Ever since its launch in the late 1990s, millions of players have explored Tibia’s fantasy world in the roles of knights, paladins, sorcerers and druids. However, soon there will be an all-new way to experience the MMORPG classic: For the first time in the PC game’s 28-year history, there will be a new “vocation”, as Tibia’s playable character classes are called. The monk relies on his martial-arts combat style and his mystical powers to vanquish opponents and support his allies.
For the longest time, it seemed impossible to develop a new vocation that would fit in on an equal footing with the established, carefully balanced roles in the game and interact with the many different mechanics Tibia offers. “Too complex and too risky”, people said, recalls the product manager behind the project, known in the community as Niadus. “The more we talked about it, however, the more it felt actually possible as well as a natural step for the game.”
Starting on February 25, multiple playtests will take place, which will allow the Tibia community to try out the monk in the game and to give feedback. If everything works as planned, the official launch is scheduled for the second quarter of this year. There are already some preliminary pieces of information regarding the monk’s core gameplay mechanics. Further insights will follow in the coming weeks.
By bringing the monk into the game, Tibia will present its loyal community with yet another innovation few players will have foreseen, having already introduced sound and music in 2022. Still, this is exactly what Tibia is about – even after nearly three decades. Niadus agrees: “All in all, we see the addition of a new vocation as an opportunity to rekindle the sense of discovery that was always part of Tibia. A chance to learn the intricacies of a new vocation, experiment with new strategies, and adapt to new team compositions.” The monk is likely to land quite a few hits, it seems.
