Forums » Pantheon Classes

What draws you to your class?

    • 6 posts
    March 31, 2018 4:02 PM PDT

    Hi guys, I'm Ewan, a relatively new player to mmorpgs (not including time in POE), the only real time I've had is in world of warcraft which just didnt present a challenge or reward to cover its downfalls. 

    What im wondering is What draws you to a class? is there certain items or weapon sets which you prefer? do you like being that big frontline tank or that powerful backline caster? or is there a certain feel from appearance that draws you to that role?

     

    Currently in the wait for pantheon release, i want to get back into concept/design art... but i lack the knowledge of what people want for specific classes and what people are drawn to in the appearance of an item. can't think of any people better than the community at hand to help me spark some ideas.

     

    Even if you don't go for appearance or persona, maybe your a stat chaser, all opinions are good opinions... within reason ;)


    This post was edited by EWAN at March 31, 2018 4:08 PM PDT
    • 73 posts
    March 31, 2018 7:34 PM PDT

    I tend to be drawn to classes that are unpopular along with a uncommon races, preferably a small one. No, I'm not a hipster. I feel like it will help me get groups, but that could backfire if the class is less useful than others. 

    Within that mindset I prefer a class that are specializes in Crowd Control or DPS but that's not in stone. The Tank classes seem to be the least popular on the forums so maybe I'll give the Paladin or Warrior a try.

    Being a challenging class is always a plus too.


    This post was edited by VicNuggets at March 31, 2018 7:35 PM PDT
    • 4 posts
    March 31, 2018 7:59 PM PDT

    Hello!  I tend to have three distinct things that will draw me to a class

    1) Jack-of-all-trades... or almost.  Can it do two of the main focus areas (tank, heal, damage)... and if so, can I push it to be successful as a backup for the role it "can't" do?  For example, in Everquest, the shaman class could heal, buff, debuff, and do damage.  It was also moderately durable... so could I push it to act as a full-time tank?

    2) Pets.  I love having a minion or two, whether it's a main component of the fight (like hunter pets in World of Warcraft) or as a fuzzy damage-over-time where I'm the main focus?  Either way, they can bring utility and fun!

    3) Novelty.  Is this a new approach to doing something, or an approach that has been missing from the games I play?  

     

    Like VicNuggets said, being a challenging class is a plus!  I also like a good class-based story line.  Let me quest through significant power gains and lore.  I'll try a more "mundane" class if the story behind it is really well done.

     

    • 6 posts
    April 1, 2018 5:12 AM PDT

    So what exactly makes a class challenging? Is it a vast amount of combos which can give a class a high-skill cap or maybe is it the interaction you would need with other players to play to the best effect?

     

    Novelty is a stange thing, althrough all the basic concepts have been taken, and alot of new outlets from them have been used - novelty is everywhere, its just hard to see now because theres so only so much difference you can make from trial and error (what weapons have worked and which haven't for example). Hopefully i provide a novel little style to the art forums, but thats the same for alot of people in this community which is what i like.

    • 624 posts
    April 1, 2018 5:52 AM PDT

    Ewan asked: What draws you to a class?

    Why hats, of course, preferably with a feather. Bards live to make their group look good...while looking good. 


    This post was edited by Kumu at April 1, 2018 11:05 AM PDT
    • 4 posts
    April 1, 2018 8:21 AM PDT

    Good question, Ewan.  To me, a challenging is not necessarily button-mashing, though keeping a close eye on skills and skill synergies is huge, and a fine line to dance.  I'm arthritic, so having too many buttons to cycle through becomes problematic.  "Challenging" could well be having lots of combos AND not having to use them all, all the time, to be optimal. Combat decisions are, or should be, important. 

    I look at things like:  Is my positioning important?  How can I position the target so others are protected? Can doing something at a certain time help my cohort?  Do I need to know what abilities they're using, so I can change mine to not block/overwrite/be useless?  Do I look marvelous in this tunic?

    • 1281 posts
    April 1, 2018 8:22 AM PDT

    I'm going to be honest....  Back when I first started playing MMOs, back in 1998, I read the description of the class that I have played ever since and never played another class.  I have completely skipped over MMOs that didn't have the class, or the class was substantially different.

    That class is Rogue.  I don't know what it is that draws me to the Rogue, but it's the only class that even remotely interests me.  Even my alts were Rogues.

    • 38 posts
    April 1, 2018 9:34 AM PDT

    Hi, everyone.  I tend to play ranged characters.  I much prefer raining death from a distance to being in the mob's face.  So I tend to stick with casters or healers.  I loved my druid in EQ and I'm sure I'll give the Pantheon druid a try.  I tend to go for hybrid classes that offer good solo ability as well as decent group utility, mainly because I don't want to spend my whole game time LFG.


