I’d like to see a button in the UI for potions; the combat panel does make sense I guess…
but what I’d really love, down the road, would be a Majesty-esque “spell bar” which fills up based upon what hearthlings and workstations you have. That would work very nicely as a way to have magic in-game without making it too complicated IMO.
So, for example, a high-level Cleric might have a large “blessing” skill which the player targets as a spell, effecting all the hearthlings near the set area (or even creating a lingering AoE field.) Or, when the Geomancer is in, as well as their more “utility” skills (directly adding or removing terrain), they might have an Earthquake power which slows all enemies in the targeted AoE, and can be used to damage enemy camps… but the Geomancer will need to get in range, of course. As another example, say there’s a Fire Wizard as a combat class, sure they’d have their direct damage spells… but what about a Fire Wall to quickly block off an attack route? Having a single panel for such skills means they’re at the players’ fingertips when they’re needed.
What I really like about Majesty’s setup is the fact that it turns the spells into tools the player can use, rather than a game of rock-paper-scissors. I think that mechanic would fit very well into Stonehearth’s indirect command system–it gives players the chance to intervene in a situation without becoming a micro-manage-y solution.
This could add some really cool late-game building incentives; e.g. expensive altars or magical apparatus which are required to cast certain spells. In the early game, the Herbalist provides really basic, un-targeted effects; while later on the more advanced classes give new powers which are more precise and honed towards a specific task. The benefit of having all these powers in one place is that it not only makes it easier for players to find them, it also allows interesting effects through “chaining” different effects together–e.g. have the Cleric cast Consecrated Ground right as a Geomancer drops an Earthquake power on top of a group of attacking undead…
IMO, the key to making magic work well in a game like Stonehearth is to present it as just another tool at the player’s disposal. Having a “magic tab” just like there’s a tab for building would reinforce the idea that the magic powers are part of a larger plan, not an end/solution within themselves.