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Pantheon reveals class/race combos
If you're pulling for Pantheon, then you might be daydreaming about what class/race combination you'd want to play if the game is made. Visionary Realms hears you (it's inside of your head), and it released a chart showing the classes available for each race. Some of Pantheon's races are at an obvious disadvantage when it comes to the total number of available classes at the moment, as Humans have six while Dwarves and Ogres have three apiece. However, Ogres do get an exclusive class -- the Shaman -- and can use that to boost self-esteem if needed. The Kickstarter project also revealed a new stretch goal: the Halfling race. Halflings will be added to the game alongside Gnomes if Pantheon races $2 million or more. [Thanks to Josh for the tip!]
Pantheon explains how a wizard does it
The sad reality is that with each passing year it is less likely that a very large man will enter your life to inform you that you are, in fact, a wizard, Harry. Even more so if your name isn't Harry. So perhaps you can console yourself by playing a wizard in Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen, slinging destructive spells left and right and holding on to the last remnants of your dwindling sanity as you do so. Or perhaps not holding on to those remnants, as one of the class specialties, Frenzy, is specifically for casters who have let themselves go completely bonkers and derive power from that madness. The other specialty, Aspect, allows the wizard to maintain sanity through martial perfection, creating shrouds of mana and summoning duplicates for various functions. Take a look at the full reveal for more details on the lore and mechanics of these casters.
Star Wars: The Old Republic highlights the strengths of strike fighters
With all of the other ship classes in Star Wars: The Old Republic's latest addition, you can be forgiven for thinking that Galactic Starfighter kind of gives the eponymous fighters short shrift. After all, gunships can snipe with railguns, scouts are darting and disabling beasts, and bombers are tanks with wings. What can the strike fighter do that all of its contemporaries can't? Oh, right. It can eat other ships alive by blowing past shields and ripping enemy hulls apart. The new development blog highlighting the strike fighter discusses how strike fighters are generally the targets of all the other defensive mechanisms -- sure, a gunship can snipe things, but if it gets caught within weapons range of a strike fighter, it's in big trouble. The strike fighter might not have the speed of the scout or the armor of gunships and bombers, but it's maneuverable, nimble, and built for dogfighting. Check out the full development blog for more details on the lynchpin of the fighter squadrons.
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen reveals the mind-blowing Enchanter
We regret to inform you that the Enchanter in Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen will literally blow your mind. Yes, we know, literally can now be used to mean figuratively, but we're using the classic definition here. Your mind will swell and burst. It will be messy and presumably uncomfortable. Well, all right, the class probably can't do that unless you're in the game, but if you do somehow occupy the game world, this class can totally do that. Assuming for a minute that you want to do something other than just make heads explode around you all day long, the Enchanter is set up to have a few more tricks. Enchanters can specialize as a Beguiler or a Phantasmist, with the former focusing on charms, stuns, and debuffs whilst the latter hypnotizes groups and uses them as a private army. Check out more details on the official class reveal page if you can't get enough of mind tricks. Or if you just want to know more about the head-explosion thing.
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen unveils the Rogue class
Everyone knows that it's not truly a fantasy MMORPG without a stealth class, and Brad McQuaid's brainchild Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen is no exception. In a post on the game's Kickstarter page today, the devs revealed that the latest class to join Pantheon's roster is the Rogue, everyone's favorite dagger-wielding, backstabbing shadowstepper. In Pantheon, Rogues will fill the roles of DPS and debuffer and notably will have the ability to disarm traps or even "alter the trigger so they fire on enemies only." In addition, Rogues looking for a bit more focus can specialize as an Assassin or a Planestalker. The Assassin is exactly what it sounds like: stab things, poison things, and generally make things more dead. Planestalkers, on the other hand, are described as Rogues "that have exposed themselves to the planar energies emanating from Terminus." The post notes that by doing so, they have "given up much oftheir influence on the physical plain," but in exchange, they can see and sever a creature's "magical connections," which can cause "ill effects" such as lowering a target's damage or hampering its spellcasting, so it would seem that they tend toward the debuffer end of the spectrum. If you want the full details on Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen and its latest class, just head on over to the game's official Kickstarter page.
