There's a Reason Hybrids Are Bound to Suck
I headed to the Paladin NPC inside the Demon King's castle to feed some serious trash to Im Harin and her friends.
“Harin already knows this, but if you want to reset your talents, you have to talk to the class trainer like this.”
“Huh? Couldn’t you just show us without going through all that?”
“I could. But where’s the fun in that? There’s no joy in demonstrating exactly how much trash it is.”
This talent could obviously be reset and picked again as many times as you wanted.
The problem was that the cost kept rising with every reset.
Thankfully the system had a conscience, so the price didn’t climb forever.
“Okay, for our newbie friends, this big sis will walk you through it. In Lost of Fantasy, every class picks a specialization at level 15.”
“That’s when tanks and healers finally get skills that actually fit their roles!”
“Exactly. And from that point the game naturally funnels you into quests that make you party up with other players in dungeons.”
I immediately pulled up the talent selection UI for the girls.
“And starting at level 30 you get one talent point every ten levels. So levels 30, 40, 50, and 60. Four talents in total.”
I pointed at the number labeled ‘Level 30.’
“As you can see, each time you pick one out of the three icons shown here.”
Holy Concentration
Determination
Refined Paladin's Emblem
“You pick whichever one looks best.”
“Hehe… but like Harin said, it does look kind of fun to choose, right?”
“You think so because it’s three options?”
The high-school girls nodded at my question.
“Even for Warlocks the level 30 choice is pretty agonizing. There’s the talent that makes Corruption instant-cast and the one that reduces mana cost for Destruction spells.”
“Yeah, pure DPS classes get to enjoy that kind of fun. Now look at what hybrid classes get.”
When casting Flash of Light or Holy Light, taking damage has a 75% chance to not delay the cast time.
“What do you think of this one?”
“Aren’t Flash of Light and Holy Light the precious healing spells Paladins have? I know every spell in LOF gets interrupted and delayed when you take damage while casting.”
Im Harin grinned wide.
“So Holy Paladins have to take this one no matter what, right?”
“Ooh, Harin… you’re being surprisingly logical.”
“Delay means the skill comes out slower, right? That’s bad.”
“But shouldn’t you avoid getting hit while casting in the first place?”
Listening to their surprisingly passionate discussion, I hovered the mouse over the next icon.
This was where the hybrid stench really started to hit.
Increases armor from equipped items by 10%. Also increases armor gained from Devotion Aura by 20%.
“Huh? Isn’t this just something tanks would pick?”
“Between the talent that gives more armor to tanks and the one that prevents healing delay we saw earlier, this one is obviously better, right?”
“Of course! Wait… no way! Even the super cool demon-worship talent has a long cooldown but it’s still usable!”
In front of a horrified Im Harin I pointed at the final icon.
Increases melee combat power granted by the Paladin's Mark by 20% and increases Holy damage granted by the Paladin's Judgment by 20%.
“Ugh, no one would ever take this unless they’re a Retribution Paladin! This is strictly for Ret Paladins, right?”
“This is what hybrid classes look like in LOF. Getting the picture?”
Im Harin’s eyebrows twitched.
“W-wait… but the lower ones have to be good, right? Honestly even Warlocks stop getting excited after level 30.”
Since Harin refused to accept the truth, I showed her the talents available at max level.
Holy Shock
Holy Shield
Repentance
“…No way!!! These are complete garbage!”
Im Harin screamed in horror.
“Huh? What? Why are they so bad?”
“Ara, remember when I told you about that tank I met last time whose skills were so trash it made me furious?”
The girl named Ara nodded immediately.
“Oh~ I remember. You said you almost peed yourself because you couldn’t leave for the bathroom.”
“I did not pee! Anyway! The skill that tank had was ‘Holy Shield,’ right? Wait, I thought it was a skill but it’s actually a talent you pick? Unnie?”
Cooldown: 10 seconds
Increases block chance by 30% for 10 seconds. All blocked attacks during this time deal 157 Holy damage to the attacker. Damage dealt by Holy Shield generates 30% additional threat. Can trigger up to 4 times.
“Yep. That’s why Protection Paladins feel ridiculously squishy before they hit max level.”
“W-what about Holy Shock?”
Cooldown: 30 seconds
Strikes the target with Holy energy, dealing 333 to 400 Holy damage. Can also be used on an ally to restore 333 to 400 health.
“It’s an instant heal. You can use it on enemies too, I guess?”
“T-then what about Repentance?”
Cooldown: 1 minute
Forces the enemy to repent for up to 6 seconds, rendering them unable to act. The effect breaks if the target takes damage. Only works on humanoids.
“…That’s it?”
“Yep.”
“You’re lying, right unnie? There has to be more. Who would ever pick these? Rogues get Sap for free when they level up!”
That’s exactly why Retribution Paladins are trash. Understand now?
“This is insane! Warlocks get so many cool talent choices!”
