As I scrolled through the list of classes only the character's attire changed, to match the equipment specific to that class. The game defaulted to Force Breaker, but there were five others.

  First up was the Kinetic Marksmen. A battlefield controller with a high rate of attack. Their role was to maintain distance and consistent damage over long fights with large enemies. While I enjoyed staying at range out of danger, I found their ability to take on groups of enemies less than was advertised. Besides, I had a few friends who wanted to take up this class. It was already ruled out for me.

  Moving to the right revealed the Aether Weaver, Aecheland's mage class and true crowd control. I'll admit it's the class I played most in the beta. Because it had an area of effect heal spell, I used to support my friends who played a lot less than I did. The game has large wilderness areas with groups of enemies numbering ten or more. The weaver's base area of effect arts were great for zipping through the start of the game. However, once you got through the echelon, it started to take multiple castings to take out groups. I determined it wouldn't suit me in the long term.

  Aecheland follows a melee, ranged, and magic triangle, but also had classes with dual affinities. The Rune Vanguard was the class on the game's main menu screen. It's a crafting class of sorts that supplies and enhances equipment for other players. They are able to augment equipment with runic symbiology, and are the only class able to apply runic tattoos to others. Communicating with them is essential for the power bonus they provide. I wanted to play one to be the crafting guy for my guild, but realized that is all I would be doing. I decided against this, because...

  Controversially, each Aecheland account only allows a single character.

  Next over was the Phase Striker, a melee and ranged combo class. Somewhat like a rogue with a hit-and-run fighting tactic. They were the fastest attacking class and had the potential for the highest damage per second. If you were reactive, you could harass an enemy with attacks constantly. Unfortunately, they gain a "flanking" bonus while in a party. I had a feeling that I would be playing the game a lot more alone than with friends. I didn't want to rely on others to maintain a small power bonus.

  The final class on the selection wheel was Mystic Deadeye. A ranged and magic dual class that can fire elemental-charged projectiles. It initially didn't look like it would appeal to me... until I read all of its arts.

  A player can choose only two of the three available Class Arts. However, they can synergize with each other. Here's what I was thinking.

  If you take Homing Bolt and Elemental Infusion: you can get a sort of prismatic effect if you change your element after every cast. Bump up the cast speed on the Homing Bolt, and you get a multi-element magic missile. Pretty cool.

  Now then, if instead you opt for Elemental Infusion and Arcane Sight: you can scan surrounding enemies to determine their weaknesses. You won't have a Homing Bolt, but you will have your normal bolt which you can give the enemy's elemental weakness; which you now know. That could be pretty powerful, but I think I found something better.

  With Homing Bolt and Arcane Sight: I can mark targets, and then concentrate solely on their position. It sounds much better to me than blind-firing basic attacks toward them with their weakness element. I can send an endless deluge of high cast speed, seeking bolts at them without having to immediately cast Elemental Infusion. I don't have to worry fully about projectile damage. As I am trying to hit them with staggers and stuns anyway.

  Assuming I find the right equipment. It might be the only way to get a Class Art with a faster attack speed than the Phase Striker's Tempo Shift.

  I finished up the character appearance customization and chose an appropriate pitch for my voice. Even though the game has proximity chat, it comes with a few voice-integrated filters to use by default. Testing a few of them out they seemed to work pretty well. My friends will know I have changed it of course, but I think its enough to command a little more respect from randoms. Why not have a little fun with it?

  Now that the class selection was out of the way, there was the matter of stats and Basic Arts. Aecheland has a dozen Basic Arts available to each of the three affinities: melee, ranged, and magic. As one of the hybrid classes, I am able to select from either of the Basic Ranged Arts and Basie Magic Arts lists. I don't think they are all worth mentioning... right now, but I'll share why I made the choices I did.