[Discussion] Need ideas for "lores" of classes.

[Vunjo]

Well met!

My team and I are working on this particular project. It will be a Hack and Slash like game, where you and your teammates choose and level up your characters in the world events, instances, and more. You'll be able to control and set up your character's movements, attacks, and up to 10 spells at a time.

There are 15 classes to choose from, which I'll list below. While we were designing the classes, we were mostly thinking of their weapon sets that are permanent and cannot be changed for the sake of animations, character lore, and other valid reasons, but we also gave them their unique Elements.

There're 6 Elements in total:
Light
Dark
Fire
Water
Thunder
Nature

As mentioned, each class has a specific set of up to 3 Elements. Their play style, roles, and animations will highly be influenced by these Elements.

To get to the point. We've started working on the classes, and as we finish old ones, we need some ideas to start on new ones. These classes do not have a "clear" vision of how we want them to look like in battle, and we do not have a unique feature that would make this class easily recognizable. For example, classes like Paladin, Priest, or Shaman are known to every Warcraft/World of Warcraft/etc. player, so it's very easy to define these classes and their primary roles. We're lacking ideas of a unique thing in a couple of them.

We've distributed the classes in 3 categories, depending on their respective Armor type: Plate, Leather and Cloth. The armor type may or may not indicate durability of the specific class.

So here's the list of classes. I'll write down most important things, such as their weapons and Element.

Plate

• Paladin - Weapons: Mace + Shield. Element: Light.
• Death Knight - Longsword. Element: Dark.
• Frost Knight - Sword + Shield. Element: Water (In role of Ice)
• Guardian - Hammer (2 handed). Element: Nature (In role of Earth) and Light
• Pirate - Sword + Pistol. Element: Water

Leather

• Rogue - 2x Daggers. Element: Thunder.
• Ranger - Longbow. Element: Nature.
• Duelist - 2x Swords. Element: Fire and Water.
• Headhunter - Spear + Shield. Element: Nature + Thunder
• Vampire - 2x Claws. Element: Dark.

Cloth

• Warlock - Scythe. Element: Fire + Dark.
• Shaman - Staff + Claw. Element: Fire + Thunder.
• Elementalist - Staff + Book. Element: Fire + Thunder + Water.
• Twister - Deck of Cards. Element: Light.
• Spectre - Sword + Torch. Element: Dark + Light + Nature.

An idea that we had but didn't conclude yet was the following. To make Blademaster a "Dragonborn" of some sort. He could have Dragon as a pet, or possibly transform into one, or so. This is just a random idea that we weren't sure off but might give you a better clue of what we're looking for.

For all the other classes we've gone through at least the very basics of the class concept. Any ideas you can share will be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

EDIT: Solved, thanks for all the help.

 

[Dr Super Good]

Frost Knight

Ice and melee? You know what that screams? Comic style moves such as using ice to form stuff as he requires (iceman, mr freeze, etc).

Although he uses a sword, he actually does not as the sword is nothing more than the core for his real weapons, over sized formations of ice into maces, swords, hammers etc.

He can also summon ice barriers, freeze opponents feet to the ground, silence spell casters by freezing their mouths closed or melee fighters hands together stopping them from acting. He can also enchant his armor with ice improving toughness, providing temporary shields or making it razor sharp so everything he moves into takes serious damage.

I think it would look very cool to alternate ice weapons when attacking so you can start of with swords for AoE and then kill the odd straggler with a hammer or mace as required with no switch over time/penalty as the ice that composes the weapons changes nearly instantly (possibly with cool reshaping visuals).

Tanking and close combat would be his speciality since ice powers generally have limited range. Can also provide some unusual ice related debuffs as described but again these should be reasonably close range. Maybe make him look like condensed smoke is flowing off him and wherever he walks could leave little patches of ice.

Guardian

This sounds like something old, aligned with nature or greater forcers and there to protect something.

