Dev diary: reworking the classes

For the last couple of weeks I’ve been reworking the four classes, one at a time. It’s still in progress. The new animations need another round of review, the numbers will keep changing, and some of what’s below will be different by the time you play it.

Why rework them

The classes started out too similar. For a while the Magician and the Archer swung their wand and bow like swords. After that, every spell played the same quick wand flick, the Archer stood still for every shot, and most attacks ended in a similar flash. Each class worked, but side by side they felt alike.

I want each class to have a clear style, and to ask something different of you in a fight:

• Warrior: stay close and keep attacking. Every swing moves you forward, so you stick to your target. A good Warrior rarely stops swinging.
• Rogue: get behind the enemy. The biggest hits come from behind, so most of the fight is about getting there. Go into stealth, work your way round and land the backstab.
• Archer: timing and precision. Power Shot hits hardest if you let go at exactly the right moment, so it’s worth waiting for that moment instead of firing early.
• Magician: cast spells in the right order. Spells set each other up. Freeze an enemy before you burn it, or burn it before you hit it with lightning, and the second spell does a lot more damage.

The Warrior

Whirlwind in the Hollow.

• The sword combo is now big, full-body swings. Each hit steps you forward and stops at your target, so you don’t slide past it.
• The greatsword has its own combo: slower, with more reach and more damage.
• You can cut a combo short with a dodge or a skill. If you press attack early, the game holds the press until the next swing can start, so mashing the button still gives you a clean combo.
• Attack in mid-air and you hang for a moment, then drop and slam the ground around you.
• Earthquake is now a jump and a two-footed stomp that sends out a shockwave.
• Steps kick up dust, the blade scrapes the floor, and the big finishers crack the ground.

I also took out the full-screen flash on the Warrior’s heaviest hits. It got in the way more than it helped. The camera kick and the short pause on impact are still there.

The Rogue

The kunai fan, thrown from a jump.

• Every dagger is now a pair, one in each hand, held blade-down along the forearm.
• The combo is four hits: a hooking backhand, a full spin with both blades out, a rising knee into a two-handed stab, and a leaping slash that finishes as you land.
• Attack in mid-air to throw a fan of kunai down and ahead of you. They stay stuck in the ground for a moment.
• Attack from stealth while you’re behind an enemy to backstab: a hop, a big wind-up with a brief freeze, then both blades come down in a wide arc. It’s the hardest hit the Rogue has, and “BACKSTAB!” pops up over the enemy.

The Magician

A Fireball landing on a boar.

• Casts have proper wind-ups now. The big spells take longer, and you can see the Magician lean into them.
• Fire Arrow is now the Fireball, thrown underhand. It arcs through the air, lands on the enemy you’re aiming at and bursts, setting the enemies around it on fire.
• You can walk while casting the quick spells. The big ones still keep you in place.
• Arcane Channel is now held down. The Magician floats off the ground in a swirl of light while their mana refills.
• Magic Bolt is now Arcane Beam: hold it to fire a beam at whatever’s in front of you, walking as you go, until you run low on mana.
• Spell weaving. Some spells combine. Fire on a frozen enemy shatters the ice for extra damage. Thunder on a burning enemy jumps to other burning enemies nearby. Thunder also leaves static behind, and an Arcane Missile that hits an enemy with static jumps to the enemy next to it. Each combination shows its name over the enemy when it happens, so you pick them up as you play.

The Archer

A perfect Power Shot.

• The Archer can shoot while walking. Only the heavy shots keep you in place.
• The bow bends as you draw it, the string comes back to your jaw, and arrows stay stuck where they land for a moment. The Archer now holds the bow in the left hand and draws with the right.
• Quick Shot is still a simple tap, and every third shot in a row fires a fast burst of three arrows.
• Power Shot is hold to draw. The longer you hold, the harder it hits. Let go just as it flashes for a perfect release, which is always a critical hit.
• Breakaway replaces Scatter Shot, for when something gets too close: kick it, flip backwards and fire a fan of arrows as you go.
• Attack in mid-air to fire three arrows down at the ground.
• Arrow Rain now lands where you aim it, instead of a fixed distance in front of you.
• Hunter’s Mark is new. Mark an enemy, and your arrows do more damage to it and curve towards it.
• Venom Arrow replaces Double Shot. It fires one arrow that homes in and poisons the target, and the poison stacks if you keep hitting it.

Balance

I don’t want one class to be the obvious best pick. To check, I built a test that plays each class through a real fight, using its actual combo timing, resources, cooldowns and a sensible skill order, and records the damage. Right now all four deal about the same damage over a fight. They differ in how they deal it and how much damage they can take. The Warrior is the toughest, and the Magician and Archer have less health in exchange for fighting from range.

I tuned the first dungeon boss with those same skill orders. A normal group should beat it in a few minutes, and the hard version should be a close fight.

A test can only tell me so much. Later on I’ll start recording dungeon clear times by class, so I can tune the numbers from how real players actually do.

What’s next

• More work on the animations. I’m checking every new move from all angles, and some will be redone.
• Balance will keep changing as I watch people play. Treat all of this as a first pass.
• Ultimates come later. I left them out of this round so the regular skills could come first.
• More work on the skill effects. Some still look plain or unfinished, and they’ll keep getting polished.