Dancer (Katana, Robe class with new ability "Hoop(s)")


#1

sprite

Introducing, the dancer! The dancer is intended to be the 18th class for Realm of the Mad God and the third Katana class in the game. As many others have often done with their ideas for a third katana class, the dancer wears robes to stick with the theme of each katana class wearing a different armor type.

The dancer utilizes her ability item, the hoop, to give herself, along with one other player (her “dance partner” so to speak), a massive DPS increase. This works by first selecting your dance partner via the nearby player display at the bottom of the inventory interface. The dancer can then move the mouse and activate her ability to place a hoop particle effect on the ground. When both the dancer and her dance partner are standing in a hoop at the same time they are provided with a new buff called dance%20symbol Dancing which provides a boost to the attack and dexterity of both players.

hoop1 hoop2

The dancing hoop particle effects will appear on the ground and are only visible to the dancer and their partner. If the hoop only applies one hoop, it will appear as the left hoop, however, if the ability allows you to have a second “partner” hoop, the second hoop will appear as the one on the right. We will refer to these as the “dancer hoop” and “partner hoop” for the sake of convenience throughout the rest of this post. Please keep in mind that these hoops cannot be placed on top of each other nor can they overlap at all.

Now for the steps on how to set your dance partner…

dance1

First, find the player you want to set as your dance partner in the nearby player menu in the bottom right of the UI.

dance2

After clicking on their name, click again to open the pre-existing menu for interactions with other players.

dance3

Select “Dance” to mark the other player as your dance partner which will place a dance%20symbol Dancing symbol above you and your partner’s heads when a player enters a hoop’s radius.

Alternatively, players will be able to use a “/dance” chat command in order to select a dance partner in their current instance as well. The chat command would be formatted as the following:

/dance PARTNERNAME

Now, with an ability that is so reliant on having another player with you, you might be thinking, “is there no point in playing this class solo?” Well, actually, no. Thankfully, if you don’t currently have a dance partner marked, you will still be buffed by “dancing” but only for half of the effect. So if the dancing buff of a particular hoop increases your DEX by +10 and ATT by +10, you would instead receive a dancing buff of +5 DEX and +5 ATT when standing in the hoop. So, ideally, you should try to always have a dance partner, but solo play is still possible even without one.

Now, let’s get into the hoops themselves!

Training Hoop

t0

Tier 0
MP Cost 70
On Equip +2 VIT
Effect(s)
Places dancer hoop at cursor granting dance%20symbol Dancing to the player or their dance partner when standing in the hoop
dance%20symbol Dancing effect from this hoop provides +4 DEX and +4 ATT if both players are standing in the hoop
dance%20symbol Dancing effect from this hoop provides +2 DEX and +2 ATT if only one player is in the hoop and only applies to that player (not both players)
Duration Infinite (until dancer moves hoop to a new location)
Cooldown 10 seconds
Hoop Radius 1.5 tiles
Feed Power 5

Wooden Hoop

t1

Tier 1
MP Cost 75
On Equip +4 VIT
Effect(s)
Places dancer hoop at cursor granting dance%20symbol Dancing to the player or their dance partner when standing in the hoop
dance%20symbol Dancing effect from this hoop provides +6 DEX and +6 ATT if both players are standing in the hoop
dance%20symbol Dancing effect from this hoop provides +3 DEX and +3 ATT if only one player is in the hoop and only applies to that player (not both players)
Duration Infinite (until dancer moves hoop to a new location)
Cooldown 9 seconds
Hoop Radius 1.75 tiles
Feed Power 10

Stainless Steel Hoop

t2

Tier 2
MP Cost 80
On Equip +6 VIT
Effect(s)
Places dancer hoop at cursor granting dance%20symbol Dancing to the player or their dance partner when standing in the hoop
dance%20symbol Dancing effect from this hoop provides +8 DEX and +8 ATT if both players are standing in the hoop
dance%20symbol Dancing effect from this hoop provides +4 DEX and +4 ATT if only one player is in the hoop and only applies to that player (not both players)
Duration Infinite (until dancer moves hoop to a new location)
Cooldown 8 seconds
Hoop Radius 2 tiles
Feed Power 20

