Concept Class - Pit Fighter

Pit Fighter

Introduction:
Dark warriors with bloody pasts, the Pit Fighters have emerged from the underground blood rings where they learned their sport to clean the stains of countless lives from their hands. Throwing themselves into the service of the Realm to banish the horrors of their past, Pit Fighters attack with a savage fury unimaginable in any other warrior.

Statistics:
480 base HP
20 Energy
4 pips Regen
70 bas AL

Armor:
Head: Headbands – Bone (+1DA), Horned (+1FF), Bloodstained (+1BS), Worn (+1HM), Heavy (-2 received damage, non-stacking), Twisted (-5 AL, +5% Nightmare duration)

Chest: Amulets – Berserker’s (-2 received damage while attacking - stacking), Stoic’s (+15HP), Tattered (+20AL while having a Nightmare), Pit Lord’s (+5 Energy), Possessed (+5% Nightmare duration) Terrifying (-5 AL, +5% weapon damage, 25% chance - stacking)

Legs: Belts – Berserker’s (-1 received damage while attacking - stacking), Stoic’s (+15HP), Tattered (+20AL while having a Nightmare), Pit Lord’s (+3 Energy), Possessed (+3% Nightmare duration) Terrifying (-5 AL, +5% weapon damage, 25% chance - stacking)

Arms: Handwraps – Berserker’s (-1 received damage while attacking - stacking), Stoic’s (+10HP), Tattered (+20AL while having a Nightmare), Pit Lord’s (+1Energy), Possessed (+1% Nightmare duration), Terrifying (-5 AL, +5% weapon damage, 25% - stacking)

Legs: Boots – Berserker’s (-1 received damage while attacking - stacking), Stoic’s (+10HP), Tattered (+20AL while having a Nightmare), Pit Lord’s (+1 Energy), Possessed (+1% Nightmare duration), Terrifying (-5 AL, +5% weapon damage, 25% chance - stacking)

Weapon Data:
Type: Fighting Gloves (reinforced gloves used for melee fighting)
Range: Close Melee
Type: Dual-Wield
Base Damage (max): 19-21
Attack Speed. 1.33 seconds/attack
Mods: Stitching (prefix), Studs (suffix)

Attributes:
(Primary): Deadly Aura – Points into this attribute give the Pit Fighter a 1% chance per point to Intimidate his foe, causing a skill targeted at the Pit Fighter to fail. Skills linked to this attribute deal primarily with Intimidating foes and reducing their ability to move or attack.

The Pit Fighter oozes lethality from every pore. Anyone with the least sense becomes deathly afraid in the mere presence of a Pit Fighter, and when that foe becomes the target of the Pit Fighter’s ire he is all but unable to function through the overwhelming terror.

Example Skills:

Killer’s Gaze [E]: 10e, 1s, 30r. Skill.
Target foe suffers from Intimidated. For 5-10 seconds, all skills target foe uses have a 50% chance to fail.

Crippling Aura [E]: 5e (instant) 30r. Stance.
For 3-9 seconds, foes struck by your attacks become Crippled for 2-8 seconds.

“Back Off!”: 5e, (instant), 30r. Shout.
For 8-18 seconds, nearby foes move 50% slower while approaching you and 50% faster while moving away from you.

“You’re Nothing!”: 5e, (instant), 30r. Shout.
Nearby attacking foes suffer from Intimidated for 2-7 seconds.

“Just Die!”: 5e, (instant), 45r. Shout
For 3-9 seconds, your attacks deal +3-12 damage to foes with less than 50% Health.

Derisive Blow: 5e, (next attack), 15r. Fighting Glove skill
If Derisive Blow strikes an attacking foe, that foe is knocked down. Derisive Blow only deals half the normal damage.

Stifling Aura: 10e, (instant), 30. Stance
For 6-15 seconds, nearby foes attack 50% slower.

Vicious Insult: 5e, 1/4s, 15r. Spell
Interrupt target foe's skill. For 15-8 seconds, that foe moves 10% faster while approaching you.


Bloodsport – No inherent effect. Points in this attribute enhance the power of all linked skills.

The Pit Fighter’s livelihood and life depended on the blood and gore of the Pits, and those who failed to learn the ways of the Pits were quickly left bleeding their lives out on the packed earthen floors. Many Pit Fighters learned to channel the horrible emotions and sensations of the Pits into their fighting, reveling in the atrocities of the blood arenas to frighten and defeat their foes.

Example Skills:

Killer’s Retribution [E]: 10e, (instant), 60r. Stance.
For 5-10 seconds, the next attack that strikes you deals double damage. That foe is then hit with a Killing Blow that deals double the damage you received in return and Killer’s Retribution ends.

