Class Rebalance: Magicians

It’s time for another Class Rebalance dev blog! This time, we are putting the spotlight on what is probably the most controversial class in the game, the magicians. Like with previous class rebalance dev blogs, we will start by sharing a short brief about our goals, move onto general analysis and details about the class, and lastly, take a look into each of the three branches: Fire & Poison Arch Mages, Ice & Lightning Arch Mages, and Bishops. # Short Reminder Since Selene is being built from the ground up, every skill needs to be coded into the game. This could potentially be a tedious task. However, it allows us to redesign classes and code them differently in the first place. This enables us to solve the issue of unbalanced classes in pre-big-bang servers better, having more freedom in design. This means each skill across every class is being looked into and changed to create an engaging experience that makes the class unique. # Magicians Overview When it comes to Magicians in pre-bb maple, several negative associations come to mind. From farming and leech meta, HS mules, and the two mage branches being too similar to each other, to their lack of bossing capabilities, exaggerated ultimates, and bishops being deemed overpowered, the list goes on. We approached this topic, knowing it would involve long discussions between our team members and discussion participants on the numerous questions this class brings up. Quite the opposite to archers (who we have discussed in the [previous class rebalance post](https://playselene.com/blog/post/9/)), we believe magicians are among the worst designed classes in the game. Just from examining their skill set, especially in their 4th advancement, it is clear this class promotes an unfun playstyle where one often only uses a single skill for attacking. # Stats As mentioned in previous class rebalance dev blogs, each class is redesigned with five parameters in mind: - **Single target damage** - The amount of damage one can cause to a single target. - **Multi-target damage** - The amount of damage one can cause to multiple targets within close and long-range. - **Tank** - The ability to protect yourself and the party members from incoming damage. - **Support** - The ability to strengthen other party members, weaken enemies, or provide useful tools for the party. - **Mobility** - The ability to move to a certain location within the same map or in a different map. With those attributes in mind, we have created the following table where each class is given a ranking in the different categories.  **Class Rebalance Table: Magicians** Do note, a class with two stars in one stat does not double in value over a class with one star. It merely indicates that one star is slightly weaker, or the two stars are marginally stronger. What you can see from the table is that magicians are still highly capable of multi-target and mobility. However, in their classic design - all three classes would have been around 5-7 stars in multi-target rather than 3-5 stars here, and 1 star in single target rather than 2-4 stars here. So basically, we have balanced their multi and single target damages by adjusting existing skills and introducing new skills to all three classes. Additionally, both F/P and I/L mages now also provide their party with supportive aspects. # Revamping the Formula The best way to start digging into what we have done to magicians would be to look at the very foundations of the class. The foundation of every class in the game is typically the damage formula. As some of the more experienced players know, each class in the game - or rather each weapon type, comes with its unique damage formula that determines their damage output per attack. The formula is built of multiple factors: your base stats (the ones relevant for the class), your mastery, and your weapon stats. All of these factors come with multipliers that determine how significantly each parameter affects the damage your character is doing. For all classes (and weapons) - your base stats come with multipliers between ~3 to ~5. That last sentence is not entirely correct, all classes except one: you’ve guessed it, Magicians. Magicians come with an abysmal base stat multiplier, below 1. **“If that is true, how come magicians are still powerful in other servers?”** The answer to that is, sadly, the other big issue with the formula. It is that the MAGIC stat, unlike the ATTACK stat, is made of two equally effective parameters: INT, and Magic Attack. **“And why is that a problem?”** Because unlike the weapon attack stat that converts to a few (~4-6) ability points in your class’ primary stat (be it STR, DEX, or LUK) - the magic attack stat is equally as good as INT. Now that sounds fine, right? It means that magicians end up having a lot of MAGIC, and then their abysmal multiplier comes into play and balances that out. No. You get free 5 AP per level - which equals to 5 magic attack or 5 MAGIC. This leads to the issue of having dedicated, well funded, “pro” mages not being far off in damage from a mage who wears nothing but a weapon (compared to other classes). In other words, with the classic formula, magicians are not rewarded nearly as much as other classes for investing in upgrading their gear. ### Our solution We have divided magic attack from INT and reduced the MAGIC value of each INT point to 0.2. This means magic attack