I’ve been thinking about this for a little bit and I think I’ve seen it mentioned somewhere that the footman class will branch out to stronger combat classes. I have been thinking that since not all combat will occur outside of your town that the class could branch out from the footman to the other combat classes OR into a town guard class.
The town guard class would receive a bonus when defending within city limits (perhaps set it to distance to a building or non-combat citizen), and receive a penalty if used outside of the city limits. A mechanic that workers would go fetch a guard if something like goblins raid would also be a nice addition making them proper defenders of the city. Additionally they could upgrade into another class which is essentially the same thing perhaps with a bigger bonus… I’m kind of fond of the idea of that class being called "Champion/Defender of ".
To me it just makes sense having specialized defenders which remain within the city limits. Essentially providing security and acting to uphold order in your particular hold. A unique look would also be pretty cool on these guys. I hate making this comparison, but the guards in Skyrim have such an iconic look that it would be nice if you could achieve something similar int he realm of Stonehearth.
Just something that was in the back of my mind while playing around with the unstable branch.
I’ve been thinking about ranged classes. In my head I would like to see a scout which would have a tech line like: Scout -> Bowman -> Crossbowman. Perhaps we could fit it in with the other class tree somehow…
Ha, this has been somewhat of a bone of contention for me … I personally feel like a bowman should be a single class, and you then choose whether to equip them with a crossbow for more damage but shorter range, or as a standard bowman for longer range but less damage.
I certainly think it’s a very interesting discussion and without knowing what Radiant have planned feel splitting combat units into offensive, defensive and support roles makes sense both in terms of combat and in terms of that archetypal RPG aspect that they’re trying to get in.
Historically the crossbow has been more of a defensive weapon as it was slower to shoot… so being up high and having cover of walls helped make up for that slower shot. Which is fine… I do love crossbows though probably my favorite of all weapons so I wouldn’t mind seeing them having usage in the front lines as well. There is some concept art which shows the dual wielding of smaller crossbows as well… perhaps more of a offensive bow class?
Been thinking more about the guard… a special guard tower (something simple with a ladder and a platform) could also be a unique building for the class. I suppose it could grant a wider range of sight and will attack any enemies within a certain area… where patrol guards sometimes miss an enemy just out of range.
Pretty much what I had in mind. With the additional bonus of a longer range of sight balanced with a longer response time by climbing down to deal with it.
. I had such a thing down as a carpenter-made kit 
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