I've always gravitated towards Ranger archetypes in MMOs. So essentially I'd be trying different combinations:
Ranger+Summoner = Classic ranger with a tanky pet to deal with issues but this will come down to how well summoned creature AI is implemented Ranger+Mage = Runic Archer style, magic arrows, setting up barriers, kiting around Ranger+Rogue= Stealth archery for the win, with lots of traps and the whole shebang
This is assuming that the primary class dictates the weapons accessible to the player.
If the ranger comes with its own pets, I'd dabble in Cleric/Bard too to buff and support myself and my pet.
My secondary choice tends to be rogues, I just love dagger/fist/1h sword weilding classes. I'm also curious to see how Rogue will pan out with Mage and SUmmoner in tow.
If you are mixing primary and secondary classes then there is another layer. Who does the summoner summon? I would recommend that summoners magically call in minions. These are not persistent pet/ allie npc because that would lag the game. How Many times have you lost a fight because an summoned minion fell off a ledge or got stuck on a obstacle? They need to be long term and slow moving or fast and very short term to reduce pathing calculations and glitches. However they should be on a short timer.
Summoner + Tank = Can summon in some big slow tanks that despawn before dead. Very slow but you get 3 to 5 and they attack fast. A living wall. Summoner + Fighter = An additional fighter that makes three or 4 attacks before despawning. Essentially a human ranged attack. Whorl of blades with a visible character. Summoner + Rogue = Various complex one shot traps. Another rogue with a ranged weapon behind the foe with a one or two shot. Interrupt effect. Summoner + Ranger = 3 to 8 archers that turn fast and shoot fast but don't move. Human Turrets. Swarms of creatures. Summoner + Mage = elementals, either fast and short term or a big slow door blocker. Swarms of magic things. Summoner + Cleric = Ghost warriors, A recently defeated non human mob or A big nasty animal. Summoner + Summoner = A bit redundant as is tank + tank and Ranger + Ranger. Maybe a mix of units depending on who is in the party. or a lot of low power minions. Undead. Both. Summoner + Bard = Hard one. Maybe a rioting mob?!? What looks like civilians there to protect the star. Town NPC's. Throwing anything to hand and wielding torches, clubs and chairs. They should all despawn if any take damage. It would be funny. Low damage and low speed but there is a lot of them and they target the nearest.
In all cases the minion teleports out before dying. If you worked for a guy that could teleport you into battle in a unknown dungeon you would want a return ticket right?
It would be nice if the client can get FPS and send it to the server and a calculator then works out if the game location can handle more summoned minions. This would allow the summoner to summon more in a context where it won't lag out the server and ruin game play. If there are 4 summoners in the group they would get two or three minions but if there is only one in a low lag context he could get ten and blitz the enemy. Essentially allowing the same number of minions for the group regardless of the number of summoners.
I've done some analysis of bards here. The challenge is to make the bard viable when he or she is paying alone. This is true for all character classes but hardest for the bard.
My first choice would be a Battlemage, Mage/fighter ideally with heavy plate armor and destruction staff. In most games this combination is not really viable (because light armor buffs magicka and heavy armor doesnt) so it would probably turn into Mage/fighter with light armor, sword and board.
My second choice would be a Bloodmage, Mage/rogue, not sure which armor and weapons would be suitable. I've always liked the playstyle of sneaky mages with good dexterity (similar to magicka Nightblade in ESO).
My third choice would be either a Spellsword, Fighter/Mage which will probably be really strong damage-wise. Or Templar, Fighter/Cleric which focuses more on self-sustain so you dont always need healer.
Keep up the good work devs, cant wait to hear more about combat and class combinations!
I hope i can create a Dark Knight/Death Knight like character. But i'm struggling what archetypes fit into that, as there is no dark/evil magic archetype. The closest could be the Rogue, but i don't think about a rogue when thinking about a Dark Knight. More on the lines of Necromancers or Warlocks. Maybe Summoner will be the dark/evil archetype with summoning skeletons and demons.....
I started in the MMO world as a bard, so I would speculate some class combinations.
Bard/Tank - Troubadour - Front line fighter - boosting tank types Bard/Fighter - War Herald - Front Line fighter - area buffs for melee damage Bard/Rogue - Grifter - Front Line Fighter - area buffs for critical melee Bard/Ranger - Minstrel - Hybrid Front/Range - Area buffs for attack speed Bard/Mage - Narrator - Ranged Bardsong - Area buffs for Spell Damage Bard/Cleric - Muse - Hybrid Bardsong - Area buffs for regeneration Bard/Summoner - Puppeteer - Ranged Bardsong - Area buffs for Spell Hit Bard/Bard - Musician - Ranged Bardsong - Area buffs for spell crit or just a general inspiration buff
Rogue + Bard / Bard + Rogue should clearly be a Politician :3
I'm sure many who are interested in Ashes of Creation either have played or are currently playing ArcheAge, willingly or otherwise. That game has a similar class structure where your aggregate class is built from 3 subclasses, with each of the 120 unique classes being given a name. Here's a list of all those names; there are some pretty damn cool ones, especially attached to classes that had absolutely no viability whatsoever :P
Ranger + Fighter could be a ranged and melee specialist, wielding a hatchet main hand and dagger offhand. The hatchet would work like how an axe ranger in GW2 does when in range mode and can be toggled to be used in melee combat as well. This will allow you to apply ranged pressure and can also go ham if they decide to close the gap on you.
