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Character development?
midgey555
Member Posts: 185
I know this isnt much of an issue in beta as we will lose these characters anyway but I was wondering for when the game launches how we should be developing our characters?
Many of us like to play a certain role, I this game is different and you can level up any class and attain their skills but it seems your character will still favor to a certain mold. For instance I have always loved healing classes and started out as a conjurer. I had no idea how I should be distributing my stats so I just figured evenly into the caster stats like int.
Do you guys think we should be doing it this way or should we pump all of the stats evenly? If we only focus on caster stats we are limited to 2 classes I assume (theres only 2 casters right?). However if we start putting stats into str and vit so we can play...say lancer (ive always been a sucker for lancers or dragoons) then that might be slightly wasted for whatever we wanted our main role to be....caster in my case.
Also I tried a little bit changing my wpn to lancer and my conjurer spells get extremely weak, im not sure if this is because I went from lvl 9 conjurer to 2 lancer or if its because lancers arent meant to be casters. Also my thrust attacks were very weak, doing about 40 dmg. probably because I wasnt putting any stats into str.
How have you guys been doing things and how does everyone think will be a smart way to develop our characters? Should we focus on one thing or try and spread it out. I dont really see how trying to be both a warrior type character sometimes and a caster type sometimes would work though. As you would need to really spread out stats and carry at least two sets of equipment. Hearing about how difficult its going to be to acquire new gear as well as repair it all I see that as a very hard thing to do.
Comments
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I am a conj. too.... i buffed INT like crazy to do more dmg, then some VIT so i could take a few blows.... NUKE NUKE NUKE DIE DIE PEW PEW........... aether crystal.... fucking hate that........ i want mana regen too ><.... or <Refresh><Please><Can I Have It?>
Probably be smarter to choose either a caster or melee setup as far as stats go, but so far as I've seen as long as you don't pump ALL of your stats into one or the other it doesn't affect you too terribly much. Doubling my strength didn't up my damage a ridiculous amount.
Objectivity is delivered with a lack of personality made for the mainstream but never used for the mainstream.
You can reassign points. So I wouldn't worry too much.
how much can you reassign though? I tried hitting the button but it didnt seem to let me do anything.
I was putting 2 of each (piety, int, whatever the magic defense was?) every level. I know the magic defense is probably not a high priority I was just guessing really.
What I find dissapointing is that the warrior type classes can swap between quite a few different ones and casters only have two. Sure I CAN play those but if im building towards a caster im not going to be a very effective combatant.
Its kind of cool to think about these things before the official launch.
Also has anyone taken the elemental points seriously? Are you doing them evenly and isnt it just elemental resistance?
I took my elemental resistances seriously in a way. I was born under the navigator sign so I put far higher water, ice and lightning resistances in. Everything else pretty even. Meh.
Objectivity is delivered with a lack of personality made for the mainstream but never used for the mainstream.
I was just throwing out the elemental points at random. Im having some second thoughts on being a caster though. I know this game discourages staying one class for a long time with the xp penalty but with only two classes to level that might be tough/boring.
If you are a mage, or even some melee class, remember that elemental reistance also increases your damage with that element. I know gladiators get a flame strike, im sure conj get a lot more elements to play with, just keep that in mind.
Also you can only reassign the last 2 levels i believe, its not a full reset.
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I have this cool lil power in both my therm and conjurer class that lets me regen mana every 10 minutes. Oh and thrum heal also takes some of your own HP when you cast it, but it adds a HoT to the target. I have been adding to my vitality along with my magic stats on my healer so I have more of a HP pool.
As for how this combines with the physical classes, sure I dont dish out as much damage with my lil gladius as the beefy fighter types, but they dont get to lead off with an AoE poison spell AND have 2 heals (one with a HoT) in reserve. Things get rough in the fight I DoT and turtle up with my back to back heals until whatever it is dies. Hit my mana regen and off I go again once the deed is done.
I plan on being a healer first, sword and board second. That way I can tank even without a dedicated healer if I cann't find one later on. So far it works rather well, only just started my gladiator class and have it at 5 now, but with the thrum/conjurer add on skills I can solo a dodo in a dress.
