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Alpha Two Phase III testing has begun! During this phase, our realms will be open every day, and we'll only have downtime for updates and maintenance. We'll keep everyone up-to-date about downtimes in Discord.
If you have Alpha Two, you can download the game launcher here, and we encourage you to join us on our Official Discord Server for the most up to date testing news.
Comments
Mitigation has huge diminishing, instead of phys/mag attack.
So classes who has the highest skills damage scaling from phys/mag attack currently are strongest and more usefull in all situations pve and pvp (mage, bard).
Tank who uses auto attack in 90% of time feels very bad.
Currently TTK is pretty similar to the time when it was before rework, too small, where mages, bards, heals are the strongest.
About leveling.
My party were able to easy level without tank, just 2 bards and mage.
When i came as a tank, we were able to pull one plus mob , so leveling won't be too complicated in the party composition without tanks.
As tank in mitigation is pretty similar to other classes, it doesn't have many advantage in the defence.
Only 2 additional skill in defence grit and iron aura which also comes through diminishing
Shields are still very useless while using staming, as you can basically evade mobs and restore staming with passives. So better to make more damage while holding focus instead of shield.
Also played bard, and it's very easy and fun.
I always played Ranger since P1
Which archetype do you find the least fun to play? Why?
No idea, haven't really played other archetypes
Are there any combat systems or mechanics you feel need more development or refinement? Please explain.
1. Recently on PTR, me and other ranger encountered issues with applying Thorns and Regeneration toggle buffs. They worked inconsistently and sometimes it was impossible to apply them to my character or to other players.
2. Thorns buff doesn't really feel impactful. Dealing 8 damage and applying Bleeding from time to time - it's pretty much nothing.
3. Regeneration buff doesn't feel impactful. 100 Regeneration Rating is nothing. Same applies to it's passive upgrade Siphoning Regeneration - not worth the skill point, since 5% regen from damage dealt to marked target is not worth it, pretty much useless.
4. Updated Hunt/Mark system:
- Previously ranger could choose which mark and hunt they want to use. Now we have less flexibility, since everyone is using either Tiger or Bear.
- Losing Hunt buff while Mark is active doesn't feel good. In mass PvP using mark vs a target often makes no sense because it leads to the loss of Tiger/Bear Hunt, which reduces ranger's damage output versus ALL targets.
- Temporary buffs that appear upon Mark's expiration are nice to have, but you can't really rely on them or play around them, since they only appear after 8 seconds of Mark.
- Hunt of the Raven - pretty much useless. Nobody would pick this hunt over Tiger/Bear.
Suggestion:
a) Hunt buff should remain active when Mark is used;
b) (Optionally) Temporary buff should be instantly activated when Mark is used.
Explanation:
Mark is ranger's unique mechanic and it should be and feel impactful. Under these conditions, marks will create a burst window without affecting ranger's damage output and provide a defensive buff to increase surrvavibility a bit. Ranger is pretty much the only archetype that doesn't have heals or shields, which is fine as long as there is at least something else for survivability.
5. Ensnaring Vine Field applies 1 stack of Snared per second when enemy is hit with Vine Field. It leads to enemy getting a Snare/Chill immunity a several seconds after being rooted with Vine Field. The amount of stacks should be reduced, probably limited to 2.
6. Bear Traps: not a bad utility skill overall. However, 3 skill points are required to upgrade them fully and it feels like too much. As someone suggested in discord, removing Trapslinger passive completely and keeping its effect for a default Bear Trap could be a reasonable option. This way, you won't have to allocate 3 skills point, but 2.
7. Air Strike - great skill visually, but rarely used in PvP. Description says that each out of 3 projectiles are supposed to deal 150% damage, but in reality - a target only gets hit once regardless of the number of projectiles it got hit by. So either the description is somewhat confusing or it doesn't work as intended. Overall, skill is good on paper, but in reality - very very situational, sits on 45-second cooldown that can't be reset by using Lightning Reload.
8. Scatter Shot has an upgrade "Consentrated Scatter Shot". It is not always reliable: sometimes you get a charged version instead of a basic one, sometimes - the other way around.
During group combat or grinding sessions, do you feel any core features or gameplay elements are missing or underdeveloped? If yes, please describe.
1. I don't feel like I'm actually playing a ranger, I feel like I'm playing something with a bow. Since the vast majority of other players, especially PvP players are using longbow because of its 35m range, I don't really feel any different. Ranger is supposed to have something like a passive that gives +5m range at least to his auto-attacks. This could make ranger at least somewhat different from *insert any archetype* with a longbow. Additionally, it will create an opportunity for rangers to kite (which normally they are supposed to do)
2. Excuse my French, but shortbows are absolute trash. It doesn't even feel like a bow because of its animation. Like, am I shooting a bow or MG42? Additionally, it has a 30m range - this alone is enough to make it useless, since *insert any archetype* with a longbow will have an advantage over you because of range.
I'll say it once again. Not a ranger will have an advantage over ranger. With a bow. Over RANGER. Because they can shoot further... than a ranger.
The passive with +5m range that I mentioned could also fix the issue with shortbows, making them a viable alternative with 35m range instead of 30m.
And for the love of God, please. This shortbow animation is just... ewww. It doesn't just break the immersion, it literally nukes it with 100 gigaton bomb.
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.
Which archetype do you find the least fun to play? Why?
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.
Mage: I play mages. There however is many things missing from Mage which I'll cover a bit later.
Fighter: I enjoyed the Stance Shifting and resource management aspects of the class in PvE. It kept me engaged and it felt good when I got off a good rotation whilst making sure I wasn't putting excess stress on my healers.
This is purely from a fun PoV, not a damage efficiency PoV.
Tank. Probably though because I rarely play this archetype so don't take this point too seriously.
Alright, let's get into it! I'm going to be giving feedback as a Mage DPS main.
The Mage Class Kit
Mage is just missing class kit. Our damage is OK, but we lack much utility to speak of. Where are the other classic elements or magic archetypes? Earth? Wind? Void/Arcane? (No, Arcane volley doesn't count) Curses?
A mage should be able to specialise deeply into a single element, or cross and chose to be more flexible. Right now every mage is forced into amalgamating all elements together for no real reason.
Sure, Ice --> Lightning shatter is nice, and so is the tri-element Prismatic Beam, but that's all we get.
I would expect at a minimum that the class has:
❄️ Ice
Damage: Medium damage DOT's, medium damage direct attacks
Offensive Utility: Freezes, Movement Slows, Action Speed Slows, Area Denial
Defensive Utility: Ice wall/barrier, Shields, Area denial
🔥 Fire
Damage: High damage DOT's, high damage direct attacks, long range spells
Offensive Utility: Area Denial, Buff fields (think firewall that adds fire damage to projectiles that go through it)
Defensive Utility: Area denial (fire fields etc...)
🌪️ Wind
Damage: Medium damage direct attacks, Low damage DoT's (bleeds)
Offensive Utility: Speed buffs, launching spells (think launching people in a direction)
Defensive Utility: Wind walls (negates projectiles, can be pushed through)
⚡ Lightning
Damage: Very high damage direct attacks, random high damage AoE
Offensive Utility: Damage buffs
Defensive Utility:
🪨 Earth
Damage: High damage direct physical attacks, Low damage DoT's (poisons)
Offensive Utility: Area denial (ie. spiked field)
Defensive Utility: AoE Slows (ie. bog), walls, shields
🔮 Arcane
Damage: Low - Medium direct pure damage attacks
Utility: Black hole type spells, movements, illusions, sleeps, confusions, Pure damage buffs, detection's
Spell Resource Generation
I'm a big fan of Path of Exile's spells and I think Intrepid Studios could take inspiration on how support gems modify skills and the different ways charges work.
One idea could be that auto attacking attuned to an element generates charges for that element, up to a maximum amount. Unlocking generating charges for an element could be linked to the highest tier spell you've unlocked in that element.
Eg. Max Tier 1 spell unlocks 10% chance on attack to generate charge on auto attack. Tier 7 unlocks 70% chance of generating charge. OR, tie this effect into a weapon tree.
These charges can be represented visibly as orbs around the character, or something more creative for each element.
Each ice charge adds some flat ice damage and increases the chance and effectiveness of chill.
Each fire charge adds some flat fire damage and a slight damage multiplier to attacks and spells.
Each wind charge increase attack and cast speed.
Each lightning charge adds flat lightning damage and increases crit strike chance/multi.
Each earth charge increases physical defense and hp regen.
Some spells can then use all charges to proc further effects off the spell.
Eg. Earth wall gains +10% hp per earth charge consumed
Other Class Kits
I don't feel too qualified to make any suggestions on other classes.
It would be interesting though if tanks had abilities that allowed them to "suck in" any ranged damage going past them in a radius, redirecting that damage to themselves.
PvP
FYI, I stopped PvPing about half way through P2.
In the PvP balls I've been in (as a mage), I've been feeling so much dead time, and there's not too many things that can force an engagement. Our auto attack ranges are pretty short, and fights end up hinging on who gets a juicy vine field down first and then as a mage, we just blink and and bomb. But even that isn't really that viable with increased TTK.
There isn't any long range bombing to break entrenched groups or put pressure on the other side.
Battles tend to just end up with a whole lot of repositioning and then a sudden push. Ranger vines are the only counter to the bum rush, but they are also engagement openers. There isn't any other Area Denial or Push Slowing abilities in any other class kit that's as effective.
