108731-as-someone-who-plays-mages-can-we-get-a-staff-class-using-the-primal-elements-like-npcs-do-in-the-game

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I normally play mages in my mmo's after playing the esper and spellsligner I don't really feel like a mage I think I feel this way because of the combo points of the esper and the feel. The spellsligner feels more akin to a long range hunter even though spellsligner uses magic etc it does not feel the same.
 
When I finally encountered vigilant church members, draken and aurin wielding the primal elements and they were using staffs/staves I was left wondering why a class like that was not in the game. Hell the moodies are using necromacy which was taught to them by one of the eldan and a draken became a necroshaman.
 
So I just wonder why they left something like that out? Maybe they ran out of time or are still in development I know I don't expect something like this to be added until a major update or even an expansion but it would help having such a class.
 
I know quite a few people who are not playing the game because it does not have a "classic" mage option and considering they are in the game itself. The eldan had an order of evokers who manipulate and use primal energies the best, The drakens have their shamans using primal elements, the Aurins have primal element users, Even the humans of the vigilant church are seen using it.
 
Well I just wanted to let my feelings known I hope the developers read this topic or its passed along to let them know now I go back to going back and forth between spellsligner and esper since I cannot settle on one of them.
 
I hope I am not being seen as picky I know many people want a class option like this.	
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			Yeah, I would love to see a class that uses the Primal Elements and all that. ^^ Though, I think we have enough long-range classes as is, so I'd like to see one that's akin to the dual dagger Elementalist from GW2, which was super fast-paced and close range, but still had that Mage feel to it.	
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Chua don't think is possible.
Chua not 100% sure, but somewhere in ingame lore is explained that handling primal elements actually dangerous and cause mutations in living organisms.
So cannot really make primal wielding class, as would cause mutation to occur.
 
Pell ingame able to handle primal energies cause were chosen by Eldan due resilience against primal energy mutation.
Work slower on Pell, but Pell not immune either to effects.	
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Well actually what we see in the game is that all the staff users we see in the game are actually using the primal elements it takes training that's for sure according to how draken shaman's have apprentices etc. Plus as I said the eldan had the order of evokers who were primal energy users. Oh and the only way to become mutated by the primal elements is to be infused with a GREAT amount of it not by using it as we see by the staff using npcs in the game. We see it being done on certain npcs in whitevale being infused with primal energy and mutating and certain others I won't reveal because of story spoilers
 
Like all magic in any setting its Volatile and dangerous if you are not properly trained on how to use it.	
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			edit for below	
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			There was actually going to be an Elementalist class at one point. It would have utilized Earth/Air/Fire/Water magic, and had an "Echo" mechanic. You'd gain elemental "Echoes" by casting spells from the corresponding school. The Echoes would increase the effectiveness of spells from the school in question; a Fire Echo would increase the effectiveness of fire spells, so on and so forth. They might have used staves, too.	
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Plus look at the cassian and aurin in this concept art picture.
 
edit: Gah really Aethrysa? If thats the case I hope they are still working on it I hope it comes in a drop/major update or an expansion.
 	
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Chua don't think is possible.
Chua not 100% sure, but somewhere in ingame lore is explained that handling primal elements actually dangerous and cause mutations in living organisms.
So cannot really make primal wielding class, as would cause mutation to occur.
 
Pell ingame able to handle primal energies cause were chosen by Eldan due resilience against primal energy mutation.
Work slower on Pell, but Pell not immune either to effects.
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Plus look at the cassian and aurin in this concept art picture.
 
