# Gigs (combat roles)

Vision-level design for **combat identity**: what you bring to a fight, how you progress, and how you swap roles. Vocabulary (**gig**, **sub-gig**) and the **gigs ↔ skills** seams (gear, crafting, consumables, rep) stay in [skills.md](skills.md); this doc is the **gig** artifact proper.

**Implementation anchors:** [Epic 5 — PvE combat](../decomposition/epics/epic_05_pve_combat.md); gig XP/progression will need alignment with [Epic 2 — Classless progression](../decomposition/epics/epic_02_classless_progression.md) when data models split.

## What a gig is

A **gig** is the combat **role** on an outing: which **abilities** you run, how the party reads you (tank, support, control, damage, etc.), and tuning expectations. It is **not** a non-combat profession—**skills** cover gather/craft ([skills.md](skills.md)).

Fiction may say *contract*, *loadout*, or *job*; specs use **gig**.

## Gig roster

**First draft (v0):** **nine gigs**—**three** in **damage**, **two each** in **tank**, **heal**, and **util**. Names and identities are **placeholders** until abilities and fiction pass over them.

| Archetype | Gig (working name) | Draft identity (distinction within archetype) |
|-----------|-------------------|-----------------------------------------------|
| **Damage** | **Breach** | Focused spike: burst windows, priority-target removal—“delete one problem now” (typically short-to-mid range in kit design). |
| **Damage** | **Suppressor** | AoE / cleave pressure: sustained stagger, packs and lanes—keeps many threats busy in **close or mid** space. |
| **Damage** | **Reach** | **Ranged** damage: best at distance, spacing and line-of-sight play, punishes spread or exposed targets—fills the “back line DPS” read without implying a specific weapon yet. |
| **Tank** | **Bulwark** | Anchor tank: stand ground, hard mitigation, bodyguard space for the group. |
| **Tank** | **Skirmisher** | Mobile tank: pick up strays, reposition fights, mitigation through movement and timing. |
| **Heal** | **Sawbones** | Direct recovery: triage spikes, raw throughput, “fix the bar now.” |
| **Heal** | **Synthesist** | Preventive / layered: shields, HoTs, slow cleanses—flatten damage before it spikes. |
| **Util** | **Interceptor** | Shutdown: debuffs, interrupts, strip or punish enemy plans—offensive support. |
| **Util** | **Conductor** | Enable: group buffs, resource or tempo hooks, “make the party’s next play bigger.” |

**LFG / niches:** the four **archetypes** map cleanly to “need damage / tank / heal / util.” A **conditional** LFG tool ([Party, encounters, and recruitment](#party-encounters-and-recruitment)) can treat **archetype** as the coarse tag and **gig** (or loadout) as the fine print—**open**.

**Still open:** final **display names**, which **weapon or gear families** attach to which gig (especially **Reach** vs **Breach** / **Suppressor**), **sub-gig** pairings that feel bad, and further roster growth after launch. Cyberpunk **skin** (corp vs street, chrome metaphors) layers on after kits exist.

## Main gig + sub-gig

**Agreed:** every loadout has a **main gig** and a **sub-gig** (FFXI-style). The sub adds **limited** cross-gig abilities without second-main power—a **large creative space** as the roster grows ([skills.md](skills.md) hybrid rationale).

- **Effective sub level:** at **main** per-gig level **X**, sub contributes abilities up to **⌊X / 2⌋**, capped by the **sub-gig’s own stored level** (see **XP** below)—exact `min` / rounding **TBD**.
- **Hub-only** changes to main or sub ([Hub swap](#hub-swap)).

**Still open:**

- **Combat gear:** almost certainly **main-gig–restricted** for equip; sub feeds **abilities** only—confirm in content pass.
- **Consumables (passive amp):** **Agreed** — **sub-gig** counts. **Passive** gig-tagged bonuses (e.g. extra healing from a med item when you’re a medic-type gig) apply if **either** **main** or **sub** matches the item’s gig hook. **Open:** if **both** match, **stack vs. single best** vs. **main wins**—pick at balance pass.
- **PvP:** **gig rules blocked** until we know **if** and **how much** PvP the game includes—see [PvE vs PvP](#pve-vs-pvp).
- **UI:** two gig strips, sub ability styling, loadout summary for party—**open.**

## Progression

**Agreed:** **per-gig** level/XP (and later **mastery/perks** on that gig). No shared **combat rank** that levels every gig at once. **Maining every gig** on one character is allowed; **slow leveling** makes that a long-term goal ([skills.md](skills.md) seams).

**Agreed — gig XP award timing:** only the **main gig** earns **gig XP** from combat (and any other gig-level awards). The **sub-gig** earns **no** XP toward its own progression while equipped as sub—it only **reads** its stored level for ability unlocks. To level a gig you ran as sub, **swap** it to **main** at a hub and play with it primary. **UI** should make clear that **gig XP** (bars, flytext) applies to **main** only.

