What do you want from the Warrior, Rogue, Mage and Priest?

[Infiltrator_SF]

As talked about in the latest update, the dev team are prototyping the 4 core classes which have been revealed as the Warrior, Rogue, Mage and Priest.

 

Anyone who's played an IE mage is very familiar with these archetypes. The question is, what do you feel that should be different about them this time around?

 

For me, I am definitely someone that does NOT want streamlining as we are used to seeing today when it comes to multi-platform games. I am, however, in favor of some mechanics that felt redundant in the IE games..

 

The Warrior - in the IE games, a basic fighter was little more than an attack machine. Unless you multi/dual classed, the fighers were, for the most part, just there to hit things and take the hits, there was nothing strategic about them until you moved up the level chain. I feel like their role was good, but they needed some utility abilities early on to make them more engaging and interesting.

 

The Rogue - my favorite IE (and any other RPG) character, the Rogue was mostly there to get rid of traps, unlock chests and little else for the majority of people. I adored the Assassin kit in BG2, for example and exploited backstabbing to the fullest. That said, I feel like stealth should be remade so it does not do a check - you should always be successful in entering stealth but your success in sneaking up on someone should be determined by your hide/walk silently levles and the enemies spot/listen checks.

 

Daggers are also very redundant in most RPGs because they tend to use just base damage for multiplication and their increased attack speed means little when your 1-4 damage is the only thing that gets multiplied by a backstab multiplier. So I think they should be looked at closely and made much, much more interesting for backstab-happy characters.

 

The Mage - Mana or Memorization, that is the question, I guess. Perhaps it can be a hybrid of both. I am very much against having a lot of tools at your disposal at any given situation. A mage should by all means prepare in advance for anything AND properly apply those spells in combat. At the same time, it feels kind of cheesy when your mage can just litter the field with everything he's memorized in a few turns with no hindrance. Picking up schools and restricting some spells while gaining power with others seems like a good starting position to me.

 

The Priest - Another tanky class, these guys have been mostly men and women of cloth in recent yerars. In my opinion, they should keep their full plate armor, as in IE games, they have always been very different from warrior-types despite this similarity. Akin to mages, there's the question between having a mana-pool of sorts or sticking to the original formula of memorization. One of the things that was annoying was the abundance of priest spells that very quickly became useless as you gained levels, as well as the constant need to swap out old heal spells with new ones.

 

Feel free to add your opinions.

Edited November 20, 2012 by Infiltrator_SF

[Kaz]

Only looking at the combat side of the picture, I keep thinking about how interesting it would be if positioning and formations mattered more and how each class could play off this new dimension of combat.

 

Fighter: Beyond being good at CQC, fighters would excel in area denial and zoning. A fighter trained in defensive tactics could essentially exercise limited crowd control through brute force, while fighters focused on offense could break blockades created by enemies.

 

Rogue: Mobility on the field, able to slip past enemy blockades with skills like tumble. Backstabs. Relatively fragile hit and run character. Would require a lot of micro management to make the most out of him.

 

Priest: Haven't really given this one much thought.. I feel not allowing buffs to stack would save us from the buffing ritual before combat, and allow for more strategy since you would have to choose your buffs wisely depending on the situation. DPS potential may not surpass a fighter but should be able to hold their own as defensive lineman when not casting. Warding spells that deny enemy entry would be more valuable if things like character position in combat mattered more.

 

Mage: Obviously the flavor of this class will come from the types of spells included in the game. From what I gather it seems like armor choice will change up how the mage approaches combat. Would be interesting to see spells with potency linked to distance from the target.

[Kaz]

I would expect to have some new features like having the certain class in the party should give bonuses to all the members without skills used and spells.

For example:

Warrior - gives bonuses to attack and defense, allows uses of tactical maneuvers

Rogue - evasion bonus from traps, cannot be backstabbed by rogues of lower level than the party rogue

Priest - gives morale bonus and bonus to fighting with undead

Mage - gives bonus to magic resistance, willpower

 

The bonuses should be bigger if there is more than one character of certain class.

 

I think the passive bonus idea is interesting, although it would punish players who prefer to only take a few companions and force most players to roll with full parties instead. Not saying if that's good or bad, it just means it will make certain play-styles harder.

[Jelei]

Yeah. The core four.

