Alrisaia
08-15-2013, 10:40 AM
Alrisaia’s Guide: Playing your Role
Work in progress - but coming along nicely. I'll ask to have it moved to the Guide section if the community believes it is worthy.
If anyone would like to help with specific builds for the below outlined 'classes' I'd be glad to include them with spoiler tags in their respective sections. Enjoy :)
Hi folks, I wanted to throw together another guide and I thought since MMOs are relatively new to this platform, and as Taejo has mentioned a number of times in various posts, many people in this game are new to the MMO concept. MMO being a shortened acronym for MMORPG meaning: Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game.
The key there is Role.
Dating back as far as I can remember I’ve played games with different types of ‘characters’ who have different purposes – even at five years old when I first learned to play chess. I was taught that there are different classes of pieces for different purposes. You would never use your knight for a gambit when a pawn could move to the same position. Fastforward many many years… and now I’m teaching my daughter to play chess.
Thus – I thought I might put together a guide for how to play your role properly and how the different classes in Arcane Legends work well with one another. Ultimately adding to everyone’s enjoyment of this MMORPG.
So lets talk about the origin of MMORPG games and more importantly their predecessors the RPG. These table-top pencil and paper games were so much fun, I remember spending hours around a table with a group of my best friends rolling dice and killing the most atrocious creatures that Gary Gygax (RIP) and the design teams at TSR could dream up. We spent many many hours weekly destroying imaginary dragons, and saving imaginary worlds from the most evil things out there! Sometimes we even flipped it around and played on the side of evil – but always we had roles to play.
Our GM (Game Master not Guild Master) made it a point to try his hardest (while being fair) to kill us all. We rarely died. We knew what our roles were, and how to play them to the best of our ability. I experienced playing all the different roles, however I ended up preferential to a Rogue role. We’ll get into some of the more specific classes below, but knowing the different roles and how they fit with one another makes a huge difference in how effective you are at playing your class and how well you play with others. Thus ensuring you are invited back to play with others who recognize your talent, skill, and understanding of the game.
The idea behind classifications for characters in RPG games was to enable everyone to have a unique experience and somewhat required that people work together as a team. These games typically followed the Tolkien / Medieval fantasy storylines for the most part and broke up classes of characters into three primary classes (sort of like the three primary colors). Warrior class, Rogue class, and Wizard class. Many games do this differently but the ultimate outcome is always that some players tend to be heavy on armor, others heavy on damage, while others still prefer magic.
So, with all of that background and boring stuff out of the way, I would like to introduce you to Alrisaia’s guide to Playing your Role:
If you see a term here that you don’t understand, read through it, find it in my glossary, then come back.
The three classes of Arcane Legends are as follows: Sorcerer, Rogue, & Warrior. Since the classes have different skills each can acquire and master, when four uniquely built toons get together, what you end up with is a beautifully rendered work of art with every color in the spectrum represented by a blend of the three different classes.
In this guide, I will attempt to list out various ways in which classes can be built and how their role fits in with the other. If you have a build that I fail to list – please feel free to share it in this thread and I may add it to this guide if it proves unique.
I am of the mindset of an Object Oriented Programmer and a function should do one thing – but it should do that one thing in the most efficient manner possible. I have the same feeling for character classes in RPG games. Your class should pick a duty, select a function, and do it as well as you possibly can given the skills you have to choose from.
The names associated with the different classifications of characters are names either I am using simply as reference or to distinguish one type of build from another for the same class. There are no ‘Tanks’ in AL, nor are there ‘Wizards’ but for the purposes of this guide I have made a distinction by using a colorful naming convention.
Warriors
The primary function of a warrior is to absorb damage. There are a number of ways to do so, but ultimately your goal as a warrior in a balanced party is to take the hits so that your friends don’t have to. In Arcane Legends there are a few different builds and although I won’t go into specific skillsets for those builds, we can discuss the functionality of those builds here with regards to the party dynamic.
Tanks
The tank is focused on two things – taking hits and holding aggro. Tanks are one of the most fun builds to play. Tanks prevent damage to their party by taunting enemies, positioning the group of mobs or boss in a corner or choke point. Tanks need to focus on armor and health as their primary means of surviving. In a balanced party in the midst of challenging content, if a tank dies: typically so does the rest of the party.