-snip-
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I think the Aurin is supposed to be a Charmer, actually.  :)
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			Esper uses a staff for its heals (one they make with their minds). Adding an elementalist anytime soon is likely moot; IIRC all the OG art with staffs were early Esper concepts before the psy-blade was conceived.	
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			Denied	
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Esper uses a staff for its heals (one they make with their minds). Adding an elementalist anytime soon is likely moot; IIRC all the OG art with staffs were early Esper concepts before the psy-blade was conceived.
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			I like the idea of an elementalist (the Theurgist in DAoC was one of my favorite classes), and also maybe a necroshaman a la Draken storyline.  Not sure about using primal energies (we all just arrived on the planet - how have we already learned about and harnessed its primal energies?).	
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Esper uses a staff for its heals (one they make with their minds). Adding an elementalist anytime soon is likely moot; IIRC all the OG art with staffs were early Esper concepts before the psy-blade was conceived.
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I like the idea of an elementalist, and also a necroshaman a la Draken storyline.  Not sure about using primal energies (we all just arrived on the planet - how have we already learned about and harnessed its primal energies?).
 
The Theurgist in DAoC was one of my favorite classes.
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Yeah I even recall a datacube in the deradune zone where an eldan evoker says her power is increased on nexus since there is so much primal energy.
 
edit:Aethrysa that looks like an esper to me personally or she could be wielding primal fire.
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The armor looks kind of Esper-y, but the fire leads me to believe otherwise.  :P Dunno. It's just a cool piece of artwork, and I thought it was somewhat relevant.
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Like Oli stated above there is the mutation thing...but we don't know how long it would take for said mutations to take effect, or if it happens generational. If we say that your character is just starting out on this choice of class, you could have the mutations as you level up get progressively worse more violent and powerful (a.k.a. unlocking class skills as you level). It would be a fun idea for a close range caster. Maybe some mutated gloves/hand things as a weapon or back growth? As mutations or skills you can sprout extra arms, grow claws or tentacles, or really big pointy teeth and have a more hand to hand (or whatever mutated appendage) combat feeling.
 
Then there is how did your character learn about this skill on the ark ship? Is it a mutation from your cryo pod being exposed to something? An experimental program being conducted by The Black Hoods or ICI?
 
Another thing to think about is several years down the line with more updates some of the racial choices may not even be starting out on the ship. They may also find a way through story progression, to stabilize the mutations, so it may be better to wait and see if they go that route first.	
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			Maybe we'll see new classes in the first xpac.	
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Well, Espers get their power from the Primal Elements, and can read emotions because of Primal Life that connects everything (The Weave). Are they all mutated and creepy? :3
 
Spellslingers channel Primal energy for their spells. (The Void only powers some of their spells, not all of them)
 
Most medicine in the game is made using Primal Life (Vitalus, anyone?)
 
People can DRINK water laced with Primal energy, and it's actually good for them.
 
In Wilderrun, everything lives forever because of Primal Life.
 
Shall I go on? :3
 
In short; you can channel Primal energy without many detrimental effects, but being infused with it is when the problems arise. Everything in the Wildstar universe is made of Primal energy, actually. IN FACT, you know the Pell? The High Priests used Primal energy so much that they stayed closer to what they originally looked like. The other Pell look the way they do because of Eldan devices / tinkering / whatnot, but the Primal energy saved the High Priests from mutating / devolving. So... ^^
 
Primal energy is in no way a new thing, either. It has existed since the beginning of Wildstar's time, and all the races knew about it. It's just that the Eldan were the first to discover how to use it (the Ikthians closely behind), and became very adept in its use. The other races use Primal energy for lots of things, and know all about it, but they're not as adept as the Eldan.	
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Like Oli stated above there is the mutation thing...but we don't know how long it would take for said mutations to take effect, or if it happens generational. If we say that your character is just starting out on this choice of class, you could have the mutations as you level up get progressively worse more violent and powerful (a.k.a. unlocking class skills as you level). It would be a fun idea for a close range caster. Maybe some mutated gloves/hand things as a weapon or back growth? As mutations or skills you can sprout extra arms, grow claws or tentacles, or really big pointy teeth and have a more hand to hand (or whatever mutated appendage) combat feeling.
 