Comments
Ranger+Summoner = Classic ranger with a tanky pet to deal with issues but this will come down to how well summoned creature AI is implemented
Ranger+Mage = Runic Archer style, magic arrows, setting up barriers, kiting around
Ranger+Rogue= Stealth archery for the win, with lots of traps and the whole shebang
This is assuming that the primary class dictates the weapons accessible to the player.
If the ranger comes with its own pets, I'd dabble in Cleric/Bard too to buff and support myself and my pet.
My secondary choice tends to be rogues, I just love dagger/fist/1h sword weilding classes.
I'm also curious to see how Rogue will pan out with Mage and SUmmoner in tow.
I would recommend that summoners magically call in minions. These are not persistent pet/ allie npc because that would lag the game. How Many times have you lost a fight because an summoned minion fell off a ledge or got stuck on a obstacle?
They need to be long term and slow moving or fast and very short term to reduce pathing calculations and glitches. However they should be on a short timer.
Summoner + Tank = Can summon in some big slow tanks that despawn before dead. Very slow but you get 3 to 5 and they attack fast. A living wall.
Summoner + Fighter = An additional fighter that makes three or 4 attacks before despawning. Essentially a human ranged attack. Whorl of blades with a visible character.
Summoner + Rogue = Various complex one shot traps. Another rogue with a ranged weapon behind the foe with a one or two shot. Interrupt effect.
Summoner + Ranger = 3 to 8 archers that turn fast and shoot fast but don't move. Human Turrets. Swarms of creatures.
Summoner + Mage = elementals, either fast and short term or a big slow door blocker. Swarms of magic things.
Summoner + Cleric = Ghost warriors, A recently defeated non human mob or A big nasty animal.
Summoner + Summoner = A bit redundant as is tank + tank and Ranger + Ranger. Maybe a mix of units depending on who is in the party. or a lot of low power minions. Undead. Both.
Summoner + Bard = Hard one. Maybe a rioting mob?!? What looks like civilians there to protect the star. Town NPC's. Throwing anything to hand and wielding torches, clubs and chairs. They should all despawn if any take damage. It would be funny. Low damage and low speed but there is a lot of them and they target the nearest.
In all cases the minion teleports out before dying. If you worked for a guy that could teleport you into battle in a unknown dungeon you would want a return ticket right?
It would be nice if the client can get FPS and send it to the server and a calculator then works out if the game location can handle more summoned minions. This would allow the summoner to summon more in a context where it won't lag out the server and ruin game play. If there are 4 summoners in the group they would get two or three minions but if there is only one in a low lag context he could get ten and blitz the enemy. Essentially allowing the same number of minions for the group regardless of the number of summoners.
https://www.ashesofcreation.com/forums/topic/bards-of-all-styles/
My second choice would be a Bloodmage, Mage/rogue, not sure which armor and weapons would be suitable. I've always liked the playstyle of sneaky mages with good dexterity (similar to magicka Nightblade in ESO).
My third choice would be either a Spellsword, Fighter/Mage which will probably be really strong damage-wise. Or Templar, Fighter/Cleric which focuses more on self-sustain so you dont always need healer.
Keep up the good work devs, cant wait to hear more about combat and class combinations!
<strong>Muse
Justiciar
Vicar
Acolyte</strong>
Bard/Tank - Troubadour - Front line fighter - boosting tank types
Bard/Fighter - War Herald - Front Line fighter - area buffs for melee damage
Bard/Rogue - Grifter - Front Line Fighter - area buffs for critical melee
Bard/Ranger - Minstrel - Hybrid Front/Range - Area buffs for attack speed
Bard/Mage - Narrator - Ranged Bardsong - Area buffs for Spell Damage
Bard/Cleric - Muse - Hybrid Bardsong - Area buffs for regeneration
Bard/Summoner - Puppeteer - Ranged Bardsong - Area buffs for Spell Hit
Bard/Bard - Musician - Ranged Bardsong - Area buffs for spell crit or just a general inspiration buff
https://www.reddit.com/r/AshesofCreation/comments/6aswq2/class_combo_names_speculation/
EDIT: cool, didn't know this forum shows the post just by copy-paste the link to the reddit
</blockquote>
why mage? i can see tank, but wouldn't cleric fit better to a martyr name?
<strong>AoC Class Combinations:</strong> <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1zW78xOwO9wTKsBFRN5YISFQltoivEpL_P8SpZKpLDKo/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Google Spreadsheet</a>
:)
I'm sure many who are interested in Ashes of Creation either have played or are currently playing ArcheAge, willingly or otherwise. That game has a similar class structure where your aggregate class is built from 3 subclasses, with each of the 120 unique classes being given a name. Here's a list of all those names; there are some pretty damn cool ones, especially attached to classes that had absolutely no viability whatsoever :P
http://orcz.com/ArcheAge:_All_Class_Names