Community Blog Topic Results: New WoW classes
Our latest Community Blog Topic asked you to pitch a new World of Warcraft class. Many commenters suggested that WoW did not need another class, but that misses the point. Several classes with very detailed designs were blogged and commented about. I've only excerpted a few here, so follow the links to see the full descriptions. AedanBlounsø at SnobGoblin describes the bard class in full detail, including specs like the Heartmender: Primary Abilities Song of Hope - Restores an allys health and increase their damage done Unearthly Affection - Convinces an enemy to redirect their attack to another ally. Pure of Heart - Melee attacks against the Heartmender causes an aura of protection to slow the attacking enemy while healing the Heartmender. Hymn of Heresy - Waves of mystical energy emerge from the Heartmender, causing allies to increase their critical strike rating while damaging enemies. Arrows of the Soul - Heartmenders convert agility to intellect.
Pantheon's Crusader brings two shields to the fight
Pantheon's latest announced class, the Crusader, might have the trappings of a traditional armored tank, but he's got a few surprises up his sleeves -- such as the ability to dual-wield shields. Crusaders are front-line fighters that use heavy armor, one- and two-handed weapons, and tall shields as well as a dollop of divine power to smite foes and bless allies. Players who go down this virtuous path can specialize either as a melee-focused Cavalier or a magic-using Paladin. It sounds as though Crusaders will be very beneficial to parties with group-wide buffs and the ability to tank effectively. They'll also get a squire to help out, undead-banishing abilities, and the option to pick up two shields for both protection and offense.
New class rises to join Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen
The second class revealed for Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen isn't the hero that the world of Terminus needs, but it's the one the world deserves. The Dark Knight is exactly what it sounds like on the tin: Aside from striking fear into the cowardly and superstitious lot of Terminus' monsters, it's a fusion of melee abilities and destructive spellcasting that draws upon unholy might. It's a class with plenty of toys to mix with extensive martial training, and it serves nicely as a peek at the conceptual space of Pantheon's classes. Dark Knights have access to several choices of both weapon and armor, generally focusing on heavy plate armor along with two-handed swords, shield, and axes. They also possess the ability to drain life and strength from their foes, apply diseases, summon necromantic minions, and possibly hang upside-down from gargoyles. There's a bit more lore to be found in the official reveal; keep your ears open for more classes so that you'll be properly prepared.
Pantheon reveals the Cleric
Pantheon is still in the early stages of its Kickstarter campaign rollercoaster and has revealed its first (non-stretch goal) class: the Cleric. According to the announcement post, the Cleric is a battle priest who's big on doing nice things for good folks while smashing bad folks with blunt instruments. The Cleric uses divine spells to heal friends and harm foes backed up with his or her trusty warhammer or flail and a lot of heavy armor. It looks as though players will have an option to eschew this mode and spec as a lightly armored spellcaster or an astral Paladin. One of the most interesting aspect of the Cleric is his or her choice in deity. That choice won't be merely for roleplaying purposes but will influence which spells and abilities will be granted to the Cleric.
Take a little look at TERA's newest class
The newest class in TERA is live on the Korean servers right now, and even if you don't normally play an Elin, you might be curious to see what it's all about. That's a little more problematic if you don't speak Korean, but lucky for you there's a whole preview of the upcoming class available now on Steparu. It should give you a good idea of what to expect when this update comes out stateside. Dark Elin start at level 55 and have a variety of new skills and abilities for players to use. Embedded past the break is a preview of a Dark Elin fighting one of the game's signature BAMs, showing off the class mechanics in brief and giving an idea of what it's like to play one. Check out the video past the break, and take a look at the full preview for a more in-depth look at the class.
