SPELLS:
So basically there are 4 spelltypes currently in consideration for massive overhaul. It should also be noted that the generel level of spelldamage we have now will aproximatly be halved as to what is 100% in the below...
Fire !
All firespell will be DOTs ( damage over time ) starting with 100% on hit then 80% 60% 40% and finally on round five 20%. Each 20% represents a "counter" and any firespell hitting a target will give 5 counters. If you cast the same firespell on a creature it will reset the counter to 5 but it will NOT stack the counters !
Firespells will also melt a stack of COLD if any such should be on target creature...
Cold !
All cold spells will be giving 100% damage on hit and add one "counter" of cold on hit. These counters will disapear after 10 rounds and may stack up to 5 times. Each such counter affects the target with a 10% healing debuff. so if a target - say a worldboss - have been hit successfully 5 times with level 1 icedagger it will indeed only get 50% healed when it uses its self healings....
A coldspell also subtracts 2 tokens of fire on the target should they have any such...
So to sum up the balance between fire and cold is moving between +5 for top fire damage to -5 for top cold healing debuff.
This however will also be influenced by certain areas. In a very hot area you might experience +1 to fire counters effect. there will still only by 5 counters when you cast the spell but it will count as 6 or 7 meaning the firedamage is then at 120 or 140% to start with and will count down to either 40% or 60% before it fades away. The excact same will be the case in cold areas where the healing debuffs will then be more severe...
We are still not sure wether extreme areas also counter spelldamge of opposite type. IE fire is less danagerous in a really cold area... and vice versa...
Lightning !
Lightning spells will by default give 120% damage but they will also STUN the target for a round. there will be no save agast this except SR or imunities via spells or complete imunity to electricity...
Currently we are also debating if all lightning spells should be able to "bounce" to another nearby target. nearest always , maybe even including friendlies...
Lightning will likely be given extra damage in underwater areas and maybe swamps...
Acid !
Allthough acid is not an elemental damage type is will also have a specialty being to temporarely melt peoples armors. Basically being hit with a acid spell grants an acid token for 1 minute, up to 5 tokens. Each such token will give a -3 ac debuff. Acid damage will likely be at around 120%
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Armortypes and spells....
Since we are currently seing the consequence of improved stats being everyone going cloth armor we are opting for a brand new way to diversify and balance this.
Cloth. max /5 dam resist on physical - this includes tolmar armor remake.
Light max /5 dam resist on physical - this includes tolmar armor remake.
Medium max /10 dam resist on physical - this includes tolmar armor remake.
Heavy max /20 dam resist on physical - this includes tolmar armor remake.
However there is more. Following template demonstrates the innate resistances for damagetype for armors.
Type................Cloth.......... Light......... medium..........Heavy ..........Shield
Fire.................0..............15%...............20%...............25%..............5%
Cold................0...............20%..............25%...............15%...............5%
Lightning..........0...............25%..............15%................20%..............5%
Acid................0...............20%...............20%...............20%..............5%
The idea here is that different armortype actually have different bonusses. Most specifically that all ARMOR protects better than CLOTH. You may have super AC from dex using cloth but it doesnt give you much - if any - protection. The bonusses above are achetype bonusses which means ANY above armor will have this effect. so a none magical heavy armor and shield will indeed grant 30% less damage from all firespells !
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SAVES !
The idea here is that savingthrows will now grant a 25% damage reduction. Improved evasion will double that to 50%. This means in reality that neither bosses nor players with this feat can any longer stand in the blaze of AOE spells unharmed. This also means that players and monsters now are penalized for just standing in the blaze of AOE instead of actually moving away... No more "AOE imunity" !
However a TANK in heavy armor and shield and a CLASS that grants more regen and healing will be able to suffer the pain of standing in the heat...
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It should be noted that once this is finished NECROMANCY will likely be getting a COMPLETE overhaul, but no more talk of that for now.