What makes you special if not specialization?

[Fool_Hardy]

I have a perception I thought I would share.

It seems to me that melee classes have an advantage over casters. Whoa! Slow down and hear me out.

If I play any of the melee classes, I immediately hold a slight special advantage in that there will be selections that let me specialize in one combat style or another.

If I play a caster (with the exception of Divine Intervention) there is almost no way to mix it up.

Every level 50 Invoker will be this, and have these predictable abilities. Every level 50 melee may be like this, and might have those abilities.

Knowledge is power. Not having any avenue of specialization denies every caster character a true opportunity to stand out and be unique.

Melee specialization can be used as an RP tool, I know I have. A tool denied to the mages who lack any way to shine in one aspect or another.

If mages and priests could specialize in some way, magical devices, spell groups, or even individual spells, we could add flavor to the game, and opportunity to the players.

[Trick]

I'm not opposed to allowing mages the ability to specialize in certain paths to mix up PK.

In terms of RP, I think its a stretch to say that mages are denied RP because they don't have selectable paths. Mages can literally RP that they've created a ripple in time ad its okay. Warriors can not do this as easily. FL is a game that has RP focused on the magical. From good magic to evil magic and all the in between. Most* cabals can manipulate this to create interesting and dynamic RP because when you have unlimited freedom you are only limited by your imagination.

*Because of this, I think Warmaster are boring. They don't have access to this RP tool. They have to be AGAINST it. They can't create RP centered around a magical construct. They can't create a demon portal, mess with time, or anything to that fantasy extreme. What they can do is wage war like we saw with Val Miran and a long time ago with Jaspurr. But they can't "create" as easily. Every WM has the same RP, ultimately. I fight for honor and end. There's not really much past that because of how limited they are in their approach.

 

So, really.. mages have complete freedom whereas melees don't..

[Manual Labour]

The lores melee get are not as diverse as you make it sound.

Warriors get 1 meaningful choice. It is on par with divine intervention in the sense that every warrior and cleric are virtually the same except for one ability that makes them "unique"

Ranger lores don't really change much. Every Ranger has pets and ranged weapons. Some have better arrows, some have better pets, and the other group can track you and throw stuff.

Berserker lores also don't change that much. They all have the same basic skills set but depending on the lore they might use different weapons, cleave instead of haymaker, or be more careful when  raging.

It seems the necromancy rework for example gave lores that differ more greatly from each other, but I'm speculating here.

It would be cool if all classes had paths, but I think it is a big stretch to claim melee have more diversity. I think we all know what it will be like to fight a ranger, warrior, or berserker regardless of their path choices.

[Celerity]

Necromancers and psionicists have path systems (and thus skill diversity). They are on par or more diverse than the melee paths, so I disagree with your premise.

But yes, I adamantly agree that more paths in more classes are the direction to be working towards, especially in classes that lack choices. Paladins and battlemages jump to mind immediately because they are in great need of some revision.

[egreir]

#makebattlemagesgreatagain

[f0xx]

10 hours ago, Fool_Hardy said:

Not having any avenue of specialization denies every caster character a true opportunity to stand out and be unique.

I am not sure we play the same game.

Just because you can pick a certain skill path doesn't mean you are "special" and "unique".

Every other class as yours can make exactly the same choices.

That's why every crusader nowadays is High sight, and every ranger is beastmaster.

That's why every warrior in the past used to be weapon locker and every ninja used to be falcon eye.

[mya]

On 04/12/2017 at 6:21 AM, f0xx said:

That's why every crusader nowadays is High sight, and every ranger is beastmaster.

That's why every warrior in the past used to be weapon locker and every ninja used to be falcon eye.

I disagree, partially. Although in the past some classes selections Overpowered other selections, for the recent years this is has been changing a lot.
I never understood why people chose WeaponLock over others very interesting lores like Weapon Seize. Every-time I fight a warrior and I notice they are WeaponLock I get a small smile, because it's safer for me than the other lores like mantis maul.

I agree that beastmaster got a pretty buff, but I still would choose Archer over it, because it suits my Play-style more.

High-sight might favour a more direct playstyle, but other selections are also very interesting. For example, I think that "pious" has a lot more versatility and potential due to stuff, specially if you know your sadder stuff.

Look at clerics and how people keep choosing different religions.

But you are right, only sader with their vast customization gives you a unique character. The rest are just ununique