Are you also looking forward to that 'Martial Disciplines' update? You know, the one they haven't talked about yet? Coming around soon after we get Spellmaking.

I heard it will let us train and combine various movements and combat styles into complex new abilities?

I thought it was a pretty awesome presentation that they didn't make at that event they haven't had yet. The way they added polearms and quarter staves and short bows and crossbows and one-handed weapons and unarmed abilities to the game! Wow!

And the systems seemed fairly complex, with a lot of depth in character development, just the kind of thing that gives us something to look forward to. If you missed it, I'll list some of the highlights here!

Martial Disciplines

- Martial Disciplines lets us create new abilities. The crafting process involves a martial styles of various ranks, individual moves, and class-based traits, with a smidgen of mystical prowess to top it off!

Martial Styles

- Players start off knowing their racial styles, and can learn the other martial styles by visiting wandering masters in the wilderness (exploration content). These masters may require a test of skill before they teach you anything.

- Each style has four ranks (Novice, Apprentice, Journeyman, Master), and each rank gives the player the ability to do new things with the moves they know.

- Racial styles govern specific weapons and movement combinations, and judge the animations that are used. As you could guess, Yokudan Sword-Singers are the ultimate in one-handed swords, and thus you'd want to train from one of them to really be the best with that weapon. Some styles may govern more than one class of weapon and armor.

- Some racial styles are lost to the ages! But maybe by visiting with the spirits of past masters, or even traveling in time, you can learn from them!

Combat Moves

- The moves themselves are learned from experience. You can learn a new move from fighting NPC's and even other players in the world, and I think it's great how they are adding dueling to help us with this!

- As an example, you may need to find an NPC using a one handed weapon and fight them 10 times in order to learn the 'Slash' combat move. But from that same NPC, you would also learn the 'Stab' combat move at the same time.

- Some of the really powerful abilities can only be learned from bosses, including extremely unique ones learned only in veteran dungeons and trials!

- Combat moves are sometimes limited only to a few weapon types, or are universal, depending on their nature.

Martial Style Ranks

- Advancing your Martial Style's rank involves using abilities within that style (much as leveling current skills), and then revisiting the master for further testing.

- As a novice, we are able to do basic movements. These basic movements each include a benefit for their action (a sword slash, for instance, has a cone attack and can hit multiple targets).

- As an apprentice, those moves can be formed into combo's with other moves of the same weapon type, creating unique abilities. These combo include the benefits and damage output of both moves (combining a slash and stab would combine the AOE hit of the slash, with extra damage at the end for a single target that ignores a small bit of armor).

- And as a journeyman, we can attach a special class-based traits to the abilities, which are defined by the strengths of our individual classes and what level the player is in his class skill lines (as a Nightblade who has level 25 in the Assassination skill line, you have learned the combat move trait 'bleed', which you can then apply to any moves or combo's you know).

- A master of that particular style not only can combo moves and add class traits, but can add mystical prowess to our moves, much like an enchantment on an item (in example, this bleeding Slash/Stab combo also adds a small HOT to the attack, as you gain part of your opponents life energy).

Mystical Prowess

- A particular style has three possible mystical 'dedications', which a player can choose only one. For our Yokudan Sword-Singers, this could add a boon to damaging/defending against undead, or to giving your sword extra damage overall (due to their attachment with their weapon), or by giving each attack a life-absorption HOT. By choosing one boon, you can alter the mystical properties of each movement you created in that style.

Armors and Shield Included

- Martial Disciplines aren't just about weapon attacks, either, and certain Martial Styles can cover defensive abilities and skills!

Create your own class!

Obviously, with the complex additions in spellmaking and martial disciplines, the mechanics used for classes (and many of the current abilities) would have to be reconsidered, as players now have the tools to completely create the class they wish to be.

As you can see, I'm excited! I simply can't wait for third quarter 2015!!!






Note: The above was merely a concept post, hopefully with enough humor to get you smiling. I'm not against spellmaking at all, but would love to see something just as comprehensive and fulfilling for melee users, while also being unique in our own way and hopefully well within the lore.

And no, this isn't a real thing yet, at all. Just a daydream post.