 

The fighter, as per OP, in IE games, they tended to end up as quite boring, but still, powerful. Hit things, hit hard, endure punishment. Simple and effective. This design did have some upsides and downsides. Sometimes things could be both. The Fighter didn't need very much micromanaging - time that could be used to manage classes that needed it. And yes, you could micromanage the fighter too, perhaps even increase his effectiveness somewhat by it. Given what I've gathered from the posts, in PE every class will have these pseudo-magical soul-abilities, I don't think the boredom at the class being too simple will come to effect quite as badly as in BG or BGII.

 

Nevertheless, what I hope and kind of even expect is that the fighter can be build in multitude of different ways, with ranging complexity and need for micromanagement, and even with the soul abilities, in such a way that it doesn't seem very "magical" class. What I really want to see is the option to play the kind of character I once upon a time played in a PnP. This kind of finesse, dirty fighter-master of arms warrior. The kind that had not qualms about throwing sand at the eyes of his opponents, punching them mid-fight, kicking them in the nads, the kind of fighter that lugged around with him a shield, a bastard sword, a dagger (something short-range to use possibly when grappling an unsuspecting opponent) and a mace. A fighter that knows how to and can use those weapons in varying different ways and surprise his opponents with ingenious use of them. Like once, during a very memorable fight, feinting an opponent by looking like he was preparing to half-sword him, and instead of doing that, grasped the blade of his sword with both hands and using swung it, using the pommel basically as a club and hit his opponent in the head, killing him. (Yeah, that characters hands got a bit of wounds, but the enemy died and that's what is important, right?)

 

The Rogue, a class that I'm most ambivalent about, as rogue is a class that I always intend to play but never get around to doing that. Meaning that I usually have one around for traps and locks, but not much else. I can think of several really fun-sounding rogue character-concepts, but always, always I just don't get around to playing them. But I think that is mostly because I usually find other classes just more interesting. Really, I kind of hope that perhaps I could get around in PE to play a rogue that is really interesting and fun, but I don't count on it. Can't really say much more about them. If I can pick locks and detect traps with other classes, I don't think I will be having a rogue around unless I make my character a rogue.

 

A mage, ah, a mage, a wizard, whatever. Usually my favourite class in any game. Which is kind of weird, because most of the time in principle, I really don't like mage-mechanics. Especially in cRPGs I really, really tend to dislike vancian magic. I know the pros and cons, and the savescumming and whatnot. Mana-systems I dislike too most of the time, even if for only because the concept of mana is jsut weird in the system and not explained well. At the end of the day, magic just is cool. What I hope/expect at mages in PE? And really, that is going to boil down to cool spells, system that makes sense and works within the setting and game-mechanics. Different schools of magic, specializing, perhaps even different types of magic. I'd perhaps really like to see large hermetic-magic-style rituals that took a lot of time and effort.

 

And thanks to the info that armor and weapons aren't very class-restricted, I can perhaps create one of the character-concepts I made for a PnP-campaign that didn't took off. A mage in medium armor, using a sword, with some combat-efficiency increasing spells, illusions and magic that affect the minds of targets. The idea with the character was that he didn't want to look like a stereotypical mage, intelligent combatants would be coming right at him then of course, seeing that he was probably going to be one of the most dangerous persons in a group. So he would look like just another fighter and surprise his enemies and play with their expectations. And he would never play fair. People who play fair, well, they seem to die most of the time. (See a pattern emerging, all of my characters seem to be kind of cheating-lying-dirty-fighting.. )

 

The priest. Yeah. I'm all for heavily armored priest. Not much else to say, another class that never really appealed to me. In PE if I've understood correctly, their powers aren't going to be actually divine in origin, but rather they access their soul-powers through their faith, which I like, opens up a way for great character-concepts, and yet again, I'm reminded and thinking of replicating an PnP-character that I didn't get to play quite as much as would've wanted. A disgruntled excommunicated priest who didn't really like his god and did a lot of philosophical musing on the subjects of religion, the secular power-struggles inside the religion, the gods and faith themselves and whether the believers shape the gods or the gods the believers and whether the gods are appalled at what their worshippers do in their name. An ultimately really fun character to play. And to this date, my only priest-character.

