Best Of
Re: 📝 Dev Discussion - Archetype Vibe Check
My favourites so far are the Ranger and the Cleric.
The Ranger seems to have a decent skill-set and does reasonable enough damage that you feel useful. I don't really like the Hunts. I tend to just stick one on and not bother doing anything with it other than benefit from its passive. But the passive itself is useful.
The Cleric has a good Healing skill-set, but lacks any real offensive power for when by themselves. I seem to recall the original Cleric design had more of a rounded set of skills. Would be nice to see a few of those come back again.
My least favourite so far is the Fighter.
The Fighter feels like it takes ages to actually become playable. Early level Fighter is a chore, and it's only sheer determination that gets you through it. Not a feels-good experience at all. At high levels, and with good gear, and with a good Cleric Healer, and with a Bard mana-battery buff-bot, then it can work. But that's a lot of "with"s.
I do think the non-Cleric/Bard archetypes could do with at least some sort of weak self-heal. Making them utterly reliant on another player feels like a poor decision.
I also feel that the Bard is expected to just sit there and do nothing else but be the Mana-Battery, cos there's such a problem with mana sustain in the other archetypes. Makes Bard feel that little less enjoyable, but it's still a fun one to play.
The Ranger seems to have a decent skill-set and does reasonable enough damage that you feel useful. I don't really like the Hunts. I tend to just stick one on and not bother doing anything with it other than benefit from its passive. But the passive itself is useful.
The Cleric has a good Healing skill-set, but lacks any real offensive power for when by themselves. I seem to recall the original Cleric design had more of a rounded set of skills. Would be nice to see a few of those come back again.
My least favourite so far is the Fighter.
The Fighter feels like it takes ages to actually become playable. Early level Fighter is a chore, and it's only sheer determination that gets you through it. Not a feels-good experience at all. At high levels, and with good gear, and with a good Cleric Healer, and with a Bard mana-battery buff-bot, then it can work. But that's a lot of "with"s.
I do think the non-Cleric/Bard archetypes could do with at least some sort of weak self-heal. Making them utterly reliant on another player feels like a poor decision.
I also feel that the Bard is expected to just sit there and do nothing else but be the Mana-Battery, cos there's such a problem with mana sustain in the other archetypes. Makes Bard feel that little less enjoyable, but it's still a fun one to play.
Re: 📝 Dev Discussion - Archetype Vibe Check
I want to start off by saying you all have done an amazing job so far with the game and keep up the good work!
Which archetype do you find the most fun to play? Why?
So far the most fun archtypes I have played for me are Bard, Mage. These classes seem to be set apart from others with the kits they have and how playing them feels. Just overall a fun experience.
Which archetype do you find the least fun to play? Why?
So far for me the least fun to play archtypes have been Ranger, Tank, Cleric. These archtypes seem to just have this generic feel to them from gamplay movement to have the skills interact in combat, they just seem too linear or have a manufactured feel to them instead of a uniqueness to their respective archtypes. For ranger you just feel as those you are a stationary auto turret with different auto attack animations. Cleric is pretty much the same for me as ranger, it just feels like that stale copy pasted of what the class has always been. As for tank it took a step in the right direction but just has this feeling that something is missing and you can't quite tell what, like eating food you know is missing some type of seasoning but you can't quite tell what. Tank for me is in a weird middle ground, sometimes it feels great and others not so much.
Are there any combat systems or mechanics you feel need more development or refinement? Please explain.
In my opionion there is only one that needs a little more love and that is the combo system for skills. In this regard looking at it from a new player standpoint it would be difficult to tell what spells/skills combo with another or break your auto attacks keeping you from triggering finishers, that being said it could easily be fixed with a little more attention and discription to the skills and spells to know exactly how they work and what combos off of another attack or skill.
During group combat or grinding sessions, do you feel any core features or gameplay elements are missing or underdeveloped? If yes, please describe.
