Fred's Friday: Utility Graphics

In Fred and Teddy's department, things are progressing rather quickly: the graphics for the Utility skills are coming together one by one. Here's a few examples of the Barrier skill, starting with it's breaking due to a bee attack:

In the current iteration we've decided not to go with our original plan, which was that a barrier break like the one seen above would cause you to take the remaining damage (if any) after the last of your barrier hp is used up. Instead, it'll now absorb the whole attack, keeping you safe from harm even as it's close to breaking. Our reasoning for this is that it feels more satisfying being able to completely shield yourself from harm, especially against strong enemies which might be able to hit through the barrier with just one attack. We'll balance this by lowering the amount of hits and hp the barrier can shield you from instead, but if it still ends up too OP we might bring back our original plan. 

Of course, after a barrier break you won't be able to recast the skill for a little while as well, as seen above. 

Next, what it looks like as it expires due to the time limit: 

As you can see, it does not last very long: part of the balancing. Finally, below, you can see the perfect guard effect as you bring it out in the right moment against a bee:

 And here's a closer look at the effects:

We've also begun implementing the Death Mark graphics seen in last week's post! We are, however, considering changing it slightly, perhaps making the sword red and adding a skull, making it better fit its rather ominous name!

And to end this post, here's a first iteration of the Challenge skill:

This, too, will be further improved. Below you can see an effect that will be added to the animation, to better indicate in which direction you aim your skill. Eventually there will be a speech bubble with curses thrown at the enemy as well: