Brief Description of each class

• Warrior : Durable and great defense, but dependent entirely on melee attacks for their offense. Warriors have the best scaling potential for damage since they have the most attacks and can get the full potential out of great equipment. This is a double-edged sword though, because a warrior without great equipment is vulnerable. The warrior's advantage in combat comes, very simply, from ability to stun and lock down their opponents with bash and hobble skills. This is a serious threat to anybody. Warriors belong as their group's tank due to their high defense.
  
  
• Berserker : Sharing many aspects of warriors, berserkers are also able to go into an uncontrolled rage that prevents the berserker from fleeing, but also gives them a large bonus to health and damage dealt. Berserkers will die more often than warriors, but they'll also get the job done. They are far better suited to a damage role when grouping, so they may rage, but can act as the tank as well if needed. Berserkers are as good at stunning and locking down opponents as warriors are, but also have some advantage against mage classes which is balanced by their much-lamented weakness to blindness skills and spells.
  
  
• Ranger : A melee-based class that also commands pets, with great survivability. Rangers are three-way hybrids that make great group tanks, deal damage well and are also able to search for herbs to heal themselves and their group. A skilled ranger can escape a fight just by going into camouflage, although this ability (as well as their herbs) is restricted to forests.
  
  
• Paladin : Melee-based, with a little less defense than warriors, but paladins are also able to cure themselves efficiently. This gives paladins a different approach. They are in it for the long haul, using mana to out-sustain their opponent. Paladins are also able to cast heavenly wrath to help them to repel evil foes. Their offense is otherwise very limited, so it can be difficult for them to finally kill their opponent - especially since their spells weaken as their opponent does. A paladin does not need worry about his damage output as much as his mana pool running dry, as he depends on it for everything he has that a warrior doesn't - protection, sanctuary, detects, healing.
  
  
• Dark-Knight : The antithesis of the paladin, and can be thought of as its mirror, but not entirely opposite. They have a similar melee-based approach along with the lowered defense of paladins. However, instead of relying on curing spells, they have a full offense approach with maledictions and damage spells that have no constraints. In addition to that, a dark-knight has the ability to stun his opponent with bash. The dark-knight has a broad, but not deep, arsenal, and will need to capitalize on opponent's weaknesses and use situations correctly. (For example, use invis against a warrior to keep him running for potions, and take advantage of low strength mages wearing powerful heavy maces by poisoning them).
  
  
• Healer : Healers rely on a strong defense coupled with defensive spells and a great penchant for recovery of mana to out-sustain their opponents. As with other primary spellcasters, they are able to cast spells that protect them from being stunned or locked down. A healer is very difficult to kill, but also very low on offense. Despite what their name implies, they can be useful for filling in the role of their party's tank along with two damage dealers. Healers are needed for expeditions into dangerous high-level areas.
  
  
• Shaman : Lacking a little of the sustain of their healer countparts, these evil priests wield a vast array of maledictions and pack a wallop with frenzy and harm spells. Shamans must adapt their approach to combat to what their opponent is actually wearing against them - they'll typically need to choose the right two spells to try landing on their opponent, since their saves will realistically make it hard to land these spells and have enough left in the tank to finish them off. Shamans usually serve as the party healer, but serve adequately in just a damage role.
  
  
• Druid : Druids follow a traditional supporting cleric role, with an assortment of beneficial and curing spells, and bring a mixture of dependable skills and equally dependable spellcasting ability. Druids are more versatile but less specialized than the other clerics.
  
  
• Thief : Considerably lacking in defense and health as compared to warriors, and not likely to win by going to toe-to-toe with one (There is no equipment disparity or skill alone that can overcome such a gigantic difference in base health and damage against a reasonably-well equipped berserker or warrior). What a thief does best is jump his unprepared opponents with stealth, gradually softening his opponents by stealing equipment and potions from them, vexing them into staying in a losing fight out of frustration. Just like warriors, a thief scales better and better with equipment, however their lower health and defense makes it difficult to hold onto.
  
  
• Shadow : As with thief, shadows excel in the art of ambushes. They have some additional tricks at their disposal, carrying concealed packets of blindness dust and acupuncture themselves for some limited self-healing. They are capable of more direct melee damage with weapons than any other class due to their ability to dual wield without a damage penalty, and when coupled with their ability to stun their opponent with grapple and blind them with dust and dirt kicking, it its easy to see why a shadow is a strong choice starting from a low level.
  
  
• Illusionist : These mentalists are perhaps the most pure of all the mage classes. Able to summon powerful illusions and spells to deal fantastic amounts of damage, while confusing and beguile their foes. The illusionist has a trick up his sleeve to escape from almost any difficult situation quickly, but be warned that being caught unprepared is a quick and embarassing death. A fun class to try and very rewarding for experienced players.
  
  
• Invoker : The most newbie-friendly of all the mages to try, these elementalists are able to protect themselves with defensive shields and their spells deal the most damage of any in the realms. Invokers have a gentle learning curve and also a great deal of depth to find in their elemental specializations.
  
