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Dev Discussion #27 - Ideal Class

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  • ThePaperGamerThePaperGamer Member
    edited February 2021
    tl;dr:
    to be an effective class, your secondary archetype should enhance your effectiveness in doing your role (from the trinity) that you select for your primary archetype

    This is the principle I personally believe in when it comes to making multiple classes as impactful and interesting as possible:

    Your primary class should define what your playstyle is gonna be (based on the trinity); your goals as a player should always stick to where you fall in those category. therefore no tanks dealing majority of damage and no ranger tanking. this encourages the multiplayer aspect of the game, making you need other people in certain tasks.

    meanwhile, TO BE AN EFFECTIVE CLASS, your Secondary should complement the goals/playstyle of your primary class and not "DIVERSIFY" it.

    so for example; A tank/cleric class. having a sustain as a tank makes you a more efficient tank, because if your main healer need to do other things (ressurecting dead party, or healing others) you will still keep the frontline firm.

    on the other hand, if you do tank/mage (or Mage/tank in that matter). you're taking away from your main purpose as a player (which is to tank) by improving your damage. your purpose in the party will be confused. you'll not be an effective tank, and either an effective dps.

    here are some examples:
    Ranger/Mage - to have elemental augments to your attacks
    Ranger/Rogue - more crit chance and mobility to keep yourself safe
    Cleric/Bard - for enchantments and sustain. ultimate support. same as Bard/Cleric
    Fighter/Mage - same principles as Ranger/Mage
    Fighter/Bard - make yourself stronger
    Fighter/Rogue - for crits and mobility

    P.S. im not saying the you cant be diverse. in fact steven mentioned before that secondary archetypes "bridges" the gap of the trinity. but IMO, following this principle makes a class more effective.
  • edited May 2021
    For me, it's ArchWizard without question.
    Here's what I want:
    -Ability to disable Wand/Filler/auto-attack/melee attack to increase the power of cast spells.
    -Tractor Spell, ability to drag dead bodies back a great distance in order to be safely raised.
    -Crushing single-target magic, and AoE magical attacks, highest DPS in the game - not by a little, by a lot!
    -Biggest, most dramatic AoE attacks, and Channeled spells. Ground shaking Meteor showers!!
    -Spells hit so hard, we only have enough Mana to cast 5 of them before we're OOM and reaching for potions!
    -The 5th consecutive spell in a row on any target, has a 100% chance to Critically hit!
    -6th spell in a row also has a 100% chance to critically hit, but a Mana potion would have to be used after 5th.
    -Largest Mana potion would be equal to exactly ONE ArchWizard spell cast.
    -Auto phase out when Mana reaches zero, reduces visual signature, Evasion+15% cancels on next cast.
    -ArchWizard is a Glass Cannon, and I mean literally glass cannon. Increased base damage if all cloth armor.
    -Bonus base damage if a 2-handed staff is equipped, reduced crit % if a shield is equipped.
    -Must sacrifice a portion of Mana to conjure a protective shield, or cast Reflect on-self. Both instant-cast.
    -Big damage spells have a Big windup and cast times! CC, Sleep, Polymorph, etc, are instant-cast.
    -Highly mobile, Zero cost Teleport, Blink, Warp, Vanish, Repeat. Annoyingly far, like catch-me-if-you-can-far.
    -Huge Explosive Fireballs, I want my spells to feel like they have impact - like the Explosive Fireballs in Skyrim!
    -Absolute MAX casting ranges, FAR! We're talking about the nose bleed section here!
    -Conduit Skill: (10 min. Cooldown) Violently recharge 100% of your Mana over time, also restores X% of nearby allies Mana in a 50 yard radius.
    -Able to instantly cast an ArchWizard only Magical ground mount.
  • ideal-class-1920.gif?h=250

    Dev Discussion #27 - Ideal Class
    Which of our 64 classes do you think you will spend the most time playing, and what are the key elements to making this your ideal class? Feel free to share your creative and crazy ideas, even if you may not think they fit the usual class mold!

