What do you think about the skill tree?

[andrewb]

I honestly think it's needlessly restrictive, I would much rather have it so that I can invest points into stats directly and then weapons, spells and armor would have stat requirements. I understand the need to differentiate the game mechanics from Dark Souls at least in some way but really...the DS system just works better, it lets you control your build way better and gives you more freedom as well. The skill tree makes very little sense to me.

*I played the game on PS4 3 times with different builds to absolute completion. Got the Platinum trophy.

[Man_CRNA]

I absolutely agree with you. I dislike it. It's a cool idea, but I think it's also needlessly restrictive. Any time you see a skill tree like this you're like "whoa that looks cool!" Then you realize the first time you pick up a weapon of a different "class" that you can't use it. I also agree that DS just does it better. Want to wield giant weapons, invest in strength. Case in point, I have 30+ strength right now yet I can't effectively a class 1 greathammer but I can wield class 5 greatswords. Instead I have to invest another 12-15 points into one string of the tree in order to be able to even try a weapon out to see if I like it. And if I want to try a flintlock with that weapon, another string.

Love the game, but two words really do sum it up: needlessly restrictive.

[Morphic]

I actually disagree completely. The Skill Tree reminds me very much of Path of Exile's system.

Sure, needing to invest in specific weapon types to use higher class weapons does suck ... if you don't know what you want. Once you realize what kinds of things you want, you can quickly start finding the Class Nodes and plotting routes to get them. Often times there are 2-4 different routes you can take to get to a specific Class Node, each route offerring different overall Stats.

I mean, my first playthrough had me playing a Melee that was going to use Swords so I just kept going Up. Then I started to realize I wanted some better Heavy Armor, so I branched Right as well. Halfway up I decided I wanted to use Greataxes, thankfully all I had to do was branch off my Heavy Armor route and start grabbing them.

The entire process still had me getting STR and DEX Stat boosts which still improved my overall damage with Greataxes. Sure my build may have been "inefficient" but who cares? There's no PvP you have to worry about and you can always fall back on your previous weapons. It was the same thing when I did a full Mage build. I didn't know if I wanted Wands or Staves ... so I kept going for both, which still improved my Magic Power and related stats making me do more damage. Just like doing a "Paladin Build" is waay easier in Salt and Sanctuary than a Souls game. Going Faith usually increases your Endurance + Prayer Power and going Maces/whatever increases your STR, so you really only have 2 dump stats. With a Souls game you are looking at STR, FTH, END and possibly VIT too. Not to mention the higher class weapons/armor aren't always better.

The Souls game system is a good one but it's extremely flat and heavily relies on Gear to differentiate characters from each other. Ergo, you are Item dependant. With Salt and Sanctuary you are Skill dependant. I can understand why people would dislike it but I feel this kind of system gives more freedom overall. I can't suddenly switch archetypes in a Souls game like I can in Salt and Sanctuary. Granted if I don't plan out a solid route I could end up "wasting" 10-30 Pearls just to get what I want. Instead of building a character around a specific weapon, like in a Souls game, you are building a character around a specific playstyle. At least that's IMO.

TLDR: I disagree that it's restrictive. I feel it grants more freedom than a Souls game but I still feel a system like Path of Exile with a "Materia" system grants the greatest freedom.

[Cake for Mumm-Ra]

I think the skill tree is pretty flexible in terms of making builds. It's certainly a lot simpler than dark souls in terms of stats vs. available weapons vs. scaling.

Also, you can use the grey orbs anywhere on a skill path and the skills above it stay in place. So theoretically, you could have ranks that are disconnected all over the tree.

[andrewb]

Postat inițial de Setzway:

I actually disagree completely. The Skill Tree reminds me very much of Path of Exile's system.

The Souls game system is a good one but it's extremely flat and heavily relies on Gear to differentiate characters from each other. Ergo, you are Item dependant. With Salt and Sanctuary you are Skill dependant. I can understand why people would dislike it but I feel this kind of system gives more freedom overall. I can't suddenly switch archetypes in a Souls game like I can in Salt and Sanctuary. Granted if I don't plan out a solid route I could end up "wasting" 10-30 Pearls just to get what I want. Instead of building a character around a specific weapon, like in a Souls game, you are building a character around a specific playstyle. At least that's IMO.

TLDR: I disagree that it's restrictive. I feel it grants more freedom than a Souls game but I still feel a system like Path of Exile with a "Materia" system grants the greatest freedom.

To me it seems exactly the other way around. In SaS you are building around a specific weapon type, which is definitely more restrictive than building around specific playstyle. In pretty much all the souls games, you can go STR, DEX, INT, FTH or some kind of hybrid. STR weapons are mostly big and heavy, dealing big damage per strike. Dex weapons are mostly quick and light. INT is for magic and FTH is for miracles.

This lets you create very distinctive character that still has enough flexibility to switch between different kinds of weapons without having to respec or start over just because you like that hammer more than the sword you are using. But you can't really do that in Salt and Sanctuary because of the way the tree is structured. Sure you can branch off a little bit but you will almost certainly end up wasting skill points.

I remember I wanted to start a 4th playthrough as a sort of hunter character using ranged weapons because I never used any of those on my previous characters (not counting magic, I did a mage playthrough using exclusively staves and it was very nice). But the left side of the skill tree where the bows and pistols are was so convoluted, forcing me to pick things I didn't want just so I could get to the stuff I DID want that it just put me off completely and I actually stopped playing the game at that point :(