Realm Cards Rebalanced - Community Theorycraft Project

Greetings Devpeoples,

This post is part of the Community Theorycraft Project. Something where multiple members of the community gather together to discuss existing and potential new additions to the different elements of this wonderful game. Things we'd like to see, we'd like to change, and ways to go about doing so.

This particular post is in regards to Realm Cards, both Major and Minor, with the goal of making each Minor Realm Card having a dedicated use. It aims to reduce unnecessary clutter, to give every card a clearly defined usage, changing some effects to fill distinct mechanical gaps, and suggests two new Minor Cards to flesh out the list (though these two new can just as easily be visualised as repurposing some existing ones).

As always, we would like to thank you for your time and continued development of this wonderful game we all love.

Existing Major Realm Cards:

Major Realm Modifiers should no longer (and should never have been able to) affect resource Yields. Minor Realm Cards already handle this effectively. Instead, the individual Major Realms should provide an impact on how the player travels through the realms, on what realms accentuate different aspects and play styles. The Major Realms set the tone for the Biomes, and their effects should be focused on that above all else. Leave the data focused “Yield” mechanics to the Minor Cards, so that all Major Realms are viable resource wise, rather than pigeonhole each Major Realm into solely being used for a single resource type.

Antiquarian

Effects Become:

“Ancient Magick” - Buff

Slight Magick Power Increase.
Slight Magick Efficiency Increase.

Ancient remnants of the Fae still pulse with an echo of once powerful magick, subtly empowering any who draw upon them for their own uses.

Astrolabe

Effects Become:

“Sky’s The Limit” – Buff

Modest Max Weight Increase.
Slight Jump Velocity Increase.
Slight Fall Velocity Decrease.

The pull of the earth feels lesser here, allowing any who dare to leave behind its clutches with but a single stride.

Provisioner

Effects Become:

“Who Dares Wins” – Buff

Slight Comfort Duration Increase.
Slight Rest Drain Decrease.
Slight Hunger Rate Decrease.

To travel further, to feel sated longer, the subtle magick within this Realm allows one the ability to find the rarest of things, that which is oft kept just out of reach from those who dare not push beyond their comforts.

Herbarium

Effects Become:

“Full Bloom” - Buff

Slight Melee Damage Increase.
Slight Movement Speed Increase.

Magick of the Fae Gardens permeates the air, filling it with scents of wild flowers and foreign spices, leaving you feeling invigorated.

Gloom

Effects Become:

“Shadowbound” - Buff

Modest Stealth Increase.
Slight Light Distance Reduction.
Slight Movement Speed Increase.

Shrouded in shadows, the magick of the Fae allows one to skirt along the boundary of light and darkness, with every stride covering tremendous ground, and nary a sound to be made.

Hunt

Effects Become:

“Predatory Urge” – Buff

Slight Weak Spot Damage Increase.
Slight Stealth Increase.

Whilst all beasts can feel drawn to the magick of the Fae, true predators that stalk their prey, poised for a single, fatal blow, find themselves drawn here the strongest. Whether they be beast or man, the magick empowers them all with a primal desire to hunt.

Existing Minor Realm Cards:

All the skybox effects should remain the same for all the cards that have no changes listed. They each give wonderful vistas to explore beneath, and changing these aspects for the cards is honestly unnecessary in all but a slim few instances. An amazing job was done with these, and we respect that 😊

Alchemist

Tier 2
Vibrant Ink + Coated Paper + Diamond
Effects Become:

2x Yield from crafting Potions at the Alchemical Boiler.
Crafted Tools & Weapons gain Magick ++.
Crafted Clothing gain Magick ++.

Note: Alchemist now also applies to Clothing.

Amphibious

Tier 2
Vibrant Ink + Coated Paper + Raw Fish
Effects Become:

Moderate Swimming Speed Increase.
Modest Stamina Efficiency Increase Whilst Swimming.
Modest Environmental Resistance Increase.
Modest Oxygen Drain Decrease (future effect for if/when diving implemented).

