Combat build philosophy and class role flexibility

Scars of Honor's class design is presented as role-based but intentionally resistant to rigid role boundaries. Tanks, healers, and damage dealers are still expected to exist, but the game aims to let players move along a spectrum within those roles through talents, gear, and class-specific mechanics.

The stated objective is to make classes feel active and expressive in both moment-to-moment combat and long-term build planning.

Hybrid roles instead of fixed templates

The speakers reject the idea of static role definitions such as a tank that only absorbs hits or a healer that only watches health bars. A tank is expected to contribute damage, mobility, control, or support depending on build choices. A healer is likewise expected to remain active in combat rather than function only as a passive restoration role.

This philosophy is described as applying across classes. A player may lean more heavily into tanking, support, or damage, but should still have room to shape how that role is performed.

Talent and gear trade-offs

Build identity is intended to come from both the talent tree and equipment. The discussion emphasizes that players cannot take every powerful option at once. Choosing defensive tools may mean giving up mana efficiency, burst damage, or other specialized effects.

Gear is also described as build-defining. Different equipment sets are expected to support different play styles within the same class, such as a battle mage versus a more traditional wizard approach.

Weapon relevance

Weapons are said to matter beyond appearance. Changing weapons affects a class's basic attack, and the basic attack is described as connected to the rest of the kit. This means weapon choice is intended to influence how a class plays, not only how it looks.

Some class concepts are built directly around unusual weapon combinations, such as a battle mage using a one-handed staff and sword, or a pirate using saber-and-buckler or pistol-based options.

Dodge system

A universal dodge mechanic is described as planned for all classes, but not in the style of a highly permissive action game or "souls-like" system. The dodge is intended to be tactical, with a relatively long cooldown in the range of roughly 12 to 15 seconds before talent modifications.

The dodge is not stamina-based. It is meant to avoid certain attacks, especially projectiles or specific dodgeable effects, while not trivializing all incoming damage. Area effects and damage-over-time effects are described as not universally negated by dodge.

The system is also intended to interact with talents and gear. The speakers give examples of possible effects such as guaranteed critical hits after dodging or temporary movement bonuses tied to dodge use, illustrating the broader build-synergy approach.

PvE and PvP balance approach

The game is not described as dividing classes into separate PvE-only and PvP-only categories. Instead, the goal is for classes to remain viable in both environments, even if some abilities or builds are naturally more effective in certain modes.

Balance is described as something that should preserve fun rather than flatten every build into identical performance. The speakers suggest a preference for buffing alternatives and expanding options instead of relying only on nerfs, except in cases of clearly broken behavior such as extreme one-shot potential.

Debuffs, control, and class niches

The team discusses grouping classes by access to mechanics such as healing reduction, stuns, and other utility effects. This suggests an intended class ecosystem in which different classes bring different forms of pressure or support to group content and PvP.

At the same time, the design avoids making any class useful in only one narrow scenario. The aim is a form of rock-paper-scissors interaction without making classes feel invalid outside their specialty.

Source

• Recording: Scars OF Honor - Discussion with Game Design Director about all Classes. Where everything started ?
• YouTube: Watch on YouTube
• Published: Sunday, February 15, 2026 at 8:32 PM UTC