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There will be match ups in 1v1s where one class will be superior to another; and that application should be a rock-paper-scissors dynamic. We want there to be counter-play between the different classes... Instead it's going to be a group focused balance, where as long as you have the diversity of classes present, that's going to be an equal level playing field. It's going to be very dependent on skill and strategy.[3]Steven Sharif
Balance-wise, there's a number of different interactions mechanically that you have within an ability that you can adjust in order to balance its power. The most most common ones are: Cooldown, Mana consumption, Damage done, Effect status conferred, Promotion of that effect status, Range.[4]Steven Sharif
When we move into Alpha 2 and we have a lot of data that's supporting the use of these particular abilities in combat settings, how often they're used, how often they result in death, what the average damage done by this archetype is comparatively to other damage done by different archetypes: All of that data gets logged and all of that data gets queried in order for us to refine the abilities so that they live in the environment we want them to. Now, that's not to mean that we're going to have a perfect balance across the board between the archetypes. Again, we're taking a rock-paper-scissor approach to balance, which means that some archetypes will do better against other archetypes and vice versa; and we're also not creating an environment where we want to have 1v1 balance. We are focused around group balance. Group composition is important.[1]Steven Sharif
info-orange.pngSome of the following information has not been recently confirmed by the developers and may not be on the current development roadmap.
Even though augments do radically change the way your active skills provide you abilities, there's still a primary focus on the base archetype itself and not the 64 whole classes.[2]Steven Sharif
Certain archetypes are capable of moving the gap between their counterpart per-se. If I am a Tank archetype and a Mage is my counter, I can take a Mage secondary and bridge the divide slightly; and then move my identity that direction ever so slightly.[12]Steven Sharif
  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Livestream, December 19, 2023 (1:25:16).
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Livestream, October 30, 2020 (33:26).
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Podcast, April 23, 2018 (59:28).
  4. 4.0 4.1 Livestream, December 19, 2023 (1:23:00).
  5. Livestream, May 28, 2021 (1:13:05).
  6. Livestream, December 2, 2022 (1:05:51).
  7. 7.0 7.1 Interview, October 20, 2018 (2:40:17).
  8. Podcast, September 29, 2021 (30:04).
  9. Livestream, June 25, 2021 (1:05:01).
  10. Interview, July 18, 2020 (1:05:04).
  11. Livestream, February 9, 2018 (41:56).
  12. 12.0 12.1 Podcast, April 23, 2018 (1:01:01).