Angler

Tier 1
Alchemical Ink + Paper + Coral
Effects Become:

2x Yield from Fishing.
Slight Fishing Increase.
Slight Stealth Increase Whilst Fishing.

Artisan

Tier 2
Vibrant Ink + Coated Paper + Paint
Effects Become:

2x Yield from crafting Paints, Pigments, and Inks at the Mortar Station.
1.5x Yield from crafting other Non-Food Refined Items at the Mortar Station.
Refinement Time decreased by 10s (min 3s) for Paints, Pigments, and Inks at the Mortar Station.

Blood Moon

Tier 3
Lustrous Ink + Foil Paper + Powerful Dark Seal
Effects Become:

Bound spawn in modestly greater numbers.
Bound drop modestly more resources.
Modest Maximum Health Decrease.
Slight Health Regeneration Decrease.
Perpetual Night.

Blood Moon Eminent

This card is removed, it is in effect merged with the base Blood Moon card.

Blood Moon Apogean

This card is removed, it is in effect merged with the base Blood Moon card.

Blunderbuss

This card is removed and replaced by the Gunsmith's Workshop and Marksman cards, listed below.

Bulwark’s Workshop

Tier 1
Alchemical Ink + Paper + T1 Essence
Effects Become:

Crafted Clothing items gain Durability ++, Environmental Resistance +, Weight Limit +.

Note: This card becomes the default Clothing crafting card.

Cleansing

Tier 1
Alchemical Ink + Paper + T1 Essence
Remains unchanged.

Combatant’s Workshop

Tier 1
Alchemical Ink + Paper + T1 Essence
Effects Become:

Crafted Tools & Melee Weapons gain Melee Damage ++, Critical Damage +, Attack Speed +.
Crafted Tools gain Yield -.

Note: We propose giving this card the ability to confer the actual detriment of Yield -, rather than simply implying it. This comes up a lot from new players, and it works to balance the increased combat potential.

Deep Fae Wilds

Tier 3
Lustrous Ink + Foil Paper + Fabled Bone (Any)
Effects Become:

Significantly higher chance of non-bound Creatures dropping rare resources (fabled materials etc).
Creatures become increasingly hostile and aggressive. Even Prey will attack on sight.
Moderate Damage Decrease.
Modest Max Health Decrease.
Modest Stamina Decrease.
Modest Health Regeneration Decrease.
Modest Stamina Regeneration Decrease.

Environmental effect no longer becomes perpetual night. The world is strangely coloured, light is weird, and day/night cycles seem strange.

Note: This card becomes the quintessential late game rare resource drop push. The sheer value of hunting rare resources easier seemed fitting for being closer to the Deep Fae Wilds, and the detrimental effects we feel balance out the significant rewards.

Dragon’s Hoard

Tier 1
Alchemical Ink + Paper + Amber
Effects Become:

2x Yield from Chests.
Higher Chance to Find Rarer Loot in Chests.
Slight Increase to Damage Taken.

Dragon’s Hoard Eminent

This card is removed, it is in effect merged with the base Dragon’s Hoard card.

Dragon’s Hoard Apogean

This card is removed, it is in effect merged with the base Dragon’s Hoard card.

Note: These cards have seen -very- little use, because honestly, they barely work or are noticeably less effective compared to other resource cards. We chose to suggest these be combined, to also reduce unnecessary clutter. The loot should be a flat, clear, 2x yield (though this may need to be even higher), and the 'Rarer Loot' should be from a broad loot table of actually rare and valuable loot, not simply gems.

Duelist

This card is removed, it is essentially replaced by the 3 new combat cards, Marksman, Might, and Tempest.

Explorer

Tier 1
Alchemical Ink + Paper + Weak Nature Seal
Effects Become:

Modest Movement Speed Increase.
Modest Environmental Resistance Increase.
Modest Increase to Illumination (Lanterns etc).
Slight Decrease to Damage Taken.
Slight Damage Decrease.

