What classes do you enjoy? What don't you enjoy? Why?

[Teksura]

As development is pressing forward again, it's come time to take a moment to stop and ask "why" with a lot of class design. It's pretty easy to find how popular a class is just from the raw numbers, but popularity alone is a poor indicator of anything other than popularity.

For example, for a huge chunk of this breath the Eternal Soldier was considered to be the weakest Tank in the game due to their lack of aura (and thus lack of means to actually remove pets), and the Nexus Champion was considered to not only be better at tanking (especially pre-adaption nerf), but arguably the best at tanking in the game. However, according to the stats, we see 90 Eternal Soldiers to only 63 Nexus Champions. It would be foolish to assume based on these numbers alone that everyone thinks the Eternal Soldier is a better tank than the Nexus Champion. Other factors are in play. The Nexus Champion is a complicated and difficult class, with the need to balance its morality. Many popular classes like the Eternal Soldier, the Void Walker, the Revenant and the Wizard, by way of comparison are pretty straightforward classes with very simple mechanics. For those interested in looking at these stats, the page where they are displayed along with the popularity of skills is here.




As I said, the popularity of a class means somewhere between Jack and squat when it comes to determining balance. It's also really difficult to determine how enjoyable a class is when different people have different play styles and enjoy different things. It's really hard for someone who is accustomed to raiding all the time and enjoying that aspect of the game to get a grasp on what makes a pacifist non-raidy Advocate healer so enjoyable to people who prefer such a vastly different play style. Not everyone plays the game the same way, and it would be a disservice to the community if we tried to design the game with the expectation that everyone should. This is where you come in.




This isn't a debate on what class sucks or what class is overpowered. If you want to talk about that please feel free to make another thread. If people start arguing about how so-and-so is wrong I will split this thread, but I'll be very annoyed while I do it. This thread is to get feedback on what you find appealing or unappealing about the various classes. What do you enjoy in the game? What do you play for and how does your class selection fill that better than a different class you didn't pick?
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[ramby]

As a class, I think the lich is a perfect fit for me. I like that I only have to worry about a couple things; how much MP I have and how much AP I have. As long as I have those I can still do my primary things. That frees me up for things like carrying spellgems, or FaKs, or amphs. Literally anything else I would like to do, I can reasonably do. I mean, I might not be as good as a dedicated class or character, but it is still a boon that I might be helpful in addition to the semi-autonomous mobs I drag around.

Having had an attempt at an angel, I only made it to shepherd, I found that the constant fussing about MO really wasn't for me. Not just the fussing, mind, but the actual worry about it.

Limited experience, very true, but it is my experience nonetheless.

[Immanent_Eschaton]

Well, to quote Krombopulous Michael from Rick and Morty, "I will kill anyone anywhere. Children, animals, old people, doesn't matter. I just love killin'!"
So I chose classes based on that, for which I've found the ES to be one of the strongest characters in so far that Way of Lightening makes it fast, and the various high level hitting combos makes killing most everybody something that can be done with a few friendly punches. Where the ES is less effective is coming up against characters with serious soaks, for whom it becomes something of a slow slog. (You know who you are.)

The Doom Howler is a surprisingly effective killing machine, thanks to the combo of Gnashing Teeth, Doomblight and Enervate, which can get in under the soakiest of soakers. Also, the DH has a good bit of natural armor as well.

I'd say my third favorite killing machine is the Lich, just because you can sit back and watch the family doing the kllling, which can also become a recruiting session.

Peace and Killing,

IE

[elimyx]

I'm pretty much just here to second what ramby said, honestly. But, might as well tl;dr while I'm here.

My experience across both NW and NC has been that I live in a really weird timezone for raids and active folks. I either wake up just as everyone's done their Sorcerer's Might and what-have-you and logged off, or I wake up dead. I'm asleep before most raids start. This means combat-exits are pretty much useless to me - I'm sure they're a blast to play (I've always wanted to try Rev...) but without a reliable raid time or a proper T2+ support skill, there's not much for me to do with them.