Then there is how did your character learn about this skill on the ark ship? Is it a mutation from your cryo pod being exposed to something? An experimental program being conducted by The Black Hoods or ICI?
 
Another thing to think about is several years down the line with more updates some of the racial choices may not even be starting out on the ship. They may also find a way through story progression, to stabilize the mutations, so it may be better to wait and see if they go that route first.
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True, I have never seen a staff wielder in game mutated.
 
It is stated that, in lore objects, in the game that prolonged use to primal energies does cause mutation though. The mutation idea could have been put to the side (kind of like the whole Nexus is the home world of the Eldan thing, now it's just some planet they created and messed around with) and in game lore was not changed due to time or oversight.
 
However, how would you fit a staff wielder, to the extent that I believe you are wanting (using multiple elements with only one weapon) into the universe that is Wildstar, without feeling totally out of place or over powered, or quite frankly, like every other elemental staff wielder in every other game.
 
Remember Wildstar is really a Sci-Fi with fantasy undertones, you need to keep it feeling mostly Sci-Fi, or it's just going to feel like you have just created another clone of that game.	
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I'd love it. 
 
All I wanna do is throw fireballs at fools. 
 
I doubt it's coming soon, game has a lot to still release and fix, but I would love it!	
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Brother, you ever seen The Sorcerer's Apprentice?
 
"What causes fire?"
 
"The friction between molecules."
 
"Good, now imagine that in your mind, and make it happen."
 
We can certainly apply a scientific theme to magic, and with Primal energy being what makes up the entire universe in Wildstar, I can certainly see people causing things to happen that, while magical in nature, aren't inherently magical, but just complex scientific reactions. ^^	
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I'm all for new classes after a while.  Hopefully, we'll get a little more new content before we go there.  Honestly, I think a lot of this stuff is on the back burner, but we'll probably see some of those classes again.
 
I'm more interested in the charmer.  What was that, a pet class that MCed enemies?	
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I'm more interested in the charmer.  What was that, a pet class that MCed enemies?
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I'm all for new classes after a while. Hopefully, we'll get a little more new content before we go there. Honestly, I think a lot of this stuff is on the back burner, but we'll probably see some of those classes again.
 
I'm more interested in the charmer. What was that, a pet class that MCed enemies?
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I got bad news for you...    :unsure:
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I got bad news for you... :unsure:
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S...sorry I didn't mean to upset anyone.  :ph34r:
Who knows what could happen in the future! That the class never existed doesn't mean it can never exist.
 
But we'll never know if too many people unsub and desert the game now... ....... right, Dea?  <_<  <_<  <_<	
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S...sorry I didn't mean to upset anyone. :ph34r:
Who knows what could happen in the future! That the class never existed doesn't mean it can never exist.
 
But we'll never know if too many people unsub and desert the game now... ....... right, Dea? <_< <_< <_<
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Maybe we'll see new classes in the first xpac.
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From a long early stage in beta datamining there were two class types, both ranged, one called a dark weaver or caster the other a more rifle based class, whos name escape me.
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S...sorry I didn't mean to upset anyone.  :ph34r:
Who knows what could happen in the future! That the class never existed doesn't mean it can never exist.
 
But we'll never know if too many people unsub and desert the game now... ....... right, Dea?  <_<  <_<  <_<
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True, I have never seen a staff wielder in game mutated.
 
It is stated that, in lore objects, in the game that prolonged use to primal energies does cause mutation though. The mutation idea could have been put to the side (kind of like the whole Nexus is the home world of the Eldan thing, now it's just some planet they created and messed around with) and in game lore was not changed due to time or oversight.
 
However, how would you fit a staff wielder, to the extent that I believe you are wanting (using multiple elements with only one weapon) into the universe that is Wildstar, without feeling totally out of place or over powered, or quite frankly, like every other elemental staff wielder in every other game.
 
