Chapter Two: Career Classification and Character Registration
Upon entering the forum, a popup announcement appeared.
Forum Announcement: Welcome to the New World official forum. The forum is currently in trial operation. Please abide by the laws, regulations, and forum rules, and communicate civilly. Additionally, once New World officially launches, this forum will be seamlessly integrated with the game. Forum IDs will be linked to in-game character names. During the trial period, please register a temporary ID to post and comment.
Below the announcement, a crowd of users were already commenting, joking, and spamming.
One user wrote: “So the forum ID has to be tied to the in-game character name? Doesn’t that mean my flamboyant character name will be exposed? Please, everyone, don’t snipe my character name. Thank you.”
Another chimed in: “Don’t take my character name +1.”
And another: “Don’t take it +2.”
“Don’t take it +3.”
“Don’t take it +4.”
“Don’t take it +10012.”
Then someone else said, “Haha, you guys upstairs, I’ve got my eye on all your character names. Time to see whose fingers are faster. First come, first served.”
Instantly, the thread devolved into chaos.
After skimming through the flood of idle chatter, Zhang Shan closed the announcement and began searching the forum for useful information. One sticky, highly recommended post caught his attention.
“Hundred-Knowledge Sage: My Thoughts on the Top Ten Professions in New World.”
Opening up the Sage’s post, Zhang Shan saw at a glance that the author had put significant effort into it—clearly an experienced player, someone with deep gaming expertise. The post ran on for well over a thousand words.
Other people's insights can be valuable. Although Zhang Shan already had a profession in mind, it was still worth considering other opinions. After all, the official information on professions was scant, and accidentally choosing the wrong class would be troublesome.
In New World, deleting a character meant you couldn’t log in again for two years; only after that period could you register a new character. It was that strict. Once chosen, you were committed.
Zhang Shan carefully read the Sage’s analysis:
The Sage wrote: “According to the official introduction, there are ten main professions in New World. As for hidden classes, there’s no information yet, but based on my analysis, I doubt they exist. New World claims to be fair and balanced; if a hidden class were too powerful, it would disrupt the balance, and if too weak, it would just be a gimmick. Given the game’s background, there’s no reason for that.
Back to the main topic: the ten classes fall into three primary categories based on their main attribute—Strength, Agility, and Intelligence.
Strength-based: Guardian Warrior, Berserker, Spellblade.
Agility-based: Rogue, Archer, Hunter.
Intelligence-based (four in total): Frost Mage, Fire Mage, Taoist, Witch Doctor.
Guardian Warrior is straightforward—a tank, nothing more to say. Unless you’re in a team, not many people will pick this class. Berserker is also easy to understand—high damage, high burst, with crowd control, sure to be popular.
Let’s focus on Spellblade among the Strength classes. The official description: ‘A swordsman wielding dual blades, masterful in swordsmanship, capable of dealing fatal blows when brandishing his swords.’ The key phrase here is ‘masterful in swordsmanship,’ which clearly refers to skills in game terms. Spellblade relies on skills for damage; melee classes that depend on skills demand strong mechanics—newbies beware. And since they rely on skills, pay attention to stat allocation, or else you’ll run out of mana.
Now for Agility classes. Rogue is likely similar to those in other games—stealth, ambush, and quick escapes when outmatched.
The other two Agility classes are worth a closer look. Archer is usually a well-rounded class in most games, but seems a bit different in New World. The official description reads: ‘An ancient profession with a long legacy. Their arrows fall like starlight, unstoppable in might.’ That’s an impressive intro—sounds overpowered. But here’s my take: ‘arrows fall like starlight’ probably refers to a powerful ultimate, likely an area-of-effect skill. No doubt, a strong skill indeed.
But here’s the catch: how do you get such skill books? New World doesn’t sell skill books in shops, nor do class trainers teach them. Besides a basic starting skill, all other skill books drop from mobs and bosses. You can imagine how rare such a powerful skill book must be. Ordinary players shouldn’t get their hopes up, unless you’re incredibly lucky.
Still, that doesn’t mean Archers aren’t viable. All ultimate skills for every class will be rare. Even without their ultimate, Archers are solid—ranged physical DPS, steady and efficient, with low resource consumption. Perfect for casual players without grand ambitions.
Of course, whales will enjoy it too—no matter how rare a skill is, money solves all problems in the end. With enough blue currency, anything can be bought.
The last Agility class is the Hunter. The official description is somewhat misleading: ‘A hunter with a musket, king of the wilds.’
So, what does ‘king of the wilds’ refer to—PvE or open-world PvP? I’d say it’s mostly about PvE. Ranged, agile physical DPS classes like Hunter and Archer usually have few damaging or control skills—maybe none at all—and even fewer survival skills. Such glass-cannon classes are at a disadvantage in open-world PvP unless they have a massive gear or level advantage. In my view, Archer and Hunter are similar, with the main difference being that Archer has a strong AOE ultimate, while it’s unclear what Hunter’s ultimate is. Otherwise, both have low resource consumption and stable, efficient damage—great for farming.
Now for Intelligence classes. Frost and Fire Mages are self-explanatory. Mages are always kings in games, and I’m sure it’ll be no different here. Frost Mages lean toward control; Fire Mages are all about raw damage.
The other two Intelligence classes are support types, with different focuses—one likely specializes in single-target support, the other in group support. Which is which, we’ll only know after entering the game.
