City, House, Class and Population questions!

Valdus

Howdy.

Back in April last year I attempted to start Achaea, but several things got in my way and quickly ended my very short career here. Now that I have the opportunity, I'm looking at this world and community once again. Some questions!

1. In which order would the cities be listed in from 'Most active' and populated to the most quiet?

2. I'm a very big fan of 1v1 combat and I've been told that Apostate/Infernal/Serpent/Blademaster/Jester are likely my best choices for this, as I would like to pick a class that can, if I ever get good enough, let me rise to the top ten combatants in the game. What do you all think about these classes? Do you feel other classes are more fitting?

3. I know nothing of the games conflict system. Who is against who and so forth. Could someone break it down for me?

4. What Houses would you suggest and what houses would you suggest avoiding? (Plug your Houses! Go for it!) While my ultimate goal may be to become a prominent combatant, that doesn't mean I'm not completely happy in a House that does all sorts of things. I don't JUST want to fight. And to be honest, I probably wont want to fight for a long while until I find my footing.

5. I read a post a few months old that mentioned the population at the time and Sarapis posted that during a big event they peaked over 550 players. That's huge. What would you consider average for offpeak and onpeak times?

I'll probably think of more questions later, but for now I'd like to know what you guys think.

Jovolo

1) Most populated is probably tied between Cyrene, Ashtan and Hashan, with Eleusis, Mhaldor and Targossas being a little less populated than those three. All cities have a decent population nowadays, though. It used to be a lot more one-sided but it's recently gotten quite spread out. - The "Most Active" right now are probably Targossas and Mhaldor as they are currently waging a fairly heavy war. 

2) All the classes you mentioned are fine for competing in 1v1 and you could become a top-tier combatant as any of them. Serpent is the most difficult of the classes you mentioned and will require a lot more investment from you in time and money. I would also argue that it isn't as effective as some of the others at a higher level. Once blademaster gets fixed (and this will be soon, I think), Infernal will have the most effective finisher of those classes and is also very fun trying to set it up. 

3) Currently Mhaldor is at war with two cities, Hashan and Targossas, and also regularly fights Eleusis. Ashtan randomly but not very frequently picks fights with Cyrene and Mhaldor and Targossas. 

4) I would strongly suggest you avoid any houses Hashan and Cyrene and Eleusis if you want to become a prominent and skilled combatant, as those cities can be quite stifling and frustrating for someone with a combat oriented mind. Mhaldor is very strongly roleplay-oriented and due to its heavy focus on seeking strength (and a house/city focus on combat) you'll also be exposed to nice combat paths in any of the houses you join there. The Maldaathi is the Knight House of Mhaldor and houses Infernals and Runewardens. It's an active, interesting and fun House to be in and I'm 100% sure that you would enjoy your time there if you get involved. 

5) off-peak times will generally always have at least 50 players online. Currently there are about 120 people online (and those are only visible people, there is an artefact that hides yourself from the quickwho list which is where you can view people online without this artefact). The more active times of the day will see around 200+ people online.

Achilles

1) Cyrene and Ashtan are the most populated cities.  Hashan and Eleusis are more medium sized and due to more stringent RP standards, Targossas and Mhaldor are very small (I haven't seen either city with 20+ since the last major event).

2) Monks and Magi are also very good 1v1 classes and scale as well as any (probably better) than any other class with artefacts.  Monks have some very reliable finishers and are difficult to kill at the higher end.  Magi also strong with artefacts and even without them, retardation + full set vibes (which can reliably destroy any level of automated curing) can be a game changer.

3)  Mhaldor pretty much at odds with everyone, officially 2 cities right now but they skirmish with Cyrene, Eleusis and Ashtan as well.  Targossas is at war with Mhaldor, fights often with Ashtan and is philosophically opposed to Hashan.  Ashtan is allied with Hashan now (I think this is still the case), raids Targossas and Cyrene, occasionally skirmishes with Mhaldor and they destroyed the House Icons of Eleusis not that long ago.  Eleusis fights against Mhaldor in forest conflicts.  Hashan is at war with Mhaldor but fairly quiet one.  And Cyrene is a city mainly of pacifists though they have ties to Targossas because of Devotion.