Punch Drunk [E]: 10e, 1s, 45r. Hex Spell
For 5-10 seconds, Punch Drunk does nothing. When Punch Drunk ends, target foe becomes Dazed for 1-5 seconds plus 1 additional second for every three Fighting Glove strikes that foe suffered while Hexed with Punch Drunk.

Bloodstained Hands: 5e, 2s, 30r. Enchantment.
For 5-10 seconds, your attacks deal 5-12 extra damage and you suffer -2 health degeneration.

Bloodstained Visage: 10e, 3s, 30r. Enchantment
For 5-10 seconds, any foe who strikes you becomes Intimidated for 4-8 seconds.

Noble Totem: 10e, 2s, 20r. Skill.
Exploit target ally’s touched corpse to create a Noble Totem at that corpse’s location. For 8-18 seconds, allies within 40’ of the Noble Totem gain +1-4 Health regeneration and +20AL

Killer’s Fury: 5e (instant), 30r. Stance
Lose all Enchantments. For 5-15 seconds, you attack 50% faster and cannot be the target of Enchantment spells. Killer’s Fury ends if you do not have Fighting Gloves equipped.

Mutilated Totem: 5e, 3/4s, 30r. Skill.
Exploit target touched corpse to create a Mutilated Totem at that corpse’s location. For 8-18 seconds, foes within 40’ of the Mutilated Totem suffer from Weakness and attack 50% slower.

Taint of the Pits: 10e, 2s, 10r. Enchantment.
For 10-30 seconds, your next attack inflicts Diseased on the foe.

Bloodspatter: 5e, 3/4s, 15r. Skill
Sacrifice 5% Health. Target touched foe becomes Blinded for 2-7 seconds. Bloodspatter does nothing if you have 100% Health.

Horrifying Totem: 10e, 2s, 30r. Skill
Exploit target touched corpse to create a Horrifying Totem at that corpse’s location. For 8-18 seconds, foes move 90% slower while approaching the Horrifying Totem.


Fistfighting – Points into this attribute increase the damage and critical hit ratio of Knuckle weapons, as well as raising the power of Knuckle-based skills.

The Pit Fighter’s chosen weapons are his Knuckles, compact weapons which increase the power and damage of his punches and hand strikes. Though Knuckles lack the knock-down power of larger, heavier weapons, their nature allows the Pit Fighter much greater control over the force and placement of his blows, giving him a very stable damage rate. A Pit Fighter knows just where and how hard his fists are landing.

Example Skills:

Jaw Crack [E]: 10e, (next attack), 20r. Fighting Glove skill.
If Jaw Crack hits, the foe’s action is interrupted and he becomes Dazed for 5-10 seconds.

Bone Breaker [E]: 15e (next attack), 30r. Fighting Glove skill.
If it hits, Bone Breaker strikes for + 5-15 damage, has 10% armor penetration, and inflicts a Deep Wound for 5-17 seconds.

Armor Crush: 5e, (next attack), 30r. Fighting Glove skill.
If Armor Crush hits, the foe’s AL is reduced by 20% for 5-10 seconds.

Brutal Hook: 5e, (next attack), 10r. Fighting Glove skill
Strike target foe and all foes adjacent to that foe for +5-15 damage.

Corkscrew Punch: 5e, (next attack), 4r. Fighting Glove skill.
Corkscrew Punch hits for +4-12 damage.

Lightning Jab: 5e, 1/2c, 10r. Fighting Glove skill
If Lightning Jab hits, target foe's action is interrupted. If that action was a skill, that skill is disable for an additional 20 seconds. Lightning Jab only deals 1-7 damage.

Throat Spear: 10e, (next attack), 20r. Fighting Glove skill
If target foe’s Health is below 24-50%, Throat Spear deals +10-30 damage

Head Shot: 5e, (next attack), 8r. Fighting Glove skill
Head Shot has a 75% chance to strike target foe’s Head (instead of another area). If Headshot does strike the opponent’s Head, it deals +10-25 damage and interrupts the foe’s action. If it does not strike the opponent’s head, Head Shot deals no damage.

Kneecap Strike: 10e, (next attack), 8r. Fighting Glove skill.
If Kneecap Strike hits, target foe is Crippled for 1-9 seconds.

Dislocating Throw: 5e (next attack), 20r. Fighting Glove skill
Target foe is knocked down for 2 seconds and cannot attack for 2-6 seconds. Dislocating Throw deals only half the normal damage.

Terrifying Blow: 10e, (next attack), 15r. Fighting Glove skill
If Terrifying Blow strikes a foe suffering from Intimidated, that foe is knocked down for 2 seconds.

