Two Class Concepts: Witch & Dark Knight

These concepts are based around the idea of a 3rd campaign set in Orr. The mood is dark.

Witch

Playstyle: The Witch has the oomph of the elementalist with a style mixing that of necromancer and mesmer. Hexes with long durations and some big effects. In battle, the Witch won't typically be spamming skills, but picking her time and unleashing potent effects.

Armors:
Demon Leather - 60 AL, reduces hex duration on you by 7% per piece worn.
Nocturne Garb - 70 AL, hexes cast on you last 7% longer, per piece worn.
Silver Lace Garb - 60 AL, + to energy.

Attributes:

• Black Magic - Primary Attribute. When you cast a hex on a foe, you deal X damage. X is based on the cost of the spell and the number of points in this attribute. Black Magic is the Witch support line, offering many stances affecting spells and energy/hex management.
• Alteration Magic - These spells alter how you and your foes operate. It's about buffs and debuffs.
• Moon Magic - These spells deal damage and create portals, which have varied effects.
• Transformation - Change yourself into another creature with a different skillset. Includes some hexes.

Skill examples:

• Focus - Stance. For 1...60 seconds, You gain +2 energy regeneration while casting spells. This ends when you move. (10-0-30, Black Magic)
• Occlude - Hex. This lasts for 15...45 seconds. If removed prematurely, the target loses an enchantment. (5-3-15, Black Magic)
• Muddle - Hex. For 5...25 seconds, Hexed foe has his skill order randomized. (5-1-25, Alteration Magic)
• Twist Spell - Hex. For 5...8 seconds, the next skill target foe uses can affect allies in the area. If that skill creates a ritual, trap or creature, that object is neutral and can affect allies. (15-1-30, Alteration Magic)
• Silver Scythes - Enchantment. Creates three scythes that rotate in the area around enchanted ally. These scythes can strike up to three times, and deal 5...30 damage each time they do. (25-2-15, Moon Magic)
• Wolf's Gate - Portal. Creates a portal that summons one level 1...6 wolf every three seconds. This portal lasts for 6...24 seconds, and all wolves perish when this ends. (25-3-30, Moon Magic)
• Mask of the Ogre - For 30 seconds, you transform into a level 1...20 ogre with three hammer skills, a 25% reduction in movement speed and an immunity to earth magic.(25-2-60, Transformation Magic)
• Guise of the Gargoyle - For 30 seconds, you transform into a level 1...20 gargoyle with a ranged attack and an immunity to speed debuffs. (15-2-60, Transformation Magic)

Dark Knight

Playstyle: The Dark Knight is a melee character with a solid mesh of spellcasting and combat.

Armors:
Armor of Wrath: 80 AL, +20 AL when attacking.
Armor of Pride: 90 AL, enchantments cast on you end 7% sooner.
Armor of Blood: 55 AL, you get +2 health regeneration. (up to +5 with full set)

Attributes:

• Blademagic: Primary Attribute. Attribute points in Blademagic allow you to attack and move at a reduced rate while casting spells. Blademagic skills include a number of stances that boost your capabilities.
• Rune Magic: Runes act much like an Elementalist's glyphs, but take more time to cast, and offer a benefit while they remain unused.
• Hell Magic: Enchantments that offer you a benefit at a price and some potent AoE attacks.
• Weapon Mastery: Includes some attack skills. Has the passive benefit of allowing you to meet weapon requirement levels.

Example Skills:

• Dance of Blades - Stance. For 20 seconds, you get +1...6 your Blademagic attribute, for the purposes of passive benefits only. (5-0-20)
• Masochism - Stance. For 20 seconds, you gain health for having negative health degeneration and lose health for having positive health regeneration. When this ends, you go to 50% health. (10-0-45, Blademagic)
• Skull Rune - Rune. For 30 seconds, Undead deal 75% damage to you while you are under the effect of this rune. The next spell you cast deals 15...35 damage to the target. (5-5-30)
• Rune of Rhymes - Rune. For 30 seconds, you gain +1 energy regeneration while not moving, attacking or using a skill. The next spell you cast on an ally grants the effects of this rune. (5-5-30)
• Avarice - Enchantment. For 20 seconds, enchantments and hexes cast on you last 150...250% longer. (10-2-25, Hell Magic)
• Armaggedon - Spell. Deals 25...75 damage to each ally and enemy in the region. (20-10-60, Hell Magic) -- (That's whole radar map)
• Doom's Blade - Attack Skill. You may use this attack while casting a spell. If you do, your attack does +5...25 damage. (5-1-8, Weapon Mastery)
• Envy's Blade - Attack skill. This attack deals +1...12 damage. If attacked foe has an enchantment, you gain a copy of that enchantment. (5-1-20, Weapon Mastery)

The witch doesnt really seem interesting. Portals and the morphing would belong to a summoning class and what you should focus on.

Dark Knight is even less interesting. Melee spellcaster? The skills are kind of cool, but its still kinda blah :|

Nicely Organize, very good wording, creative, with its own share of new play mechanics (nitch). Overall, great stuff!

For Witch, a bit too much of Jack-of-all-trade spell caster, but I think that is alright. (what would you call a male witch? Man-witch?) Nice addtion of portal and transformation spells, which I think we will see in GW in one form or another in the future.