🧙 Mages being the medium range AoE is fine, but I think they should also have a long range siege role as well. Think lobbing long range, slow, high arcing lava bombs into the other groups backline.
🏹 Rangers being the single target snipers is a fitting role, but it would be good if they could be more.
⚔️ Fighters, RIP. Not survivable to dive into the enemy ball, don't do enough damage to make the suicide run worth it. Maybe if they had some kind of "stalking" ability that gave them a decent move speed buff as they chased down a single enemy. That could allow them to reposition mid fight to try out flank the other ball and perhaps leap into their backline.
Bards and 😇 Clerics are love. They are life. They do divine work.
🛡️ Tanks... tank? This could be cancerous, but they could be given class kit that allows them to catch and clump enemy. Think Mace Tank in Albion online, or Great Axe in New World.
🗡️ Rouges... I haven't really done any large-ish scale PvP with rogues in the game.
Fighter, Rogue and Bard
Fighter
Good kit, like the cc immunity on some abilities, adds a skill gap
Low momentum gain, needs to get 1 momentum per target hit, not 1 momentum per swing or a momentum gain ability, Low survivability in group PvP, could use a dmg reduction ability, Add Stagger to Blitz, Remove Form animation to make switching forms smoother
Rogue
Good kit, lots of useful abilities, high apm
Flurry/Thrash comboing feels buggy
Having to weapon attack once and If you are using a weapon that has multiple weapon attacks like daggers, the weapon combo most of the time resets when trying to weave in Flurry/Thrash. Imo they should count as a "weapon combo attack" without having to do 1 attack first.
Feint weapon combo finisher Advantage
Having feint give Advantage on weapon combo finisher does not feel or flow good.
Lack of control when Advantage is used on abilities.
Sometimes you don't want to use Advantage on an ability when you have it and it feels like a waste and you need to build Advantage again. (Like wanting to use Umbral Cloak for only magic immunity, wanting single target Kick or Lacerate, not AOE)
A skill "your next ability will consume Advantage for increased effect" would be more preferable.
Bard
Good kit, lots of situational abilities, high apm, feel like its not missing anything.
Which archetype do you find the least fun to play? Why?
Ranger
Boring, slow, 0 depth, abilities don't require aiming (usually main Ranger but playing this makes me fall asleep)
Are there any combat systems or mechanics you feel need more development or refinement? Please explain.
Action Camera
Oh boy does action camera need improvements.
Abilities locking you to a target for their Animation Duration
This feels like ass, in TAB if you are casting something, you can press TAB and switch to another target even while casting, in Action Cam you cannot switch targets even if you hover over another enemy. Target swapping does not feel fast and smooth.
Difficulties targeting in mass PvP
Current Hard Lock does not feel good to use and without it, holding a target in mass PvP feels impossible. (go try this with a range dps, its even worse with cleric/bard)
IMO a better way would be to Integrate Hard Lock to Weapon Attacks If it was possible to Hold LMB to Weapon Attack and Hard Lock to the target at the same time, i think it would improve the gameplay drastically. (Hard Lock as long as you are holding down LMB, let go = clear hard lock instantly)
Dual Targeting
This is needed, if an enemy and friendly are stacked, you should be able to heal and dmg the enemy without "swapping targets" because now you can't target both.
Abilities should interrupt weapon attacks
as someone who holds down LMB most of the time and tries to press abilities, they do not go through most of the time, this feels like absolute ass. Sometimes missing CC's at critical moments because they don't go through. Abilities should instantly happen when you press them.
Improve Diminishing returns clarity
DR happening when a CC is only at half duration makes 0 sense. It needs to show the actual duration and not just randomly happen.
Imo Snare should be base 50% slow like chill, remove the stacks. 25% slow is useless
Ability DMG needs tuning
Abilities need to be looked at (Mage 3x instant firebolt + conflag doing over 50% hp? hello?), CC's should not do alot of dmg (do too much atm)
During group combat or grinding sessions, do you feel any core features or gameplay elements are missing or underdeveloped? If yes, please describe.
Add a option to see cast bars under enemy healthbars
Better to have info and ability to see what/if multiple targets are casting something.
Add Option to see buffs/debuffs above enemy healthbar/name
Better visibility so you can see which enemies have useful debuffs/buffs. Needs to have filter
Cleric feels quite powerfull when used on high level of pvp engages. Silence on Divine Flare is a highlight.
Lackluster ability in PvP is Chains. Totally useless and procs unwanted slow immunity in mass PvP.
Suggestion: add option to end the spell early to apply stun instantly - this will make it work for PvP.
Another improvement could be increasing target limitation for Wave skill. 10 targets for healing sounds like a lot, but it counts everything on its way and is always missing melee fighters in big fights.
Splitting CC break and movement ability into 2 separate cooldowns would also help with mobility a bit, otherwise I feel like Im falling behind in long fights. Timings on CC abilities of other classes and CC breaks are all over the place and sometimes in 1v1 it gets pretty ridiculous, i.e. when you have Rogue knockdown ability cooldown of 25s vs 30s Wings of Salvation.
Stat penalties for healing compare to magic power feels very unfair. Getting decent crit chance and crit power on heals is super unrealistic (you get 1/2 of crit power and crit chance from same stats).
Flat healing vs % healing feels imbalanced in different ways for both end-game PvP and early game PvE. %-based healing and Barrier become ridiculously more efficient compared to flat healing like Wave or Soothing Glow
I've only really played bard and rogue. I think rogue is the archetype I enjoy playing the most. This may be due to the fact that it's the newest class I've played. but, I also think that I enjoy it because of the added verticality the archetype provides. the acrobatics make the combat really fun too.
"Which archetype do you find the least fun to play? Why?"
I've only played the two and I can't say that I had no fun playing the bard. it was still enjoyable, but I do have some critiques with it seeing as I've played it the most.
"Are there any combat systems or mechanics you feel need more development or refinement? Please explain."
Yes. In terms of archetype systems and mechanics, I'd have to mention the bards melody mechanics: specifically, the "Music mastery: counterpoint" passive. I believe there is a lack of pay off despite a higher investment and skill requirement to make use of the passive. This lack of pay off pigeon-holes Bards into choosing the other passive, "Music mastery: Crescendo".
When using counterpoint you are required to use extra skill points on at least one additional melody to be of use. This investment means that I no longer have an additional skill or skill improvement, whilst gaining a small benefit when compared to Crescendo. Whereas the other option encourages you to use only one melody, therefore, not requiring you to invest skill points in other melodies. This additional skill point allows you to improve upon existing skills or learn additional skills whilst still providing value by increasing the effects of the singular melody. Essentially, Bards that invest in this passive will lose out on valued skills in exchange for a small utility.
Furthermore, using this passive increases the skill difficulty of the class. This passive requires you to manage 2 melody durations in addition to managing skill cooldowns and resonant weapon stacks, while also needing to weave-in skills during the initial melody casting (in order to boost rotation uptime). Crescendo, however, allows the player to gradually increase melody values without needing to micro manage durations on top of the regular bard gameplay. Despite all the work that goes into playing with the Counter point passive, there is little to no benefit compared to it's counter part.
All in all I do enjoy this passive and the play style it provides. I hope to continue to play using this passive, but I do think that the pay off is simply not worth the additional skill point investment and the extra work/micro management required to effectively play with this passive.
Here are some ideas to improve upon this passive:
~ Song Mastery passives: I would like to suggest allowing interaction between these passives and counter point. This change would expand upon Counterpoints utility by increasing the accessibility of boosting songs or triggering discordance. However, I do think that this suggestion is less reliable and would require bards to invest into another passive that they may not want to have.
~ Resonant weapon Interaction: This suggestion would expand on the utility of counterpoint as well as the bards core mechanic. I do think that this is much harder to balance than my previous suggestion. It essentially doubles the value of a resonant weapon stack.
~ Melodies baseline: I don't think this suggestion of mine solves the issue of lack of payoff for more work but it should help with the skill point requirements.
"During group combat or grinding sessions, do you feel any core features or gameplay elements are missing or underdeveloped? If yes, please describe."
Yes, specifically Discordance (Song mastery: dissonance) and cathartic melody. Discordance and the passive related to it require quite a bit of tuning in terms of range. While the spell and it's animation are a sight to behold, the range in which each note bounces is too far from the initial target. With the range being so massive and projectiles being unpredictable, this skill often leads to excessive pulls and can result in wipes. I often spec out of the two, only preferring them in pvp. I don't think skills should exist solely for the purpose of pvp. They should be valid and usable in either scenario. The range on this skill needs it's range to be decreased
I often find no use for for Cathartic melody. Cheerful melody provides more sustain and utility with it's 10% healing boost making it a better option. Cathartic on the other hand requires allies to be actively attacking and dealing damage only getting healed 25% of the time and only receiving 50% of the damage dealt. This melody feels redundant and underwhelming. This melody also benefits specific archetypes less than others. One of these archetypes being the tank followed by cleric and bard. These archetypes don't deal that much damage therefore benefiting less than damage dealers. Furthermore, during pvp melee archetypes have less up time on damage compared to ranged archetypes benefiting ranged more than melee. I think this melody needs to be remade. I would prefer a melody that gave my party a defensive buff that boost mitigation instead.
Thanks for reading
As a long time caster, i play mainly mage and cleric, those are my favorites.
Though both feels quite good, there's still room for improvements even if we don't have secondary archetype to build with for now.
