Defining the Dwarven-Defender

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redhawx
Posts: 91
Joined: Tue Jul 28, 2015 9:51 am

Defining the Dwarven-Defender

Post by redhawx » Sat Aug 11, 2018 2:05 pm

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=20268

I think the most easy way to fix the class would be to let dwarven-defender levels meld with fighter levels as one of the alternatives in this suggestion brings forth and i do think Dwarven Defender could afford some minor buff to AC and AB to be on par with other martial-classes. The barbarian stand as a class that right now is for most part just a plain better at everything the Dwarven Defender can do. The 10% more soak and hp shield make sure that they are very much on-par when it come to soaking and makes barbarians better to take dmg from WM's and crits. Especially half-orc barbarians.
2. Dwarven defenders have undergone rigorous training. To deploy their most refined techniques, the Dwarven defenders require coordination with other Dwarven defenders on the field of battle.

For every friendly Dwarven defender within 20 feet (or 6 metres), the Dwarven defender is granted +AB, damage and reflex up to the maximum of 2 bonus.

Design note: This is a blatant buff, but it encourages the Dwarven defenders to seek each other and act together, hopefully leading to more Dwarven defender RP. The bonuses are capped for obvious reasons. The buff is given to AB and damage, because these are the departments Dwarven defenders currently lack in; however, even this is limited to only 2. It makes the class a worthwhile investment for other builds, such as Dwarven defender Rogues, Clerics, and so on. This broadens the DwD build palette from that of a simple damage reduction build, which I think is something the players tend to enjoy.
To me this is the most interesting role-play enhancing idea yet that i have seen for the class would be to let DwD increase the efficiency of each other, other dwarves, or other in a party through knowledge of tactics and how to act in a unit. In some way the opposite of a barbarians approach of chaotic-individual rage. It fit the dwarven approach of Warfare. Small unit-tactics. Their mindset with focus on the collective rather then the individual. I like this one, because it's not just a plain mechanical buff or fix but give something more in way of feel and soul to the class and can help illustrate the highly disciplined training and tactical acumen of the Dwarven Defender.

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Opustus
Posts: 817
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Re: Defining the Dwarven-Defender

Post by Opustus » Sat Aug 11, 2018 4:39 pm

Is this topic meant to open a discussion about my suggestion? I thought about having a discussion about DwD before making the suggestion, but then I decided not to because I feel as though there's a tendency for conversations on tweaking classes to reduce to "this class is too weak, buff required". All of my suggestions are simply buffs, by which I try to get past the discussion of whether DwD needs the buffs in the first place, and direct attention to design aspects that need tweaking. Most notably, the design aspect lacking from the DwD is a mechanic that lets the DwD live up to its name as a defend-oriented class; the only way I can conceive achieving this is for the class to be better at defending others than it currently is.

I thought of more flavourful things that would have to do with Dwarven lore, the Morndinsamman, oaths, and so on, but couldn't come up with anything cool or exciting enough. It'd be great if others could pitch their ideas here!

Anyway, the steps I would take when deciding whether or not to tweak a class are
1. Does the class give characters a distinguishable role to play?
2. How common is the class? Why is it or why isn't it? Should it be more or less common?
3. Does the class allow for a good mix of builds? What kind of builds and playstyles should the class support mechanically?
Then there are subquestions:
Does the class have cool mechanics that make it fun and exciting to play? Can it be made relevant for PvM and PvP? Etc.

Usually the matter of balance is addressed while answering those questions. Class design is primarily about population control, about making sure that a wide enough variety of characters are being played. Secondarily it's about letting people have classes that allow them to RP the characters they want (making it fun, rewarding, cool, fostering RP, and so on). I can't think of any good reason to have more DwDs than are currently in the server; it's a prestige class tied to a single race that is currently already well-represented in Arelith (dwarf and duergar make 5% of the character base). The biggest fault with the class is that it does not give the tools to RP a Dwarven defender.

Consider the Brog dwarves. I've played there for a robust amount of hours, but not once have I seen RP was clearly defined as Dwarven defender RP, whereas the Hold is teeming with dwarves any one of whom could be mistaken for a Dwarven defender. The class itself does not equip the player with the tools to represent the Dwarven defender class adequately, rendering it practically moot and invisible. I cannot say the same about any other class currently; all except DwD have their saving grace.

It's very important for me to stress that I'm not simply arguing for buffs to the class for the sake of PvM/PvP competence. I don't want to make the class prevalent or even good or even as good as Barbarian. I'm not interested one bit with what is fair in that sense. I don't care one bit for balance insofar as it does not lead to an overflow of certain kinds of characters and a dearth of others. Naturally, class balance is important but only because players opt to play powerful characters that do well in PvM and PvP, because this is a facet of the game itself. Further, balance becomes a relevant question when answering the three questions I have lined above; it is a likely trend that players choose to play powerful classes while choosing not to play weak ones, affecting directly how common a class is. The builds and the class involved should be kept flexible to allow for the creativity of the players to flourish, so they can come up with new builds, supporting the RP of a more diverse set of characters (for example, currently a Divine+Arcane mix outside of Paladin dips seems very much impossible). Whether PvM or PvP is enjoyable by being challenging enough and encouraging people to team up is naturally also a question of balance, but I don't see how this is pertains to the DwD class itself, which is the topic here.

Beside questions of balance, I believe players opt for their classes based on the type of character it lets them play. This may be for the thousandth time I say this, but: Currently, anyone can play any brand of fighter-type builds and they won't play notably different from DwD. The class does not pass the Duck Test.
Characters: all poor babies suffering from neglect

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