    Fighter. I look forward to trying out all the secondary classes for the fighter to find what suits my playstyle. I normally play the sturdiest class that can wield a giant sword. I'm usually on the frontline and I like being in the thick of it. A bruiser of sorts. To me there is this detachment from being a caster or an archer when I slay someone. The satisfaction of the kill just doesn't do it for me. I prefer to be standing over your corpse when I land the killing blow.

    Bladedancer - Melee buff bot
    Highsword - Holy Avenger
    Weapon Master - Master of the 2h or dual wield (or both)!
    Spellsword - I probably won't play this class.
    Hunter - I'll play this class if I can melee and stalk people from the shadows.
    Shadowblade - Less reliance on stealth and more swordplay.
    Bladecaller - I probably won't play this. I hate pet classes.
    Dreadnought - Maybe the only time a sword and shield setup might be effective at DPS?
  • Soulbow (Ranger/Cleric) Py'rai is what im going to go with.

    With life augments i expect my aoe to give regeneration effect to my allies, and some passive buffs maybe.
    With death i guess added survivability talking the life of others life leech some curses, reduce dmg done.

    This is how i imagine cannot wait to see what you guys going to make.
  • DmhofmaDmhofma Member, Alpha One, Adventurer
    Dmhofma wrote: »
    I'd love to have a mechanically interesting tank class, I feel like tanks in games get shafted in a big way in terms of pvp or in terms of interesting gameplay, and I think these problems can be fixed by adding some more interesting mechanics to the class than just "threat", that will actually allow them to have an impact in non-pve game modes. I like the class fantasy of a tank and the aesthetic, but I think a lot of games dumb them down to just being the pve checklist class and not giving any flexibility to that rule.

    Something I felt like I should add is an example of what I mean, I would want something like a real incentive to kill tanks first, like debuffs that can only be cancelled when the tank hits health thresholds or dies or maybe only disappears when youve targeted the tank for a certain period of time, just something that's out of the ordinary and would make a tank's presence feel impactful.
  • I'm still not certain what primary class I want to play (I usually pick tank if it has a large sword or two handed sword, a class with dual wield, a wizard/ mage or some form of archer). Granted, if a certain class has benefits for animal husbandry I'll pick it since its the feature I'm most excited about.

    If its dual class, I'd like to be able to dual wield different weapons maybe with different effects on enemies. Maybe one enemy takes more damage from axes than maces and another enemy has the opposite. I'd also be interested in a feature (if it hasn't been implemented yet) to add elements to weapons (poison, fire, ice, etc) for a little added special damage against certain bosses (loved this feature in two worlds I).

    If its a mage class, I'd like there to not be a secondary class without too many AOE spells (I played a game where you had to click where you wanted the AOE to land, and that caused you to stop moving until you cast the spell and resulted in many deaths until I got used to it since the AOE was a majority of spells); I know mages are supposed to be range, but I'd like to see at least one mage class that can mostly do non-AOE spells.

    If its a ranger class... maybe april fools day can bring about swapping arrows for rabid squirrels or something. Usually ranger classes treat me nicely but I feel they sometimes run the risk of being replaced by mages or simply nerfed to where they aren't as effective.

    I've been considering summoner but want to see the gameplay before I really look into it. Animal summoning would be the class I'd go for; but I also hear that a summoner might be able to fill in for certain roles so I might choose that subclass if there is one (kinda like a jack of all trades but hopefully with enough complexity that its not only chosen by people new to the game until they learn all the other roles).

    Would love to see a little white wing, inca, ringneck or mourning dove sitting on a mailbox or nest near a house (maybe just one town can have it), and when the character gets near, it wiggles its wings and coo's a hello. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKqFRwErdxU&ab_channel=SoperCreekWildlifeRescue)- this is technically a mourning dove but still cute.
  • RaetionRaetion Member, Leader of Men, Kickstarter, Alpha One
    Ideal class: Apostle Cleric/Tank

    I want this combination because I want to be a Frontline healer.
    A healer with a couple AOE heals that can heal the Frontline with ease.
    But also be tanky enough to not die instantly.