 

 

I think I kinda went on a tangent there, chronicling my old characters. But hey, I didn't get enough time to play them, and yeah, given the information we have, I do think I could replicate some of those characters in PE. Which is great for me. And examples are a great way of showing what I'm hoping for.

 

And yay for wall-of-text first posts.

 

And yeah, english is not my first language, so, uh, if there is a lot of typos and mistakes and whatnot, I apologise in advance.

[NerdBoner]

rogue is my favored of the core 4 because it is typically the most underestimated...yes it requires a lot of micromanagement, but when used correctly and with the proper equipment none of the other classes can stand up to it.

 

a thing i'd like to see though is greater inter party co-op from the classes.

 

For example say your group is being surrounded by a large attack force: the enemy sends in rogues to poison, trap and backstab the party before warriors and mages move in for the kill...if your party rogue is higher in level and within sight of his party members (as he would be because they're surrounded) he could "warn" his party to watch their backs and not to set off traps by his mere presence. Essentially this would mean immunity to backstab damage and traps if the rogue can make the spot checkand obviously this would benefit enemies as well making combat even more tactical. These bonuses would only work if the rogue was close by and higher level however.

 

it would essentially boil down to a "rogues awareness" mode that benefits party members in combat.

 

I'm sure similar inter party co-op mechanics could be thought of for each class but this one was just off the top of my head.

Edited November 20, 2012 by NerdBoner

[bonarbill]

Fighters: Would like to see more archetypes of this class besides dual weild/two handed/tank styles. Even though we have the beserker class, I'm sure they can come up with some more interesting build path for both classes that are unique.

 

Priest: I would like priest to be similar to D&D 3.5 clerics, which is what I think they are going for in this game. Basically hyrbids who can specialize in support, melee, or nuking. In fact, it seems that some priests get unique traits depending on their chosen god, similar to the domain system in D&D3.

 

Rogue: Just like the fighter, I would like to see other rogue types besides thief, assassin, or some of a nightblade.

[Alexjh]

I've always actually kind of liked fighters as a fairly low management class, and while I don't mind a few optional combat abilities I generally do prefer my tactics with them to revolve around positioning and targeting rather than having to tell them every specific attack. If you did want to add a little bit of extra depth to them, perhaps give them a couple of different "combat forms" you can switch between - a normal one, one for just taking as little damage as possible, one for fighting while surrounded, one for defending a specific target, and one for working in tandem with another melee fighters, but really I generally always prefer to give fighters passive abilities, they are the ones I send out there to bear the brunt of the battle while I can concentrate on the more delicate classes. Some of the tactics might just be down to equipment changes.

 

Rogues I'm pretty much again happy with as they are, just perhaps building a few more options for things not really done in infinity engine games like traps, poisons, throwables (caltrops, smoke bombs etc), but these should be items you have to purchase and so on, not just a magic infinite supply.

 

For wizards, I think ideally I'd have a slow regenerating mana with no upper limit, I mean to the point of mana only trickling in and wizards needing to build up a mana supply over days through conservative spell use. If you can't just get your full power from constantly resting constantly then it forces each encounter to be measured about how much the player would be willing to expend. If you really are utterly low, perhaps throw in a meditate ability that'll give you a small mana infusion in the middle of combat while leaving you entirely vulnerable.

[Agelastos]

I just want lightly armored fighters to be viable alternatives to tanks. Not just the side-sword/rapier and main gauche-wielding finesse variety, but also the bihänder-wielding doppelsöldner type.

[quechn1tlan]

I want to express my piece on Fighters. People say that they are boring in DnD. I find them exactly the opposite. For a fighter( not just Fighter class but all melee warriors like Paladin, Barbarian or any multi\prestige class) the hook is not in the vast number of abilities and spells, but their build. Carefully distributing attributes, having in mind what kind of fighter you want, how to distribute your skill and feat points, where to find appropriate gear and how to combine different armor bonuses, what weapon to use. All this boils down to making the most effective character sheet possible or a build that has some fun featureto it. Building your character and then seeing how he\she performs in combat is what makes it fun to me. And casters on the other hand - you can basically put all your points into Int(or Cha), don some underwear and go killing dragons while being almost invulnerable all thanks to a vast array of spells. This is also fun, but in some other way.

 

So I don't want PE to go the DA way and basically make Fighters melee mages who need Str instead of Int and rely on the same vast array of spells, but with no range and called skills\abilities.

