathic energy that cleanses all status effects and debuffs from the empath and their group members.
Effect:
Removes all negative status effects and conditions, including: Stun, Daze, Blind, Confusion, Poison, and Disease.
Does not remove the Staggered condition, heal wounds, or stop bleeding.
Affects all group members in the room, regardless of their status.
Mechanics:
Success is automatic if the empath is not silenced or stunned when casting.
Does not conflict with active buffs or shields.
Mana Cost: 5 mana.
Cooldown: 2 minutes.
Messaging:
Activation: "You release a wave of pure empathic energy, radiating outward and washing over you and your group."
Effect: "A soothing warmth settles over the room, clearing afflictions and restoring clarity to those affected."
Failure: "You attempt to channel the pulse of life, but the energy dissipates without effect."```
1111 - Lifeweave
```Type: Support Utility Spell
Description: Connects the empath to an ally, sharing a portion of the damage they take over the next 30 seconds.
Effect:
Redirects 25% of the target ally’s incoming damage to the empath.
The empath takes reduced damage due to their empathic resilience. The redirected damage is reduced by 30% before being applied to the empath.
Can only be maintained on one ally at a time. If recast on a different ally, the connection with the original target ends.
Mechanics:
The empath cannot redirect more than their current health allows. If the redirected damage would incapacitate the empath, the connection breaks.
Mental Lore: Transformation increases the damage redirection reduction by 1% per 10 ranks (maximum 50% reduction).
Mana Cost: 11 mana.
Cooldown: 2 minutes.
Messaging:
Activation: "You weave a thread of empathic energy between yourself and [target], linking their pain to your resilience."
Effect: "The lifeweave pulses faintly as it absorbs [target]’s suffering and redirects it toward you."
Expiration: "The thread of life energy fades, severing the connection between you and [target]."```

hidden shadow Jan 25, 2025, 12:54 AM

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1112 - Telepathic Grasp

Description: Reaches into the target’s mind with empathic telepathy, causing psychic pain and disorientation.
Effect:
Deals moderate mental damage to a single target.
Has a chance to inflict Staggered or Dazed conditions for 5 seconds.
Mental Lore: Telepathy increases the damage dealt and the chance of successfully applying debuffs.
Mechanics: Success is determined by a warding roll (caster’s CS vs. target’s TD). Undead and living creatures alike are affected, though undead take slightly reduced damage.
Mana Cost: 12 mana.
Messaging:
Success: "You focus your telepathic energy on your foe, and they clutch their head in agony as their mind is assailed by invisible force."
Failure: "You attempt to grasp the target’s mind, but they shrug off your intrusion."```
1113 - Mental Fracture
```Type: Debilitating Warding Attack Spell
Description: Sends a powerful telepathic shockwave into the target’s mind, shattering their focus and causing psychic disruption.
Effect:
Deals significant mental damage to a single target.
Reduces the target’s Attack Strength (AS) and Casting Strength (CS) by -15 for 10 seconds.
If the target is already affected by Telepathic Grasp (1112), this spell amplifies the damage and doubles the debuff duration.
Mental Lore: Telepathy increases the AS/CS reduction.
Mechanics: Success is determined by a warding roll (caster’s CS vs. target’s TD).
Mana Cost: 13 mana.
Messaging:
Success: "A psychic fracture tears through your foe’s mind, leaving them disoriented and weakened."
Failure: "Your attempt to shatter the target’s mind is met with resistance, and the energy dissipates."```
1114 - Psychic Cascade
```Type: Area of Effect (AOE) Warding Attack Spell
Description: Releases a telepathic wave of destruction, dealing psychic damage to all enemies in the area.
Effect:
Deals moderate mental damage to all enemies within range.
Enemies already affected by Telepathic Grasp (1112) or Mental Fracture (1113) take 50% increased damage. Against a single target, damage is increased by 100%.
Targets suffering from Staggered or Dazed conditions may be stunned for multiple rounds depending on the warding margin.
Mental Lore: Telepathy scales bonus damage and increases the stun chance.
Mechanics: Success is determined by a warding roll (caster’s CS vs. target’s TD) for each target.
Mana Cost: 14 mana.
Messaging:
Success: "A cascade of telepathic energy radiates outward, bombarding all nearby foes with psychic force. Several enemies falter under the onslaught."
Failure: "You release a wave of telepathic energy, but it dissipates harmlessly against your enemies."```

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1116 - Empathic Frenzy

Description: The empath empowers themselves physically and mentally, unleashing a relentless assault on their enemy over 6 seconds. During this heightened state, the empath becomes hyper-focused, unable to take further actions.
Effect:
Attack Execution:

Executes 3 to 6 attacks over the duration of the spell.
Base Attacks: 3 attacks (1 every 2 seconds).
Additional Attacks: +1 attack per 10 ranks of Mental Lore: Telepathy (maximum of 6 total attacks).
Attack Types (purely for roleplay flavor):

Physical: Empath surges forward, striking with empathic energy.
Bolt: Projected blasts of empathic energy resembling light.
Warding: Psychic ruptures delivered via focused mental energy.
Damage Resolution:

Damage is resolved via the SMR system, determined by:
Primary Factor: Ranks in Empath Base Spell Circle.
Secondary Factor: Ranks in Mental Lore: Telepathy.
SMR results include critical damage, with a high chance of stuns or knockdowns.
Restrictions:
The empath cannot perform any other actions while the spell is active.
Mechanics:
Mana Cost: 16 mana.
Cooldown: 3 minutes.
Scaling: Additional attacks and SMR effectiveness scale with Mental Lore: Telepathy.
Messaging:
Activation:
"A surge of empathic energy courses through you, sharpening your focus as you prepare to strike with relentless force."
Attack Messaging:
Physical: "You charge forward, unleashing a devastating strike infused with empathic power against [enemy]."
Bolt: "A shimmering blast of empathic energy streaks toward [enemy], striking them with overwhelming force."
Warding: "A focused rupture of empathic energy tears into [enemy], leaving them reeling in pain."
Expiration:
"The empathic frenzy subsides, leaving you calm but momentarily drained."```
1125 - Empathic Surge
```Type: Self-Buff Spell
Description: The empath channels their own wounds into raw power, enhancing their combat capabilities while healing their injuries.
Effect:
Wound Healing:

