Hi everyone,
As part of the Combat and Progression Update, we are updating each of our adventuring classes. This isn’t just adding Mastery for each class, but it also includes looking at the skills they use, their base ability kit, and even their special class mechanics as well. Not everything is going to change, and many aspects of the classes will feel familiar, but our goal is to get all of our classes to a point where they are functionally complete with their full intended kits from level 1 to level 50. We’re also using this opportunity to address some long-standing challenges that have made it difficult to balance our content and to produce coherent itemization for the game.
We are starting this process with our three Tank classes (Warrior, Paladin, and Dire Lord). We will go over the Warrior today, and the Paladin and Dire Lord next week.
A very important disclaimer here: what you see reflected below is meant to be a high-level conceptual overview of where we are taking the class. Many details, like the level or skill requirements and effects for the different class and mastery abilities, are expected to change and fluctuate as we go through testing before the update releases. We are looking forward to everyone’s feedback once our public test realm is available, to help us with dialing all those details in so that each class feels fully realized, distinctive, and fun to play.
The Warrior
Much more than a soldier or mercenary, the Warrior seems to defy limits of physical strength, ability and resilience. However, she is not content with fortitude alone, but refines her mind as well, becoming a master strategist amidst the mayhem of battle.
Primary Role: Tank (Bastion)
Secondary Role: Physical DPS (Warlord)
Available Races: Human, Dwarf, Elf, Halfling, Ogre, Dark Myr, Skar, and Archai
Weapons: All Simple and Martial Weapons. Some Exotic Weapons unlocked at high skill levels.
Armor: Up to Light Plate. Can unlock Heavy Plate via Bastion Mastery.
Shields: All
Class Mechanics
Battle Points: Battle Points are the primary resource Warriors use in combat, fueling both offensive and defensive abilities. Warriors can generate Battle Points through various attacks, combat abilities and certain passive effects that can be unlocked through Mastery.
Weapon Skills
Weapon skills represent proficiency with different types of weapons. They control which weapons can be wielded, the chance to successfully hit an opponent, and contribute to the damage dealt when using that weapon type. The more skilled you become with a specific weapon type, the more weapon techniques you will be able to learn with that weapon. At the highest skill levels, a weapon skill may grant access to an exotic version of that weapon type or unlock additional benefits.
* Weapon types that will be implemented in future updates.
Combat Skills
Combat skills control the effectiveness of various aspects of combat, as well as the effectiveness of class abilities. High skill levels in these combat skills may unlock additional abilities or mastery selections for the Warrior to choose.
Base Class Abilities
Warrior Abilities focus on mitigating physical damage, weapon prowess, and coordinating the actions of their groups in combat.
Note: This is not a full list of warrior abilities available within the game and is intended only to provide an overview of the class. Many of these abilities have upgrades and variations that become available as the character levels up.
| Ability | Description |
|---|---|
| Assault | A powerful strike that deals Physical Damage. Generates 1 Battle Point. |
| Strike of Breaking | A tactical strike that increases incoming damage on the target while increasing your Armor Class. Stacks up to 3 times. |
| Storm | Charge at the target with furious speed, stunning them briefly. Generates 1 Battle Point. |
| Rupture | A strike that deals Physical Damage and causes the target to bleed over time. Costs 1 Battle Point. |
| Shield Block | Raise your shield, reducing a major amount of incoming Physical damage and a minor amount of incoming Spell damage. This is a channeled ability that cannot be interrupted by damage. Costs 1 Battle Point for each second while channeling. Requires a Shield. |
| Quell | Follow up a successful shield block with a powerful shield strike, generating increased threat and a Battle Point. |
| Mighty Blow | A charged attack that consumes 1 Battle Point per second while charging. When released, Mighty Blow will deal bonus damage based on how many Battle Points were consumed. |
| Taunt / Angering Shout | Taunt an enemy in melee range, forcing its attention on you for 3 seconds. Release an angry shout, taunting an enemy up to 25 meters away. |
| Challenger’s Banner | Place a Banner of War near you that lasts for a short time. Remaining near the banner will increase the threat that your actions generate in combat. |
| Bash | Slam the target, dealing minor Physical damage with a chance to interrupt the target’s spell casting. |
| Formation: Conquest | Command your group into an offensive formation, increasing their attack and spellcasting speed, but limiting their mobility for a short time. |
| Banner of Arms | Place a Banner of War near you that lasts for a short time. Group members near the banner will have an increased chance to hit their foes, while enemies near the banner will suffer a penalty to their avoidance. |
| Cleave | Swing your weapon in a mighty arc, dealing damage to multiple foes in front of you. |
| Javelin | Hurl a javelin into an enemy at distance, dealing Physical damage and generating a small amount of threat. |
| Counterplay | Brace your weapon, retaliating with Physical damage to attackers whenever you successfully block or parry an attack. |
| Rallying Banner | Plant a Banner of War near you that lasts for a short time. Group members who remain near the banner will be less vulnerable to control effects, while enemies near the banner will become more vulnerable to these effects. |
| Formation: Unyielding | Command your group into a tactical formation, giving them immunity to control effects for a short time, but also making them more vulnerable to direct attacks for the same period. |
| Breaker’s Roar | Shake off the effects of a root or snare that has afflicted you. |
| Close the Gap | Leap to an enemy’s location and strike them with your weapon, temporarily stopping their movement. Generates 1 Battle Point. |
| Last Stand | Stand your ground, increasing your chance to block and parry attacks, and increasing healing you receive for several seconds. Only usable at low health. |
| War Horn | Sound your war horn to taunt all nearby enemies. |
| Devastate | Unleash a massive attack in an attempt to finish off your opponent. Only usable on targets with low health. |
Warrior Mastery
Warriors have two primary mastery branches that they can specialize into: Bastion and Warlord.
