Why the Cleric Archetype is AOC's most important Archetype and Cannot Fail.

kanersen

Historically the 2 main classes that have always been in short supply in MMO's have been tanks and healers and even between these 2, tanks are considered the more appealing class type for most players. Ashes is a PvX game, meaning PvE and PvP are very much intertwined. Clerics are absolutely needed in both in order to create an atmosphere where groups can excel in both. My worry is that currently, there is not enough agency of choice on class play within the toolkit of this 1 and only healing class to entice enough players to roll clerics. The result is group dynamics as a whole will suffer and the playing experiences of all players will suffer, not just clerics. It won't be fun as a tank when there isn't enough healing around to sustain against a boss. It won't be fun as a dps if there isn't enough healing around to prevent you from getting gibbed in PvP. It won't be fun to any group when they can't do any kind of content because they have to wait around until the healer roles are filled. And while you can say the inverse of this to other archetypes, those archetypes again are much more in abundance and less relied on in group dynamics.

This is because while healing has appeal to some players, other archetypes generally have greater appeal to more players. Typically, tanks get the glory in PvE and DPS get the glory in PvP while healers by nature are not intuitive to be the superstar class. This is fine, however to counterbalance that, MMO's have typically offered a variety of healing class types to appeal to niche's more then healing itself. The mobile healer, the tanky healer, the HOT healer, the hybrid DOT damage healer, the utility healer, the melee focus fighter-healer, the spell damage castor hybrid healer. These are all healer kits that fulfill healing fantasy types - not simply 1 or 2 spells that somewhat deviate a core healbot toolkit. Through MMO's offering this agency of choice in a variety of healing classes, it offers a variety of ways for a player to fulfill their desired healing kit fantasy. The resto druid would be incredibly fun to someone that would choose to make that class fantasy their "main" while the same player would feel a holy paladin as the last class fantasy in a game they would want to play. I am worried about this lack of choice not only hurting the Cleric Archetype but AoC's group dynamics as a whole, which will incredibly lean on the Cleric Archetype more so then any other archetype in the game.

Ashes has 1 healing archetype, and while it may be possible to implement some of the above into your niche gameplay, you are fundamentally limited into how much of the above you can incorporate regardless of your sub class and your augments. On top of that - while the Cleric showcase was a good take on a healer - I think most people would agree it pales in comparison to both Ranger and Fighter, if not the Mage as well. I see a variety of engaging heal abilities in the cleric's kit, which is great. However it lacks an incredible amount of both utility and offensive abilities from both a castor and especially melee focus. If the cleric archetype only offers anecdotal abilities to support these additional healing kits of player healing fantasy builds, then healing in ashes will fail because there are no additional classes that can fill those desired roles. I hope AoC recognizes the need to offer a diversity of choice within the cleric toolkit even at the risk of more deviation through subclasses compared to other classes because it is absolutely needed in order to support group dynamics of all classes as a whole.

Dygz

Ranger and Fighter demos were more in-depth demos than Mage, Tank and Cleric.

Typically, the Trinity is Tank, Healer, Support, I think.


In RPGs, typical Party is Melee, Healer, Mage, (Traps/Scout/Crits)
In MMORPGs, typical Party is Tank, Healer, Mage, DPS
With Ashes, Classes mean every character in an 8-person group could be some form of Cleric.