I want to preface this as a discussion. This is not intended for me to criticize Joppa or anyone working on class design/class balance. I would like to think that Joppa and I have similar design/balance philosopies. As an aspiring Game Designer, this is my method and approach to Class Balance. I posted this topic on the mmorpg forums and was pretty well recieved. I do give a WoW example, because I believe WoW is notorious for not comprehending this or inept lol. My apologies for it being long winded.
Let’s define what is NOT Class Balance.
- Homogenization
- Mass utility distribution to every class of the same types of utility. *Utility = stuns, snares, roots, interrupts, silences, fear, self-heals, buffs, debuffs and nullifies (lose control of character, hard CC)
- Same damage/healing outputs and mitigation input.
Let’s define what IS Class Balance. (The scale of balance should represent the strength and weaknesses, not the distribution)
- Class abilities have specific strengths that are balanced with their specific weaknesses.
- The tool kit for every class/role are different, no mass utility distribution of the same utility. Includes, ability type, ability power, frequency of ability used, resource cost of ability etc.
- Roles of classes have clear strengths and weaknesses opposed to classes that share the same role and have different roles. DPS should have clear strengths and weaknesses, Tanks and Healers or any other core role in the game should share that philosophy.
Let’s define what a Class is. – A class is an avatar of a role with a unique thematic tool kit that best represents that classes identity and role.
Core Gameplay Caveat
I believe Class Balance can be best achieved when its focused on one core gameplay stream. (PVE or PVP). When both core gameplay streams are blended in the game, it creates a harder experience for classes to be balanced around them. I do believe, the method described below can help create a healthy balance between both streams of gameplay at its very essence. A lot of variables have to be taken into consideration. The below method is a general way to class balance.
A Good Class Balance Method
Class balance promotes a robust class identity, competition with classes who share their respective roles and creates more diversity, rather than limiting or homogenizing all those elements. To achieve this is through a Layered Approach coupled with a Weight of Power Method.
The Weight of Power Method
The Weight of Power method assigns a value to every type of ability a class has access to in the game. That value determines the power that ability has in many scenarios. Power is described at tackling the content/encounters easier than what it may be attended for.
What helps build class identity is the different types of abilities a class may have access to. There are parent abilities like damage, and its children, direct, damage over time, piercing, area of effect, channeled etc. (Same for healing).
Then there are different parents and children of utility abilities. For instance, Parents = Soft CC & Hard CC.
Soft CC Children = Snares, Roots and Hard CC Children = Stuns and Nullifies. Sure, these are some examples of ability types, but the way the ability functions creates the identity for that class in some cases. Each of these parents and children has a Weight of Power value assigned to them.
Weight of Power helps balance the distribution of types of abilities as well as the penalty associated with that ability assigned to a Class/Role.
Classes should have a threshold of how many Parent and Children of ability should be assigned to them. These numbers are all predetermined as well as the threshold cap. The threshold cap is dependent on the total number of abilities the classes have access too. Since every ability has a value assigned to them, to get the Weight of Power is to simply get the mean of all the values. *Not going to be doing this right now because this is solely dependent on additional variables. The intent here is to show on the surface of the system.
We are going to dive into two hard CC abilities in WoW. We are just going to look at these abilities’ functionality wise only.
For example sake, the Weight of Power range is between 1 and 5. With 5 Being the strongest.
Typically, in a general sense most Hard CC Weight of Power Value is 5 out of 5. Why? Stuns and Nullifies completely lose control of the player or NPC and they cannot attack nor move. But there are many forms of Hard CC.
Polymorph Vs. Cyclone PVP.
Similarities = Both abilities can be casted with no cooldown, both are castable and can be interrupted, both have diminishing returns, and both provide a Hard CC.
Differences = Polymorph is a 8 second initial duration, Cyclone is a 6 second initial duration, Polymorph heals target over time to full HP, Cyclone does not heal but provides a damage immune. Damage breaks poly and damage does not break Cyclone.
I would assign Polymorph a 3 out of 5 Weight of Power Value and Cyclone a 5 out 5 Weight of Power Value.
