I’ve done a few tongue-in-cheek Perfect Tens about common class archetypes from Warriors to Rogues to Bards, but jokes aside, not every MMORPG has the same ones. In fact, I frequently find myself most interested by the classes which are unique to a given game, ones that you don’t tend to find replicated time and again. But I think some of the common classes-or-archetypes have a real value, in no small part because it lets people look at the options in a game and find the option that is indisputably Their Brand.
Not every game might have a pure Paladin, for example, but a lot of games have archetypes that let you be a shield to your allies and a beacon of light. Lots of games let you be fast and deal damage and be sneaky, or maybe even have some weird arcane action setup where you have to tap on buttons with the alacrity of a high-end Guitar Hero song. So what MMO class or archetype do you personally identify with? What’s your first pick in an unfamiliar game that makes you say, “That one, it’s me!”