Massive Dropkick: 5e, 1c, 10r. Melee Attack
Target foe suffers 10-50 damage and is knocked down for 1-3 seconds. After making a Massive Dropkick, you are knocked down.

Scoundrel’s Blow: 5e, (next attack), 15r. Fighting Glove skill
Strike target foe below the belt. For 5-11 seconds, that foe suffers - 1-3 Health degeneration and attacks 50% slower.


Haunted Memories – No inherent effect. Points in this attribute enhance the power of all linked skills.

Dark men harbor darker memories. The brutal, inhuman life of the Pit Fighter leaves behind many memories which would drive lesser men mad. The Pit Fighter not only retains what may be termed as his sanity, but can use the raw emotions of these memories to fuel his fighting, attacking with unreal fury or evading strikes as easily as a ghost, guided by the memories of countless horrific battles…

NOTE: Haunted Memories introduces a new skill type – Nightmares. A character can only have one Nightmare at a time, and Nightmares are indicated through a slight redshift of the screen, tinting everything slightly blood-colored. All Nightmares inflict -5 Health degeneration.

Example Skills:

A Desperate Battle [E]: 5e, 3s, 60r. Nightmare.
Remember your most desperate battle. For 5-15 seconds, you attack 33% faster, deal +6-15 damage, and cannot be interrupted while attacking.

A Better Life [E]: 5e, 3s, 60r. Nightmare.
Remember your childhood and birth home. For 5-15 seconds, you cannot be struck by enemy attacks.

A Mage’s Terror: 5e, 3s, 30r. Nightmare.
Remember the first time you fought a magic user. For 5-15 seconds, you gain 50AL vs magic damage.

A Friend Slain: 5e, 3s, 60r. Nightmare.
Remember the first time you killed a friend. for 10-20 seconds, half of all damage dealt to nearby allies is redirected to you.

A Glorious Victory: 5e, 3s, 60r. Nightmare
Remember your best pit victory. For 10-30 seconds, whenever a nearby foe dies, you regain 30-120 Health and 5-17 Energy.

A Horrible Sickness: 5e, 3s, 60r. Nightmare
Remember the first time you grew very ill. For 5-20 seconds, you recover 75% faster from Conditions.

A Strength Unknown: 5e, 3s, 60r. Nightmare
Remember the first time you discovered a new strength. For 5-10 seconds, your next Fighting Glove attack deals +20-60 damage, A Strength Unknown ends, and you suffer from Exhaustion.

A Bloody Slaughter [E]: 5e, 3s, 60r. Nightmare
Remember the many gruesome kills of your Pit days. For 5-15 seconds, any corpses in your area are exploited, rendering all foes near the corpse Blind, Weak, and Dazed and dealing 10-82 damage to them. When A Bloody Slaughter ends, you take damage equal to half your remaining Health.

“I Can’t Die Now!”: 5e (instant), 45r. Shout.
For 5-10 seconds, enemy attacks cannot reduce your health below 1.

Time-Honored Guard: 5e, (instant), 30r. Stance.
For 5-10 seconds you have a 75% chance to block incoming attacks and magical projectiles. Time-Honored Guard ends if you use a Nightmare skill.

Killer’s Remorse: 5e (instant), 45r. Stance
For 8-18 seconds your attacks deal +10-25 damage. When Killer’s Remorse ends, you suffer half the damage you inflicted during Killer’s Remorse.


Example Unlinked Skills:

Vicious Pinch: 5e, 1/2s, 0r. Skill.
If you are having a Nightmare, you take 5 damage and the Nightmare ends.


Creator’s Notes:

The Pit Fighter is my take on the fistfighter concept and was almost entirely designed around its premise, as opposed to focusing on a specific battlefield role. Due to this, I cannot find a single specific niche the Pit Fighter is meant to fill, but he works quite well as a sort of melee version of a Mesmer, doling out subversion and disruption in droves against enemies close enough to punch out. That and he’s just too freakin’ cool for words XP.

The Pit Fighter introduces both a new Condition and a new skill type: Intimidated and Nightmares. Intimidated causes an opponent’s skills to fizzle 50% of the time (as well as sets up several Pit Fighter skills), while Nightmares are described in the Haunted Memories section. Both fit the image of a hardened warrior who’s seen too much horror to a T. Though Deadly Aura is the obvious choice for primary attribute, I think that Haunted Memories is also a candidate. Also, note that the Intimidation listed as the inherent effect for Deadly Aura is not an inflicted Condition, but a single-time negation of a skill. This DA Intimidation factors in after normal Intimidation - an Intimidated foe striking a Pit Fighter with Deadly Aura has two chances to blow it.