All active wounds are healed down by 1 rank:
Rank 3 wounds → Rank 2 wounds.
Rank 2 wounds → Rank 1 wounds.
Rank 1 wounds → Fully healed.
Does not affect scars.
Combat Buff:

For every wound present before healing, the empath gains:
+5 AS to melee, ranged, and bolt attacks.
+3 CS to casting strength.
Example: 4 wounds grant +20 AS and +12 CS.
Duration:

Buff lasts for 5 minutes. Bonuses are fixed at the moment of casting based on the wounds present.
Scaling and Synergy:
Mental Lore: Transformation: Extends the duration by 1 second per rank.
Mental Lore: Telepathy: Adds +2 AS per 20 ranks and +1 CS per 20 ranks.
Mechanics:
Mana Cost: 25 mana.
Cooldown: 10 minutes.
Messaging:
Activation:
"You focus on your wounds, transforming your pain into a surge of empathic energy and strength."
Buff Active:
"Your body hums with newfound power as empathic energy radiates around you."
Expiration:
"The surge of power fades, leaving you feeling calm yet weary.```

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1140 - Empathic Reckoning

Description: The empath channels the collective suffering of themselves and their group into a massive wave of destructive energy. The intensity of the damage scales with the severity and number of wounds present.
Effect:
Damage Calculation:

Rank 1 wounds: Add Rank 1–2 critical damage.
Rank 2 wounds: Add Rank 3–4 critical damage.
Rank 3 wounds: Add Rank 5–7 critical damage.
Damage is summed across all wounds on the empath and group members.
Damage Distribution:

If one enemy is present: All damage is focused on that enemy.
If multiple enemies are present: Damage is evenly divided among them.
Knockdown Effect:

Enemies subjected to Rank 5 or higher criticals are knocked down automatically.
Scaling and Synergy:
Mental Lore: Transformation: Increases critical rank severity by +1 per 20 ranks (maximum of +2).
Mechanics:
Mana Cost:
1 mana per Rank 1 wound.
2 mana per Rank 2 wound.
3 mana per Rank 3 wound.
Maximum Mana Cost: 40 mana.
Cooldown: No cooldown, but wounds must be present for the spell to be effective.
Messaging:
Activation:
"You draw upon the collective pain of yourself and your allies, weaving it into a massive surge of destructive energy."
Effect:
"A wave of empathic energy crashes through the room, devastating [enemy] with the weight of collective suffering!"
Failure:
"You attempt to channel empathic reckoning, but the energy dissipates without effect."```
1150 - Telepathic Maelstrom
```Type: AOE Offensive/Utility Spell
Description: The empath’s psychic energy surges out of control, creating a destructive storm that indiscriminately damages all enemies.
Effect:
AOE Psychic Damage:

Deals heavy psychic damage to all enemies.
Damage is randomized between 75% and 125% of base damage, reflecting the chaos of the storm.
Critical Effects:

Enemies receive a psychic critical roll with a chance to:
Stun, knock down, or daze living creatures.
Confuse or terrify living creatures.
Undead creatures take reduced damage and are immune to mental effects.
Backlash Risk:

The empath takes 5–10% of their max health in psychic damage if they fail a hidden roll.
Mental Lore: Transformation reduces backlash chance by 1% per rank (maximum 90% mitigation).
Synergy Bonuses:

Each Rank 2 or Rank 3 wound on the empath increases storm damage by 10% per wound.
Duration:
Lasts 10 seconds, delivering 3 waves of attacks (1 second to form, then 1 attack every 3 seconds).
Mechanics:
Mana Cost: 50 mana.
Cooldown: 3 minutes.
Messaging:
Activation:
"You feel your control slipping as overwhelming telepathic energy surges through you. A storm of psychic force erupts, crackling with chaotic power!"
Wave Damage:
"The psychic storm lashes out, bombarding [enemy] with devastating bursts of telepathic energy."
Backlash:
"The storm’s energy recoils back into you, sending sharp pain through your mind!"
Expiration:
"The telepathic maelstrom fades, leaving the battlefield in silence as the energy dissipates."```

mighty crow Jan 25, 2025, 1:01 AM

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Plus MnM instead of MjS!

hidden shadow Jan 25, 2025, 1:02 AM

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No. Focus on this post is only to discuss the empath spell circle.

mighty crow Jan 25, 2025, 1:03 AM

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Coming up with 13 new spells is a task. And they should take into consideration finally making empaths MnM

hidden shadow Jan 25, 2025, 1:05 AM

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Its just not going to happen for the same reason other professions wont switch their minor or major spell circles. We could definitely get some movement on focusing just on the empath circle and the redundancy of the healing spells.

torpid chasm Jan 25, 2025, 1:36 AM

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i am strongly in favor of the healing abilities requiring stamina. i think that was a fantastic idea.

for the corrupt flesh, i worry that leans itself more to just living creature things again. What if 1103 was a generic attack including debuff then 1101 is living and 1102 is not

glossy basalt Jan 25, 2025, 1:39 AM

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Perhaps toss in some of the ideas from the savant list/major mental, kind of like how both clerics and sorcerers both have a way to handle curses, both empath and savant are mental users. To help flush out the list

hidden shadow Jan 25, 2025, 1:39 AM

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Undead have blood and a nervous system. It would only be non-corporeal
Same targets 1101 already affects

glossy basalt Jan 25, 2025, 1:40 AM

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Skeletons lack either, mummies probbaly lack blood. Zombies might lack an intact nervous system depending on how falling apart they are. ect

torpid chasm Jan 25, 2025, 1:44 AM

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i wouldnt mind actually seeing a spell to apply major bleed and another exsanguinate follow up spell.

hidden shadow Jan 25, 2025, 1:45 AM

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Pretty sure thats the empath profession service

torpid chasm Jan 25, 2025, 1:55 AM

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do you have a link? im not so good at finding things on discord

mighty crow Jan 25, 2025, 2:10 AM

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Your 1105 is kind of a copy of 1040.

hidden shadow Jan 25, 2025, 2:10 AM

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Yup

toxic plover Jan 25, 2025, 2:11 AM

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healing requires stamina? but... I just switched from cough cough to GOS. Been grinding warcamps for weeks!

hidden shadow Jan 25, 2025, 2:11 AM

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Really wanted something low level, low cost that would be useful during boss fights and invasions. The empath cannot use it while stunned though.

hidden shadow Jan 25, 2025, 2:12 AM

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toxic plover healing requires stamina? but... I just switched from **cough cough** to GOS. ...

If you train transformation lore the stamina costs can be greatly reduced down to 1 stamina for minor and moderate wounds.

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Ultimately I'm shooting for a 100/100 transformation and telepathy lore split.
No stupid transference lore required.

torpid chasm Jan 25, 2025, 2:18 AM

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1101 - body / mind
body - Costs Stamina to cast - AS spell, inflicts slashing or puncture damage and inflicts major bleed, can be aimed at specific locations with spell aiming ranks
mind - Costs Mana to cast - SMR spell, disruption damage, targets the creatures mind applying random debuff (confuse etc)

torpid chasm Jan 25, 2025, 2:40 AM

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and to try and ensure we dont eliminate their melee capabilities...

1103 - Strength of will - similar to a spellsong - mana / stamina upkeep, increased duration per rank or level. flat increase to AS with a chance (Transformation lore) to further enhance your attack boosting AS further for that swing.

hidden shadow Jan 25, 2025, 2:41 AM

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I don't think empaths really need more help increasing AS
They have the highest AS compared to any other pure

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The weapon using empath can just 110 for setup, 1117 if faced with multiple mobs, and then just do a focus mstrike.

torpid chasm Jan 25, 2025, 2:46 AM

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you are right. i think any further and they would almost get pushed into the semi category

red trout Jan 25, 2025, 3:58 AM

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Oh good gods, don't go making me relearn the empath spell circle again....

hidden shadow May 7, 2025, 9:36 PM

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Empaths need love too...

hollow arch May 7, 2025, 9:43 PM

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Hey they’ve only done two paladins reviews since 2020, there may be time for a third before empaths get a GSIV kit

hidden shadow May 7, 2025, 10:29 PM

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A review and huge buff. Just flat out, ya'll need redux, more block %, new shield mans, feats, and boons.

mighty crow May 8, 2025, 11:10 AM

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hidden shadow A review and huge buff. Just flat out, ya'll need redux, more block %, new shie...

Paladins or Empaths? lol

hidden shadow May 8, 2025, 11:11 AM

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Plds of course

#Proposal - Empath Spell Circle Review