    This post was edited by Ozmani at April 1, 2018 7:03 PM PDT
    • 6 posts
    April 1, 2018 11:48 AM PDT

    So hats, the bigger the feather the better i presume? 

     

    I also like positioning as the key thing in games like this but the problem is theres a small margin between to much and to little that it needs to be at, i feel that it doesnt necessary impact other areas of skill much but it is skill a key element they 100% have to get right for each class.

     

    kalok you've been playing MMOs longer then ive been alive - i first got into playing a rouge class from a lesser known browser based MMo called AQW (rip), i think its mainly the shady but intelligent way of approaching things with the addition, ofcourse, of brute force that makes the rouge so appealing

     

    as for as ranged goes, i just hope there are'nt ways to close gaps onto them every 2 seconds or that class is going to get walked off the pitch and into the cemetary- i hope to play a ranged class of what ever species i find most intresting, still working on that choice for now

    • 13 posts
    April 1, 2018 1:14 PM PDT

    I am always drawn to casters and healers. 

    For me, being the backbone of the party is a lot of fun. I'm not super big on tanking, as I don't really find myself trusting others to keep my health high or their threat low, even if I'm doing everything I can to manage it. I'm not a very good tank. But DPS was somewhat lacking for me. Melee fighters don't seem to have a lot of variety (get behin/next to it and slash/stab/punch/etc it) and that meant for a lot of lackluster combat to me. Doesn't mean I won't occasionally play a tank or melee dps, it was just not as fun. 

    Healing was my forte. I love the pressure of keeping everyone alive and well and, if I'm doing it right, not even thinking about their health bars, buffs/debuffs, etc. Micro managing a group so others don't need to worry about the small stuff and can focus on moving where they need to or pumping out DPS has always been entertaining. 

    Casting kind of follows suit a little. The variety of what I can do tends to be larger (spot heals, range dps, close range spells, DoTs, etcetc) and I often like the more casual feel of killing an enemy before it can even get within range to smack me with a stick. I also tend to like the names of the classes better - Mage, Bard, Wizard, Witch, Warlock.... It just sounds more we-have-cookies-on-the-dark-side. 

    • 6 posts
    April 1, 2018 1:50 PM PDT

    I've always liked playing healer, not over dps or tank but its still nice to do. saying that i hated my healer class in WoW, dot and quick cast time healing spells (someone called it flash healing i believe) just felt so non-impactfull compared to a big easy to see impact of channeled healing. Healers are the blood, dps are the bones, tanks are the muscle

     

    • 316 posts
    April 7, 2018 11:28 PM PDT
    Power - control over some ancient, perhaps forbidden, serious power draws me to classes. So I like the wizard, dire lord, and necromancer, and perhaps druid depending on how their spells are designed. I love creative spells that involve a class influencing or manipulating its environment in realistic ways - a druid calling an animal or animating a tree, a dire lord manipulating shadows or darkness and hate, a wizard altering matter. A shaman following unseen currents and communing with forces invisible to others, a paladin becoming supernaturally inspired and expressing the light generated inside him/her somehow. Got off on a tangent there, but it's all to say I loove realistic, creative ways classes can interact in the world.
    A fantasy of mine is a series of single player games focused on just one of those classes at a time - then the realistic, unique gameplay for each could really be explored and developed.
    • 43 posts
    April 9, 2018 3:10 PM PDT

    To be honest, it really depends on the game.  Some I may like the way DPS plays, others I like casters/support.  Same with melee or ranged.  Since you're making me think about it, though, I do like tanking.  "Why?" you may ask?  *shrug*  The visual/ideal part appeals to me because I've always been a fan of the "knight in shining armor" trope.  Even a lot of the sci-fi armor can be cool (Troopers from SW: ToR).  As for the role itself I guess I enjoy being in the thick of it while allowing others to do what they need to.  When I have a good day/encounter of tanking I do feel a sense of accomplishment.  


    This post was edited by Nightsong at April 9, 2018 3:11 PM PDT
    • 1 posts
    April 12, 2018 8:20 AM PDT

    This is a nice question that is obviously 100% opinionated. I would say what draws me to my character class depends on what I want to do for that session of playing. With the game being so far away, it's wonderful thinking about what class I will want to roll out, but hard to actually do it. I will have varying playing roles as well in RL.

    I will want to play solo because maybe I have time restaints one night. When this happens, I will want a class that I can manage independently, maybe have a Wiz or Druid. I will probably enjoy the root and nuke strat again. I know the game is built for community, but sometimes life happens and you want to play solo. The wizard will also be a good support DPS down the road if I continue leveling him behind my main class. I'll also get to enjoy the quests I enjoyed the first time with my main over again, to some degree.