Giving him powerful earth abilities would probably be the way to go. Such as slamming his hammer shoots out pillars of earth sending enemies high into the sky. Avoid giving him support but instead make his abilities debuff opponents to aid allies. He is there to "guard" and not "save".

Summoning enormous ancient guardian golems would also be one idea, maybe in response to a gauge filled up whenever nearby friendlies take damage. The number and duration could depend on how fill the gauge is and the gear he has and they attack by lobbing huge boulders or crushing enemies under their bulk.

As for looks... I would recommend something that looks almost super natural while still functional. Like have moss or other plants growing out of his armor to some extent as if they are part of the armor itself.

This character would fulfill a debuffing and offensive role. Tanking variants may be possible but something like a Frost Knight or Warrior would be better suited for that.

Blademaster - Twin Spears (Double-edged Spear). Element: Thunder.

He is called a "blademaster" yet uses spears? I could swear a spear was a long penetrating weapon and not a cutting weapon (you thrust it, not slice). The function of a double sided one is completely beyond me unless you plan to face opponents in front and behind of you simultaneously.

Maybe you mean polearm generally? I would imagine something like a double sided Bill would be much more down his ally as that is a cutting polearm.

Gameplay wise you can just throw in combo style attacks such as those used in the game Hyrule Warriors or any such combo orientated game. The key is to give him good responsive combos that couple well to the player. Longer combo chains can unleash devastating elemental attacks like a electric nova, chain lightning, elongated stuns etc. You could possibly have his elemental combos limited by some sort of resource bar that refills by doing certain actions such as multiple kills, chaining combos etc. You may also want to give him some form of momentum mechanics where by repeatedly chaining combos improves his damage temporarily.

The idea for this sort of character is speed, his target would be for players who want someone who attacks very fast and needs a continuous stream of input to do well.

 

[Vunjo]

Very nice ideas you've brought there, I like a lot of them, let me just argue one by one.

Frost Knight

I LOVE the idea you gave which includes forming/creating things out of ice/snow. It's awesome. We'll be definitely adding those things. About weapons, I'm not so sure how it would fit with the rest of the gameplay, as most of the other classes would have their weapons fixed. I think it can still go well given that these weapons could be "Stances" of some sort or temporary buffs. Enchanting armor with Ice also sounds lovely. In terms of combat, he'd be very close to what you suggested, focus on melee combat with moderate CC and low to moderate supporting power while dealing damage. I'm very much pleased with these ideas.


Guardian

We're surely on the same page here. I didn't want him to be as supportive, rather do exactly what you said, bash the hammer in the ground, create spikes, and possibly the highest CC class in the team. Summoning ancient guardians sound nice, I could see this class as an ancient-civilization lore based.


Blademaster

You're right about the weapons, polearm is a lot closer weapon design than a spear, though our idea was to make it a double edged polearm for slicing/cleaving. It's a fantasy game after all, and this gives us a lot of opportunity for cool animations and spells. We've already got Headhunter as a class primarily using spears to thrust. I don't understand why we couldn't call it "Blademaster". Isn't Blade everything that's basically metal, sharp, used in combat? We thought this would stick with the element of Thunder. However, we're open for ideas, if you've got another name, share it. About the mechanics you've suggested, well, we're already using very very similar (If not exact) mechanics for Rogue, who's based on "Combo" streaks and things of that nature. Now when I think of it, this does sound better on Blademaster, fits the weapons kinda better. Do you have an idea for mechanics on Rogue then?

Thanks for the ideas again, they were really nice.

 

[Dr Super Good]

Isn't Blade everything that's basically metal, sharp, used in combat?

Blades seem to be cutting based. I think spears do not use a blade, but rather a head (kind of like an arrow). I think the difference is a blade has a cutting edge to it where as a head can only penetrate. Sure one could probably cut something with a spear head, however it is likely a lot harder to do and less effective than using a blade with a cutting edge. The best example would be a rapier sword which has no cutting edge but a very fine and sharp tip.