It's not pretty no, not fast either, but it still ends in a kill.
(DISCLAIMER - The use of the word YOU in the above post is not directed at any one person in particular, but towards those who fall into the category itself - there is no personal attack here, neither intentional nor implied.)
Oh I wasnt aware of that, and yea that reassign doesnt do much. If you make your character in the mold of a caster he will make for a poor melee combatant.
So far at lvl 9 I think I was I had thunder, fire, blizzard, water, stone, aero. They are supposed to all be AOE spells but none of them have worked as such even when enemies are clumped and all engaged.
Did you click on the AOE button that comes up? You can cast it on a single target or as AoE much like the old FF games.
Thats true, if you select a single target it hits only one, you have to select AoE when the option comes up to make it an AoE hit.
(DISCLAIMER - The use of the word YOU in the above post is not directed at any one person in particular, but towards those who fall into the category itself - there is no personal attack here, neither intentional nor implied.)
I just assumed it was always aoe, I didnt see an option but now that you said that I remember reading about being able to single cast or aoe each cast. I feel kind of dumb now!
Don't feel too bad. I thought the same thing till I clicked it.
well when you use a lance your spells are weak, and when you use a spell stick your lance attacks usable in all meelee will be weak. not to say a sub class ability cant be usefull, but it wont be nearly the potency of using it as the main class. like say you have max level lancer and use the healer skills in sub class, theyll be 50% of max level, and weaker then when using the healer weapon, but they will still heal you like a paladin or whatnot! same goes for being some kind of battle mage with a blade out, youll weaken your magic to swing a sword.
as far as stats go you can spend a week doing it and shift them around fully from a meelee to a caster setup, or you can have 2 chars, one to cast one to mdps/tank hehe although if the desparity between vit str and dex levels on tanks and mdps is high enough at max level it might be wise to have one of each, i know tanks will max vit for hp, where mdps will max str for dps and fill in dex and vit with leftover points.
isnt it 3 dollars a month extra for another character? I used to be able to spend tons of hours towards these games but now I just play as much as I can. Each character is supposed to be pretty in depth and no way would I be able to maintain two characters.
Can you really fully shift your stats? someone else in this thread said only the last 2 levels, if you can jumble them around constantly then yes it makes it more accessable to play multiple classes, but being a lancer with high piety and int seems pretty poor if you cant fully reassign stats.
Also whats the point of leveling the melee classes if your a caster? Sure a melee character would like cure spell (which only takes like rank 2 to get) and I assume they would want some support/utility spells but what use would melee skills be for a caster? Just seems like melee classes will be very diverse and all the casters are going to be the same.
Actually if I'm not mistaken, Sacrifice is either thurmaturgist level 5 or 6 to get and Cure is conjurer level 5 or 6 as well. They are weaker when your in an off class yes, but they increase as that class goes up in level. I haven't hit the same level in my gladiator as I am in my thurm yet, but I'ld gather aguess that once I do, both will cast the Sacrifice at the same strangth. I do believe the abilities of all classes function as if they are the level of your currently equiped one.
Oh and in Open Beta right now you get 3 character slots to play with. Guessing that will be going forward into live from what I have read on the members forums on SE. Beta does show 5 more slots that are not open for create though, those are most likely the $3 ones you refer to.
And as for the melee skills being useful to casters, haven't gotten any on my combined characters yet, but I have seen the TP (tactical points) used mainly on the melee classes and just a full pool of 3000 with no use on my casters. I'm hoping I can find something from the melee side I can bring over to make use of those.
(DISCLAIMER - The use of the word YOU in the above post is not directed at any one person in particular, but towards those who fall into the category itself - there is no personal attack here, neither intentional nor implied.)
Thats what I was hoping too, casting our spells or the standard conj bolt grants tp and currently I have no use for it. I did read that later we get spells that use it though. However im not sure if whacking the enemy with our staff using that gladiator skill will really be worth the tp.
Doesnt lancer get some utility/support skills? I guess thats the only reason I can think of to level up melee if your a caster. Also we have yet to know about the trait thing, think we will be able to equip a trait from a different class?