Running this guy in my head sees him doing a lot of penetration/flagrunning work, using stuff like “Back Off!” and A Better Life [E] to get through things. The Pit Fighter’s oriented towards forcing enemies to be where the Pit Fighter wants them to be and on disabling enemy characters attempting to mess with him. The above example skills only provide a brief glimpse of the many punishment-style skills the profession is slated for.

Physical appearance is lean but muscled, with scars (not Necromancer I-wanna-be-a-tattooed-Monk-scars, but real wound remnants) covering their bodies. Their upper torsos are mostly bare, with nothing but the Amulets (and a cloth wrap in the case of female Pit Fighters) on the chest. Amulets are hung on wide ribbon-like strings, with the ribbon being dyeable (female Pit Fighters’ chest wraps dye with their ribbons). The ‘Belts’ are also fairly big pants ending at mid-shin, but are called Belts because the belt portion is big, heavy, and ornate. Belts, like Amulets, dye in the cloth and leave the metal metal-colored. Hand wraps are quite simple, differentiated only by medallions on the back of the hand, and dye in the cloth as well. Boots…no clue. Use your imagination :-P. Pit Fighters tend towards shorter hair with a wide selection of wild colors and styles – all the better to appeal to blood-hungry crowds with – and are possessed of very mean faces. They’re about Ranger height.

Pf/A – Obviously this profession combination is the master of positional control. With the Pit Fighter’s enemy-repulsion skills and the Assassin’s teleportation skills, ain’t nobody touching this dude unless he wants to be touched. The Assassin’s single-target Hexes (the non-Dagger-related ones, anyways) are also quite cool on the Pit Fighter.

Pf/E – As with so many melee classes, the best an Elementalist gets from the Pit Fighter is defensive skills…>_<. Most of the Pf’s enemy-repulsion skills are in Deadly Aura, so even those are denied the Elementalist. However, such skills as Bloodstained Visage and Killer’s Retribution [E] allow the Elementalist an active defense instead of a passive one, making enemies want to withdraw instead of simply stymieing their efforts.

Pf/Me – The Undisputed King of Lockdowns. The Mesmer’s dominance in caster shutdown combine with the Pit Fighter’s excellent physical disruption to create a character which can screw you over no matter what you are. Energy can be tight, but the results are excellent with a little practice.

Pf/Mo – Not an ideal combination here, but a workable one. I suppose. Again, we have a class where caster primary gains little but defensive skills and Pit Fighter primary gains mostly ineffective support skills. There are combos and useful skills here, but they’re virtually the same as Warrior/ or Assassin/Monk combos.

Pf/N – The Necromancer’s Curses fit well with both the theme and playstyle of a Pit Fighter, and Death magic has some fun toys for a Pf looking for an even more visceral experience, but I’d recommend avoiding Blood and its sacrifice skills. Your AL is low and your Nightmares, should you choose to accept them, wipe you out as it is. Still, a good Wail from Beyond or Well of the Profane is never wasted.

Pf/R – A Better Life and Traps make for an evil, evil combat Trapper, though such is obviously an R/Pf combination rather than the other way around. At the same time, a Pit Fighter is more adept at utilizing animals and Beast Mastery than Warriors and can add the pet’s disruptive attacks to his own, knocking down and snapping up enemies. Many of the Pit Fighter’s skills also work passably well with bows.

Pf/Rt – A Pit Fighter using Deadly Aura’s enemy-repulsion spells and the Ritualist’s Spirit Fortress style can be a ridiculously hard target to assault. Unfortunately, an Rt/Pf, again, gets little but defensive skills. C’est la vie

Pf/W – Here’s the one half of you have been waiting for. It’s fairly obvious where the punch in a Pf/W lies – give the dude an axe and he can lay down the hurt. While the Pit Fighter’s damage bonus skills are oriented towards his Knuckle weapons, he can still deal a great amount of damage with an axe. For an especially potent combination, keep a Knuckle on weapon switch and use Armor Crush just before a powerful Axe spike.

Anyways. Enough of me rambling. I will add skills as I think of them, but I want to see what people have to say about this guy now. Remember, this is my first real concept class, and I’ve most likely got a bad eye for skill balancing. Constructive criticism I’ll respond to, flames I’ll put out with Cheez Whiz. I'm most interested in thoughts on skill/attribute balancing and armor options - current armors kinda bite >_< - but anything helpful will be much appreciated.

