Idea Dwarf Rework - A Different Approach

(Note: Some of you may not recognize me, due to a long period of inactivity, but I am a CTF veteran who has long created class concepts and reworks.)

(Note 2: Except for the 1.9+ sword/axe mechanics, I use 1.9+ values that may or may not be accurate in regard to the current version of CTF. Regardless of accuracy, please just focus on the big picture.)

(Note 3: Warning. Long post. Skip to TL;DR if you're lazy.)

INTRODUCTION​

Problems of current Dwarf:

• Due to class mechanics, limited to only one role: flag defense.
• Overpowered in the above singular role due to the heavy emphasis on the snowballing effect.
  
• Dwarf has one of the lowest skill caps in the game.
  
• Players tend to refrain from using the class.
  • It’s uninteresting to some because of the single role, lack of mobility, and slow leveling.
  • Cost of dying is massive (loss of all hard-earned levels).

General goals of this rework:

• Near-complete overhaul on class mechanics to increase amount of roles (on top of flag defense, the following hopefully viable roles are added: support, capping, recovery, counter to certain classes).
• Minor nerf in regard to flag defense role effectiveness.
• Making the class fun to use.
• Increase skill cap.

THE REWORK (part 1) – Armor/Hotbar​

Armor:

• Chainmail Helmet (unchanged)
• Diamond Chestplate (unchanged)
• Chainmail Leggings (instead of Diamond Leggings)
• Chainmail Boots (unchanged)

Hotbar:

• Iron Axe (instead of Diamond Sword)
• 3 Steak (unchanged)

THE REWORK (part 2) – Removed Stuff​

Passive Effects:

• Fire Immunity
• Potion Immunity
• Hunger (no running)

Other Stuff:

• Charging via sneaking

THE REWORK (part 3) – New Stuff​

New Charging Mechanic and Other Charging Changes:

• Charge up by holding right-click on axe.
• Rate of charge up is 16x greater than current dwarf (e.g. getting to lv10 in 12 seconds instead of 3 minutes 12 seconds).
• Rate of charge loss is 4x faster (e.g. getting from lv10 to no levels in 48 seconds instead of 3 minutes 12 seconds).

Other Changes to Charging and Levels:

• Level cap is now 25.
• 1 sharpness per 1 level (same rate), 1 knockback per 5 levels (slightly decreased rate), 1 fire aspect per 8 levels (greatly decreased rate)
• All levels and enchantments lost upon hitting someone.

Sneaking Buffs Now:

• While sneaking, the following are granted:
  • Instakill immunity (assassinate and headshot).
  • Knockback immunity.

New Dwarven Shield Ability:

• When sneaking and holding right click with your axe in hand, a silver bubble will form around you.
  • Any melee (sword, axes, pickaxes, etc.) damage incurred against you or allies within this shield will be reduced by X (amount of levels; e.g. lv17 bubble will reduce by 8.5 hearts, while a lv2 bubble will reduce by 1 heart). Does not protect against ranged attacks, fire, potions, etcetera.
  • Any melee damage incurred against you or allies will be reflected back at the exact damage.
  • Dwarven Shield consumes levels at a constant rate of exactly 1 level per ¼ second; if lv25, the bubble will take 6.25 seconds to dissipate compared to Elven Shield’s 5.00 seconds.

TL;DR​

• Nerf of armor.
• Changed weapon from sword to axe and nerfed material.
• No more immunity to fire and potions.
• Dwarf can run now.
• Crouching gives knockback immunity and instakill immunity.
• Charging changed from crouching to holding right-click on axe.
• Much faster charging.
• Hitting empties levels completely.
• New defensive ability akin to Elvin Shield, except countering melee rather than range.

Rework Reasoning
(within spoiler due to length)​

Spoiler: Click here for Rework Reasoning

The New Mechanics:

