The Daily Grind: Single or dual classes?

by Krystalle Voecks Mar 22nd 2009 at 8:00AM

Filed under: Game mechanics, Opinion, The Daily Grind

As more and more of the Massively staff jump in and check out Runes of Magic, we're having a ball playing around with different dual class combinations. Shawn Schuster, our Managing Editor, is running a Warrior/Mage combination he says is a lot of fun. Kyle Horner has a shiny new Mage he's thinking about what he wants to add to the mix. I've opted for a Rogue/Priest combination since I'll run the Rogue solo, and will be keeping the Priest to run with friends who are several levels lower. That way, I figure so long as I keep the Rogue's level well above the Priest, I can level the second class along with my friends who don't play as often.

Of course, this system really isn't anything new - it falls in line with Final Fantasy XI's job system, offering players the chance to combine a couple of different things on the same character without requiring you to keep an alt to see a second class. This morning, though, we thought we'd ask what you thought. Do you think that more games should introduce a dual class system, allowing you to play two completely different classes (or a hybrid of them) at the same time? Or do you prefer to focus on one class at a time so you're not split in terms of trying to gear it up, or having to spend too much time to level two classes at the same time?

Tags: dual-class, dual-classes, ffxi, final-fantasy-xi, frogster-interactive, jobs, rom, runes-of-magic, runewaker-entertainment, square-enix

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Bant Warick said on 8:39AM 3-22-2009

Guild Wars has been running dual class since the start and It works really well. You can build some pretty powerful skill combos there. I haven't played for a while, but I'm pretty sure Shock axe is still one of the best warrior builds going.

Harmen said on 8:47AM 3-22-2009

I like the no-class (more class-as-you-go) option, now I've seen how that plays in Darkfall.

Tom said on 8:53AM 3-22-2009

But does dual classing in RoM work the same was as in Guild Wars? It sounds as though in RoM you level the two classes separately. Is that correct? So, can you switch the classes on the fly in RoM or does this require some kind of respec? Is a Warrior/Mage in RoM, for example, when playing the mage, as effective as a full-blow Mage or are there certain restrictions (as there are in Guild Wars)? In Guild Wars, you have a clearly primary class and a clearly secondary class.

Dual classing sounds like an interesting idea in RoM. Personally, I have always liked playing hybrid classes (shaman and paladin, in WoW and Lore-Master in LotRO), classes that are part damage/part healing.

But when I hear RoM discussed, it sounds as though you must choose to play one or the other. Is that correct?

Krystalle Voecks said on 9:06AM 3-22-2009

That's a pile of questions, so I'll attempt to answer them as best I can. Keep in mind I'm only a week or so in, and playing very casually.

Each class is separate, to a certain extent. You have two tabs of skills for each class. One is a "general skills" tab, the other is a "class primary skills" tab. When I'm a Rogue, for example, I can access Rogue General, Rogue Class Specific, and Priest General abilities. When I'm running as a Priest, I can access Priest General, Priest Class Specific, and Rogue General.

Each class does level up separately. When you hit level 10 in your primary class, you are given a quest to go talk to your class leader, which puts you on the dual-class quest. Your second class (once you pick it - you can wait a bit, if you'd like) then starts at level 1, and you have to level it up. The nice thing is that you are given the choice of starting where you were, or heading somewhere new. If you head back to where you were, it opens up new quests you didn't get on your primary class. Not too many as yet, but I consider the game to still be a bit in progress. It's stable, but needs polish, work on translations, etc.

So, to sum, yes, you play as one or the other, but you have certain abilities from the other class (for example, my Rogue can heal herself and others and do some limited buffing, but all are weaker than a priest primary) and my Priest can melee a bit more effectively thanks to some Rogue skills.

Oh, and you change classes by going by your house and talking to the lady there. I also opted to purchase (yes, real cash) an armor rack and a weapons rack to make switching class gear extremely fast. Pop in, switch classes, hit two buttons to change gear, and I'm back out.

Hope that helps a bit?

Tom said on 9:35AM 3-22-2009

Yes, that was very helpful, Krystalle. Thank you.

The system sounds very similar to Guild Wars, in that you have primary and secondary classes, except that in RoM you can actually choose and change which will be your primary class -- something you cannot do in Guild Wars.

I think I like that. It beats the heck out of leveling up an alt, imo.

Krystalle Voecks said on 9:51AM 3-22-2009

Heh, technically you do kind of level an alt - and this is where I say it's very similar to FFXI jobs - each class earns xp and skill points independently of the other. You cannot level them simultaneously, which you do in GW, as memory serves. So you spend twice as long on one character, but the nice thing is that it gives you time to work on tradeskills, etc. equally across both which is a fairly involved and time-consuming process. It works out nicely in terms of what you can do along-side dual classing in how it plays out in RoM.

NekoAli said on 8:59AM 3-22-2009

In RoM you play one as your main class and one as your secondary class. You only level up your main class, but you can use some, but not all, of your secondary class skills. Changing your class from main to secondary is as simple as visiting your house though. The important thing is to make sure you have appropriate gear for both classes for when you change.

MrGutts said on 9:58AM 3-22-2009

Dual class all the way..

My paladin (35 knight / 31 priest ) is a freaking machine that eats everything up. It's just reallly freaking slow to kill something. haha

But then again, 5 or 6 things can be pounding on me during that time and I just call it a flesh wound. :)

Bryan said on 10:19AM 3-22-2009

I am so glad this article came up. I have, for years, been touting FFXI's job system as one of the best ideas ever created. Here's the problem with Guild Wars and Runes of Magic, though. They don't really give you the full access to ALL classes on one character like FFXI does. I want all my mmo's to have the FFXI job system. I like making ONE name, ONE character and then playing with 30 different jobs depending on my mood. Of course, a Massive inventory space option needs to be implemented as well, as this is where FFXI fails.