So I play support. In NW, it was Dark Oppressor - enchanting + infusion (when Jorm pushed that) meant I had a tidy daily routine whenever I missed the late raid team. Here, I've got two Conduits and a Wyrm Master, the latter of which actually gets to raid sometimes and tends to make mincemeat when she does. Pet masters are fun, who'd've thunk. (Also Twisted Leap is an objectively fun movement skill)

Haven't played an angel yet, though. The idea of constantly repairing my morality doesn't really appeal to me.

Edit to elaborate a little on WM, since I saw others doing the same.

Like: Twisted Leap is a lot of fun, Dark Heart means you can be an active combat summoner if you feel like it, 3/4 pet trees have nicely defined roles, the acid immunity buff was nice. Liches might be a better petmaster overall (can't beat SM + healing), especially for long-term defense, but Wyrm has it's own niche that I enjoy.

Dislike: I'm not really sure what Hellhounds do now beyond "have more HP/do more damage then imps but not as much as a Wrack" - they don't feel like they have their own defined thing, and the Nether Hound upgrade actually takes stuff away which feels... weird. Like, imps can see invisibility, wreck durability, and hit fliers. Tentacles rejuvenate themselves. Wracks don't suffer pet decay. Hounds... just hit stuff? I dunno.
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[pyroshroom]

Nexus Champion:

Likes:
- Adaptation means that you can actually heal yourself while tanking when someone is attacking you.
- Adaptation also means that you can probably beat anyone in active combat
- Teleporting is a very quick way of getting to a particular faraway target
- Skills & Spells make the class very versatile
- Class is overpowered

Dislikes:
- Balancing morality is a pain, makes me play the NC more like a pacifist when I manage to get it to 0 MO.
- Pet tiger is kind of pointless since the pet attacks wreck your morality outside the SH, only useful to keep around a neutral faction's SH for defense. Also needs to be dismissed prior to tanking during a raid since the other pets will attack the tiger instead of you. Maevel zombies attacking your tiger still when your character is in Maevel means you can only use your tiger at the very end of the raid if the Maevel zombies haven't finished everything already.
- Teleporting interface is very slow and clunky
- Class seems too overpowered compared to other classes


Lich:

Likes:
- Being the strongest petmaster overall
- Being able to summon lots of self-sustaining ghouls
- Lots of pet damage type options + wights for damage floor of 2
- Fun killing all the leftover people with pets while raiding

Dislikes:
- Pet maintenance is a major pain with needing to check in so often, didn't feel like keeping up a bunch of pets sitting around after a while. Drains all your AP and MP.
- Costs a lot of AP to get anywhere with no travel skills
- Very sad when a tank just comes in and kills all your pets and you don't get any exp from the 1 damage pet attacks while you're trying to level up.
- Used to dislike how pets didn't give you any damage dealt stats. (Fixed in a patch)
- Dislike how graveyards don't give you infinite corpses to raise a ghoul army anymore


Conduit:

Likes:
- Wisp form is a very fun travel skill, also like how you can just stand there and pets don't attack you.
- Like being the best alchemist, very efficient in terms of component usage
- Like having no enchantment decay on death, allows for 6 soak enchanted clothing
- Role in creating potions and enchantments is vital to a raiding faction's ability to raid
- Reveal weakness is good if you're raiding with a petmaster

Dislikes:
- Costs a ton of CP to complete most of it's skill trees. Need to be very specialized/careful with the builds.
- Used to dislike how the conduit couldn't see what the enchants were on items (This was fixed)



Void Walker: Used to like this class for it's mobility, now I'm not really sure why it still exists. I would probably reset my VW into a different class if the breath wasn't ending this year.

Likes:
- Simple to play
- Very good at ward bashing/fort bashing for raids
- Has fun teleporting ability via worldgate to escape from battle
- 15 damage blood claws are very consistent and low maintenance

Used to like (Prior to nerfs):
- Great mobility via corner stepping indoors (Understandable nerf, was too powerful)
- Great mobility via stepping of the stones, good for gathering alchemy resources, other resources & raiding from far away (Still feel it was nerfed too hard for a 90 CP skill, NCs can get almost anywhere in Laurentia within 3 AP using a 30 CP skill and can bank spellgems for their MP usage)

Dislikes:
- Precision of the assassin means you save a lot of AP attacking tanks, but it also means you will usually die attacking tanks since most of the tanks have auras.
- Invisibility is equivalent to a single potion, not very unique.
- Doesn't have that many T3 skills, really only two different builds possible for this class
- 15 damage blood claws are weak compared to what the tank classes are currently capable of.
- The VW being a glass cannon feels pointless when you have other classes that are both more durable and capable of doing more damage while having comparable mobility.

