Overhauls the player’s Starborn powers to make them more fun, useful, and powerful while remaining relatively close to vanilla power levels and balance. Powers that are useless in vanilla will be viable; powers that were brokenly overpowered in all situations are specialized.
Optional file: Buff NPC Starborn Powers for more interesting
A simple overhaul to make Starborn Powers more fun and balanced.
As of Version 1.0, this is the same file included in Royal Starborn NPCs. I will soon fully split the two mods so that the NPC mods are specific to one job at a time. If you are inclined to keep using both, install this and overwrite any version of RoyalStarborn for most updated values.
This is meant to be a simple, lightweight overhaul that is objectively more fun than Vanilla.
I will continue to experiment and add new features over time, but at its core, there will always be a version that is essentially Vanilla But Better.
Playtesting Methodology; Breaking the abilities up into types and tiers:
I playtested abilities way more than I ever expected to make this mod. I was surprised to find how many were strong and enjoyable in vanilla. In my testing, I broke them up into tiers, and then tried to refine them.
My goal is that each offensive ability can be a “main” ability that you commit to, using utility or other spells as needed. Offensive abilities with more power come with a higher cost.
I also playtested on a keyboard and mouse playthrough where each ability was on a separate key binding. In this situation, weaker offensive abilities can be used as a finisher, saving Starpower or ammunition.
Offensive, Lite: Low Damage, Low Cost:
Damaging: Particle Beam,
Crowd Control: Gravity Wave (knockdown)
Offensive, Medium: Medium damage, Semi-Spammable,
Damaging: Solar Flare,
Offensive, Heavy, 2-3 casts.
Damaging: Create Vacuum, Supernova
Crowd Control: Anti-Gravity Field, Gravity Well
Key Code for Balancing Status:
🌟= Major Overhaul or damage tweaks ensure this move is viable as a “main” ability.
I tried to make all offensive abilities viable. I tried not to nerf high-damage outliers, unless as part of a larger overhaul that made them more fun or gave them more utility. With this mod, you will generally have more Starpower to spend, as utility spells are cheaper and have increased duration, so the minor nerfs here and there were to keep things from becoming broken, not to ruin your fun. =)
🌱= No major gameplay Changes, but reduced cost and/or improved scaling with Starborn Power Level II-X.
Changes to these abilities, while not particularly flashy, are significant enough to affect overall balance. Starborn cost reductions and utility ability duration increases leave significantly more Starpower for interesting abilities.
Magnitude now scales with ranks II-X.
Offensive, Lite ability.
Low cost, high spammability.
Magnitude doubled from 60-120.
Base cost decreased from 15 to 5.
Still rather weak at high levels.
Sense Star Stuff
Utility.
Base cost of 15 maintained.
Area increased from 50 to 60.
Duration increased from 10 to 30 seconds.
Grav Dash
Magnitude now scales with ranks II-X.
I tried to increase the bonus damage granted after a dash (Not 100% sure it’s working).
This is most useful as a way to evade while in Moonform.
Eternal Harvest
Base cost reduced from 25-15.
Radius increased from 30-45.
Elemental Pull 🌱
Vanilla values seem to increase radius at each level.
Base cost reduced from 25 to 15.
🌟 Solar Flare
Radius increased from 2.0–> 4.0 to feel more magical. Scales more with level. Somewhat spammable ability. Strong versus high HP targets.
Base magnitude halved. Base duration halved from 10 seconds to 5.
🌟 Alien Reanimation
Base cost of 35 maintained.
All stats increased.
Able to res high-level aliens.
Base duration increased from 20 seconds to 999 seconds.
Enjoy your pet =)
Moon Form 🌱
Base cost reduced from 35 to 20.
While this ability is quite strong, it is already very limiting by rooting you in place. You did not need to also burn out all your Starpower.
This allows you to use other abilities while in Moonform. Particularly potent with grav dash for mobility.
Sunless Space 🌱
Magnitude and duration now scale with ranks II-X.
