There are three basic character classes in T4C: Warriors, Archers and Mages. However, there are a lot of sub-classes around, and here is a simple list of them, with their pros and cons.

Warrior Class

Warriors are players who prefer close range, hand-to-hand-combat. This class wield daggers, swords and axes, while wearing heavy armor and shields. They have Attack as their main skill, to improve their chances of hitting the target. 

Pure Warrior: The pure warriors are those who invest on nothing else then STR and END, and a little AGI for the Armor Penetration skill. They usually go for 300 END (so they can wear Ancient Platemail) and then pump STR to carry stronger weapons.

Pros: Pure Warriors are one of the most deadly PvP characters, since melee weapons do BIG damage. Not to mention that they have a huge AC and HP.

Cons: Warriors can only attack on melee, and they are vulnerable to Mental ranged spells (Flare, Inferno), which ignores AC.

 

Paladin Warrior: Paladins are basically warriors, but they also invest on WIS to wield blunt weapons (such as Maces and Flails). Since they invest on WIS, they can learn protection spells, along with earth and light based spells (Boulders, turn Undead), making them a very powerful class.

Pros: Paladins have HUGE AC. Many of them go for Ancient Platemail, which altogether with protections spells make him an almost unbeatable player. Also, WIS spells like Boulders and Turn Undead are great monster killing spells, making XP a lot easier for paladins.

Cons: Blunt weapons are a little more powerful then conventional weapons. However, they are capped at the Ancient Morningstar +3 (247 – 359 damage), while an Ancient Two-handed Sword +3 will do 432 – 638 damage.

 

Battle Mages: This class is becoming very rare, since it’s very hard to make one. Basically, it’s a counterpart from Paladins, since battle mages invest on INT, so they can use Fire-based spells to level.

Pros: Fire spells are very good for PvM, and when they run out of mana, they can rely on their melee weapon.

Cons: Battle mages are not good at PvP. Like Paladins, they don’t wield heavier weapons like warriors and their spells are less powerful then pure mages spells.

 

Mage Class

Mages are players who will invest mainly on INT or WIS. They prefer using spells rather then weapons, and wear magical robes instead of body armor. Since spells don’t use all skill points, mages invest on the Dodge skill to avoid physical attacks from warriors and archers.

Fire Mages: Fire Mage is a classic mage build. There has been fire mages ever since T4C was created. They invest mainly on INT, and the only offensive spells they learn are the fire-based spells, using the remaining skill points on Dodge. Now they are even more powerful, because of the new fire spells from version 1.25b.

Pros: Fire spells are probably the most powerful spells around, making the mages of this elemental school great characters for PvM and PvP.

Cons: Since fire mages rely only on fire-based spells, they will do little damage to monsters and players with high fire resistance, leaving them no choice but find another place to level, or return to temple.

 

Ice Mages: Ice mages are very similar to fire mages, but they are rare, since water-based spells are less powerful then fire spells, and there aren’t many +water power items around. However, some people are making ice mages, since no player really cares about water resistance, and the new water spells from 1.25b patch are quite powerful.

Pros: No player really cares about water resistance, making Ice Mages an interesting PvP class. Also, water spells are great against monsters.

Cons: There aren’t many items that increase water power, making it hard for Ice Mages to improve the damage of his spells.

 

Dark Mages: Dark mages, or necromancers, are INT based mages just like Fire and Ice mages, and use mostly the drain spells. There are many items that improve dark power, and a high level necromancer is very tough to beat.

Pros: Plague reduces target’s HP, drain spells are very powerful and while damaging the target, heals the caster, making the Dark Mage an excellent PvP class.

Cons: Dark spells are not good at PvM (not to mention that dark spells doesn’t work on the undead), and necromancers must rely on fire spells to level. Also, there were no new dark spells with 1.25b patch, and the most powerful drain spell is still the Soulsteal.

 

Air Mages: This build is a very peculiar one. Air spells need both INT and WIS, almost equally. Air mages are quite good to level; they have good WIS and INT, which improve offensive and defensive power.

Pros: The new Air spells from 1.25b are quite powerful, and air resistance items are not common. Also, good XP monsters like drakes are vulnerable to air spells.

Cons: Investing on both INT and WIS is expensive and difficult. The Air mages will find it hard to wear good armor.