[Atreides]

Somewhat against the expectation of priests as a support class, I had more fun with attack-oriented priests casting Hold Person, flames and turning high level undead.

[JFSOCC]

In combat:

Warrior: skilled in various forms of combat, does a fair amount of damage with attacks, can take a fair amount of damage from attacks

Rogue: debuffer. uses tricks to make enemies waste skills, interrupts spellcasting, lowers enemy stats weakening them up for other classes. (with poison, traps, precision attacks to cripple, etc)

Mage: diverse class, I would play it as a ranged attacker with fairly low defense but high offensive spells. (I was never that charmed by spellcasters so I rarely played them)

Priest: Buffs party, heals party, good against specific types of enemies, fairly good at defending.

 

outside of combat

Warrior: welcome in most places as a hand that can help out. could climb to get to better ground unexpectedly. I'm thinking more of a special forces type character, meaning still quite adept at stealth and surprise takedowns. (like the green beret in the commandos games) could glean information concerning warfare

rogue: utilitarian character,good with mechanisms (opening locks, setting traps -or setting them off- as usual. Good at gathering information via speech, subterfuge and observation skills. Socialite that moves in various circles, both courtly and low. mostly out of sight of prying eyes.

Mage: great deal of utilitarian spells, can repair bridges, call rain or storms, levitate small distances, teleport. scientific mindset makes him welcome in Academical circles and high courts for their knowledge. Good at researching information found in books and tomes.

Priest: man of the people, welcome amongst the commoners for guidance and help. good at gathering information from the people, makes himself useful through simple medicine, a listening ear with friendly demeanor, and might be asked to adjudicate disputes. A wandering bureaucrat of sorts. Also welcome in religious circles, though not all.

[malackbar]

Mage-

I would like the memorization. Picking your spells was always a huge key to success, but I would like the option to be able to cast out of my book for non emergency and utility spells. Basicly, things that you won't need to whip out on the fly.

It would be great to see familiars in the game, and have them impact your adventuring career. Being able to target your familiar, for the delivery of spells would be great, they would be your hands in the field so to speak.

Being able to loot special focuses for you spells would be great! You could use that liches skull as a focus for necromancy, or an ancient permafrost stygian icicle as a focus for your cold based spells would be great. It would add nonmagical loot into the game that would be worth keeping the whole game. Even affixing these objects to a staff, or in a specialized slot would add customzation potential.

I would also like to be able to become proficient with nonmage weapons if I devote training or feats to it. It allows the kind of Elminster style characters to the game. Plus casting through a sword or hammer, would feel pretty damn cool.

I will post on other classes soon.

[LordBlade]

Here's how I'd like to see the classes handled for the most part:

 

Warrior - The Killing Machine

 

Warriors are there to hit stuff an make it bleed. They would get the best combat bonuses (hit and damage rates), the best armour, the best weapons, and definitely the most health.

Now in most games of this sort warriors can smash stuff, and that's about it. I think they need to be given a few more options to make them more interesting (though admittedly I love playing the pure smashy warrior).

Warriors should also be given options as to just how to be built. You can go for the pure strength death machine, the unstoppable tank, or the finesse warrior who focuses more in disarming and outmaneuvering their foes.

 

Firstly, battle shouts.

A warrior should be able to inspire their party in battle. Give them an array of shouts and such to use in combat. Some would buff the attack or defense of allies, or maybe give a brief speed boost as they call the charge.

On the flip side their shouts should have an effect on the enemy as well. Taunts to pull attention to them and make them the focus, your "MMO tank" type abilities. In a lot of games they give such abilities to a rogue type class, which never made sense to me, why would a rogue ever draw attention to themselves in combat?

 

These shouts should be brief abilities with diminishing effects. The first time you give your inspiring shout your allies rally to the call, but as you use it over and over during a fight, it will have less impact on them (the same for those targeting foes). That berserker scream might be startling the first time, but on the tenth you're not quite as impressed. Basically these wouldn't be passive auras like a paladin would have, but rather brief buffs that during hard battles can turn the tide if timed correctly.

 

Thief - The Skill Monkey

 

A thief's main role should be support. The whole traps, locks and stealing angle. As well as giving them "con man" options with speech and streetsmarts. They should have a wide array of skills open to them (letting you be decent at a lot of things or great at one or two things). Outside of combat they would play a key role in managing what's going on in the environment. Finding and disarming traps, using stealth to scout ahead, stealing what's needed, etc.

