Currently there are five schools that are in partial stages of development that are known as the Neo-schools. These are Monk, Flame Disciple, Berserker, BattleMage, and Druid. These were begun in 2004 by the original designers of Istaria, but were never fully completed. They have been made available for limited testing on Blight. In addition, three more schools have had some design along these lines: Spiritist, BloodMage, and Reaver.

This Talk-to-the-Team is designed to gauge your feelings on these schools and whether any design time should be put into them, as well as others that are envisioned, to bring them up to speed.

1. Assuming the abilities for Neo-Monk/FlameDisciple were completed through level 100, would you like to see these schools replace the current Monk/Disciple schools?

By replace, this would mean that the levels you have already acquired in Monk or Druid or another school would not be lost. Monk would become Neo-Monk, Druid to Neo-Druid, and so forth.

2. Would you prefer that some abilities (such as the Supers for Neo-Monk) be obtained only through questing?

3. Would you like to see all of the Disciple schools revamped in the same manner as NeoMonk/FlameDisciple?

4. Currently, Neo-Druid is setup to use mana. Would you like to see this implemented?

5. If you are in favor of question #4, would you also like to see other schools revamped to use mana? Such as BattleMage, Wizard, etc?

6. The idea behind the NeoSpiritist concept is that Spiritists draw their magic from their enemies or themselves in order to cast spells/use-abilities. Would you be interested in seeing more details on this?

FAQ:
  • How does Neo-Monk/FlameDisciple differ from the current schools? Neo-Monk and Flame-Disciple utilize a system by which you create attack chains that culminate in powerful attacks. You would start with an Opener ability, then Follow-Ups, and then a Closer attack. Finally, you would make use of a Super attack that is meant to really end the chain by doing massive damage to your enemy or enemies. These Monk-related schools are meant to be powerful, fast-attacking, and exciting combat schools.
  • How does Neo-Druid differ from the current school? It actually is very much the same, except that it uses mana instead of just ability recycling. By using mana your abilities can recycling much faster than normal as the limiting factor is mana instead of time.
  • How does Neo-Spiritist differ from the current school? Neo-Spiritist uses a system by which you draw life-energy from your enemies or yourself and use that energy to cast your spells/abilities. This energy can be stored in specially prepared objects called Phylacteries for later use. By drawing life-force you are actually doing damage to the target (i.e. yourself or your enemies).
  • Why revamp Spiritist? To give Spiritist a purpose and execution that is more in-line with lore and also to make the school into one that is different, interesting to play, challenging, and useful in both solo and group combat.