As a mage, i like the way you chain elements and create synergies between them (ie ice->lightning=shatter), though i'd like to take it further with debuffs applied in rotation and hitting the right spell at the right time provides very high damage. In compensation, the rotation can be interrupted and mage has to redo it from start.
Multi element is fun but i think we should have the possibility to specialize in solo element to get higher dps or better crowd control. For example, fire spec could be a DoT spec with burning being the main dps fx. Ice could have better and larger scale crowd control. Arcane would be the high burst direct damage spec with a short build up and long cast time (2-4s) high burst spell.
Finally, i fee like for higher tier, it lacks a really big spell but with a long cd (like 5 minutes).
With all these, mages could have a solo set up, group set up and pvp set up that they could choose from.
For the cleric, it's pretty much all for healing/cleansing, which is great but we shoul have more dps skills like life leech or a specialized branch for damages like Darkness (i saw someone talking about "unholly" powers in a previous post). I dearly remember the priest class in WoW, you could go light or shadow, one having direct heals and protection, other relying on curses and leech. That could be a lead to get in the right direction to add more variety to this archetype. Ressource wise, we shoould have the possibility to use it for bigger instant heal (like 25% of stack per heal used) or for higher dps skills that would use it all at once and the over damages depend on the stacks we have.
As for the least attractive, i'd say tank is pretty bland even dull...
It's slow, no aoe/group taunt, lacks a grab or pull as for group protection, well, as everyone is jumping around that much, it's not easy to keep them inside the 15m range while fighting mobs...
I'm not saying it needs a total revamp but when i play tank, i need to feel sturdy and rock solid with skills that allow me to build up and keep aggro on me even in packs. For now, keeping 1 mob is fine, more than 3 feels really hard.
But all that is, as said earlier, wihtout the second mastery that would bring more flexibility to the builds and add more variety to gameplay. Can't wait to get this feature and test it out.
Still, great work so far, been a long time since i played a game so appealing !
Thx guys !
I think the Ranger's overall imagery is much more diverse than other classes, so it might have an identity that doesn't resonate with many players. But its current problem is the lack of identity.
A common trait among Rangers is the use of bows for ranged attacks. Currently, Rangers are no different from other classes with auto-attacks or weapon finishers; they should have a unique passive (or several) to gain an advantage when using bows. For example, less movement reduction when shooting or greater range.
Continuing with the topic of bows, the difference between longbows and shortbows with auto-attacks is good (perhaps the range difference could be a little greater, since dodging shortens that distance), but with the use of abilities, there is no difference. The range of abilities should be dependent on the range of bows and have range modifiers relative to them.
The excessive amount of long casts in the Ranger's abilities sometimes makes him feel like a mage with a bow. Having some is nice, but relying on so many ends up making the gameplay much more static (reduced mobility during casts) than we'd expect. For example, Thundering Shot has a projectile speed that allows for counterplay against enemies; there's no need to add a two-second cast time. It would also be interesting to have a "hold" ability where the longer we aim, the more damage we do.
Mobility is poor (partly due to the previous point). Strider/Party Strider buffs would be relevant in combat if the other classes didn't have any mobility abilities, but that's not the case. These buffs are more for moving around the world.
This means we're left with three other movement abilities to theoretically use in combat:
- Disengage, which is fine but the bugs make it very frustrating.
- Call of the Wild, which is really a CC break. The 20% movement speed is nice, but if you use it for that, you're leaving yourself exposed for 30 seconds.
- Air Strike, which has a great vertical movement speed, but the horizontal movement speed needs to be bigger. It's a Tier 3 ability with a 45-second cooldown, has a relatively slow animation, and the impact area isn't very large. This makes it feel daunting when you unlock it. Players would expect from an ability like this the ability to completely reposition themselves in a battle.
It might be interesting to add (or in a new unlockable passive) a dash to Barrage during its cast, to differentiate it more from Salvo and offer a different mobility tool.
Hunts need a new iteration. This group of skills could be something special for the Ranger, but it currently falls short of expectations. Currently, all three Hunts are offensive, meaning most players choose the one that best fits their skill tree builds and never switch back. For "hunting," the Hunter doesn't always assume the offensive role, so it should offer a wider variety of options. As with other class abilities (like the rogue's poison), the Ranger should have the ability to choose three Hunts from each tier: an offensive Hunt(T1), a defensive Hunt(T2), and a mobility Hunt(T3). This way, there would be more situations where the player would want to switch Hunts.
With the above in mind, the Hunt buff would be permanent (it wouldn't be lost upon casting the mark) and would remove the current appearances we receive when the target dies or ends the debuff. While interesting, in practice they aren't enjoyable since the player doesn't have enough control over obtaining them (This allows for a simplified Hunt, while also giving the player more skill expression by switching Hunts).
Adding Focus was a nice addition, but it lacks depth. One idea is that if the Ranger reaches the maximum Focus, and the next ability cast would be cast much faster at the cost of losing 50% of their total Focus. This change would provide a new incentive to control Focus and the ability to surprise enemies. To prevent the Ranger from having overpowered openers, I would limit Focus regeneration outside of combat. (It would fit with the fantasy, since we're not at maximum Focus all the time.)
Other general problems:
Stamina tree:
Currently, it feels like it takes away more variety than it adds. In Alpha 1, we had to make the decision between allocating points to the passive or active tree. But in Alpha 2, each tree has its own unique points. This makes the choice for players very simple.
This tree should change significantly, including the ways to gain experience from it. For example, instead of gaining points for this tree by leveling up as an adventurer, we would gain points through the use of skills in this tree (sprint, dodge, block). This would incentivize the use and knowledge of these skills and encourage proper use of them to level them at a good pace. Additionally, the trees should be branched with meaningful and differentiating choices.
Problems with the immunity mechanic:
The need for this system is clear, but its implementation is unpleasant for players. One of the things I find most fun about AoC classes is the interactions between them. The problem is that immunity periods cause large parts of the class kits to be temporarily unusable, especially with debuffs that share immunities. Instead of applying immune, the character should have a 99% resistance to said debuff. This way, players could continue their interactions without an immunity activated (by themselves or another player) destroying their skill rotation. It could even be further evolved, with this resistance increasing progressively so that the player applying said debuffs also has time to react. Example: After X seconds with the debuff active, a 50% resistance to it is activated. This resistance increases per second up to 99% if the debuff is active. Once 99% is reached, the resistance will disappear after X seconds. This way both the aggressor and the victim could adapt their gameplay to the situation.
Possibility of melee weapons becoming obsolete.
During Phase 2.5, it's increasingly becoming apparent that classes are moving away from basic attacks with melee weapons (when at melee range) because they do the same or more damage with ranged weapons, and are more reliable. I think this is something worth keeping an eye on.
Which archetype do you find the most fun to play? Why?
I find the Rogue to be the most fun to play in a PvE setting. The interactions between abilities feel more meaningful than the other classes (maybe besides Bard but I haven't played Bard myself, just from what I'm told). Although I don't want to play a Rogue as my main class as the two classes that I want to main aren't in a good state.
Which archetype do you find the least fun to play? Why?
Ranger by far for me. I played Hunter in WoW for almost 13 years straight so I know I'm a little biased here, the current state of the Ranger feel really bad. Almost every single ability is a cast time which feels bad and the interactions of the abilities are either non-existent or not as meaningful as I would like. You need to do a make over of the passives in pretty much every class tree to make interactions between abilities fun and engaging to play with as a player. If we are supposed to have 30-40 abilities per base class than having at least 3-5 passives per ability would be ideal to truly make your own rotation/set of abilities you want to play with. That would lead to a big class tree so I made this video a while back:
This video goes over how I would remake the current talent tree in a way that would better serve us, the players and give the most flexibly to you the devs.
Are there any combat systems or mechanics you feel need more development or refinement? Please explain.
Ohhhh yes, the basic weapon attack. I really don't know how you would redo it but currently the basic weapon attack after you have all your abilities on CD just feels completely not engaging and not fun at all. I understand that its Ashes version of auto attack but it doesn't have any weight to it. I would personally rather have a spam-able class ability than rely on the basic weapon attack. I am not saying to get rid of it but I can't really think of a way that would better serve the players to be more fun to use in combat and not feeling like I can't do anything for 6 seconds so.... just swinging my sword around lol.
During group combat or grinding sessions, do you feel any core features or gameplay elements are missing or underdeveloped? If yes, please describe.
I would say that mobs in general feel need more interactions and mechanics to them to really make decision based call outs more meaningful. Right now, every thing is just gathering them up and AoE them down. There are certain mobs that have priority cause they can one shot players so you just focus them down and still AoE everything down. Again, feels very one dimensional. As a fighter, I want to provide more for my group than what I do now which is just more AoE damage. Give me options within my passives to transform some of my abilities to have more of a group dynamic than just myself.
I enjoy playing the Mage the most. The core idea of combining spells from different elements to create powerful combos is satisfying, and chaining spells together for big damage feels great when it works. The gameplay loop of weaving Ice, Lightning, and Fire in rotation is fun, but the class still feels like it’s missing pieces.
I also enjoyed my limited time with Rogue and Bard. Rogue’s mobility makes it exciting in PvP, and Bard seems like it could be a very rewarding support role once it is more fleshed out.
Which archetype do you find the least fun to play? Why?
Tank is probably my least favorite, but that’s more about my personal playstyle. I gravitate toward DPS and support roles, so Tank has never really appealed to me. My opinion here isn’t necessarily a reflection of the class design itself.
Are there any combat systems or mechanics you feel need more development or refinement? Please explain.
