MMORPG: Ranged combat can be great for players, tell us the types of Ranged Weapons players will have access too? Do you run the gammit from Bows to Rocket Launchers?
Martin Bruusgaard: Players who choose ranged weaponry will be able to choose from dual pistols, assault rifles and shotguns. Pistols get access to a variety of drones that help them out in when they enter their infamous gun-kata. Assault rifles have the longest range in the game, and in addition to a hail of bullets they get grenade launchers and sniper abilities. They are also one of the healing weapons in the game, focusing on leech attacks, which returns a part of the damage output back as healing to self or allies. Shotgun is the master of fighting multiple targets at the same time, with fierce cone attacks. Shotgun also get access to landmines and snare abilities, forcing masses of monsters to slow down.
MMORPG: How do you see players speccing Ranged weapons? Do you see a character taking one ranged weapon and one melee weapon and working them both into their character?
Martin Bruusgaard: It's completely up to the player. When I solo, I like having one ranged and one melee weapon. I start pulling with the ranged one and try to CC it as long as possible, slowing it down which buys me time to damage it, before it reaches me. Once it does, I usually use one of melees hard CC abilities, unload with melee damage before I use an escape ability, backflipping out of harm's way (yea, you can backflip with a rifle, and it's awesome). Even though I play like this, others prefer to maybe bring a couple of drones from pistol and lots of cone attacks from shotgun, and then just herd groups of monsters to their death.
)
MMORPG: When building a skill tree will players have access to thrown, gun, and bow type skill sets? How does each work differently?
Martin Bruusgaard: Each weapon has a total of 8 cells of abilities. Each cell has 7 abilities in it, and the player has to buy those 7 in order. These cells focus on different things, but the biggest split is the two roles. Each weapon has two roles, where one is always damage dealing, and the other is either "tanky", healy" or "supporty". You will also find other subgroup under those roles, as in some cells that focuses on area attacks, some on single target abilities, and some that doesn't include any resource management.
MMORPG: Can ranged weapons be combined with magic in anyway? How does this work for the player?
Martin Bruusgaard: Yes, any weapon can be combined with any other weapon. No restrictions! I love combining the afflicted (damage over time) abilities from dual pistols with the afflicted active and passive abilities from Blood magic. Keep in mind that all passives work with any weapon. Even though I find the passive "Whenever you hinder a target, that target become afflicted, and will take damage over time" in Elementalism , it fits perfectly in my cone hindering shotgun build. The beauty of the system is the multiple layers of synergy. Players who don't care will be fine, and they will be able to enjoy the game. But the players who really get it, will be rewarded for it, and they will be better players.
MMORPG: You say there are hundreds of weapons in the game, what are your favorite ranged weapons?
Martin Bruusgaard: My favorite weapons are the ranged weapons from the 3rd age, which looks like.... Hmmm... Really badass. Trust me on this...
)
MMORPG: Will various ranged weapons have different effects in combat, for example, will you see net guns that can trap people or some type of stun bullets?
Martin Bruusgaard: Yes, every weapon in TSW has some unique features. Some weapons do channeled focus attacks, while some do hard single attack hits. Some affect a cone in front of the player, while others in an area around the player. Some can stun, some can hinder, some can heal, some has pets, some has traps, some can teleport, some can apply dots, some can debuff. I can go on and on, but you guys should try it out for yourselves. It's awesome!
