The Polearm is something I would like to see developed, but not as a Fighter variant. It should be it's own class with it's own Paragon Paths (Dragoon-up close at-wills/E.Pow remenescient of the Jump Teqniques associated with Lancer characters. Think GWF rain of steel Daily, jump up come down for AoE damage and CC effects onto central targeted foes, and then a Phalanx= javilin type ranged attacks.(Possible variant of the GF as the Phalanx would be carrying a shield one would think. So give the Phalanx the Frontline Surge Copy and Paste or even a E. Pow. that positions the Phalanx character into a defensive stance with shield drawn up, bracing for impact with spear tip peeking over, awaiting an incoming attack to deflect off shield allowing a critical counter attack to execute. A Bull-rush Daily Pow. that adds one of the few and far between methods of adding mobility to this Class/Paragon, being a Daily it would also have to deal damage and maybe have slight CC effects.)
Hell, here's an idea how about a paladin or some shield class that can act as a "magical defender". Every MMO, without fail gives magic users two extremely helpful tools to utilize. Range and Magic Damage(in this game the high damage is offset by extreme CC effects.)
That's cool and all but why not give them a class to be wary of? Let a GF be able to magically enchant their shield to negate and later absorb % of incoming magic damage blocked. Give them and E.Pow that they can time right in order to bat the incoming magic upon collision detection and reflect both it's damage and CC effect back on the caster. The CW has no right to be able to defend against magic any more than they can already so they would need no changes.
That's the one thing missing from Neverwinter, I'm digging the timing factor in dodging attacks via utility powers, but their needs to be more for one to do defensively especially if ur character's rocking a shield for God's Sake. I would like to see some timing based, counter at-wills, E.Pows, and even Daily attacks.
Lastly, we need to bridge the long and close ranges. A pole-arm Class would accomplish this as would weapons such as whips(Beast Tamer/Torturer/Adventurer((Indianna Jones style would be tight))), some sort of Boomerang derived projectile(fan-Geisha, Shuriken(Yuffie-style)-Dancer/Performer, Throwing Knives(weapons bought in mass quantities and are equipped in groups of max slot limit, maybe 50-75 for a stackable weapon item.(It's 99 for items, but 100 for bounty items, and no limit on special currencies of some sorts.) Players can buy reserve caches of their current throwing weapon to be held in one of their inventory slots. The Off-hand complimentations are endless with the above examples and I would even consider a throwing knife type weapon to be an off-hand equip.(A class opposite the HR where Main Hand Gear is short ranged and the Off-Hand Weapon is mid ranged) Perhaps a class that is allocated a lesser form of the Shield bestowed upon the GF, this class could have the best balance of defenses against both Physical and Magical attacks. I would consider utilizing the off-hand gear as some lesser form of shield that doesn't always block incoming attacks but consistently deflects them and can be feated to reflect or absorb a % of any Phy./Mag. damage it would have deflected as that same damage type dealt back to attacker (Phy. for short range attacks and Mag. for long range attacks. Heal HP for Phy. attacks absorbed and restore STM/GRD, or ruduce cooldowns for Mag. attacks restored.) Something like a Bracer, Gauntlet, Arm-guard, or Sleeve Protector would be ideal, a protector fitted to one singular, off-hand arm as an additional piece of armor gear, similar to the utility of the Off-hand Shield wielded by the GF. It surely must be fitted so that the arm gear that is also equipped. Basically additional armoring for a character in the form of gear that covers from one shoulder to that same arm's wrist. Of course the Arm Gear will still be visible over this off hand equipment. Wouldn't want any players getting robbed of visual asthetics. Less we suffer another, lack of inventiveness driven cop-out, the SWORD KNOT! Of course a GWF would be most conscerned with that which attached his weapon to his armor. Which by the way, I have yet to notice on my GWF. This brand of off hand Gear could be used to defend or deflect incoming arrow at-wills from HRs/TRs or incoming spell at-wills from DCs/CWs, depending on which way the Character feats are developed. Strong defense against either Phy. or Mag., or a custom blend of moderate defense against both types.
I like the idea of a Scythe too, I saw the suggestion posted on another thread. Tons of places to go with that jumping off point as well. I would think they would need a new class for having a character rocking a Scythe. Reaper Class might be a bit too profound compared to the other Classes, but Lords of the Court, and many Feudal Knights had to till the land given to them by their king. If not they, then their servants and SQUIRES. Plus, the fella from Scream could have been rocking a Scythe instead of a big kitchen knife and I would have though higher of him even though he was just a Villian Class character-type. Maybe a Menace/Nemesis Class with an Executioner Paragon and a Psycho/Villian Paragon? I would approach this class similar to the GWF, but don't put so much emphasis on the Main Hand Weapon alone. Share it with the Off-Hand gear and provide an arm-guard like the aforementioned, but design At-Will Powers that can attack with much more speed, in rapid succession, whereas the Scythe, while powerful, will have a very slow attack execution. This way the Scythe wielder will not need to use UNSTOPPABLE in order to compensate for their slow At-Will power executions. Now you have a mix of Characters that focus on primarily attacking with Long Range, Mid Range, and Short Range weaponry. One thing I can assure you is a fact, the more variety and checks and balances you provide to more challenging the resulting gameplay will be. Challenge= time before game gets old and "played out" to any given player= time taken to develop a mastery of all features the game offers to the very best of their ability= Variety.
0