This is a touchy subject for me as it is somehting that is gonna flare some hate, SO SAYING THIS I AM AWARE THAT AOC IS STILL IN DEVOLPMENT!!! Its just a personal irritaiton. For solo play sessions the questing system and bounty bords need ALL THE LOVE! Most quests in the current state are broken or are so vague in the quest description that they get bypassed and people just go straight to grinding mobs, which is sad because the quests that do work are fun! As for bounty boards they would benifit from staying with player lvl/zone lvl. What I mean by this is when you pick a bounty up from the kill board it should be withing your lvl range so you can actually bennifit from it, as it is now they don't do that and once you hit lvl 10-15 much like the quests it becomes more efficent to just kill mobs and again its sad because they could be great for the solo players out there. As for group sessions right now the mid-late game grind is more of just mindless mob killing and just has no dept or substance. I can't really explain it but just aimlessly killing mobs in ROS for 5 lvls is just not exciting gamplay. We need group content, quests, objectives something to pull that group in and work together to give it that group feel. IDK but that is my opion and just that.
Keep up the good work you all!
Which archetype do you find the most fun to play? Why?
So far the most fun archtypes I have played for me are Bard, Mage. These classes seem to be set apart from others with the kits they have and how playing them feels. Just overall a fun experience.
Which archetype do you find the least fun to play? Why?
So far for me the least fun to play archtypes have been Ranger, Tank, Cleric. These archtypes seem to just have this generic feel to them from gamplay movement to have the skills interact in combat, they just seem too linear or have a manufactured feel to them instead of a uniqueness to their respective archtypes. For ranger you just feel as those you are a stationary auto turret with different auto attack animations. Cleric is pretty much the same for me as ranger, it just feels like that stale copy pasted of what the class has always been. As for tank it took a step in the right direction but just has this feeling that something is missing and you can't quite tell what, like eating food you know is missing some type of seasoning but you can't quite tell what. Tank for me is in a weird middle ground, sometimes it feels great and others not so much.
Are there any combat systems or mechanics you feel need more development or refinement? Please explain.
In my opionion there is only one that needs a little more love and that is the combo system for skills. In this regard looking at it from a new player standpoint it would be difficult to tell what spells/skills combo with another or break your auto attacks keeping you from triggering finishers, that being said it could easily be fixed with a little more attention and discription to the skills and spells to know exactly how they work and what combos off of another attack or skill.
During group combat or grinding sessions, do you feel any core features or gameplay elements are missing or underdeveloped? If yes, please describe.
This is a touchy subject for me as it is somehting that is gonna flare some hate, SO SAYING THIS I AM AWARE THAT AOC IS STILL IN DEVOLPMENT!!! Its just a personal irritaiton. For solo play sessions the questing system and bounty bords need ALL THE LOVE! Most quests in the current state are broken or are so vague in the quest description that they get bypassed and people just go straight to grinding mobs, which is sad because the quests that do work are fun! As for bounty boards they would benifit from staying with player lvl/zone lvl. What I mean by this is when you pick a bounty up from the kill board it should be withing your lvl range so you can actually bennifit from it, as it is now they don't do that and once you hit lvl 10-15 much like the quests it becomes more efficent to just kill mobs and again its sad because they could be great for the solo players out there. As for group sessions right now the mid-late game grind is more of just mindless mob killing and just has no dept or substance. I can't really explain it but just aimlessly killing mobs in ROS for 5 lvls is just not exciting gamplay. We need group content, quests, objectives something to pull that group in and work together to give it that group feel. IDK but that is my opion and just that.
Keep up the good work you all!
Saaril
2
Re: 📝 Dev Discussion - Archetype Vibe Check
Which archetype do you find the most fun to play? Why?
Rogue is the most mechanically filled-out and engaging class to play. Abilities dovetail together well, you have good options for weaving in abilities to your autoattack rotation so there are less dead periods, you have an expansive and varied toolkit that gives you good responses to a variety of situations, but you still need to be paying attention and be active to do well.
Mage has good visual and audio feedback on abilities for the most part, can set up good combos with Shatter, and is overall doing okay. The only main gripes with Mage is that Fireball is just flat-out always worse than Firebolt to a degree that it's never worth taking, Blizzard doesn't feel great, and the class feels like it could use some love to fill it out more.
Ranger feels like a functional class but doesn't really feel engaging. It has some ability to set up combos but it doesn't feel like it's in a good place overall. It feels like it lacks identity. Mana issues can be a large problem for the class. Snipe, however, has very good audio and visual feedback, and the screen shake is a small but appreciated touch.
