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 with another fairly problematic class, i’m aware of the upcoming changes yet i’d like to take a look before them as what the current class does right. In case this is your first time on a Design Breakdown topic go to this link for some basic information.
Squire - RANK 5 - SUPPORT / CRAFTING / PARTY
As much as the class is trying to be sold its identity is all about business and equipment care, it barely works as support and same applies to party. The placement is the usual for crafting classes meaning it requires other classes to fill the combat aspect, however as theme and identity is settle it could be more useful as it.
Squires were knight’s sidekick, it could be a knight in training or just a servant, that the whole reason to be was to ensure the master well being and do all sorts of preparations for traveling or combat, such as doing maintenance on equipment, horse caring and setting camps. That said Squires weren’t treated as equals and were strictly below knights in hierarchy, even if an apprentice.
Equipment Maintenance (C) - Lead
Just a said above it was one of the Squire duties to have their master equipment at the finest condition as it could decided the outcome of a combat, the difference is that their services were exclusive for their masters and they didn’t get paid for it, as that wouldn’t fit the game it can slip out. This is the real equipment maintenance a Squire would be Repair as lethality in real life is more binary than broad, yet that isn’t an issue as this interpretation is valid as well.
Another interesting concept that doesn’t deliver all of it, the issue with any shop skill is that lower circles have no space if power scales with level, it’s natural for skills to improve when invested but for a business perspective it isn’t healthy.
As maintenance skills take server time instead of character time there is a way to make all levels worth, If all shops provide the same bonus power there could be no reason to pick one over other, however if the level affect hit count and duration the game changes completely. The idea behind it is that for shorter time activities such as dungeons and saalus players could take a lower level shop instead of going for the highest level one, then for grinding sections and earth tower they’ll have to take a Squire 3 one, such change allows c1 and c2 squires to stay relevant and doesn’t diminishes the value of maxed skills.
Now one thing that always bothered me is the INT bonus for hit count, it could be any stat to provide such thing but they picked the only one with 0 use on swordsman - just why? It’s interesting to have such feature but at least make it aligned with a desirable stat, heck the skill could even have it displayed at the shop window to stimulate competition.
Repair (C) - Counter Lead
Same thematic as Equipment Maintenance but more to into the roots. Another case of floor making a difference, even if repair has a functionality leap at level 1 it doesn’t work when you have competition, something as simple as adding 5 durability as a floor could be enough to shorten the gap between squire circles, the double chance attribute just makes the issue worse.
Arrest (F) - Relief
As knights were soldiers from medieval times it would occur for them to have prisoners, either criminals or enemies, and someone would have to take care of them. Even as a main duty or if a shift was needed, Squires would have to deal with them and ensure they wouldn’t escape till reach the destination.
As someone that always complain about skills lacking floor Arrest infuriates me, the floor is there but it’s so low that could be completely ignored, so close yet so far. For the other issues the skill uses channeling, that means for the whole time the skill is active you can’t do anything else, also the leveling aspect isn’t the most exciting as it adds one extra target and the skill itself doesn’t gather enemies.
One way to make it more desirable is to add a slow component as a basic feature that is affected by skill level, it ain’t a huge change but it just adds some value to the class.
The first circle suffers from both support and craftsman basic issues, skills are too weak at early levels in such way that you have to go all the way to c3, or at least c2, to make a difference. If it weren’t for a lacking 4th skill Arrest wouldn’t be picked at all as is a dedicated support skill and that doesn’t fit a swordsmen, but being honest no one goes for Squire 1 only at the first place as business skills are required to be maxed.
Now for the real logical inconsistency for c1 - If only 3 skill are available and 2 of them are shops, how can you distribute points efficiently? It doesn’t even matter, no one will take a lvl 5 shop anyway.
Base Camp (E) - Complement
As technology progress was halted during medieval time traveling long distances was slow and tiring and so knights would have to camp often, there again Squire has to do it.
This is an oddball within Squire’s kit, it is a fairly useful skill as it works as a remote storage and a warp point but that’s basically all it has to do. The buff extension is a nice addition but it’s fairly impractical aside for cooking and an occasional pardoner shop placement (it doesn’t inform it either), on the other side having it to last longer isn’t really interesting as it’s possible to extend its duration as a default function.
The biggest issue with Base Camp is the way it’s implemented, since it can’t be used inside dungeons or closed maps the overall utility is reduced considerably, for the remaining maps it does work it can be gone as soon as it gets empty leading to an almost permanent warp, no tent and no storage to access. It is possible to glitch it and keep the buff extension effects in challenge mode yet that isn’t intended, just as permanent warp, so it fair to count it as a skill feature.
A nice feature that could be added is the possibility to use team storage, that could be done as an attribute for c3 if that’s the case.
Refreshment Table (B) - Chain
If Squires have to travel and camp, cooking should be a required skill. Back in the medieval time there were few ways to conserve food and if you have to take a full week to go from point A to B you’ll have to know how to adapt. The reason Refreshment Table requires Base Camp to be used is due that, to cook in the wild you need a basic setup and that takes some time, it’s easier to cook during the camp time and store some food to eat along the way.