Cyclone is inherently more powerful than Polymorph because of Cyclone’s immune. Does Polymorphs two additional second duration impact the balance significantly? Some would argue yes and others no. I would argue that it would not justify the balance. Polymorph’s Weight of Power Value is lower because it simply heals the target. In PVP that is huge, and a clear disadvantage as opposed to Cyclone. How would you balance Polymorph to make it a 5 out of 5 Weight of Power in PVP?
There are multiple ways around this. Diminishing returns will stay as is. One way is to omit the healing function of Polymorph, however, that slightly diminishes identity. Another way is to keep the healing aspect of Polymorph but use it as an instant cast spell so it cannot be interrupted. Another is to increase CC duration with the healing aspect of the ability to an additional 3 seconds. I think these are all valid ways to improve Polymorph in PVP against Cyclone.
The Layered Class Balance Approach
Layer 1 of Class Balance = This is where you define what roles are needed in the game to create the identity of the entire class structure. You balance the roles at their very core, which is damage/healing output with damage mitigation, HP/Mana ratios, etc. Fundamental stuff. This is where you balance and Assign Weight of Power to all ability types, parents and children.
Layer 2 of Class Balance = This layer is where you determine if there are Pure and Hybrid classes and balance the damage/healing output, damage mitigation, HP/Mana ratios etc against Pure classes and Hybrid classes. Typically, this can be a hard layer to balance if there are a lot of Hybrid classes. Hybrids are a class that can perform two roles and in itself creates an imbalance. Hybrids can be either overly powerful or underwhelming under powered.
Layer 3 of Class Balance = This is where you would assign what classes have access to what Type of abilities in their tool kit. This is where the mean of the Weight of Power comes into play to help balance the classes.
Layer 4 of Class Balance = Layer 4 is where you balance the number values for each ability’s output and penalty. If Fireball is a Weight of Power of 5 for Direct Damage, what is its penalty to counterweight that 5? A long cast time? Increased fizzle chance? Triple amount of mana or resource used to cast? Long cooldown? All those variables and questions come into play in this layer.
Layer 5 of Class Balance = This is the layer that I believe most players and designers focus too much of their attention on and ignoring the previous Layers. The focus is on the output of power the ability can do and adjust that output number in accordance with Layer 4.
This seems like a very limiting approach to balancing abilities and classes/races. There are way too many factors to consider when determining how powerful an ability is. Things such as how often it would be resisted, are some mobs immune to some abilities and not others (for example, immune to mesmerization effects but can be rooted). Do certain abilities do extra damage vs Undead. Do certain abilities work well with other abilities.
While I agree with the "don't homegenize the classes to achieve class balance" part, I must say the biggest part of class balance is: is the class fun and enjoyable; and would people want to play it and enjoy playing it in spite of having other choices of classes and/or races. Sure, some classes may achieve better results in some specific task that is part of their "primary" role (maybe rogues do the best dps, as long as they are able to backstab opponents), but other options that other classes have could balance that out (maybe rangers get buffs that improve attack scores of allies, causing a melee heavy group to do more damage than having a rogue).
And lastly, the post starts out about balancing classes, but ends by balancing single abilities. Was this your intent with this post?
I was trying to convey, a very on the surface approach and showcase the design philosophy to class balance. Of course, there are a ton of variables to consider. I can't consider every variable in this post or this would become a novel. I decided to go with the ability example to express the philosophy and the approach to the method. A class is extremly complex and I didn't want to tackle every avenue to balance a class in one thread. What examples can you provide that support this approach being limiting? I did address most of what you listed there. I didn't address every single aspect because there are a plethora of different things to consider. That is also how the class design structure is built as well at a foundational level.
I like the layered balance approach. I've mentioned something similar as one of my concerns with mitigation being a core principal of tanking (layer 1) and how critical it is to get right from the beginning because there are going to be SO many additional variables added (as kelinin mentioned above) that balancing it later will lead to massive changes needed if it isn't right by layer 1 - core mechanic - before moving onto the rest of the game.
Hey Darch, thanks for your response! I think its a more formatted approach and can be picked apart easier when balancing is needed. It could be a good way to help troubleshoot as well. I think so many developers just don't even consider Layer 1 in balancing the structure of the roles first. I am pretty confident that Joppa has a good philosophy and Pantheon will be better balanced than most mmo classes right now. I just feel like many have a misunderstanding of class balance and it is not all about the numbers, even though the numbers play a vital role.