Let’s all discuss the game together. If you liked this post, please bookmark and upvote.”
This Sage was truly a character—over a thousand words in a single forum post.
Zhang Shan generally agreed with the post, though he had his own thoughts about the Hunter class.
According to the official website, the Hunter is described as “a hunter with a musket, king of the wilds.” Zhang Shan believed the key word was “hunter.” If the Hunter is king of the wilds, aside from mob-farming prowess, they must be good at survival—meaning they should have decent self-preservation skills. Otherwise, why call them king of the wilds? And since they’re hunters, perhaps they can even have pets, making farming even easier.
Zhang Shan planned to play as a Hunter, drawn by their farming ability. Although Archer was a solid option, the official hype around it would likely attract many players, making equipment and skill books highly contested. He preferred to avoid that hassle.
His goal in New World was to become an unfeeling grinder, farming mobs endlessly. As for PvP, he had no interest—if someone wanted to fight, he’d just let himself be killed.
Continuing to browse forum posts, Zhang Shan was struck by how many talented people the gaming community had, always coming up with fresh ideas. He had no plans to make a name for himself on the forum, nor did he join the spamming masses. Too lazy to register a temporary forum ID, he figured he’d just wait until the game launched, when the forum would be linked to his character name—no need for extra steps.
In the following two days, Zhang Shan wandered all around Peng City, taking in the sights, knowing that once the game started, he might not have the chance for a long while. He also made a huge shopping trip to the supermarket, stuffing his fridge and stocking up on snacks, ready for a marathon gaming session.
On the morning of August 18, 2058, Zhang Shan got up early, had breakfast outside, then returned home to quietly await the launch of New World.
At exactly eight o’clock, stirring music sounded inside his gaming helmet. The scene shifted to reveal a vast metropolis, stretching beyond the horizon—hundreds of miles across, it seemed. The city’s inhabitants enjoyed a peaceful life, when suddenly the sky darkened. A giant demon god appeared, its massive form blotting out the heavens, distant yet near, exuding an overwhelming might that pressed down on the city.
A kingly figure appeared in the city, wielding a longsword shining with mysterious light. With one slash, he struck at the demonic aura outside the city. The sword’s light moved both fast and slow, and when it faded, the demon god outside the city had vanished. The cutscene ended.
“Welcome to New World. Please follow the prompts to register your character.”
Zhang Shan looked at the registration module. Gender: male—no choice there; identity bound. Race: also locked, defaulting to Human. The game’s theme was a war between humans and demons, and since it was developed by the Alliance government, they couldn’t very well have people playing as demons—that would send the wrong message.
Appearance could be adjusted, but only by five percent. Zhang Shan made a few minor tweaks for a more generic look; he was pretty average-looking anyway.
“Please enter a character name.”
“A Musketeer.”
“Sorry, that name is already taken.”
Damn, it’s only just started and people are already sniping names. Zhang Shan couldn’t help but complain.
“Three Musketeers.”
“Sorry, that name is already taken.”
“Long-barreled Musket.”
“Sorry, that name is already taken.”
Zhang Shan was speechless, unable to think of a suitable name. Suddenly, inspiration struck—he remembered an old joke from years ago.
“Six-Barreled Bodhisattva.”
“This name is available. Would you like to confirm?”
“Yes.”
“Character name registered successfully. Please choose your class.”
“Hunter.”
“Class selection successful. Please confirm.”
“Confirm.”
“Please draw your character talent.”
Oh, there’s a talent system? Zhang Shan wasn’t aware of this; the official website said nothing about it. Some speculated on the forums that everyone might get a unique talent, but no one took it seriously—there was no evidence.
“Draw.”
Dots of light drifted down from the sky toward Zhang Shan. One slowly approached and landed atop his head.
“Talent draw successful. Talent is innate and cannot be changed. Character registration complete. Wishing you a pleasant journey in New World.”
That’s it? What’s my talent? Hunter is a physical class—please don’t give me a mage talent. That would be ridiculous.
Time to check the stats.
Character: Six-Barreled Bodhisattva
Class: Hunter
HP: 100
MP: 50
Physical Attack: 10
Magic Attack: 5
Strength: 5
Agility: 10
Intelligence: 5
Defense: 1
Luck: 9 (Randomly generated between 1 and 10. Luck is a hidden stat and never changes.)
Talent: King of Passives (Whenever you kill a monster, there is a chance to randomly acquire one of its passive skills. Chance to trigger: one in a million.)
Whoa, what an insane talent! Gaining monsters’ passive skills? That’s incredible. But one in a million chance—is this for real? The odds of winning the lottery are about the same.
Still, Zhang Shan was thrilled. This talent was powerful. It might not show its value right away, but over time, it would become increasingly significant. Since he planned to grind anyway, he’d just target monsters with useful passives. If he didn’t get it in a day, he’d grind for ten; if not in ten, then a month—eventually, he’d get it. Imagine, by the late game, how many passives he could have. The thought made him excited.
And the Luck stat was a pleasant surprise—was he really this lucky? Out of 1 to 10, he drew a 9. Today was clearly his lucky day. As for Luck 10, Zhang Shan didn’t even dare to dream—maybe that was unique.
With +9 Luck and his unique talent, maybe his chances of triggering passive drops would be better than advertised. All in all, he was very satisfied.