Explorer Eminent

This card is removed, becoming merged with the base Explorer card.

Farm

Tier 2
Vibrant Ink + Coated Paper + Potato
Effects Become:

2x Yield from harvesting Edible Plants.
2x Yield from crafting Plants into Seeds at the Mortar Station.
Slight Chance for essence to drop from farming.
+25% Growth Rate of Plants (Max 75%).

Feast

Tier 2
Vibrant Ink + Coated Paper + Stew
Effects Become:

Modest Comfort Duration Increase.
Modest Food Duration Increase.
Slight Hunger Rate Decrease.
Slight Health Regeneration Increase.
Slight Movement Speed Decrease.
Slight Damage Decrease.

Note: This card now becomes the main card used when consuming food, and for food based boons.

Forge

Tier 2
Vibrant Ink + Coated Paper + Pick Head
Effects Become:

2x Yield from mining Ore.
1.5x Yield from crafting Metal Refined items at the Smelter.
Refinement Time decreased by 10s (min 3s) for Metal Refined items at the Smelter.

Note: This card, and the other resource boon cards, now focus solely on this aspect. They no longer provide a crafting bonus to tools (that's the Combatant's Workshop and Gunsmith's Workshop cards), and they now have the buffs that Settler used to (Settler now has a different purpose), but only for their specific crafting station.

Fortitude

Tier 3
Lustrous Ink + Foil Paper + Titanium Ingot
Effects Become:

Modest Injury Resistance Increase.
Modest Structure Repair Increase.
Moderate Structure Health Increase.

Note: This card is repurposed to focus specifically toward combat and defensive fortifications. Player structures are higher HP, easier to repair, and Players take fewer injuries. With an ideal point in the future of there being defensive fortifications and situations requiring them (such as Redcrosse Knight quests, perhaps), we felt having this card in place will assist in their implementations.

Ghost

Tier 3
Lustrous Ink + Foil Paper + Obsidian Glass
Effects Become:

Modest Stealth Increase.
Killing a creature whilst you are in stealthed does not alert other members of its pack.
Moderate Increase to Damage Taken.
Slight Stealth Decrease Whilst Running.
Dense Fog Obscures Vision (but no longer Perpetual Night).

Note: Ghost no longer provides a resource buff. What it does, however, is allow Stealth gameplay to function massively, by making it so that killing creatures whilst stealthed does not alert their pods unnaturally.

Harvester’s Workshop

Tier 1
Alchemical Ink + Paper + T1 Essence
Effects Become:

Crafted Tools gain Yield +.
Crafted Tools gain Melee Damage -, Critical Damage -.

Note: The opposite of Combatant's Workshop, this card now -actually- applies the buff Yield + to tools, so it actually increases the resource yield of the tool used, rather than just implying it increases it. This comes up a lot from new players, so enabling this will make it much more clear.

Hearth

Tier 1
Alchemical Ink + Paper + Wood Bundle
Effects Become:

Crafted Food Items gain Fed Time +++, Maximum Health ++, Maximum Stamina ++.

Note: Nothing beats a home cooked meal.

Hunter

Tier 2
Vibrant Ink + Coated Paper + Blade
Effects Become:

2x Yield from harvesting Creatures.
1.5x Yield from crafting Creature Refined items at the Tanning Station.
Refinement Time decreased by 10s (min 3s) for Creature Refined items at the Tanning Station.

Hunter Eminent

This card is removed, it is practically useless in its current incarnation, and within this list of suggestions, it no longer has a purpose.

Industry

Tier 1
Alchemical Ink + Paper + Weak Human Seal
Effects Become:

2x Yield from crafting Ingots at the Smelter.
2x Yield from crafting Lumber at the Saw Table.
2x Yield from crafting Thread & Refined Fibre at the Textile Station.

Note: Industry now applies to 1st-stage refinement for the biggest three elements.