[Cerce]

Hi cerce here and corrupter best class...enough said

[oath2order]

For me, I've found Archon to be the best class for faction-raiding. 40 AP to take down a full-powered evil ward with all 3 Sword skills, Word of Recall to take me home instantly if things go south, and the ass-load of MP I get from Cosmic Affinity+Mastery means I'll basically never run out.

As a Sword-Archon and not a Spell-Archon, I find myself only needing Eye of Judgement in the case of having to fight IBs. I probably should've have bought Dread Gaze, but, meh. Lesson learned.

[Rex]

So far I only have a pacifist Paladin and he has been a blast to play. He is hard to take down and the offensive skills look good as well. He'll be taking the Seraph route, most likely. Currently planning to make a second character an Eternal Soldier or Nexus Champion. Haven't decided yet.

With that said, the Infernal Behemoth was my favorite class back i'm Nexus War, and it is disappointing to see its one signature ability, bloodlust, being weakened so much. It was a sad day when Bob gave it an MP cost, and now its attack and damage bonus is really weak as well.

Oh, but it is amazing that you guys got rid of the infusion mechanic. Nice job!

[tremor3258]

Got three, so will describe.


Revenant

Has some interesting ways of being built and boosting synergies. Can put out a bunch of damage but fairly fragile, so have to be careful. I felt there was some thought to putting together a build here, and there were a couple paths I didn't take that would be fun.


Infernal Behemoth

Feels big and bad - I'm probably a tad suboptimal; definitely feels like a tank, but can contribute in enough ways with other items if all there is a need to break stuff. IB feels like it has a lot of flavor items between it and the Pariah exit, and that's very good.


Lightspeaker


My main complaint here is that things feel very 'tight' for a build. It's sort of difficult to be anything but a bunch of pets if you're interested in other support, maybe pick one. The class effects were solid, but I feel some of the other synergy skills are still working on getting the feel right, compared to say, lich.

[Dissident]

Enjoys.

Nexus Champion.
- Adaptation. The only skill in the entire nexus that enables you to survive a barrage of attacks that kills you in two seconds.

Conduit.
- The best support class in the game hands down.

Holy Transfer Advocate. (I own 2/6 of them lul)
- Shadow Wrap those death farmers! Please give me more fun spells to cast on people in the future.


Don't enjoy.

Anything that use guns. Curse ammo finding.



If I had to choose the best class in game it would be the Whispering Wind Holy Champs that are able to cast spells. Offense defense and utility in one package and none of that Morality thing of Nexus Champs. You can even play with your pet if you get lonely.

[Teksura]

[Edith]

Void Walker
Range of activities possible. Generally fun. Wish I had more credits for aspect shifts and name changes. It's tough being a faceless man...

Dark Oppressor (Enchanter). Ok support char. Short on damage output. Sometimes getting the minimum 10 damage to create ice can be a challenge.

Wizard. Good fun and surprisingly powerful. 3 days to recharge after a big day. Life is like that when you get older...

Eternal Soldier. Easy to play. If there is no raiding, it's boring.

Conduit - Awesome support character. Welcome in any faction.

Lich - Boring. Cut, summon, rejuvenate, wait for heal and repeat. I know there are other things you do with liches but my is my donation to the NC pet shields.

Archon - My only angelic character. Good damage and can make potions. Good fun to play.

Dark Oppressor - combat. Meh, not fun. Yeah can curse and kill anyone but it takes so much effort. Perhaps better as part of a raid team.

IB - Generally good to play. Nice being such a challenge to kill. Usually don't bother to return to the stronghold.