Mage spell weaving is clearly part of the core design, and rotating through Ice → Lightning → Fire to enhance damage is fun. That said, the Mage kit feels like it lacks depth and variety.
While Frost and Lightning shatter combos exist, and Fire spells amplify damage over time, the class is missing entire categories of magic that would expand the rotation and offer more utility. Earth, Wind, and Water spells feel absent, and Arcane magic has little presence beyond early-level spells. Adding these elements would allow for more creative spell rotations, better utility, and new combo paths.
Another critical area needing improvement is AoE. Mages should excel at area control and multi-target damage, but right now the AoE spells we have are unreliable for pulling multiple enemies. Even though abilities like Blizzard, Chain Lightning, Cone of Cold, and Magma Field exist, they often feel too situational.
Cooldowns are long, damage is underwhelming, and many AoE effects are tied to conditional procs instead of being reliable core spells. As a result, pulling more than one enemy, even lower-level mobs, feels risky and inefficient. The Mage class fantasy of controlling the battlefield with devastating AoE is not fully realized yet.
Grinding as a Mage feels like I’m stuck playing a single-target precision class, when it should be about weaving elemental AoE rotations that let me handle packs with confidence.
During group combat or grinding sessions, do you feel any core features or gameplay elements are missing or underdeveloped? If yes, please describe.
Archetype depth across the board feels underdeveloped. Right now, every archetype becomes a generalist by default because there aren’t enough meaningful choices in how to build your character.
For Mage specifically, the elemental rotation is fun but shallow. There’s little sense of progression or build identity. The game needs more spells and mechanics that expand elemental combos and let you craft a personalized rotation.
One idea could be that as you level, base spells unlock naturally. Gaining a level might allow you to choose a new offensive spell, while your skill points act as modifiers to enhance spell behavior. Unlocking a spell could open up related spells down branching paths. For example, choosing a Fire spell could lead naturally to Lightning and Earth spells, while accessing Water and Ice might require picking into that specific branch.
In group combat, fights often revolve around a small number of key abilities (like Ranger’s vine fields) to initiate engagements. There’s a lack of diverse area control tools available to other archetypes, especially Mages. Mages should be able to contribute with long-range siege spells that pressure entrenched enemy positions, create space, or force movement.
For example, if a group of 3-5 Mages channels together, they could cast a large long-range AoE siege spell increasing in power and casting speed the more Mages are involved. This would reinforce the Mage’s role in battlefield control and give them a clear utility niche in coordinated group play.
More reliable AoE denial tools and synergistic effects would help shift fights away from single-trigger all-ins and into more dynamic, layered engagements.
🧙♂️ Mage Feedback TL;DR – What I Want to See
Personally I enjoy the tank the most. It is a role I've played in MMO's for a long time, and I find the task of being the walking punching bag fun
It has a very nice offensive or disruptive toolkit, although some is broken cough cough grapple, but I do wish it was more defensive oriented rather than the current melee bruiser that is often ends up being.
Which archetype do you find the least fun to play? Why?
Fighter, because it plays very similar to what I would describe as current tank and while it is fun in PvE, in PvP it just feels like a different yet worse flavor of Tank.
Like the Rogue it is a mainly melee archetype, but unlike the Rogue to me it doesn't differentiate itself enough in terms of playstyle and "role".
It is a very different archetype compared to the tank, but right now it feels like they are both trying to share the same spot, but Tank is winning.
They are both fairly offensive in their ability kits, Tank being more disruptive while Fighter deals more damage, but the difference feels too narrow in terms of damage output, at least in my opinion.
Tank feels very much like a disruptive bruiser, in PvP, but it isn't very defensive. Rather most of your ability are offensive with rather high Physical Power % output.
Fighter while having better damage, diving and CC immunity doesn't have either the escape that Rogue does, or the sustain that Tank does to survive engaging in melee, in a group situation. (Very skilled players aside)
It's led to me hearing "Just play Tank" a lot when people express interest in being a classic melee archetype instead of Fighter.
It's like its missing something instead of mitigation like tank, or crazy mobility like rogue, to stay alive and differentiate itself in the "melee space".
Perhaps a sort of "delayed death" mechanic that you sometimes see in some games, where you can go into negative health for a duration, and hope to out heal it to survive.
Personally I would love to see Fighter take the offensive melee "bruiser/skirmisher" position and have tank be reworked into being more defensive and retaliatory, but that is my own preference.
Are there any combat systems or mechanics you feel need more development or refinement? Please explain.
I have a few different in mind:
Yet here in Ashes it feels forgotten at best or abandoned at worst. The default percentile is very low and there is effectively no way to improve it. Not even to mention that it doesn't do anything to magical attacks.
Guard (active), I think it an interesting mechanic. It however currently feels lackluster. While it does reduce damage, although the amount without a shield equipped seems negligible, it comes with severe penalties on use, especially if it is repeated often or held.
Reduced movement speed, no use of abilities or even attacks while active, interrupting/resetting weapon combo, no stamina regen while it is active and that stamina regen not immediately starting after it ends.
Anecdotally I know a lot rebind the key, or just never use it as they find it too weak and just save stamina for dodging instead.
It would be great if block saw a meaningful increase in % chance and that it worked for magical attacks too.
For Guard I do not know. As a tank I really love the mechanic, but it almost feels like an unofficial mechanic for tanking rather than something everyone uses.
Maybe an alternate effect if you do not have a shield, with less mobility penalty but lower reduction and then increase the reduction with a shield, or incorporating it into various defensive archetype abilities.
I think it is a nice mechanic, potentially needing some sort of cooldown to be repeatedly affected, so you don't fly around like a ping pong ball during large fights, but I would love to see it used more.
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 mainly a tank thing, but I would love if there were more abilities that prevented or reduced the groups damage taken. The only ability that does it is "Absorption Field" and it is on a 90 second cooldown, so it often only gets one maybe two uses in fights, and while powerful it feels annoying that there isn't more defensive options for you too choose from.
I can transfer damage to myself with Aegis or Protect, but that doesn't reduce the amount taken that a healer needs to replace, just focus it on one target at the increased risk to the tank, sometime resulting in very fast unhealable deaths.
I can disable/cc a single or a few closely stacked targets, but there is no real way to consistently diminish damage taken to the group and I feel that core tank gameplay element that I am really missing when I'm playing it.
As it stands now, what often happens is that you stand in front, tanking the "Target Closest Enemy" and the auto attacks that give you, and while you can go on the offensive and disrupt enemies you ironically can't really "tank" for your own team.
🧙♂️ Mage Class Breakdown – Elemental Spectrum System (Concept)
This is a concept for a revamped Mage kit, built around a full elemental spectrum, progressive specialization, elemental charges, and combo-enhanced gameplay. The goal is to provide diverse playstyles for generalists and specialists alike, rewarding creativity and mastery.
Mage Spectrum Summary
Arcane is the core of all magic — it connects to every element.
Elements closer to Arcane are easier to master and require fewer skill points.
Elements farther away (Fire and Ice) cost more to access and upgrade but offer high power and combo potential.
📈 Core Progression Rules
You gain Arcane abilities automatically as you level.
Each level grants (?) skill points to invest in elemental spells/abilities.
For Example, Skill Point Costs by Distance from Arcane:
🪨 Earth / 🌪️ Wind: 1–2 pts
⚡ Lightning / 💧 Water: 2–3 pts
🔥 Fire / ❄️ Ice: 3–4 pts
Investing more points in a spell/ability increases:
Damage, Crit chance
Radius, Elemental Charge generation
Cooldown reduction, AoE effects, etc.
Spells chain with other elements for bonus effects.
Using opposite-spectrum elements creates enhanced effects.
🔁 Opposing Element Combos (Chained Effects)
Element Pair/Enhanced Effect
🔥 Fire + ❄️ Ice = Vapor Shatter → massive burst damage on frozen burning enemies
⚡ Lightning + 💧 Water = Electrified Mist → AoE Shock with Slow
🌪️ Wind + 🪨 Earth = Dust Storm → AoE blind, movement debuff
🌀 Arcane + Any = Echo, Amplify, Split, or Modify spell behavior dynamically
🧠 Progression Design Philosophy
You start at Arcane, the neutral hub.
You branch left or right along the spectrum into elements.
The closer to Arcane, the easier to max out a spell/ability.
Creative rotation across elements = powerful combos
Specializing deep in one element boosts its raw power, crit scaling, and cooldowns.
🔄 Example Progression Path
“Lightning Arc-Weaver” Build
Start in 🌀 Arcane: Gain Echo and Spellstrike
Invest in ⚡ Lightning (2 pts): Get Max Level Chain Lightning, Static Field
Take 🌪️ Wind (1 pt): Gain mobility and pushback
Invest more in ⚡ Lightning to enhance Shock effects
Result: A crit-heavy mage who chains together lightning spells, blinks around, and zaps groups with AoE lightning arcs.
⚡ Elemental Charge System (Passive Mechanic)
Mages generate and consume unique elemental charges to empower combos, advanced spells, and echo effects. Maybe this replaces Deadly Finishers?
