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Fire Wall

Fire Wall is a Mage spell that places several AOE triggers, which can damage and knock back enemies.

Segments​

A Fire Wall consists of multiple segments, which are spawned when the spell is cast. They expand from the cast location:

  • Horizontal and vertical fire walls spawn three segments adjacent to the "root" segment (placed on the target cell)
  • Diagonal fire walls spawn two segments adjacent to the root segment, and two additional ones to prevent "holes"

The individual segments seem to exist as independent game actors for the duration of their lifetime.

Lifecycle​

Segments will expire after a fixed time (if still "alive") determined by the skill level, or if they get in contact with enemies.

Each segment carries a number of charges (I like to think of it as "health points"), representing how many hits can be inflicted on enemies that touch the actor. Once all charges are depleted, the segment "dies" and vanishes from the game world.

As noted in World State Updates, the clock speed of the server determines how fast charges can be consumed by enemy hits.

Placement Logic​

The placement depends on the direction and length of the displacement vector from caster to target location:

firewall-placement-diagram.png

Assuming the player stands in the center, the color indicates how segments are placed when cast on the given square:

  • Casting horizontally or vertically results in a horizontal (or vertical) Fire Wall
  • If cast on the player itself, the result is always a vertical Fire Wall, with its center placed on top of them
  • Casting diagonally results in a Fire Wall that's perpendicular to the direction that the player is facing

When cast at a distance, the created Fire Walls usually face "outward" from the player (here represented by the red square):

firewall-center.png

In the game world, this might look something like this (orange = cast location, red = player):

firewall-diagonal.png

By comparison, a "vertical self-cast" would spawn segments in the following pattern:

firewall-vertical-selfcast.png

Knockback Effect​

Enemies that touch a segment will be damaged and knocked back. TBD: In which direction exactly?

Since Boss monsters cannot be knocked back, they must fully "consume" the segment before they can pass through.

References​