Yesterday Carbine released their Esper Dev Speak, showing off a bit of what the Esper was capable of. Earlier this evening, Carbine went more in-depth by answering fans’ questions.
Here’s a list of the developers who took part in this AMA.
- CRB_CLynch – Chris Lynch, Lead Combat Designer – @ClynchX
- CRB_Hugh – Hugh Shelton, WildStar Class Lead – @HughShelton
- CRB_ Asyreal– Jade Martin, Esper Class Designer
- CRB_Atreid – Loïc Claveau, Global Community Manager – @CRB_Atreid
I listed a few of the questions and answers I found most informative below. I did not go through every question and answer, but I have read quite a few. From what I’ve read, Esper may be a very powerful class. If you want even more questions and answer, check out the full AMA.
- Is an Esper’s healing also burst-focused, like its damage? Do they have access to more sustainable healing, such as HoTs?
- Are the Espers’ heals mostly single-target, few-target AoEs, group-wide or a mix of those?
- Are you planning on adding customizable appearances to abilities like the “Projected Spirit”? Personally I’d love to see a Rowsdower skin for one.
- Going off-topic from the Esper here, I was wondering if you were going to update the Races page of the WS website into a style similar to that of the Classes? I personally love the new way of presentation.
- To finish off, here’s a sensible, I.Q.-taxing question: Given that the Espers have dirty minds, and that I also have a dirty mind… would you like a toasted cupcake?
CRB_Asyreal responded with these answers:
“I wouldn’t actually go so far to say they are the ‘Best’ Single Target Healer. Asyreal already wishes he didn’t say that ;D. What we can say is that the Esper has a lot of great single target heals, but thanks to our Action Set, Ability Tiering System, and AMP system all healers will be able to heal a single target really well.” – CRB_Hugh
- The Esper has a good mix of both sustained and burst healing. The limited action set you build for this will dictate what type of healing output you do.
- Of all the classes the Esper is a probably the best single target healer but they also have access to AoEs.
- While the idea is awesome it isn’t something we have planned for launch at this time.
- Unfortunately I’m unsure of what the marketing team has planned for the races page (New AMA idea?)
- I’m scared to say yes…
asks:
Not specifically Esper but, what separates the skill and healing kit of an esper versus the spellslinger and the ? I know there are visual and stylistic differences in their abilities, but are there signature abilities and effects that are unique to the classes and could you provide some examples? (ie power word:shield, chain heal, etc from wow)
CRB_Hugh gives this response:
A big thing that sets them apart are “Finisher” abilities that consume all of their current Psi Points (their class resource). This gives them a lot of flexibility of when to use these Finishers and it gives them access to some of the most powerful burst heals in the game.
Besides that, they have access more single target heals than any of the other classes such as Bolster (a stacking heal over time) and Mind over Body (a long cast single target heal that places an outgoing heal buff at your current location). There are more differences that I think are being covered in some of the other posts ;D.
Worried about just being one of the crowd?
kdmaam asks:
I am affraid we will all look alike in this game. Will there be enough weapon and cloth models to make our characters stand out?!?
The Esper’s weapon is rather small and barely visible how will it look on the Chua?!?! Will it match it’s size to me it even harder to get noticed?? (If u need an example on how this can go wrong look at the engineers pistols in GW2 on a Asura)
CRB_Atreid responds:
Don’t be afraid, everything is going to be fine :). There are tons of weapons and outfit for you to look unique. We’ll have articles and probably a Livestream entirely dedicated to Customization. Don’t forget as well that the Character Creation will let you create a unique toon.
As for the size of the weapon, indeed, it adapts to the model. So a Human Esper will have a bigger blade than a Chua but hey they will hit as hard 😉
Now, do not hesitate to send feedback if feel otherwise once you play it. But from what I have personally experienced, It did not strike me as weird or anything.
supjeremiah asks:
- What would you say is the fastest TTK potential for a Esper in a PvP situation?
- Would you say Espers are the burst class or does the Stalker have similar playstyle?
- Is the Espers innate ability reduced in PvP? (The 8 seconds of no damage.)
- If I wanted to top DPS meters, is this the class for me?
CRB_Clynch responds:
Hey SupJeremiah! (Felt like I just said hello twice with that name. )
- The Esper definitely has the potential to be the fastest TTK in PvP, but there are several other classes that will give it a run for its money.
- Due to the Esper’s resource mechanic, they have the ability to apply large burst, but it comes after they build up a number of Psi Points. The Stalker on the other hand can apply a burst (maybe not as hard as the Esper) at the start of a fight, or whenever else they choose to in a fight.
- The Esper innate is still undergoing iteration, but we have no plans to make abilities have different stats in PvP vs PvE.
- Topping the DPS charts is going to really depend on skill and situation. There is a wide variety of combat situations that occur in WildStar. Some classes are better suited to a certain situation than others and due to this I’ve seen every single class have their moment of glory at the top of the charts.
Since it looks really cool I had to put a Phantasmal Armor image in here.
Thank you all at Carbine for what is shaping to be my next MMO home. You seem to be making the right decisions so far.
Regarding the AMA..I’m wondering if it’s possible/feasible to customize the Esper to be a DoT (or HoT) intensive class (i.e. the “other brand’s” warlock)? How about a pet class?
CRB_Hugh Responds:
I love you all! -Deswesaculo
With our Ability Tiering, Action Set, and AMP systems you’ll be able to focus on making certain abilities the most powerful in your kit. The Esper doesn’t have many DoTs, but they do have HoTs which means you could take those spells and Tier them up as much as possible.
You also have the ability to focus yourself on a pet build, last week my build was based around Phantom Swarm (3 small illusionary pets) and Geist (1 large illusionary pet). I had tiered these guys up as much as I could so that they were doing tons of damage, healing me at the same time, and blowing up on their deaths to do AoE damage.
asks:
Q: Sofar based on the gameplays we’ve seen, it seems as though the Spellslinger has more mobility (teleports, ect.) than the esper, and can shoot way more far away. Given that the Esper is light armor, thus very vulnerable, what do espers have going for them? CC? Doesn’t breakout gameplay kinda defeat that though?
CRB_Hugh responds:
The Esper/Spellslinger max ranges are actually fairly similar and any ability that is extremely long range usually has to be cast while standing still.
The Esper does have a couple of mobility abilities such as Projected Spirit (a dash that takes you 25 meters forward) and Fade Out (when fully tiered up can move you 12 meters backwards).
Also, the Esper has access to a greater variety of CC than the Spellslinger. As for breakout gameplay, even if a victim can get out of a CC early they are still hindered momentarily.
Thanks for reading, and remember if you want to read more, check out the full AMA.
Published: Nov 14, 2013 08:23 pm