Generate Charges By:
Using elemental spells
Auto-attacks with attuned weapons
Arcane passives
Charge Consumption:
Casting empowered spells
Triggering combo effects
Arcane Echo / special spell chains
Charge Effects:
🔥 Fire → Adds fire damage + burn proc chance
⚡ Lightning → Increased crit chance and multiplier
🌪️ Wind → Faster cast/attack speed + movement
🌀 Arcane → Reduced cooldowns, auto-repeat last spell
🪨 Earth → Increased armor + CC resistance
💧 Water → Slow enemies + minor HP regen
❄️ Ice → Boost Chill/Freeze chance and duration
Example Charge Combo Uses:
Chain Lightning + 3⚡ + 2💧 → Electrified Mist (AoE shock + slow)
Frozen Lance + 2❄️ + Arcane Echo → Auto-recasts after freezing
Fire Wall + 3🔥 → Longer wall + explosion when crossed
🪄 Spells by Element
Each element has:
✅ 3 Single-Target Spells
✅ 3 Multi-Target (AoE) Spells
✅ 3 Enhancer/Control/Zone Spells
Note: These include adapted ideas from current Ashes spells. These are just ideas a lot of the existing spells should probably stay the same.
🔥 Fire (Aggression, Burn, AoE)
Firebolt – Fast projectile, applies Burn
Ignite Lance – Pierces, applies Vulnerability
Combustion Spike – Detonates Burn for burst damage
Multi-Target Spells:
Flame Surge – Cone burn + fire ground effect
Scorched Ground – AoE DoT zone
Meteor Crash – Large impact + knockdown
No-Target (Enhancer/Zone Control):
Searing Veil – Burns attackers
Burn Amplifier – Boosts damage on burning enemies
Fire Wall – Zone denial wall that burns enemies on contact
⚡ Lightning (Burst, Chain, Shock)
Lightning Strike – Direct zap, crit heavy
Thunder Needle – Pierces with Shock buildup
Overcharge Bolt – Consumes charges for massive damage
Multi-Target Spells:
Arc Flash – Bounces to multiple enemies
Ball Lightning – Static orb AoE
Shockwave Pulse – Radial burst + stun
No-Target:
Conduction Link – Buff allies’ damage
Static Overload – Crit boost based on missing HP
Lightning Field – Zone that shocks all who enter
🌪️ Wind (Mobility, Push/Pull, Rapid Effects)
Wind Lash – Piercing wind slash
Shear Gust – Push + interrupt
Cutting Draft – Quick attack, cast speed buff
Multi-Target Spells:
Cyclone – AoE pull + slash
Gale Burst – Shockwave knockback
Typhoon Ring – AoE ring around caster
No-Target:
Swift Step – Dash + invuln frames
Wind Veil – Reduces ranged damage
Gust Wall – Pushback wall; blocks projectiles
🌀 Arcane (Pure Magic, Enhancer, Adaptive)
Spellstrike – Raw magic bolt, ignores resists
Null Ray – Reduces target resists
Phase Pierce – Teleport strike
Multi-Target Spells:
Arcane Cascades – AoE arcane bombardment
Spatial Rift – Pulls enemies to center
Prismatic Barrage – Multi-element burst
No-Target:
Arcane Echo – Repeat next spell at 50%
Mana Pulse – Restores elemental charges
Reality Warp – Short-range blink + immunity
🪨 Earth (Stagger, Defense, Terrain)
Stone Lance – Armor-penetrating projectile
Quake Fist – Stagger + short stun
Earthen Shards – Burst damage with bleed
Multi-Target Spells:
Seismic Slam – AoE knockdown
Boulder Toss – Ranged AoE, interrupts
Rockslide – Rolling AoE line attack
No-Target:
Stone Skin – Reduces physical damage taken
Grounded Mind – Grants stability/resist CC
Earth Wall – Impassable terrain to zone enemies
💧 Water (Soak, Flow, Debuff)
Aqua Blade – Rapid slicing projectiles
Drench Jet – Soaks, increases shock chance
Tide Spike – Delayed spike under enemy
Multi-Target Spells:
Drench Burst – AoE soak + slow
Hydro Stream – Pushback line attack
Rising Flood – Lifts and floats enemies
No-Target:
Aqueous Form – Movement speed and evasion buff
Healing Mist – Group HoT
Puddle – Proc slippery ground slows and debuf enemies
❄️ Ice (Freeze, Slow, Shatter)
Frostbolt – Chill application
Ice Needle – High-velocity shard, crits frozen targets
Frozen Lance – Freeze if Chilled
Multi-Target Spells:
Cone of Cold – AoE cone, freezes chilled enemies
Hoarfrost – AoE Chill
Blizzard – AoE slow + damage
No-Target:
Glacier – Adds slow to attackers
Frozen Core – Chill + Freeze chance boosted
Ice Wall – Blocks movement, chills on contact
Which archetype do you find the most fun to play?
Mage. Why?
It has the most direct Magic Damage, and AoE Magic Damage.
Which archetype do you find the least fun to play?
Fighter. Why? Looked great in the show and tells, but the constant button mashing got real old, real fast.
Are there any combat systems or mechanics you feel need more development or refinement? Please explain.
Mage should have options for Bolt or Ball spells of each magic type.
All Bolt spells should all behave like Frostbolt does when someone is targeted.
All Ball and Orb spells should be able to be fired in a direction without a target.
FrostBall should be added to the Frost skill tree.
Firebolt and FireBall should have the same burn DoT effects.
3 spells of the same Element in a row should be just as powerful as one of each element in a row. Flying through throwaway elements just to get to Tri-Beam really feels bad. Every type of triple beam should hit just as hard whether it's 3 ice stacks, or one of each element type.
Blizzard needs to be a ranged, target circle AoE that drains MP for as long as you channel it.
It should also behave just as Beam does, so it's Element and effects change, all combos being just as powerful.
Enchant Weapon is too weak on a single target to be worthwhile, it should be an Aura the Mage casts on themselves affecting all friendly's in it's Area of Effect.
Arcane Circle should be an AoE buff for you and allies, but not a requirement to stand in to use for any spell before lv.50 magic.
Remove Damage reduction from all Mage spells, and double their MP cost.
You need to be able to spec additional points into the Sleep spell, so it's cooldown matches diminishing returns, so you can actually re-apply it until the monster goes immune.
Sleep needs to be toggle-able between single target, and AoE for more tactical applications.
Mage needs Polymorph for particularly dangerous foes, Sheep, Duck, etc.
Mage Shield needs to be automatically given at Lv.5
Mage Shield needs to be able to have additional points placed into it, so the player can choose what type of Shield it is, and it's effect when the shield is broken/expires. Ice Shield explodes and freezes all nearby opponents, if it expires on it's own - the next Ice spell gains 30% chance to crit. Fire Shield, explodes and applies burn to all nearby opponents, if it expires the next fire spell applies double burn stacks. Lightning shield applies Paralyze to all nearby targets when broken, if it expires the next chain lighting is instant cast and hits 3 times. Extra points into a no element shield, stuns opponent for .5 sec and refunds MP cost, on expire grants MP regen.
Mage Eye and Illumination should be combined into one ability.
Mage Eye should also cause the Mages eyes to glow brightly and only be visible to Mages and Rogues, so Rogues can attempt to navigate away/around Truesight Mages.
During group combat or grinding sessions, do you feel any core features or gameplay elements are missing or underdeveloped? If yes, please describe.
There are no castable Party Buffs, or Aura Buffs from a Mage.
There are no Party/Raid Feast Meal Types available in the game yet.
Number 1: Thank god for being able to self-cast all my abilities. This is one of the things I hate the most in many MMORPGs, Tera is one of them where you can't self-cast your own heals and you have skills only used for allies… so good job!
Number 2: Having a reduced self-healing mechanic absolutely sucks, my heals should heal me for the same amount it heals my allies so I love that in Ashes I can keep myself alive just as well as I can keep others alive! Good job!
Number 3: The damage potential currently on the cleric’s kit with burning and conflagrating effects is great, I've seen players complain about it having low damage that's simply a lack of knowledge aka skill issue. Having the ability to complement your damage with a good CD reduction or elemental Weapon build using the weapon procs and keeping that target burning feels great as an offensive option for the Cleric. Most of Cleric kit should be all about Healing so again, good job!
Finally: Having strong hitting single target healing skills feels awesome, I hate in other games like GW2 when healing is all about AoEs, while some AoEs is good I love that the Cleric has the highest single target healing potential. Good job!
The visuals vfx, skill icons, and theme also look great, so good job on that front!
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Bad things about the Cleric
Theres two things that fucking SUCK about Cleric: Having NO mobility and the lack of defensive skills and counters to heavy CCs and things like mana drain
The ONLY CC break available is with a Wings of Salvation passive which is already a terrible design but also Wings of Salvation is the only thing close to what we could call "mobility" and this is terrible!