 

In combat a thief's abilities would be more support based. Their damage output should be limited. They've not focused on being a death machine like a warrior but rather on honing their other skills, which can play a part in combat through the use of items like smoke bombs, poisons and the like. They would also have their traditional backstab ability. This goes beyond simply attacking from behind (which would give anyone a bonus) but rather focusing on their skills of staying completely hidden. In the heat of combat you know that there are other threats on the battlefield, so while they might get an advantage hitting you from behind you can still somewhat react to their presence. A thief's backstab comes from their skill at being completely unnoticed until the last second which lets them line up a better aimed strike at vitals as opposed to someone who is known to be there.

 

A thief shouldn't be good at standing toe to toe with enemies. They would be better at dodging and evading attacks, but they don't have anything like the lasting power of an actual warrior, less hit points, less damage dealing, etc. A thief should be given options to focus on more combat skills if they choose, adding more dodging, parrying and counters rather than straight up damage. Making use of their nimbleness to survive.

 

Mage - Options Galore

 

At the core the mage is a caster. They are physically weak (because they focus all their effort on learning magic instead of building their physique... though the ability to make more of a "fighter mage" at the cost of spell proficiency could work). Combat is something that a mage avoids, when they do take part it's preferably at a nice safe distance slinging spells from afar. They can use a lot of defensive spells to help them survive melee, but their options would be limited and temporary, when the spells run dry, they're toast.

 

But the spells are what makes a mage special. They should have a ton of options in that regard. A lot of spells would be combat oriented (just due to the nature of the game) but they should still have a lot of non-combat spells (opening and locking spells, invisibility, detecting lies or influencing others, enchanting, etc).

 

There should be several schools of magic (fire, water, earth, air, light, dark, summoning, enchanting, destruction, creation, etc) with a lot of spells being cross-school ones. A basic firebolt might be a pure fire spell, while an incendiary cloud would be fire/air. Various schools would work well with some and bad with others (fire and water schools wouldn't mix well, there would be a few low level spells but high level ones would be rare and hard to cast). Mages should be able to specialize (if they choose) to be more skilled in certain schools while making them weaker with the opposing ones. I don't think it should be a straight out exclusion of spells (a light mage could cast dark magic, they'd just suck at it). This would allow a lot of customization and let players make a mage suited to their tastes or playstyle.

 

As for how magic works, that would rely heavily on the general game engine options. But I think that a mana system based on the schools would be interesting. So as they level they choose which schools to focus in and gain more mana of that type. Spells would cost varying amounts of mana of the school they belong to (so if your mage has a lot of fire mana they can blast away with fire a lot but be limited in other spell types). You could make a mage who could blast away with their favourite spells all day or one who's more balanced and can cast whatever's needed in any situation. The mana could be added as they learn new spells, to keep things simple. So as you learn light spells, your light mana pool increases.

 

Mana could regenerate slowly over a day. So basically in 24 hours the mage would have their mana back to full. It would be similar to a memorization system though be more natural (the whole "you've forgotten the spell because you cast it" never made much sense to me). If anything the more a mage uses certain spells the better they should be with them. There could be various perks/traits/skills/whatever to give the mage bonuses to schools or mana regen or other such things.

 

Priest - The Holy Mage

 

A priest for the most part should play much like a mage. The main difference being on the spells they have access to, those being more (un)holy based. More heals and buffs as opposed to straight out blasty spells. But they should also have a lot of non-combat options with their spells. For the most part they should work as mages do. They however would have a diety they follow which would limit what spells and such they can use. Giving bonuses to their diety's focus and penalties in other places.

 

As for combat, I think it needs to be decided if a priest is a "priest" or a classic "cleric". Priests would be very much like mages, physically weak, few armour or weapon choices and basically a liability if caught in melee, doing support from the rear. If the priest is going to be the "cleric" sort, then they should have better armour and weapons (almost as good as fighters, though with weapons based on a selection that their god allows).

 

Personally I'd rather see priest and cleric as two separate classes. The priests being basically straight up holy mages while clerics are weaker fighters who have access to (un)holy magic.