Circus Hoop

t4

Tier 3
MP Cost 85
On Equip +8 VIT
Effect(s)
Places dancer hoop at cursor granting dance%20symbol Dancing to the player or their dance partner when standing in the hoop
dance%20symbol Dancing effect from this hoop provides +10 DEX and +10 ATT if both players are standing in the hoop
dance%20symbol Dancing effect from this hoop provides +5 DEX and +5 ATT if only one player is in the hoop and only applies to that player (not both players)
Duration Infinite (until dancer moves hoop to a new location)
Cooldown 7 seconds
Hoop Radius 2.25 tiles
XP Bonus 1%
Feed Power 45

Golden Hoop

t3

Tier 4
MP Cost 90
On Equip +10 VIT
Effect(s)
Places dancer hoop at cursor granting dance%20symbol Dancing to the player or their dance partner when standing in the hoop
dance%20symbol Dancing effect from this hoop provides +12 DEX and +12 ATT if both players are standing in the hoop
dance%20symbol Dancing effect from this hoop provides +6 DEX and +6 ATT if only one player is in the hoop and only applies to that player (not both players)
Duration Infinite (until dancer moves hoop to a new location)
Cooldown 6 seconds
Hoop Radius 2.5 tiles
XP Bonus 2%
Feed Power 90

Jungle Hoops

t5

Tier 5
MP Cost 95
On Equip +12 VIT
Effect(s)
On First Click:
Places dancer hoop at cursor granting dance%20symbol Dancing to the player or their dance partner when standing in the hoop
On Second Click:
Places partner hoop at cursor granting dance%20symbol Dancing to the player or their dance partner when standing in the hoop
dance%20symbol Dancing effect from both players standing in the same hoop provides +14 DEX and +14 ATT
dance%20symbol Dancing effect from either hoop provides +7 DEX and +7 ATT if only one player is in the hoop and only applies to that player (not both players)
dance%20symbol Dancing effect from the dancer standing in the dancer hoop and the partner standing in the partner hoop provides +20 DEX and +20 ATT to both the dancer and their partner
Duration Infinite (until dancer moves hoops to a new location)
Cooldown 5 seconds after placing both hoops
Hoop Radius 2.75 tiles
XP Bonus 3%
Feed Power 185

Mystical Hoops

t6

Tier 6
MP Cost 100
On Equip +14 VIT, +20 HP, +20 MP
Effect(s)
On First Click:
Places dancer hoop at cursor granting dance%20symbol Dancing to the player or their dance partner when standing in the hoop
On Second Click:
Places partner hoop at cursor granting dance%20symbol Dancing to the player or their dance partner when standing in the hoop
dance%20symbol Dancing effect from both players standing in the same hoop provides +16 DEX and +16 ATT
dance%20symbol Dancing effect from either hoop provides +8 DEX and +8 ATT if only one player is in the hoop and only applies to that player (not both players)
dance%20symbol Dancing effect from the dancer standing in the dancer hoop and the partner standing in the partner hoop provides +22 DEX and +22 ATT to both the dancer and their partner
Duration Infinite (until dancer moves hoops to a new location)
Cooldown 4 seconds after placing both hoops
Hoop Radius 3 tiles
XP Bonus 6%
Feed Power 380

Celestial Eon Hoops

t7

Tier 7
MP Cost 105
On Equip +16 VIT, +40 HP, +40 MP
Effect(s)
On First Click:
Places dancer hoop at cursor granting dance%20symbol Dancing to the player or their dance partner when standing in the hoop
On Second Click:
Places partner hoop at cursor granting dance%20symbol Dancing to the player or their dance partner when standing in the hoop
dance%20symbol Dancing effect from both players standing in the same hoop provides +18 DEX and +18 ATT
dance%20symbol Dancing effect from either hoop provides +9 DEX and +9 ATT if only one player is in the hoop and only applies to that player (not both players)
dance%20symbol Dancing effect from the dancer standing in the dancer hoop and the partner standing in the partner hoop provides +24 DEX and +24 ATT to both the dancer and their partner
Duration Infinite (until dancer moves hoops to a new location)
Cooldown 3 seconds after placing both hoops
Hoop Radius 3.25 tiles
XP Bonus 8%
Feed Power 570

Burning Hoop of Fire

ut1

Tier UT
MP Cost 120
On Equip +10 ATT, +10 VIT
Effect(s)
Places dancer hoop at cursor granting dance%20symbol Dancing to the player or their dance partner when standing in the hoop
dance%20symbol Dancing effect from this hoop damages enemies within the hoop for 400 damage per second if only one player is in the hoop
dance%20symbol Dancing effect from this hoop damages enemies within the hoop for 800 damage per second when dancer and partner are both standing in the hoop
Duration Infinite (until dancer moves hoop to a new location)
Cooldown 10 seconds
Hoop Radius 5 tiles
XP Bonus 6%
Feed Power 700
Loot Bag image
Drops From Archdemon Malphas

