beforemath
2014-08-31, 01:17 PM
I see a lot of tier threads around here and they seem to talk about "roles" of classes and "situations" that they can handle. I wanted to make a list of such situations/roles so that I can get an idea of what each class can contribute to a situation and what certain classes are missing that keeps them from being able to contribute in most or all situations.
Here's my current list of roles/situations:
Damage (single-target) -- Dealing hitpoint damage to one target. (e.g. melee attack, Disintegrate, sneak attack)
Damage (multiple-target) -- Dealing hitpoint damage to multiple targets. (e.g. Fireball, Acid flask, Whirlwind Attack)
Movement -- The ability to freely traverse distance on a tactical scale (i.e. small scale). (e.g. Fast Movement, Dimension Door, Fly, Spider Climb)
Travel -- The ability to traverse long distances. (e.g. Teleport, Wind Walk, Ride skill)
Buff -- Improving an ally's ability to operate in a "situation." (e.g. Haste, Bull's Strength, Inspire Competence)
Debuff -- Decreasing an opponent's ability to operate in a "situation." (e.g. Blindness/Deafness, Intimidate skill, Ray of Exhaustion)
Healing -- The ability to restore damaged abilities. (e.g. Lay on Hands, Lesser Restoration, Wholeness of Body)
Control -- Preventing an opponent's ability to freely move, act, or attain a goal. (e.g. Wall of Stone, Incendiary Cloud, Daze Monster)
Prescience -- Gathering information about a situation before encountering it. (e.g. Hide skill (scouting), Augury, Arcane Eye)
Meatshield -- The ability to absorb, deflect, reduce, or otherwise "waste" an opponent's attack or action. (e.g. Evasion, high hitpoints, spell resistance)
Barrier Navigation -- The ability to traverse, circumvent, or ignore something preventing direct access to a goal. (e.g. Open Lock skill, Passwall, Charm Person)
There's a bit of overlap here and there. For example, Spider Climb would act as both Movement and Barrier Navigation (although the Climb skill would only act as Barrier Navigation).
Additions/comments?
Here's my current list of roles/situations:
Damage (single-target) -- Dealing hitpoint damage to one target. (e.g. melee attack, Disintegrate, sneak attack)
Damage (multiple-target) -- Dealing hitpoint damage to multiple targets. (e.g. Fireball, Acid flask, Whirlwind Attack)
Movement -- The ability to freely traverse distance on a tactical scale (i.e. small scale). (e.g. Fast Movement, Dimension Door, Fly, Spider Climb)
Travel -- The ability to traverse long distances. (e.g. Teleport, Wind Walk, Ride skill)
Buff -- Improving an ally's ability to operate in a "situation." (e.g. Haste, Bull's Strength, Inspire Competence)
Debuff -- Decreasing an opponent's ability to operate in a "situation." (e.g. Blindness/Deafness, Intimidate skill, Ray of Exhaustion)
Healing -- The ability to restore damaged abilities. (e.g. Lay on Hands, Lesser Restoration, Wholeness of Body)
Control -- Preventing an opponent's ability to freely move, act, or attain a goal. (e.g. Wall of Stone, Incendiary Cloud, Daze Monster)
Prescience -- Gathering information about a situation before encountering it. (e.g. Hide skill (scouting), Augury, Arcane Eye)
Meatshield -- The ability to absorb, deflect, reduce, or otherwise "waste" an opponent's attack or action. (e.g. Evasion, high hitpoints, spell resistance)
Barrier Navigation -- The ability to traverse, circumvent, or ignore something preventing direct access to a goal. (e.g. Open Lock skill, Passwall, Charm Person)
There's a bit of overlap here and there. For example, Spider Climb would act as both Movement and Barrier Navigation (although the Climb skill would only act as Barrier Navigation).
Additions/comments?