Class Development
Today marks the first entry in our series of updates leading up to Community Alpha Test 8, starting off with a focus on our class development up to and through the new level 30 testing cap.
While class development has progressed steadily during and between past tests, these recent months brought a broader focus: scale. The team has been actively broadening ability lines, accentuating class flavors, and extending overall toolkits up to level 50.
We are very happy with how our classes play, though a few feel better than others as we introduce more tools and conduct new experiments with a mix of active and relaxing playstyles, respectively. Whether you prefer fast-paced action or a steady rhythm to chat with your party, we are tinkering with engaging new systems designed to offer fun choices sans the tedious chores.
The majority of our classes are now expanded to their full level 50 accoutrement. However, this remains a work in progress for our testing team as they dig in and iterate on how these abilities perform and fit together.
Finding the right balance is essential, but retaining the excitement of acquiring new and upgraded abilities is equally vital. We are committed to keeping that fun alive while refining the data.
Without further ado, the following is a list covers most of our class changes shipped in patches 10.69 through 10.77.
Quick Link Section:
Bard
- Medleys can now be deleted and reordered, with more icons to help you tell your setups apart
- Song of Cinders adds fire damage over time to the Bard's toolkit
- Canticle of Reverdure strengthens healing spells for the group. We named it for Willowbrook's Reverdure, when the halflings reclaimed and rebuilt their home after the fall of Bottombrook
- Area damage songs now hit up to five targets, down from 15
- We also corrected the formula behind Soloist's Rhythm, which was granting far more armor than intended
Beastwarden
- Companion buffs survive logout and disconnects.
- Fullness and happiness appear as buffs in the pet window, and their benefits now work:
- Happiness gives your companion higher regeneration
- A well-fed companion has an extra chance to attack each round
- Once your companion reaches level 10, you can rename it at the stables
- Fire Claw and Toxic Fang are combat abilities now. They now feel like attacks you make alongside your companion rather than spells interrupting that fight
- Companion ability choices now reach tiers 30 and 45, with one selection at each tier:
- A level 30 ability triggers when your companion lands the killing blow on an enemy that grants experience
- The level 45 choices are built for later progression; you'll activate those from your own hotbar on a shared two-minute cooldown
- We extended several companion healing and buff lines through level 50
- We also reduced Infuse Companion's proc rate from 15% to 10%
Back to class listing quick links
Cleric
- The Restoring Pulse line gives Clerics a group heal over time for damage that lands across the party
- At level 10, the Codex of Profane Zeal opens a more aggressive path:
- Profane Strike, Judgment, Zealous Nova, and Fanaticism build and spend Zeal, with stamina costs to consider as you fight
- While the codex is equipped, normal healing effectiveness is halved; choosing it changes what you can offer the group
- The healing and protection lines have received new ranks and tuning. Hadrius' Plea, Constitution, and Ward buffs can now be cast on one ally or the whole group in a single cast
Druid
- Flourish and Verdant Bolt have been adjusted for stronger healing efficiency and better mana use ratios
- We also tuned the Swarm, Woundwood, and Razorleaf lines.
- Become Wolf now adds melee attack power
- Your shape changing choices grow with Become Bear at level 20 and Become Deer at 30
- Entangling Web holds longer when its target is standing on grass. Rangers share this benefit, so a patch of grass near a camp can change where you choose to stop an enemy
- Many Druid healing, damage, protection, and travel lines have new ranks laid out through level 50
Enchanter
- Perfect Tranquility joins your combat abilities at level 10, an unresistible PBAE mesmerization ability that also grants all group members mana
- Suspend Reality at 15 holds the enchanter and their out-of-combat charmed pet in place for up to five minutes so that the player may step away; any player input, damage, or spell expiring will break the lock
- Illusions, haste, and several mind and control lines have been extended for later levels
- Dispel arrives earlier at level 5
- At 19, Dispel Net lets you strip effects from enemies in an area
- Invisibility at level 16 can be cast on others
- Mind Erase now works on targets up to level 23, and continued mesmerization spells will have level limitations
- We also fixed a Seed of Doubt bug that could leave a newly charmed pet's aggro list stuck
Hex-Knight
- Withering Tendrils, Hex Rend, Spreading Curse, and Leech Strike have more ranks
- Shadow Bind now grants health as well as armor
- Dread Edict begins a Hex-Knight fear line at level 15 to replace the shared line with Necromancers, providing a more strict level range
- Leech Strike now has a 12-second cooldown, up from six. Its percentage heal no longer grows with health buffs
- Hex-Knights also start with Innate Defense I, adding 10 armor class before gear
Monk
- Feign Death now sends all enemies to return home
- Mark one with Stop Heart if you need it to stay, or use Lift One Stone to try to pull a single enemy with a throw
- Lift One Stone is the new name for Lesson of One
- Monk combat now moves a Posture bar toward Stillness or Motion:
- Commit far enough in one direction, then work back toward the center to earn Perfect Technique
- Abilities that can use it light up, and a dodge or riposte helps bring you back to center.