Fighter feels like a worse version of Ranger with less clear mechanical interactions between abilities for how many of them reward setting up enemies being Tripped. It's functional. It's capable, for the most part. It's not really majorly interesting and there aren't a lot of moments with the class where you're like, "Wow that was cool!" early on like you might get with other classes. The first time you set up a Shatter combo on Mage or you rip off a Snipe on Ranger, you have a good feeling about it because it has good audio and visual feedback and spikes a large enough amount of damage out that it feels good. Fighter feels like it's lacking something with that factor. Cataclysm is about the closest you get.
Which archetype do you find the least fun to play? Why?
Fighter, though I haven't tried Bard or Cleric. Bard at least seems like it could be interesting due to mechanical depth. Fighter just feels like it's overly bland, the mechanics feel like they weren't integrated well together, and it lacks much in the way of big class fantasy/flashy things it can do.
Are there any combat systems or mechanics you feel need more development or refinement? Please explain.
The entire Stamina system with Guard/Dodge/Run feels like it was basically forgotten and almost abandoned. Gear integration with stuff like bonuses to stamina regen or run speed or benefits post-dodge/guard, a skill tree that has more depth to it and that you don't just have enough points to get literally everything, some sort of differences between how it all works based on armor weight for light/med/heavy. Opportunities exist for it. Right now, they aren't being capitalized on, so it feels out of place.
During group combat or grinding sessions, do you feel any core features or gameplay elements are missing or underdeveloped? If yes, please describe.
The finisher system could do with being made a bit more clear to the player where you are within your chain. The general experience of mob grinding is very static as it stands currently, you go to a PoI, you find an area with okay density, you get into a decent spot, and you start spamming until you need to go take a group mana break. There aren't any apparent dynamic mob behaviors, there's not much in the way of patrols in most places. You basically just unhinge your brain for however long you have a competent group for and then suddenly wake up several levels higher with a pile of assorted glint and loot. I'm not against the occasional brain-off grind session with the lads, but the P2 roadmap did make a point that dynamic NPC behavior and dynamic dungeons would be a thing, and I'm wondering what that's meant to look like and when we're going to see it. Even just something like PoI-specific simple events or quests would be at least something.
Rogue is the most mechanically filled-out and engaging class to play. Abilities dovetail together well, you have good options for weaving in abilities to your autoattack rotation so there are less dead periods, you have an expansive and varied toolkit that gives you good responses to a variety of situations, but you still need to be paying attention and be active to do well.
Mage has good visual and audio feedback on abilities for the most part, can set up good combos with Shatter, and is overall doing okay. The only main gripes with Mage is that Fireball is just flat-out always worse than Firebolt to a degree that it's never worth taking, Blizzard doesn't feel great, and the class feels like it could use some love to fill it out more.
Ranger feels like a functional class but doesn't really feel engaging. It has some ability to set up combos but it doesn't feel like it's in a good place overall. It feels like it lacks identity. Mana issues can be a large problem for the class. Snipe, however, has very good audio and visual feedback, and the screen shake is a small but appreciated touch.
Fighter feels like a worse version of Ranger with less clear mechanical interactions between abilities for how many of them reward setting up enemies being Tripped. It's functional. It's capable, for the most part. It's not really majorly interesting and there aren't a lot of moments with the class where you're like, "Wow that was cool!" early on like you might get with other classes. The first time you set up a Shatter combo on Mage or you rip off a Snipe on Ranger, you have a good feeling about it because it has good audio and visual feedback and spikes a large enough amount of damage out that it feels good. Fighter feels like it's lacking something with that factor. Cataclysm is about the closest you get.
Which archetype do you find the least fun to play? Why?
Fighter, though I haven't tried Bard or Cleric. Bard at least seems like it could be interesting due to mechanical depth. Fighter just feels like it's overly bland, the mechanics feel like they weren't integrated well together, and it lacks much in the way of big class fantasy/flashy things it can do.
Are there any combat systems or mechanics you feel need more development or refinement? Please explain.
The entire Stamina system with Guard/Dodge/Run feels like it was basically forgotten and almost abandoned. Gear integration with stuff like bonuses to stamina regen or run speed or benefits post-dodge/guard, a skill tree that has more depth to it and that you don't just have enough points to get literally everything, some sort of differences between how it all works based on armor weight for light/med/heavy. Opportunities exist for it. Right now, they aren't being capitalized on, so it feels out of place.