Im Harin frantically opened her own game window and pointed at the screen.
“Look at this! Even at level 60! You have to seriously debate between Cataclysm and Ignite on the far left!”
“What’s the difference?”
Im Harin quickly pointed at the icons with her finger.
When a Destruction spell critically strikes, damage is increased by 100%.
“This one is amazing. When you take this, the damage numbers on my Destruction spells look completely different when they crit!”
Deals 447 to 557 Fire damage to a target affected by Immolate. Using Ignite removes the existing Immolate effect.
“There’s a skill called Immolate that deals damage over time, right? This lets you blow it up for big damage. It’s secretly really good.”
“What about the rest?”
“Those are for making your summoned demons stronger. But I don’t play a Demonology Warlock so they’re useless to me.”
Im Harin lifted her hands off the mouse.
“Anyway! I’m not an Affliction Warlock either so Ignite isn’t exactly tasty for me, but it’s nowhere near as bad as Holy Shield and Holy Shock!”
The difference between a DPS player calling something ‘low efficiency’ and a hybrid class calling something ‘bad’ was enormous.
“Unnie, what about Shamans?”
“I don’t feel like pulling up screenshots, so I’ll just tell you one thing. There’s a talent that lets you drop a mana-restoring totem.”
“…Isn’t that a healer-only thing?”
“Pretty bad for either ranged or melee DPS to take, right?”
Im Harin stuck her tongue out and shuddered.
“Ugh, then what about Druids?”
“You get to turn into a Sunwalker, plus talents that increase crit chance when you shapeshift into bear or cat, and an instant heal.”
“…I am never leveling a hybrid on my alt. What the heck is this, seriously.”
The other girls didn’t even try to jump into the conversation.
“This is why hybrids are a problem. Not every talent for pure DPS classes is good either. Even Gunslingers have one talent at 60 that’s a crowd-control ability like Ret Paladins get.”
“But the other two are DPS talents, so you can just take those, right?”
“Exactly. That’s why hybrids are trash—if you get a garbage option there’s literally nothing else you can do.”
Retribution Paladins straight-up waste their level 60 point, while Gunslingers at least feel a little disappointed and move on.
Of course, not even pure DPS classes have guaranteed bright futures.
The Fire Mage, who became an absolute god in the original version’s final days, would have to hang up their staff in the upcoming raid because the bosses would be immune to Fire damage.
But at least a Fire Mage could swap over to an Elemental Shaman or Void Mage.
“Anyway, that explanation got a bit long, didn’t it? What I’m trying to say is, if you’re just playing with friends for fun, play whatever class you want. But unless you’re chasing some grand fantasy, hybrids really aren’t worth it.”
“I don’t even know what Shamans are supposed to do, hehe…”
“Paladins look cool but if they’re this bad I don’t want to play one!”
“I’m not a huge fan of the furry thing with Druids either…”
Good, good. None of you should ever level a hybrid…
Raids might bring one or two for various reasons, but still.
I didn’t want to steal these precious high-school girls’ time just for those brief moments.
“Then for your races and stuff… never mind, just pick whatever’s pretty! Whatever you like!”
There was no need to lecture kids who weren’t even trying to play hardcore about which races were best for which classes.
“Harin, this unnie has done everything she can.”
“Hehe, thank you, unnie. I’ll buy you malatang later.”
“I already told you I don’t eat spicy food.”
“What’s spicy about malatang!”
What on earth has happened to kids’ taste buds these days?
“You girls are seriously going to—huh?”
─ Whoosh!
The sudden sound of incoming whispers made me glance at the chat window without thinking.
Sometimes weirdos spouted nonsense, and I didn’t want to show that kind of chat in front of high-school girls…
“What the…”
“Huh? Unnie, why are all these streamers suddenly whispering you?”
“I’d like to know that myself. I have no idea what—”
“Whoa, unnie is getting flooded with whispers.”
“No way… there’s more than ten now?”
“Wow… Harin, you were right. This unnie really is popular in-game?? What’s going on???”
I was experiencing this for the first time too…
Im Harin seemed eager to explain and started frantically scrolling on her phone.
“Hold on, the people whispering me right now…”
Before I could hear the explanation, an ominous realization floated up in my mind.
Irea played a Protection Paladin.
5SecondRealMan was an Enhancement Shaman.
The VTuber with the suspicious-sounding name LoveLoveYuri played a Shadow Priest and was an ultra-hipster…
“…These are all streamers who play trash hybrid classes?”
My worried suspicion became reality the moment Im Harin let out a little giggle.
“Unnie, it looks like these people made a bet on who can clear the dungeon the fastest. But they don’t have a healer, so they need you.”
“At a glance this is obviously a match between a tier-one party and a trash party, right?”
I never agreed to anything, and I’m not even a streamer, so why am I already listed as a member?
And Paladins… are great! When I play them!!!