Lancer

The lancers are trained to wield the shield as an extension of their own body. Because of the shield, lancers are mostly known for their defensive capabilities, not only protecting themselves but also others around them. The lancers are considerably slower than other classes due the sheer weight and size of the shield. Therefore, lancers learn to wield a spear along with their shield.

The lancer is a class specialized in defense that wields a lance and a shield. They can protect their friends by emitting a shout at monsters who are attacking them, provoking the monsters to run towards you instead. The Shield Block ability doesn’t just protect you, but also anyone standing behind you.

Lancers are “stoic guardians” able to take damage, but also able to dish it out when the situation requires. Despite being a relatively slow class due to their predisposition to prefer blocking to dodging, the Lancer is nevertheless able to focus damage very precisely. This allows them to excel in single combat, though they are also able to drop their defenses and charge into the battle to scatter smaller foes from the field as necessary. They are the center of every battle, protecting allies and bolstering defenses, all while dealing devastating blows to unsuspecting opponents.

Lancer gameplay video:

Lancer Skills List

Icon	Name	Required Level	Description	Cost
	Shield Blow		By swinging his shield fiercely the Lancer damages targets right in front of him and makes them stun temporarily.
	Counter Strike		By pressing the attack key when succesfully blocking an attack the Lancer counter attacks.
	Ensnarement		The Lancer throws a hook around the target and draws it towards himself.
	Will Of Intimidation		Destroys the target’s armor with a strong attack. The affected target will have its defense lowered temporarily, the effect stacks up to 3 times.

Lancer Spells

Combo Attack

Assigned to the left mouse button by default, Combo Attack is a starting skill, and one that is used frequently. The nature of the lance ensures that the Combo Attack is very narrowly focused, allowing the Lancer to attack a single enemy with great precision. Typically the Lancer will strike normally three times, and then perform a more powerful thrust on the fourth attack. When groups of enemies crowd the front of the Lancer, Combo Attack enables the Lancer to strike multiple enemies at once in a straight line. The best strategy for ensuring this condition is attracting a group’s attention, and then moving back slightly, so that they charge at you in a group. One attack and they immediately regret their impetuosity!

Shield Block

Shield Block is perhaps the staple of the Lancer class, allowing them to heavily mitigate damage, transforming a foe’s powerful assault into a harmless tap. By default, Shield Block is assigned to the “C” key, and must be held down in order to maintain the stance. The Lancer must be facing in the direction from which the attack is coming. Doing so will heavily reduce the amount of damage taken by the Lancer. This ability works equally well defending against magical as well as ranged attacks. With an instant casting time, this ability allows the Lancer to react quickly to each creature’s “tells”, rewarding the Lancer with an eye for sensing incoming attacks.

Ferocious Charge

Ferocious Charge is the perfect tool for breaking that stalemate, charging out of an unpleasant situation, or for mauling multiple foes all at once. The Lancer leans forward and charges in the direction they were facing when the charge was initiated. This produces a barrage of strikes against any enemies in the Lancer’s path. While the damage for these multiple strikes is relatively low when taken individually, they cumulatively produce a significant amount of carnage. During the final seconds of the charge, the Lancer unleashes several powerful blows, following through with the entire strike by fully extending the arm and thrusting the lance through the last of their foes. This ability is most effective when initiating a fight, charging into groups of enemies, or when an enemy is knocked down and unable to respond.

Riposte

Riposte, earned at level six, is an incredibly useful “passive” skill that allows the Lancer to counter-attack each time they emerge from the Shield Block ability. Once a Lancer has successfully initiated Shield Block (and hopefully put an end to an enemy’s attack), the Lancer may counter-attack by using their Combo Attack while still blocking. This results in the Lancer bashing the enemy with their shield, and then stepping through for a powerful thrust immediately afterward. This skill is especially useful for maintaining the Lancer’s momentum in combat, allowing them to seamlessly transition between attacking and blocking.

Roar of Defiance

Roar of Defiance, acquired at level ten, is the Lancer’s first “aggro” ability. When activated, the Lancer unleashes a roar which attracts the attention of surrounding enemies. The range of this ability is large enough to allow the Lancer to capture the notice of fairly distant enemies. In addition, the Roar affects the Lancer’s surroundings in a full circle, allowing them to dominate the battle from its center. This is the Lancer’s primary means of protecting group members from unwanted attention by monsters, in addition to the Shield Block ability. The relatively low cooldown requirement means that the Lancer is able to continuously maintain the hate of their enemies throughout the battle.

High Level Skills

While the skills received during the first ten levels represent the Lancer’s core functionality, the later skills involve significantly more utility, permitting the Lancer to further find their niche within the group.

An often frustrating experience for a young Lancer is being taken unaware and knocked down in a fight, unable to initiate Shield Block. The Soaring Attack ability remedies this nicely, allowing a Lancer to quickly rise from the ground and get back into the battle with a strong counter-attack. Though only usable every twelve seconds, this ability lets the Lancer respond that much faster to enemy attacks, which is essential when a second’s hesitation may be the difference between a successful block or certain death. While the Lancer’s powerful strikes are often enough to knock down opponents as a matter of course, the ability Shield Bash allows them to take advantage of this situation more accurately. Using this ability on an enemy and then rushing in with Ferocious Charge is often enough to frighten the staunchest of opponents.

At level twenty the Lancer is provided with the Noose ability, which allows the Lancer to pull enemies to them from a significant distance. Importantly, the range of this ability is fifty percent greater than that of Roar of Defiance, allowing the Lancer to have even further control over events on the battlefield.

Thus far, most of the Lancer’s abilities have directly impacted the battlefield either by damaging opponents with powerful attacks, or by controlling enemies by drawing their animosity and/or the monster itself. However, at level twenty-six the Lancer is granted its first debuff, Crash Gear. This ability reduces an enemy’s armor, allowing both the Lancer and their party to deal increased damage for ten seconds. It is important to note that this ability can be stacked up to three times on the same opponent for each successive attack after Crash Gear is applied. Getting in those attacks is certainly doable for an attentive Lancer, and even more so when activated with allies nearby!

Moving up to level thirty, this trend of granting the Lancer group-friendly abilities continues. Aura of Inspiration places a buff on group members which increases their defense by fifteen percent. The fact that this Aura does not affect the Lancer is very flavorful, further heightening the Lancer’s persona as the stalwart defender of their party. Granted at level thirty-six, the Lancer receives a second “aggro” ability called Infuriate. The primary difference between Infuriate and the similar ability Roar of Defiance seems to be one of degree. Infuriate has a significantly longer cooldown cost. However, the name of this ability seems to indicate that the hate generated by this skill is also significantly improved over the more frequently used, but less powerful Roar. This skill enables the Lancer to take charge of a chaotic battlefield, ensuring that the attention of surrounding enemies is securely focused on them, once again protecting their party from sure death!

Lancer Screenshots