Character Class - Non-role-playing Games

Non-role-playing Games

Outside of role-playing games, some other cooperative video games, such as Battlefield 2, Star Wars Battlefront II or multiplayer tactical shooters, use class-based systems to leverage the emphasis they provide on cooperation. Often, these games also include other elements traditionally found in role-playing games, such as experience points. This is a relatively new, but growing, genre, having been popularized by the Quake mod Team Fortress.

Typical "classes" for tactical shooters include:

• Heavy infantry: powerful weapons, extra armor, slow speed
• Sniper: very long range rifles, weak close fighting ability.
• Engineer: weaker than average firepower, but abilities such as repairing vehicles, creating automated turrets or planting mines or bombs
• Medic: weaker than average firepower, but can heal others
• Anti-aircraft/-tank (and other vehicles): slow, can destroy vehicles, weaker firepower against infantry
• Typical infantry: average firepower, possibly faster than support classes, few or no special abilities, ideal for taking down more specialized classes such as engineers or anti-vehicles
• Auxiliaries: weaker than average firepower, can give ammunition to other players
• Spy: can disguise or cloak himself, plant cameras for remote surveillance, hack enemy constructions, and stab foes in the back for one-hit kills; sometimes combined with the sniper to make a "Covert Ops" class
• Flamethrower infantry: slow or average speed, high power at close range, little or no long range capabilities, best at harassment tactics
• Scouts: fast speed, strong at close range, typically has low health; used for recon and flag-capture
• Demolition: slow or average speed, able to use a variety of explosives, typically rockets, grenades, and mines; typically used to clear map obstructions and destroy enemy constructions
• Captain: commands troops, usually heavier armor than other units, weapon choice is all up to the player; some games such as Battlefield 2 give the commander the ability to send supplies and vehicles to locations on the map