is worth far more than INT in Selene; the same way weapon attack is worth more than any other base stat for damage. Additionally, we have increased the magician formula to be on par with other classes, so that magicians who invest in their gear are appropriately rewarded. # Ultimates Meta There really is not much to say here that has not been said yet by almost every player who ever played the game. Mage ultimates are one of the core reasons pre-bb versions are broken. It promotes all kinds of bad metas: Leeching, macro farming, generating tons of drops for easy mesos. It also “forces” many players to make a mage or a bishop, a class they probably would never want to play in the first place but do just to be able to compete with other players in terms of funding. ### Our solution We did not want to get rid of mage ultimates entirely, but we could not leave them as is in the game either. We believe the ultimates are an integral part of the class, and their uniqueness should stay. We also did not want to slap a cooldown on them as big bang did, and instead, make them an interesting part of a magician’s gameplay. To do that, we have added different charging mechanisms for each of the three branches. Each branch has its own method of charging that compliments with the jobs’ playstyle. As a rule of thumb, you charge your ultimate as you attack, then cast it when the meter is full. This would reset it, requiring it to be charged once more to full before you can cast another ultimate. We will get back to how each branch charges its ultimate later in this blog. # Magician (1st advancement) Like with other classes, we removed a lot of clutter from the 1st job and only left useful skills, giving you a choice on which ones to max first depending on your preference. One path a player might take is choosing to go for damage early, while another might focus on durability during the first few levels in efforts to reduce potion costs.  **Spell Mastery** This new skill deserves its own mention as it changes how magicians behave in a much broader sense in Selene. You would typically find in the game that many of the skills for all three branches come with a built-in mastery that scales as you level up the skill. Instead, we have given magicians a mastery skill that determines their damage mastery. This lets us display MAGIC as a range instead of a single number; the same way ATTACK is displayed. It helps magicians get a better understanding of their damage. # Fire & Poison With the F/P class, we have decided to take a new route that will be unique to them, a big focus on Damage over Time (DoT). F/P mages get to utilize both of their elements in different ways: - Fire-based attacks: Deal medium instant (“impact”) damage and medium DoT damage over a short period. - Poison-based attacks: Deal no instant damage and high DoT damage over a long period. Both of the DoT types do not deal static damage but instead are directly related to the caster’s stats and scales with magic. Every “tick” of damage is also affected by mastery, so the damage changes between DoT “ticks.” Additionally, DoTs can now kill mobs instead of leaving them at 1 HP. They also stack with each skill but don’t stack with themselves. For example, you can use three different DoT spells on a mob and have them all work separately without interfering with each other. However, using one of the three spells again will renew the effect rather than stack another DoT. One more point to mention about F/P Mages is their strength in single target damage (4 stars) due to their ability to stack multiple DoTs on a single target. Their high multi target comes from their ability to apply DoTs to many mobs around the map with a “cast and forget” approach - knowing the mob will eventually die to the DoTs. This promotes an interesting playstyle that will be unique to F/P mages. As one becomes a F/P Wizard, they are immediately introduced to their DoT capabilities. There are three offensive skills in total during 2nd advancement. We were looking to solve F/P’s horrible 2nd advancement, and we accomplished that by giving them more focus on multi-target that was missing from their previous skillset. Becoming a F/P Mage comes with plenty of tools to further increase your damage by applying several DoT spells simultaneously. Additionally, we have introduced a defensive skill that helps F/P mages with their “encouraged” gameplay of being close to targets to cast skills like Explosion and Poison Mist. Seal has been changed quite a bit, and while it still seals enemies around you from casting spells, it now works on bosses as well - but comes with a built-in cooldown. One other mechanic that comes into play for both types of mages is a skill that encourages players to use both types of elements to maximize their damage output.  