Loom

Tier 2
Vibrant Ink + Coated Paper + Blade
Renamed From: Greenhouse
Effects Become:

2x Yield from harvesting Fibres.
1.5x Yield from crafting Fibre Refined items at the Textile Station.
Refinement Time decreased by 10s (min 3s) for Fibre Refined items at the Textile Station.

Note: Villagers gain significantly more hit points. (Hehe)

Lumber Mill

Tier 2
Vibrant Ink + Coated Paper + Axe Head
Effects Become:

2x Yield from cutting trees for Wood.
1.5x Yield from crafting Wood Refined items at the Saw Table.
Refinement Time decreased by 10s (min 3s) for Wood Refined items at the Saw Table.

Maleficiate

Tier 3
Lustrous Ink + Foil Paper + Powerful Dark Seal
Effects Become:

Bound gain a modest damage increase.
Bound gain a modest health increase.
Bound have a modestly higher chance of dropping rarer resources.
Perpetual Night.
High Constant Damage Taken.
Health Regen Negated.

Maleficiate Apogean

This card is removed, it is in effect merged with the base Maleficiate card.

Note: In this case, the Blood Moon and Maleficiate cards serve similar purposes, but take different paths to get there. One supplies a considerably higher amount of base resources, at the cost of more Bound to deal with at a time. The other provides a higher chance of the rarer forms of the resources, at the cost of every Bound being considerably stronger.

Marksman

Tier 3
Lustrous Ink + Foil Paper + Einaidia Marksman Barrel
Effects Become:

Modest Ranged Damage Increase.
Modest Ranged Ammunition Effectiveness Increase.
Modest Melee Damage Decrease.

Might

Tier 3
Lustrous Ink + Foil Paper + Pellucidic Gilded Blade
Effects Become:

Modest Melee Damage Increase.
Modest Critical Damage Increase.
Modest Ranged Damage Decrease.

Note: This could should ideally also increase the effect of Staggering/Knockbacks etc, like Strength used to.

Outlaw

This card is removed and replaced by the Gunsmith's Workshop and Marksman cards, listed below and above respectively.

Quarry

Tier 2
Vibrant Ink + Coated Paper + Pick head
Effects Become:

2x Yield from mining Stone & Minerals.
1.5x Yield from crafting Stone & Mineral Refined items at the Masonry Bench.
Refinement Time decreased by 10s (min 3s) for Stone & Mineral Refined items at the Masonry Bench.

Settler

Tier 2
Vibrant Ink + Coated Paper + Moderate Human Seal
Effects Become:

Crafted lamps, torches, and other lights illuminate a larger area.
Crafted fireplaces and other heating objects warm a larger area.
Estate Cairns and other objects that prevent creatures spawning do so in a larger area.
Modest Carrying Capacity Increase.
Slight Structure Health Increase.
Fuel sources last longer.

Settler Eminent

This card is removed, it has been replaced by the various Resource Boon cards and Industry.

Settler Apogean

This card is removed, it has been replaced by the various Resource Boon cards and Industry.

Note: We propose the Settler card shifts purpose, rather than affecting resource quantities, it instead provides a boon toward settlements, making them safer, and more beneficial, and easier to maintain. In doing so, we propose removing the latter two tiers of Settler, to reduce clutter.

As part of this, we have distributed the resource boons that Settler used to provide to the individual resource boon cards (such as Forge, Quarry, etc), and to the Industry card.

Tavern

Tier 2
Vibrant Ink + Coated Paper + Nectar
Effects Become:

1.5x Yield from crafting Food Refined items at the Cooking Station and Mortar Station.
Refinement Time decreased by 10s (min 3s) for Food Refined Items at the Cooking Station and Mortar Station.

Note: Quantity over quality, a taverns focus is serving food quickly and in numbers.

Tempest

Tier 3
Lustrous Ink + Foil Paper + Powerful Nature Seal
Effects Become:

Moderate Magick Power Increase.
Modest Magick Efficiency Increase.
Slight Melee Damage Decrease.
Slight Ranged Damage Decrease.
Rains frequently (but not perpetual night).

