You have no idea how much i appreciate a good counter argument, thank you.
We already have PvP oriented balance, wouldn’t be as different.
That’s why i say it needs some rework to the combat as well (and i’d even extend it to map design). The ideal state for a specialized system balance is to ensure undergeared players with the right classes will perform as well (or slightly worse) than better equipped non-specialists and be more effective with a corresponding equipment set (perhaps about 20~35% better).
This is a scenario that shouldn’t be supported regardless of the direction, and is indeed more likely to happen when going for more specialization. The way to handle it might be by designing challenges taking both extremes in consideration (worst and best build compositions), in a way it the average party will need to be well prepared (equipment and items) and play properly. A less conventional way to address it is by reward two or more identities that are commonly divergent to have advantage into that content, this way you only need to have one of them and still get the advantage, and you also have the option to have a dedicated character with both but at the cost of being less functional on any other kind of content.
Agree, that’s another possible risk and those that can’t afford it might end up as more into generic builds to ensure they can handle everything. Despite that, the key aspect of specialization when combining classes is that you can offer degrees and types, you can pick how much of X you want your character to be. Even then, it could be possible for parties to fail content due overspecialization, as each individual member is overloaded on their task, or repetition, ensuring one aspect is fully covered at the cost of another, which welcomes those that have more versatility in their build.
Recently i’ve been playing a certain online card game and whenever i saw a new deck/card/combo i always got at least a small temptation of trying it out, there were times i had fun and also terrible experiences but in both cases i had memorable moments and a lot of experimentation to find out my own way to use them. This is something that is missing in ToS, the awe of seeing a new/different build, the ability to explore new possibilities as a hidden gem and, of course, also fail miserably once in a while for a specific thing.
I support my opinion on these particular benefits:
1 - Ensure each class individual value
2 - Direct how classes are balanced, without relying on pure DPS arms race
3 - Provide a safety net for players that pick classes for their identities (as seen in 2)
4 - Enable more combinations to be playable and successful (and offer new solutions to the game challenges)
5 - Avoid direct overlap/competition between classes in the same tree
If the trade is worth it is a completely different question, i believe it is.
Again, sorry for the excessive text and thanks for bringing up a really good counter argument.
