TenTonHammer.com - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

By Cody "Micajah" Bye, Managing Editor

Since Dungeons and Dragons hit store shelves decades ago, individuals have been railing against each other trying to decide which play style is better: melee or magic? Even now, as Warhammer Online enters into its open beta with thousands of players jumping into the world, many players will still be making that decision.

Do you enjoy melee combat? Or magical warfare?

For massively multiplayer online games, the decision between melee and magic is as wrought with perils and pitfalls as it was the day that Dungeons and Dragons was first released. As user of magic, players will be able to control hugely powerful magical energies using them to either hurl destructive magic at their opponents or bring protection and healing to their comrades. However, as a sword-and-board sort of player, gamers will be able to wade into the action without fear of being turned into a pincushion with the swing of the first sword.

Each of the melee and magic classes – in any game you play – has its own advantages and disadvantages. Many individuals who simply enjoying meting out violence to their enemies enjoy playing a melee combatant where they can see the up close and personal results of their actions. Damage-based magic users can enjoy the same sort of violent results, albeit their spells almost always come at a distance, where little to no harm can come to them.

However, these roles distort even further when you get into the massively multiplayer online gaming setting. While many of us may enjoy being in the front lines and beating on our enemies, we also enjoy seeing their corpses crumple under our feet. The majority of the melee frontline combatants in MMOGs will never see that happen through the stroke of their sword, because most MMOGs have made melee combatants the “meatshields” and given them a duty that allows them to do little more than stand in front of an enemy and take the brunt of the blows.

That said, most magic users will never be able to stand on the front lines either. There will be no “Gandalf-esque” moments of pulling your greatsword and preparing yourself for the enemy to come at you. The majority of the fighting for magic users in MMOGs occurs behind the front lines, where they can fling spells but won’t run the risk of dying anytime soon.

So which is it? Which kind of classes do players enjoy the most? If you take some of the more recent games as examples, you’d find that more and more players seem to enjoy a little dabble of melee along with their magic, or vice versa. In Warhammer Online, Age of Conan, and even a bit in World of Warcraft, a good number of the classes are what you could consider a mixture of both melee and magic. From the Paladin in World of Warcraft to the Bear Shaman in Age of Conan, thousands of gamers desire to have both the ability to provide melee support while also flinging spells off into the ether.  

The Warrior Priest is a formidable opponent that uses both melee and magic in combat.

One of the prime examples of this melee and magic phenomena is the Warrior Priest in Warhammer Online. This magically oriented class actually needs to be in the middle of the fray to be able to heal at all. Through the build up of their “Righteous Fury”, Warrior Priests can unleash healing spells on their comrades, but only after they’ve been slugging it out in melee combat for awhile.

In my opinion, this is a wonderful about-face for the MMOG industry. These “hybrid” classes really allow gamers to maximize what parts of the game they want to enjoy, while still allowing the MMOG purists to have their straight-up melee classes and “melt-your-face” casters. People can still claim to be “melee” but retain an alternative magic ability or two to spice things up for the rest of their party members.

So which kind of player are you? Do you crave a good melee encounter? Or do you fancy yourself a more magically inclined person? Or are you a dabbler, wanting to mix and match the kind of combatant you are into something that’s both a melee and a magic wielder?

If you know, give us a post on the forums. We’d love to hear what kind of combat you favor!