Ancient MMO Tibia is getting its first new class in 28 years

After 28 years, pioneering MMO Tibia will finally have a fifth playable character class. Joining the previous vocations of Knight, Sorcerer, Druid, and Paladin is the Monk, who will become the second melee character type in all of Tibia. It's a pretty wild changeup for a game that launched in 1997 and has had the same four classes ever since—with no hints that the developers ever saw a fifth class as a good option.

"This is bigger than GTA 6," says the top comment on the Reddit post linking the announcement. "I'm flabbergasted," says another. "Hell is freezing," a third.

The Monk will be a damage dealer, as are all Tibia classes, but will have secondary roles as a Tank and Healer. The Monk will be able to build up Harmony by using their attack spells, then consume it to boost their power or use potent healing and damage abilities. The Monk will also have an interesting mechanic—Serene—which boosts their power when not adjacent to an ally and with fewer than five monsters adjacent. It'll solidify their role as a secondary tank who doesn't group up tons of monsters to attack, but separates and defeats small groups of foes.

The Monk will start external playtesting among the Tibia community starting on February 25, and is scheduled for official launch in the second quarter of this year. "Of course, there will be a lot of content available for this vocation right from the start. Powerful spells, mighty robes, devastating weapons and enchanting realms," said CipSoft.

"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," said Tibia developer Niadus, who led the creation of the Monk.

You can read the full announcement, and try out Tibia for free, on Tibia's website.

You may remember Tibia from its previous big public events—like that time that it got sound effects after all those years. Or its mysterious door that would only open for someone who got all the way to level 999.