Archetypes

The archetype system classifies characters by how they participate in fights.

Though this page goes into detail on the different archetypes used, the system is predominantly for flavour, and should not be treated seriously, especially with characters that have story arcs that dramatically change them.

A character’s archetypes represents how they want to fight based on their physical and magical abilities, not how they end up doing so. For example, an assassin or skirmisher will often have to fight as a dancer against an enemy they do not want to touch under any circumstances.

Character archetypes are a classification on how a character participates in fights. It is used primarily by original characters, and written in their infobox. Characters can fit into multiple archetypes, should be limited to 1 or 2.

Standard

Despite most fighters in the realm being sorcerers, and consequently being able to attack from a distance, there is a clear separation between close-ranged and distance fighters. Though powerful, elemental magic often has long cast times that make most spells lose when up close. Additionally, almost all sorcerers will run out of mana in any sustained fight, making magic unreliable against multiple enemies—common with beast hunters, but also with the stronger sorcerers, such as knights.

In other words, sorcerers will typically opt into using their magic as a supportive tool with a physical weapon, or rely on it with long-ranged spells.

Note that the separation is not absolute. Almost all sorcerers will carry a physical melee weapon of some sort, and have some form of ranged option. The distiction between melee and ranged isn’t about the abilities they have, but the option they’ll choose if they can do both.

Melee

Assassin

Specialists that are best at quickly dispatching high-priority targets. Typically avoid direct fights.

Skirmisher

Aggressive, high damage fighters that make up for their fragility with agility and speed to weave through attacks.

Brusier

Someone who can both hit hard and take a lot of hits.

Though the Brusier archetype can be given to many people, the expectation is that a Brusier will hurt you if you fight them, whether they dominate you, or get crushed trying to do so.

Warden

Defensive tanks that excel at neutralizing aggression.

Due to the nature of elemental magic (offensive magic is stronger than defensive by a wide margin), pure wardens do not exist. Some sorcerers can opt into a warden-like role with the right divine equipment, but someone will have to deal with whoever they’re blocking.

Ranged

Dancer

A highly mobile caster that forces their opponent to fight at a set distance away from them, keeping them at bay while being close enough to land their spells.

Burst

Uses extremely potent spells that can win a fight in one cast.

Spellcaster

A sorcerer who can perform spells at a high frequency.

Though not common, archers are sometimes categorized as spellcasters due to fulfilling a similar role.

Controller

A sorcerer that uses their spells to neutralize incoming attacks, and set up their allies.

Special

Healer

A supportive role focused on keeping allies healthy.

A very rare archetype due to the Soul affinity being both rare and the only one capable of physically healing others. On top of that, they are almost always relegated away from the frontlines.

Champion^[1]

An individual that is signficantly stronger when fighting alone.

Champions are generally an archetype someone is forced to have, either due to having abilities that indiscrimnately harm, or ones that are so strong that the user will lose control of them if used at full power.

Preferred Archetypes by Affinity

Physical

[Skirmisher, Brusier]

Out of all the elements, physical has the worst ranged capabilities, making it exclusively melee.

Wind

[Assassin, Skirmisher, Dancer]

Wind is the movement element. All sorcerers can opt into wind magic due to it’s extremely low costs, but sorceres with a wind affinity can use it with reckless abandon.

Though not the strongest, skilled wind sorcers are often the most annoying to fight, as they almost always have priority in dictating how a fight will go.

Earth

[Brusier, Controller]

Earth is more of a defensive element than anything else, lending it useful for battlefields.

Ice

[Skirmisher, Brusier, Burst, Spellcaster, Controller]

The only element to make long-standing physical constructs (well, until they melt), Ice has the most versatility out of all the elementals.

Fire

[Skirmisher, Dancer, Spellcaster]

Fire magic has a faster cast time and lower mana costs compared to most elements, making it easier to sling out. It’s also commonly paired with wind magic to perform ranged, allowing the user to dance around their targets, though the lack of fuel makes fire difficult for controlling.

Lightning

[Assassin, Burst]

Lighting magic does one thing—shoot terrifying, powerful bolts of lighting. Because there’s no reliable way to stop a lighting bolt (outside of letting something or someone else take the hit), lighting sorcerers are trained to end a battle by landing one hit.

Ethereal

[Spellcaster, Controller, Healer]

Ethereal has the luxury of using any other element with a smaller cost, or it’s own unique set of magic.

There is a delayed translation period for casting non-ethereal spells for those with the affinity, making it difficult for them to fight up close.

Chaos

[Skirmisher, Burst, Controller, Champion]

Chaos sorcerers are always the Champion archetype, as their magic disrupts every other sorcerery around them. Their standard archetype depends on how they fight, usually either with a Controller style that causes non-stop havoc, or quick casts of magic to knock down specific. mages.

Soul

[???]

There is no archetype for a soul sorcerer. If you fight one, you will die.