There's something wonderfully nostalgic about cruising through pixelated 2D levels KOing everything in my path, just like I did back in Double Dragon. Multiplayer beat 'em up Dungeon Fighter Online lets you continue the pain-dispensing alongside the more than 300 million other players signed up for the game.
This month, Nexon is adding a new class to the mix, the Male Mage, and we've the exclusive first look at how you'll be tearing up the world with fire, ice, and plenty of magic.
The first question you're probably asking is, "Why is it specifically a male mage, Josh?" Well, random reader, the answer's pretty simple: there's already a Mage class in DFO and it's a she. This new class isn't just a reskin though--it comes with totally new (and frankly way more awesome) spells to use.
The existing Mage is a by-the-books mainstream goody-goody, but this new guy is a self-described outcast who got his magical powers by tapping into the Abyss to develop a whole new school of magic with the primary purpose of erradicating enemies "in a very radical style." I can dig it.
He's definitely got a flair for the dramatic with his spell effects, which can really take over the screen as they lay waste to the baddies. Here are the core skills every Male Mage gets:
- Consecutive Firing: Basic attack; rapidly launch a stream of energy orbs
- Wind Strike: Unleash a tornado to knock up all enemies it hits
- Trap Strike: Play paddle ball with a bad buy's body, pulling it close before sending 'em flying
- Ghost Flame: Summon two flames to escort you, boosting your defense and attack
- Water Cannon: Magical Super Soaker to hose down the competition
- Teleport: Exactly what it sounds like
- Ice White Sword: Summons large ice swords in your hands, then spin in circles slicing and dicing
- Flame Shield: Giant tornadoes of fire have many uses: deflect incoming projectiles from ranged attackers, or keep it simple by burninating people
Elemental Bomber
As Male Mages reach higher levels, they'll be able to pick a specialty (dubbed "class advancement" in DFO) that lets you unlock the really powerful spells. The first available is the Elemental Bomber: dark-browed kids with no regard for innocent bystanders. Their spells revolve around chucking down massive AOE effects that decimate everything in sight. Their skills are:
- Elemental Shift: Change your basic attack Magic Orb's attributes to Fire, Water, Light, or Shadow
- Elemental Shield: Increases the resistance to the attribute active in Elemental Shift
- Infernal Road: Summon a line of fire pillars (presumably pointing towards Hell)
- Crystal Crash: Draw a pentacle on the ground and then drop an ice pillar on it
- Crystal Storm: Same thing, but with multiple ice pillars crashing down
- Lightning Wall: Curtains of death that shoot down from the sky and whips across the screen
- Chain Lightning: A lightning bolt that churns through multiple corpses at once
- Magic Cannon: Merge power orbs in the air into a mega-orb to blast down at your enemies
- Mana Burst: Spells cost more, but deal more damage as well
- Flame Circle: Sling rings of fire in front of you
- Dark Zone: Darkens the immediate surroundings to blind and damage everyone else
- Darkness Mantle: Toss that damaging darkness a long distance and let it stew out there
- Elemental Rain: Make it rain magical droplets of punishment, with one uber droplet at the end sealing the deal with death
Glacial Master
Male Mages less interested in diversifying their elemental prowess can instead dump all their magical eggs in the freezing ice basket with the Glacial Mastery advancement. These mages have a pretty unique playstyle: instead of hurling magic at people, they create weapons out of ice and wield them like battle mages. They also get to wear thicker armor than the other mages--leather, instead of cloth. Their full skill list is:
- Icy Aura: Replaces your basic Magic Orb attack with ice spikes
- Snow Flower Spear: Create ice spears and jab them forward
- Windmill Spear: Spin that ice spear in a circle, then throw it away
- Ice Road: Icy fog trails behind you, slowing enemies caught in it
- Insight: Skill cost less mana and your Intelligence is increased
- Frozen Arrows: Shoot ice arrows at an enemy, then sprint forward to anyone hit. Grab the arrow and slash them with it again. Beautiful.
- Resonance: Decreases the Water Resistance of nearby enemies and increases your damage with Water spells
- Grand Shatter: Summon a giant chunk of ice and then punch it to send fragments flying at enemies
- Ice Crusher: Create a large ice mace smash with
- Ice Crash: Your body morphs into a sharp piece of ice and flies forward
- Ice Man: Draw a Pentacle on the ground to call down a huge ice pillar that locks the enemies in place and explodes for heavy damage
- Raging Water Pillars: Freeze nearby enemies before creating two large spouts of water that spins to damage enemies
If you like what you see, you can download Dungeon Fighter Online right now and play for free. The Male Mage won't be hitting live servers until later this month, but you can jump into any of the other eight classes while you wait.