[Umberlin]

I always felt like there should be zero cross over, in terms of spells and abilities; when it came to Druids, Clerics, Wizards and Sorcerers in D&D. That wasn't the case. I still feel like that, however, and in P:E, even when you have a similar effect, I'd like to see each class handle said effect in their own way/style.

 

Rogues and Warriors are the same, in my mind, in that I don't really want them to feel the same even if they're using a similar or the same weapon.

[malackbar]

Warrior-

I'd like to see differences between weapons. I want a mace and a sword to have many different feats or abilities that make them distinctive weapons. I think there should be weapon groups that provide different bonuses and options, in a manor similar to Skyrim.

I want to be as viable as a warrior in light armor as I am with heavy. There are so many manuvers to be done as a light armored fighter. There is also something to be said about wearing the heaviest armor under the sun and going to town. Light armor should allow tumbling and quickness feats, while heavy should give greater damage reduction and less criticle hits taken.

I would love to be able to forge my own weapons. You should gain customizations that you could seldom get without crafting your own weapons and armor. Of course you have to put training into crafting as well so it is a good balance. You could then use monster parts to be able to make unique weapons and armor with unusual qualities to them.

Different stances and manuvers would be great, and when combined with different tactics for weapon types, would greatly add to customization. Stances designed for certain weapons would be a lot of fun. Imagine a berzerk style designed around a greatclub.

I want to feel brutal and look damn good doing it. I would like to see more armor styles than just the average game. I want to see halfplate, lamelar, brigandine, oriental great armor, and breastplate. I want different cultures to wear different styles of armor. Aztec style fullplate, demonic leather, and english style chainmail are all examples of how you can add cultual flare to standard armor.

[Infiltrator_SF]

I don't like how a lot of people things thieves/rogues should be "support" or "debuffers".

 

IMO, there should be a specialization that allows them to excel at conversations, traps, pickpocketing and non-combat skills, but a specialization like an assassin should most definitely be a heavy single target damage dealer.

[malackbar]

Rogue-

This is going to be a mature game, and as such I want the rogue to be real charming or nasty character. They should have unique dialog options to charm or swindle. They should do groin shots, eye gouges, and should have dialog to surprise attack right from the get go. They should have abilities to move fist in the round even if they don't get to attack. Tactics should work into their play style. They should be able to haggle prices down at shops, or even steal.

Unarmored rogues should be just as viable as light armored. Unarmored rogues should be able to bluff and disguise better than your traditional rogue in leather armor. I think since they use acrobatic more, it isn't inconcievable that they could be martial artists. Everyone puts martial arts in the fight realm but it actually makes more sence with rogues. You don't have to add honor to martial arts. I'de love to see a Krav Maga type martial arts added as an option for rogues.

I want to be able to climb buildings and cliffs. I want to be able to find my own entrence into places. I should be able to string ropes to places to access hidden locals. This adds to excitment and replayablility. You should be able to set traps, especially in dungeons and forests. If there is a dungeon chasm deep below ground, let the fighter go around the chasm. The rogue can go OVER the chasm and jump! Avoiding dungeon hazards is what a rogue is all about. They should be able to get into parts of dungeons other can't.

[JFSOCC]

Rogue-

This is going to be a mature game, and as such I want the rogue to be real charming or nasty character. They should have unique dialog options to charm or swindle. They should do groin shots, eye gouges, and should have dialog to surprise attack right from the get go. They should have abilities to move fist in the round even if they don't get to attack. Tactics should work into their play style. They should be able to haggle prices down at shops, or even steal.

Unarmored rogues should be just as viable as light armored. Unarmored rogues should be able to bluff and disguise better than your traditional rogue in leather armor. I think since they use acrobatic more, it isn't inconcievable that they could be martial artists. Everyone puts martial arts in the fight realm but it actually makes more sence with rogues. You don't have to add honor to martial arts. I'de love to see a Krav Maga type martial arts added as an option for rogues.

I want to be able to climb buildings and cliffs. I want to be able to find my own entrence into places. I should be able to string ropes to places to access hidden locals. This adds to excitment and replayablility. You should be able to set traps, especially in dungeons and forests. If there is a dungeon chasm deep below ground, let the fighter go around the chasm. The rogue can go OVER the chasm and jump! Avoiding dungeon hazards is what a rogue is all about. They should be able to get into parts of dungeons other can't.