    I also find it important as a healer to have some sort of mouseover macros for targeting.
    I know that you are not going to support addons.
    And because of this I am presuming you will also not allow macros.
    But it would be cool if mouseover target would be implemented in the game.
    This will make things a lot easier for healers.
    It would also be very useful to be able to move the party UI so that I can place it in a very visible spot.

    With the tank augment I am also hoping for some defensive related buffs.
    Being able to increase players' block chances or applying a typical bubble that gives the target more health.
    The ability to debuff the defense of an enemy would also be interesting to see.

    I also would like to see some heal over time skills.
    As this makes things interesting.
    This gives you the ability to keep a bigger group of people healthy.
    It would be very cool to see some sort of mass heal ability.
    This might be a little over powered but maybe on a long cooldown it could be interesting.

    I am not expecting to be able to do a lot of damage.
    But I do want the ability to at least defend myself when being jumped by another player.
    This class combo I am planning on using mace and shield.
    So I hope that the shield will not be useless and have some gameplay.
    As for the mace I want some sort of blunt damage and cc skills like a stun.

    I am planning on using plate armor for extra defense.
    So I do think wearing plate should make a character a little slower.
    But give them enough defense so that fast classes will still have a tough time killing the plate class that is not able to outrun the fast class.

    Thank you for all of your hard work.
    And bringing us an amazing game.
  • Well, I have always been a huge fan of Berserker type of classes. A big man carrying two heavy weapons, recklessly jumping into the fray and dominating his enemies with brute force. I extremely liked the Berserker class in BDO and I hope to see some similar mechanics in AoC as well such as charges, becoming unstoppable for a period of time and of course, a huge health bar with incredible amount of damaging capabilities :)
  • Gemini808Gemini808 Member
    edited February 2021
    I think I most likely would pick any class with cleric as secondary except for bard never really liked the fantasy. I'm more curious about clerics as a secondary, I hope that I could off heal with it but not necessarily be as good as a dedicated healer. As someone who likes to enjoy the main storyline solo, I expect that I would be able to heal myself and be able to do the main storyline solo but then once I engage in group activity I hope I can make the healer's life easier by off healing. I hope it doesn't come at the cost of DPS but rather a group utility like debuffing, because I mainly would like cleric as a secondary class to help my friend get into healing and I just think my friends would be able to enjoy the game more and appreciate the fight encounter if they didn't have to stress too much about keeping everyone alive.

    In short, I'm mainly interested in cleric as a secondary class with no primary class in mind, because honestly, they all sound great I would have to try them to see which one I like. I hope that I would be able to augment my build based on the activity I'm engaged in, if I were doing solo activity, I would prefer self-healing/life steal or if I'm doing group activity to make the healers life easier by off healing the group and possibly buffing them.

    lastly, I'm very excited for the next community stream because I believe in the last stream you guys mentioned this one would be focused more on classes. Can't wait! thanks and good luck
  • It's hard to say because we don't really have a clear vision of what the classes will be or the combat system in general.

    But most likely a combination cleric and something else.

    Acolyte would be a light and mobile caster class, I imagine it much like discipline priest from WoW.

    Necromancer... well a necromancer. I imagine it as someone who uses death magic to reanimate dead organisms and focuses on debuffs.

    High Priest would be your bread and butter cloth support/healer.

    Shaman would be someone who infuses objects with power to perform certain tasks, much like totems from WoW. They would also evoke the power of elements or powerful beings to increase their own or someone else's strength as well as have some control over the elements.

    Oracle I associate with information and foresight so a caster class that can extract information/buff and alter things. So perhaps they could have a focus on altering friendly and enemy spells to serve their will?

