As the 2021 launch of Magic Legends draws closer, Cryptic Studios has revealed the fourth of the five starting classes. Now that the Sanctifier is going to be fighting alongside the Beastcaller, Geomancer, and Mind Mage, it's finally time to learn a little bit more about how healing is going to work in the action RPG with MMO elements.
Although Magic Legends isn't a traditional five party member multiplayer RPG with 3 DPS, a tank, and a healer in every party, it is still a multiplayer game that offers each of the three players a chance to bring something unique to the battlefield. When it comes to the Sanctifier, some of those unique skills are going to include taking advantage of Lifelink to heal not just themselves, but also surrounding allies within range.
Like many of the best action RPGs, the battlefield in Magic Legends can start to get crowded and hectic pretty quickly as players start to summon creatures and hordes of enemies begin appearing. As gamers might imagine, that chaos, combined with most console gamers playing on a controller instead of a keyboard and mouse, can make targeted healing a bit of a chore or challenge. Luckily, the Magic Legends approach to healing (and targeting) is designed to take that stress away and allow the healer specialist to keep themselves and their allies alive without a ton of clicking faceplates or anything like that.
During a recent interview with Magic Legends Executive Producer Stephen Ricossa Game Rant had a chance to discuss how healing will work in the game and what efforts were taken to make it feel like an important task, but still not a chore...
Game Rant: With the Sanctifier sounding like a true healer class, how does that play when you are solo versus in a group?
Stephen Ricossa: A lot of heals go to yourself and to your summons. And, as a range class, it has the longest range in the game. Roughly 3/4 iso, so you can shoot almost corner to corner of the screen. From a gameplay perspective, when you're by yourself you're going to want to get your creatures out there, keep them healed, and pepper in your own damage. Once you get your 3 shot spread, then you can be doing more damage. Maybe you make your deck red/white and you're healing some, but doing a ton of damage too. One of the key things with all of these heals is that the Sanctifier is really hard to take down. It might take you longer than a Geomancer to clear the map, but you're probably not dying very much or at all.
Game Rant: So how do things change once you're playing online with friends? Are you targeting specific allies for heals or do heals go out to whoever needs them most?
Stephen Ricossa: Depends on the spell. Most spells with be an AoE and they'll hit everything in that area. So you can place the two-stage targeting exactly where you want it to be... Some can just be AoE coming off of you. It's designed to be intuitive and easy.
This approach to healing that involves a healthy mix between passive AoE healing and some more limited specific targeted heals feels like a great way to keep the Sanctifier engaged in the fight and not just staring at health bars the whole time. The class should be able to continue dealing damage and offering up heals passively or through AoEs as they upgrade their abilities and gain the option to heal allies in waves that will also damage enemies. It sounds like a ton of fun and we're very excited to get our hands on the game and give it a try for ourselves.
At this point, Magic Legends is still in closed alpha testing, but hopefully some larger waves of beta test invites will go out in the coming months. There is only one remaining launch class left to reveal, so hopefully the team at Cryptic is ready to offer a look at what the Black-mana planeswalker class has to offer in the very near future. Until then, be sure to check back for more Magic Legends news, updates, and features.
Magic Legends plans to release in 2021 on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.