Tempest Eminent

This card is removed, its effects merged into the base Tempest card.

Tempest Apogean

This card is removed, its effects merged into the base Tempest card.

Note: We chose to merge the 3x Tempest cards into a single card comparable in combat capability as the new Marksman and Might cards. Considering the only real use of these cards was for it to Rain on demand when farming, we offer to shift it slightly towards being the third corner of the combat triangle.

Thinned Veil

Tier 1
Alchemical Ink + Paper + T1 Essence
Effects Become:

Modest Jump Velocity Increase.
Modest Fall Velocity Decrease.
Fae Symbols and Resources Glow Brighter (such as Bastille of Insight runes, Glyphs of Hope, and Dulcet Lapis pillars, etc).
Slight Durability Drain Increase.

Note: All the Fae POI Resources -should- glow interestingly with this Card in play. It can become a default search assistant for those seeking 230 GS POI resources.

Treasury

Tier 2
Vibrant Ink + Coated Paper + Gold
Effects Become:

2x chance to find essences.
1.5x Yield from Essence Bundles and Hope Glyphs.

Treasury Eminent

This card is removed, it is merged with the base Treasury card, which has its find chance increased to compensate, and now benefits bundle yields.

Trickster

Tier 1
Alchemical Ink + Paper + Weak Nature Seal
Effects Become:

Slight Fall Velocity Decrease.
Slight Jump Velocity Increase.
Modest Decrease to Damage Taken.
Modest Damage Decrease.
Creatures Behave differently (prey / predator behaviour swap).
Resource Yields are not what you expect.

Note: The resources this card yields are tied to the tier of the Realm, meaning that a T1 Realm will drop T1 resources, whilst a T3 Realm will drop T3 resources.

Utopia

Tier 3
Lustrous Ink + Foil Paper + Moderate Nature Seal
Effects Become:

Creatures are more docile (Predators behave like Prey).
Slight Stealth Increase.
Perpetual Day.

Utopia Eminent

This card is removed, it serves no real purpose.

Weighted

Tier 2
Vibrant Ink + Coated Paper + Carved Stone
Effects Become:

Slight Melee Damage Increase.
Slight Fall Velocity Increase.
Slight Jump Velocity Decrease.
Flight and Swimming becomes impossible (fall/sink, respectively)

Notes: This card becomes interesting in purpose, in that it restricts flight/etc, whilst also making it easier to deal with submerged things (but also swimming bad, walk along sea floor). Some interesting uses could come in future content releases from these options.

Weighted Eminent

This card is removed, it serves no real purpose due to the downsides, a Player dies with even a small drop.

New Minor Realm Cards:

Gunsmith’s Workshop

Tier 2
Vibrant Ink + Coated Paper + T2 Essence
Effects:

2x Yield from crafting Ammunition.
Crafted Ranged Weapons gain Ranged Damage +, Critical Damage +, Durability +.
Refinement Time decreased by 10s (min 3s) for Ammunition.

Note: This card takes the Ammunition crafting from the old Industry and gunfighter cards, and gives the tool craft bonus from Forge/etc for ranged weapons specifically, the other side of the Combatant's Workshop card.

Jeweller

Tier 2
Vibrant Ink + Coated Paper + Pick Head
Effects:

2x Yield from mining Raw Gems.
1.5x Yield from crafting Gem Refined Items at the Smelter and Masonry Bench.
Refinement Time decreased by 10s (min 3s) for Gem Refined Items at the Smelter and Masonry Bench.

Note: Finally, a card for Gem harvesting and crafting!

From the entirety of this process, we have removed a total of 16 Minor Realm Cards, and added 2, for a total reduction of 14 cards. We feel this makes the Minor Realm Cards more approachable, easier to understand, and gives each card a clear and distinct purpose.

Contributors:
Kahz, Phylon, Shrike