During group combat or grinding sessions, do you feel any core features or gameplay elements are missing or underdeveloped? If yes, please describe.
The finisher system could do with being made a bit more clear to the player where you are within your chain. The general experience of mob grinding is very static as it stands currently, you go to a PoI, you find an area with okay density, you get into a decent spot, and you start spamming until you need to go take a group mana break. There aren't any apparent dynamic mob behaviors, there's not much in the way of patrols in most places. You basically just unhinge your brain for however long you have a competent group for and then suddenly wake up several levels higher with a pile of assorted glint and loot. I'm not against the occasional brain-off grind session with the lads, but the P2 roadmap did make a point that dynamic NPC behavior and dynamic dungeons would be a thing, and I'm wondering what that's meant to look like and when we're going to see it. Even just something like PoI-specific simple events or quests would be at least something.
Re: 📝 Dev Discussion - Archetype Vibe Check
- Which archetype do you find the most fun to play? Why?
- Which archetype do you find the least fun to play? Why?
I played all archetypes to level 25 at some point. I think they're all fun to play in their own ways, but I also think that there's a lot missing from every archetype as well.
- Are there any combat systems or mechanics you feel need more development or refinement? Please explain.
During group combat or grinding sessions, do you feel any core features or gameplay elements are missing or underdeveloped? If yes, please describe.
YES. Archetype depth. Every single archetype currently is a well-rounded archetype that can do everything. Depth into the trees will create meaningful choices. Do I want to be a frost mage, fire mage, DoT archetype, burst rogue, mobility rogue, stealth rogue, bomb-class fighter, sustain fighter, immobile juggernaut tank, mobile gap closing tank, support cleric, radiant cleric, utility bard, damage bard, healing bard, mana bard, mobile auto attacking ranger, snipe burst ranger, AoE ranger, utility ranger, etc.
There's a lot of ways to play these archetypes that may be unlocked with secondary archetypes but currently there's not a lot of depth that makes the players make choices. There is only "you have all the skills available once you hit level 25" and I don't think that's a good thing. More choices, more skills, more adaptability, more playstyles, more diversity in general will make balancing harder... good. When games are too balanced then they start feeling stale and metas form. We can look at Phase 2.5 PvP tourney for that. When everyone had the same DR then the fights lasted longer, sure, but once you take down one person the fight was completely over for most scenarios. When healing is too strong, mitigation is too high, and TTK takes forever, you cannot turn the tables in a fight.
- Which archetype do you find the least fun to play? Why?
I played all archetypes to level 25 at some point. I think they're all fun to play in their own ways, but I also think that there's a lot missing from every archetype as well.
Bard: One of, if not the strongest classes at the moment. Has really strong DPS in resonant stacking and using their melodies. Has one of the biggest AoE stuns with Mesmerizing Dance that create big advantages in PvP. Have heals and good clutch moments with Gambit for group play. Also have a very strong ability in Marionette for PvP and PvE pulls. Tuned on the higher end, could reduce resonant dump damage. Ranged class with lots of utility, mobility, and damage. Jack of all trades and master of some at the moment. Bard, like a lot of archetypes suffer from lack of archetype depth.
Cleric: Healing is too damn OP. Look at the numbers you give this class with the amount of buttons to press for healing and you will see why this class can soak up all the damage AoE, over-time, clutch moments, etc. Purify being no cooldown for wiping debuffs is massive. Turned a support class into a piano key class and that's fun. Please for the love of god tune the numbers down. Cleric, like a lot of archetypes suffer from lack of archetype depth.
Fighter: This archetype has the most fluid rotation out of them all. It's extremely fun and people love this class. It has zero durability and revolves around blood fusion to exist and when that cooldown is down it is no longer good. The damage coming from them is not enough to burst in the current meta which makes them extremely weak as well. While it may be one of the most fun classes with one of the best kits, it is lacking in utility, durability, sustain, and damage for what it is meant to be. Fighter, like a lot of archetypes suffer from lack of archetype depth.
