I was talking with my friend the other day about classes in MMOs. You know, the ones we miss, he ones we loved, etc. I mentioned Dervish and we got on the fact that only Humans could really be dervishes lore-wise (based on their devotion to the six. Other races could follow similar paths and it would fit, but it wouldn’t be the same.) Then he got me into talking about a scenario where (in order to spice up this games lacking cultural barriers, since all races have very little difference) each of the races was given a class based on it’s own culture. I wanted to whip up something on the subject and see if I couldn’t get some other people in on the discussion, despite the fact it probably isn’t ever actually going to happen.
Human:
Dervish- Solemn acolytes of the six, whom paired with prayer and scythe in hand, become a mystic force raging about the battlefield.
Weapons: Scythe, Greatsword, Sword, Focus, Staff, Scepter
Skillset: Prayers and Magical Augmentations.
Class Mechanic: Piety; Gain damage output through the increase of a pious meter which grows based on various skills used by the set. Certain moves drain piety to increase effect. Similar to Adrenaline.
Norn:
Brawler- When a man does with his hand what you can’t do with a mace, stay out of his way.
Weapons: Knuckles (Brass, Duster, etc.), Maces, Hammers, Shield, Torch
Skillset: Brawler Moves (cause we all miss them, don’t deny it) and various close quarters combat techniques.
Class Mechanic: Drunkard; A good Norn fights, a GREAT one fights drunk. Similar to elementalist, move sets change based on which form of drink your character is set to be inebriated by.
Asura:
Specialist-Where engineers can build the guns, sometimes a trigger man is required. They specialize in the operation of firearms on an ingenious level.
Weapons: Rifle, Pistol, Rocket Launcher
Skillset: Limited, but effective, Specialists focus on firearms to get the job done. They lack the gadgets of their engineer cousins, but they how to use their weapons of choice to deadly efficiency.
Class Mechanic: Lock On; By targeting an enemy with this ability they receive a passive buff (be it critical chance, damage output, I haven’t worked that out yet) against that target, but a reduction against anything else. (Minor cooldown for balance issues)
Sylvari:
Druid- An unusually gifted and magical friend of the forest, Druids aren’t always peaceful, especially on the battlefield.
Weapons: Staff, Scepter, Focus, Sword, Dagger, Warhorn.
Skillset: Plant based physical magic and nature based ethereal magic are both tools in a druids arsenal.
Class Mechanic: Lush; Build life energy as you deal damage or heal allies. Once bar reaches maximum automatically enter a state of natural serenity, increasing the potency of attacks and heals for a short period. Also each two handed weapon and off hand weapon has a spell that normally has an unusually large cast time that now becomes an instant cast durin the duration.
Charr:
Bladestorm- A master of the impossible, the legendary Bladestorm is the backbone of any Blood Legion massacre. They excel in the arts of swordplay.
Weapons: Sword, Greatsword, Blade on a Chain (needs a better name)
Skillset: The Bladestorm is defined by his ability to use multiple swords at a time, resulting in skills that assist and improve weapon swap and even combo set ups based on those abilities, which lets a Bladestorm flurry about the field.
Class Mechanic: Impalement; Certain strikes leave stacks of “Impaled” (also may need renaming) that, once they reach a certain point, cause the Bladestorm to flash about while striking the target and surrounding individuals for massive damage. Direct hits will not effect a Bladestorm during this, but AoE damage and conditions already applied will still take their toll.
Well, that’s it for now. Feel free to come up with your own and post, I like hearing all the ideas from other people. Seeing these new classes would be a big boost in the game for me and, at the very least, prompt more people to buy character slot expansions.