In MMORPGs you embark on dangerous adventures together with other players. To support each other, heroes fulfill various tasks, such as tanking, healing, or dealing damage. However, not every MMORPG relies on this Holy Trinity.
The Holy Trinity of tank, DPS, and healer has become particularly famous in MMORPGs through World of Warcraft. For many players, it is hard to imagine that there are MMORPGs that do without this role distribution.
What advantages does forgoing the Holy Trinity bring? By eliminating the Holy Trinity, one avoids queues for group content. There is no need to frantically search for healers and tanks; instead, any class can join.
There are also advantages in the leveling process when one is not bound to a role like healer or tank. One can level up as a damage dealer and continue on this path even in the endgame.
In this article, we want to introduce you to five games that do just that. This list is only a partial selection, and you are welcome to suggest more MMORPGs without a Holy Trinity.
Guild Wars 2
Setting: Fantasy | Developer: ArenaNet | Platform: PC | Release-Date: August 26, 2012 | Model: Buy2Play
What is Guild Wars 2? Guild Wars 2 is a theme park MMORPG from the American developer ArenaNet, released in 2012. The base game is free, but there are now three expansions that must be purchased.
Who is Guild Wars 2 aimed at? The MMORPG primarily focuses on PvE players who enjoy playing with others in the open world. There, world bosses or group events await the players.
Additionally, it advances the main story with quarterly updates and regular smaller expansions every 3 months and offers arena PvP, open server battles, dungeons for 5, and raids for 10 players.
How does Guild Wars 2 play without the Holy Trinity? The MMORPG was released in 2012 with the big announcement that it would forgo a Holy Trinity. Instead, all classes should be able to heal themselves.
At the same time, the active combat system based on active dodging and constant movement was intended to allow players to avoid incoming damage directly.
The system works, although shortly after release, criticism arose that in dungeons and fractals, the players who deal the most damage simply win. Thus, they circumvented all mechanics and difficulties of a boss fight.
The best way to survive in Vindictus is to actively dodge or throw enemies into objects. This provides minimal healing for the entire group.
Is Vindictus still actively supported? In April 2019, a new hero was released in the MMORPG. Along with Eira, various measures were taken to bring players back. However, since then, player numbers have not significantly increased.
Nevertheless, there are regular new updates and events. On April 25, 2023, a patch will also be released that increases the max level.
Originally, Vindictus was completely available in German. However, since 2018, new content has only been available in English.
With the expansion Heart of Thorns, the developers started introducing variations of tanks and healers. The MMORPG now has tanks, mainly consisting of mesmerists and thus cloth classes, and support characters who must pay attention to buffs or crowd control in addition to healing.
Is Guild Wars 2 still actively supported? Despite the layoffs in 2019, Guild Wars 2 is still doing well. Regular updates come, and the third expansion was released in 2022, along with a release on Steam.