I believe there was a refund option under the stat allocation menu. I havn't tried it yet, but im sure there will be a way to re allocate your attributes if you choose another path later. But most people are going to stick to a certain "archetype" be it melee or caster. My advice is to find the path you wish to take. Which abilities from all the jobs you wish to take and how your character in the end is going to be, and then make your decision on attributes off of that. But im not 100% certain, but fairly certain there will be a way to refund attribute points and re allocate them, so even if you make a mistake, i wouldn't fret on it.
Reading the tutorial at the aetheryte node, it said those elemental points weren't just for resistances, but also affected your spells in those categories as well...IE damage. So it might be that extra customization for you caster types. Also some people have made comments about only 2 caster classes in right now. FFXI only had a small handful of classes at launch as well and now look at it. They do it on purpose so they have room to grow as time progresses. And there was actually a video Q&A about this and the developer assured the interviewer that there will be more classes in later. They also did it because all the crafting and gathering classes are classes, and they didn't want to make TOO many choices in the beginning making it that much more difficult on the player when it came to choices right off the bat.
My main point is cast skills are usefull for melee classes but vice versa doesnt seem to be true for now at least. And melee classes have lancer, gladiator, archer, pugilst, marauder and have uses for spells while casters only have conjurer and thaumaturge. Just seems like we dont get to customize as much, I really wish they would have started out with more caster type classes and not bunch them all into conjurer (buffer, healer, nuker, etc)
I haven't seen a skill listing in a bit, but i believe marauder get an ability that increases all damage for a duration. I don't remember if it said physically only or all damage, but if it does say all, that would be an awesome ability to have for a mage class. And pugilist will have evasion abilities and things like that as well as support abilities from lancer. There are a lot of options a caster can get from melee classes that will improve their gameplay. Because the argument is vice versa for melee. With little to no casting stats a melee character is going to be extremely weak at casting any of the cross classes abilities. Aside from cure and sacrifice, maybe protect or any of the other buffs, most caster abilities are going to be useless to a melee.
One thing I do know for sure is you can try to add anything to your current clas skill selection list. If it doesn't work it tells you 'cann't align to your current affinity' or something like that. Was kind of trying to find something like the 'Flick Wrist' ability from my gathering classes that adds a stun component to your next attack. Haven't tried it on my caster set yet, not even sure it carries over, but if it works might be cool for a lightning AoE spell. Or see if the 'Blood Pact' which boosts spell damage carried over to the melee class skills that use MP.
Anyone able to test an of these, or like combos?
(DISCLAIMER - The use of the word YOU in the above post is not directed at any one person in particular, but towards those who fall into the category itself - there is no personal attack here, neither intentional nor implied.)
I havent seen full lists either but I would assume they add stats like protect shell poison cure regen and probably a bunch of other debuffs. I think its safe to say they are much more effective than melee skills, obviously a melee class wont be spamming fire and such but there are tons of buffs/cures/debuffs/crowd control i assume that would help. Even elemental casts might be useful if you need to exploit a certain weakness, I dont know.
Evasion im guessing shouldnt be too important for a caster unless he is soloing, while evasion is never a bad thing I highly doubt it would be a priority. Im not sure about the damage increase, as I havent looked into most of the classes, if it really increases overall damage then that may help and I already said the lancer support abilities are the only thing I see being useful for a caster. I guess we will see as people start to get a better grasp on things, but currently it looks like the game favors melee.
Finally had a chance to do some testing on this. Got my new guy up to lancer 9 and started working on thurmaturge to get his heals. Tossed in the lancer skill Trammel (500 TP movement snare) on the action bar and away I went. Works like a charm, swing my little cross out in front of me, hit and debuffed my mob rather decent and only used the 500 TP to do it. Added Moonrise to the bar when I got to Thurm 6, now I have 2 TP skill on my caster that debuff and dont cost me any MP to use in combat.
Basically, any skill that says 'Requires: Disciplines of War or Magic' can be used by any class in either direction, with whatever weapon equiped. I'll have to work up the other classes now to pick and chose a good fighting collection based off the 'style' I want for each character.
(DISCLAIMER - The use of the word YOU in the above post is not directed at any one person in particular, but towards those who fall into the category itself - there is no personal attack here, neither intentional nor implied.)