Romple-WHA
07-30-2007, 09:41 AM
Romple's thoughts on the Bright Wizard
INTRODUCTION
I had the chance to play WAR a bit at Baltimore Gamesday and a few people asked me to write my thoughts on the Bright Wizard and the game in general. So I hope this provides people with some insight into what they can look forward to. Keep in mind throughout this writeup that what I played is just an early incarnation of the class(es) and by release things shall surely be different (and many things will no doubt remain the same). So let the reader use discretion. :-)
Just a little about my background. I've played casters since my first experiences in online RPGs playing GemStone3 (a MUD). I then played a Wizard in EQ, Nanomage in AO, Runemaster/Wizard/Enchanter in DAoC, Mage/Warlock in WoW, amongst other classes and other games. I guess you can say I have a lot of experience in playing casting classes and mmorpgs in general. I hope that gives me some bit of credibility. Onward with my thoughts of the BW and the game in general.
ON ABILITIES
The first thing I did when getting my hands on the keyboard was check out my abilities. I had normal abilities, able to be used any times. I had morale abilities that were usable upon gaining a certain level of morale. And lastly the tactics abilities, which were really buffs you equip on your character. There were TONS of tactics abilities, and I could really customize my play style depending on which ones I equipped.
Tactics abilities were very varied, from increasing damage, crit %, stats, etc... I had a limited number of tactics slots and each tactic would take up a certain amount. If you've played LOTR Online and know how the deed system works then you'll be familiar with WAR tactics, although the two systems are different. I was impressed with the diversity and the usefulness of some of the tactics I had access to.
My regular abilities were pretty common fare. I'm not reviewing abilities just trying to shed light on how the wizard played. I had my standard DD spells, AE spells, etc... I had combination abilities, such as having to ignite my target with one spell before making him explode with another. There were roots, damage buffs, damage shields. Everything was centered around FIRE though, which makes sense and is very appealing to pyros like myself. I didn't see any abilities that were useless, and using the right abilities at the right time made for an extremely lethal wizard.
What will turn an effective class into a deadly class was the morale abilities. There were numerous ones to choose from, and a limited amount of slots to put them in. I opted to load up on extremely high damage AE spells. There were different ranks of each ability that you had to equip, and by raising morale levels (20%, 40%, 60%, etc..) it made higher levels of these abilities accessible. At the end of one round I tallied up over 14,000 damage. The next highest in the scenario was about 6,000. I also had the highest number of kills and lowest deaths. This was the last round I played, and I was conscious to use my morale abilities often and effectively.
GAMEPLAY
Gameplay in general was pretty typical of a caster class, but loads and loads of fun. Damage is your sole focus, and Mythic has clearly developed a class that is capable of doing damage. As a caster, you'll no doubt want to avoid getting seen and worse, getting caught, by all means. I tried finding positions where I was protected and maybe a bit hidden. This proved effective.
In one scenario there was a broken bridge where you had to jump across a gap to get to the other side. Across the bridge was an area that proved to be the center of many battles. I stood across the gap in the bridge and picked people off at range, as well as raining down AE spells on the mass of people. In the chaotic melee, i assume many people did not even realize I was nuking them from afar. Those that did would usually get taken down before they could reach me. Still others would reach the bridge, but miss the jump and end up falling into the chasm below. When people did jump across I would just jump across myself and try to lose them in the fray.
Trying to stay out of harms way is always a good idea. However, I'd eventually get spotted and there would be a beeline of people charging at me. Even still, I had some abilities to help me out. Usually in situations like that I'd unload my AE spells and fire off an 80% morale firestorm ability if it was available, then when people got close I'd let out a Firebreath spell (one of the coolest spells I've ever seen) which was a frontal arc based AE spell. You literally breathe fire, and a lot of it! (One game I was bugged from the beginning of the scenario and the flame was constantly spewing from my mouth. Just an animation bug but I was running around breathing fire for 15 minutes straight). Often times more than a few people would turn around and run the other way from the sheer onslaught of damage, which always made me laugh. But there were always the brave(?) and smart(?) who continued the charge.
However even with people poking me with swords and slashing me with axes I was not helpless. Don't expect to be able to tank numerous people. But in most situations I had enough time to at least react and try to do something to prolong my life. I was never in a situation where i felt completely and utterly hopeless unless the odds were just insanely tipped against me (like 8 v 1). I didn't have to relive painful memories of stunlocks, chain fears, insta-gibs, etc... The BW is a soft class, but not a helpless one, and at times even in 2v1 and 3v1 situations I was nimble enough and used the right abilities to at the very least survive long enough to receive a heal or help from comrades. On a few occasions I was able to take out 2 or 3 people myself.
