This week, the team from City State Entertainment (CSE) presents us the trio of Mages. Unlike the previously introduced classes of Shapeshifter and Scout archetypes, the Mages will already make their debut in the RvR MMORPG Camelot Unchained at launch.
The Mages are divided into the following three distinct classes:
Flame Warden
The Flame Warden (Arthurian) is the embodiment of a fire mage, laying waste to everything in its path. They are the guardians of the “Eternal Flame,” which is deep within their guild hall and must never extinguish. From it, the Wardens draw their power, and therefore all Flame Wardens carry a piece of this flame with them at all times. To protect themselves while casting, Wardens should particularly avoid metal armors, as they heat up quickly and can harm the mage with every new spell.
Nothing describes the approach of the Flame Warden better than: Offense is the best defense! A clichéd saying that truly applies here since the Flame Warden, like all three Mages, must remain stationary while casting and furthermore has virtually no survivability skills in the form of crowd control, knock backs, and similar. Rather, it relies on its immense damage to influence the battle’s fate in its favor. Especially in siege battles, Flame Wardens can play their trump card by setting the enemy fortress ablaze.
The role of the Flame Warden is that of a classic glass cannon, heavily reliant on group protection. Fortunately, the Arthurians have capable tanks in the Black Knights.
Wave Weaver
The Wave Weaver (Viking) is a water mage and thus the direct opponent of the Flame Warden. However, they are not mirror images; quite the opposite. While our fire mage, similar to modern artillery, relies almost exclusively on long range and pure destructive power, the Wave Weaver primarily utilizes their strength at shorter distances and possesses a much more versatile range of water, ice, and rune magic.
They not only have powerful water projectiles and other damage spells but also a large repertoire of debuff and crowd-control abilities, with which they can hinder opponents’ movements or even push them back. Their great strength and simultaneously greatest weakness is that their power depends on direct proximity to water (sea, lake, river, well, etc.), as access to water further amplifies the Wave Weaver’s spells.
Thus, their role seems to be that of a defensive mage who protects friends with their spells and wears down enemies.
Druid
The Druids (Tuatha Dé Danann) are… well… that’s a good question. They are at least NOT the typical fantasy druid who serves as a nature-oriented healer and can summon a variety of animals or even transform into them. Rather, they are based on the druids of our world and the myths and legends surrounding them; they are fighters and wise “men.” They are less concerned with nature and more with cosmology, as the stars grant them their power. The moon also plays a significant role for the druids, as their magical power grows and wanes with the phases of the moon.
In contrast to their two counterparts, the magic of the druids does not focus on a specific direction (damage, defense/support), but they possess – like the other classes of the Tuatha Dé Danann – their own gameplay mechanics, which, at this time, have not yet fully revealed themselves. However, it is certain that the focus of the druids will be more on passive area damage rather than on direct single-target damage. Their magic is extremely powerful, instilling panic in opponents and affecting large areas. At the same time, however, their magic is very slow, making it easier for opponents to dodge.
The exact role of the druids on the battlefield is still unclear and will depend heavily on individual specialization.
The Magic System of Camelot Unchained
Mark Jacobs and his team have so far shown us a series of extraordinary classes that deviate significantly from the usual MMORPG drudgery. With the Mages, they do, however, move back to familiar territory. Nonetheless, the magic system differs greatly from other well-known MMOs and strongly resembles pen & paper systems like Dungeons & Dragons.
A significant difference from classic MMOs like World of Warcraft (WoW) and The Elder Scrolls Online (ESO) is that spells are not predefined by the game but created by the players themselves by combining runes, reagents, and other components.
All mages possess their own spellbook in which they can write their spells. The spellbook lists all previous mishaps, successes, and rune combinations, making it easier to create new spells over time.
Many factors are said to influence the respective spells. For instance, players will be able to use components that are infused with reagents to amplify the effects of their spells (Ice Storm + Diamond Infusion = Increased spell damage). Weather, the season, and the day-night cycle are also said to affect certain spells.
Additionally, Camelot Unchained will feature an A.I.R. (Action, Interaction, and Reaction) system similar to Guild Wars 2 (GW2). A.I.R. means that every spell can interact with everything in the world and change as a result. For example, multiple mages may use ice spells to create an ice wall around a city. Opposing mages will be able to weaken this ice wall by casting fire spells. Additionally, spells can be transformed by other spells. For example, when water magic meets fire magic, hot steam is created, which can then be carried to other players by wind mages to damage them.
All the currently known information about the magic system can be found in this video with Mark Jacobs:
Further class introductions and information about the game can be found in our news overview of Camelot Unchained.