With that said...have at it :-P

Edit 1 (3/15/06):
Switched weapons from Knuckles to Fighting Gloves, modified weapon and skill numbers to deal with attack speed issue.
Added Heavy and Twisted Headbands.
Switched Berserker’s armor to -damage while Attacking mod.
Added skills: Killer’s Fury (Bloodsport), Lightning Jab (Fistfighting), A Friend Slain (Haunted Memories), Vicious Pinch (Unlinked), Vicious Insult (Deadly Aura), Kneecap Strike (Fistfighting),

Edit 2 (3/18/06):
Added skills: "Just Die!" (Deadly Aura), A Glorious Victory (Haunted Memories), A Horrible Sickness (Haunted Memories), Brutal Hook (Fistfighting), Crippling Aura [E] (Deadly Aura), Dislocating Throw (Fistfighting), Head Shot (Fistfighting), Noble Totem (Bloodsport), Punch Drunk [E] (Bloodsport), Throat Spear (Fistfighting)

Edit 3 (3/30/06)
Increased base AL to 70
Added Armor Set - Terrifying
Added Skills: Bloodspatter (Bloodsport), Killer's Remorse (Haunted Memories), Horrifying Totem (Bloodsport), A Strength Unknown (Haunted Memories), A Bloody Slaughter (Haunted Memories), Massive Dropkick (Fistfighting), Scoundrel's Blow (Fistfighting)

Umm, can you say IW?

.7 secs attack rate is prone to overuse. No weapon should go below the golden 1.33s mark.

Otherwise, i quite like it.

I like the nightmare idea, just not the brass knuckles. That sounds too modern. Otherwise over all its pretty good, rather balanced except...

A Mage’s Terror: 5e, 3s, 30r. Nightmare.
Remember the first time you fought a magic user. For 5-15 seconds, you gain 50AL vs magic damage.

In a sense with 15 second intervals a Pitfighter could have 110 armor against magic, that'd definitly be one of their stronger points. But considering they only have 60 armor normally I guess its fair.+

Dark Warriors with bloody past (cough W/N cough)
Um if they are warriors then
wtf is up with 60 AL and 4 energy regen?

Soul Shaker - Yeah, IW occured to me too. It really sucks because it means that ye really can't ever get anything designed that works better than the average sword. That blasted 1.33 breakpoint is why daggers suck >_<. +Still, I see your point, and will try to work on it. Perhaps you could suggest ideas?

Nevin - Got to remember, Nightmares give you -5 health degen :-P. Running one all the time like that would seriously smack you around. I kinda treat them like Ranger Preparations in a way - activate the proper Nightmare just prior to engaging a specific opponent. Still, something like an Mo/Pf with good self-healing could negate that. Might have to look into it.

As for the Knuckles, it is a semi-modern concept, but again it's tied into the kind of warriors these guys are. The Pits were pretty small, not a lot of room for other weapon types - not to mention that the Pit Fighters weren't typically given edged weapons in case they escaped/went nuts. In fact, most of the time they were lucky if they got the Knuckles. However, if I'm reworking the weapon anyways, I can look into a more fantastical design.

Alcazanar - First off, please keep scathing comments to yourself. W/N? Right. Try imagining yourself in a dark, smoke-covered, bloodstained hole in the ground, virtually naked, with sharp stones/bones/glass everywhere around you and screaming, bloodthirsty so-called human beings lining the pit above you who don't particularly care whose blood is spilled down where you are. Now imagine doing it for a living. That is what a Pit Fighter is, and no armored baboon with a deal with Grenth is gonna compare, eh bud?

As for the Armor/Energy, again, it deals with how the Pit Fighter fights. In case ye didn't notice, the dudes are half-naked - they don't really wear armor. Thus the low AL value. This helps regen by allowing the character's energy to go into spellwork and recovery instead of toting around eighty pounds of platemail. As for four regen, that's representing the fact that Pit Fighters were, basically, overworked. They were rarely given much time to rest and recover between fights, so the best ones - the ones that survived - quickly trained themselves to bounce back from combat and exertion quickly. Thus the quick recharge.

So. Next time keep yer trap shut, huh? That was neither insightful, encouraging, or even particularly hot. If you want to flame me, at least do it properly

Anyways. Alcazanar aside, keep it coming. It's already helping, fellas.

The name really doesn't seem to fit to me. I like the idea but if you want to keep that name I don't think the skills match at all! I think a new name is in order, otherwise very interesting idea. I just don't understand if this will be an upclose warrior like thing or a distanced thing? If it is upclose the armor won't suffice. I guess there are a few things I'd adjust otherwise good idea.

Very good post and well organize. I like the new things, Intimidated and Nightmares. (Intimidation is a great idea for this class)

I like a name of Beserker and Savager and with play style of HP management a tad better, but that would just be a personal perference.

For most part, I like the skills, and the details of each profesional combos, and its role. It shows you put lots thoughts into it, more than just the "it would be cool" factor.