Theres no skills that you can really defend yourself other than minor shields and healing that can be countered with Wounded stacks and theres just no counterplay to rogue's mana drain
Please make Wings of Salvation an actual mobility skill, allow it to be used without a Target like a forward dash that travels the full distance when no target is selected, give us at least one mobility skill that is usable
As for defensive skills missing, I'll suggest two skills from Albion as some great additions to the Cleric’s kit:
Number 1: a Bubble shield that knocks back players that touch the shield that come in contact with it - this is one of the most fun abilities I've seen on a healer you can protect yourself from melees or you can use it to run and push someone away and isolate a player for group play
and use this to FIX the CC Break issue make this skill a self CC Break/Immune to CC skill as an actual extra CC Break option that is viable, currently theres a HUGE unbalance between the amount of hard CCs that pretty much every class has, and Cleric being the only support only has one terrible CC break available, we get pulled by a tank and CC locked to death all the time this skill would be a GREAT addition to our defensive kit:
Demonstration: https://i.gyazo.com/c3f8ac73bc51ec9e787cf6c57225024d.gif
Number 2: a long cast rooted AoE healing skill that while you are standing there casting you will knockback enemies and this needs a decent radius to be effective:
Demonstration: https://i.gyazo.com/ec1bcdc12cb7252b896235cbdde7dc3c.gif
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Extra feedback:
1 - Theres a GAME BREAKING bug with the Cleric thats been present, and reported ever since the Pre A2 tests which is our cast skills get Stuck in animation and we can not let go when we are getting hit by multiple basic attacks, this is the most annoying when a ranger is hitting you and applying status effects, we are casting Deliverance and can NOT let go of the skill we get stuck having to commit the full cast length, please fix this
2 - Shields are pretty much useless, passive block chance is almost non-existent theres no point equiping a shield
3 - We need more Passive abilities, Cleric build is very boring we can get 95% of everything in the skill tree because theres just not enough options compared to classes like Bard or Rogue
Ranger:
The Snipe ability has nothing to do with sniping, or what I think many Ranger's class fantasy would be. I think it would need to be aimed not tab target, and you should be able to shoot it from and to a castle wall for example. So basically FPS type aiming, maybe with a small cap to the Y coordinate, but otherwise aimable anywhere. Also to make it balanced you could only have it hit the first target it comes into contact with. That is the class fantasy, make the cooldown longer if it's too good for Sieges, but we need this ability!
The dodge skills were nice, but the way you can change your direction in the air with Air Strike felt weird to me. Basically I would use it and then try to change the camera to look towards my opponent, I would fly towards them negating the whole idea of the ability lol. I'm just not sure how often that changing of the direction will be useful. I would imagine most of the time with an ability like that you just want to move a straight direction to get as long away as possible from the thing you are escaping.
I liked the gatling gun stuff Barrage and Salvo, awesome stuff. Salvo is a great way to get confirmed Enhance Armament effects on the target, I like that.
Vine Field is awesome, I liked it way more than the Bear Trap even with all the Skill Points put into it.
Power Shot could maybe use some synergy with other abilities, so far it seems just like a skill you should use whenever to get more Focus, and you can never have too much Focus.
The Hunts and Marks are cool, I think the idea is that you can counter different types of enemies with them. Let's say Bear counters tanks cos it reduces mitigation, Raven counters healers because the fight goes longer and you can proc it a lot, and Tiger is just overall good, more damage pew pew.
Camouflage is super cool, it works great as it is, I don't think full invisibility is required.
Rogue:
I absolutely love everything about Rogue, only thing I could think to improve is the animation of the Grappling Hook. So far it seems too slow of an animation to use in combat, so I think the initial shooting of the Grappling Hook could be faster, basically starting the pulling-into-the-hook animation right away after being cast. But maybe the fact that you will get tripped if getting damaged during the animation means you designed it so that you don't even want people to use it in combat.
Mage:
I like when mages are glass-cannons, and the mage right now is just that. Big damage when it hits, big synergy on spells, but you don't have much mobility so if you can't finish your target fast enough you are super dead. I do kinda think how things are now, mages would be too easy to bully in 8v8 or similar fights. They have just one escape, Blink, and that's it. To justify another movement ability you would have to lower the damage the mage does aswell, it's a delicate balance... Maybe you wouldn't add another movement ability but maybe the mage could slip into another dimension for a few seconds, not being able to take damage but also not being able to act themselves.
Fighter:
Overall the abilities felt they fit Fighter well, but could use a lot more synergy between abilities like the other archetypes have. I like the idea that to be able to stay fighting in the Sieges, the Fighter gains life from attacking. It's a cool concept and maybe it will help Fighters weave into the frontline when they have Blood Fusion off cooldown. Cataclysm dealing bonus damage against Frozen targets, so basically against targets a Mage has Frozen, is interesting. Would love to see more synergy between different archetypes like this!
I assume that 99% of the Rangers are currently using a bow, primarily a longbow due to the fact that it has a 35m range. In the quoted first post, I mentioned that shortbow is pretty much never a viable option when it comes to more or less serious PvP because of its range.
However, this doesn't apply to shortbow only. Energy Spellboks and Energy Wands suffer from the same issue, which is their 30m range. Adding a passive to a range with +5m range would instantly:
a) Make Ranger actually be a ranger and have an advantage that this archetype is supposed to have;
b) Allow Ranger to kite (which is also something that you would normally expect from a ranger);
c) Let 3 ranged weapons (shortbow, wand, spellbook) become viable alternatives, thus allowing for much more build diversity. There is a number of interesting builds a ranger could have with spellbook or wand, but what's the point, if nobody would even think in that direction now, since it doesn't make sense. What's the point of having those 3 ranged weapons if pretty much nobody uses them?
P.S. Ranger skill animations while using Wand and Spellbook... they need some attention, let's put it this way.
design wise the bard and rogue have the most appealing gameplay loops imo.
but since i like to be a bruiser/brawler i played mostly tank and fighter. both need some love. more to that later.
Which archetype do you find the least fun to play? Why?
tank and cleric design wise. tank lacks tanky feeling and clerics are onetrick ponys. more to that later.
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.
imo both of those questions are heavily tied together so ill answer them that way.
core combat interactions:
stamina tree:
obviously this is a placeholder. we shouldnt be ablte to reach all options. i want choice in that tree. the springstep passive outways the other two top passives by a mile. the core idea of having different paths of improvement depending on the playstyle is good. important here is that all paths need to be viable. if we currently had to choose everyone would go for springstep.
block:
active blocking is pretty useless in its current form. there is a good thread about it on the forum that you should read where multiple people elaborate what the issue is and how to improve: https://forums.ashesofcreation.com/discussion/67814/what-makes-blocking-good-and-fun#latest
weapon trees:
they are bland and feel placeholder. as action player id like to have light and heavy attacks but that is not the design idea so going with your development idea i would say: melee attacks need to be able to be hit in all pvx. the current distance with movement makes using melee attacks in pvp almost impossible. getting to a wcf (weaponcombofinisher) is just a dream in that setting. i like the idea that wcf interact with the archetype designs. it is currently very unbalanced how reliant different archetypes are on those though.
wcfs as well as archetype resources should give benefits to the archetype instead of being a mandatory to give their archetype the class fantasy feeling. example: rangers focus buffs dmg and some skills use it but the archetype feels already as a ranger without it. tanks without courage are just weak fighters.
weapon trees should be a choice for a playstyle, not a copy paste formular like the placeholder we have.
melee vs range:
we have, leaks and hints included, 5 range and 3 melee archetypes. one of the melee archetypes main defensive is stealth making it more like 2,5 melee archetypes.
that means for most encounters melee is outranged and will be kited, hence my point on melee weapon attacks. we could see it in all 8v8 tournaments so far that melee was an outlier. tanks most use is the grapple and wall. fighters can only engage when the range archetypes prepared them for it. so they mostly to range weapon attacks until a vinefield happens etc. that leaves a playstyle where over 50% of the gameplay for melee archetypes is played in range auto attacks. that cant be what you envision for balance.
what i want for the balance of the game is that melees are tanky enough to be engage archetypes as well and cant be locked down so easily by range.
cc:
the cc break for archetypes doesnt count towards the cc immunity. that is a major issue imo! that basically buffs my enemy giving them 3 same ccs instead of 2.
other than that i think lowering the time from roots a bit while making the immunity hit faster euivalent would help a lot.
archetypes:
tanks:
tanks dont feel tanky! when i tank in pve i feel my contribution for my survival is 10% vs 90% reliability on the cleric. i want propper "oh shit" buttons and more general tankiness. therefore healing should be lower so the game doesnt get easier. i just want to be able to save myself for a bit without a cleric. slower dying instead of full dependency. the tank kit is boring. not much choice to be made. i really dislike the animation of slam. i only use it because thats the most efficient use of courage currently. i want choice to have more tankiness or more dmg. i want different options how to hold threat (including active block giving threat) since its a tab game i think passive block chance is important. give me the feeling to be a tank and then give me benefit for using my archetype resource correct as well as skills. tanks should be the frontline.
clerics:
i like the base healing options. it would be nice to have more options how to heal. more important imo though is to have the choice to go for more dmg skills instead of healing. risk vs reward. do i want judgement to be able to do both, double dmg or double healing. we want our archetypes to feel our own.
rogue:
didnt play a lot. i like the kit. i think it has a little too much cc/different cc. giving rogues the choice of either cc or more dmg could be good.
ranger:
i played that in the lawless dynamic event. rangers are so safe as long as they have their grp. sooo much free dmg that i can do without anyone touching me. some skills feel a little too casterlike. maybe give them the coice for more dmg with more casttime vs lower/no casttime but lower dmg.
mage:
fun general concept. i like that it doesnt feel as ranged as a ranger. the first skilltrees that you showed where we could/needed to specialize where interesting. as a mage being able to/needing to choose which element is yours and getting extra benefits for that would help the class fantasy imo. also, it was nice that not every skill had a casttime. good balance there.
fighter:
fun dmg loop in pve as soon as bloodfusion and berserk + passive is reached. no choice in the skilltree. i could choose everything which makes all fighters the same. like both melee archetypes fighters are to squishy and easy to lock down to be useful in 8v8. with all archetypes in mind fighters should be the second to engage and dont die instantly just because they are in range for all 5 range archetypes. other than that they fulfill the class fantasy. ps. why does rejuv wallop heal for 1/10 of the heal from soothing shadows for an archetype without stealth?
bard:
fun concept! i like that there is already choice in the skilltree. the one problem i see is that bards will always be the mana battery so they loose a chunk of their choice through that. im not sure how to counter that. maybe by giving the mana song for free or different methods/choices to give mana to the grp. the build from whoisroxis in the polar 8v8 tournament is a good example of what menace a tank should be in the enemy backline.
summoner:
the jacky of all trades. apperently supposed to be more versatile than bards. the leaks and info that you gave so far sounded exiting. my dream would be to be able to have the choice of skilling it for melee or range as well as being able to use the healing summon in action mode viably! im pretty sure you will nail this class fantasy.
https://forums.ashesofcreation.com/discussion/67018/why-summoner-should-be-a-melee-archetype#latest some summoner discussion
tldr:
reworks beyond the overhaul with passives mentioned are needed after we got all archetypes in.
it concerns me that this overhaul wasnt mentioned again since 2 months. is that still planned for the start of p3?
all that may sound like im negative, but i think most of this is already on your list. i just want to ensure that this game will become great
Rogue or Bard. Most versatility and depth to their ability trees. There are multiple ways to play each and different spec options that are viable. Almost all abilities function well for each and offer something of value. Both are probably also op in all seriousness and overloaded.