- Perfect Technique stays available until you spend it or its window expires
- Spending it restores some stamina
- Centered Breathing, learned at level 10, improves that window as the skill grows.
- New ability Iron Shirt absorbs the next three incoming hits
- Nerve Strike slows its target and cannot be dodged; with Perfect Technique, it briefly reduces the target's damage as well
- We've reworked Strike of Omuin around the new system and are still tuning the wider Monk kit
Necromancer
- Kills by you or your group build Soul Tithe against XP granting enemies. Spend those stacks to call temporary minions, whose remaining time is visible in the pet window
- With two minions already out, another summon refreshes a matching minion or replaces one with the type you chose
- Your pet levels alongside you
- Commanders and pet buffs now survive logout
- Trainer upgrades give commanders and minions new abilities as you level and their kits have also been extended through level 50
- The fear, undead control, Lich, pet haste, health buff, and snare lines have more ranks
- Bloodwell now deals unresistible damage to its caster
Paladin
- Dawn's Touch cast time increased to 2.5 seconds
- Selfless Grace, Alder's Ward, Force of Light, and several healing and protection lines have more ranks along the way to level 50
- The first two ranks of Zealot's Rush return less stamina, and Selfless Grace costs more mana
- Paladins start with Innate Defense I for 10 armor class before gear
Ranger
- Snare Trap gives you a way to prepare the path into a fight at level 6, with a stronger version at 18.
- Ambush now stuns for three seconds
- Disengage has its own cooldown
- Coat of Thorns gives you a self-only damage shield for enemies that reach you
- Morning Dew, Focused Shot, Stride, and the sky-themed lines have more ranks
- Rangers gain access to Heart of Pine
- Entangling Web lasts longer on grass, just as it does for Druids
- Animal Camouflage also arrives at level 5 to share with your allies
Rogue
- Stealth skill gains now come from slipping past an enemy that checks for you and fails to notice
Shaman
- Spirit Surge pulses healing over time, haste, and damage absorption from a totem to your group
- The Totems window now shows what you have placed and how long each totem has left
- Detrimental totems try to apply their effects again every six seconds after a resist
- The Thrombrosia slow line has more ranks
- Chitteryx's Touch begins a line that lowers enemy resists
- Fungifire brings cone-shaped damage over time at level 12
- Healing, stat buffs, curses, and several other Shaman lines have been extended through level 50
- Spore Infusion is now self-only
Summoner
- Merge Elements line combines two to five temporary aspects into one lasting construct, carrying traits from the pets used to make it
- Those ingredients still count against your temporary summon capacity, and reduce your stamina cap by 200 each
- Fracture Aspects releases them with fresh, short lifetimes while targeting an enemy
- Refocus Aspects sends your temporary summons after your current target
- Fire pets can be empowered near lava or near a Wizard with over 7 heat rating
- Earth pets benefit from summoned dirt
- Temporary pets also inherit your ability bonuses and power gained from stats
- From level 2 onward, ordinary temporary pets summon one level below you up to the spell's built-in level cap, while empowered pets summon at your level
War-Wizard
- Mana Shield now absorbs hits more efficiently and stacks with Yanus' Protection
- Mystical Protector shield summon also has an activated damage absorb on a 60-second cooldown
- Imbue Ice can trigger a mana return
- Elemental Strike gains a different secondary effect depending on your active imbue, and we fixed a bug that was preventing the strike from working properly
- Arcane Strength, Arcane Speed, and several protective and offensive lines have later ranks built out
Warrior
- Bulwark of Steel arrives at level 17. For 12 seconds, it gives you a 100% chance to riposte, followed by a ten-minute reuse timer
- Warriors start with Innate Defense I, adding 10 armor class before gear
Wizard
- Fire spells now build Heat, shown in its own window
- At Heat 7 and above, you risk overheating
- Lower-level spells compared to the player build less Heat
- Heat cools over time or by using Ice based spells
- You can hold Heat for Thermal Shock, vent it with Arcane Vent, keep it below the danger point with Crystalline Focus, or turn it into mana with Frozen Core
- Thermal Shock also prevents another Wizard from using it on the same enemy for 90 seconds
- Mana Flux returns mana when a marked enemy dies, based on the damage that Wizard dealt
- Most single-target hostile spells now reach farther
- Blink gives Wizards a short forward teleport at level 25
- Damage, crowd control, and Heat management lines have more ranks laid out through level 50
A fresh look for Adrullan.Online
We've given the website a fresh coat of paint, and there's more to poke around in while you wait for the gates to open. We've got the keys to the website again, too, and a solid starting point for more features down the road. You'll have a place to send all your friends to learn more about the game while we're cooking in the kitchen between tests.
Browse all sixteen classes by party role, search the patch notes for your class, and find answers in the searchable FAQ. The next test date, account creation, launcher download, and Discord are easier to find, with a dedicated Alpha Test page to help you get ready.
For the lore folks, take a look at the interactive World Cube, meet the gods behind the six Aspects, and settle in with the Champions' Tales.
Have a look around, pick your next class, change your mind a few times, and come back to Discord to discuss!
