Thief, Battle Inventory, Battle Budget, Sabotage, and Item Use

There’s a bit to take in when it comes to the new concepts that the Thief Skill Codex introduces — so my apologies on the delay on release, we had to get all of our turtles on the same log. Also, be sure to scroll to the bottom for perhaps the most important thing to know.

Let’s get into it.

First off is Battle Inventory:

Battle Inventory is how item use will work in battle.

In short, players will enter each battle with a party-wide shared item inventory (a/k/a Battle Inventory) weighing a maximum of X “stone” – stone is our naming convention for tracking weight, instead of pounds or ounces, etc. This weight limit is currently still secret, but think of it like a supply wagon or a provisions tent that is off-screen during battle that holds accessible resources pertinent to battle.

This Battle Inventory can (and should) be stacked with potions, tinctures, and consumables that can be used in game – think of this as a limited item pool from which you can pull during battle to juice your party.

That limited budget is your “Battle Budget”:

Once you’re in battle, now you have to deal with the constraints of what your party can theoretically carry.

Essentially, there is a limited Battle Budget of Y that can be used in a single battle. You spend that budget on the items in your Battle Inventory to pull what you need, so you have your entire Battle Inventory to choose from, but can you only spend a limited budget and use only what you can afford in a single fight.

Each item will have a use value that varies based upon the weight of the item. For instance, a max HP potion may weigh 5 stone, while an anti-poison potion could weigh only 1 stone. This provides another nice balancing lever that will allow us to shake things up or adjust parameters down the road.

Keep reading through Sabotage for some more situational explanations.

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Sabotage:

Boy-Howdy Sabotage is a spicy nugget.

You may notice that there are a handful of skills in the Thief Codex that deal limited damage (or even 0 damage). These skills function uniquely in that they provide a special utility or can sneakily combo to provide some unexpected benefit – one of the go-tos is Sabotage, which allows your Hero to actually, for realsies mess with your opponent.

Previously, we set the precedent that skills could “step outside the game” when we introduced “Phantasmal Secrets” in the Seer Codex, and Sabotage picks up the torch, but in a different way.

Now that you know each player will enter a fight with a finite Battle Inventory that comes with a limited Battle Budget, we can open up the door for the Thief (and other classes) to manipulate that inventory and budget.

Yeah, this shit’s wild.

In short, a skill with “X% to Sabotage” literally is a roll to have a successful hit reduce your opponent’s Battle Budget by X stone. This will give your Heroes the ability to directly impact the resources at the disposal of your opponent — and vice versa.

Let’s say we have a Battle Inventory of 50 stone and a Battle Budget of 8 stone that both teams need to live by. If Sabotage hits your opponent, you would knock their total Battle Budget from 8 to 7. Or, in the case of the Thief’s “Mug”, also restore any previously lost budget.

The implications are pretty huge here and I’ll let the wonderful theory crafters in the community take it from here.

Quick side note, although this new keyword mechanic is first being showcased on Thief, Thief will not be the only class that can use it ;)

Okay, the nugget I promised:

Using an Item does not take a Turn.

On each of your Hero Turns, you can use 1 item or consumable from your Battle Inventory (if you can afford it). However, the use of that item does NOT take your Turn or replace your Action. In turn, you can take a Mana potion and then immediately cast a spell or take an anti-Blind potion, cure your Blindness, then attack immediately.

The hope is that consumables weave into your lines of play, not dictate them.

Until next time, be sure to follow all the stuff on Twitter:

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