Class Rebalance: Teaser

We want to start sharing with you some more gameplay-related content from time to time, and this time we thought we’d strike one of the hottest topics in our arsenal of features, that is, Class Rebalance. An extremely fundamental part of the day-to-day gameplay experience for every player. Class Rebalance is not an easy topic. It takes a lot of hours of thought, discussions, and implementations later on in the code. Let’s get to it then! # How is Class Rebalance different in Selene? Selene is built entirely from the ground up, both client and server (source) code. This fact enables us to do things that were never possible before, and people have wanted for years, knowing these things are not possible due to client limitations. With the new client, we are required to code each of the skills in the game from zero. And yes, it is just as much work as it sounds, if not much more. But at the same time, this allows us to do amazing things like build entirely new mechanics, move skills around, change skills behavior completely, etc. There’s no limit to what we can do - Sounds fun? It is. In other servers, what you will see with class rebalance is simply a tweak of numbers. Add damage to that, reduce cooldown from this, increase buff duration on that. With those actions alone, you cannot solve many issues that still exist in all of these servers. For example, many of the skills are useless, no matter how much you were to tweak them. We all know the skills that people don’t even bother binding to any key due to how completely useless they are. # Skill Pathing We aim to make every single skill meaningful and give people a way to choose how they want to play their character instead of having a list of skills that everyone maxes and other skills that always remain at 0. For example, with some classes, you can choose what’s the ratio between party related strengths and individual strengths. Some people who play a specific class will become buff monsters, while others will be individualists who can dish out incredible individual damage. There is no “right path” - it all depends on your personal preference of how you want to play your character. # Design Foundations The first thing we’ve done as a team is to rethink how we want the people to experience the gameplay of different classes. We’ve known for years that some classes lack character, Their skills don’t sync with each other in any way, and many skills are entirely useless. We wanted to give each class a more defined image that suits their story. So we’ve decided to create a table that summarizes five main attributes that vaguely define the characteristics of that class. Those are: - Single-Target damage - The amount of damage one can cause to a single target in the average situation. - Multi-Target damage - The amount of damage one can cause to multiple targets within close and long-range in the average situation. - Tank - The ability to protect other 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’ve created a table where each class was given a certain ranking in each of these categories. I want to share the warrior’s section with you and briefly go over it.  **Class Rebalance Table (Warriors only).** The table represents roughly the relationships between different aspects of different classes. It doesn’t mean that if one class has one single target point, and another one has two, the second one does double the damage. It means that the first class is a bit weaker than the second one in that aspect. And if two classes have the same amount of points, they are roughly as good in that aspect. ## Hero Heroes act as offensive-tanks. They are the jack of all trades in Selene, in that they do pretty much everything well. They lead their team into battle by tanking, supporting, and dealing consistent damage all at the same time. ## Paladin The Paladins are the high-end Tanks of Selene. They are based around protecting their team and helping their team survive in tough situations. They have the highest defensive abilities in the game and, as such, are always precious in parties who want to bring in squishier classes to help them survive. Paladins also excel in fighting against elemental-weaknesses. As you can see in the table, Paladins share the same number of points in the single target attribute as heroes (3), It is since, in situations where the target is weak to an element, Paladins surpass heroes in single target damage. However, in the average situation, heroes deal more damage than paladins to both single target and multi targets. ## Dark Knight Unlike other warriors, Dark Knights act as an extremely offensive class. They are focused entirely around dealing massive amounts of damage to single and multiple targets in their area. Unlike the other warrior classes, dark knights don’t take the role of a tank, but with a particular skill, they are still able to help their teams get through some situations. With the changes to Berserk, Dark knights are much more risky yet rewarding for those who are willing to take on the challenge. A great dark knight is exponentially better than a good one. We will not be sharing the specific skills these classes have in their arsenal, that is something we intend to reveal individually for each class as we finish working on them. # Tanking in Maple? How? We’ve created an entirely new mechanic for that. We will show you all how it works when we reveal Paladins and Heroes. What we can say, though, is that tanking is going to be a fundamental part of Selene. It means the squishier classes will not be able to survive the toughest bosses without a tank by their side to assist them. And in a certain situation, Even Heroes won’t cut it for tanking, and a Paladin will be required to survive the expedition. # About other classes You can expect to see the same kind of process with the rest of the classes in the game. Each class will be given a more profound role that makes them excel in certain situations and underperform in others. Classes will have a more stabilized identity as for what they do best. Magicians will finally get their skills revamped to be more than a single ability-based class. Archers will be more than Sharp Eye mules, with excellent damage and other supportive strengths and gameplay advantages. Thieves will be incredibly mobile and have high burst damage. And Pirates will stop being a meme class where your effort is the highest, but the reward is not more than moderate. # Conclusion We’ve taken the topic of Class Rebalance very seriously, and with the client limitations gone, we can redesign all classes from the ground up. We are introducing new skills, new mechanics, and new ways to experience the game with each class. Instead of a broken game where there are one or two classes that outshines every other class, Selene is going to be very balanced, with each class having its own identity and gameplay style. We are excited to share these details with you and keep on sharing more in the future. And 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.