    Shadow Disciple would basically be a rogue but with caster abilities. But rather than attacking close up they would be a ranged stealth user, basically strike from the shadows from afar.
  • EfeciontEfeciont Member
    edited February 2021
    I love the idea of being a Trap Master with throwable ones you can do in the heat of battle and one that would take time setting up for more of an ambush-style player both for PvE and PVP when there are roads that can be ambushed for when they do caravans. you could also amplify them by coating them with different effects like poison or paralyzing even sleep maybe. plus I like the idea of maybe capturing animals too for the animal husbandry even or some other profession.
  • Charlatan or Assassin. I just love the phrase on the wiki “but rogues excel at delving the deepest dungeons and finding the most hidden of treasures”
    Also the Stealth skill seems fun.
    Feel free to share your creative and crazy ideas, even if you may not think they fit the usual class mold!
    It’s all stuns,poison,stealth,big crits and big dicks with assassins in any RPG. So clichè 🥱 Pickpocketing, parkour and gambling would be fun skills for the assassin charlatan to invest in but loose combat ability’s.

  • My ideal class would be a low mobility class that does crazy damage. It would best work in large pvp areas and would support other classes with damage misdirection ( takes damage for them) or area armor/ health buffs.The damage could dependent on cooldowns . Something that is good in arenas and group content with a support class but not alone in a 1v1.

    Im looking at fighter for my base class. if not i'll be looking into summoner becous they will be hard to balance and would be fun with many support and damage options.
  • I'm planning on playing a Siren from the Bard archetype (amongst other characters...).

    I figure it's worth linking this old thread by our favourite Forum Mod, which asked for interesting skill design ideas: forums.ashesofcreation.com/discussion/47234/design-your-own-spells


    As far as creative/crazy ideas go, I'll just copy out the Bard skills I put in there:

    Music-based skills:-
    "Rousing Intro"
    Music Spell. For X seconds, all nearby party members are inspired by your song, and gain X% damage mitigation.

    "Rhythmical Motif"
    Music Spell. Must follow a Pattern. For X seconds, all nearby party members follow your rhythm, and gain X% damage increase.

    "Grand Finale"
    Music Spell. Must follow a Pattern. For X seconds, if target enemy is under 25% Health, target enemy loses X% damage mitigation.

    "Chorus"
    Pattern. Must follow a Music Spell. For X seconds, nearby party members gain X Health Regeneration.

    "Musical Fill"
    Pattern. Must follow a Music Spell. For X seconds, nearby party members gain X Magic Regeneration.


    Word-based skills:-
    "Monologue"
    For X seconds, increase the damage of your weapon skills by X%. You cannot use another Bard skill for X seconds, and this duration is increased by X per additional member of your party.

    "Once Upon A Time"
    Story Spell. For X seconds, nearby party members gain X Health Regeneration. This effect is refreshed whenever that party member is affected by a Story Spell.

    "Central Plot"
    Story Spell. Your 3 closest party members gain +X damage to their next attack.

    "Dramatic Flourish"
    Story Spell. The next time your closest party member attacks, they interrupt their target's action.

    "Love Interest"
    Story Spell. The next time your 2 closest party members use a skill, they are healed for X health.

    "Unmasking the Villain"
    Casting this spell on three separate enemies within a 6 second window causes the following: The first enemy is knocked down, the second enemy is interrupted, and the third enemy takes X damage.


    Misc skills:-
    "Centre Of Attention"
    Pull all party members within X-distance to your location.

    "In The Spotlight"
    For X seconds, do +X damage to any target enemy attacking you.

    "Encore"
    For X seconds, gain X Magic Points whenever an enemy dies within X-distance of you.

    "The Show Must Go On"
    For X seconds, gain +X% damage per dead party member.

    "Back For The Sequel"
    Resurrect dead party member with low Health and no Magic Points. This skill has a short range.
    This link may help you: https://ashesofcreation.wiki/
  • Archetype fighter, with lot CC skills and use spear....Or combo class with CC/debuff focus...
  • My ideal class would be, a magic user that not only specialzes in fighting, it could use magic to get creative with questing. For Example: when you have to break in in a goblin cave, you could use your magic to open doors without picking them, bust through the mountain side, ore teleport through. It would give the class so much more perspective and flavour.
  • The core of my ideal class is being the virtual embodiment of mobility! I want to be able to double-jump, do somersaults, dash around my enemy and AFK teammates. I want to just have fun moving!

