The Hunter, the Game and the Jewel
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Before we begin….
Who’s excited about learning a whole lot about the Hunter class dragons and a little bit about our upcoming game!? All of you? Great!
In this article we’re going to cover the Hunter basics. This means we’ll give you an overview of the feel and theme of the class, cover in moderate detail its major game mechanics and reveal how it synergizes with its neighboring dragon classes, the Slayer and the Guardian.
But before we get to the juicy bits, we’re going to need to explain some terms so you can properly follow the Hunter’s gameplay descriptions.
All right! All set? Let’s dive right in then, shall we!?
*a whisper interrupts the writing*
- “Wait, what? Why can’t we dive right in?”
*annoyed whisper*
- “What’s a disc lemur?”
*whisper intensifies*
- “Ahh! A disclaimer! Yes, suppose we better have one of those.”
Disclaimer
Developers in Web3 often share their work in progress very early in their project and often at times that would be considered premature in other contexts. What follows fits that description.
This material is our vision of gameplay and it’s important to understand that some details still might change throughout the process. Game development is an inherently iterative practice and things will shift as we test, as we play, as we review. That being said, the majority of gameplay and balance is already set, there will not be any grand, sweeping changes from here on.
The material below accurately represents our gameplay, the caveat being that adjustments can be expected.
FIRST, TERMINOLOGY!
To promote clarity it’s good to define a few terms that are used in this article. This be helpful to better picture the gameplay described below, but also grants a glimpse into the whole of the upcoming game.
Default skill
A unit’s default skill is its most frequently used skill. It is used by default when other skills are unavailable. The default skill is the “normal and steady” output of a unit, whether it damages, heals or does some neat tricks (or a combination of these).
Prime Stats
A unit’s prime stats are its favorite stats because their abilities will make especially good use of them, they will scale better as the unit levels and when we add items, units will prioritize items that stack their own particular prime stats.
Adjacent units
Sometimes skills will target “adjacent” units as well as their main target. Since units never move from their tile and skills never target “across the gap”, adjacent units are always the friendly units next to the main target. Take a look at the gray and teal dragons in the illustration below.
- The gray dragon has five adjacent green dragons.
- The teal dragon has three adjacent orange dragons.
Neighboring class
Some dragon classes work especially well with certain other dragon classes. Classes that synergize like this are called “neighboring dragons” and are best explained by what we call the Jewel (see below).
Skill Sets
A skill set is a collection of abilities and game mechanics. Only dragons with access to a skill set can use that skill set’s abilities and game mechanics. For example, there exists a skill set that contains the ‘stun’ mechanic. Only classes with access to that skill set can have skills that stun.
Class Skills
Class skills are essentially sets of skills that are only accessed by the class that owns them. They will often be influenced by the other skill sets the class has access to, but will also contain abilities and game mechanics unique to the class.
Stats used in this article
- Hit Points. When a unit runs out of these, it is considered dead.
- Elemental Power. Skills that deal elemental damage scale by this stat.
- Physical Power. Skills that deal physical damage scale by this stat.
SECOND, VISUAL AIDS!
The relations between different dragon classes can get complex. Internally, we have a design document that enables us to map out and then view these relationships with ease. It is colloquially known as “the Jewel”.
It is time that all dragoneers get to survey it, but because of its complexity, it’s best to explore it one layer at a time. So for its first outing, it is simplified and some information is hidden.
This simplified Jewel focuses on class relationships. Between class silhouettes are the names of skill sets. Classes have access to adjacent skill sets. Each class has access to two different skill sets and each skill set is accessed by two different classes. Classes next to each other are called neighboring classes. Take a look at this closeup:
- Cyan underlines: skill set names.
- Orange underlines: class names.
- Yellow text: a portion of the Jewel where class skill mechanics are listed (names redacted).
- Yellow text: a portion of the Jewel where skill set mechanics are listed (names redacted).
And that’s it for today’s episode on the Jewel! We will reveal more and more of the Jewel in upcoming articles, but for now, let’s move on to today’s main subject!
THE HUNTER CLASS!
Overview
Skill sets: Cunning, Ferocity.
Neighboring classes: Guardian, Slayer.
