The Fighter’s the first class to get a full set of talents. Complete with programmer art. Lucky fellow!
Now he’s got a whole bunch of skills which let him take damage better, and he’s got a choice between Charge – which is great for hunting down ranged enemies and pulling off sneak attacks – or Intimidate, which is better at handling tough enemies and packs.
As you level up a Fighter you now have a major choice between two new skills: Charge, which allows you to dash across and hit an enemy from several squares away, and Intimidate, which weakens and occasionally scares enemies near you.
Once you hit level 6 you can spend a point upgrading Berserk to Frenzy. This is a longer-lasting Berserk in which you take less damage, so it’s great for slugging it out with tough enemies that hit back.
Regeneration, down at the bottom, gives you more health from health orbs so it’s easier to recover from low HP. That’s likely to show up in a few other class trees. Enrage, on the other hand, is a passive skill which defines the Fighter. Every time he takes damage, his class skills recharge faster and his Berserk or Frenzy buffs last longer. You wouldn’t like him when he’s angry!
Of course the real challenge is choosing between this handful of options as you level up, matching it to the skills and items you find and discovering patterns that work well together.
The main thing I’ve been finding Charge good for early on is catching up with archers and casters who run away. On my last run I found Sleep pretty quickly, so felt I had that covered and went for Intimidate for crowd control. If I’d found Charm Monster to deal with packs of enemies, maybe I’d have gone for Charge instead. Either way, the skill I choose is going to leave me better in some situations than others, which affects the skills and items I go for later.
I haven’t made it to XP level 6 yet testing this setup, but I’m curious how Frenzy and Enrage together will work in a boss fight. Maybe I’ll be shouting at the boss to hit me so I can keep the buff going 🙂
It feels pretty good to have the first class completed. I’ve been sketching in the others. Currently it looks like the Wizard will be done next.