• To solve the problem of disinterest and the lack of multiple role viability, I determined, just as many have in the past, that an increase in mobility must be involved in the rework in some way. Some have tried to decrease the slowness, but, based on feedback that forumers have given to past Dwarf reworks, I decided on an entirely different approach, a unique approach involving running, a different charging mechanic, and instakill immunity (with a focus on headshots).
  • Allowing Dwarf to run opens up many options. For one, since they can change speed more efficiently (crouching/walking/running), they would be able to dodge ranged attacks. They would also be able to get to and from the enemy flag in a non-absurd amount of time, potentially opening up the role of capping.
  • Moving the Dwarf charge mechanic to the right-click of the axe means that Dwarf would not have to sneak constantly. They could RUN to the flag WHILE charging up. You may notice that this is one of the main reasons I chose an axe rather than a sword; right-clicking the axe does not slow you down (in vanilla Minecraft, it has no effect).
  • One major problem with Dwarf going offense, in the past, was Archers. For one, Archers could simply headshot the poor, slow-moving beasts. Even if the Dwarf managed to get past the 30+ block range of the Archers, Archers and Mages would have zero trouble attacking the Dwarfs by utilizing their Punch I bow and Spells respectively. To solve this problem and the separate problem of Dwarf not being able to block Assassins with the new axe, I tied some abilities to sneaking: instakill immunity and knockback immunity. The instakill immunity allows Dwarf to roam the battlefield without fear…with the cost of much slower moving speed, that is. The knockback immunity makes a Dwarf vs. Archer/Mage fight less unfair. On a side note, the knockback immunity also further cements Dwarf’s role as a Ninja counter in that Ninja strafe combos are less effective against Dwarf.
• The new level 25 cap, combined with the new one-hit-only mechanic, serves the purpose of utility and making Dwarf’s defense role less OP but still very viable. One blow from a max-level Dwarf will deal 11 hearts of damage (3 hearts from Iron Axe, 8 from all the Sharpness), which is massive. If the Dwarf managed to make that a critical hit (a hit while falling down from a jump, usually), it would actually do enough damage to instakill Archers, Assassins, Chemists, Engineers, Ninjas, Pyros, and Fashionistas.
  • In regard to Dwarf’s defense, this would easily wipe out a single average flag-stealer (except for a Soldier and Elf). However, if a player with a heavier defense or a group of players came to steal the flag, Dwarf would struggle at protecting the flag. Also, Dwarf’s defense role is much less OP due to less emphasis on snowballing since Dwarf would lose their levels after hitting once.
  • In regard to utility, Dwarf would be able to safely approach (with the knockback immunity sneaking) and take out (the damage alone) common midfield threats such as Archers (yes, Archer, which would no longer counter Dwarf) and Engineers. It can also recover the flag from enemies due to the sheer amount of burst damage.
• The drastic increase in charging speed means that Dwarf would not have to wait several minutes to become useful on the battlefield. It also means that the cost of dying is not as massive as before since, although Dwarf would still lose all its levels (which it would do anyways by hitting someone), it would be able to regain them quickly.

The New Ability:

• Even with their increased mobility, Dwarf would find it difficult to steal a flag. Slowness II still makes a huge difference. Also, if I were to fix the above problem alone, Dwarf would only have access to two primary roles: Defense and Capping. To hit two birds with one stone, I decided to give Dwarf an entirely new ability: Dwarven Shield. This ability would greatly boost Dwarf’s supportive capabilities (a new primary role that would open) and, at the same time, would allow Dwarf (and allies) walk into the enemy flag room totally protected from melee attacks, at least for a short period of time. On top of this, Dwarven Shield makes Dwarf much more interactive and, therefore, more interesting to use (partially solving the problem of disinterest). Besides, a Dwarven Shield in a game already with an Elven Shield kind of makes sense, right (since a dwarf, outside of CTF, is sometimes seen as a counterpart to an elf)?

The Nerfs:

• The new mechanics and the new ability together would make Dwarf a little OP. And so, I partially nerfed Dwarf as well.
  • One of those nerfs, as you noticed, was the one-hit-only mechanic regarding the levels; this ensured that Dwarf would not be too overpowered on defense. Groups of players or tanky classes would counter Dwarf.
  • Another nerf was the reduction in rate of attaining knockback and fire aspect. This, however, in my opinion, is a pseudonerf; although it takes more levels at a time to gain knockback/fire aspect, this new Dwarf has a higher cap on the amount of knockback/fire aspect it can have (Knockback V compared to Knockback II; Fire Aspect III compared to Fire Aspect II).
  • The other nerfs were the reduction of armor and the removal of fire/potion immunity. Dwarf has many more offensive capabilities (and an additional defensive capability in the form of Dwarven Shield), and so, reasonably, Dwarf must be balanced by having less defensive capabilities. This would make Chemist and Pyro clear-cut counters to Dwarf (especially one with no levels).
    • Side Note: Overall, Dwarf would have four primary counters: Chemist, Pyro, Mage, and Elf.

And now it’s time for ratings and comments. Do me a favor and give your honest opinion and constructive feedback? I’ve had a few people in the past (whether they meant well or not) say simple things like “This is cool” or “This sucks” and ends the comment as is. I’d appreciate it.



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Sorry I haven't responded to anyone. Don't worry, I'm not ignoring you all; I've just had a really ****** week due to finals and a medical emergency. I'll respond eventually. Promise.

Thanks, though, for all your feedback! You all are great!
Welcoming additional feedback from others.

Oh, and additional tag:
@redslime