**Open:**

- **Curves:** same philosophy as **skills** (soft feel, more XP per level)—per-gig tables vs global template **TBD**.
- **Mastery/perks** on gigs vs flat level gates—**open** (E2.M3-style expression).

## Hub swap

**Agreed:** **no on-the-fly swap.** Changing **main gig**, **sub-gig**, or both only at a **safe hub**—**city**, **home base**, or other **data-tagged swap site**. Not in the field, not mid-combat.

**Open:**

- Which locations qualify (faction terminals, apartments, guild halls, etc.).
- Fees, rep gates, cooldowns, tutorial exceptions.
- **Loadout UX** after swap: auto-unequip invalid combat gear vs player-managed **presets** per gig pair.
- **Party:** what happens if someone swaps while grouped—**open** (session lock vs free swap at hub).

## Party, encounters, and recruitment

Earlier drafts implied a **dedicated LFG UI** (tags, filters). That is **not** decided. Players might use **chat only** (zone, guild, party ads), a **future matchmaking tool**, or a **hybrid** (e.g. hub board + chat).

**Design intent (UI-agnostic):** gigs still give **shared vocabulary**—“need mitigation,” “need cleanse,” “LF damage”—whether typed in chat or, later, picked from a structured browser. **Encounter** and **scaling** design can reason about **niches** without assuming any specific recruitment feature ships.

**Recruitment channel — deferred:** whether we ship **chat-only**, a **built-in LFG/matchmaking** tool, or a **hybrid** is **not** something to lock now. Revisit once **social, zone, and session vision** are further along; the **conditional LFG design** below stays ready if we build a tool.

**If we ship an LFG-style tool** (common in modern MMOs)—**agreed direction, conditional on building it:**

- Listings and search are **niche / archetype** oriented (mitigation, heal, damage, control, etc.)—not raw gig names as the primary filter.
- **Eligibility:** the game (or data rules) decides whether your **current gig + loadout** (main/sub, gear, etc.—exact inputs **TBD**) **qualifies** you to advertise under each niche. If you qualify for **several**, you may **select multiple** niches for your listing—**player discretion** among what you’re allowed, not forced single pick.
- **Open:** eligibility tables per gig/loadout template, caps on how many niches one listing shows, how **sub-gig** factors in, and UX copy.

**Open — rules / content (independent of LFG UI):**

- **Mandatory niches** in instanced content vs open-world flex.
- **Group scaling** ([E5.M4](../decomposition/modules/E5_M4_GroupCombatScaling.md)) vs gig composition—pass with encounters.

## PvE vs PvP

**PvP scope is undecided**—how much player-vs-player content (if any) ships, and in what form, is still unsettled. Until that vision exists, **gig-specific PvP rules** (viability per gig, **sub-gig** in PvP, brackets, **templates**, **security-band** hooks—[overview](overview.md) risk stubs) stay **open with no deadline**, not a near-term design task.

**PvE** gig design proceeds **without** assuming a particular PvP answer.

## Story

**Gig-scoped** storylines and **main-quest-style** arcs live per gig on one character; **faction rep** stays character-wide ([skills.md](skills.md) seams). **Open:** how much **mandatory** gig story vs optional.

## Gear & consumables (summary)

- **Combat gear:** **gig-restricted** equip; after hub swap, player **fixes loadout** for new main gig.
- **Crafting** combat gear: **no gig requirement**—**skills** only; can craft for trade.
- **Consumables:** anyone can use; **passive** amp checks **main or sub** (see **Main gig + sub-gig**).

Detail: seams table in [skills.md](skills.md).

## Decisions log (gig-focused)

| Topic | Direction | Status |
|-------|-----------|--------|
| Sub-gig slot | FFXI-style; ~½ main effective cap; hub change | Agreed ([skills.md](skills.md)) |
| Hub swap | Safe hubs only; not in field / combat | Agreed |
| Combat progression | Per-gig tracks | Agreed |
| Gig roster | **9 gigs**—**3 damage** (Breach, Suppressor, **Reach**), **2 each** tank / heal / util; working names in roster table | Draft |
| Gig XP award timing | **Main gig only**; **sub-gig** earns no XP (level that gig as main to progress it) | Agreed |
| Sub-gig + consumable amp (passive) | **Sub counts**; main **or** sub can trigger passive amp | Agreed |
| Recruitment channel | **Deferred**—revisit with broader game/social vision; options remain chat / tool / hybrid | Deferred |
| LFG tool *(if shipped)* | **Niche** listings; **gig + loadout** eligibility per archetype; **multi-select** among qualified niches (player choice) | Agreed (conditional) |
| PvP gig rules | **Blocked on overall PvP vision**—open indefinitely until product direction on PvP is clear | Open (indefinite) |

## Next artifacts

- [Abilities](overview.md) — **gig-locked** kits, sub-gig ability rules, telegraphs ([Epic 5](../decomposition/epics/epic_05_pve_combat.md)).
- [Combat pillars](overview.md) — PvE readability, TTK, risk ([overview](overview.md)).
- [Items](overview.md) — equip tags per gig; crafted vs dropped.