Remember Wildstar is really a Sci-Fi with fantasy undertones, you need to keep it feeling mostly Sci-Fi, or it's just going to feel like you have just created another clone of that game.
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Actually, I think that would be cool if there was a class where you actually possess bodies of enemies, who have their own skills, and you use those. Dying in one of those does mean dying as normal, but once every hour or so, you can "jump" to another enemy, killing your previous host on the way out.
 
I just wonder how that would work for dungeons and raids, since it'd be crazy to just take over mobs in there. But it would be a highly variable playing experience. Don't like your current moveset? Jump into another character.
 
Oh! Maybe you can "save" characters and use those in dungeons and raids?
 
I'm just firing randomly into the air.
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"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic"
 
:3
 
As for pet/ charmer classes, the perfect example is the Beastmaster from FFXI. Has a skill that can charm enemy beasts to use as familiars; AND has an ability that summons pets using items. 
 
You could have a similar situation in W*; or you could do it like FFXI's summoner; complete a quest / fight and obtain a resummonable version of a boss (albeit at a much lower power level). They already did that with the clone of Storamtalon at the Phage Labs... It's a very easy lore tie in (maybe call the calss 'geneticist' or something; and they collect primal signitures from creatures and can summon them (aka 'clone' them) as familiars....	
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Last idea maybe. Cause look at Stormtalon, he has no minions and that'd be stupid OP to possess a dragon!
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"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic"
 
:3
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I got bad news for you...    :unsure:
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I generally do trust Lem, so I mean no disrespect to him when I say until Carbine comes out and says that. I'm hard pressed to completely believe it that "leaked" drop schedule has been pretty accurate so far (especially after Games-con.) and they had the January drop listed as having new classes. Far fetched hope I'm sure, but hey might as well keep the hope alive until carbine pops in and says "um nope."
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I generally do trust Lem, so I mean no disrespect to him when I say until Carbine comes out and says that. I'm hard pressed to completely believe it that "leaked" drop schedule has been pretty accurate so far (especially after Games-con.) and they had the January drop listed as having new classes. Far fetched hope I'm sure, but hey might as well keep the hope alive until carbine pops in and says "um nope."
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Okay, but those classes were specifically listed under "other open things" (as opposed to an actual "content drop") and it was mentioned they've been there since before launch.
Sure there may be a new class in January, but whether it will be one of those? Eh, I'm with the catmonkey there.
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If it's only one I'd be willing to bet it'll be the Dark caster, it's the only thing that isn't anything like what we have, and there's been a good bit of requests for a Dar Arts class since launch.
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Sciela, that would kind of just be an Esper with elemental powers.
 
I'd also like to point out that the Eldan (who were the most proficient in using primal energies) only used one maybe two primal energies at a time per experiment. There was no flopping back and forth between them all. If there was then this would have been some God like creation, a final creation. 
 
Since all the other species are far behind the scientific advancements of the Eldan, you shouldn't see them being able to wield all the primal energies (without major repercussions to the character) all at once. It just wouldn't make much sense.
 
 
But hey, sometime down the line, if they can fit it in somehow and make it make sense to the lore, then all the power to them.
 
I would like to see some more short range classes first though, game is sorely lacking.	
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			I'd love to see a shapeshifter class. Maybe a Cyborg that can transform parts of his body depending on his role. I'd also love some more weapon choices for the already existing classes. A rifle would suit my slinger well :wub:	
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Sciela, that would kind of just be an Esper with elemental powers.
 
I'd also like to point out that the Eldan (who were the most proficient in using primal energies) only used one maybe two primal energies at a time per experiment. There was no flopping back and forth between them all. If there was then this would have been some God like creation, a final creation. 
 
Since all the other species are far behind the scientific advancements of the Eldan, you shouldn't see them being able to wield all the primal energies (without major repercussions to the character) all at once. It just wouldn't make much sense.
 
 
But hey, sometime down the line, if they can fit it in somehow and make it make sense to the lore, then all the power to them.
 
