Barony Dev Update - Goblin Shaman Preview

Welcome to the first class preview for the Legends and Pariahs DLC! The Shaman is the signature class of the Goblin race, a tribal spellcaster that uses Shapeshifting magic to transform into various creatures to take advantage of unique abilities and allegiances.

The Goblin Race:

As mentioned previously in the Revisiting Magic and Spellbooks blog post, Goblins are an adaptable race that cannot permanently learn spells via the traditional spellbook reading mechanic - instead they must rely on casting by holding spellbooks! The Shaman class aims to provide a level of unique permanence to the Goblin’s magic repertoire and lean into flexible character growth.

A summary of the Goblin’s gameplay mechanics:

Increasing a melee weapon skill also increases every other melee weapon skill at the same time.

Base chance to increase weapon skills is lower than other races.

All worn equipment on the Goblin has a reduced chance to degrade - armor, weapons, magicstaffs and spellbooks included.

Unable to learn spells from spellbooks, even through the effects of Polymorph.

Friendly with other Goblins in the world.

With these mechanics in mind, let’s explore what the Shaman class has to offer!

The Shaman Class:

Starting Equipment: The Shaman starts their loadout with some new visible items - a Magicstaff of Poison and a cool looking Skull Mask! You will also have in your inventory:

An Enchanted Feather

A basic melee weapon

Some throwable rocks

A very minimalistic inventory loadout, but if you check your hotbar or learned spells when you start the game, you’ll also see 5 new Shapeshift spells which form the core gameplay of the Shaman class:

Rat Form

Spider Form

Troll Form

Imp Form

Revert Form

The Enchanted Feather:

A new item! This feather is an enchanted scribing tool used to imbue magic into blank scrolls and also repair spellbooks. With the Enchanted Feather, the Goblin Shaman is able to keep their dwindling spellbook supply in good shape while also making use of cheap blank scrolls!

Also, the Enchanted Feather is not exclusive to the Shaman! You will also find they can populate the world in magical chests, shops, and perhaps carried by some of the smaller magic-loving creatures in the dungeon...

Shapeshifting:

There are 4 creature types the Shaman can change into at will - Rat, Spider, Troll and Imp. To transform, you equip the corresponding spell and expend mana to shapeshift for a fixed duration. Your 5th starting spell, “Revert Form”, transforms you back into your natural humanoid form if you wish to end the effect prematurely.

However, not every form is selectable from the start of the game - at player level 1 only the "Rat Form" spell is selectable, while the Spider, Troll and Imp forms unlock at levels 3, 6 and 12 respectively. Once you reach the level requirement, the spell icon will no longer be greyed out and you’ll be able to equip and cast the spell.

Each Shapeshift form has their own unique hotbar that persists after changing forms. You can rearrange your potions, spells and food between forms to keep them in a consistent location!

Some key mechanics for Shapeshifting:

When you transform, you take on the creature characteristics and you will be able to recruit similar other monsters as you go through the dungeon.

You gain 2-3 additional temporary magic spells which are unique to each creature. The first tier spell is available when you reach the level requirement for the creature (LVL 1, 3, 6, 12 as mentioned earlier) and the second/third tier spells are available some levels after the unlock threshold.

You can cast any spells that you have learned while Shapeshifted.

You are unable to use weapons and armor as they no longer conform to your body. Items remain “equipped” and in your inventory but do not provide +ATK or +AC.

Rings, Amulets, and equipment with magical effects (levitation, invisibility etc) still provide their effects while Shapeshifted.

The Skull Mask starting item provides bonus mana regeneration only while shapeshifted.

starting item provides bonus mana regeneration only while shapeshifted. Each Shapeshift form gives % based primary stat bonuses (STR/DEX etc) to augment your survivability.

The Shaman class has a random stat growth, preferring no stat over the other. Levelling up while Shapeshifted changes which player stats are likely to increase. By changing forms, you can manipulate your stat growth to address weaknesses or to be better prepared for the challenges ahead!

Swimming in water does not wash away the Shapeshift like the Polymorph effect.

Now let's have a look at the abilities and features of the different Shapeshift forms!

Shapeshift Forms

Rat Form (LVL 1):

A frail friend to other rats with the ability to sniff out food and make quick getaways out of a bad situation.

Spells:

Detect Food (LVL 1) Highlights food on the ground in your minimap for the current level.

Speed (LVL 3) Grants the “Speed” effect on the caster and in an AoE for your allies.



Stat modifiers while Shapeshifted:

+3 + 25% base DEX

+3 + 25% base INT

+3 + 25% base PER

Favored stats on levelling up:

DEX (Primary)

INT (Secondary)

Spider Form (LVL 3):

Hardier than rats, spiders have a mix of damage and support magic to help keep danger safely away from them. Friendly with other insects and bugs.

Spells:

Spray Web (LVL 3) Sprays 3 short-range web projectiles from the caster that slow the target. Ensnared targets also receive a knockback effect on hit from melee attacks. Hitting a target with 2 or more projectiles compounds the slow/knockback effects.

Poison (LVL 6) Low level damage spell that also inflicts the poison effect for a short duration.



Stat modifiers while Shapeshifted:

+3 + 25% base STR

+3 + 25% base CON

+5 + 33% base PER

Favored stats on levelling up:

PER (Primary)

CON (Secondary)

Troll Form (LVL 6):

Slow yet powerful, a troll can draw danger away from his allies and deliver crushing blows to those who are too scared to move.

Spells:

Power Strike (LVL 6) The caster charges an incredibly strong melee punch that deals 2x melee damage and inflicts knockback on the target. Walls and boulders are able to be destroyed on impact if hit with this attack. Caster is immobile during the charge time.

Troll’s Blood (LVL 12) Grants a HP regeneration effect on the caster and in an AoE for your allies for a duration.

Fear (LVL 15) The caster unleashes a primordial roar that inflicts a new status effect, “Fear”, on enemies in an AoE around the caster. While under the “Fear” effect, monsters are unable to attack and change their current monster target to the caster once the effect ends.



Stat modifiers while Shapeshifted:

+5 + 33% base STR

-5 - 33% base DEX

+5 + 33% base CON

Favored stats on levelling up:

STR (Primary)

CON (Secondary)

Imp Form (LVL 12):

Imps have innate levitation and can equip spellbooks and magicstaffs while Shapeshifted. They prefer the company of other imps and use unique powerful magic to take down their foes.

Spells:

Lightning (LVL 12) Moderate damage spell.

Confuse (LVL 12) Inflicts “Confuse” status on an enemy.

Amplify Magic (LVL 15) Sustained spell with high mana upkeep cost. While under the effects of “Amplify Magic”, any Fire/Cold/Lightning/Magic Missile spells cast will be concentrated into a short range falling projectile that erupts into a tower of magic on impact with the ground or enemy.



Stat modifiers while Shapeshifted:

+5 + 33% base INT

+3 + 25% base PER

Favored stats on levelling up:

INT (Primary)

DEX (Secondary)

Wrapping Up

Let us know what you think! Feel free to share your thoughts in the Steam discussion thread or join our discord!

We hope you enjoyed this preview piece on the Goblin Shaman - it has been challenging to create, but has ended up being great fun to seamlessly meld between all the different forms. (At times during playthroughs I’ve definitely forgotten I was a Goblin!) We're constantly trying new ideas in this DLC and can't wait to show you the rest!

What’s Next?

My next upcoming DLC blog update: I'll share some details about the Incubus Punisher.

If you haven't seen already, Mistersneak has also put up some original monster concept art for our previous Barony: Blessed Addition expansion - check it out!

Until next time!

-wallofjustice