This would be fantastic. But that would make the rogue so much cooler than all the other classes! I like the idea of there being an ability the rogue has that time sort of slows down and the rogue gets 5 or so seconds to get in position before time resumes. (as if he was already on the move when the threat started)

[Knjaz]

Well, the only thing I really want to see from Mages, is an option to choose "Glass cannon" development path I.e., further severing the weakness of the class (endurance, strenght, agility, etc.) for the additional boost in spell power (not just damage) and/or something else.

 

For example, unlike many players that prefer multi-classing, in first NWN at, say 30 level cap, I was really annoyed at the fact that going a pure wizard was totally useless on some settings, compared to 29 wizard/1 rogue, for the double boost in some important abilities. Pure/true mage/wizard is one of my favourite classes in most CRPG.

 

 

The gameplay of such character tends to be hard even on mid-levels, but closer to the end you start to fully enjoy yourself. At same time, since you're went full-magic, you can never drop your guard - a single or a pair of arrows can easily end your life, if unprepared.

Edited November 21, 2012 by Knjaz

[malackbar]

Priest-

They should be part warrior and part healer. They should have some sort of special ability using there holy symbol. You could loot unique holy symbols that allow you to add effects to your holy abilities, you could also make them out of unique precious metals for added effect.

Everybody always assumes that undead are the only creature that priests are specialized against, but they could be fighting demons and devils (exocisms), abberations (wards against alien beings), and elementals (raw forces of nature). The judao christian model of priests are not the only style of holy men and women. Budist monks can practice martial arts, how cool would a martial arts priest be?

Again, an unarmored priest may be a unique version. They could have better powers, more spells, or extra channeling type powers. It would be the difference between cloisted priests and the crusading ones.

Lets see diety favored weapons make it into the game for further customzation of priests of various deities. I'd like to see good, evil, and some unorthodox deities as well. God of thieves for rogue style priests, god of elements, a god that seems like it's from an HP Lovecraft novel (alienist priest?), god of peace, god of time (chronomancy), etc. So many great ideas for deities out there.

[Amberion]

I would expect to have some new features like having the certain class in the party should give bonuses to all the members without skills used and spells.

For example:

Warrior - gives bonuses to attack and defense, allows uses of tactical maneuvers

Rogue - evasion bonus from traps, cannot be backstabbed by rogues of lower level than the party rogue

Priest - gives morale bonus and bonus to fighting with undead

Mage - gives bonus to magic resistance, willpower

 

The bonuses should be bigger if there is more than one character of certain class.

Since those are powerful bonuses, the leader of the party, which is a role hot-swappable, should be the only one to give a bonus. So if you know you're going to be fighting undead, move the priest up to the front of the party. Lots of traps around? Rogue to the fore!

[Infiltrator_SF]

I would expect to have some new features like having the certain class in the party should give bonuses to all the members without skills used and spells.

For example:

Warrior - gives bonuses to attack and defense, allows uses of tactical maneuvers

Rogue - evasion bonus from traps, cannot be backstabbed by rogues of lower level than the party rogue

Priest - gives morale bonus and bonus to fighting with undead

Mage - gives bonus to magic resistance, willpower

 

The bonuses should be bigger if there is more than one character of certain class.

Since those are powerful bonuses, the leader of the party, which is a role hot-swappable, should be the only one to give a bonus. So if you know you're going to be fighting undead, move the priest up to the front of the party. Lots of traps around? Rogue to the fore!

 

IMO, it should only be the original PC's passives that are gotten like that. Swapping your party leader on the fly to meet the situation's demands doesn't seem right at all.

Edited November 21, 2012 by Infiltrator_SF

[entrerix]

for warriors:

 

i really want weapon choice to make a difference in how you play

 

a fighter using a spear and shield should have a very different feel than one using a two handed sword

[Serguei]

Mages and clerics are all about spells. Their gameplay depends on how spells work.

I trust Obsidian to offer a good variety of those.

 

Fighters in IE games where quite boring : select target, swing weapon until it dies.

I hope they get much more possibilties in form of combat maneuvers, tactics, and so on.

( Trip, Stun, Bull Rush, Sunder, Disarm, Fencing techniques, "Special moves", ... )

[TMTVL]

If party leader gives boni, then it should prolly be depending on charisma score to some extent.