Note that the Mastery abilities described below are only a few examples intended as highlights. They do not represent the full list of Mastery options that will be available for each specialization.
Bastion Mastery Examples
The Bastion Warrior is a heavily armored defender who holds the line through grit, steel and command of the battlefield.
| Mastery | Description |
|---|---|
| Ability Unlock: Hammering Blow | Hammer the edge of your shield into the enemy, dealing Physical damage and increasing your Physical damage mitigation for a short time. |
| Ability Unlock: Shield Bash | Slam the target with your shield, dealing minor Physical damage, interrupting spell casting, and silencing the target for a short time. |
| Ability Unlock: Shield Throw | Hurl your shield at the target, dealing Physical damage and knocking the target down for 3 sec. While your shield is traveling, you will be shieldless and unable to use shield-based abilities. |
| Heavy Platemail Proficiency | Unlocks the ability to wear Heavy Platemail Armor. |
| Shield Prowess | Your prowess with the shield grants you the chance to gain a Battle Point on successful blocks. |
| Anchored Stance | While channeling Shield Block, you are immune to forced movement, including knockback and pull effects. |
| Hold the Line | For each Battle Point Shield Block consumes, you receive a 5% bonus to incoming healing for a short time. |
| Iron Mandate | If the target is immune to Taunt, using Taunt will instead grant increased Threat generation on that target for a short time. |
| Tactician | Using Assault on a target under the effect of your Taunt will generate an extra Battle Point. |
| Anchoring Arrival | The root effect from your Close the Gap ability lasts longer, and the target’s movement speed is reduced for a short time after the root ends. |
| Rallying Brass | If War Horn successfully lands on 2 or more enemies, refund 1 Battle Point. |
| Critical Recovery | When you activate Last Stand, immediately restore 5% of your maximum Health, then gain another 5% over 5 seconds. |
| Reinforced Shield Block | Increase the amount of Physical damage your Shield Block is able to mitigate. |
| Intercepting Spear | If the target struck by Javelin is more than 15 meters away, gain a short burst of movement speed and your next Storm within 3 sec generates an extra Battle Point. |
Warlord Mastery Examples
The Warlord Warrior is a brutal front-line combatant who turns skill at arms and battle experience into relentless offense.
| Mastery | Description |
|---|---|
| Ability Unlock: War Lariat | Unleash a whirlwind of steel, attacking all targets in a 360 degree radius around you. Must have a primary and offhand weapon equipped. |
| Ability Unlock: Punish | Grants the Punish ability. Punish has a chance to become usable every time Rupture’s bleed ticks. |
| Ability Unlock: Furious Howl | Release a furious howl, generating 1 Battle Point and increasing your melee attack speed. |
| Brutal Trajectory | Javelin deals increased damage and gains increasing chance to critically hit based on the distance traveled. |
| Double Tap | Your Assault ability has a chance to strike a second time with your primary weapon. |
| Break the Line | Storm deals additional damage to targets above a certain Health threshold. If the target is below a certain Health threshold when Storm is used, Storm’s cooldown will be shortened. |
| Skullringer | Your Bash ability deals increased damage and is guaranteed to interrupt spell casting. |
| Deepening Wounds | Increase the bleed damage caused by Rupture. |
| No Quarter | If a target dies while bleeding from your Rupture ability, gain a short movement speed bonus and restore some Health. |
| Dual-Wield Specialization | Improve your overall effectiveness and damage output while dual-wielding. |
| Two-Hand Specialization | Improve your overall effectiveness and damage output with two-handed weapons. |
| Warbringer | Your critical hits now have a chance to generate a Battle Point. |
| Kill Engine | Gain the ability to move while charging your Mighty Blow. |
| Precision of Battle | Your AoE attacks, such as Cleave and War Lariat, will no longer break Root or Mesmerize effects on opponents, although they will deal reduced damage against targets under these effects. |
Key Changes for Warriors
With the Combat and Progression Update, the Warrior class is evolving in the following ways:
- Additional weapon skills and combat skills with more meaningful impact
- More complete and robust base ability kit, with abilities up to level 50
- Mastery selections focused on leaning into and empowering defensive abilities or offensive abilities
- Unique abilities and powerups unlocked through mastery selections
Around the Team – What we’ve been working on this week
Design and Narrative
- Continuing population of Kosa Ull in Badia de Cara
- First pass of NPC tuning for Unified NPC templates
- First pass on itemization updates for Combat and Progression
- Finalizing Mastery for Warrior, Paladin, Dire Lord
- Beginning work on Mastery for Cleric, Druid, Shaman
- Continued work on NPCs and Dialogue for the Port of Rulun
Worldbuilding and Environment Art
- Set dressing for Mawnok villages
- Finalizing layout for port of Rulun
- Beginning work on Rulun building interiors
- Continued set dressing for undersea biomes
- Continuing asset definition for Faerthale City to inform detailed concepts
Character Art and Animation
- Finalized modeling/texturing for Qha-Ladahn
- Finalized modeling/texturing for Aridola and Detidola clothing
- Finishing remaining spellcasting animations for Mawnoks
- Beginning modeling work for minor Badia de Cara creatures
- Initial modeling work on Hydryn
Programming
- Continued implementation of combat formula changes for Combat and Progression Update
- Continued work on persistence layer and Mastery UI
- Finalizing Mail system UI, database hookup, and initial testing.