Well, that is my review and opinion. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

I am not sure about Dark Knight. High AL and a spell caster? Its a bit too much of a W/N, and need something to define it more. In term of functionality, just don't see much of a role for them.

GW was based off of MTG in a lot of ways. I look at Magic:The Gathering's design philosophy, and how it's based around 3 kinds of players.

Timmy: Plays for fun. Many Timmies like big effects and just going along for the ride. I attempted to appeal to Timmy with Transformation spells & the Hell Magics - big effects that get attention.

Johnny: Johnny plays for the creative side. Making new builds or making unique skills work. The stances and such are aimed at Johnny.

Spike: Spike plays to win. Spike will always find a place in a game that isn't pure luck.

I designed the classes with these three player archetypes in mind.
---------------
I designed the Witch to be a tricky spellcaster with a brute-force feel. I sort of missed the mark when I listed example skills, I suspect. Portal spells aren't all summoning: Perhaps something like:

• Traveller's Gate: Portal. This portal lasts for 20 seconds. Allies entering this portal appear at a random allied portal with 0...100% of their current energy. (10-2-10)
  
  An AoE teleportation effect.

The Dark Knight is simply meant to be a Warrior who is capable of using 'clunkier' spells. Who can use Firestorm without being a moron. (With high Blademagic, perhaps moving & attacking at 75% rate)

I like the skill Muddle. Seems really original and fun to use ^^.

Imagine them trying to use something like Consume Corpse and instead using Blood is Power [E] and killing themselves ^^.

The Black Magic line is interesting. Sorta like a built in Soul Barbs for yourself.

12 dom
14 Black Magic (12+1+1)

Power Block {E}
Wastrels Worries

= dead opponent

when u say muddle do u mean he KNOWS the skills and #3 becomes #7 or sumthin or can u not see which one switches like #3 = #7 and it keeps the same skill explaination and picture but does +7? cuz thats way to powerful especially on a monk or OoV OoP necro

Black Magic is cool, but I sense an overpowering aspect to it. Something like...

16 Black Magic
12 Fire Magic

Flare
Fire Attunement
Elemental Attunement [E]
4
5
6
7
8

Unless the damage is totally minimal, a spamcaster type like this would be absolutely vicious, reducing most any other form of spell damage to uselessness. As evidence I present Exhibit A: Divine Favor. No class outside Monks with high DF even bother healing because that passive bonus is just too vital. Given that, I'm not sure the game balancing would survive Black Magic.

Still a cool idea.

Not keen on the Dark Knight, though. As has been stated, too much of a W/N with an improved Energy pool. And if I read Blademagic right, it allows you to move while casting? Umm...yeah. Dfinitely glad that's a primary attribute, but even then I'm thinking it could be seriously overpowered. While another original idea, I'm thinking I'd like to see more work done with the Witch as opposed to the Dark Knight.

OMG WITCH IS HAXXORS!!!!
I'm sorry, i didnt even read the dark knight. You had me at Muddle!!
The black knight is a little too powerful, especially in pvp. 8 way armageddon spike = gg.
I like both ideas, the witch more. They need to make a "fun" class that is not only silly (muddle), but can also hold their own in real pvp scenarios.
Heh, muddle before a spike, the infuser uses channeling instead of infuse i love it.

Well, I still like the idea of a region-wide AoE attack.

Perhaps lower recharge/cost of Armaggedon, and have it 'You can only cast this while a foe is nearby'.

In response to comments on black magic: realize that it adjusts based on casting cost of the spell, and is specified as hex only.

Further skill ideas for Witch:

• Oculus Curse - While hexed foe is blinded, he may not make use of the radar, and he may only target foes within half normal spell range. (10-2-20, Alteration Magic) Note: I mean target, as in, you can't click on foes within that range.
• Hollow Moon - Portal. Lasts X seconds. For foes within the portal's range, hex durations do not decline. (25-1-30, moon magic)
• Mirrormask - Transformation spell. Lasts 30 seconds. Your appearance changes to that of target foe. You get six random skills in that foe's skill bar. This is an elite skill. (15-3-60, Transformation Magic)
• Gestures of Threes. Stance. For 1...12 seconds, your spell damage and hex durations are increased by 33%. When this ends, you take damage equal to the amount of extra damage you inflicted, and are afflicted by one random hex you cast. (10-0-60, Black Magic)

Most Witch skills could be used to diversify the Mesmer class, IMHO. I think mesmers have a lot more potential.

I think you missed the part where Black Magic deals X damage to an opponent when you cast a hex on them. As Flare currently is, it is not a hex. Though Wastrel's Worry fits your example, so the concern is there. Just... not with Flare.

Redwinter- I really love the Witch idea. It's not too much like an existing class, and I could definitely see some uses. Though skills like Muddle would be useless in PvE in my opinion. Just a minor concern about Black Magic's damage. Transformation Magic could be a lot of fun too. ^_^

I hope you continue with this class and tweak it and flesh it out. I'll keep an eye on this thread.

What's wrong with battle mage?

FYI, battle mage do exist in many fantasy game/novel.

i LOVE the witch idea - i would totally play as that class!!

the incorporation of the animal transformation into this class I think suits it well - i know i have seen that idea pop up a few times in other people's suggestion classes - but this would be an amazing combo with so many current professions ...yeah, its really kick ass.

only thing i would change would probably be the name - something like "witch" is decent but with all of those clever tactics doesn't seem to do it justice.