• Originally Posted by bmfof: Can we get an explanation on how exactly will the new armor system works, with actual examples?
• Originally Posted by Melkorus: Can you provide us with real and factual examples of prestige class AND specialized armor?

We can talk about the goals we had creating the new armor and specialization system:

• More diversity: There shouldn’t be a single role (e.g., hybrid) that dominates all others. Our goal was to make all roles viable in PvP.  A player that wants to be a fighter, for example, should have a fair chance to win versus a mage.
• Reduce the power gap: it shouldn’t take a very long time to be viable in PvP.  If a player focuses on a single role, he should be able to excel in that role in a specific time-frame. A more experienced player could be able to excel in multiple roles but he will not be able to utilize all of them simultaneously. This will help level the playing field.
• Consistency with basic Darkfall principles: players will still be able to freely select, change and combine roles. The difference now is that there are trade-offs: each choice will have a consequence; each advantage will also have a disadvantage.

Your play-style depends on the type of armor you have on and on the main base attribute that you choose to boost with specific title enhancements. Getting titles, how you use them, and how they work is different than it is today.

There will be distinct play styles, among them obvious ones such as melee, archer, magic, but there are also more like for example being a defensive tank. Hybridization will be possible by wearing a type of armor (heavy,medium,robe) and mixing a base attribute to boost e.g. medium armor + strength might work out for a one handed weapon and archery hybrid.

You will be able to boost one base attribute past its current limit through the title.  There is a prerequisite base attribute value for usage of armors and weapons. Armor types block opposing spells and/or skills and/or special skills.

We are also experimenting with special exception slots where you could select one of the blocked skills or spells to become available in your arsenal. Of course this wouldn’t work at the magnitude it would for a fully specialized character. Each play-style might also be enhanced with new special abilities and skills in order to be viable against other styles.

BALANCING

A lot of spells and relevant skills, also passive skills/spells will be gone. Magic schools are  completely redesigned by moving spells around, re-balancing their strength and usage and adding new spells. There are now distinct roles for specific magic schools.

• Originally Posted by bobii: Is the staff magnitude-to-damage scaling ever going to get fixed?
  
  • Yes, it’s fixed as a part of the overall balance work we’ve been doing for the game.

• Originally Posted by Bomanz: You have stated nearly a year ago (see my question in the last Q &A) that a game wide balance evaluation was being conducted, examining the above issues. What are the conclusions of this evaluation, and are we going to see this content balanced and made useful in the next expansion?
  
  • Most of the work done on the overall balance is based on information from the evaluation you mention concluded back then. There have been more evaluations since then taking into account parts of the game that have changed, and these have been taken into consideration during the overall re-balancing of the game.

• Originally Posted by screw loose: What are your views on Wall of Force, fire knock-ups, and bunny-hopping?
  
  • We like physics in Darkfall and the freedom they give players to find fun and interesting ways of using them. We also think that some mechanics like bunny-hopping should be adjusted: It’s a fun way of using physics but we never intended for players on foot to be able to keep up with mounts. All three of the points mentioned in the question above are being rebalanced.

• Originally Posted by Sarphus: A while ago an AV rep said there would be new spells in the expansion. Can we have some examples?
  
  • We’ll get back to you on this with a proper presentation for the new spells. Please allow us to skirt the question for the time being.

• Originally Posted by bongloads: Fire has been the premiere elemental spell-circle choice since launch. It used to be the only spell circle with complete animations and it also did the most damage, now it’s the only elemental with secondary effects (air’s gimped version of knockup doesn’t count… it’s an ineffectively scaled copy-paste of fire; it barely does anything). Are there any plans to attempt to balance elemental spell schools, by adding secondary effects to water, fire, lightning
  
  • Yes, absolutely. We’ve given value to all the schools, each has its’ role in the game. As we mention above, spells are more distinct, more specialized and more role-focused than before.

• Originally Posted by MillionAlts: Will the farming to fighting ratio ever be addressed? Not necessarily for the best gear, but many players feel that the ratio is way out for “everyday / every player” gear
  
  • Yes, this is a big part of what we have been working on. Redistributing of locations, quest  rewards, loot, all these points and more are being changed with this concern in mind. The goal is to considerably reduce the daily prep time for your character to join the action.

• Originally Posted by Trismagistus: Do you have a time-frame when some of the spells in game will be readdressed such as healing chant, tornado, arcane damage, and earthquake for usefulness?
  
  • When the overall balancing will start being implemented. All spells have been readdressed.  We’re trying to get prioritized items into the game as soon as possible, as they become available.

• Originally Posted by schlock: Will one-handed melee ever be viable? If so, how do you plan on doing that? We feel that the balance and importance between the different play styles is not like we want them to be.
  
  • We spoke above on the armor specialization. You can excel at using one-handed melee to the point where you should be able to compete with other play-styles. Combined with a shield and a new mechanic for blocking , you will be very viable within the constraints of the melee specialty, since there are trade-offs to be made.

• Originally Posted by Liquid20: When will you balance the melee weapons so that they are all viable? Currently, 90% of the server uses greatswords.
  
  • Like the spells, every weapon type has been rebalanced.

• Originally Posted by Darkfiend#billy: Right now, the magic system is developed in a way that your character must master multiple schools in order to be competitive in PvP encounters. Are there any plans to make deep specializations in one specific school (possibly via prestige classes) such as Earth/Fire/Air/Water mage to add diversity and particular focus into one school of magic at the expense of others?
  
  • This is being looked at. For the time being we’re working on properly balancing all the schools and spells. You can still specialize as a support or an offensive mage by boosting your wisdom or your intelligence respectively.