So, yes I prefer dual class/job systems over 1 character 1 class. It lends a whole new direction to leveling "alts", is good for the game's longevity(a must when it comes to mmorpgs), and gives every player the opportunity to learn each class and not be a complete noob when in a party.

Saylah said on 10:19AM 3-22-2009

To chime in... It's important to understand that the advantage comes from playing a combination of the classes not just one or the other. You want to play as A/B or B/A even though you can play as class A only or class B only. If you do that you're putting yourself at a disadvantage.

When playing as a combination you have access to all skills from class A and the primary skills from the secondary class. Every 5 levels starting at level 15, you can elite skills and they are based on your combination. A/B gets a combination specific elite skill, as does combination B/A. Many of these are unique and combo defining.

You don't have to explicitly level them separately. I don't - that's more questing/grinding than I'm interested in doing. I do the quests on my main combo Priest/Warrior but switch to my Warrior/Priest to turn the quests in. That way one character is leveling from kill XP while the other is leveling from quest turn-in XP. Sometimes I level the Warrior/Priest explicitly if she's really close to completing a level. I also turn in a majority of the daily quests as the Warrior/Priest. Doing it in this fashion I've gotten both classes to level 28 and have only been on the Warrior/Priest combo and handful of times.

So while keeping the secondary to level with friends plays out nicely as an alt. You'd be gimping your main a bit by not having the elite skills appropriate for your level since both sides of the class have to be at the appropriate level to obtain them. Something to think about.

Shawn is in our guild. Please feel free to whisper me in game for an invite. It's big, casual and friendly.

Skypp said on 10:33AM 3-22-2009

I really like cross-classing systems. The Runes of Magic one is pretty good, they still have some balancing to do of course, but overall I'm enjoying it.

I'm still waiting on someone to pick up the Shadowbane system though, given some thought and an update, that system would be the most complex yet fun class system in a MMO.

Ordic said on 10:36AM 3-22-2009

personally i love the idea it gives players a chance to make combinations so that their caracters are unique compared to another character.

Rich said on 10:43AM 3-22-2009

I like a skill-based system far better, no class limitations at all.

Havok said on 11:27AM 3-22-2009

I don't like dual-classing in RoM because it takes me soooo effing long to level up my character. If I wanted to level an alt, I'd level an alt. Don't force me to do it in order to stay competitive.

Bill said on 10:09PM 3-22-2009

That's why I quit playing RoM. Twice the grind. It was fun for a bit but got old very quickly. Plus having to go on multiple instance runs to collect items for certain class abilities was a deal breaker for me. Although I will say it's probably the best F2P game around.

Corwynn Maelstrom said on 11:37AM 3-22-2009

In short, yes, there should be more games that offer something outside of the status-quo single class experience.

I've been enjoying a bit of RoM over the past few days and part of the reason is that I've been subjected to so many class-based games that a bit of something different is just refreshing.

My full thoughts here: http://corwynn-maelstrom.com/2009/03/22/dual-classing-yes-or-no/

CindyL said on 11:40AM 3-22-2009

I don't find leveling the two classes that long at all, I have a mage/priest and I switch around whenever I hit a level so both classes are always at the same level. To me leveling both is comparable to leveling one class in most MMOs, except maybe WoW or EQ2 now since they've turboed their leveling experience.

Stephanie said on 12:31PM 3-22-2009

I suppose no one's ever played Holic Online? That was oddly the first game that popped into my mind when I saw the dual-class in RoM. It's almost the same system, you get to level two different classes on one character.
I don't really like the dual-class system. It doesn't make me feel as necessary, I guess? Like on games where you can only make one main, and I make a tank or a priest, or something that's vital to parties and raids and whatnot, it makes me feel needed.
But with dual-classing, everyone can just level up their main high enough, buy stuff for their lower level, and use their main-class skills to easily level up classes that are generally intended to be difficult to level. I originally make a Knight/Priest but I didn't like the Priest-general skills, so I re-rolled into a Knight/Rogue (once I hit 10 again =( ).
In short, I don't like dual-class systems because then when people need a healer or a tank or something that most people hate leveling, it won't make my time of leveling and gearing said character as worthwhile. There will always be the Rogue/Priest or something that can just poof into a priest if needed. =(

Dblade said on 1:10PM 3-22-2009

the problem is that it's really just an illusion of freedom. People keep mentioning FFXI, but the subjobs there in practice are mostly limited specific situations, and there is zero freedom in party or endgame play of what to sub. You wind up subbing ninja as a one-handed damage dealer, samurai as a two handed class, or scholar as a healer.

It's very hard to actually balance all support jobs to be of equal use, so a dual-class system winds up being a more complicated version of speccing, for situational uses. Half the time you could simply add specific abilities to the main for many of the jobs people sub instead-many people in FFXI just subjob black mage for warp, or thief for treasure hunter when farming. Once the community gets done with the system, its a lot less freedom than you think.

Skuz said on 5:12PM 3-22-2009

The best class system I have seen yet was in Matrix Online, in that game you purchase "modules" for abilities in certain class trees, you can only have so many points allocated to abilities but there was no limit on what you could acquire except your level increased how many points you had available.

What this meant was at max level with having spent tons of cash you could be any class you wanted, you just needed to visit a telephone, reset your points re allocate your abilities into whatever class took your fancy for the day & off you go, you could have potentially the ability to play any class in the game as & when you wanted after a short visit to respecialise.

Dual-classing or tri-classing was possible but would serious limit your powers.

I have yet to see a game even come close to that system.