    I will also want a shaman for my family class playtime. I will be playing with my kids from time to time. I feel a shaman is a pretty versitile class that can support a tank, healer and dps in a group. I like to be the Dad of the group. I've rolled shamans in all my games, I just love them! (slows, heal, debuff). I will have multiple accounts, so each will have a shaman. One for raiding and one for family play.

    For raiding though, I've always been a support class. I enjoyed the dirge/bard from EQ2 the most outside of the shaman. I'm not 100% sure where I will go there though. I know I won't be a tank, shaman, wizard or cleric though (not a healing fan) because I'll already be playing them to some degree in the game. I will have to see how the classes play out as the game gets closer to launch. If I had to choice now though, I'd say a summoner.

     

    Recap:

    Solo - Wiz

    Recreational Play - Shaman

    Raid - Can't decide until launch

     

    Thompy 


    This post was edited by Thompy8 at April 12, 2018 11:11 AM PDT
    • 13 posts
    May 7, 2018 8:22 AM PDT

    I favor melee. I favor AOE damage. I favor mana efficient abilities (lifetaps vs direct heals). I favor treading upon my enemies with an undead horde or cabal of crazed fanatics. I favor the look in a beaten foe's eyes when he realizes the inevitablity of his doom. I favor when hope dies. I favor the anti-hero.

    • 769 posts
    May 7, 2018 9:42 AM PDT

    Excellent question. 

    At first, I always mained a Rogue. Rogue/Assassin were always my favorite archetype, even as a kid. But then I rolled a Guardian Alt on EQ2, and a Warden Alt on LOTRO - both tanks - and have since shifted my focus. The reason for that really just centers around control. 

    The tank largely determines the pace of the group. You might have casters and healers that are excellent at conserving mana, and DPS'ers that are excellent at aggro maintenance, but if the tank is uncertain or just plain slow, then so is the party. But if the tank knows the pulls, knows the dungeon, knows when to pull and when to break, the group flows and the XP comes pouring in. When the tank knows the way, the group wins. 

    Sure, it's important for all classes to know a dungeon, but when the tank is knowledgeable, there's no back and forth. There's no crossed-wires. You listen to one man - the tank - and you destroy that dungeon. I like controlling the pace of the group, and I like the /tells I get later from strangers that grouped with me previously, asking me if I'm going to be running any dungeons later. It's a heady feeling. 

    Maybe I have control issues....

    • 116 posts
    May 7, 2018 11:38 AM PDT

    I always used to play the cleric in D&D games because no one else wanted to.  One day I figured, well if no one will be the cleric, I'll do it and I discovered that I liked it.  I like the feeling of playing something that was always needed.  The one role (healer) you simply could not do without.  You could make due without a tank, and I've seen some pretty eclectic groups in my gaming days, but you always needed a healer.  I enventually began to discover that I was always appreciated, and not just because I took one for the team by playing the healer.  In every battle I was always at the center of it all, keeping everyone pushing forward.  If we wiped, conquered, or pulled it out by the skin of our teeth I was always pretty vital to that equation.  Sure, people helped DPS, people helped perform utility tasks in the fight but I always felt like it came down to me.  And I don't mean that as arrogant as it sounds because I've played many other classes and enjoyed them, but none ever gave me that feeling of being so crucial.

     

    Whether that's God's truth or just my own interpretation I always liked the feeling.  It made 'me personally' feel like a hero, which is I guess what we are all after in these games.... our own heroic tale.  I've been a cleric in almost every game since.

    • 945 posts
    May 8, 2018 12:11 PM PDT

    I prefer playing the savior of my allies (evil and good being a matter of one's perception).  So my choices are Dire Lord/Paladin as tank options or cleric/druid as healer options depending on their gameplay.  I typically play races that have humanlike dimensions but usually not human when other options are available.. but since the Paladin is only available as human and dwarf I may play a human Paladin depending on customization.  If human customization is not up to par I will likely go with Dark Myr DireLord... and depending on how smooth melee functions will determine if I go Druid/Cleric.  The playstyles of the druid/cleric will determine which of those I play.

    What I consider fun gameplay could simiply be identified as engaging but not overly complicated.  Something I would consider overly complicated would be the abilities in EQ2 that turned into a button mash game that nobody knew what their abilities did.  (I know that's not the issue in PRotF, but its just an example that comes to mind).  The combat system in BDO was incredibly engaging but I fear is too difficult to put into a game like PRotF.

    • 346 posts
    May 9, 2018 8:09 PM PDT

    Enchanters carry magnets. Thats what draws me to them. They have magnets.

     


    This post was edited by Janus at May 9, 2018 8:12 PM PDT
    • 29 posts
    May 18, 2018 5:53 PM PDT

    I'm drawn to physical anomalies, buried things, technological artifacts, sudden disasters, intense emotions, infrared, chaotic and basic energy that is incompatible to normal magic, and indomitable will.