Community Blog Topic: Pitch your new WoW class
When we recently asked readers to pitch their expansion ideas, a few people came up with new classes. Some of them were so interesting, we'd like to see them fleshed out a little bit more. So pitch us a new World of Warcraft class. In old school Everquest, I played a bard: Eponyne Songtart. Goodness, those graphics are so bad by today's standards, and I never noticed how she looks like her leg is amputated in that picture. Now it's all I can see. Anyway, the bard class was very buggy for a long time, but I still loved playing her. I'd like to see a similar class in WoW. Class name: Bard Maximum armor class: Mail
The Mog Log: Future classes and jobs for Final Fantasy XIV?
A long time ago, I speculated a bit on what classes and jobs we might see added to Final Fantasy XIV. And I do mean a long time ago in internet terms; this was back before we knew that Arcanist and Summoner were going to be linked, for example. A lot of new information has come to light between then and now, the sort of stuff that requires a whole new round of speculation. Some of that speculation is, of course, completely out there. Some of it isn't. And some of it is out there in a way that would be totally cool and would attract a whole lot of interest. So let's take a look at some potential jobs, classes, and whatnot to see where they might fit into the game... or even whether they'll fit into the game. There's probably no space for Celebrant, sadly.
Star Wars: The Old Republic highlights bomb(er) ships
Bombers are not the sort of ships that dart hither and yon in Star Wars: The Old Republic. They don't skitter about in elaborate dogfights. No, they are the ships that approach their targets, use heavy shields to weather some incoming fire, and then watch as a field of mines explodes around all those ships with the darting and the skittering. The latest development blog on the official site discusses more about how bombers play in Galactic Starfighter. Various mines are available to bombers, ranging from straightforward damage mines to shield-and-power draining Ion Mines to seek-and-destroy Seeker Mines. Bombers can also field stationary Drones for both offensive and defensive purposes, with Sentry Drones taking shots at enemy ships and Repair Drones fixing up the hull of allied craft. Take a look at the full entry for more details, especially if you think you're the sort of player who might want to drop a bomb on someone.
TERA is creating a flying scythe-user class
TERA's taking terror and pre-adolescent creepiness to the skies with an upcoming class, tentatively called the Flying Scythe-user. Details about the new class are a little spotty due to the translation from Korean (so don't take that class name as gospel), but it looks as though the Elin-only class will be a ranged character that harnesses dark magic and flings scythes and chains across the battlefield. The Flying Scythe-user will be unlocked once a player hits level 40 on another character, emerging into the light as a level 50 toon. Some of this class' skills include chain attacks, a dark explosion, an AoE whip, spinning blades, and a dark shield. The class will be very nimble, with abilities to ignore attacks, quickly dodge, and swap places with the enemy. The class will be first available in Korea, with a presumable jump to other regions thereafter. [Thanks to Vunak for the tip!]
Trove will rejuvenate MMO worlds by blowing them up
I'll confess that even after having chatted with Trion Worlds CEO Scott Hartsman about this new Trove project and reading Shawn's very early impressions piece, I was still having difficulty understanding what, exactly, this game was about. Was it just some sort of kiddy LEGO hack-and-slasher with a nod to housing thrown in? How was Trion going to make good on its promise to continually provide a sense of new adventures? And was Trove just a blatant ripoff of Cube World, as some have claimed? Because Trove isn't quite a typical MMO, I needed another phone session with Trion to get a clearer picture of this game. Creative Lead Andrew Krausnick spent an hour with me patiently answering any and all of my questions. The big one had to be asked from the get go. Were you really going to be blowing up the world all the time? Krausnick confirmed that yes, Trion will be doing exactly that. More than that, he said that it would be the factor that would set Trove apart from all of the other games out there right now.