Ancient Inventor’s Hoop

ut2

Tier UT
MP Cost 90
On Equip +5 DEF, +8 VIT
Effect(s)
Places dancer hoop at cursor granting dance%20symbol Dancing to the player or their dance partner when standing in the hoop
dance%20symbol Dancing effect from this hoop provides +20 DEF if both players are standing in the hoop
dance%20symbol Dancing effect from this hoop provides +10 DEF if only one player is in the hoop and only applies to that player (not both players)
Duration Infinite (until dancer moves hoop to a new location)
Cooldown 3 seconds
Hoop Radius 2.5 tiles
XP Bonus 6%
Feed Power 800
Loot Bag image
Drops From Stone Guardian

And finally, onto the stats!

Initial Stats
HP 150
MP 100
ATT 10
DEF 0
SPD 10
DEX 10
VIT 15
WIS 15

Average Stats at Level 20
HP 625
MP 195
ATT 29
DEF 0
SPD 38
DEX 29
VIT 40
WIS 40

Base Stat Cap
HP 720
MP 252
ATT 50
DEF 25
SPD 60
DEX 50
VIT 75
WIS 75

And that’s it for now! I hope you enjoyed reading this post and please remember to provide feedback/comments below! Thanks! :slight_smile:


#2

Why UT Hoops are not 7% xp bonus???

Other than that, holy Jesus, 75 Wis + Vit cap!


#3

I matched the XP bonus to be the same as other drops from the same boss (ie. dblade is 6% and ancient stone sword is 6%).

And yeah, I figured since both the offensive stats max at 50 and speed at only 60, I’d make it so this class has crazy vit and wis, especially since it’s intended to be a full on support class for buffing another player (your friends will love you when you give their 4/4 wizard a +24 dex and att buff).


#4

XP bonus for white bag/st ability should always give 7%.


#5

I am all for a Katana Robe class, just a little worried it might be a little squishy and I think Def on the hoops or a meta shift that makes vit better or def rings more attractive would help balance it.
As for how the ability works, that sounds okay. It encourages cooperative play which I love but it still seems weak Solo even with the buff because it doesn’t change the way the game is played like many other abilities do.

Also I assume only one person can be chosen to dance with to prevent DCs from dancers spamming one person.


#6

I foresee that some people might wish for an alternative option to select a dance partner, but love this idea! I would totally use the class in concept. Glass cannons are right up my alley.


#7

Thank you for the feedback all! Made a few adjustments, so here’s a quick changelog:

  • Adjusted shading on the higher tier hoops so that the two hoops contrast a little
  • Added /dance chat command as an alternative to using the menu
  • Added additional effect to Dancing buff on the Burning Hoop of Fire UT hoop that applies when only one player is standing in the hoop (meant to add this at first but totally forgot about it)

#8

Interesting and quite original idea, but with such there are always going to be issues. Perhaps the biggest is it would need a lot of work to add the ‘choose your dance partner’ aspect. New UI, new state information, new code to handle all the possible ways it could work, such as what happens when your dance partner disconnects, or changes server, or /pauses ?

Choosing a particular player even if they are reliably in the same area and active, is fraught with problems. How do they know they’re your dance partner? If it’s a particle effect they might not notice, or it might be obscured by all the stuff that’s onscreen unless you disable it, or they might simply object to more on-screen clutter and so try and avoid it.

And there’s also the fact this is a network game. Any player-player interaction has to contend with the fact that such takes twice as long as player-server communications, and so is laggier.

In practice this means: you might think you’re standing next to them when you activate this, but on their PC they might be two squares further away and so not in range. Other things such as Tomes, Seals, the radius is so large that being out by a square or two isn’t normally important, but it clearly would make a difference here.

Finally: “Dancer”? The game already stretches the lore by including Ninja and Samurai in its high fantasy setting, but at least they are combat archetypes.


#9

that was removed from the game a few months ago, made a memes abt it and that’s the only reason I remember that


#10

Dancer IS a combat archetype originated by Square Enix. It sounds odd, but it is a thing in other fantasy games, mostly in Japanese MMOs/RPGs.

And to respond to the point about the range, the dance hoop effect appears where you click at, not on your character. So positioning shouldn’t be that much of an issue if the dancer is the one placing the hoop for you. I will take a look at the numbers I’ve set for the radius though, as I think you might be right in that they are too small. They could probably use some adjustments the next time I update this post.