COMPARING THE MAGUS
I also played the Magus for a round. While I didn't get a lot of time to try out all my abilities (destruction got their asses kicked that round) I did learn a little bit about the differences between the classes. The Magus abilities, while definitely lethal, were not as centered on up front direct damage. There were, of course, DD spells. But they had a larger arsenal of utility spells such as debuffs and DoTs. (oh btw, floating around on the disc was definitely cool, although my guy didn't have to use the bathroom so I can't comment on that... or stairs... or getting changed... ). But still, the magus is a caster and a DPS class and you will definitely not be on the bottom of the DPS meter (i just said that to make former *cough*wow*cough* players cringe, and yes i cringed myself at the thought, and no there was no DPS meter).
The two classes played differently. Obviously, being casters, they had a similar feel to them. But the two classes are iconically different, and their abilities and play styles show this to be true.
BALANCE
The game balance seemed very reasonable. I could do damage, and i could sponge up enough of it to not die instantly, but i was in no way dominant because of my class. I have tons of experience playing mmorpgs and casters so I felt at home w/ the BW immediately and instinctively knew how to play the class. But I did not feel overpowered, or even more powerful than other classes. I was very cautious to avoid orks, as the choppas could chop me down very efficiently. Squigs seemed to have a taste for me as their herders pelted me from afar. I was definitely not playing on God mode, and was hardly invincible. I did not feel too squishy, and did not feel that i could charge into a melee fray and walk out unharmed. Everything felt just right to be honest. Kudos to Mythic for doing a fine job balancing so far.
CONCLUSION
I hate comparing classes from one game to another, but think Fire Wizard from DAoC on severe doses of steroids. If you like unloading tons of damage, and doing it with style, you will love playing the Bright Wizard. The class has the ability to unload lethal amounts of damage, and the game is designed in a way that, even though you're a squishy, you are not helpless. You will not be insta-gibbing anyone and you will not be inta-gibbed yourself. But you will be gibbing people... just at a reasonable pace.
I walked away from my gaming sessions ecstatic to be honest. My gaming experience was extremely pleasing. I had tons of fun and I could not stop talking about the Bright Wizard. My brother and I talked about the game the entire ride back to New York City (well when he wasn't passed out asleep haha)
I hope this shed some light on what to expect from the Bright Wizard and WAR itself. If you read the entire write-up I thank you. It was a lot to write about a class that "just does damage"!
Cheers to Mythic on developing such an outstanding game so far. We will not be disappointed when we finally get our hands on this beast of a game. If the rest of the game is as fun as the few scenarios I had the chance to play we really have a winner to look forward to!
INTRODUCTION
I had the chance to play WAR a bit at Baltimore Gamesday and a few people asked me to write my thoughts on the Bright Wizard and the game in general. So I hope this provides people with some insight into what they can look forward to. Keep in mind throughout this writeup that what I played is just an early incarnation of the class(es) and by release things shall surely be different (and many things will no doubt remain the same). So let the reader use discretion. :-)
Just a little about my background. I've played casters since my first experiences in online RPGs playing GemStone3 (a MUD). I then played a Wizard in EQ, Nanomage in AO, Runemaster/Wizard/Enchanter in DAoC, Mage/Warlock in WoW, amongst other classes and other games. I guess you can say I have a lot of experience in playing casting classes and mmorpgs in general. I hope that gives me some bit of credibility. Onward with my thoughts of the BW and the game in general.
ON ABILITIES
The first thing I did when getting my hands on the keyboard was check out my abilities. I had normal abilities, able to be used any times. I had morale abilities that were usable upon gaining a certain level of morale. And lastly the tactics abilities, which were really buffs you equip on your character. There were TONS of tactics abilities, and I could really customize my play style depending on which ones I equipped.
Tactics abilities were very varied, from increasing damage, crit %, stats, etc... I had a limited number of tactics slots and each tactic would take up a certain amount. If you've played LOTR Online and know how the deed system works then you'll be familiar with WAR tactics, although the two systems are different. I was impressed with the diversity and the usefulness of some of the tactics I had access to.
My regular abilities were pretty common fare. I'm not reviewing abilities just trying to shed light on how the wizard played. I had my standard DD spells, AE spells, etc... I had combination abilities, such as having to ignite my target with one spell before making him explode with another. There were roots, damage buffs, damage shields. Everything was centered around FIRE though, which makes sense and is very appealing to pyros like myself. I didn't see any abilities that were useless, and using the right abilities at the right time made for an extremely lethal wizard.
What will turn an effective class into a deadly class was the morale abilities. There were numerous ones to choose from, and a limited amount of slots to put them in. I opted to load up on extremely high damage AE spells. There were different ranks of each ability that you had to equip, and by raising morale levels (20%, 40%, 60%, etc..) it made higher levels of these abilities accessible. At the end of one round I tallied up over 14,000 damage. The next highest in the scenario was about 6,000. I also had the highest number of kills and lowest deaths. This was the last round I played, and I was conscious to use my morale abilities often and effectively.
