In the god MMO Skyforge, the class system has now been explained in more detail. Apparently, the free class system was inspired by MOBAs like League of Legends, where players are not locked into a single class.
Recently, a detailed press release from Team Allods was published, which shed light on the class system in Skyforge. They indicated that the decision to abandon rigid classes was inspired by the MOBA trend. Today, it is no longer up-to-date for players to be fixed on a single class. In MOBAs, they can change their heroes and thus their playstyle from match to match. This is what they also want to represent in Skyforge.
Classes fall under a three-tier hierarchy: Basic, Intermediate, Advanced
The Team Allods also revealed that the classes in Skyforge are not equal. Players start as one of only three “Basic” classes. As they continue to play, they unlock “Intermediate” classes and finally “Advanced” classes.
The three “Basic” classes are Lightbinder (a healer), Paladin (a tank), and Cyromancer (a DPS). After that, there are supposed to be five “Intermediate” classes and five “Advanced” classes. The press release does not specify how this will be distributed. So far, besides these three basic classes, only two others are known, which were also fixed in the press release: The Gunner (Ranged DPS) has been classified as “Advanced” and the Berserker (Melee DPS) as an “Intermediate” class.
To quote Team Allods: “The class-switching system is designed so that upon the first switch, the new class is developed to the same extent as the previous class. This is possible because the main attributes are linked to the character and not to the class.”
From 10 to 13 classes at launch?
My MMO states: A three-tier hierarchy among the classes is something new. Final Fantasy XIV has a two-tier hierarchy. There, the “Jobs” serve as prestige classes starting from the mid-game and unite two basic classes.
The class system in Skyforge will depend on the extent to which “skills” from one class can also be utilized by the other classes. So: Is my Cyromancer stronger if I have also unlocked and developed the Berserker? Since Skyforge will not have a “level” system, but rather operates on the Ascension Atlas as a kind of huge skill map, where classes are developed gradually and also on two levels, the whole concept is relatively hard to imagine. And since only five classes have been introduced so far, it seems some time away before the system becomes experiential. At Gamescom in Cologne, further classes are to be introduced, and there will be a possibility to test Skyforge. Hopefully, we will know more in a few weeks.
It is definitely interesting that the press release now assumes 13 classes: 3 basic, 5 intermediate, 5 advanced. So far, only 10 classes for release have been mentioned.