4th advancement is where F/P Arch Mages earn their high single target stat. You get multiple additional DoT abilities for both fire and poison. Additionally, a new passive lets you hit critical attacks in some scenarios. You also get a supportive aura that affects party members around you in certain situations, making the whole party stronger. F/P Arch Mages can charge their ultimate (Meteor) by hitting enemies with magic damage, as well as dealing damage via DoT “ticks.” # Ice & Lightning For the I/L branch, we have taken the multi-target stat as the ultimate goal. However, we wanted to put more emphasis on mob control (by freezing and stunning mobs). One of the core points in our design for both mages was making them look and feel like how mages are in other RPGs: you get a large set of (flashy) skills and use all of them depending on the situation. In their 2nd advancement, I/L Wizards stayed mostly the same outside of minor tweaks to some skills. Slow has been removed (for both types of wizards). Instead, we moved Spell Booster to 2nd advancement, being in line with every other class who got their boosters during the 2nd advancement. For I/L Mages, we have emphasized giving them single target power by giving Thunder Spear a serious buff. Additionally, like F/P Mages, I/L Mages get their own skill to encourage players to use both types of elements to maximize their damage output.  I/L Arch Mages are, by far, the most multi-target oriented class in the game. Their skillset comes with five different multi target skills that are all useful in different scenarios. It can also be utilized at the same time to maximize your damage output. Their skills are also unique in that they deal damage rapidly, but with weak hits (think Bowmaster’s Hurricane or Corsair’s Rapid Fire). Being able to attack rapidly enables I/L Arch Mages to quickly charge their ultimate (Blizzard), allowing them to use it more often than the other two magician classes. They also get a party aura similar to what F/P Arch Mages get, useful for different scenarios. # Bishop Find yourself a chair cause it’s about to get wild. This is probably one of the most significant leaps we have made in Selene. However, we, just like most players in the community, felt it was necessary to create a better, healthier game for everyone to enjoy. Remember Holy Symbol? Well, forget about it. We believe removing HS is necessary to solve the “Bishop meta” problems that are bold and obvious. Players shall no longer be “forced” to mule a priest or a bishop while doing any activity to be effective and enjoy the unbearable advantage it provides. Additionally, one issue we were looking to solve in Selene is how some classes are “necessary” in some situations. Bishops were “necessary” for bossing because, without them, the EXP rewards were far less significant. As a replacement to HS for the game, we have adjusted our party EXP formulas, making it more rewarding (yet not to a point where necessary) to play with party members. As a replacement to HS for bishops, we gave them a large arsenal of useful buffs and tools that are highly valuable for them and their party members. Clerics are the least altered advancement of the three. Other than small tweaks to some skills, the only significant change made is to Holy Arrow that now fires three arrows, making it a useful replacement to magic claw. Apart from the removal of Holy Symbol, Priests are drastically changed in terms of removing various insignificant skills such as Doom and Elemental Resistance. Instead, they get new interesting skills that enable them to help their party significantly. One example would be “Wall of the Devout,” which creates a physical wall on the map in front of the Priest for 60 seconds that no party member or mob can walk through - I’ll leave you to figure out how useful this can be in some scenarios. Another skill we have introduced that is worth mentioning is called “Harmony.” It is the “self, passive, Holy Symbol” for priests. It increases the EXP priests get from party members, as we expect priests to put an emphasis on helping their team more often than other classes. Bishops are also significantly different from what people are familiar with. Let’s start with the coolest change: Bishops get a skill called “Angelic Form” that lets them grow huge wings and fly.  **Angelic Wings** To understand more about how it works and how it looks, you will have to wait for the official class reveal when the time comes, but I assure you it is a very interesting mechanic that helps bishops move around the map easily to provide their teammates with buffs regularly. It is also what puts them at five mobility points on our table. To sync with Angelic Wings, Bahamut’s range has been increased. One other exciting addition we have made for Bishops is a passive skill that marks targets with light energy after an attack. This mark can be consumed by other party member’s attacks to deal increased damage. There is also another skill that helps them protect a single team member from any kind of danger. We also wanted to give Bishops the ability to train by themselves, so we have given them a nice damage boost to Angel Ray. Bishops charge their ultimate (Genesis) by hitting enemies with magic damage, as well as when party members consume their light energy marks. # Conclusion This has been a long dev blog, the longest one yet, in fact. It comes to show how significantly we have changed the magician job branch. There are more details and changes made to each of the classes, but we felt it to be better to keep some surprise for the full class reveal. We believe we found a sweet spot for each of the classes. A spot that makes each one of the classes unique, one that makes them relevant for both grinding and bossing while not breaking the economy of the game via abusive powers. As always, if you have any questions, suggestions, thoughts, or anything else, make sure to join [Selene's Discord](https://discord.playselene.com) and share those with us.