  
• Necromancer : An inside joke is to play a necromancer if you have no life. Although this is tongue-in-cheek, it must be stated that the clearest trait of a necromancer is its ability to grow gradually in power with more time spent logged in, until they have summoned a formidable army of undead zombies. Just keep in mind that it all goes away when they finally log out. Necromancers are regarded highly for their PK ability, and are very difficult to level on their own.
  
  
• Bard : Bards are widely regarded as the story-tellers of the lands. This is a good class to try for adventurer's of any skill level. Although it is a rogue first and foremost, the bard class is able to sing songs as well to affect the mood of their party. A bard's songs differ from spells in the sense that they typically have to be used more frequently, and are similar in the sense that there is almost always a useful song for any occasion.
  
  
• Monk : These martial artists learn the use of weapons, but refuse to use them against living opponents to deal harm. The monk settles fighting with their fists and feet, and their formidable animal styles. Specializations are available in the form of tattoos, which can also outright replace equipment. The monk strength is in his mobility, although they are also considered to be good healers.
  
  

What are "Fighter Classes"?

This refers to the group of classes of warrior, berserker, and ranger.

Fighters are melee, and characterised by their three defences. A fighter is the best suited in the group to boldly tank the dangers the others in his party will face. They depend upon physical force (from weapons) to defeat the enemy. A fighter class has no spells, and no way to use magic besides potions. This gives them problems with mobility. The skill "bash" (and its variants) is what gives fighters the right to call themselves the Kings of melee.

What are "Rogue Classes"?

This refers to the group of classes of thief and shadow.

Rogues are melee, and characterised by their two defences, one being mildly enhanced due to counterbalance. Should there be no fighter in the group, it is the rogue who will be the next most likely to take the blows. Rogues have little magic ability, but their ability to recite scrolls ensures they are light on their feet. They are known to use stealth rather than a direct approach.

What are "Cleric Classes"?

This refers to the group of classes of shaman and healer.

Clerics are a mix of melee/magic, and characterized by their two defences, one being mildly penalized. Clerics are the group's healers, often making them the most important member of a group. They can hold their own at the front of a battle, but are best in a support role where they don't burn all their energy on curing so quickly. Clerics also have helpful defensive spells (e.g. sanctuary) for their group. They are hardy enough to take a few trips from rogues, but they should keep their protective shield up to protect against the bash ability of fighter guilds.

From the mid-levels and onwards, clerics hold an unsurpassable potential for curing, their way of battle one of regeneration - tiring out their enemies health. Cleric on cleric battles can go on for quite a while.

What are "Mage Classes"?

This refers to the group of classes of invoker, necromancer, and illusionist.

Mages rely almost completely on magic, and characterized by their single defence. They are the group's heavy artillery, being able to launch a large variation of spells at enemies that cannot be defended against. Mages also have defensive spells to support a group, but this is not not as pronounced as those of the clerics. Because a mage has such low defences, he loses health very quickly, and will likely be killed if he lets his protective spells drop and gets pinned in place by skills like bash and trip.

A mage's true power is realised in later levels, where his spells become strong and varied enough to overwhelm his opponent into dropping a lot of damage for save vs spell to avoid getting slaughtered.

What are "Hybrid Classes"?

This refers to the group of classes of bard, paladin, and dark-knight.

A hybrid is a class which carries similarities to several of the other guilds, but not enough of either to belong to either category. For example, a dark-knight learns enough weapons to compete with even a warrior's selection, and casts afflictive spells strong enough to rival even an invoker. He can thus be thought of as a "warrior-mage".

Hybrid classes excel in overall versatility, and its for this reason that type of class carries the greatest exp cost in the game. However, it should be noted that this versatility comes with a price of becoming less effective in those fields than their full-blooded counterparts - a "jack of all trades, master of none".

What is Exp Cost?

Characters must attain experience points to reach a new level. As each new level is achieved, the amount of experience required to level again will grow by 20% of the base experience to level (1500 experience points for a level 1 human warrior). The EXP COST is added to the base experience.

Example:
Human warrior (0 exp cost):
Level 1 = 1500 to level
Level 2 = 1500 + 20% of 1500 = 1800 to level
Level 3 = 1800 + 20% of 1500 = 2100 to level

Human paladin (350 exp cost):
Level 1 = 1500 to level
Level 2 = 1500 + 20% of (1500 + 350) = 1870 to level
Level 3 = 1870 + 20% of (1500 + 350) = 2240

Because the PK RANGE is affected by the relative experience points each player has, a large exp cost effectively pits you against players with extra levels on you. This is a natural way of keeping the numbers down of stronger races and classes, and giving them a longer and more perilous road to level 50 in return for the extra ability that they have there. Compounded exp cost combinations such as elf paladins (500 for elf and 350 for paladin) are particularly difficult to take all the way to the pinnacle rank.