"Signet of Approval" Aside from minor A.Net style tweaking.

sounds like u watched some movie with "pit fighting" and thought to introduce it into gw lol

i like it reminds me of torqe from the suffering

Hmm...fix on the golden speed...

You'll have to link IW to fast casting...or, you could just lower the speed but give them a constant chance to add conditions, which could also fit in the story. So, like, all of these come in collector and crafter variants, but say they would be spiked. All of them, or blunt ones could be useful too.

Blunt-5% chance to cause dazed on a foe for 5 seconds (dunno..)
Barbed-" " bleeding" "
Vicious-" " well..it's either deep wound or poison" "
Rusty-" " diesease?" "

Edit 1 (3/14/06):
Switched weapons from Knuckles to Fighting Gloves, modified weapon and skill numbers to deal with attack speed issue.
Added Heavy and Twisted Headbands.
Switched Berserker’s armor to -damage while Attacking mod.
Added skills: Killer’s Fury (Bloodsport), Lightning Jab (Fistfighting), A Friend Slain (Haunted Memories), Vicious Pinch (Unlinked), Vicious Insult (Deadly Aura), Kneecap Strike (Fistfighting),

Although i can almost say with complete confidence that this won't get in, like many do, let's just hope, keep this alive with suggestions. I really wanna see this go through, this would have to be the best class idea i've seen so far IMO.

Please Anet, PWEEAASEEE??!?!? PWETTY PWEASE WITH SUGAR ON TOP?

Hm hm, thanks much for the vote of approval, Soul :P. I must say I wouldn't mind seeing it go through either, but it'd have to end up being a case of a chapter being built around the sort of story that could support Pit Fighters. And if that happens, I swear I'm moving to Washington and claiming my office in the Anet building XP.

Still, I will continue to shape and imrpove the Pit Fighter to the best of my abilities and those of the guys who help me with him (Arcanis the Omnipotent, Selena Lionheart). Who knows? Perhaps we'll see a skill or two, or maybe even an entire attribute line, show up somewhere, eh?

The nightmares...Anet...you pass up one of the best attribute ideas right there if you leave it. And i was looking for this thread...afraid it had gone under...

Though, the whole class is so much better!

Well done on a good idea, my only problem being that the idea behind the character is too specific. If they introduced it into factions, 1 in 9 people would be a pit fighter, how many pit fighters would ther be in Tyria? If you understand my rambling then all is good, otherwise I just want to say it sound like a really cool idea

I think i get it...took me about a day to understand it, but now i do...

ya, ~1 in 9 people would be Pf, and it would kinda mess with their character...though, i don't think you see as many assassins as there will be around in factions...

Edit 2 (3/18/06):
Added skills: "Just Die!" (Deadly Aura), A Glorious Victory (Haunted Memories), A Horrible Sickness (Haunted Memories), Brutal Hook (Fistfighting), Crippling Aura [E] (Deadly Aura), Dislocating Throw (Fistfighting), Head Shot (Fistfighting), Noble Totem (Bloodsport), Punch Drunk [E] (Bloodsport), Throat Spear (Fistfighting)

Some of these are pretty different sorts of stuff. Punch Drunk [E], especially, has me worried about balancing issues. Thoughts, fellas?

Well...couple punch drunk with killer's fury...that's about the only problem, although, hell, dazed for >10 secs isn't a real problem.

I still love the nightmares...

Ok... The concept is TOTALLY my thing!

I don't really like the name "Pit Fighter" - I was thinking "Mercenary" or something along those lines...

Some of the skill names sound a little too modern, but the overall idea of this is totally getting me worked up. I wouldn't use knuckles though... I'd be a Pit Fighter with Assassin secondary (for the daggers) and some of the nightmares. Cool idea there, by the way.

Needs some tweaking in the name and balance department, but great, great, GREAT idea.

I vote for atleast a class RESEMBLING this.

EDIT: After reading this again, I have decided that this is THE profession idea and I think it's absolutely awesome. I'd love to be a Pf/A! Pwetty pwease Anet, Impliment in chapter 3!

The name fits fine IMO. The style is very Muay Thai in its physicality. Muay Thai is big on Pitfighting style situations. Upclose and personal. The armor is lower than Ranger armor,so I would rather a 70AL,but that is debateable. Otherwise,its a concept I would like to see explored more. I like having a melee warrior who uses his fists. Also,the weapons can also go into a more wrapped hands situation,like in Muay Thai,with elemental skins.Wraps that do elemental dmg and the skins reflect said element in question. Good presentations,like flaming handwraps and such. Just my thoughts.

