Let me just put it out there: Bards are the best class archetype in all of RPGs, let alone just MMOs, which is why my eyes lit up when Legends of Aria announced it’s adding a proper barding skillset when it launches next week. Would-be musicians will be picking up a drum, lute, or flute and either rocking out solo or joining a three-man band, one on each instruments, while other folks can listen in and get a nice vitality infusion. And you’ll want that vitality.
“Vitality has been improved to play an increasingly important role in Legends of Aria. Vitality is lost as players engage in daily tasks in the world of Celador, from chopping trees and fishing to the inevitable and all too frequent dirt nap. Restoring Vitality will be an essential function to keep your character strong and, most importantly, well maintained vitality is essential to ensure maximum stats and optimum rates of skill gain. It’s worth noting that Vitality regeneration may only be offered by performing musicians within established Inns & Taverns. We hope that these changes create some warm and welcoming tavern experiences, offer up some strictly social, non-combat roles, and also to serve the ulterior motive of combating those who may seek to gain skills unlawfully.”
Sounds familiar, right? Bard skills aren’t only for healing; they’ll also allow the minstrel to irritating enemies in fights with riddles and heal partmates too.
That’s not even the only dev blog Citadel Studios has pumped out; there’s also a fresh piece up on the game’s profession system. That word might be a tad confusing, as this is a skill-based game, but here it refers more to a character role that a player can choose from (or dodge entirely) when rolling up a new toon. Professions will help newbies figure out what to do next when playing in an othewise free-form MMO, complete with quests and pointers on how to develop that profession specifically.
Get caught up on everything you need to know about how the game’s changing when it hits Steam early access with its soft-launch next week:
Legends of Aria hits Steam early access today with the PvP patch, a sale, and a free month of sub for loyalists
Legends of Aria’s new bard and vitality regen system sounds an awful lot like Star Wars Galaxies’
Legends of Aria bows to the RNG gods of enchanting
Here’s how Legends of Aria’s new PvP ruleset changes will work when it hits Steam early access
Massively OP Podcast Episode 230: A tale of geeks and gamers (and the Legends of Aria interview)
Legends of Aria is finally launching August 6 – with a huge new patch friendly to PvE players