Which archetype do you find the least fun to play? Why?
Ranger. Very static binary game play. There is extremely little build variety options. Nearly all Rangers will play near the same identical spec build for ability tree for pve and pvp as everyone else. Using a bow is not unique to Ranger. Every class nearly uses one so you don't have a range advantage nor a unique playstyle as everyone is shooting arrows regardless of class (not a fan of the any class any weapon design with primary and secondary weapons. Feels bland and takes away from the fantasy class identity on the world).
Ranger also has severe mana problems and can't use more than a single rotation without going OOM. Ranger is either OOM constantly if using its aoe abilities or lacks sufficient burst to secure a kill with its single target combo. Ranger lacks utility so it has to excel in burst. Its movement is among the worst of all classes where it should be its trademark it excels at. Bear traps are not reliable as a cc. I agree with others comments that Ranger plays more like a weak aoe caster than a Ranger. Ranger's mana regen on auto attacks is very weak and not functional in pvp. Way too much down time just auto attacking in combat. Ranger plays like afk Runescape combat. Very boring. A ton of passives (half the tree are passives you activate for buffs rather than abilities).
Are there any combat systems or mechanics you feel need more development or refinement? Please explain.
Pve combat in general is dreadfully boring in nearly all instances. Standing still for hours mob grinding while you barely move your character is not entertaining. Half of class kits you can't use because the areas we fight in are too small and you'll pull/tag mobs so you stand still and mentally go afk. Its poorly designed layouts for mob grinding areas. There should be more open area farming locations groups can maneuver during combat like the volcano island in the Tropics.
Rogue is bloated, Fighter and Ranger are starved for functional abilities in pvp, build diversity, and general Quality of Life.
The overall combat design even at early levels is overly convoluted and has way too many layered status effect interactions. Idk who wants this type of combat layering but it is not going to appeal to the masses. Rather than having fun abilities that are solid alone, everything is about weaving and stacking status effects. Strange design. Game is only in Alpha and I'm already tired of the anal conversations about status effect monitoring. So tedious. This is the opposite of the action combat design I was hoping for. This is full tab-target pve ocd debuff bar monitoring. Not a fan.
All weapon trees are about as uninteresting as it gets. I'm not sure what value they have. The game would be improved by consolidating the weapon trees entirely by asking players do you want to run Crit version of class, attack speed version, attack power version, mana regen version, etc.
I still find the base idea of physical wand, magic bow, physical orb to be lame. No class identity. Everyone's the same. Rangers using bow getting shot by a mage for as much with their magic bow or a fighter. Its dumb.
Solo mob grinding to level needs to be viable for all classes not just high sustain ones. 1* mobs should not crush classes five level above them.
Fighter - in general most of its kit has way too long of cast animations. This class has the longest cast animations and is a melee class. It makes no sense. It has to be much more fluid. It also has to receive abilities or a large stat boost to its mitigation so it can engage without getting blown up immediately. Even in pve 80% of the mobs damage is to melee aoe in a 360 degree area, especially Forge.
My feedback would be to remove the secondary weapons from the game and classes only to use a primary weapon. Way too much every class pew pew with bows in pvp. Very Asian mmo boring design. Rangers don't have a single melee ability. Why do they need a melee weapon. What purpose to secondary weapons have other than being stat sticks and pvp auto attack spam by all? Can the whole idea and use one weapon only or develop melee and ranged class ability trees for every class.
During group combat or grinding sessions, do you feel any core features or gameplay elements are missing or underdeveloped? If yes, please describe.
Yeah, what I mentioned above. And variety in game play. Stagnant mob grinding statue game play is like watching paint dry. Where is the engagement in game design? Mob random target 1-shot mechanics are uninteresting. Just random ko's and xp debt without any logic (pyromancer's, snipers in HH). Tanks consistently do not hold aggro well in pve and ranged aoe dps classes will constantly gain aggro even if they waited properly. Tanks must have stronger aggro management so classes can use their aoe abilities. A lot of times you feel forced to only auto attack or use single target abilities because you know you'll pull aggro if you cast an aoe because for whatever reason Tank class taunts are not competent for the job. Makes for boring paint dry mental afk game play.
The level range limiters for parties for xp and loot drops is too restrictive and makes a lame culture in the game. The whole game revolves around no lifing during the rush after a phase launch with a set group. If you become detached from a levelling group its a pain in the ass. I just want to play a game, not jump through so many tedious hoops just to level during the early part of a game. Its very tiring just trying to find groups if you start a new character after the initial phase launch due to the loot and xp bracketing limiters set in place. You're letting people level up by chopping trees and hitting rocks. Why do we care to make solo levelling via mobs brutal? And if someone is going to spend their time in a group who cares if they are power levelled? You'd rather they go hit rocks instead? This is a guild game. Guild's are going to funnel gear to them regardless. Unsure why forcing harsh level range brackets is healthy. A lot of testers I've seen get upset with others because they don't know about the level range bracketing rules. Ie. The system causes more problems then its worth.
Cleric
Cleric because its fun giving someone a much better experience. I like putting bless weapon and heal a dps class. Seeing them enjoy themselves much more now when they deal more damage and don´t fear dying as quick anymore is satisfying. I also enjoy having alot of pressure on me and making our group push hard content.
•Which archetype do you find the least fun to play? Why?
Tank. Im not a fan of the tank playstyle, AKA low damage and slow movement. It does not fit my playstyle and personality as it requires being a leader of the group 9/10 times.
•Are there any combat systems or mechanics you feel need more development or refinement?
1. The zoominess is way out of whack. I think the mobility from dodge combined with all the leaps and teleports gets too crazy. I would personally slow combat movement waaay down. So that snares, roots, pulls and knockbacks have more of an impact.
2. 100% damage immune from dodge makes combat play out in a weird way that is not fun. Have had way more frustration with trying to dodge an attack than satisfaction from actually dodging something. Dodging tab target abilities is hard and not in a fun or challenging way. I would leave dodge to be purely about position.
3. Rangers focus mechanic is kinda basic and boring. Focus goes down, I press a stupid ability and it goes up. You don't really notice antyhing if you have 100 or 0. It is not as clear as fighters attack speed atleast.
4. I think I want clerics resurrect to be quicker and cost less but give the resurrected a stat debuff. Why? So that the entire team can play together quicker, it's not fun to lay dead and so that a resurrect can be a saving strat in a fight. I know of the insta res with divine infusion but it still costs a fortune and that mechanic should get a rework. I would personaly redo the cleric mechanic into something more fun and just shorten the res. Because thats more or less the only purpose of the divine infusion mechanic anyways. If you use divine infusion on anything else you just f*cked yourself to be able to res anyone and just lost the bonus crit heal, so you just save it for res. Its res mechanic not cleric overall mechanic that it should be imo.
•During group combat or grinding sessions, do you feel any core features or gameplay elements are missing or underdeveloped?
I think as a Cleric I want to be able to press some damaging spells inbetween heals if the party is doing good. A single and aoe damaging ability that you almost can spam without wasting a good ability that gives cc immunity on enemies like chains does. Or buffing someones damage even more than bless weapon for a moment.
Good morning! I've played Cleric & Bard, so my answers are from the perspective of a Support player!
— ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — Bard — Very fun due to quick movement, flashy AOEs, a big thematic class ability, and a wide assortment of what abilities do. Having skills feel unique from each other is important. Feeling like you can do a lot of different things + having smooth movement during abilities leads to a good time.
— ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — Cleric — It's not fun, but it's satisfying—and to me, that's an important distinction. I feel rewarded, but current rotations don't inspire moments of "Wow, look at what I did!" It's closer to "I kept everyone alive, which is the basic expectation of my archetype." And again, that feels rewarding, but the process doesn't spark moments of "look at how cool that was!"
— ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — (I rearranged the questions! My answer to #3 is longer.) Clerics should have several mitigation abilities. (Maschinengeist has a few examples.) Mitigation abilities feel fun—and not just rewarding—because they make combat more interactive & proactive, not reactive. It creates more skill expression as a result. There's also a great opportunity to make those abilities flashy! You apply a timed mitigation ability which, if successfully triggered, has a unique effect that really gives it oomph. (e.g., Wuthering Waves Parry FX or Stagger Break FX @ 1:15)
— ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — The Cleric's kit isn't interactive. I'd love Cleric abilities that create new effects when you use Ability A then B. — Example: You invest points into Mend so it can apply 1 of 3 unique stacks. Then, once you've used Mend on targets, Communal Restoration (or Resplendent Beam, etc.) pops all nearby stacks for a fun & useful effect! That type of interactivity. It's fun to customize your skills, then set up a good & flashy interaction.
