Introduction
It is I once more, Dracula here to post a quick tiny change request for the game. Blood diseases as they currently are can be a little underwhelming, with some blood diseases being actively detrimental to use with some being downright deceptive about it. The ideas I’m proposing are really simple so honestly this post is going to inherently be smaller.
Ideas
Positive Blood Diseases: First and foremost blood diseases with a positive status effect should just permanently apply the tier 1 version of the effect to the player instead of applying it to others on hit. This effect would stack and increase the tiers of effects of the same type applied to the player by 1, allowing for a player to reach say tier 2 warding inherently without any gear if they are using the sentinel talent, or achieve luck 2 by drinking luck 1 potions. Obviously no, tier 6 status effects wouldn’t be possible except for warding. There isn’t any especially good reason for why this would be overpowered other than maybe invisibility even though it’s just tier 1. Also peak ghost cosplay with an invisibility blood disease and the darkness talent.
Blood Disease Synergies: Blood diseases should allow for synergy effects to apply but not damage multipliers. These would be things like paralyzed, frozen, petrified, and scalded. Getting a blood disease only really helpful for achieving these status effects is currently a complete waste of the player’s time and resources. These status effects are already relatively easy to achieve via other means so this wouldn’t have huge consequences when it comes to balance, especially if the duration of DoT status effects is reduced when caused by solely one’s blood disease and not some other longer duration source you’re already inflicting, longer duration sources taking priority.
Damaging Blood Diseases: Blood diseases that deal damage over time should simply apply over 2 ticks for short duration effects instead of 1 as a minimum, have status effects like poisoned that rely on longer durations have even more ticks, and have their damage scale with levels, that’s it. Not a huge buff, but definitely warranted as presently the damage is just too underwhelming to ever be worthwhile. Would also allow for potentially inflicting synergy status effects (but again not damage multipliers). In addition to this blood diseases that deal a single instance of damage such as harming and electric should also scale their damage based on level to ensure that neither types of blood diseases become worse and worse as time goes on.
The Controversial Tier Increase: This one will need a fair amount of discussion but blood diseases could increase the tier of status effects you inflict if they are the same effect, such as a blinding BD with light magic or bleeding with glass. Some potential balancing methods for this would be significant duration reductions, damage reductions, or inherent drawback applied on a case by case basis for each status effect. Stuff like snowy or soaked wouldn’t really need much nerfing if any, but bleeding or corroding definitely would.
Non-Damaging Negative Blood Disease Durations: Let’s be real for a moment insanity, blinded, desert, arctic, tide, slowness, smoke, and volcanic are garbage right now, like completely and utterly pointless even. Just increase their duration a decent amount without being nearly as long as other sources, that’s all. Maybe volcanic, desert, arctic, and tide a little less given their potential with these changes to inflict status effect synergies but yeah. Honestly smoke should be considered a blinding effect and have a screen overlay when applied via blood disease or grease, anyone else agree?
New Blood Disease Effects & Drained Potions: Give us water breathing blood diseases with this change and a reagent for making potions that apply drained, because I mean why not? Slightly off topic but not especially, they’d just be some handy utility for diving and a blinding effect we could add to our repertoire and have be potentially useful for later synergies with lost magics.
Conclusion
With these various changes to the balance and mechanics of blood diseases, they can go from being flavorful but kind of worthless to actually really good depending on your build so long as you don’t value your maximum HP. Of course if implementing these changes proves to be not too overpowered but still too strong, the maximum HP debuff can always be increased a bit. I don’t see a reason yet why any of these could possibly be inherently unbalanced except for the tier increase but let me know what you guys think of these ideas and how you feel about the current state of blood diseases!