Started a new topic: A Hypothetical Example of Hunter Customization(39 Replies))

First and foremost, it seems obvious from an aesthetical standpoint that different classes should have different base statistics. After all, it doesn't make sense visually for a Hunter to be as durable as the heavily armored Titan, nor does it make sense for a Titan to be as fast as the light and agile Hunter. This basic assumption is supported by footage from the Pathways out of Darkness Vidoc. A careful viewer can see that at [url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwOUi4JDC4o&feature=youtu.be&t=1m4s]1:05[/url] there are a series of four statistics below Halcylon's Hunter Character: Energy, Shields, Agility, and Discipline. Energy could very well be like Mana or Cooldown Reduction for player abillities. The higher an Energy score a character has, the more they can use a power before having to recharge, or the quicker their abillities recharge before being available to use again. It makes sense for a class like the Warlock, which presumably has a lot of "Space Magic" abillities, to have a higher Energy Score than the other classes. Shields are most likely a measure of how much "health" your character has. It seems fairly straightforward, the higher the Shield Score, the more punishment your character can take before the damage starts bleeding over to his health bar. It makes sense for an armored class like the Titan to have more Shields than the other classes. Agility is probably a measure of how nimble your character is. The more Agility you have, the faster your character moves, and the more responsive he is. It makes sense for a lightly armored class like the Hunter to have more agility than the other classes. Of the four attributes revealed through the Vidoc, Discipline is definitely the biggest Enigma. There are several different possibillities for what that stat could measure, but I definitely get the feeling that Discipline has something to do with weapon handling. A character with higher discipline might be able to maintain his accuracy while taking fire, or a character with higher discipline might have higher accuracy with a higher caliber weapon. You'll see why I feel this way in a few paragraphs. Going alongside that particular thought process, another important factor that will help us determine how this game will play is whether or not certain classes can use certain archetypes of weapons. Unfortunately there's not enough conclusive evidence yet to determine the restrictiveness of certain weapon archetypes, but there are several possibillities. On one hand, I could very much imagine Destiny being like Mass Effect 2, where unless you're a Soldier, you can't even equip and use a majority of the Weapons Sandbox. However, this possibillity is somewhat discounted by [url=http://i868.photobucket.com/albums/ab249/Hylebosaiden/WarlockTitanSameGun_zps21753fe4.png]these pictures[/url] taken from the Pathways out of Darkness Vidoc. As you can clearly see, the Vidoc shows us a Warlock and a Titan wielding the same type of Assault Weapon, which seems to contradict the general idea that our Warlock Class will be restricted to puny pistols to make up for his abillity to wield "Space Magic". That doesn't neccessarily mean that every class will be able to wield every weapon proficiently. I could also imagine that Destiny could be like Mass Effect 1 in that every class can wield and equip every type of weapon, but unless you are proficient in that weapon, your accuracy and precision will go to hell. While Mass Effect 1 measures proficiency by the points invested into each weapon type, I imagine that Destiny would measure it through the Discipline Statistic. It makes sense that a Warlock wouldn't be able to wield Sniper Rifles or Heavy Machine Guns as accurately as the Hunter or the Titan would be able to, so it makes sense that he would have a lower Discipline Score than those two other classes. This helps to shoehorn the Warlock into his Class's Niche, presumably, a role that relies on "Space Magic" to fight rather than superior firepower.

I think a lot of people are going to dismiss Titan as a slow heavy armored class. when I personally think the game ma be much like Skyrim in the sense that even with heavy armor and weapons you can mix it up and play different styles and be even better than Hunters in their supposed area of expertise

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Great OP Hylebos! Loved the entire read. What do you think the impact of itemization will be in Destiny? On the surface, I fear everyone will reach the end game and toons will look identical because everyone picks the gear with the best stats. Will there be tools to head this off? Is it a non-issue Bungie solves through new added content? Probably more importantly, do you see loot ever being class specific or just heavily implied use by one class over another? Very interested in your thoughts here.

Reading all this, do you think we will be able to mix the characters in away, for example , I love the look of the warlock but I really want the hunter-esk fighting style. So do you think we will be able to customize that way? Also, do you think some power ups will be pick up, or swap able, for example, the power ups in halo reach (sprint, jetpack, hologram, camo, etc.)?????

I like the idea for loot based leveling. I'm a huge monster hunter fan and I would love to see the same system in a different game. But it also makes me wonder how the whole looting system will be.

To place further emphasis on the personalization aspect of our characters, I'm thinking Bungie will allow our characters to morph into the roles and play styles we choose regardless of their original class. They will still retain the defining characteristics of their parent class however. I guess the best way to explain this is with the class system of Maplestory. Their class development was characterized by a list of abilities you could upgrade as you progressed. You could completely ignore some abilities while focusing on others, and after certain levels you could "upgrade" your character into more specialized characters, a branching system for classes. And these new classes would have more abilities to invest in. In time, a mage could become either a healer/support or a massive slayer focusing on aoe attacks. A rouge's attacks could become either completely ranged or cqc. And a warrior's evolution would depend on the amount of defense they would be willing to trade for attack. But warriors would always have the most health and mages would always have the most mana. I can see the speculated Vanguard class deriving from the Titan class. Then again, maybe not. I don't expect the exact same system, but I do expect Bungie to allow us to be flexible and adaptive with the play styles we choose regardless of class. Just not something as extreme as a hunter acting as the team tank, or a titan trying to be stealthy lugging around a 50 caliber machine gun.

