Bit Kid

Has anyone thought of or tried focusing on int? I want to try but I can't seem to find much magic that would be worth the hassle. Magic dagger was probably the best option. But i also haven't tried all the magic I've seen since i was saving for the lovely whip.

Fireball is pretty amazing if you can find it. Magic firebomb is alright, if you can figure out how to aim it properly.

Been meaning to reply to this for days, but brutal work schedule got in the way.

I've tried a run or two where I put a couple of points into Int after pumping up Str, but honestly, with the game as it is, I can't see a Magic focused run being all that worthwhile. You'd be trading the ability to kill EVERYTHING faster (by boosting the damage of your infinitely-usable melee attacks) for the ability to do some serious burst DPS with a limited casting of spells at the expense of having the ability to kill quickly with melee weapons.

The problem:

You can only realistically get to Level 5 (maybe 6) in the current game. If you toss that all in Int, you're getting +8 or +10 Mana (that's about 3-5 more spell casts on average), and each spell dealing +8 to +10 damage. While that sounds impressive, you're going to be forced to slowly kill 3 monsters with your base 9 damage sword in order to cover the cost of each spell you're casting to do 20 damage.

Or, you could just put all those points in Str and deal 17 to 19 damage all the time and not have to worry about replenishing your mana and spending leaves/Essence on Mana Potions.

Spells are great for ranged sniping, damage over time, and crowd control (Magic Flames!), but you really can't use them exclusively the way the game is currently. Which is true for pretty much any game like this - imagine trying a "Missiles only" Metroid run, or only using Sub-weapons and Spells in Symphony of the Night. It'd be an interesting challenge run, but isn't really a viable all-the-time playstyle.

Basically, it seems like Magic in Chasm is designed as a fall back option, or as a compliment to your melee attacks, and thus the game isn't going to give you the tools you'd need to use it as an all-the-time thing.

It really depends on what Magic you get, honestly. Magic Axe is ludicrously powerful per point of Int and most magic can hit enemies multiple times if fired properly. Magic Axe in particular shreds every boss currently in the game. Honestly, the damage of magic probably needs to be toned down slightly at the moment, or make it so that the axe can't hit bosses 4-7 times. The maggot was the easiest boss by far every time I got the axe.

That said, it looks like magic is supposed to be like extra items in Castlevania; a way for you to hit outside of your normal range / arc, for a cost.

Agreed, it's probably way too powerful right now. Another problem is that we were planning on making the magic weapons scale up as you find more, which really complicates things. Instead I think they'll all be relatively same power level like Castlevania and instead just give you more play style options instead of increased power.

playstyle > power any day. well, accept on fridays... cause when you're tired you want power!

but yeah more options for playstyle can mean more power in the right hands anyway, im glad to hear it going that direction

Tried magic focused run.

While the bosses indeed died really quickly, the nrmal gameplay was a pain. But I blame no weapon drops by for this. I went to the Catacombs with the starting sword and Str 9. If the weapon drops could be more frequent, I perhaps could have a better melee weapon by this point, and that magic run wouldn't be that painful.