I have already made a comment on this concept,and it hasn't changed.However,what's with the "change the name" guys? A pitfighter is exactly what this guy is.Period.Bloodsport,the Van Damm movie(like a million others he was in) is based on PITFIGHTING.Def Jam,Fight For NY,the console game,was based on rappers involved in PITFIGHTING.Streetfighter,low and behold, is a game based on...you guessed it,PITFIGHTING.And life hasn't been the same since Street Fighter 2,now has it? This is not rocket science. You don't like the name,we get it,but the character class is too awesome to call "savager" or "mercenary". Their are savagers or some crap in CoH,and mercenaries,as fun as it is to be a merc,are just warriors/soldiers for hire. The Pit Fighter can be interjected into any soceity setting,since pitfighting has occured in every civilization on record. Pitfighting,for those who don't know,is an underground contest between trained combatants,usually to the KO or to the death. Submissions are not recognized in a pit.Broken bones are.Tap outs are for UFC octagons and WWE rings.Brutality is the Pit Fighters bread and butter. Edged weapons,like another has already said,don't usually show up in a pit,due to the nature of the pit fighter's employment( Slavery,indentured servitude,etc),but in a GW situation,they are allowed due to secondary professions.Spellcaster secondaries will be as useful for a pit fighter as they are for an assassin,being inventive would make it awesome,but being generic would make you a target. No MS for a Pit Fighter,no Searing Heat,and no Rodgart's spells,unless the ele in his group is paired off to stay near him,and its a combined effort.The Pit Fighter is a well planned and conceived concept. It would be an awesome addition,name and all.If scarabs can pop up in Prophet's path,then Pit Fighters can be bred in Tyria and Cantha.

cool, original idea, like the nightmares, would they cancel stances?

I really like this idea... lots of great skills, but not overpowering. I, like a lot of other posters, love the idea of Nightmares. Extremely powerful if used at the correct time, but the -5 degen balances it out.

This line got my vote....
If you mental image is a grease up-sweaty 90% nake beefy guy runing around wrestling other in a tight lock grip.... well.... so be it.

anyhow

how about a skill of :

Tender Care:
For T seconds, your attacks deal +8-18 damage to foes. But if you kill your foe in this duration, you take X damages your self.

Soul Shaker: Yeah, Punch Drunk/Killer's Fury is kinda evil...maybe I'll have to boot KF up to Elite status to avoid that particular combination. Heh...I can just see a por Elementalist after being hit with a Punch Drunk and having three Pit Fighters beat it senseless for the next two minutes. Still, Condition removal is ever-present these days.

Actionjack: Tender care from a savage, merciless fighter trained to kill without conscious thought? Heh, I get the idea though. perhaps something of the like in Haunted Memories.

And as for the penetration bit...you need more hobbies, Jack :-P.

Yanman: Nightmares aren't Stances and thus don't cancel them out, so you could run both a Nightmare and a Stance at the same time. You can't use more than one Nightmare at a time, though - Nightmares cancel. And for those wondering, there is a limit on IAS for Pit Fighters as well, even though Killer's Fury breeches the stated Anet limit. Ye can't combine Killer's Fury and A Desperate Battle and wind up with 75% IAS - Killer's Fury IAS doesn't stack. Heh...KF is just me sopping my injured pride at not being able to throw punches very fast.

Darkpower Alchemist: Thanks for the support man. Heh...just so ye guys know, name isn't open for debate. Savager or Mercenary or whatever isn't waht I designed the Pit Fighter to be. And truth be told, even a Monk could be a mercenary :-P. As for armor, I've been seriously considering bumping the base AL up to 70 myself. It'd basically be reflecting the Pit Fighter's sheer toughness, even though their armor really isn't. I'll definitely look into it, especially with some of Arcanis' ideas for new armor sets.

Wow. Very nice idea. I like it because its very original. I would definatly play one, though it wouldnt fit in Cantha. Perhaps in the 3rd or 4th campaign? I dont have too much to comment cuz I havent read all the skills, but so far I give it an A++ .

Hmm...yeah, the AL increase sounds right but it just doesn't really seem right to represent their toughness. They should be physically tough with or without armour, but the HP is all the same annoyingly enough...

Lol you wrote so much that it feels mean to say something against the "Pit Fighter," but we already have a melee profession and with Factions coming out we will have 2...

Instead of focusing on thinking up new professions, I think people should come up with "expansions' to the old ones. For example, A new elementalist element.

Good Job though, BTW.

I think the idea has a lot of merit.

It reminds me a lot like the Pit Fighter career in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, except it's been fleshed out for GW.

It would be really interesting to have another stand up melee profession. The Assassin is an in/out melee profession. So, I would definitely like to play a Pit Fighter.

