RandomNPC – Video Game RPG Reviews, Editorials, and Features

A month or two ago, I wrote up a series of articles for the various classes of Dragonica Online, but having now taken a Knight past the second job change, I feel I may have been a bit unduly harsh on this defensive Warrior. With some new changes to the game’s systems and a bit of fresh perspective, I thought it might be about time for a second look at this unfairly maligned character class.

Before we truly get started, I feel I should mention that there have been some fairly significant changes to Dragonica‘s systems since I wrote up the review. First and foremost, the Mission Map system has experienced a geological shift in the way score is calculated. Where before each character worked to build combos and avoid damage solely for the benefit of their own score, now the game pools the party’s points, giving an overall score rather than an individual one. And secondly, that score is no longer solely dependent on combos constructed and hits taken. The score can be built up simply by defeating enemies, but far more points are awarded for special conditions, such as; Overhit, which occurs when a monster is finished off with a particularly large blast of damage; Back Attack, where a player hits a monster from behind while it is concentrating on another player; and Counter, which as one might expect, is when a player interrupts a monster’s attack with one of their own.

For Knights and Paladins, the practical upshot of this new system is that it is now possible to contribute mightily to a party’s Mission Map score by grabbing a monster’s attention while the rest of the party sneaks up from the rear and clubs it like a rival figure skater. Where before Knights had to be built with an eye towards offense, a defensive build is now not only useful, but may actually be the most effective path for the Knight to take. This role is complicated a bit by Dragonica‘s targetting system, which seems to set boss monsters to attack whichever player within a certain range has the lowest HP in percent terms.

As of right now, most Dragonica players are focused on the idea of using Knights to tank against only the bosses, but I feel this class may have much greater uses than that. By running ahead of a high-powered but fragile character — a Battlemage or a Trickster, for example — the Knight can open up groups of monsters for a massive Back Attack. At any rate, the Knight, and later the Paladin, has gained new life in light of this redesign, and it remains to be seen how players adapt to this new tool in their arsenal.