Two ways to implement DND type abilities

Question

I am creating a game in Java that uses the DND model for a lot of its components. I've hit a roadblock when it comes to creating and implementing abilities. I have thought of two ways I could implement this system:

• Using inheritance: Having separate classes that extend from the Ability class, each one specifying what kind of ability it is.
• Using enums: Having an extra parameter in the Ability constructor that specifies what type of ability it is.

Below are the two versions of this system that I could implement. I would appreciate feedback on which one is makes more sense to keep.

OPTION 1: SEPERATE CLASSES

/**
* Checks if the player is high enough level to learn an ability
* Method is in `Player` class. This is the only relevent method
* that needs to be included from the `Player` class as it is the
* only method that deals with the `Ability` class.
*/
public void checkAbilityStatus() {
    switch(this.getLevel()) {
        case 1: this.abilities.add(new MeleeAbility("Attack", 0, this.weapon.getDamage(), (int)(this.weapon.getDamage() / 4))); break;
        case 3: this.abilities.add(new MeleeAbility("Slam", 2, this.weapon.getDamage() + this.getLevel(),(int)((this.weapon.getDamage() + this.getLevel()) / 4))); break;
        case 5: this.abilities.add(new Spell("Fireball", 5, this.weapon.getDamage() + this.getLevel(), (int)((this.weapon.getDamage() + this.getLevel()) / 4))); break;
        case 8: this.abilities.add(new AOEAbility("Thunder Clap", 3, this.weapon.getDamage() + this.getLevel(), (int)((this.weapon.getDamage() + this.getLevel()) / 4))); break;
        case 10: this.abilities.add(new Spell("Pyroblast", 10, this.weapon.getDamage() * this.getLevel(), (int)((this.weapon.getDamage() + this.getLevel()) / 4))); break;
    }
}

public class Ability {

    /* Private instance variables not shown */

    public Ability(String name, int manaCost, int damage, int damageFlux) {
        this.name = name;
        this.manaCost = manaCost;
        this.damage = damage;
        this.damageFlux = damageFlux;

        this.minDamage = this.damage - this.damageFlux;
        this.maxDamage = this.damage + this.damageFlux;

        this.random = new Random();
    }

    /* Misc getters/setters and toString method not shown */

}

class Spell extends Ability {

    public Spell(String name, int manaCost, int damage, int damageFlux) {
        super(name, manaCost, damage, damageFlux);
    }

}

class MeleeAbility extends Ability {

    public MeleeAbility(String name, int manaCost, int damage, int damageFlux) {
        super(name, manaCost, damage, damageFlux);
    }

}

class RangedAbility extends Ability {

    public RangedAbility(String name, int manaCost, int damage, int damageFlux) {
        super(name, manaCost, damage, damageFlux);
    }

}

class AOEAbility extends Ability {

    public AOEAbility(String name, int manaCost, int damage, int damageFlux) {
        super(name, manaCost, damage, damageFlux);
    }

}

OPTION 2: USING ENUMS

/**
* Checks if the player is high enough level to learn an ability
* Method is in `Player` class. This is the only relevent method
* that needs to be included from the `Player` class as it is the
* only method that deals with the `Ability` class.
*/
public void checkAbilityStatus() {
    switch(this.getLevel()) {
        case 1: this.abilities.add(new Ability("Attack", 0, this.weapon.getDamage(), (int)(this.weapon.getDamage() / 4)), AbilityType.MELEE); break;
        case 3: this.abilities.add(new Ability("Slam", 2, this.weapon.getDamage() + this.getLevel(),(int)((this.weapon.getDamage() + this.getLevel()) / 4)), AbilityType.MELEE); break;
        case 5: this.abilities.add(new Ability("Fireball", 5, this.weapon.getDamage() + this.getLevel(), (int)((this.weapon.getDamage() + this.getLevel()) / 4)), AbilityType.SPELL); break;
        case 8: this.abilities.add(new Ability("Thunder Clap", 3, this.weapon.getDamage() + this.getLevel(), (int)((this.weapon.getDamage() + this.getLevel()) / 4)), AbilityType.AOE); break;
        case 10: this.abilities.add(new Ability("Pyroblast", 10, this.weapon.getDamage() * this.getLevel(), (int)((this.weapon.getDamage() + this.getLevel()) / 4)), AbilityType.SPELL); break;
    }
}

public enum AbilityType {
    MELLE, SPELL, RANGED, AOE
}

public class Ability {

    /* Private instance variables not shown */

    public Ability(String name, int manaCost, int damage, int damageFlux, AbilityType abilityType) {
        this.name = name;
        this.manaCost = manaCost;
        this.damage = damage;
        this.damageFlux = damageFlux;
        this abilityType = abilityType;

        this.minDamage = this.damage - this.damageFlux;
        this.maxDamage = this.damage + this.damageFlux;

        this.random = new Random();
    }

    /* Misc getters/setters and toString method not shown */

}

Answer 1

As your code stands, I would opt for OPTION 2: USING ENUMS.

Consider inheritance only when the derived classes have specific state/operations that are not compatible with other derived classes. Don't abuse inheritance when a simple property (in this case of an enum type) allows to distinguish a certain feature amongst instances of a given type.

Example where inheritance is justified:

class RangedAbility extends Ability {

    public RangedAbility(String name, int manaCost, int damage, int damageFlux) {
        super(name, manaCost, damage, damageFlux);
    }

    // specific operations for RangedAbility

    public void CastRangedProjectile() { /* ... */ }
}