Tanks work well with classes that can dish out the damage best since their focus is holding the attention (maintaining aggro) on mobs, the damage dealers of the party typically can just open up their guns to full blast and spam their damage skills not having to worry about being attacked and killed.
Use pets that help you stay alive, add armor health, or help your team deal damage.
Off-Tanks
An off-tank is a warrior who concentrates on assisting a Tank when the going gets too tough. They take over aggro if and when a Tank appears to be faltering and help to maintain control of adds by pealing them off of the sorcerers and rogues. They play well in a group with a Tank and two rogues, since they can provide some added level of crowd control substituting for the mage by taking some aggro from the primary Tank and preventing damage that way.
Use pets that help your primary tank stay alive, or that can assist you with damage output.
Damage Warriors
While less effective than the Assassin or Wizard counterpart with regards to crowds, damage warriors can hold their own in a one on one match. Damage warriors shine when it comes to killing bosses. Their primary focus is to dish out damage. Since naturally a warrior will have high hit points and armor, this is an ideal solo build for a warrior. Focus on increasing your mana and being able to use your skills effectively.
Use pets that assist you with your damage output, crowd control, or mana regeneration.
Rogues
If a warrior is a sponge, and damage is water, a rogue is fireman’s hose.
Assassins / Backstabbers
These rogues rely on stealth and cunning to get close to their target and then annihilate them with a swift series of blows or in some instances a single attack. An assassin’s function is to take down a single target as swiftly as possible. Other games have labeled them snipers, because oftentimes they can kill an enemy in one hit.
Being an assassin oftentimes means you are vulnerable and can die easily since you lack in the hit points space. Focusing all of your skills on damage output costs you in the realm of defense.
Since Arcane Legends does not have a stealth function, the way to accomplish the exact same thing is to ensure you are not carrying any aggro. Save your attack until you’re sure you will hit the intended target, thus avoiding any incoming damage from various other mobs. Continue to attack your single target until it’s dead and then move on.
Assassins should spec with single target skills and take advantage of dps over damage if you rely on auto-attack.
Their primary form of defense is their agility and ability to dodge incoming attacks – avoid damage when you spec this way since you are a vulnerable class and if you end up biting off more than you can chew will oftentimes end up at the wrong end of a spear or arrow.
Use pets that assist you with your damage output or avoiding damage.
Rangers
These rogues are distance fighters and rely primarily on ranged attacks, but can if need be get in close and fight alongside a warrior when needed. They can take more hits than an assassin or backstabber, however are still vulnerable. Ranger’s specialty is in their ability to assist in all aspects of the game, they can help control crowds, they can dish out damage, and they can take some hits. Sometimes though, since they are a jack of all trades, rangers fall short in all categories and thus are masters of none. The diversity and flexibility of this class make it a fun class to play overall however.
Use pets that help with crowd control, damage output, or avoiding damage depending on the situation.
Mercenary
So, there was an off-tank class in a game I played many years ago they were called a mercenary – I always believed they were more like a rogue than a warrior, thus I have listed them here. A mercenary disguises himself as a rogue, but can take hits, hard hits, and still dish it out as well. While they have no ability to taunt, and no way to hold aggro – they fight side by side with the warriors and help to take some of the hits with the mobs they do end up pulling aggro from.
The idea behind this class is to deceive an opponent into believing you’re something that you’re not. While this rogue is still not as fast as his ranger or assassin counterparts at damage output, they can take hits.
Use pets that help with avoiding damage or increasing health and mana
Sorcerers
Enchanters
The enchanter is a master of mesmerizing their opponents. Their primary function in a group is crowd control and they do so in Arcane Legends by rooting, freezing, snaring, and stunning. An enchanter is focused on letting the rest of the team do the majority of the damage, while helping to group mobs into tight spaces and keeping the enemies immobilized and unable to inflict damage.
Use pets that assist you in your crowd control methods.
Wizards
The wizard drops bombs. Big ones. Onto enemies that causes mass destruction. Often referred to as nukers, a wizard’s function in a group is to deal as much damage as possible to as many mobs as possible in the least amount of time. A Wizard would spec
Use pets that help you deal more damage or recover mana faster.
Mages
A combination of the above two specifications comes into play when a Sorcerer wants to be able to control large crowds of mobs, as well as deal massive amounts of damage.
