WARNING - This thread isn’t made for new players or those that seek guidance on how to use said class, please look for proper threads regarding it such as class overviews and build guides. Design Breakdown is a design discussion thread only and has no purpose to help players on practical aspects of the game.
Starting another Design Breakdown this time for a twin release of Highlander and Barbarian, as those classes share common themes and identities. For this breakdown i’ll add a reply for the twin clash so read the other breakdown before that. In case this is your first time on a Design Breakdown topic go to this link for some basic information.
Highlander - RANK 2 - ATTACK
As this paragraph is written Highlander is sold as an offensive two handed class that can deal with crowds, but that isn’t really delivered on the gameplay aspect as most skills have short hitbox and don’t have any special interaction with AoE Attack Ratio or targets, the whole skillset works based on debuffs and bonus damage combos applied to them we can see the identity as ‘conditional damage’, the issue with this identity is that it can be too strict and/or requires too many skills to work which could work way better for a later rank class.
It is tricky to define Highlander aside for culture, there’s nothing particular in their combat style aside from possible dirty tactics to be employed yet there’s no enough information to sustain it, those will be important later on. Highlanders were scottish people that lived in the higher lands and followed a clan structured society at times europe was ruled by kings. Each clan held power within itself and their members had to follow their internal hierarchy, there was no central power figure common for all clans. As scottish highlands where located at the farthest and highest part of the island it wasn’t the easiest place to conquer, there were some effort to take clans into pledging the king but they weren’t successful for a couple of centuries. The most important values of a Highlander were honor, bravery, freedom and patriotism, having small groups to rule themselves was a huge opposition to the feudal system that ruled europe.
At this point we have few elements to sustain the theme, it’s arguable but we can consider the ability to fight multiple enemies as Highlanders would confront invaders that could easily be outnumbering them and that also aligns with the bravery aspect of them. Combat wise they are associated with claymores, long two handed-swords, which isn’t the most effective weapon choice for a light armor warrior and some believe it had only ceremonial use, swords, pikes and shields would fit them more during combat. As Highlanders never fought out of their land it would be expected for them to have tactics that advantage of the terrain, this will be the most important element to consider on their fight style.
I’ll make a small exception for Highlanders on the approaches to be taken, unlike the usual real identity, debuff combat, alignment i’ll also point some possibilities to address the proposed identity, crowd combat, as it may help with help this breakdown closure.
Wagon Wheel (C) - Relief
One move that can be quite effective when fighting in high grounds is to throw enemies away as terrain will do all the job for you, this is a clever way to picture a move that could be useful for Highlanders. The execution of the skill is slow and that helps to sell the power it has, many skills had their animations speeded up and lose this effect.
The major flaw of Wagon Wheel is that it doesn’t sell anything to players, it’s just a single hit knock down with average hitbox. For it to be memorable it needs some additional component along, perhaps a critical resistance reduction debuff.
For the proposed identity this skill could get additional AAR per level as it fits the skill fantasy, having that along with a larger hitbox for two handed swords would seal the deal.
Catar Stroke (D) - Midground
The other tactic that could be employed on mountains is to bash enemies downhill, in fact this can be quite effective as they can roll over their allies as bowling pins. Another noticeable element of it is how it grounds the user during the cast, it may not be intentional but can be used to remark the connection Highlanders have with their land.
Catar Stroke execution isn’t that efficient, by having an increasing cast time the damage isn’t that good as other skills have instant effects, it also can’t be interrupted by anything aside disruptions and control debuffs, along with that the skill doesn’t bring anything special to the table and the damage isn’t as impressive as the animation tries to convey. It could help if they changed the collision damage attribute to apply additional damage based on the skill factor ratio or even make it as a default feature. Also the mounted restriction it has is pointless, the skill already prevents you to move so the mount bonus is already halted when using it, also the animation is the same as Cataphract’s Earth Wave so it can be done at any moment.
It would be great if they improved the bowling aspect of the skill, having enemies to be used as projectiles for enemies that weren’t hit by the initial impact, in fact that could be the whole connection with cast time as it could increase the knockback distance or collateral damage power, that can fit both takes on the class identity and also make the skill memorable.
Crown (A) - Complement
If this skill has any thematic connection it will be based on irony, it took centuries for Highlanders to pledge to a british king, and here they just hit the crown.
From all control debuffs Shock is the least impactful on the list, however this also allows it to be applied for long duration without balance issues, and it’s the kind of overscale that allows it to be taken in any level. It seems like the INT and SPR reduction was changed to be flat and that isn’t displayed on the skill anymore.
If the proposed identity was taken this skill would be a relief instead as it has the lowest AAR and only has soft control, either way it works around within the class skillset.
Cross Guard (F) - Gimmick
This is a basic move for two handed sword fighting and doesn’t have a particular connection to Highlanders as it would to any two handed sword warrior.
Cross Guard is plain pointless on all aspects, the only value of it as a skill is to apply the stagger debuff yet it only affects pierce attacks which the class has none. Not only that but the execution is too slow to be reliable and the leveling improvement is laughable, going full STR can provide enough block yet that doesn’t matter if the player can’t pull it off properly. Something that simple would work way better as an attribute for C action for two-handed swords but they made it into a skill.
