Questions by Cody
"Micajah" Bye, Managing Editor
style="font-style: italic;">
Answers by Evan
Michaels, System Designer for Funcom
If there's one class in Funcom's Age of Conan that will be played more
than any other, it will be the Barbarian. Derived from the namesake of
the universe (Conan the Barbarian), this class has been described as a
savage, brutal, and undisciplined brute. To find out a few more details
about the blood-thirsty class, Ten Ton Hammer's managing editor, Cody
"Micajah" Bye, sat down with Funcom's Evan Michaels and really got to
the core of what drives this enraged berserker. Cover the eyes of your
women and children because the Barbarian is going to be one hell of a
nasty combatant!
(Editor's Note: Due to
the mad rush of the holidays, the Barbarian screenshots are still in
transit. Keep checking back here at Ten Ton Hammer to see a group of
exclusive screenshots focused on the Barbarian and his destructive
rage!)
Ten Ton Hammer:
You’ve opted to put the Barbarian character class under the
Rogue archetype; why was that decision made? Aren’t the
Barbarian’s your typical melee class / fighters? What makes
them more of a Rogue than a Soldier?
border="1">
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/20392"
title="Barbarian 2">
src="/image/view/20392/preview"
width="200">
style="font-style: italic;">The Barbarian is a
vicious foe.
way we have looked at it is that Soldiers are what one would view as
more “martial” types of warriors, whereas Rogues
are a bit more on the individualistic side. Barbarians, at their core,
are far more Roguish—wearing lighter armor, being extremely
offensive-minded, and generally not being what may be considered a
“disciplined” fighter. We’ve always felt
that there was an important distinction here, which is why we branded
the others as “Soldiers” rather than the typical
“Warrior” or “Fighter” labels
to be a bit clearer.
Ten Ton Hammer: When it
comes to defense, it doesn’t seem like the Barbarian tries to
protect himself in any way as he is more interested in killing his
enemies than protecting himself. Is this a correct assumption? If so,
how will players keep their Barbarian characters alive? Will they have
natural resistances, high hit points, or anything of that sort?
correct in your assumption that Barbarians are not heavily focused on
defending themselves via armor or shields as, for instance, Soldiers
may be. Barbarians typically rely on either evading the attacks of
their opponent or killing them quickly enough that defense is not a
huge concern. That said, Barbarians are typically a bit more on the
“tougher” side than an Assassin or Mage might be in
a toe-to-toe battle.
Ten Ton Hammer: Aside
from the combat-oriented skills that you’ve detailed in the
class preview on the main site, are there other skills and/or abilities
that make Barbarians more “savage?” For instance,
some sort of tracking skill, foraging, the ability to enter a frenzy,
etc?
the primary skills that you mentioned, the Barbarian class has a number
of themed specialized feats that certainly give a
“savage” feel to the class as a whole. For
instance, in their “Berserker” tree (which is
primarily focused around two-handed combat,) one could find the
following feats:
border="1">
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/20393"
title="Barbarian 1">
src="/image/view/20393/preview"
width="200">
style="font-style: italic;">Even a Barbarian
gets cold sometimes.
-
“Rampaging
Horde”, which increases the damage of the
Barbarian based on the number of other Barbarians nearby - "Thirst for
Blood”, which causes every attack within range
of the Barbarian—be it by friend or foe—to have a
chance to cause the Barbarian to gain increased damage and regeneration -
“No
Escape”, which allows the Barbarian to hurl
their weapon at an opponent at range, causing heavy impaling damage in
addition to stunning them. (Consequently, the Barbarian is disarmed
during this period, but that is a small price to pay for the result!)
other similar abilities, one can start to see the aggressive nature of
the Barbarian class pretty clearly.
Ten Ton Hammer: In the
class preview for the Barbarian, you pretty much illustrated the fact
that Barbarians will be unequaled melee class fighters. How then will
they be balanced compared to the more typical
“tank” characters – the Guardian,
Conqueror, and Dark Templar? How are you balancing the character
compared to those other classes? Who would win in a straight up fight?
very brutal melee fighters, having the highest area-oriented melee
damage (as the Assassin specializes mostly on single-target damage) and
some of the highest overall damage potential in the game. Compared to
the Soldier archetype, Barbarians obviously have the potential to dish
out significantly more pain in general while Soldiers are a bit more
resilient. Both classes have their strengths and weaknesses, so it
would be very difficult to say that one would specifically or always
have an advantage over the other. A Soldier would specialize in wearing
down their opponent and surviving a bit on the longer side, while a
Barbarian would rely on pure aggression in addition to their stuns,
knockbacks, and other forms of crowd-control to dispatch their foes.
Ten Ton Hammer: When it
comes to true fans of the Conan the Barbarian, it seems like there is
no better choice than a Barbarian if you want to play as the embodiment
of the hot-headed warrior. Do you anticipate that your game –
at least on release – will be full of Barbarians? What are
you doing to make the other classes more attractive to the Conan fans?
“Barbarian” in the context of Conan is somewhat a
quintessential figure, and thus will most likely be fairly popular.
That said, we feel that all the classes currently in-game have enough
interesting elements to be appealing in their own right. Our goal has
always been to have classes which are appealing and fun to play.
Ten Ton Hammer: On the
other hand, why would a Ten Ton Hammer reader want to play as a
Barbarian? What sets this character apart from any of the other classes
and why is he / she fun to play?
is really an aggressive class, which makes it very enjoyable to play
for those who like being up front and in the fray. Unlike the Assassin
and Ranger, which have to worry more about positioning and being a bit
careful, Barbarians are a bit more on the
“reckless” side, jumping into action and causing as
much havoc as possible in a short period of time. Anyone who likes a
very fast-paced, damage oriented class will probably feel at home with
the Barbarian class as a whole.
border="1">
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/20391"
title="Barbarian 3">
src="/image/view/20391/preview"
width="200">
style="font-style: italic;">Nighttime is a
perfect hunting ground for the Barbarian
Ten Ton Hammer: Anything
else you’d like to tell readers about the Barbarian?
at the Assassin class last time, another important distinction between
the Barbarian and Assassin is that the Barbarian is a bit more
of a “team player” and has a few more
abilities which directly support and buff his team. For instance, one
of their final feats in the “Reaver” tree (which is
their dual-wield focused branch) “Blood Bath”
causes all attacks performed on the target to have a chance to inflict
bleeding wounds—even those from their teammates.
Another facet about the Barbarian which I find very enjoyable is the
general theme that he is more effective when the odds are stacked
against him and his group, and he is surrounded by enemies. Having many
abilities which hit multiple targets, become more effective when more
enemies are around, and also having the ability to become empowered by
being at low health means that Barbarians will always be a really
useful class for any group to have around in a pinch—in
addition to being fast-paced and enjoyable to play.
Ten Ton Hammer: Thanks
again for this detailed information on a class that may be one of the
most popular in the Age of Conan! In two weeks, we'll be taking a look
at the final Rogue class: the Ranger. Along with the typical
class-oriented questions, we'll make sure to include a few about
stealth as well for those individuals that are dying to hear more about
this in-game mechanic! Thanks for visiting Ten Ton Hammer, and we'll
always be your unofficial source for Age of Conan reading material!
Barbarian? Is it savage and bruatl enough for you? href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=22711">Let
us know on the forums!
Ten Ton Hammer is your unofficial source for style="font-style: italic;">Age of Conan href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/115">news
and
articles!
To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Age of Conan: Unchained Game Page.
