After heavily digging through the current documentation as well as reading most of the topics in this forum I have come to believe that the proper way to handle perk actions is to put all of the current perk actions to the first 1-5 (depending on number of actions) perk points spent.
Then upscale the effects of the perks usefulness with each point above it and at each of the first few levels unlock a new action. The very last perk point in each line should unlock a "new" special that we've not seen before which starts at max value or acts as a synergistic bonus/multiplier for the rest of the perks unlocked by that chain or others.
Anyone else agree that this would help the lower Title levels to have more complete toolsets with progressing unlocks for advancement balance-able effects over time and still leave something special for those who invest the maximum number of points in a line?
EDIT:
That was in reference to making weapon/associated skill IP spent modify some part of the perks performance. Having seen how both healing and damage perks perform over time I can only support this suggestion. I completely agree with having each point spent in the line add a multiplier factor to the perk actions and or unlocking a percentage of the associated skill bonus. I think it could work like this:
Let's use Reaver as an example since it is a 10 point line and has several actions spread through out it and relative to the already referenced profession of Keeper:
Melee Modifier:
2h Edged 180 (at 10)
Actions:
- Cleave - 1st perk
- The effect of this special is a direct damage.
- Transfix -4th perk
- Special requires Cleave to already run.
- Pain Lance -7th perk
- The effect of this special is a direct damage and a damage over time.
- Slice and Dice -9th perk
- The effect of this special is a direct damage.
Now, each point over 4 can enhance the first 4 actions until the final point is spent giving some new ability that they MIGHT have got a crazy notion to put in a separate line and could save themselves the trouble in many cases by doing this. One type of enhancement could be an Associated Skill Cap.
Instead it should look like:
Melee Modifier:
2h Edged 180 (at 10)
Actions:
- Cleave - 1st perk
- The effect of this special is a direct damage. By unlocking this perk you have gained a 10% bonus of your 2hE skill as a damage modifier.
- Transfix -2nd perk
- Special requires Cleave to already run. By unlocking this perk you have gained a 20% bonus of your 2hE skill as a damage modifier.
- Pain Lance -3rd perk
- The effect of this special is a direct damage and a damage over time. By unlocking this perk you have gained a 30% bonus of your 2hE skill as a damage modifier.
- Slice and Dice -4th perk
- The effect of this special is a direct damage. By unlocking this perk you have gained a 40% bonus of your 2hE skill as a damage modifier.
- 5th Perk
- By unlocking this perk you have gained a 50% bonus of your 2hE skill as a damage modifier.
- 6th Perk
- By unlocking this perk you have gained a 60% bonus of your 2hE skill as a damage modifier.
- 7th Perk
- By unlocking this perk you have gained a 70% bonus of your 2hE skill as a damage modifier.
- 8th Perk
- By unlocking this perk you have gained a 80% bonus of your 2hE skill as a damage modifier.
- 9th Perk
- By unlocking this perk you have gained a 90% bonus of your 2hE skill as a damage modifier.
- New Unseen/heard of perk action -10th
- The effect of this special is the future wet dream of Keepers and toy of the Dev's. By unlocking this perk you have gained a 100% bonus of your 2hE skill as a damage modifier.
As an example for Healing let's take Doctors Perk Nano Surgeon:
Nano and Aiding
Biological metamorphosis 42 (at 6)
Matter metamorphosis 42
Treatment 60
First aid 45
Actions:
- Enhanced Heal - 1st perk
- The effect of this Special is a self heal.
- Team Heal -4th perk
- The effect of this Special is a team heal.
- Malicious Prohibition -5th perk
- The effect of this Special is a heal multiplier debuff.
- Treatment Transfer -6th perk
- The effect of this Special is a treatment buff, will debuff self.
Instead it should look like:
Nano and Aiding
Biological metamorphosis 42 (at 6)
Matter metamorphosis 42
Treatment 60
First aid 45
Actions:
- Enhanced Heal - 1st perk
- The effect of this Special is a self heal. By unlocking this perk you have gained a 16% Healing bonus from 52% BM + 48% MM skills as a healing modifier.
- Team Heal -2nd perk
- The effect of this Special is a team heal. By unlocking this perk you have gained a 32% (16%x2) Healing bonus from 52% BM + 48% MM skills as a healing modifier.
- Malicious Prohibition -3rd perk
- The effect of this Special is a heal multiplier debuff. By unlocking this perk you have gained a 48% (16%x3) Healing bonus from 50% BM + 50%PM skills as a healing & debuff modifiers.
- Treatment Transfer -4th perk
- The effect of this Special is a treatment buff, will debuff self. By unlocking this perk you have gained a 64% (16%x4) Healing bonus from 52% BM + 48% MM skills as a healing & debuff modifiers.
- 5th Perk
- By unlocking this perk you have gained a 80% (16%x5) Healing bonus from 52% BM + 48% MM skills as a healing modifier.
- New Unseen/heard of perk action -6th Perk
- By unlocking this perk you have gained a 100% (16%x6) Healing bonus from 52% BM + 48% MM skills as a healing modifier.
This would really help long in to the future as scaling becomes an issue again at some point as new items and nanos are added to the game. The theory is going on a general principal of extremes; Those who want to be Jack of all trades and those who want to be master of one. With every action opened up so early, a player would be able to chose going with spending few points in lots of lines to get the actions but at subpar funtionality each, compared to someone who maxed only a few lines. Firstly, at TL7 where maxing a line is possible it would be a choice relating to the stack of variables of do you want that last perk action and max bonus or not? If you do then you put all points in, if you don't you don't. The biggest thing is having the choice between a greater number of choices for actions or fewer but more effective actions. This will be especially true at lower levels where some new options will open up across the board helping out currently suffering professions with at least a "mini" form of their toolset in full after about lvl 100.
Also please note I did not say what the modifier represented other than it is a variable in the equation. 100% of 2hE could mean literal +1dmg/point or per 10 points or per 100 points, that is not even the subject of this debate. Just wanted to clarify that ahead of time so that people realize I am leaving that part still open to interpretation on an individual perk by perk basis, I am merely pointing out two examples of how they could be taken and applied without defining what that bonus exactly represents.
For any perks which currently do not have a skill attached to it will be based on the most logical stats such as if all healing nanos in the game run off BM/MM then all healing perks will to if there are fluxes like some healing nanos use other stats then make the profession perks work on profession core stats, make group based on group and general on generally accessible. Another example dealing with some perks not requiring a particular weapon but is a damage / weapon perk. With AR as the modifier it would work for any weapon type.
Everything can be linked to something in some way if you but only stop and think about it. You can link some things to base stats, body stats, weapon stats, speed, even tradeskilling. One of the wonderful side effects of this is that it will also provide a little bit of breed balancing in the process. Such as...
-Atrox Keepers getting more 2hE would get better dmg bonuses
-Solitus would be rounded in bonuses no weak spot no real strength
-Opi would get bonuses from AGI trickle to the HM evades buff/debuff if it checked the right skill
-Nanomage would get the best Heals from their Nanoskills and associated base stat trickles.
In terms of the doctor if you notice the debuff action in that line in my outline is set to follow the nano debuff lines unlike the others which are heals. If every breed was taken in to consideration and something their stat spending excels in compared to the others and modify the related stats to give at least 1 boon to each for choosing that combination of breed and perks.