Shortening the initial activation delay and adding proper scale could turn it into a real skill yet Highlander has enough skills to have on itself to afford a skill demotion at c2.
For a single circle Highlander manages to be quite round, it doesn’t have any downside but also lacks an element to be remarkable, and having Cross Guard as the only skill with restrictions is great. Having one of c2 skills downgraded would be a bless as it adds real building choice, yet that would require some revision on the c1 set especially on Catar Stroke as it isn’t that effective for its execution.
Moulinet (B) - Lead
Moulinet is a french word that can be translated to reel, it seems like the motion of it skill may be an allusion that mechanism yet it isn’t clear, there’s also a fencing move but as the skill uses both hands regardless of weapon it wouldn’t match. I can’t see any connection between this move and Highlanders and having it to be in french doesn’t help either.
On the gameplay department the skill does a better job. It has conditional damage with Crown debuff and as the skill is located at the previous circle is less likely for players to not own it, the downside is that other shock sources won’t trigger it and it reduces synergy potential in party play and limits combos with higher rank classes.
To extend it into the expected identity the skill could count with individual large hitboxes in different sizes and shapes along with some AAR per level.
Skyliner (B) - High Lead
This is an odd name for a skill, i can picture Highlanders contemplating the view over their land but it wouldn’t be exactly a skyline, yet it may fit it as it has impact when said and may slightly resemble highlands.
Skyliner is another conditional skill but this time tied to bleeding, that means it can be set up with Crosscut but may rely on other sources as well. The skill itself may be a little exaggerated as it counts with 5 overheats and let’s be honest, no pure offensive skill really needs that many uses, and i know this is the heart of Highlander damage but it could be easily be boosted into 170% the current value. It would be nice to add the value of such additional damage is as it may vary from a wide range but we always assume is either extra half or double.
Crosscut (A) - Counter Lead
Another skill that doesn’t seem to connect with theme, if it were to stretch it i would point out the chosen shape as a reference to tartan pattern as often fits crosses inside squares, but again that’s a stretch. This skill delivers two blows and the second one impact seems way higher as it’s done after a full turn, it’s a small dissonance but doesn’t have to be taken that serious.
Taking bleeding into a skill can fit both the real identity the class has and the intended one as it deals damage to enemies that may not be in combat, even being less likely for them to survive long it adds more fighting potential. It also seems like each hit has an individual chance to apply bleeding and that helps a lot to solidify the Skyliner combo, it would be nice if the duration was informed tho as we don’t even know if it increases with level.
It’s a shame mounted classes can’t use this skill as it adds quite some value to both c2 and c3, this time the animation doesn’t match at all but it could be changed into a simpler motion to please both sides.
Here we have quite some improvement with two combos being one tied to a previous skill, that’s mostly possible due the identity the class has and some good setup. The issue tho is that c1 skills can’t be appar this new circle, that was an issue back then so it isn’t much of a change.
Skull Swing (C) - High Lead
I can’t find any thematic link to, not even by stretching it. Honestly It doesn’t make sense that hitting someone in the head wouldn’t make it less overall resistant, i know the description doesn’t sustain that but the skill name gives that impression.
Dealing with armor break is a risky game, since the status completely negates all defenses it can be taken for a long duration, it could however negate one of the armor pieces instead for more time, this approach is fairer for the one taking the debuff and also allows it to be longer and give players a wider window to use it. Against monsters and bosses the effect can be about 10~30% based on the equipment part denied.
Also the knockback effect isn’t necessary at all and dwells into the current Barbarian territory for no reason and the jump prevention attribute isn’t needed as Crown already does it.
Vertical Slash (A) - Grand Lead
Again, can’t find any connection. It looks like a cool finishing move and that kinda matches the skill mechanics.
Vertical Slash is the kind of example that grasps the identity till the core and delivers a move worth going the whole way, it does it by taking any debuff as part of its combo and is further amplified by how many debuffs you can stack. The only wonky part of it is how the combo with Skull Swing works as it doesn’t inform properly, in fact there’s no mention to the value of additional damage anywhere.
One of the best circle closures in the game, Vertical Slash fits like a glove and as it’s designed it can only get stronger, Skull Swing is nice but its debuff is too short to be as useful as it could. The issue tho is that Highlander has too many skill in its skill set, in fact it can spend only 5 points at c1 and go full late rank, and that’s more of a problem when c1 skills don’t deliver enough.
Conclusion
Conditional damage is a powerful tool that can be used to allow support classes to deal damage under the right conditions, for offensive classes it can be the extra mile, yet it isn’t the best direction to be taken as an identity, especially for a low rank class. Along with that the class doesn’t provide enough of its identity at the first circle and is too limited to direct combos, that doesn’t allow it to explore that concept as much as it could.
Regardless of that the class itself isn’t worse than the average class covered here, in fact it may have one of the best scores, and just need some extra push to reach the sweet spot.
| C 1 | C 2 | C 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Identity | E | B | A |
| Theme | B | D | E |
| Gameplay | D | C | B |
| Cohesion | B | A | A |
| Point Distribution | E | C | D |
| Dropout | D | B | A |
Usually this would be the end of the thread but we still need to do the clash, for that please read the Barbarian one. If you already did that scroll down for the final part.