Advantage against: Mage.
Vulnerable versus: Druids.
Prime stats: Hit points, Physical Power, Elemental Power.
Description
The Hunter class dragon is a pack animal. Instinctive, fierce and territorial. At the same time they are empathetic, nurturing and calculating and they possess a pack mentality that borders on the magical. Their ability to read each other’s moves and sense one another’s intent is astounding. Their teamwork a marvel. A lot of their gameplay mechanics revolve around this theme.
A unique feature of the Hunter class is that it has three prime stats while all other classes have only two. This will give it a wider choice when itemization comes and a higher overall stat figure since three will scale with levels instead of two.
The Hunter class is also the only class of dragons that has both Elemental Power (EP) and Physical Power (PP) as prime stats. The Hunter’s ability to utilize both worlds of hurt borders on the unfair, but it does require preparation and planning to execute. But the pack is patient for it can temper incoming damage efficiently with their signature defensive ability: Pack Empathy. And that one scales by Hit Points (HP).
HALLMARK HUNTER ABILITIES
Pack Attack
Description:
- When this unit attacks a target, there is a chance it will cause an adjacent friendly unit to use its default skill to attack the same target. Units under Pack Attack will attack with decreased damage.
In order for you to make the best of the ability, you should try to land your Pack attacks on units that have default skills with effects attached to them. Like buffs, debuffs, heals or stuns. Anything that enables your Pack Attacks to pack (attack!) more punch. Ha. Ha.
Pack Empathy
Description:
- Whenever this unit receives attack damage, it ignores a portion of it based on its max HP and spreads that damage among adjacent units.
Hunter class dragons do not have much beyond the normal defenses all dragon classes have, but with careful placement, the Pack Empathy ability enables players to spread damage “correctly” making the lives of their healers considerably easier — especially if you’re always triggering Pack Attack on your healers, too!
Target Manipulation
Target manipulation can really throw a wrench into your opponent’s works. None are as versatile at this as Hunter are. Because targeting as a whole is yet unexplained, let’s only briefly touch upon each method the Hunter class can use to manipulate targeting.
- Target Backmost. In a world where everyone is targeting the frontmost enemies, this is a star!
- Target Paired. A targeting rule that occurs in a special part of combat. Can’t say more presently!
- Provoke. A provoked unit’s next attack has to be against the frontmost enemy of the row the unit that provoked it is in. Take a look at the picture below.
- Gray provoked orange, now orange must attack the frontmost unit in Gray’s row.
Dual Nature
The main attacks of Hunter class dragons often cause their targets to suffer either physical DoTs or elemental DoTs. Having access to both these dots has tuned the class to their effects. Hunter dragons deal more damage to units under either Damage over time (DoT) and a good deal more damage to those under both!
How Hunters combo with Slayers
- Slayers will feed on the physical DoT ability.
- Slayers buff physical damage output.
- Slayers buff HP.
- A Slayer unit can punish its attackers in more than one interesting way.
Funneling your enemy’s attacks into a beefy Slayer by provoking them is super fun.
How Hunters combo with Guardians
- Guardians feed on the elemental DoT ability.
- Guardians buff elemental damage output.
- Guardians have an arsenal of support and healing. These are wonderful to trigger with Pack Attacks.
- Like Hunters, Guardians can also target the backmost enemy unit. If you need to preserve that strategy but have to increase your team’s healing output, Guardian’s are your go-to class.
That’s all we have for you! As we sign off we remind you of the upcoming mint (details below) and wish that all the legendaries land in your wallet. ❤
INFORMATION ON THE UPCOMING MINT
- Mint installment 4/10.
- Dragon class being minted: Hunters.
- Batch size: 1000.
- Price: 2$Sol.
- Begins August 2nd. 2022.
- Whitelist minting begins at 16:00 CET here.
- Public minting begins at 20:00 CET here.
- Eggs hatch 48 hours after being minted.
- New to minting? How to mint.
- New to Web3? How to stay safe in Web3.
- Share your dragon on the flex-your-dragon channel on our Discord!
- View the dragon rankings page!
- Questions? Join our Discord, or send us a tweet!
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