2e:Predator

The wilds of the world are a dangerous place - and they ever resist the feeble efforts of mortals to push back the tangled, feral domain. Even in 'civilized' frontier towns, any shadow could hide bestial, predatory eyes, ready to consume whichever unfortunate soul crosses their path. For most, the caprice of the wilderness is a fact of life. But a handful turn the tables. Using their powers as maiesta, these self-made predators combine the cunning of civilization with the appetite of a beast, proving beyond doubt that the creatures of the wild are far from the top of the food chain...

How to play a Predator
Predator play styles can vary pretty wildly, depending on which aspects of Predator one chooses to use or ignore. Predator is also more capable of, and in fact benefits more from, blending its aspects than many classes, and as such it is worth remembering about those aspects, even if in their most basic capacity.

The core of their various styles revolves around their Basics, in particular Devour, Set Trap, and Satiation. The first two both come with free half-speed movement attached to their normal functions, and the third offers them powerful and versatile sustain from using the first two as well as further augmenting their movement if they so desire. Between their extreme mobility, high base stats, and solid sustain, Predators work well as self-sufficient solo operatives and area-controlling team support alike.

Devour is their primary source of Satiation fuel, and also serves as an armor-piercing execution option against weakened enemies that also removes them from the field, which has some additional niche uses in preventing in-combat revival. It works best on targets that have one or more conditions on them, whether as a result of triggering traps, an ally deploying their own condition options, or something else entirely. Due to their high intake from Devour, these types of Predators tend to be well suited as tanks, wielding an excess of Satiation fuel for self-sustain, additional ways to burn it faster, and options like Meat Shield and their traps to help protect allies and keep enemies where they want them.

Set Trap, meanwhile, marks a wide area as a trap zone that can later set off any trap the Predator knows when the appropriate trigger condition is met. This allows them to threaten large swathes of the battlefield with unpredictable crowd control, or to support allies with effects like attack cancellation and additional movement, and to do so off-turn as well. A more total commitment to the Traps mentality can even deploy them proactively, using Arcane Trigger to set them off prematurely without waiting for someone to trip the trigger condition. Few if any classes can match the area suppression that a dedicated Traps Predator can put out.

Predators are versatile offense and area control units. They lack the pure firepower of a Rage Bearer, or the overall defensive bulk of a Shield Mother, but they’re no slouches in either category. Due to the large amount of free movement attached to other actions paired with their penchant for mid-to-long-range weapons and trapping, they have much more freedom in deciding where to set up and wreak havoc, or to change where they’re doing so if the situation requires they go handle a problem somewhere else. They lack options that let them define a battlefield outright, but their ability to troubleshoot to deal with whatever enemies are currently causing problems, wherever they’re causing problems, makes them valuable teammates.

How to hybridize a Predator
Predators can be somewhat more awkward as Hybrid component classes. Their base stats are very good, especially in the Movement department, but many of the class’s abilities -- particularly those pertaining to Devour or Traps -- are self-contained, both all but requiring the relevant Basic and being difficult to support properly with abilities from other classes that normally have no need to interact so directly with those from another class.

This doesn’t mean they can’t make good Hybrids, though, as the class has ranged weapon damage options that mix perfectly well with other classes. Rage Bearer and Hungry Ghost can both benefit from Hawkeye and potentially Hunter’s Eye, with the former class pair creating an even more devastating ranged damage dealer and the latter creating a brutal and nigh-untouchable sniper. Additionally, Satiation paired with Carving Knife and the Rage Bearer’s own Thrill of Battle allows the Rage Bearer to get additional sustain from its offense that it otherwise lacks, or gives the Predator additional armor and mobility on top of preventing any potential Size issues that may result from Carving Knife triggering too many times.

Even its more self-contained aspects can be useful to the right partner class. Shield Mother appreciates Traps options for extending her ability to shape the battlefield beyond just a few hexes around her, for instance. Satiation is the most flexible of its Basics when it comes to Hybrids, though, as with at most one extra passive it can be connected to any of the three Predator aspects -- Devour, Traps, or ranged weapon damage -- in order to provide some additional sustain and mobility, which many classes can appreciate.

Attribute Advances
Any maiesta can purchase the following abilities. Additionally, they gain one of their choice for free upon reaching thresholds of 200, 500, 1000, and 2000 total XP spent on advances.

Basic Abilities
The predator begins the game with these abilities, without requiring the expenditure of any XP.

Novice Abilities
Any predator can purchase the following abilities.