I would like to see some more short range classes first though, game is sorely lacking.
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Dark Caster was the OG name for Espers wasn't it? 
 
I imagine Espers and SS will be the casting classes for the foreseeable future. Evokers BTW didn't 'use' primal energy per-see, (like an elementalist would) they seem to have been much more like espers in practice; prodicing ethereal constructs through their attunement with primal energies, rather than tossing fireballs.	
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Dark Caster was the OG name for Espers wasn't it? 
 
I imagine Espers and SS will be the casting classes for the foreseeable future. Evokers BTW didn't 'use' primal energy per-see, (like an elementalist would) they seem to have been much more like espers in practice; prodicing ethereal constructs through their attunement with primal energies, rather than tossing fireballs.
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I think they are similar to the staff npcs we see using the elements in my opinion.
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Well with all due respect (and I mean that sincerely) they don't exist as of yet.. so we really can't say much about them. Espers definitely fit the bill for a dark caster IMO, at least as far as W* goes with 'dark', but YMMV. Maybe we will end up with some cool new classes eventually, and a crazy new caster along with :) but the old names appear to be old concepts that became the current classes / were merged with them / were abandoned (at least for now). 
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Hey guys, I really enjoy your space-age sci-fi MMO where there's rockets and lasers and crazy technology and people healing by shooting guns, but you know what you could really use?
 
What's that?
 
Mages!  The same, standard, boring, elemental based mages that is in practically every single MMO!  Totally need those guys!	
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Well with all due respect (and I mean that sincerely) they don't exist as of yet.. so we really can't say much about them. Espers definitely fit the bill for a dark caster IMO, at least as far as W* goes with 'dark', but YMMV. Maybe we will end up with some cool new classes eventually, and a crazy new caster along with :) but the old names appear to be old concepts that became the current classes / were merged with them / were abandoned (at least for now). 
 
The only NPC's I've seen wield primal energy directly were the Pell and the Torine, both of which had lore-based ties to high-density sources of primal energy via- the primal foci. Definitely could fit an elementalist type class into the lore, but it woudl be a bit messier than the current classes.... But could definitely be done :)
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Hey guys, I really enjoy your space-age sci-fi MMO where there's rockets and lasers and crazy technology and people healing by shooting guns, but you know what you could really use?
 
What's that?
 
Mages!  The same, standard, boring, elemental based mages that is in practically every single MMO!  Totally need those guys!
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Really gotta agree with this (even though I would trust Carbine to put an interesting spin on such a class).
It depresses me greatly when there's a fresh scenario or mechanics and the first thing people clamor for is more of the same old.
 
Oh well, humans sadly are creatures of habit to a large extent...
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So are carbine boring for adding such things? Or desiring them?
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Well, if NCSoft doesn't add this one to the CoH/CoV pile, they might eventually get around to adding classes.  Or, they could branch classes.  Stalkers sound like they should advance to something called a Flux Reaver or whatnot.
 
I'm not sure about enemy class.  WoW at level 60 was about attacking some guys in a mountain (release), then they moved on to another dimension (Burning Crusade), then the norther continent went to *cupcakes* (WotLK), then a big dragon started breaking stuff (Cata), and then... Pandas, and now Warlords of Draenor will do stuff.  Each time the enemy is bigger and more is at stake.
 
Here?  Spoilers- it starts with the Exiles' everything being at stake, and moves on to the entire universe being threatened.  Where in blazes do you go from there?	
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No, but these things are certainly not in their main pitch for the game. They're just sort of... "there".
They don't feel out of place, which is nice. But I don't see the big appeal over having classes based on more unique aspects of the game (i.e. the crazy tech side of things).
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I know I know, the entire Eldan civilization is pretty much based on... "magitech".
But a primal element caster (with a staff, no less!) would definitely go too far towards pure magic for my taste.
 