 

Earth Mages: Also known as Priests, these clerics rely mainly on WIS and earth-based spells. A classic and very common build, it’s probably the best character class at PvM, since protections spells are heavily affected by WIS and monsters are very vulnerable to earth-spells like Boulders.

Pros: High AC and powerful spells makes earth mages a very reliable class. Very easy to level, it is most likely to find them amongst the Top 10 players at your realm. Also, their high WIS makes them the perfect team players, since their power-up spells are powerful and helpful to other character classes.

Cons: There are no powerful Mental type earth spells, making it hard for a priest to kill anyone with high AC. For PvP they need to use Mana Burst, not as powerful as Flare or Inferno.

 

Light Mages: A little variation from the Earth Priest, the Light Priest invests their seraph points on light power. These priests have no powerful offensive spells but you won’t find any better Bless then theirs. Better team player then the Earth Priest, the Light Priest have even more powerful power-up spells, making him an indispensable class on your group.

Pros: They have the best power-up spells such as Bless, making them the perfect support players. Also, Turn Undead is a great PvM spell against the undead (did I hear P’tangh?).

Cons: The only offensive light spell is Turn Undead, which only works on the undead. Although useful against P’tangh and his minions, no living being such as other players can be damaged with it, making the Light Priest useless at PvP (well, except when spelling fighters up).

Tank Mages: These are not a specific class. Tank mages are those who, independent from their elemental school, pump their END to 300. They do this not only to wear Ancient Platemail, but also to improve their HP.

Pros: Tank mages, specially the Tank Priests, have an unbelievable AC, together with a large amount of HP.

Cons: Having the END pumped to 300, makes these Tanks to have less WIS or INT, lessening their offensive power.

 

Archer Class

Archers are characters that prefer ranged weapons rather then entering in a melee combat. They wield bows and their main stats are STR and AGI. Although all archers wield bows (o_O) and have archery as their main skill, there are several sub-types of them.

Naked Archers: Considered by some as Pure Archers, these archers invest their stat points only on STR and AGI. It is easy to identify them because they will probably be wearing just a Leather Armor, or even naked. Naked archers traded defense for offensive power, while choosing to wield a powerful bow instead of a good body armor.

Pros: Naked archers wield powerful bows earlier then other archers, and do big damage.

Cons: They have very little AC and HP, making it difficult for them to level. Also, it’s almost impossible for them to pass trough the Oracle Realm. Their PvP capabilities are controversial. Although they can inflict heavy damage, they cannot resist a blow from a warrior or flares from a good mage.

 

Classic Archers: Also known as Fake Archers, these bowmen also invest points on END to wear better armor. The most common builds uses 160 END (for Dwarven Platemail) or 180 (for Dragonscale). This subclass is more balanced then the naked archer.

Pros: They have more AC, HP and resistances than the naked archers, making it easier for them to level.

Cons: Although having better defense stats, they don’t have enough AC to withstand a blow from a good warrior, and they can only wield the best Composite bows at high levels.

 

Bluestone Archer: Pretty much like the Classic archers, the BS archers differ only for the fact that they early invest their STR to 150, to wear Gleaming Bluestone Platemail.

Pros: Bluestone armor grants a good AC and resistances, and the 150 of strength improves the bow damage.

Cons: It’s a little difficult to pump STR to 150, leaving the best bows for the high levels.

 

Rangers: These bowmen are quite peculiar. Instead of investing their stat points on the basic archer stats, they also invest on WIS and INT, so they can use protections spells. There are two types of rangers: the basic rangers doesn’t invest on endurance, making the protections spells main source of AC; there is also the Azure ranger, that invest their END up to 100 to wear Azure Platemail.

Pros: Rangers usually have high AC and resistances, due to their protection spells.

Cons: To learn protection spells, the ranger must invest lots of stat points on INT and WIS, leaving the best bows only for the higher levels. Since rangers spend skill points on spells, they will have less archery then other archer classes.

 

Tank Archers: Also known as AP archer, these players invest on END up to 300 to wear Ancient Platemail, and then go for better bows.

Pros: Very high AC, HP and resistances makes the tank archer a tough player to beat.

Cons: Leveling to 300 END with an Ashwood Reflex Bow is pretty hard, not to mention that an AP archer will only get their hands on Composite bows at high levels.