2014-01-18, 09:23 PM
It's not that there aren't any good ideas in the current game mechanics, but most of them are too extreme i.e. have a very small reaction window (if any at all) which is affected by lag or have no significant effect at all (poisoned? who cares).
(Re)implementing class diversity would already open up a lot of options.
For example:
Magic damage vs Physical damage (high defense versus one or the other)
Range vs Melee (range needed to hit a certain mob; boss causes high damage/OHKOs at short range)
High damage hit per line vs low (an "armor" stat or buff which reduces damage for each line of damage)
Mobility (fast teleporting mob/boss vs a slow one)
Burst damage vs slow, consistent damage (a la Vellum)
Survivability or utility vs DPS (imo survivability [e.g. defense, avoid, potion system] in Maplestory needs to be entirely reworked)
AOE vs single target ...
ETC...
If the dev team actually tried, I'm sure they could come up with even more ways of differentiating classes. From that point, it's a relatively simple matter of implementing things which immensely favor, but do not require, different classes. Arkarium snakes is one example (which was slightly flawed in execution). You could have other things, like a turret mob which can only be hit by long range attacks (but not AOE), and if it's not killed it buffs or heals the boss. Or, a boomer-like mob which forces targeting from players: it starts off fairly weak on its own, but if they aren't all killed together within a window, they keep multiplying to the point where you can't kill them or the boss.
As for class-agnostic methods, RA already has a bunch of good ideas. I also liked the concept of original VPQ bombs, where a player got a bomb attached to him/her and would explode, killing all nearby party members, if other members didn't stop to help.
(Re)implementing class diversity would already open up a lot of options.
For example:
Magic damage vs Physical damage (high defense versus one or the other)
Range vs Melee (range needed to hit a certain mob; boss causes high damage/OHKOs at short range)
High damage hit per line vs low (an "armor" stat or buff which reduces damage for each line of damage)
Mobility (fast teleporting mob/boss vs a slow one)
Burst damage vs slow, consistent damage (a la Vellum)
Survivability or utility vs DPS (imo survivability [e.g. defense, avoid, potion system] in Maplestory needs to be entirely reworked)
AOE vs single target ...
ETC...
If the dev team actually tried, I'm sure they could come up with even more ways of differentiating classes. From that point, it's a relatively simple matter of implementing things which immensely favor, but do not require, different classes. Arkarium snakes is one example (which was slightly flawed in execution). You could have other things, like a turret mob which can only be hit by long range attacks (but not AOE), and if it's not killed it buffs or heals the boss. Or, a boomer-like mob which forces targeting from players: it starts off fairly weak on its own, but if they aren't all killed together within a window, they keep multiplying to the point where you can't kill them or the boss.
As for class-agnostic methods, RA already has a bunch of good ideas. I also liked the concept of original VPQ bombs, where a player got a bomb attached to him/her and would explode, killing all nearby party members, if other members didn't stop to help.