Classes are great! They let you play a game as whatever role is most appealing to you, whether you want to shrug off damage as a tank, or dole it out as a nuker. Classes in Adrift have diverse sets of abilities which allow each of them to specialize in three different play styles for you to choose from. Ships can stick to one specialization and accel in one aspect of combat, or take a little of each and be ready for anything.
NOTE: Since Adrift is pre-alpha all ability and specialization names are tentative.
Since it is the main combat ship, the Pilot's abilities are centered around dealing damage and absorbing damage. As such it's three specializations are, Tanking, Blasting, and Loadout.
Tanking focuses on absorbing and reflecting damage and allows a Pilot to take on huge numbers of enemies while avoiding being destroyed themselves.
Overshield (active) - When activated, this shield reduces all incoming projectile damage for the Pilot.
- Reflect (passive) - Overshield has a chance to reflect enemy bullets while active.
Thick Armor (passive) - The Pilot has a small chance to absorb the damage every time it takes a hit.
Engine Shot (passive) - When shooting an enemy, there is a chance that their engine is hit and they will be permanently slowed.
Blasting focuses on controlling the number of enemies attacking the colony by destroying them all before they have a chance to do anything.
Overload (active) - Drastically increases the Pilot's rate of fire.
- Missile (passive) - While Overload is active, the Pilot has a chance to fire a homing missle.
Nuke (active) - The Pilot launches a tactical warhead that creates a small explosion, dealing massive damage, and leaves behind a cloud of radiation for a short time which will damage enemies travelling through it.
Bloodlust (passive) - Each enemy destroyed near the Pilot increases it's damage, this ability can be stacked.
Loadout focuses on making the Pilot's ship as deadly as possible by getting tons of gear.
Insider Trading (passive) - Allows the Pilot to purchase guns at a discount.
More Guns (passive) - Allows the Pilot to equip a third weapon.
Heavy Armor (passive) - Allows the Pilot to equip a second armor.
Scavengers generally use their superior speed to draw enemies away from the base, support Pilots in combat, and collect large amounts of scrap, as such their specializations are, Distraction, Demolition, and Economy.
Distraction focuses on confusing, diverting, or disabling enemies rather than killing them outright, leaving the Scavenger open to take them down one by one or use the resulting chaos to escape unscathed.
Push (active) - The Scavenger creates a shockwave around itself, pushing all enemies within the radius away at high speed.
- EMP (passive) - When Push is activated, enemies caught in the blast wave are deactivated for a short period of time.
Blink (active) - The Scavenger teleports a short distance, hurting any enemies it passes through.
- Blink Boom (passive) - When Blink is activated, an explosion is created at the entrance and exit points, damaging any nearby enemies.
Demolition focuses on increasing the Scavenger's hitting power and ability to annihilate large groups of enemies with bursts of heavy damage.
Mega Laser (active) - The Scavenger fires an impossibly massive beam that can deal huge amounts of damage, but is very slow to aim.
- Laser Rush (passive) - Increases the rotation speed of Mega Beam for easier aiming.
Miner (passive) - Increases the damage of all the Scavenger's weapons.
Armor Pierce (passive) - Each shot has a chance to deal increased damage as it punches through the enemy's armor.
Economy focuses on the Scavenger being able to make as much money as possible for both themselves and the group, allowing the purchase of rare parts and powerful towers.
Insurance (passive) - Reduce the cost of rebuilding your ship.
Scrap Magnet (passive) - Draw scap towards your ship to more easily pick it up.
Mechanics are slow, poorly armored, and equipped with low-powered weapons so they are ill-suited for the front lines, but they shine when put behind a wall of guns. In this vein, the Mechanic's specializations are, Construction, Defense, and Destruction.
Construction focuses on letting the Mechanic construct a wider array of towers in a larger area for the perfect defense.
Pylon (active) - Allows the Mechanic to construct Pylons, which increase the build area for turrets.
- Pylon Power (passive) - Pylons have increased health, radius, and higher build caps.
Work Hard (passive) - The Mechanic repairs objects faster and gets a discount when building turrets.
- Bomber Man (active) - Allows the Mechanic to build Bomb Turrets.
- Burster (active) - Allows the Mechanic to build Burst Turrets.
- Lightning Rod (active) - Allows the Mechanic to build Lighting Turrets.
Defender focuses on keeping the Mechanic, their towers, and the team alive and able to continue the fight.
Healing Burst (active) - Heal everything in a radius around the Mechanic.
- Nanites (passive) - Healing Burst will leave repair nanites on objects to repair them for a short period after the initial burst.
Defense Drones (passive) - When taking damage there is a chance to deploy a small decoy gun pod that will defend the Mechanic for 5 seconds.
Destruction focuses on enabling the Mechanic to boost the destructive power of their towers and weapons.
Mega Cannon (active) - Quickly build a massive turret that will do massive damage for 30 seconds.
Rad Rounds (passive) - The Mechanic has a chance to poison the enemy with each shot.
Power Up (passive) - Take control of nearby towers and boost their damage.
We will continue to improve our class and ability customization system in Adrift as we proceed with development, keep an eye out for more updates in the future!
Thanks for reading!