Use pets that help you maintain your mana reserves, assist with control crowds, or that help your team avoid damage.
Work in progress - but coming along nicely. I'll ask to have it moved to the Guide section if the community believes it is worthy.
If anyone would like to help with specific builds for the below outlined 'classes' I'd be glad to include them with spoiler tags in their respective sections. Enjoy :)
Hi folks, I wanted to throw together another guide and I thought since MMOs are relatively new to this platform, and as Taejo has mentioned a number of times in various posts, many people in this game are new to the MMO concept. MMO being a shortened acronym for MMORPG meaning: Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game.
The key there is Role.
Dating back as far as I can remember I’ve played games with different types of ‘characters’ who have different purposes – even at five years old when I first learned to play chess. I was taught that there are different classes of pieces for different purposes. You would never use your knight for a gambit when a pawn could move to the same position. Fastforward many many years… and now I’m teaching my daughter to play chess.
Thus – I thought I might put together a guide for how to play your role properly and how the different classes in Arcane Legends work well with one another. Ultimately adding to everyone’s enjoyment of this MMORPG.
So lets talk about the origin of MMORPG games and more importantly their predecessors the RPG. These table-top pencil and paper games were so much fun, I remember spending hours around a table with a group of my best friends rolling dice and killing the most atrocious creatures that Gary Gygax (RIP) and the design teams at TSR could dream up. We spent many many hours weekly destroying imaginary dragons, and saving imaginary worlds from the most evil things out there! Sometimes we even flipped it around and played on the side of evil – but always we had roles to play.
Our GM (Game Master not Guild Master) made it a point to try his hardest (while being fair) to kill us all. We rarely died. We knew what our roles were, and how to play them to the best of our ability. I experienced playing all the different roles, however I ended up preferential to a Rogue role. We’ll get into some of the more specific classes below, but knowing the different roles and how they fit with one another makes a huge difference in how effective you are at playing your class and how well you play with others. Thus ensuring you are invited back to play with others who recognize your talent, skill, and understanding of the game.
The idea behind classifications for characters in RPG games was to enable everyone to have a unique experience and somewhat required that people work together as a team. These games typically followed the Tolkien / Medieval fantasy storylines for the most part and broke up classes of characters into three primary classes (sort of like the three primary colors). Warrior class, Rogue class, and Wizard class. Many games do this differently but the ultimate outcome is always that some players tend to be heavy on armor, others heavy on damage, while others still prefer magic.
So, with all of that background and boring stuff out of the way, I would like to introduce you to Alrisaia’s guide to Playing your Role:
If you see a term here that you don’t understand, read through it, find it in my glossary, then come back.
The three classes of Arcane Legends are as follows: Sorcerer, Rogue, & Warrior. Since the classes have different skills each can acquire and master, when four uniquely built toons get together, what you end up with is a beautifully rendered work of art with every color in the spectrum represented by a blend of the three different classes.
In this guide, I will attempt to list out various ways in which classes can be built and how their role fits in with the other. If you have a build that I fail to list – please feel free to share it in this thread and I may add it to this guide if it proves unique.
I am of the mindset of an Object Oriented Programmer and a function should do one thing – but it should do that one thing in the most efficient manner possible. I have the same feeling for character classes in RPG games. Your class should pick a duty, select a function, and do it as well as you possibly can given the skills you have to choose from.
The names associated with the different classifications of characters are names either I am using simply as reference or to distinguish one type of build from another for the same class. There are no ‘Tanks’ in AL, nor are there ‘Wizards’ but for the purposes of this guide I have made a distinction by using a colorful naming convention.
Warriors
The primary function of a warrior is to absorb damage. There are a number of ways to do so, but ultimately your goal as a warrior in a balanced party is to take the hits so that your friends don’t have to. In Arcane Legends there are a few different builds and although I won’t go into specific skillsets for those builds, we can discuss the functionality of those builds here with regards to the party dynamic.
Tanks
The tank is focused on two things – taking hits and holding aggro. Tanks are one of the most fun builds to play. Tanks prevent damage to their party by taunting enemies, positioning the group of mobs or boss in a corner or choke point. Tanks need to focus on armor and health as their primary means of surviving. In a balanced party in the midst of challenging content, if a tank dies: typically so does the rest of the party.
