Development Cycle Archive

The strengths of mixing and matching professions is that players can experience different gameplays without having to create alternate characters or starting over. It also is one of the most obvious differences between SWG and other MMORPGs.

Very hard to balance.

I do not think stacking defenses help create a unique character(which is theoriginalidea between hybrids), and should be removed, except for that ranged and melee mitigations should stack (with a cap of mitigation 3). I do think there should be a reason for characters to become hybrids though.... SoI propose that similar classes be able to use each other's special attacks. Like any ranged weapon can do headshots, any brawler can place dizzy attacks(if the appropriate special attack is available for that character). But this would also mean that most professions would need their more powerful attacks/weapon ceritifications raised up to higher levels in the skilltrees. In this way the reason players would mix professions is because they would be able to become more flexible without having to change weapons every other turn.

I think players will still want to become brawler/ranged hybrids because they can stack up ranged+melee mitigations and they would also have the advantage of having equal attack ratios at melee and ranged, while ranged/ranged characters would be more ranged affiliated.

IF what I propose is implemented, then all combinations would be viable..... Riflemen could do health shots, Fencers could hit mind... However then the difference between winning and losing would become primarily the weapon you're using(and the special attacks you have), so weapons would need to be balanced to a pinprick. This would take some of the balance pressure from the classes though.

If stacking defenses are removed and nothing to help the hybrid player is put in its place then players will just stack professions in a different manner: specifically Doctor, Combat Medic and Creature Handler come to mind. I would also like to include that there is no specialty classes due to the fact that we have more skillpoints than it takes to master one class, so there will always be some form of stacking in the game; there will never be a specialty class unless we are only allowed 100 skillpoints, which is not a viable or fun option.

The strength of profession mix / match lies in our abilities to create our own elitecharacter. The feeling that you have a profession that is unique to what everyone else is playing. Creating a player that is not a clone of all the rest can be quite rewarding.

On the other hand the weakness of profession mix / match is that onlya few mix match combinations actualy create a character that can compete with the others. Hence the flavor of the month syndrome. Every time one mix / match is nerfed another is born.
Some of the mix / match combinations make playing a SWG elite profession obsolete.

The unique skill set that SWG origingated canbe not only maintained but inhanced bygiving everyone more skill points to spend. As it is right now250 points is enough to master two professions. With anadditiona 50 points we could Master2 professionsand still have enough to mix /match.Some of theMaster professions need more bonuses to offset the combos.

Ranger / Rifleman Ranger isneed ofsome serious helpif it is going to survive the Jedi patch, I have been playing this combo since the game came out because it seemedlogical. All combat classes can kill creatures moreefectively than a ranger and they were suposed to be self suporting hunters.Creature agrois of no great imortance to a combat class because they can solo everything. PvE or PvP something for Ranger please.

QFE.

__________________________
_ Vader's Elite Death Squadron
Hiss of the Empire - VETS of Bria
Imperial Inquisitor | ICC Commander
Heart of Darkness | Cybernetic Soldier
[[ Former GCW Correspondent of Doom ]]

It allows you to play as you want to. I think this is the best skill system I've ever seen in a game. I love it and it's one of the best selling points of the game in this genre.

In it's current incarnation I think that there needs to be better bonuses for those who master skills vs dabbling in them. There also needs to be weaknesses added to skills as well. Someone who uses ranged weapons should have weaknesses at melee range. And a melee fighter should have weaknesses to ranged attacks. But the rifleman should also have a bonus to ranged attack and the melee should have bonuses to melee attacks. Let me give a bit of an example (the numbers are fudged for example purposes, and I'll use a defense mod as an example):

Teras Kasi Master who has no ranged weapon abilities and only melee abilities would have a +50 bonus to melee defense

Master Rifleman with no melee abilities would have a -50 weakness to melee defense

Teras Kasi Master / Master Rifleman would have no bonus and no weakness, the would cancel each other out.

Why? Well that's because they aren't truly specialized in a melee or ranged skill. They have taken up both and therefore shouldn't truly be as good as someone who only fights in one type.

Say you have a Teras Kasi Master / Master Swordsman, and each gives a +50 bonus to melee defense, well this should really be limited and shouldn't stack. Maybe because they have 2 melee skills they get a percentage of the total bonus based on the number of melee skills mastered. So someone with TKM/MS would get +75? So the stacking is still present, it's just not as prominent. This should be the same with ranged weapons as well. If you have +50 defense against ranged attacks from 2 skills you wouldn't get +100 but a percentage based on the number of masters you have in ranged skills. (it wouldn't require master, but this is just an example to get the bonuses, but they would be more at master)

Ok, so now you have Master Artisan / Master Swordsman. Well you would get your melee defense bonus +50 from being swordsman, but since you took up artisan you won't get any additional bonuses.

Also, there needs to be specific bonuses that each skill can get, but the others can't. On top of a melee defense a Master Swordsman would get a defense bonus against swords, and maybe a Fencer or TK or Pikeman would get a bonus as well, but it would be smaller. The Swordsman would get a better bonus against the sword because he knows his weapon better then a Pikeman for example. But he wouldn't have a bonus to defense against the Pikeman's weapon. The same ideas would carry over to ranged weapons as well.

Armor should also fit to the skillset as well. I melee fighter would want to wear melee specific armor that requires better kinetic resistance then a ranged fighter who would probably want defense against ranged weapons.

I don't know, but I think adding a Spy elite profession would be very cool. Maybe a rebel could appear to be an imperial and even walk around in imperial bases or such to spy on the other side.

A true friend is one who overlooks your failures and tolerates your success!
-- Doug Larson