Massively previews WildStar's character creation, housing, Engineer, and Medic
What do you get when you throw a bunch of Massively writers into the WildStar beta for a week and tell them they can roll a million characters, play the new classes, and muck around with floating houses in the sky? You get today's embargo-lift extravaganza, that's what, and a whole bunch of bunnygirls. Massively's Eliot Lefebvre, Justin Olivetti, and Gavin Townsley trekked to the planet Nexus and back to relate their deep-dive hands-on experience with the upcoming sci-fi MMO's character creation, Medic, and Engineer, as well as a take fresh look at the updated housing system. Enjoy our complete coverage! Massively's hands-on with WildStar's character creation Eliot tinkers with character customization, judging WildStar's somewhere between the extremes of World of Warcraft and City of Heroes. Expect an expert opinion on hair styles and body sliders. Massively's hands-on with WildStar's housing system In the wake of the latest housing demo, Gavin explains the differences between sockets, plugs, and buff boards, and then repeats rumors of a strip club for small stuffed animals. Massively's hands-on with WildStar's Engineer Justin is a sucker for Engineers: "This is my rifle and this is my gun; this is for fighting and this is for statistical improvements that help my gearscore for the inevitable raid gating." Massively's hands-on with WildStar's Medic Eliot covers the feel of WildStar's hard-to-master melee healer and his role in the overall environment: "Sure, I had moments of frustration, but I certainly wasn't ever bored."
Massively's hands-on with WildStar's Medic
My favorite classes in games are the ones that inspire spit-takes. The fact is that I don't really hate your bog-standard Warriors or Mages or whatever. But the classes that really get me interested are classes that demand that you explain what they do and how someone came up with that concept. Guild Wars has the Dervish, World of Warcraft has the Shaman, Final Fantasy XI has the Corsair -- they're flavorful, they're unique, and they're just plain neat. Combine that with my love of melee and WildStar's Medic had me from hello. I really like getting into the paint with things, I like the idea of a healer focused on getting up close and dancing, and I love the idea that medics balance between being doctors and technological shock troops. So jumping into the beta, I was happy to dive into the shoes of the doctor and start doing a whole lot of harm to anyone and everyone who opposed the Dominion.
Massively's hands-on with WildStar's Engineer
It must have been serendipity that got me into the WildStar beta the week after the Engineer was announced (well, that or a PR push, but what are the odds?). As my friends, my family, and those who come within shouting distance of my voice know, I am always drawn to Engineers in video games. Whether the game be Team Fortress 2, Guild Wars 2, or Warhammer Online, if I have a big wrench, turrets, guns, pets, and/or lots of gadgets, I'm a pretty satisfied human being. WildStar's Engineer almost sounded too good to be true to me: a heavy armor-wearing ranged class that could DPS or tank while fielding combat robots. There might have been mention of a mech suit as well, but by that point I was twitching on the floor after suffering a happiness seizure. But would this perfect match on paper meet up to the cold, colorful reality when I got into the game? There was only one way to find out. Honey, take the kids out for the next two days, for I have space clobbering to do!
Massively's hands-on with WildStar's housing system and new classes
Call me a pacifist, but housing and healing are two of my favorite aspects to any MMO. Maybe it stems from a deep rooted desire for safety and comfort, or perhaps I'm just a real-life Hittori Hanzo: no longer interested in making instruments of death. Either way, WildStar's latest reveals have me excited. In the course of the most recent press beta, I scored some hands-on time with both new classes and glimpsed the newest changes to housing at a press event last week. The two new classes, Medic and Engineer, add variety to the healing and tanking game, while housing improvements turn homemaking into more than just a hobby. The upcoming MMO from Carbine Studios and NCsoft is turning out to be one rich frontier, ripe with potential for anyone looking for a new MMO home.
Massively's hands-on with WildStar's character creation
Character creators are a big deal to me. If I didn't have to make my characters quickly enough at launch to avoid losing my precious names, I would probably spend the better part of a month before clicking "create" the first time. So you know that the first thing I did when I sat down to play WildStar's recent press beta was to play around with the character creator. All right, that's the first thing everyone does: You have to make a character, but I was playing that to win, people. Character creation in MMOs usually falls short of what's offered in games like The Sims and Saints Row IV. At the low end you have games like Final Fantasy XI (pick a race, pick a face, pick a hair color, am I seriously done now?), and at the high end you've got Champions Online or the dearly departed City of Heroes. WildStar does not hit the high end, but it does do some things pretty nicely, even if it also misses some opportunities.