Base cost reduced from 35-30.
Can now work against some enemies flagged as immune.
I could not get it working against turrets
Inner Demon 🌱
Duration doubled from 15-30.
Base cost decreased from 35-25.
Reactive Shield 🌱
Level II-X now increase duration.
Base Duration increased from 15-30.
Anti-Gravity Field
Level II-X now increase duration.
Base Cost decreased from 45-40.
Base radius increased from 10 to 15.
Duration decreased from 10 to 8.
🌟 Parallel Self
Level II-X now increase duration.
Duration increased from 30-90 seconds.
Void Form 🌱
Level II-X now increases duration.
Duration increased from 30-90 seconds.
🌟 Supernova
Level II-X now increases magnitude.
This is now a ranged ability with significantly increased damage.
Aesthetically, this works much better in my opinion.
This ability is best for weakening, aggroing, or finishing off large groups, but doesn’t have great single target damage.
May need further buffs (or optional files)
🌟 Gravity Well
Level II-X now increase magnitude and duration.
Magnitude doubled to 0.04.
Radius increased.
Base duration decreased to 6 seconds.
Personal Atmosphere
Level II-X now increase magnitude and duration.
Base Duration increased from 15-30.
Way better for sprinting.
Life Forced 🌱
Level II-X now increase magnitude and duration.
Damage and Vampirism over time increased.
Base cost reduced from 25 to 20.
Magnitude increased from10-12.
Flags changed: Now ignores enemy resistances and Line of Sight.
Duration increased from 15 to 30 seconds.
🌟 Grav Wave
Level II-X now increases magnitude.
Base cost reduced from 25-15.
Radius increased from 1.0 to 10.0
This now feels like “Force Push” and is competitive with the other CC abilities.
🌟 Create Vacuum
Level II-X now increases magnitude and duration.
This power looks and feels SO cool if you increase its radius, but ends up being brokenly overpowered.
Compromise: Base cost increased from 25-35
Area increased from 5.0 to 15.0
Will now scale larger each level.
This mod just tweaks #s in vanilla records and should be safe to add, update, or remove at any time.
I can patch, tweak, and make alternate versions fairy quickly depending on player requests.
I can easily tweak most offensive damage values and ability costs. I can also easily make most offensive abilities instant cast at self or at enemy rather than projectiles. Some abilities, like Moonform, are more complicated for me to tweak.
This is an updated, standalone version of the Starborn Powers overhaul formerly included in Royal Starborn.
Why the split?
Initially, I was under the false impression that player and NPC abilities had to be tweaked together if I wanted to buff enemy Starborn damage. That was the main reason I got into the Starborn power-tweaking business. ^_^
Then I realized that the game has different values for NPC versions of spells. I can give Starborn enemies stronger abilities totally separately.
As a result, NPC powers will continue to be tweaked with the Starborn leveled lists, whereas player abilities will be a separate mod.
Rationale for Changes & Balancing Philosophy:
Gameplay, fun, and balance are the priority here. I intend to release an overpowered version soon for those who aren’t concerned about balance and just want fun magic.
But I want this initial release to fit in seamlessly with the base game, providing only modest power increases to help players handle a modded Starfield that very likely increased difficulty over vanilla.
Starborn Powers are fun! If you’re on a game pad, I strongly suggest swapping Star Power with grenade, so you can use abilities more frequently.
In the base game, you generally have enough Star Power to use ONE strong ability before waiting for a cooldown. If you use a single utility ability, like reactive shield, you might not even be able to cast a Strong Ability.
This mod rebalances ability costs so that using utility abilities does not lock you out of using offensive abilities. It also increases the duration of utility abilities so that you are not constantly having to re-cast. In a modded Starfield, your engagements are likely to last longer, and these tweaks help your utility abilities last as long as feels right.
Download mod
| File | File size |
|---|---|
Royal Space Magic - Starborn Powers Enhanced-1-1
|
14 KB |
|
Royal Space Magic for NPCs-1-0
|
1 KB |
