Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMO Gamers to the Next Level!

Ten Ton Hammer: A quick look at the official class descriptions reveals that Rangers and Prophets both use pets. How will the pets of the Ranger and the Prophet differ? Why would a person who plays a pet class want to choose a Ranger rather than a Prophet?

Henry: Many of our classes are going to have companions - Rangers will have beasts. Magi will have Elementals. Prophets, which will be released in a later update will have companions of their own. These companions will differ not only in theme, but also in their abilities and their combat role.

When we designed the classes of Alganon, we designed them based on a combat role, using companions as a tool for enabling the class to perform that combat role.

For example, when we designed the Ranger, our goal was to create a class capable of controlling and manipulating the enemy. As MMO players ourselves, we know that players will always find a way to manipulate the AI, and we know that doing so can be a lot of fun. It is fun to kite the enemy while your friends beat on it, to pull the mob back to a place where your group has the advantage, to ping-pong aggro, to root the enemy just before an enrage and /laugh as the enrage wears off before the root does. These things are fun, so we built a class around these types of activities.

However, you can't ping-pong aggro if you are solo. If you don't have friends beating on the mob you are kiting, it can take too long to kill, and thus you lose a lot of potential fun. Root-and-run is much more fun when it gives the healer that extra second to get the big heal in. These actions require a group to be at their best, so a class built around this style of play would be more fun if they had a group... or, if they WERE a group! With a companion by their side, Rangers can have this kind of fun even if they are playing solo.

Other classes, however, have companions for different reasons. Magi have Ice Elementals so that they can "tank over here" and stand "way over there" at the same time. Prophets, who will come in a later phase after release will have companions, so they can interact with more than one enemy (or party member) at a time. We want to make sure that players who want "a pet class" also have a choice between multiple combat roles.

Ten Ton Hammer: A Ranger's presence on the battlefield definitely appears to be an interesting ability. Will these be buffs that a Ranger can cast on their targets? Or is it something that they turn one - more like an aura or a bardic song?

Henry: A Presence will be a raid-wide buff - for example, Predator's Presence will increase the attack power of the entire raid. However, Rangers will also have an arsenal of debuffs to use against their enemies (and thus boost the strength of anyone combating that enemy), as well as a few buffs that directly effect their companions.

Ten Ton Hammer: Toxins seem like pretty powerful combat options. What kind of debuffs are we going to see with the toxins?

Henry: There are a number of toxins available to Rangers, from a simple Damage over Time, to a toxin that reduces the target's accuracy, to a respiratory toxin that increase the costs of actions. This last toxin can be the most powerful, as it can outright prevent an enemy from using their more powerful attacks and defenses. This puts them at a huge disadvantage and forces them to change their attack patterns.

Likewise, understanding of toxins and general chemistry allows Rangers to use arrows that have been laced with the power of the elements. This allows them to equip ammunition with non-physical damage types. Don't expect a Ranger to only attack with arrows that do physical damage - they could be firing arrows laced with the power of flame, ice, or even arrows made of solid wrath!