For some reason this skill isn’t a feature of Base Camp, as stated before that skill has too little going on for the points invested and could make use of this follow up to fix it, in fact by making this a standalone skill it enables players to learn without the requirement.
Aside that the skill is fairly solid as the only flaw is not informing the improvements each buff gets when leveled, it would be nice if it also informed which ingredients are required for each dish as well as they may vary in quantity.
There’s no much improvement at this circle as both skills don’t really align with Squire’s identity, Base Camp may be useful for a business perspective but it is too limited and glitched to work in such way. Due the class nature this is the point where Squire starts to fall behind in combat usefulness as Arrest is the only battle oriented skill, as such Deadly Combo could fit this circle more. Base Camp has some utility for it but it’s impractical as it requires the whole party to use buffs near it and Refreshment Table, as good as it can be, bonus isn’t really required for simple activities for the expenses it has.
Even if both c2 skills are taken the remaining points can be used to max a service and you get 10 points to dump anywhere else, Arrest isn’t the most efficient skill but could be the best contender as you can’t have two service shops active at time, however even if done so it’s impossible for a lower level service to compete with Squire 3.
Penalty Reduction (F) - Complement
At this point we already understand that Squires take care of stuff so having a skill that minimizes damage to items is a natural fit.
As a rule of thumb having a that operates on death isn’t the best approach, skills that work well with that are safety nets as they negate or delay the condition extending the playable time, if the skill only reduces the penalty it won’t players in any way as it will still try its best to avoid death. The only reason safety nets works in the first place is that they undo something, they give players a second chance which is a reason to have the it active. Penalty Reduction doesn’t even negates the death penalties, it just reduces them.
One possible approach is to change the way durability is deducted by hitting and being hit, this changes the skill into a buff that has a continuous and reliable effect instead, that doesn’t prevent the current effect to be part of the skill as those are still useful. The reason it should be considered is just because the skill doesn’t provide enough nor prevents death, a small swift on its focus would make it desirable.
Deadly Combo (E) - Relief
Remember the part i said Squires could be knights in training, that’s the only way to justify Deadly Combo and honestly i think it’s enough.
Deadly Combo is the definition of wasted potential, it’s late, it’s bland, it has pointless restrictions and potential to expand the theme yet it doesn’t. As much as combat skills are needed in crafting classes they should at least carry the theme of the class, give extra bonus based on enhancement, reduce enemy durability when hit, reduce/negate enemy defense for a short amount of time, increase party damage on the enemy based on their weapon upgrades - it can be literally anything that connects to the identity.
For the final part of it Deadly Combo has a pointless restriction on weapons, Squires were supposed to know how to weapons are used in combat, at least the basics of it, so why the hell it is limited to sword only? The thing that gets me more is that due the class theme this skill could do the impossible for any other class, things like having an unique effect based on the equipped weapon and off-hand, from changing the damage type to match the gear to having special interactions based on them, yet it does none.
A class that has literally no hurdles on build path comes with such pointless restriction on the only offensive skill that was suppose to cover the lack of combat potential it has, it just goes against it own purpose.
If it weren’t for the current Weapon & Armor Maintenance formulas and Refreshment Table Squire 3 could be completely dismissed, there’s no improvement to the class in identity level and the new skills aren’t engaging nor helpful enough to be taken. As much as Deadly Combo could help with the combat for non dedicated weapon builds, yet it doesn’t do anything aside damage.
One thing that could help c3 is a brand new business skill related to its identity, some interesting approaches is to take gear enhancement features, multiple enhancement, golden anvil services, etc, it’s also possible to play with rarity boosting or increasing equipment level, being that temporary or not.
Conclusion
Squire is another class with an invisible predetermined path, all business skills are at the first circle yet they can’t flourish unless you reach the last circle, ironically as only one can be set at time there’s some incentive to go for the remaining skills. Even with that the skills don’t provide enough to grab anyone interest aside for Base Camp and Refreshment table, the first one being exploitable due bugs and glitches, in the end points will be mindless dumped on the most useful skills instead of having proper decisions.
| C 1 | C 2 | C 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Identity | A | C | B |
| Theme | A | A | A |
| Gameplay | F | E | E |
| Cohesion | F | C | E |
| Point Distribution | F | E | E |
| Dropout | F | E | C |
I’m planning to cover one archer class next week but not sure which, Musketeer and Schwarzer Reiter are great contenders for it, Linker is also an interesting one to analyse as it has an interesting identity. As usual leave your take on the class, arguments on it and opinions, who knows where we can get with those.
I’m planning to cover one archer class next week but not sure which, Musketeer and Schwarzer Reiter are great contenders for it, Linker is also an interesting one to analyse as it has an interesting identity. As usual leave your take on the class, arguments on it and opinions, who knows where we can get with those.