As many others have mentioned, a better build/spend is essential. To replace Divine Power, one idea I've had is Divine Coil—per the cycle of life & death. It's ring-shaped, much like now. It goes from -100 (bottom) to +100 (top), and it defaults to 0. When positive, it's golden and represents life & healing; when negative, it's purple and represents death & decay. It's zero sum. Helping an ally adds points & moves toward life; harming an enemy subtracts & moves toward death.
Abilities now function differently based on their target. Targeting an enemy turns radiant abilities dark, which causes harm and subtracts from Divine Coil. — Your key ability is now called The Cycle, which ± inverts your Divine Coil value (-80 becomes +80), empowers your abilities (based on the value), and slowly drains to 0 (and can't be changed by abilities until it hits 0.) Also, if you use The Cycle at -100/+100, it has no cost or cooldown—so you are incentivized to rotate fully through the "natural" cycle.
Example: You heal your party and Divine Coil from 0 to +100. You use The Cycle to switch to a "damage phase" which flips you to -100—so you get a buff to dark abilities for 8-12 seconds as it slowly drains to 0. After the damage, you're ready to heal again, so you start building back to +100 and the cycle continues. — Oh, maybe you didn't need to heal yet? That's okay! Keep dealing damage. You can go 0 to -100 instead, then pop The Cycle and run the cycle the other way around this time. Fun stuff!
— ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ — ~ —
Thanks for reading! I'm happy I got to mull over the idea with you! 😊
I hope it's useful. (Let me know if it is!) Take care!~ ❤️
Fighter/Mage
Why fighter? I like the mobility and flexibility of the class. I like that I can use a bow some what effectively. I like the visceral feel of some of the skills.
Why Mage? I love that you can cast spells while moving (although be it a lesser speed). Like most of the animations and feel of the spells so far.
Which archetype do you find the least fun to play? Why?
Haven't played with all classes. But tanking seems to be most dull. I would love to see more ways of controlling the battlefield. It could be via different crowd controls, pulling or knocking enemies, creating "walls" and things like that.
Are there any combat systems or mechanics you feel need more development or refinement? Please explain.
This is a very personal take, but right now, I feel like the way that most sets/items looks are "too pretty". I don't mind them being in the game. But I miss the more crude or dark looking pieces of gear. I don't really like the idea of a "knight in shining armor". But I do love the idea of knight in really rough or menacing looking armor. If we get more armor pieces like that, it would be awesome.
I also always loved the idea of being able to see earrings and rings on characters. That could be something cool.
I would love to have different "vibe poses" for characters. Right now my Fighter run and stands to pretty. If I could select from a few different presets where the character "vibe" changes. That you be awesome. Like having my warrior stand in a more aggressive way, or more edgy (anime villain pose) or stuff like that. I think it would be awesome.
During group combat or grinding sessions, do you feel any core features or gameplay elements are missing or underdeveloped? If yes, please describe.
Yes, but at the same time we don't have the advanced classes yet. So I'm not sure on how to give feedback here. I'm sure a lot of the stuff I'm looking forward to will come with the new advanced classes.
Can I leave here some stuff I would love to see with the advanced classes instead?
Could we please get some version of a "Dark Knight/Death Knight/Unholy Knight?
Could we please get the fighter/spell/mage class to have super big/flashy over the top skills? Go a little anime style with this one? Pretty please!
Have you guys ever player Ragnarok Online Pre-Renewal? Could we also please get a monk/champion class that does absurd one shot damage (asura strike) but then is out of commission for some time? Or something along those lines?
That's all I've got so far. Love the game so far! Keep at it! I appreciate all the passion you put into the game! It's very noticeable.
I'll focus on PvE content because I haven't really dived into PvP much.
[*] Which archetype do you find the most fun to play? Why?
Rogue. The mobility and skills are a lot of fun. There's more abilities to choose from to, there actually feels like a choose. Not like other classes where you can actually select all the skills. I like how the rogue really feels sneaky and has a lot of utility outside just burst damage. Sap, trip, sleep, ect. These are all extremely fun and adds to a lot of complex options for the player.
[*] Which archetype do you find the least fun to play? Why?
This one is hard. There are two classes I didn't enjoy much and it could just be because I don't like the play style they have in parties. Bard and Cleric.
BARD: Solo play was fun, but group play was mana battery, I felt like I was not engaged much in the fights. And some classes need to be this way, not all classes need to complex heart racers. Maybe there needs to be more useful builds in the tree for this class.
CLERIC: Again solo was pretty fun, limiting and slow, but not bad. The big thing about healing classes I don't like is I don't like just looking at the parties health bars. I don't know a better way to do this though. If there was some way to get away from health bar management that'd change healing in mmos lol.
[*] Are there any combat systems or mechanics you feel need more development or refinement? Please explain.
Tanking. It's rough to play at times and boring at others. The VFX is literally blinding, there's too much VFX while tanking it's nuts, you can hardly see anything. When you're not being bombarded by blinding light spells the tanking really just feels like "Tank and Spank" mechanics. I'm sure there's more to come but having some complex party battles are something critical for me.
[*] During group combat or grinding sessions, do you feel any core features or gameplay elements are missing or underdeveloped? If yes, please describe.
I would actually say the group combat is underdeveloped. Most mechanics can be by passed with a larger group or cheesing the fights. Every class needs to bring something to the table, but every skill you create for the classes can be nulled by zerg tactics or cheese tactics. Without controlled environments it can just boil down to dps. So we can create all the awesome skills but if players never really need them than what's the point?
I came into Alpha 2 very late and only spent 2 days on PTR (schedule conflicts) That being said, I love playing support classes and always play a healer first. And so I did. Cleric.
Which archetype do you find the least fun to play? Why?
N/A
Are there any combat systems or mechanics you feel need more development or refinement? Please explain.
The melee combat (unless I was doing something wrong) was push one button. Bleh. The spell selection for cleric is far too limited. Varieties of healing and a bit of offensive. There need to be more group/target buffs. damage/heal procs, like a spell on target that heals when they get hit for the amount of radiant damage the enemy takes when they hit the target. One single target buff spell just doesn't cut it. The cooldown on Rez is too long outside of PVP. Players will just release and run back. Maybe a benefit to take less xp debt if a cleric rezzes you?
During group combat or grinding sessions, do you feel any core features or gameplay elements are missing or underdeveloped? If yes, please describe.
Yes. Maybe I just didn't get the key bindings or something but when I cast a dmg spell while having a group member targeted (such as the tank) it should hit what they have targeted.
The delay on the big circle on ground heal feels far too long. Combat moves around too much for it.
Make bard heals small regen and give healers the big insta ones.
A good cleric should be able to keep a party alive and do a decent amount of damage. They depend on tanks for aggro control, bards or mages for crowd control and mana regen, mages and rangers should bring the big guns.
Right now cleric feels like meh healers and bleh combatants. And it's kind boring. I played EQ and EQ2 for 12 years. Played cleric at raid level and loved it. Healer/support can be fun and satisfying. These clerics are not there yet.
Rogue and Bard by far.
The classes have the most depth and intricate mechanics, that excel through combinations of abilities, while maintaining a lot of options on how to approach a situation.
Which archetype do you find the least fun to play? Why?
Ranger and probably also tank.
The ranger feels like the opposite of what i wrote about rogue and bard. Every ability feels same-ish.
Are there any combat systems or mechanics you feel need more development or refinement? Please explain.
I would like to mention action combat/templated abilities as a mechanic here.
I hope the upcoming skill tree rework will be leveraged so that players can opt into a more action oriented gameplay style, where most skills have an option to spec into a templated version of an ability.
But Tab target combat accels with an ability pool of 10-20 abilities, whereas action combat usually shouldnt have more than 12.
So morphing an ability to a templated one, should:
1. make the ability stronger in some way, since you should have less abilities available
2. Cost a lot of ability points as a consequence
The abilities overall would become less rotation focused and more skill shot oriented, while maintaining the overall identity.
I hope action combat will get more focus at some point, since it will open up the game to a younger and bigger audience.
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 more pve oriented.
The game has some cool mechanics when it comes to mobs and the newer mobs definitely look better. But i feel like right now its too easy to ignore the mechanics and maybe there is too few of them that actually have implications for the player’s gameplay.
Don't be afraid to be bold. Make mages have a fifth of the HP of Fighters. A tenth of Tanks.
Make gear and levelling specialisation matter; give player difficult choices to specialise into playstyle-defining stats that affect specialisation towards damage, damage types, cooldown, movespeed, skill-scaling, or defensive stats. (This does not have to mean that rare gear unreasonably dominates low rarity gear. The strength can be mostly in the form of horizontal diversification and be a part of lower tiers of gear, too.)
Personally, I am always disappointed when I enter a new MMO, and there's absolutely nothing for me to do in terms of diversifying my build until I hit lategame gear, where I might get a 10-20% difference in focus on a particular stat by the time I hit lategame.
If I could switch accounts with another player of the same class, and once I'd swap around the skill bar configuration, everything would play effectively the same, safe for 2-3 skills that we have levelled differently - what's the point of making a personal build?