    As far as your classes go, the rogue primary class speaks to me the most. To me, the strengths and weaknesses of the rogue are as follows...
    + Mobility
    + Single-target melee burst
    + Stealth
    + Crowd Control
    - Defense
    - Ranged damage
    - AoE damage
    - Sustain

    *I think stealth is best as total invisibility, but limited duration. Obviously other classes can get tools to reveal stealthed enemies.

    On to the subclasses! These are what the names invoke to me of my five favorite sounding subclasses.

    Assassin:
    • Master of getting behind enemy lines, killing a single enemy, and getting out.
    • Excellent chasing mobility, good retreating mobility.

    Scout:
    • Can mark enemies and learn their (elemental?) weaknesses.
    • Excellent retreating mobility, moderate chasing mobility.

    Trickster
    • Instead of stealth can pretend to be enemy's ally.
    • Creates illusions.

    Shadow Lord
    • Can conjure darkness that grants allies stealth and shadow imbued weapons.
    • Summons dark shades of yourself to attack enemies.

    Strider
    • Excellent mid-range kiting mobility (always a charge away).
    • Dances between melee strikes and short-range shots.

    Thanks for reading! ◕‿◕
  • I would like to see a different kind of tank, more agile than a standard tank, a bruiser. Dual wielding one handed or having a two handed weapon, without shield, dealing damage to gain damage and cc mitigation over time.
  • I always play as a Mage in every game it’s available in. As for which subclass, probably Archwizard because it will feel the most magicky. I’m afraid the other subclasses will take away what is unique about mages. For example, I don’t want Battle Mage or Spellstone to become a warrior who buffs themselves with magic (instead of relying on the Bard buffing them) and uses swords and shields. (But since This Spellsword and Spellshield exist, I’m pretty sure AoC will get it right.)

    Instead, I hope they’ll be a mage who cast spells in the thick of battle, wearing either heavy armor or magical armor; maybe wield a spectral sword while staves are still their primary weapon. For Shadow Caster, I hope they’ll be evasive or use stealth, and able to play close-range or long-range. I’m not sure how it’ll differ from the teleport augmented mage.
  • afarafar Member, Pioneer, Kickstarter
    I think I will play (Py'Rai) falconer, I hope it will be something like Shan Yu :)
  • vorch21vorch21 Member
    edited February 2021
    Matrial artist-priest (friar from DAOC) or monk (DnD 5)

    characteristics:
    -master of parry/evasion
    - self-buffs(iron skin, closed mind etc.) and some sustain abilities
    - ONLY light armor/clothes (for highest evasion, mobility and using certain skills)
    - simple or exotic weapon - staff, katar, sickle, kama, gauntlets etc.
    At least allow to "build" a fully functional "tank" WITHOUT shield and heavy armor..PLS.

  • Oh my... my ideal class?

    Not gonna lie, I'm a little nervous on this one.

    My ideal class, after reading what we know so far, is 100% going to be some kind of summoner archetype. I love that there will be DPS, tank, and support summons. I'm really really hoping there will be at least 3 support summons so when I'm in a party I can be pure support (healing and buffs).

    My #1 hope is that the Enchanter (sub bard) just gives bard support augments as an option. I almost want to play bard because of the way they give support has been described... but summoners get pets. I LOVE pets. I don't care that they usually suck in PvP. I'm a little scared that the Enchanter will be the one that summons "temporary energies" rather than little critters. If that's the case, this class is out for me.

    #2 wold have been cleric sub... but sub cleric = necromancer. I was hoping support summons with cleric augments would make a support powerhouse (if sub bard doesn't actually summon critters)... but since summons change appearance based on subclass... I probably won't do this. Undead are icky. I can't play for hours a day watching undead following me around, even if they are the most powerful... just icky.
    Maybe cosmetic shop things could fix this problem (if it is a problem) down the road.
    If they just make my beast monster summon look like a ghost/spirit beast, that would be FREAKING AWESOME. Summoning zombies... barf...