Also, when you change instances your dance partner is reset. The same would happen if your current dance partner leaves the instance.

I think the “new code” aspect of your post is something they’ll have to deal with on every new class they add. Summoner definitely required a significant amount of new code added when they added summons that follow your cursor. Hell, they had to add an entirely new hotkey for summons. I don’t see why adding onto an already existing menu would be too much of an issue.


#11

Kinda seems to incentivize small private group play compared to large group play? Idk if that’s good or not.
On one hand, hivemind groups are bad.
On the other hand, elitist small groups are also bad.


#12

That’s even worse than I imagined. So every time you or they enter a dungeon, or one of you nexuses, you would need to set it up again. No setting it up before you enter realm. It could get quite annoying for the other player if they keep seeing messages “you are now Ssri’s dance partner”, especially if they don’t care for it, or have no plans to stay close to you to benefit from it.


#13

What do you recommend then? I honestly don’t understand this opinion. If you have large groups, you’re going to have a bystander effect where some will think it’s okay to leech because “others will clear for me.” If you have a small group, everyone will have to pull their own weight therefore making the group “elitist.” I genuinely don’t understand what your “ideal” group would be. Is it something that is the fault of DECA’s game design?


#14

To specify more, to me both groups are products of how the RotMG community optimizes the game due to the original game design of RotMG being a permadeath mmorpg. This optimization sacrifices the overall immersion of playing the game, since the hivemind group doesn’t often reward individual skill based gameplay (leeching, and the rl that ruins the learning process, on top of blaring in your ear) while the elitist group has a certain sense of artificiality, with every character in that group with the exact right items for the perfect run. Both of these cases use cooperation and optimization to skip the gameplay.

What I’m basically saying is that whether the dancer buffs individuals or buffs the group, overall it’s gonna add more powercreep to the game by contributing to either group.

I didn’t mention it in my post, but I’ll explain now. To start off with, it might be hypocritical for me to look down on these groups first off, as I also use discord to satisfy my greed for whites and do o3 completes, but there are moments in the game where I actually enjoy playing the game, instead of the quick dopamine shot from loot after robotically doing the same thing over and over.

Activities in RotMG that are entertaining to me is the 1st completion/experience of a boss. I practically popped off when I finished the final phase of Xolotl in Thicket or Oryx Sanctuary after nexusing multiple times. Heck, even doing the 1st run of 3rd Dimension and High Tech Terror felt good. It’s like watching the movie you’ve been waiting for, or all your effort paying off as the boss dies.

Another activity I enjoy is soloing dungeons especially the ones I can’t rush, DDocks, Cdepths, and Lost Halls Cult route. I feel a sense of accomplishment from my own skill, while the non-rushing means I can experience the entire dungeon to its fullest.

Lastly, what I enjoyed practically the most is doing long dungeons with a small random group of people. The only time I did it was with a 5-7 person lost halls to cult. We just went through the dungeon at a reasonable pace, a few of us chatting, and I think I had the most fun from that than any point in the game.

In short, my ideal group would be a small group of people that randomly decided to enter a dungeon.

I wouldn’t say it was specifically DECA, as they have to oblige to the community while balancing out the difficulty of the game itself. What I think is the problem is the bad synergy with the community and the genre: a permadeath mmorpg.

Rpg requires a certain amount of grinding due to rng, which is intensified by permadeath making items temporarily. This creates the effect of constantly redoing the same content over and over again.

The mmo aspect allows to reduce the grinding through cooperative and organized play from the community.

The community itself is the one that optimizes efficiency, due to things such as superiority or completionist complexes.

The majority of the players accepts said optimization as the norm mainly because they are these types of people who play games like this, but can be the feeling of not being left out of the loop of dungeon experience.


Anyways, those are my answers. It’s getting a bit off topic from the thread. So not gonna argue unless this gets moved to another topic :^)


#15

I gave this a second look and my suggestions are:
•Combine Dance partner selection and hoop placement as the function of activating the ability, such that you press spacebar on/ right click target player and that also spawns the hoop.
•For t5 - t7 deploy hoop on target and self simultaneously without distinction of which is dancer hoop or partner hoop and provide increased bonus if both players are inside overlapping area.
•Add finite duration to hoops and require recast.
•Add UT/ST with hoop(s) that track players or can be summon controlled.

Additional
•Add toggle-able dance “aura” visual around partner.


#16

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