If there’s anything that players want to know about before a
game launches, it’s the classes that they have the ability to
play. As href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/taxonomy/term/1841"
target="_blank">Alganon
draws ever closer to its initial open beta, the Ten Ton Hammer staff
has initiated a series of exclusive interviews with Lead Data Designer
Hue Henry centered on the playable classes in the upcoming fantasy MMO.
Two weeks ago, we target="_blank">published our first exclusive class interview
with
the developers of Alganon,
which focused on the Soldier class. This week we follow it
up with a look at the pet-loving, archery proficient Ranger. The class
certainly looks like something current WoW Hunters may be into, so make
sure you take a look. Enjoy!

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Ten Ton Hammer: Animal
companions are obviously one of the unique features of the Ranger
class. How do players choose their companion? Must they "tame" a wild
beast and show it how to fight? Or will they be able to select from a
number of beasts at the very beginning of the game?

Hue Henry:
Players will have multiple options for choosing a companion. They can
tame one from the wild, or even purchase one from a vendor. There are
plans for future releases to allow players to tame and train beasts
that can then be sold as commodities to other players. However, the
ability to resell companions will arrive sometime after launch.

Ten Ton Hammer: Will a
player's animal companion level up independently of the player? Or will
it always be at a similar level?

Henry: An
animal companion will always be at the same level as the player. A
player and their companion will level up together. A tamed pet will be
adjusted to the same level as the player. This allows a player to get
new pets without being forced to spend a day or two leveling that pet
before they can have fun again.

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?

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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!