Mage: Mage is probably the most OP damage class at the moment on PTR. With lack of magic resist in the gearing options they do a lot of damage to physical classes since light armor is not currently in the game giving bonuses to physical users. The lack of gear diversity is making Mage the best class in the game at the moment to play. They have the ability to make big plays, do tons of damage at range, and are relatively safe with all their damage and have a huge defensive with Shell making them tanky as well. This has to be the absolute best archetype at the moment. Mage, like a lot of archetypes suffer from lack of archetype depth.
Ranger: This is by far my favorite archetype in every MMO and has always gotten shafted due to power in range/mobility. Ranger currently is less mobile than immobile while supposedly it is supposed to be the second most mobile next to Rogue. So far, Bard is the most mobile class. Ranger is the brain dead drop vine field, snipe, lightning reload, snipe headshot get a pick class. Reign of death for wounds, and scattershot to spread big dick damage... but does less than mage and isn't really that much damage to be fair. You're not getting picks solo anymore with increased TTK and the cast time of snipe is not a fast kill and will probably get healed through. Having movement speed decreased while shooting as a ranger feels really bad and should have a passive that allows Rangers to auto without decreasing movement speed. Strider is good, but not that good. Disengage being your only real way to get out of anything and bear traps are so niche they're not that great. Focus as a class resource is good and is a good way to bump damage but it is still lacking in terms of magic archetypes. Ranger, like a lot of archetypes suffer from lack of archetype depth.
Rogue: My baby. My one true love that I walked away from Ranger for. True invisibility is amazing... when it works. It's by far the most overloaded kit in the game outside of bard. It ALSO has the worst damage in comparison. It doesn't fulfill the burst class. Poison stacking feels like a mechanic that's good for extended fights for PvE but in PvP it's an afterthought and also not really applicable. I also don't want Rogues to feel forced into Poisons--which it is. It's by far one of the coolest archetypes in Ashes of Creation but is severely underloaded in numbers due to it's overloaded kit and that feels bad. A lot of it's "overloaded kit" comes from the amount of CC it grants that makes people upset, but in reality, you're not hitting major CC for a long time in group PvP. It's hardly worthwhile in PvE. It's no mesmerizing dance and marionette class, that's for sure. It's relatively weak in comparison to other archetypes all around... does good in 1v1s though. Which, to be fair, does not exist in Ashes of Creation outside of dueling with all of the group play mechanics and gets gimped by the over-tuned corruption system for those that want to fight people in the open world. Rogue, like a lot of archetypes suffer from lack of archetype depth.
Tank: This has to be the strongest physical based archetype. Good mitigation, good damage, good support skills, good utility, and has some good mobility. This archetype is probably really good if not for the constant clicking of grit whenever it's off cooldown (which is not long). The grapple has to be the most frustrating part of playing tank. Having control in PvP and in PvE, you are the archetype that everyone wants in their party. However... Tank, like a lot of archetypes suffer from lack of archetype depth.
Cleric: Healing is too damn OP. Look at the numbers you give this class with the amount of buttons to press for healing and you will see why this class can soak up all the damage AoE, over-time, clutch moments, etc. Purify being no cooldown for wiping debuffs is massive. Turned a support class into a piano key class and that's fun. Please for the love of god tune the numbers down. Cleric, like a lot of archetypes suffer from lack of archetype depth.
Fighter: This archetype has the most fluid rotation out of them all. It's extremely fun and people love this class. It has zero durability and revolves around blood fusion to exist and when that cooldown is down it is no longer good. The damage coming from them is not enough to burst in the current meta which makes them extremely weak as well. While it may be one of the most fun classes with one of the best kits, it is lacking in utility, durability, sustain, and damage for what it is meant to be. Fighter, like a lot of archetypes suffer from lack of archetype depth.
Mage: Mage is probably the most OP damage class at the moment on PTR. With lack of magic resist in the gearing options they do a lot of damage to physical classes since light armor is not currently in the game giving bonuses to physical users. The lack of gear diversity is making Mage the best class in the game at the moment to play. They have the ability to make big plays, do tons of damage at range, and are relatively safe with all their damage and have a huge defensive with Shell making them tanky as well. This has to be the absolute best archetype at the moment. Mage, like a lot of archetypes suffer from lack of archetype depth.