Because a pike is very big and requires penetration to hurt it generally is not effective in close combat and also is very slow to wield due to the forced involved. Games like the total war series show this where close combat troops like swordmen had an advantage over pikemen and they were awarded for their historical accuracy. This is not the sort of combat you want for an action based game and would be better suited for some specialist class that deals medium ranged heavy damage blows to single targets.

Using something like a double headed bill would allow you to pull moves worthy of Darth Maul from Starwars who used a double sided light saber. As far as action and animation goes this would look a lot more impressive than poking single targets in front of you or whacking foes around with the blunt end of a stick (basically a stick).

Do you have an idea for mechanics on Rogue then?

Rogue suggests someone who is not mainstream, who does stuff in unusual and ad hock ways, who often disrespects law, order and tradition and who would almost be unfair at times to get what they want.

I would suggest a sort of medium range to close range class. One who specializes in weakening opponents and dealing damage over time. Mechanics such as dodging would fit in well.

In close combat executing a basic chain of melee attacks against a single target for quite high damage. Possibly throw in classic bonuses such as attacking from behind.

However most of the action should be medium range. Abilities like throwing grenades, knives, possibly moves that disorientate enemies like creating illusions, disappearing etc.

The main mechanic would be poisons. Most attacks deal a lot of poison (dark) damage over a considerable time as well as applying other debuffs such as making the enemy more vulnerable or less able to attack. The actual damage inflicted by attacks is lower than most classes so the gameplay would be more hit and run.

A mechanic that could be emphasized are the poisons themselves. Possibly giving her a variety of poison types to choose from and use (only one at any time). Changing would require a brief down time period (probably the time of an evasive skill which can be used in parallel). If you continuously use the same poison type, opponents start to gain resistance to it so are less affected by it. Additionally tougher opponents may be weak against specific poison types forcing you to change until you find out which.

The overall class would play stealthy with hit and run but at a risk due to the middle to close range. The class would have one of the lowest toughness so half of the play would be playing run around and avoiding damage. It may sound a cheesy/glass cannon way to play however the point of the class is to fulfil that role. To balance it out the damage dealt would not be the highest and in teams not the most directly useful however debuffs and continuous damage would make for a useful support role.

An alternative would be to throw in some more "mechanical" skills on top of poisons similar to the sentries used by Diablo III Demon Hunters. This version would rely on traps more for damage and running slightly less. However this would reduce player involvement and could make the class play more like a backseat driver (D2 necromancer or D3 6 Marauder Demon Hunter / Summon Witch Doctor).

 

[Vunjo]

So what do you suggest to replace the name "Blademaster" with, knowing he's wielding a double edged polearm of some sort? I've thought of another way to "combo" the moves, keeping somewhat similar idea whilst being a unique game play compared to other classes.

Rogue will most likely keep assassin play style. As a high skill cap class it's going to survive using quick reaction dodge or stealth. It's debatable if he should be the DoT class, I personally don't like the idea only for poison to be enough of a factor to determine a class as primarily DoT over constant bursts of physical damage, but that's a bit too deep into game we haven't touched yet, and is kinda off topic. I'll be limiting illusions because those are particular for Deceiver (That particular class is the trickiest of them all, and we've established a lot of game play about him already). Poisons will be very likely used as Stances, you can have one active at a time, switchable during combat, has different effects on spells and auto attacks.

My team and I have a long way to go, but we're sure to stay on topic and to thrive for the best outcome. I might post another post at some time in this thread if I ever need idea from the community again, because we believe that's important in order to create a well thought product.

So my final question remains for now, any ideas for new name of the current Blademaster?

 

[Dr Super Good]

So my final question remains for now, any ideas for new name of the current Blademaster?

Something martial arts related perhaps? According to Wikipedia there exist several martial arts relating to pole arms. However more than that I do not know.

Something like a Monk would suffice since in Asia martial arts is often practiced by various Monk groups however this might conflict too much with Diablo III which has a martial arts class called "Monk".

 

[Vunjo]

I'll look for more names. Thank you for all the help.