    So my #3 choice will be Conjurer (sub summoner). Probably the next best thing support wise since I'm not big on tanking or DPSing. But, some of the other classes may surprise me.

    Either way I'm also super interested in the combat pets... even if you sacrifice something to have it out, if it can have a different effect from the rest of my summons, it's worth it. I could have 3 support summons (hopefully all doing something different) and a support combat pet.

    Go forth my army!

  • My favourites so far are: Scout and I am inspired to play this as it reminds me of a Rogue class in Silkroad which would wield crossbow and daggers for long/close range combat;
    Apostle for being a pvp healer which always ends up being a number one target to kill, thus hoping that tank augments would help to survive the pressure. I enjoyed playing Templar as a front line support in ArcheAge.
    Falconer also picks my interest but from what I can find it looks like they wont be able to summon pets. I love playing ranger in GW2 and the ability to merge with the pet and get some of the beast abilities feels really amazing. Especially when different pets gives you different skills based on their nature.
  • TyrakkelTyrakkel Member
    edited February 2021
    First of all, please don't make us try to memorize 64 archetype combinations for tooltips. Unless a Templar and an Oracle possess very distinct healing abilities/defensive CDs, there's little reason for me to not just identify both as Clerics. You owe me a cookie if you had to double check to make sure those were both Cleric classes.

    My thoughts here are primarily based around answers found on the wiki, with some points filled in with personal experience in other games(Paladins having the ability to heal friends, for instance). I feel that going over my considerations for each Archetype is relevant to my final class choice, so we'll start with that.

    Fighter: My natural draw in any game. Give me a big weapon with a slow paced tactical playstyle and I'll pick it automatically. Give me an ability fittingly named 'Execute' and you'll have my attention. But what's this I read about Fighters being able to properly specialize into ranged damage-dealing? Oh my, yes. I hope that makes it through to final design. Fighter would be my main archetype pick regardless.
    Tank: The recent tank preview has given me some concern about the prominence of mobility. So many Tank abilities closed gaps, from Onslaught to Javelin. How does Mage's teleport and Fighter's Rush fit in against these? The differentiation between mitigation, shield and control tanking seems very interesting to me, as a player. Looking at the possibility of ranged-focused Fighters though; How effective would I be at damage or tanking with a dual-wielding/2h Tank? Is an ability like Onslaught only usable with a shield? Can I only tank with a shield?
    Ranger: Another Archetype that seems to run into the same issue of mobility creep, though Ranger's abilities on the Wiki seem more focused around evasion than aggression, which makes sense. But how will a Rogue fit into this meta without having half their kit effectively the same as a Ranger's, I wonder? On the other side of that coin, there was an ability I saw focused around 'digging in' at a specific location to gain bonus damage and/or range? The fantasy of a slow-firing sniper appeals much more to me than Legolas, personally.

    My ideal class... Would be heavily based in the fact that Fighters can specialize in melee or ranged. The versatility of being able to engage effectively in both melee and ranged is quite attractive to me. Move in, use a long CD melee ability, apply a slow, run back out to ranged and pepper them with arrows while they can't reach me. I'd still like an ability named 'Execute' though, if you don't mind!

    Dreadnought draws me in first, because the name is cool as hell the potential for swinging Tank's control mitigation along with the playstyle described above sounds like it would have strong potential for controlling how I engage. Also, my friend group would need a tank, but I'm unsure if I want to commit to always being a tank. Hunter is also on the list for me, taking a different approach to the same direction as tank. Rather than focusing around CC, I imagine my Hunter would instead utilize mobility/improved ranged capabilities to keep melee opponents at bay, and ranged opponents wishing they could trap me in melee. Weapon Master is a consideration of course, pending knowing more about what a 'pure' class choice entails for augments.