Ranger: This is by far my favorite archetype in every MMO and has always gotten shafted due to power in range/mobility. Ranger currently is less mobile than immobile while supposedly it is supposed to be the second most mobile next to Rogue. So far, Bard is the most mobile class. Ranger is the brain dead drop vine field, snipe, lightning reload, snipe headshot get a pick class. Reign of death for wounds, and scattershot to spread big dick damage... but does less than mage and isn't really that much damage to be fair. You're not getting picks solo anymore with increased TTK and the cast time of snipe is not a fast kill and will probably get healed through. Having movement speed decreased while shooting as a ranger feels really bad and should have a passive that allows Rangers to auto without decreasing movement speed. Strider is good, but not that good. Disengage being your only real way to get out of anything and bear traps are so niche they're not that great. Focus as a class resource is good and is a good way to bump damage but it is still lacking in terms of magic archetypes. Ranger, like a lot of archetypes suffer from lack of archetype depth.
Rogue: My baby. My one true love that I walked away from Ranger for. True invisibility is amazing... when it works. It's by far the most overloaded kit in the game outside of bard. It ALSO has the worst damage in comparison. It doesn't fulfill the burst class. Poison stacking feels like a mechanic that's good for extended fights for PvE but in PvP it's an afterthought and also not really applicable. I also don't want Rogues to feel forced into Poisons--which it is. It's by far one of the coolest archetypes in Ashes of Creation but is severely underloaded in numbers due to it's overloaded kit and that feels bad. A lot of it's "overloaded kit" comes from the amount of CC it grants that makes people upset, but in reality, you're not hitting major CC for a long time in group PvP. It's hardly worthwhile in PvE. It's no mesmerizing dance and marionette class, that's for sure. It's relatively weak in comparison to other archetypes all around... does good in 1v1s though. Which, to be fair, does not exist in Ashes of Creation outside of dueling with all of the group play mechanics and gets gimped by the over-tuned corruption system for those that want to fight people in the open world. Rogue, like a lot of archetypes suffer from lack of archetype depth.
Tank: This has to be the strongest physical based archetype. Good mitigation, good damage, good support skills, good utility, and has some good mobility. This archetype is probably really good if not for the constant clicking of grit whenever it's off cooldown (which is not long). The grapple has to be the most frustrating part of playing tank. Having control in PvP and in PvE, you are the archetype that everyone wants in their party. However... Tank, like a lot of archetypes suffer from lack of archetype depth.
- Are there any combat systems or mechanics you feel need more development or refinement? Please explain.
During group combat or grinding sessions, do you feel any core features or gameplay elements are missing or underdeveloped? If yes, please describe.
YES. Archetype depth. Every single archetype currently is a well-rounded archetype that can do everything. Depth into the trees will create meaningful choices. Do I want to be a frost mage, fire mage, DoT archetype, burst rogue, mobility rogue, stealth rogue, bomb-class fighter, sustain fighter, immobile juggernaut tank, mobile gap closing tank, support cleric, radiant cleric, utility bard, damage bard, healing bard, mana bard, mobile auto attacking ranger, snipe burst ranger, AoE ranger, utility ranger, etc.
There's a lot of ways to play these archetypes that may be unlocked with secondary archetypes but currently there's not a lot of depth that makes the players make choices. There is only "you have all the skills available once you hit level 25" and I don't think that's a good thing. More choices, more skills, more adaptability, more playstyles, more diversity in general will make balancing harder... good. When games are too balanced then they start feeling stale and metas form. We can look at Phase 2.5 PvP tourney for that. When everyone had the same DR then the fights lasted longer, sure, but once you take down one person the fight was completely over for most scenarios. When healing is too strong, mitigation is too high, and TTK takes forever, you cannot turn the tables in a fight.
Lloyd
2
Re: 📝 Dev Discussion - Archetype Vibe Check
Which archetype do you find the most fun to play? Why?
I enjoy cleric immensely because I prefer to play healers. It has the core kit for healing that I really enjoy. I do believe the damage tools are a bit bare and lack a design that lends itself to a "war of attrition" playstyle though. Something like a mana burn, a slowly building damage that punishes someone for not killing the cleric quickly.
