Quote Highsis Quote: Originally Posted by To just confirm, judging from sorcerer abilities, you think a specialization's identity such as an operative medic being a 'stealthy healer' or a specific specialization having 'burst damage' as opposed to 'damage over time' would not change, right?



Your understanding is correct. That's exactly the sort of thing (they say) they're trying to preserve: They are not changing the types of roles an AC can play, nor the overall feel of those different roles.



For the moment, we only have one example, the Sorceror. And the three trees have been turned into three DIsciplines: Healing, DPS-Burst and DPS-DoT.



However, there are differences. Sorc was popular for both DPS and Heal/DPS hybrids, and while they are killing all chance of hybrids, they seem to have acknowledged the usefulness of them. The DPS-Burst tree (Lightning) is getting some bonuses to DoT abilities, and the DPS-DoT tree (Madness) is getting some improvements to burst abilities and some mild healing improvements.



Even more important is that all three Disciplines share a pool of optional extra abilities that range from the popular heal-on-Overload, to mild damage buffs for both burst and DoT skills, to survivability skills. The community seems particularly obsessed with one upgrade that would let Sorcs cast one of the core abilities from their Discipline while moving. You don't get to pick which one, but it basically turns one of your stand-and-wait attacks into a running-channel attack. It will likely make both healing and DPS a little more survivable.



Highsis Quote: Originally Posted by I'm more concerned with class/specialization identity than their competence, so to speak. I want to distribute roles evenly, with my favourite specializations on my favourite faction. It will cause a identity crisis if that core function changes.



No one can say for sure until we play it, but with the information we have now, and what you're saying about how you play, I think the Disciplines system is exactly what you'd want it to be: Strong identity with some option to adjust for different personality/playstyle. Nope. ... or Yup. Or... Negative questions are impossible:Your understanding is correct. That's exactly the sort of thing (they say) they're trying to preserve: They are not changing the types of roles an AC can play, nor the overall feel of those different roles.For the moment, we only have one example, the Sorceror. And the three trees have been turned into three DIsciplines: Healing, DPS-Burst and DPS-DoT.However, there are differences. Sorc was popular for both DPS and Heal/DPS hybrids, and while they are killing all chance of hybrids, they seem to have acknowledged the usefulness of them. The DPS-Burst tree (Lightning) is getting some bonuses to DoT abilities, and the DPS-DoT tree (Madness) is getting some improvements to burst abilities and some mild healing improvements.Even more important is that all three Disciplines share a pool of optional extra abilities that range from the popular heal-on-Overload, to mild damage buffs for both burst and DoT skills, to survivability skills. The community seems particularly obsessed with one upgrade that would let Sorcs cast one of the core abilities from their Discipline while moving. You don't get to pick which one, but it basically turns one of your stand-and-wait attacks into a running-channel attack. It will likely make both healing and DPS a little more survivable.The new Disciplines system is all about maintaining identity. They wanted to keep the same feel, while improving balance across all ACs. You should expect a little less "purity" in the builds: DoT specs will likely get some small buffs in non-DoT skills, and the extra abilities will give you the option to blur that line further if you like. However, they're not removing the current "feel" of the trees. If anything, they are "enforcing" them.No one can say for sure until we play it, but with the information we have now, and what you're saying about how you play, I think the Disciplines system is exactly what you'd want it to be: Strong identity with some option to adjust for different personality/playstyle.