Doom Howler - Good killing ability. Best dodge in the game but it is just too expensive to use so it is only of use when raiding. I've stopped playing this character.


I believe I have more microfactions than an other player. I am in a less popular raid time so it is hard to participate in raids. I like being a solo faction member who can brew potions as well as knock down 1000HP wards.

For large factions, support characters work better. I need the small factions to keep the game fun so the tedium of the large factions doesn't get to me.

[Santril]

I’m a bit ashamed that my second post ever will be a short one. But this is a topic which I, as a citizen of the Nexus, am duty-bound, honor-bound, and positi-simply ‘required’ to post about!
I play a blood-guzzling Revenant, a reclusive Wizard, and an Eternal Soldier. I’m going to exclusively talk about my favorite, the ES. *ahem*
My playstyle is fluid, in that my goals change day-to-day. I don’t wanna be the strongest, fastest, tankiest, murderiest or philanthropic-estest player of all. There’s a class specializing at each of those. Where the ES shines is with its versatility, in and out of combat. I don’t use weapons or armor, so I never have more than ten pounds in my inventory. That means I can load up on medkits and go on a healing spree, or pick up whatever interesting items I come across. Yet even unarmed, my ES hits hard enough to break through a thousand-point SH ward and have AP left over to retake my faction’s flag. It’s a tough enough class to cross rivers of lava. I think the ES is too squishy to be a tank, but if I want to hunt, nothing short of an IB can withstand four solid hits with Way of Fire activated. Using Way of Lightning, the ES can move so fast that I’m guaranteed to find something interesting before I run out of AP.
Now, I do a lotta weird stuff. I periodically map out the sewers. I collect wine and vials of acid, and then start blindly clicking on my inventory screen as a makeshift game of Russian roulette. I’ll break into an SH just to wish the occupants a nice day before their pets kill me. And I CAN. The ES is special because it isn’t bound by the imaginations of the developers. It’s my ideal class, because it can do ‘anything.’
Hashaa above, I am a talker. Sorry, everybody. Those were my unfiltered thoughts.

[Badziew]

I am what you could call a "hardcore casual" player. I log in in my spare time, quite irregularly, and on top of that I live in Europe so I think I am in a different time zone than most of players are - the world definitely feels that way, as I cannot remember the last time I met someone active, usually it feels like I am the only person that is not asleep at the moment.

Because of that I really started to like pet master classes. Watching pet reactions to attackers is probably the closest thing to real-time interaction that I will ever have with anyone

So far I have only played two pet masters: a Lich and a Lightspeaker. I also thought about making a Wyrm Master to complete the set, but I got put off by its fluff description (yes, I know, a silly reason in a hindsight). And from my experience:

What I liked?
I can have some "proxies" to interact with world in my absence. I actually do like logging in and seeing that I was attacked or my pets lashed out at some unfortunate passer-by. What I would like to see would be to continue that trend and give pets more independence, even if it is only fluff customisation like idle animations or some kind of "battle cries" in combat. To feel even more like an armchair general... or at least a cat herder

What I did not like?
Pet maintenance. I log in too infrequently to reliably handle my pet swarm, for example a few ticks too late to rejuvenate them. I would prefer if maintenance was more automatic, for example some kind of "tax"/slowdown on AP and MP regeneration, or maybe rejuvenation being a pet action instead of master action (if master has enough AP&MP then take what you need, otherwise despawn).

[Tathers]

The best things I enjoy about this game is exploration, and a sense of community. I really don't think much when it comes to choosing characters. I do hate the feeling that I need to extremely plan out a character before I take any skills though.

I played a dark oppressor and a void walker this round mainly. I do have a conduit, but I found the character itself to be boring and useless. I tried to try out more classes but bored when I hit the 2 tier and didn't continue. Dark oppressor because story reasons (the person Neil interacts with most became an Advocate, so I figured it would be a nice duality thing) and Viod walker cause it was easy and I didn't have to think too much about it.

I do want to try out holy champion though, they seem like fun. I had one the final days of the last breath and I remember it being fun.

But I'm more of a casual player. I just like classes where I can find an easy path of creating a character and go that way to do it.