Avowed Oracle Demystified: Your Complete Explanation
Obsidian Entertainment’s upcoming RPG, Avowed, has consistently teased a fascinating and mysterious class: the Oracle. While details remain shrouded in secrecy (a recurring theme with Obsidian’s pre-release information), we can piece together a fairly comprehensive understanding of what the Oracle likely represents, based on the trailers, developer comments, and established fantasy RPG tropes. This article aims to demystify the Avowed Oracle, offering the most complete explanation possible based on current information.
What We Know For Sure:
- Magic-Focused Class: The trailers, specifically the gameplay reveal, clearly depict the Oracle utilizing a variety of magical abilities. This confirms it’s not a primarily martial class, setting it apart from Fighters or Rangers.
- Unique Visual Flair: The Oracle’s abilities are consistently depicted with distinctive visual effects, often involving glowing blue runes, shimmering energy fields, and ethereal projections. This suggests a unique magical “flavor” distinct from other potential spellcasting classes.
- Dual-Wielding Capability (Potential): While not explicitly shown, the ability to dual-wield wands and potentially other magic-focused implements is heavily suggested by Avowed’s overall combat system, which emphasizes customization and weapon combinations. We see a brief glimpse of a character (likely an Oracle) wielding a wand in one hand, leaving the other hand free.
- Connection to the Living Lands: The “Living Lands” of Eora are heavily tied to animancy (the study of souls) and Adra (a soul-infused mineral). The Oracle’s aesthetic, with its rune-like effects, hints at a possible connection to these fundamental aspects of the world.
- It’s a class.
What We Can Infer (Based on Evidence and Common Tropes):
This is where we move into educated speculation, drawing on common fantasy RPG archetypes and the specific context of the world of Eora.
- Divination and Precognition: The name “Oracle” itself strongly suggests abilities related to foresight, divination, and seeing into the future. This could manifest in several ways:
- Buffs/Debuffs: Foresight could allow the Oracle to enhance allies’ chances of success (buffs like increased accuracy or critical hit chance) or hinder enemies’ actions (debuffs like reduced speed or attack power). Think of effects that manipulate “luck” or “fate.”
- Strategic Advantages: Perhaps the Oracle can reveal enemy weaknesses, hidden pathways, or upcoming dangers on the battlefield, providing a tactical edge. This could be implemented through visual cues or even brief glimpses of the immediate future.
- Counterspells/Disruption: Seeing an enemy’s spell coming allows for the opportunity to counter it or disrupt its casting.
- Soul Manipulation: Given Eora’s focus on souls and animancy, the Oracle could be a class that manipulates soul energy. This is a more speculative aspect, but possibilities include:
- Soul Draining/Transfer: Siphoning energy from enemies to empower spells or heal allies.
- Summoning/Binding: Perhaps the Oracle can summon spectral entities or bind the souls of fallen foes to serve them temporarily. This would fit the ethereal visual aesthetic.
- Status Effects: Inflicting effects like “soul sickness” or “soul burn,” weakening enemies beyond simple physical damage.
- Crowd Control and Support: While likely capable of dealing damage, the Oracle might primarily focus on controlling the battlefield and supporting allies. This aligns with the “wise seer” archetype often associated with Oracles. Expect abilities like:
- Stuns/Slows/Roots: Restricting enemy movement.
- Protective Barriers/Shields: Defending allies from harm.
- Area-of-Effect (AoE) Abilities: Affecting multiple enemies or allies simultaneously.
- Potential Weapon Proficiencies:
- Wands: Almost certainly a primary weapon choice, given the trailers and the focus on magic.
- Staves: Another classic magical implement that could provide powerful ranged attacks or support abilities.
- Daggers (Potentially): A light melee option, perhaps imbued with magical properties, for close-quarters combat. This is more speculative, but fits with Avowed’s flexible combat system.
- Grimoires. It is possible oracles use grimoires to cast their spells.
What We Don’t Know (Yet):
- Specific Ability Names and Mechanics: We have no concrete details on the exact names, cooldowns, resource costs, or specific effects of any Oracle abilities.
- Skill Trees/Progression: How the Oracle develops over time, the choices players will have in customizing their build, and the branching skill paths remain a mystery.
- Role in the Party: While likely a support/control-focused class, the Oracle’s precise role in a party dynamic (and whether it can be built as a primary damage dealer) is unclear.
- Story Significance: The Oracle’s connection to the broader narrative of Avowed, and any unique story elements or quests associated with the class, are unknown.
The Oracle: A Speculative Build Example
To illustrate the potential of the Oracle, let’s imagine a hypothetical skill tree and a few example abilities:
Hypothetical Skill Tree: “Glimpses of Fate”
- Branch 1: Visionary (Support/Buffs)
- Foresight: (Passive) Grants a small chance to automatically dodge incoming attacks.
- Inspiring Vision: (Active) Grants allies within a radius increased accuracy and critical hit chance for a short duration.
- Echo of Fortune: (Active) Creates a shimmering echo of an ally. If the ally takes damage, the echo absorbs a portion of it.
- Branch 2: Disruptor (Debuffs/Control)
- Omen of Misfortune: (Active) Curses a target, reducing their attack speed and movement speed.
- Veil of Distortion: (Active) Creates an area of distorted reality, slowing enemies and making them more vulnerable to magic.
- Tapestry of Fate: (Active) Unleashes a wave of chaotic energy that has a chance to stun or confuse enemies.
- Branch 3: Soul Weaver (Damage/Soul Manipulation)
- Soul Siphon: (Active) Drains a small amount of health and mana from a target, restoring the Oracle’s own resources.
- Spectral Shard: (Active) Launches a projectile of solidified soul energy that deals damage and has a chance to inflict “Soul Burn” (damage over time).
- Bind Spirit: (Active) (Requires a nearby corpse) Temporarily summons the spirit of a fallen enemy to fight for the Oracle.
Conclusion: A Promising and Mysterious Class
The Avowed Oracle promises to be a unique and compelling class, blending divination, soul manipulation, and battlefield control. While many details remain under wraps, the available information paints a picture of a versatile magic-user with a distinct playstyle. As Obsidian releases more information, we’ll continue to refine our understanding of this enigmatic class, but for now, the Oracle stands as a testament to Avowed’s potential for deep and engaging character customization. The combination of foresight, soul magic, and support abilities suggests a class that rewards strategic thinking and clever positioning, offering a refreshing alternative to more straightforward combat roles.