I also think cleric's mobility is awful presently. PVP isn't a cat and mouse game presently. Just a cat and unmoving cat toy game. I'd love to see some kit choices that allow clerics to lean into damage and unholy themes but have it be a compelling choice in the talent tree. Also, something that is more "miraculous" and "big" that feels like a god intervening on their behalf. Big bonus points if it can be augmented by their religion.
That might be a big way to help clerics out with flavor, is through religious augments to their abilities.
Which archetype do you find the least fun to play? Why?
I have not played much of other classes because I am not interested but I did enjoy them when I dabbled. I have seen fighter and tank suffer the most as far as player count as compared to earlier iterations of the game, so they likely need some love.
Are there any combat systems or mechanics you feel need more development or refinement? Please explain.
Discriminators for friendly v. unfriendly abilities would be great. Meaning tinge the abilities with red around the edge of it if it is a harmful ability. Friendly abilities can be left alone visually.
During group combat or grinding sessions, do you feel any core features or gameplay elements are missing or underdeveloped? If yes, please describe.
For higher levels I hope there's a few more interaction between abilities archetypes/class. I'd love for there to be some sort of team up abilities that take time to charge to create a significant ability (think like a mage and a summoner conjuring a golem or cleric and bard to create an impactful buff.) I'd love some longer cooldown abilities that are compelling when you use them that have a bigger impact that require another class or character to do it.
That and augments (not just subclass, but racial and religious as well.)
I enjoy cleric immensely because I prefer to play healers. It has the core kit for healing that I really enjoy. I do believe the damage tools are a bit bare and lack a design that lends itself to a "war of attrition" playstyle though. Something like a mana burn, a slowly building damage that punishes someone for not killing the cleric quickly.
I also think cleric's mobility is awful presently. PVP isn't a cat and mouse game presently. Just a cat and unmoving cat toy game. I'd love to see some kit choices that allow clerics to lean into damage and unholy themes but have it be a compelling choice in the talent tree. Also, something that is more "miraculous" and "big" that feels like a god intervening on their behalf. Big bonus points if it can be augmented by their religion.
That might be a big way to help clerics out with flavor, is through religious augments to their abilities.
Which archetype do you find the least fun to play? Why?
I have not played much of other classes because I am not interested but I did enjoy them when I dabbled. I have seen fighter and tank suffer the most as far as player count as compared to earlier iterations of the game, so they likely need some love.
Are there any combat systems or mechanics you feel need more development or refinement? Please explain.
Discriminators for friendly v. unfriendly abilities would be great. Meaning tinge the abilities with red around the edge of it if it is a harmful ability. Friendly abilities can be left alone visually.
During group combat or grinding sessions, do you feel any core features or gameplay elements are missing or underdeveloped? If yes, please describe.
For higher levels I hope there's a few more interaction between abilities archetypes/class. I'd love for there to be some sort of team up abilities that take time to charge to create a significant ability (think like a mage and a summoner conjuring a golem or cleric and bard to create an impactful buff.) I'd love some longer cooldown abilities that are compelling when you use them that have a bigger impact that require another class or character to do it.
That and augments (not just subclass, but racial and religious as well.)
Leukael
2
Re: Mepps Joins Intrepid Studios’ Community Management Team!
wishing you an awesome start and lots of success ahead
Re: Mepps Joins Intrepid Studios’ Community Management Team!
Hey Mepps! Just someone from one of your old communities signing up here to wish you all the best. You were an amazing Community Manager for us, always paying attention and ever-involved. I'm sure you'll carry it on, and they're lucky to have you....
undrline
1
Re: How Solo Players (Basically) Saved MMOs From Going Extinct
We have differing opinions of what "a real mmo" is. To me, if you can clear the game and majority of its content w/o uttering a single word in chat - that's a single player game.TheDarkSorcerer wrote: »Nah, I don’t agree. Games like GW2 and ESO prove you can be solo-friendly and still be a real MMO. GW2 is one of the most active MMOs in 2025, super chill for solo play but still full of group content and community.
While I understand what it is you are actually saying, I'm not a fan of this way of wording it.
Even back in 2004, if you were in a guild that was organized, you didn't need to use in game chat at all. You could complete quests, dungeons, raids, everything that is the core of an MMORPG, all without needing to use chat at all.
Few people would have, because chat drama is great. However, it wasn't necessary to fully participate in what an MMORPG is all about.
Noaani
1