spellcasters
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Goblinworks illuminates Pathfinder's spellcasting system
Thinking about becoming a Wizard or Sorcerer in Pathfinder Online? It's not going to be like rolling a mage in another MMO, where you'll instantly have access to infinite firebolt and ice shard spells that are conveniently located on your hotbar. No, it's going to be complex and deep because this is Pathfinder and that is what Pathfinder does. In a new dev blog, Designer Stephen Cheney spells out (har) the approach the team is currently taking with arcane casters (i.e., Wizards and Sorcerers). While these classes will get a huge reservoir of basic cantrips to fling out during normal combat, their actual spells will be difficult to acquire, powerful to perform, and limited in number of uses. Cheney talks about how wizards will put together spellbooks, why it's important to have a pouch full of spell components, and what keywords you're going to want to collect in order to build the type of caster you envision. It's a lengthy read, but as a wizard apprentice, you're already used to that, aren't you? [Thanks to Matixzun for the tip!]
The Daily Grind: Are you for or against casting while moving?
With the new guard of MMOs this year comes an unexpectedly interesting shift in game design: the removal of movement restrictions from casting. Titles like The Secret World and Guild Wars 2 have thrown out this age-old tradition in favor of a more mobile casting environment. All of the sudden, spellcasters have found their "game legs" -- but is this a good thing? And do you want to see it spread across the MMO industry? Those in the traditionalist camp might say that allowing casters to discover the joys of bipedal locomotion will greatly unbalance games as we know them. They claim that it's a necessary weakness to counterbalance the massive ranged damage and abilities that such classes are capable of doing. And there is the possibility that it is another spot of erosion on the uniqueness defining these roles. Let's give it up to you to decide today: Are you for or against casting while moving? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their 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 Daily Grind!