    Honorable mention is the Highsword, because Cleric sub-types have the potential to be ridiculously overpowered depending on how their augments play out. Seems like the equivalent of bringing a gun to a knife fight in 1v1 situations. I expect these will be balanced appropriately, so it's not a serious consideration.
  • basvisionbasvision Member, Founder, Kickstarter
    Ideal class...depends on the game. Ashes, where I have not seen a lot about the classes an ideal class for me would be a class that can fit four roles. not at the same time. but with preparation, meaning a zone to respec. I love the be able to fill every role that my team needs. So a Tank with a shield, a healer, and a melee fighter would be nice. dual wield or two handed is not that important. If there is also a class that can support the others, that would be great, too. So not much of a class but more of the ability to be the one helping where it is needed.
  • NarysNarys Member, Phoenix Initiative, Royalty, Kickstarter, Alpha One
    Druid - Any form of Nature wielding ranged caster that can damage but also heal allies as a primary group healer. The Chloromancer from RIFT was absolutely amazing and healed through it's damage output, this was the most interactive and fun I have ever had healing in an MMO.
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  • VolgaireVolgaire Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One
    A priest class or holy mage who uses mostly offensive abilities like a big holy fist slamming from the sky or such. I think I remember this ability from Allods Online.
  • My ideal would be a base Ranger archetype class, most likely Strider. What I always want out of a ranger/bow type class is playstyle based more around careful, hard hits. I've played a lot of games where a bow just feels like an assault rifle, flipping and sliding around while peppering with a million arrows and it just lacks any kind of feedback or impact and feels awful. A big cooldown where you sit back and rain a hail of arrows in an area is awesome, but the constant 'auto attack' being just flicking out little shots every half second feels bad. Even some kind of passive where your autos do more damage if you stop moving to use them or something like that would go a long way and still leave the smaller soft hitting attacks if you were in a pinch. Or maybe a 'stance' type ability, when the stance is active your bow auto attacks essentially have a cast time so you have to stop to use them but they're more powerful. One of the ability descriptions I heard early on was essentially grabbing a few arrows and sticking them in the ground around you, empowering your next few attacks as long as you stay near them and I love that.

    I also love the idea of swapping to a melee weapon if I'm closed in on, mostly with some control ability options so I can get back to range, maybe one or two decent melee damage abilities on a bit of a cooldown so weaving into melee for a moment becomes an option depending on the situation. Maybe applying some kind of debuff from melee that briefly increases your ranged damage to the target, or vice versa, would be a fun interaction. The ability to lay traps is big too, adding a little extra danger to the battlefield and helping the ranger and their party to setup advantageous positions.

    Overall a ranger with a good bit of versatility is what I hope for, with an emphasis on positioning and knowing when you can stop to attack. A good Ranger should be fantastic at kiting, soloing mobs in the world, and should lay down a lot of damage from range if their positioning is never challenged by the enemy. Fighting a good ranger should about giving them as few openings as possible to set up and really deal damage, making sure they have some kind of movement assist off CD to counter those of the ranger's, predicting the locations of their traps, trying to force them into terrain unfavorable for kiting, etc. Nothing more satisfying to me than the thunk of a well prepared arrow chunking a hp bar.
  • truelytruely Member, Alpha One
    edited February 2021
    I am looking at playing the Apostle. It should be fairly good at tanking solo as they will have strong heals and some extra buff tankability, damage mitigation with potentially pre-loaded spell shields etc to protect. Also in late game Apostle will still be strong because of strong heals and additional damage mitigation type buffs on the heal spells. I feel it's important that the flip-side class paladin has more access to tanking skills and way less healing ability than apostle. This keeps the theme of working together more important than doing everything solo which are my hopes for the game. I go party up for a the majority of the actions I do in the game world rather than how a lot of MMOs a lot of content is like single player mode in a game with all these other people. (Also to keep tanks relevant in PvP they provide good CC instead of high DPS which keeps them useful is a strong idea!)
  • I want to end up with some combination of fighter and rogue (ff/fr/rf/rr), but I definitely want to prioritize the actual gameplay over the fantasy
    “Ignorance, the root and stem of all evil.”

    ― Plato
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