Great Job!!!!

Yeah, its great. PLEASE Anet, chapter 3? PWEASE, PWEASE!?!?!?????

wow thats cool, no criticism just encouregement this'll be awesome in act 3

But think of it like this: there's so far, 2 melee classes, 1 physical ranged class and 5 casters. Now, 1 more melee class wouldn't hurt with the amount of casters we have...and the physical ranged...uhh...what to put there?

My comments:

If possible, try to "change" all "Spells", "Enchantments", "Hexes" into something non-spell. Because if your Pit-Fighter casts spells, a Mesmer or Necro(Soul Leech) can counter him.

I think these skills are underpowered and deserve a buff:

Its an elite, lower Energy Cost to 5, make the recharge time to be 15 seconds. Now that's what I call a Killer's Retribution.

Oh come on, its an elite! Drop the 60 seconds recharge time, make it 30 seconds.

What about unblockable or unevadable attacks? It completely negates them, correct? If that is the case then this skill is good, but 60 seconds is still too much, I suggest that it be lowered to 45 seconds.

I just don't like 60 seconds recharge time. Make it 45 seconds.

Recharge time 45 seconds.

30 seconds recharge time.

Well there you go, keep it going. Make 75 skills and you got a class ready for ANET to implement!
Cheers!

Thanks for the comments Tuoba. Heh...Nightmares, being a totally new concept, are difficult for me to balance because I can't really playtest them at all. Right now the 5e, 3s, 60r thing is kinda standard for me, despite some things like A Mage's Terror which I (for some reason) cut in half. That and it reflects that, to the Pit Fighter, remembering this stuff is harsh, and can't be done too frequently without driving the guy nuts. Well, more nuts than he is. Still, I may have to adjust a few of my Elite tag skills. Killer's Gaze and Killer's Retribution both could use a bit of work, though I doubt Retribution will go lower than a 20s recharge. Seriously, the ability to, possibly, catch an Executioner's Strike or other such beefy blow and reflect it back quadrupled in force deserves a bit of constraining. One of those sixty-damage axe smashes lands and the launching Warrior gets back a 240-damage punch. You're right, it does need a shorter recharge, but 15r is pushing it :-P

I will work on rebalancing skills, but college makes time short...>_<. Might take a while. In the meantime, keep up the critiques! Every little bit helps.

u got my vote sounds great!and i just like the entire idea the it, and id agree with the whole the gloves give a % chance of giving a condition cus if they spent there whole lives in a bloody pit with broken bones,glass and mud/dirt and blood everywere it makes sence,there gloves/knuckles would be infested with diseases

i like also how u incorperated aum skills that use a corpse adds the melle fighter/necro thing going like wat they did the the ritualist,monk/ele/ranger, all in one class

sounds great! i like if ANet passes on this there making a huge mistake,maybe not squeeze it into factions but save it for chapter 3.

the day i see a post from ANest saying they will accept this as a new class i will be a happy man

dude that is so cool keep goin it might be in act 3

Edit 3 (3/30/06)
Increased base AL to 70
Added Armor Set - Terrifying
Added Skills: Bloodspatter (Bloodsport), Killer's Remorse (Haunted Memories), Horrifying Totem (Bloodsport), A Strength Unknown (Haunted Memories), A Bloody Slaughter (Haunted Memories), Massive Dropkick (Fistfighting), Scoundrel's Blow (Fistfighting)

Heh...took me forever, but hey! There was an FPE to do, and college work, and that weird, unnatural thing people call Life!

Anyways. Only seven skills this update, and not a one in Deadly Aura (>_< bad Laser, bad!), but my loyal fans get a new armor set to make up for it - Terrifying Armor, credit to Arcanis the Omnipotent for inspiration. And I gave you a skill that allows you to sock your opponents in the crotch XD.

Note on Terrifying armor - the only thing that stacks in that armor is the chance for the extra damage. A full set of Terrifying will get you a 100% chance for +5% extra weapon damage, not +20% (which would be broken as hell). Also, the -5AL per piece for Terrifying is localized, not global, so you're not losing 20AL total just to get that little boost. Personally, I think it's a workable, if somewhat outlandish, idea. But hey, that's what you guys are for!

Time to criticize again, folks.

Everything is getting a thumbs up from me still. Glad you worked my attackers armor idea into the Terrifying Armor.

I don't know why you elaborate on it the way you do. If Anet decides to put it in, they would want to brainstorm and make it their own. So writing out all these little details seems pretty pointless.

Concerning the idea, I don't particularly like it. I'd rather see something more exotic, unique. We already have a brutish warrior class. Even if this has it's own flavor, it's too close to the W, IMO.