“This is pretty much what I plan to do. In GD I’m moving away from the typical feeble staff / wand wielding caster image and towards a more badass image as a specialist soldier type. To that end, casters will wield either melee weapons or guns but there will be a left-hand item called a fulcrum that will function as a sort of supporting piece of gear similar to a shield for warrior, but probably more oriented towards boosting offensive power and energy.”
“I’m not afraid of players ignoring melee weapons or guns, I just see staffs and wands as being sort of redundant, not fitting that well with the fiction, and really kind of taking away from what a real spell caster should be - a class that relies primarily on spells instead of a weapon. I mean a staff in TQ is basically a bow with different art and animations. So since we already have a ranged weapon class, I think it is a lot more interesting to have the pure archetypal caster classes using spells instead of an alternative ranged weapon.”
“The fantasy of spark-throwing wands or staves does not really fit the lore and gritty world of Grim Dawn, so we had to consider what a weapon used by spellcasters in Cairn would actually be. In the end, we settled on two distinct weapon types: Daggers and Scepters. These two archetypes fit the vision of devious sorcerers slitting their palms over a ritual circle, or powerful priests swinging implements of righteous fire at the foul undead.”