GAMEPLAY
Gameplay in general was pretty typical of a caster class, but loads and loads of fun. Damage is your sole focus, and Mythic has clearly developed a class that is capable of doing damage. As a caster, you'll no doubt want to avoid getting seen and worse, getting caught, by all means. I tried finding positions where I was protected and maybe a bit hidden. This proved effective.
In one scenario there was a broken bridge where you had to jump across a gap to get to the other side. Across the bridge was an area that proved to be the center of many battles. I stood across the gap in the bridge and picked people off at range, as well as raining down AE spells on the mass of people. In the chaotic melee, i assume many people did not even realize I was nuking them from afar. Those that did would usually get taken down before they could reach me. Still others would reach the bridge, but miss the jump and end up falling into the chasm below. When people did jump across I would just jump across myself and try to lose them in the fray.
Trying to stay out of harms way is always a good idea. However, I'd eventually get spotted and there would be a beeline of people charging at me. Even still, I had some abilities to help me out. Usually in situations like that I'd unload my AE spells and fire off an 80% morale firestorm ability if it was available, then when people got close I'd let out a Firebreath spell (one of the coolest spells I've ever seen) which was a frontal arc based AE spell. You literally breathe fire, and a lot of it! (One game I was bugged from the beginning of the scenario and the flame was constantly spewing from my mouth. Just an animation bug but I was running around breathing fire for 15 minutes straight). Often times more than a few people would turn around and run the other way from the sheer onslaught of damage, which always made me laugh. But there were always the brave(?) and smart(?) who continued the charge.
However even with people poking me with swords and slashing me with axes I was not helpless. Don't expect to be able to tank numerous people. But in most situations I had enough time to at least react and try to do something to prolong my life. I was never in a situation where i felt completely and utterly hopeless unless the odds were just insanely tipped against me (like 8 v 1). I didn't have to relive painful memories of stunlocks, chain fears, insta-gibs, etc... The BW is a soft class, but not a helpless one, and at times even in 2v1 and 3v1 situations I was nimble enough and used the right abilities to at the very least survive long enough to receive a heal or help from comrades. On a few occasions I was able to take out 2 or 3 people myself.
COMPARING THE MAGUS
I also played the Magus for a round. While I didn't get a lot of time to try out all my abilities (destruction got their asses kicked that round) I did learn a little bit about the differences between the classes. The Magus abilities, while definitely lethal, were not as centered on up front direct damage. There were, of course, DD spells. But they had a larger arsenal of utility spells such as debuffs and DoTs. (oh btw, floating around on the disc was definitely cool, although my guy didn't have to use the bathroom so I can't comment on that... or stairs... or getting changed... ). But still, the magus is a caster and a DPS class and you will definitely not be on the bottom of the DPS meter (i just said that to make former *cough*wow*cough* players cringe, and yes i cringed myself at the thought, and no there was no DPS meter).
The two classes played differently. Obviously, being casters, they had a similar feel to them. But the two classes are iconically different, and their abilities and play styles show this to be true.
BALANCE
The game balance seemed very reasonable. I could do damage, and i could sponge up enough of it to not die instantly, but i was in no way dominant because of my class. I have tons of experience playing mmorpgs and casters so I felt at home w/ the BW immediately and instinctively knew how to play the class. But I did not feel overpowered, or even more powerful than other classes. I was very cautious to avoid orks, as the choppas could chop me down very efficiently. Squigs seemed to have a taste for me as their herders pelted me from afar. I was definitely not playing on God mode, and was hardly invincible. I did not feel too squishy, and did not feel that i could charge into a melee fray and walk out unharmed. Everything felt just right to be honest. Kudos to Mythic for doing a fine job balancing so far.
CONCLUSION
I hate comparing classes from one game to another, but think Fire Wizard from DAoC on severe doses of steroids. If you like unloading tons of damage, and doing it with style, you will love playing the Bright Wizard. The class has the ability to unload lethal amounts of damage, and the game is designed in a way that, even though you're a squishy, you are not helpless. You will not be insta-gibbing anyone and you will not be inta-gibbed yourself. But you will be gibbing people... just at a reasonable pace.
I walked away from my gaming sessions ecstatic to be honest. My gaming experience was extremely pleasing. I had tons of fun and I could not stop talking about the Bright Wizard. My brother and I talked about the game the entire ride back to New York City (well when he wasn't passed out asleep haha)
I hope this shed some light on what to expect from the Bright Wizard and WAR itself. If you read the entire write-up I thank you. It was a lot to write about a class that "just does damage"!
Cheers to Mythic on developing such an outstanding game so far. We will not be disappointed when we finally get our hands on this beast of a game. If the rest of the game is as fun as the few scenarios I had the chance to play we really have a winner to look forward to!