I have trouble with the idea of there being more than four classes, seeing as the three classes we do know seem to conform with a specialty in one of the main stats. I expect the mysterious "Vanguard" class to be proficient in Agility, seeing as the Hunter seems to be most proficient in Discipline, which would make sense in with the theory that Discipline is accuracy. I expect the Vanguard to be a fast, close range unit like in Mass Effect.

My concerns so far have been around aesthetics (will the Titan be able to don a trench coat?). But your thread invites me to think about strategy, and squad play. ありがとう。■

All things considered, the only thing I am looking for in all the classes is the ability to heal. If we are running a health system in this game, and the dungeons are as big as they look, I need to be ship-shape every five minutes. However, I am unclear as to how your health will work in this game, so really, I have no say. I just want to heal.

I dont know if anyone has noticed, but in the Pathways vidoc at about 2:30 they start to talk about characters and then show 5 separate pics of different characters. Now i suppose that 2 of them could just be variations, but that would seem to be illogical to me. in my opinion those are each a pic of the 5 different classes we will see to start, then each one of them branching into separate sub classes or specializations.

It would be really good if they add in different skill trees and powers or unlocks for the different people or characters that you might be able to be that means that if your friends pick different characters other characters might be able to compliment them in some way

Is everyone sure titan is the tank? I was sure vanguard ment tank. But im also semi crazy i think. but wizard seems interesting. but will they use the conventional magic (magik) or act like mass effect and use some tech abilities. Like wizard wizard with technology. Hunter i dont see why it cant be both ranged and close. You carry 2 weapons, maybe a semi and melee or shotty.

I see that a lot of people are speculating the Hunter class to be a ranged only type of class, but I would like to compare it to the Assassin class in Borderlands 2. U can be ranged and only snipe but there are also alot of fast paced close quarters combat. Light armor Rouge style combat if u want to put it in an old fashion RPG type of explanation. But not only the fast paced melee combat but I will be expecting a stealth mechanic, or atleast an active camoflauge mechanic like in Halo games. As for the Warlock and Titan class i do not have many specualtions since the those classes seem to be a bit more spread out in my eyes.

Thanks for this. Great speculation post, well reasoned and supported. [quote]For example, on one hand I could imagine that Destiny has five to seven main classes that are all selectable from the very beginning of the game. On the other hand, I could imagine a system where you start your character by choosing to become either a Hunter, Titan, or Warlock, and then as you progress as a character you can choose sub classes to further specialize your role on the battlefield.*[/quote] ... [quote]So how will Class Progression work if there isn't an EXP System? I don't imagine that Destiny will be very RPG-like with complex skill and perk trees, I imagine that their methods of customizing classes will be much more simple. Rather than gaining exp and raising your skill levels, progression in Destiny will be loot driven. Through your adventures, you'll find better equipment which will allow you to specialize your class into a specific role, and the more you play, the better equipment or perhaps sidegrades you'll find, which will increase your character's power and potential.**[/quote] *[b]Re: Stats and Classes[/b] [i]Scenario 1:[/i] If all classes are selectable with their own "sidegrade / perk option" trees tied somehow to book/chapter completion &/or loot acquisition, I'd wager that the ability stats for each class are static. How well that works for players, then would be entirely dependent on how the book/chapter completion choices might tie in with their acquisition. If you get weapons/gear in the "wrong" order for your class you might find PvP frustrating. [i]Scenario 2:[/i] Somewhat similar to Scenario 1. Except now the player has options somewhere in their character progression (again, chapter & loot versus XP driven) to "tweak" those attribute stats. They can switch tracks toward unlocking specific sub-class/class variant sidegrades. This progress would also be a blend of general chapter completion and acquiring loot, but now doing something in the "wrong" order isn't quite as much of a setback as subclass options could offer a way to refine that class according to how the player played their character and what loot they found. [b]**Re: Loot Class Mod Progression instead of XP Progression[/b] [i]Loot in both scenarios:[/i] Granted, in either scenario, a player would want to get all the character sidegrades, and then raids would be a matter of finding more heavily modified loot, (rather than straight "better", think like weapon damage/accuracy/ROF/reload time/etc. sliders). With the "best" loot being the most exotic sidegrades that your character class can make good use of. In other words, no weapon is intended to objectively be better than another. The usefulness of a perk from one piece of armor/gear/accessory is all in how you play and combine it. Theory vs. practice, though, I know. [i]Putting it All Together:[/i] Let's say, there's a rare rifle with extremely high damage that is difficult to aim skillfully, traded off with extremely long reload time, enough to drop a Titan regardless of all but the most powerful Vanguard buff or map pickup in one hit. And as it requires such a very high level of discipline only appropriate subclasses could wield it. Subclasses could then wield the same weapons in different ways depending on their available character and class sidegrades, whether from gear or from skill trees. Just as examples: one class using energy contextually to negate a "flinch" mechanic when taking hits while scoped, or another controlling a reticule drift while moving/uncrouched. [i]Reinventing the FPS:[/i] My dream in the PvP sense, regardless of its viability for e-sports for lack of better terms, is that we're glimpsing a squad shooter that could be tweaked via the base stats and via regulations to fit a hybrid or arena shooter role. One where you also go out into the persistent world to get your characters gear, and one where the SF setting allows for high-risk, quick kill positioning gameplay of a squad shooter alongside gun battles and jousting of your hybrid and arena shooters. That can either partition off those experiences in a way that isn't heavy-handed or forced, or can combine them all in a way that isn't a train wreck.