Tanks work well with classes that can dish out the damage best since their focus is holding the attention (maintaining aggro) on mobs, the damage dealers of the party typically can just open up their guns to full blast and spam their damage skills not having to worry about being attacked and killed.
Use pets that help you stay alive, add armor health, or help your team deal damage.
Off-Tanks
An off-tank is a warrior who concentrates on assisting a Tank when the going gets too tough. They take over aggro if and when a Tank appears to be faltering and help to maintain control of adds by pealing them off of the sorcerers and rogues. They play well in a group with a Tank and two rogues, since they can provide some added level of crowd control substituting for the mage by taking some aggro from the primary Tank and preventing damage that way.
Use pets that help your primary tank stay alive, or that can assist you with damage output.
Damage Warriors
While less effective than the Assassin or Wizard counterpart with regards to crowds, damage warriors can hold their own in a one on one match. Damage warriors shine when it comes to killing bosses. Their primary focus is to dish out damage. Since naturally a warrior will have high hit points and armor, this is an ideal solo build for a warrior. Focus on increasing your mana and being able to use your skills effectively.
Use pets that assist you with your damage output, crowd control, or mana regeneration.
Rogues
If a warrior is a sponge, and damage is water, a rogue is fireman’s hose.
Assassins / Backstabbers
These rogues rely on stealth and cunning to get close to their target and then annihilate them with a swift series of blows or in some instances a single attack. An assassin’s function is to take down a single target as swiftly as possible. Other games have labeled them snipers, because oftentimes they can kill an enemy in one hit.
Being an assassin oftentimes means you are vulnerable and can die easily since you lack in the hit points space. Focusing all of your skills on damage output costs you in the realm of defense.
Since Arcane Legends does not have a stealth function, the way to accomplish the exact same thing is to ensure you are not carrying any aggro. Save your attack until you’re sure you will hit the intended target, thus avoiding any incoming damage from various other mobs. Continue to attack your single target until it’s dead and then move on.
Assassins should spec with single target skills and take advantage of dps over damage if you rely on auto-attack.
Their primary form of defense is their agility and ability to dodge incoming attacks – avoid damage when you spec this way since you are a vulnerable class and if you end up biting off more than you can chew will oftentimes end up at the wrong end of a spear or arrow.
Use pets that assist you with your damage output or avoiding damage.
Rangers
These rogues are distance fighters and rely primarily on ranged attacks, but can if need be get in close and fight alongside a warrior when needed. They can take more hits than an assassin or backstabber, however are still vulnerable. Ranger’s specialty is in their ability to assist in all aspects of the game, they can help control crowds, they can dish out damage, and they can take some hits. Sometimes though, since they are a jack of all trades, rangers fall short in all categories and thus are masters of none. The diversity and flexibility of this class make it a fun class to play overall however.
Use pets that help with crowd control, damage output, or avoiding damage depending on the situation.
Mercenary
So, there was an off-tank class in a game I played many years ago they were called a mercenary – I always believed they were more like a rogue than a warrior, thus I have listed them here. A mercenary disguises himself as a rogue, but can take hits, hard hits, and still dish it out as well. While they have no ability to taunt, and no way to hold aggro – they fight side by side with the warriors and help to take some of the hits with the mobs they do end up pulling aggro from.
The idea behind this class is to deceive an opponent into believing you’re something that you’re not. While this rogue is still not as fast as his ranger or assassin counterparts at damage output, they can take hits.
Use pets that help with avoiding damage or increasing health and mana
Sorcerers
Enchanters
The enchanter is a master of mesmerizing their opponents. Their primary function in a group is crowd control and they do so in Arcane Legends by rooting, freezing, snaring, and stunning. An enchanter is focused on letting the rest of the team do the majority of the damage, while helping to group mobs into tight spaces and keeping the enemies immobilized and unable to inflict damage.
Use pets that assist you in your crowd control methods.
Wizards
The wizard drops bombs. Big ones. Onto enemies that causes mass destruction. Often referred to as nukers, a wizard’s function in a group is to deal as much damage as possible to as many mobs as possible in the least amount of time. A Wizard would spec
Use pets that help you deal more damage or recover mana faster.
Mages
A combination of the above two specifications comes into play when a Sorcerer wants to be able to control large crowds of mobs, as well as deal massive amounts of damage.
Use pets that help you maintain your mana reserves, assist with control crowds, or that help your team avoid damage.