Of course, there's no accounting for taste.
Just saying I agree with Arkillo that it would feel... uninspired compared to what's already there.	
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Well I think it's  interesting because carbine created a world that blends magic and technology and the lines start bluring hence I consider wildstar to be high and magic they have done it in such a way that I find it interesting. Who knows maybe if they get added a scientist might get more info on how channeling elements scientifically works.
 
I can understand that but the staff users are in the game via npcs the eldan had orders for spell casters, technology builders, security and those who deal with biological aspects and evolution. (I hope I haven't missed one)	
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Well, I could come up with some interesting ideas, so, here we go!
 
The Primalist / Elementalist.
 
Light armor, staff.
 
For DPS, they would use elements and all that, which isn't anything new, but how they do that would be different.
 
Using their staff, they would channel various elements, change the world around them (sort of like a miniature, mobile terraformer),
 
causing the earth to grasp enemies,
causing fire to appear or lava to seep from the ground,
causing the wind to blow, hurricanes to form, lightning to strike,
causing hail storms, blizzards, ice,
causing plants to attack, animals too maybe, so on.
channeling death (a supposed eighth element) to curse, weaken, so on,
channeling logic to do... something.
If you use an attack from one element, you gain a buff, causing the other elements to behave differently. When you mix air and water, you get blizzards, hailstorms, all that. When you mix earth and fire, you get lava. So on. You would mix the elements to create new effects and all that. As you fight, your spells would transform, or perhaps you have a combo system.
 
Attack A applies buff A > Attack B consumes buff A, causing effect B.
Attack C applies buff B > Attack B consumes buff B, causing effect C.
Attack B with no buff causes effect A.
Oooor, as you fight, your abilities transform.
 
Attack A > Attack B becomes Attack C > ...
Attack D > Attack B becomes Attack E > ...
Both systems would bring a fresh breath of air to the classic caster, but it would still be the classic caster.
 
 
They could also be the light armor tank! Using primal power, they could modify their body, or cause stony armor to surround them, to increase their defense, and they could mutate enemies and weaken them so they don't hit as hard. They would have a bit of self-healing through water / life, and would tank using the other elements. If you want to mix in air, they could be another evasion tank.
 
If not a tank, they could obviously heal with Water, Life, so on. Though, we don't have a periodic healer, so most of their heals would be periodic, applying different buffs and whatnot.
Life would increase your HP or something, and would gradually heal you, with some instant effects.
Water would increase some other stat, and would gradually heal you, but would last a long time. Could also debuff enemies.
So it would be possible to make an interesting concept with an old idea! ^^	
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I generally do trust Lem, so I mean no disrespect to him when I say until Carbine comes out and says that. I'm hard pressed to completely believe it that "leaked" drop schedule has been pretty accurate so far (especially after Games-con.) and they had the January drop listed as having new classes. Far fetched hope I'm sure, but hey might as well keep the hope alive until carbine pops in and says "um nope."
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I'd love to see a shapeshifter class. Maybe a Cyborg that can transform parts of his body depending on his role. I'd also love some more weapon choices for the already existing classes. A rifle would suit my slinger well :wub:
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Well, if NCSoft doesn't add this one to the CoH/CoV pile, they might eventually get around to adding classes.  Or, they could branch classes.  Stalkers sound like they should advance to something called a Flux Reaver or whatnot.
 
I'm not sure about enemy class.  WoW at level 60 was about attacking some guys in a mountain (release), then they moved on to another dimension (Burning Crusade), then the norther continent went to *cupcakes* (WotLK), then a big dragon started breaking stuff (Cata), and then... Pandas, and now Warlords of Draenor will do stuff.  Each time the enemy is bigger and more is at stake.
 
Here?  Spoilers- it starts with the Exiles' everything being at stake, and moves on to the entire universe being threatened.  Where in blazes do you go from there?
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How about adding stuff to existing classes instead?
 
My esper wants a reppuken, dammit.	
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