support-class
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Heroes of the Storm: Tassadar
So far in this series we've looked at an Assassin and a Specialist, Falstad and Abathur respectively. Today we look at a member of the Support class, StarCraft's high templar Tassadar. The Support class is, effectively, Heroes of the Storm's equivalent of a healer. In Tassadar's case, you could draw a comparison to the Discipline Priest. Rather than directly healing his allies, he places protective bubbles on them to absorb damage. Other varieties of bubbles exert some control over the flow of battle. Tassadar is a character that doesn't perform well on his own. He shines when attached to an ally. When partnered up with a beefy tank character, he can make his lane partner nigh unkillable.
Black Gold shows off the Geomancer
Do you like healing people? Do you like drawing strength from the land? Do you hate pants? Then Black Gold's Geomancer might just be for you. (You might have access to pants in the game, though.) The Geomancer is meant purely as a support class, focused on healing and supporting team members. While the class is weak in one-on-one combat, it excels at supporting a group and healing injuries. Many Geomancer abilities pull double-duty as they both harm nearby enemies and heal and buff nearby allies. In lore terms, the class was originally unknown to the Kosh despite their knowledge of magic, as working with Earth was problematic and required a great deal of practice. Only the great mage Damerhyn was successful, leading to the order of Geomancers that will be available to Yutonian and Kosh players in the game. For more details, take a look at the official preview page.
Infinite Crisis introduces Arcane Green Lantern in new video
One thing you can count on with Infinite Crisis is the addition of new champions from alternate dimensions of the DC Multiverse. But the surprise always comes in exactly what hero is added to the ranks. Today, Turbine introduced the newest iteration of an energy-manipulating favorite: Arcane Green Lantern. Arcane Green Lantern combines support and enforcer, offering shields, crowd-control, and boosts to teammates. Active skills include the AoE Emerald Lantern, Construct Champion Shackles, and Deny the Black; the champion's passive is Emerald Light. For more details on these skills, along with some tips and tricks on how to best play this hero, watch the video just after the cut. You can also get a gander at the mug of Arcane Green Lantern in a close up shot. [Source: Turbine Press release]
The Mog Log Extra: Starting an Arcanist in Final Fantasy XIV
My initial plan for last Saturday's edition of The Mog Log was foiled by the simple fact that getting to Limsa Lominsa was much more difficult than it needed to be. There was no way to get to Limsa, unlock Arcanist, level Arcanist, write a column of a thousand words or more, have it proofed, and have it readable by the time that you fine people expect to read something. My apologies are deep and heartfelt. Despite that fact, once I finally did get to Limsa, I poured myself into playing Arcansit as if it was my job. Which it sort of was. And I found that to my pleasant surprise, despite the fact that the class is everything I usually dislike in a class, I was having an absolute blast. I wouldn't say it's my favorite class in Final Fantasy XIV, but it's up there. But you don't care too much about that, do you? You want to know how to play one. Luckily, I can tell you that, too.
Mabinogi's new bard class highlighted in video
If you thought the only thing missing from the world of Mabinogi was a battle-mandolin-wielding bard, Nexon's news will be music to your ears: The Battle Maestro joined the line-up of available classes in the free-to-play fantasy game. This new bard class supports others with the power of music, using seven new skills to enhance and buff teammates or debuff enemies. The Battle Maestro is live and playable now. You can catch a glimpse of the bard in action in the video after the break. [Source: Nexon America press release]
The Daily Grind: Do you like debuffers?
Controllers and dominators in City of Heroes, mesmers and necromancers in Guild Wars, affliction warlocks in World of Warcraft -- the debuffing class has long been a staple of MMOs. While the class frequently is closest to being a damage dealer, its primary function is to cripple enemies. Played properly, the resultant effects can turn a normal challenge into a cakewalk, or knock a seemingly invincible enemy back down to normal levels. Of course, as time has gone by the archetype has become a bit less common, with the holy trinity of tanks, healers, and DPS becoming more focused and less open to more esoteric inclusions. But it hasn't gone away -- science ships in Star Trek Online make heavy use of debuffs to cripple and wear down opponents. Do you like having debuffs and debuff classes as a central element of party gameplay? Or would you rather designers continue to emphasize the holy trinity and have classes focused on doing damage while debuffing targets? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of our readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's The Daily Grind!
The Light and How to Swing It: Support class in disguise
I re-specced to Holy again a few weeks back to concentrate on our 5v5 after quite some time of running around whacking things with a hammer. This is one of the best things about being a hybrid class. We have the option to play a particular way. Before I had decided to focus on Retribution for a couple of months, I would re-spec about 4-5 times a week depending on what our raid needed and spec Ret when I wanted to muck around in the Battlegrounds.The trouble is, between Holy and Retribution, there is a world of difference in how to play. Granted, most of your spells will be pretty much the same, but the playing style is completely different. As much as Shockadins will protest, the truth is, Holy is a support spec. It is terrible for questing and the best thing to do is find a partner who can kill things for you. Despite the improvements to Holy Shock and the spell damage included with healing gear, the experience pales in comparison to pure DPS classes or specs. This is fine. The only real beef I have is in the disparity in play experience and the nagging feeling that, at the heart of it all, Paladins are glorified sidekicks.