    My perfect class does not exist, but sustained damage from multiple sources with very complex skills works along with anything frantic (I knew all the skills I used in EQ2). Anything that makes me feel like I'm playing a real time strategy game without having to press a million keyboard keys like the real ones do is the best.

    So it would have to be caster/tank, where the tank part is projected outside of me...a general "power below (not behind) the throne" where no one seeks me out or even knows what I do, but things I'm responsible of maintaining in existence do the work I could not do alone. In Pantheon I do not believe any class fits better than Summoner...I may be weak, but that's the sacrifice to create and help others who are stronger (and hopefully inorganic). Enchanter can give me the same feeling in a group, but I'd rather be opposed to what Enchanters stand for (a lot of them in my early days seemed stuck up with their C3 buffing "donations" and everyone wanting them...and they always stopped me from doing AoEs). I may like healers, but I'm not so sure...EQ1's Cleric was nice until I got a full group and everyone kept waiting for my mana to rise thanks to terrible tanks.

    It's strange really, I want to tank but I don't like basic melee or being in the front-line of a raid. I want to do sustained damage to many mobs, but I don't want it to be a single AoE DoT...and I can do really well in the front-line of a group. I need that occult, lonely, burning, alien feeling to the class. If Summoner were given the ability to use positively-charged telekinetic crescents as a sort of "ranged melee" and infrared lasers with up to 100% piercing damage (or slow-moving red lightning) then it would be closer to my ideal.

    • 4 posts
    May 21, 2018 3:50 PM PDT

    Well, I love a good shield.  Sword and Board, Board and Axe (my favorite), or Board and Lance . . .

    In any game I've played, I would always choose the class that uses a shield.  I'm hoping that some classes in Pantheon will be able to use one, and that the shield will have a function, not just a decorative one. I think a shield should be useful as it is in  battle, to bash, to block, to stun.  Obviously a 2H weapon will do more damage, and a shield may not protect against magic attacks very well--that's a given.  I like the role of an off tank, a melee damage dealer in the front line, or protecting the healers or magic users further back.  

    As for a class, I've always played a hybrid or as close as I can get.  I really loved playing a thane in DAOC.  I'm looking for as close as I can get to that in Pantheon, but I'm not sure what it would be.   Any suggestions?


    This post was edited by Kelda at May 21, 2018 3:59 PM PDT
    • 2886 posts
    May 22, 2018 3:32 AM PDT

    Kelda said:

    Well, I love a good shield.  Sword and Board, Board and Axe (my favorite), or Board and Lance . . .

    In any game I've played, I would always choose the class that uses a shield.  I'm hoping that some classes in Pantheon will be able to use one, and that the shield will have a function, not just a decorative one. I think a shield should be useful as it is in  battle, to bash, to block, to stun.  Obviously a 2H weapon will do more damage, and a shield may not protect against magic attacks very well--that's a given.  I like the role of an off tank, a melee damage dealer in the front line, or protecting the healers or magic users further back.  

    As for a class, I've always played a hybrid or as close as I can get.  I really loved playing a thane in DAOC.  I'm looking for as close as I can get to that in Pantheon, but I'm not sure what it would be.   Any suggestions?

    Sounds like Paladin will be your best bet. I don't think they'll be quite as much of a "hybrid" as other games, but will certainly have more healing/utility than a Warrior, and they'll be able to do everything else you mentioned. I agree that shields should be more meaningful than they are in most games.

    • 4 posts
    May 22, 2018 11:32 AM PDT

    Thanks very much for the suggestion!  I will definitely look at Paladin.  

     

    • 945 posts
    May 22, 2018 12:45 PM PDT

    @Kelda - Like Baz said, it sounds like the Paladin may be the choice for you.  The Paladin's race options are restrcited to Human and Dwarf but another class that is a protector that can use a shiled would be the Warrior which is available to almost all races... but the Paladin sounds almost like the class you described.

    • 42 posts
    May 22, 2018 6:10 PM PDT

    I've always been drawn toward pet classes in most games because there's something satisfying about being able to summon various creatures and watch them do the tanking for you. My dilemma has always been that I also enjoy knight-type classes and pet classes are almost always cloth-type and squishy. In EQ I ended up picking Shadowknight, but found the pet to be horrendously weak, as was expected. It was almost useless really, but I got both things I wanted so I never complained.

    With the release of Agnarr I actually made a Cleric because I wanted to switch things up and practice for Pantheon. I found the EQ cleric to be boring because I essentially just tabbed out for a few minutes, tabbed back in and healed (sometimes not even necessary), then tabbed back out. It would occasionally get hectic and I found joy in frantically trying to keep the group alive during tough encounters, but those moments were few and far between.

    Now my first ever character in EQ (which was my first MMO) was a Ranger, so I was thinking of running a Ranger in Pantheon, but I'm still quite undecided until I see the rest of the class reveals.