Hi, everyone!
I’m here to talk to you a bit about how our recent announcement of splitting race and class will work with character customization. Before we made the decision to make that change, we had several discussions about what characteristics are associated with either the race or the class.
We had already created or designed so much of the gear for each archetype, we were a bit locked into how certain things, like their gear, worked specifically with that body type. For instance, how we designed the helms to work with that archetype’s hair style.
Once we began to think of each class as defining the weapon style and each race as defining their cultural identity (and therefore their gear set as well), it all fell into place.
For example, a player who wishes to play the Knight class will be presented with several race options. Each race will have a unique set of customization options for head, skin and hair, and their gear will be distinctly based on their culture. This means that a Guineacean Knight will look different in both race and gear than a Human Knight, but their weapons and playstyle will have many similarities.
Do you want to play a Confessor High-Elf, Nethari, or Elken? Or is your preferred class a Knight Human or Guineacean, a Cleric Stoneborn or High-Elf, a Fae Assassin or Frostweaver? Each brings its own unique combination of visuals and playstyle.
Let’s go into a bit more depth as to how some of our class and race options will be designed.
You’ve chosen a class: Confessors are your thing and you want to see the world burn. You’ll then be presented with various races such as the Nethari (the Human sect that identifies itself with the Order of the Sun and the cult of the Church of Arkon). They are Humans nonetheless, so you’ll see some cosmetic crossover such as faces and skin tones with the other classes allowable to Humans, such as Knights or Templars; however, the cult of the Confessor requires that followers sacrifice their beauty in the name of the Church by cutting their hair as an offering to Arkon. This is translated into hair choices that are short and shorn variants. Additionally, their equipment and hair coloring will come from a palette that’s reflective of fire and brimstone. Their skin is tattooed with glowing burning designs. These are the Nethari.
Perhaps you prefer to play as a High-Elf instead. High-Elves have distinctive faces and share some similar features across their variants. High cheek bones, cat-like eyes and long flowing hair are all common traits among High-Elves. When choosing the path of a Confessor for example, High-Elves will be able to choose from skin and hair colors not offered to other races. This race and class combo will unlock the potential to choose glowing flame colored eyes, charcoal or hot-white hair and skin that’s as red as the surface of the sun. We call these our Sun-Elves. Their customization options are intended to evoke heat and flame unique to this race alone.
Perhaps you’ll choose to wield the ice instead of the flame. As a High-Elf Frostweaver, your skin options vary from that of the Confessor class. Choose a skin tone that’s as luminous as moonlight and hair that’s as white as a field of snow. Your cheeks sparkle with crystalline flecks of ice, unlike the sun-kissed freckles of your Sun-Elf brethren. You are both High-Elves, but you are as different as night and day.
Our goal is to offer variety but still maintain the character and essence of the class and its personality. A class will open up race options. The chosen race within a class will open up customization options for skin and hair that is unique to that combo. We hope that by doing this a race within different classes will end up looking very different, embodying both visual and statistical characteristics as to make each player feel like they’ve created a unique persona.
Each class and race combo will unlock or allow for a variety of options that may not be available for another. Choose a class, identify with a race, customize to become a character that’s unlike a race from another class. As you play and develop your skills and choose different disciplines, you’ll begin to differentiate yourself even further from your fellow players.
We are really excited to begin introducing character customization to very soon. You’ll start seeing these come online as we make them so you won’t see every option all at once. We’d love to hear your thoughts as we start to bring this feature to you. We’ll also be bringing on the alternate genders for each race in the coming months.
Stay tuned as we unveil all of these options!
Thanks and see you in-game,
Melissa Preston
Art Director, ArtCraft Entertainment