4) Targossas doesn't have any houses (the old city of "Good" was destroyed in a big world event 7 months ago) yet, though there are a couple of fighters in each class that can teach you the basics.  Right now the only houses that I can see offering real combat support (again, outside looking in) are the Maldaathi, Wardens and Ashura.  Really combat in Achaea comes down to your own personal investment (time and artefacts), to go from a non-combatant to adequate defender is pretty low, to go from defender to decent duelist is moderate and from decent to a excellent duelist/raid leader is very high.

5) When you log in you should see how many people are present (not sure if this counts people logged in but in news or journal)

Rapture Runtime Environment v2.2.0 -- (c) 2012 -- Iron Realms Entertainment

Multi-User License: 100-0000-000

           ******************************************

                 Achaea, Dreams of Divine Lands

                 "Your fate and fame shall be

               an echo and a light unto eternity."

           ******************************************

           Achaea's IP address is 69.65.42.198

           For general questions e-mail support@achaea.com.

           166 adventurers are currently in the realms.

I'd say peak time is usually midnight GMT, as its late afternoon, early evening in the US, early morning in Asia/AU, late night in Europe.  I'd guess 200 players around then unless its a major event is brewing.

Korben

The problem with Mhaldor and Targossas, as mentioned by many people here, is that the war ends up absorbing much of peoples' game time. Starting out in one of the neutral (ish) cities - which right now is pretty much the other 4 - may be better to get your footing and learn the basics. You can always switch to one of the more militant cities later.

Vayne

Achilles said:

Ashtan is allied with Hashan now (I think this is still the case),

Uh no we're not nor were we ever.

Arditi

No, but Ourania and Babel are BFFs, which means that Hashan can pretty much call on the Ashtan gank squad if they'd ever need it.

Nothing formal, just something that makes raiding Hashan even more pointless.

Sylvance

Arditi said:

No, but Ourania and Babel are BFFs, which means that Hashan can pretty much call on the Ashtan gank squad if they'd ever need it.

Nothing formal, just something that makes raiding Hashan even more pointless.

That sounds like it has an amusing story behind it.

Arditi

Sylvance said:

Arditi said:

No, but Ourania and Babel are BFFs, which means that Hashan can pretty much call on the Ashtan gank squad if they'd ever need it.

Nothing formal, just something that makes raiding Hashan even more pointless.

That sounds like it has an amusing story behind it.

Nah.

The amusing story is "Arditi does anything involved in shrine conflict", which is a two hour montage of a man getting kicked in the balls while slide whistles play.

Sylvance

Been a while since I actually LOLd at something on the internet. Well met

Valdus

Some excellent and helpful information in here. Thanks!

I am surprised nobody has tried to plug their House/City though.

Another question regarding Class: Last year, Runewardens were being suggested as an extremely potent class for combat. Thus far, nobody has mentioned them at all and have instead put forward Infernals. Instead of making a comparison of the classes to their equivalents on other IRE games, could someone perhaps give me the pros and cons of each when compared with one another?

Forged goods: 1.5s DSL's sound very attractive, but how difficult is it to get a pair of 250 Rapiers? (That was the number I heard last.) Are there Forging artifacts and are they required to get anything worthwhile?

Bashing: I'm assuming that Knight bashing is fairly good once you start getting a higher crit chance, but what about some of the other classes? Do Apostates bash with Deadeyes Bleed, or are they running around with just Decay in Necromancy? What's Jester bashing like? Occultists! Warp, just how much does it suck for Bashing?

Occultists: I love the skillset and the general theme of the class, but is it viable top tier? Hypothetically, if it were artifacts out with everything it could get offensively, could the damage the class can put out be enough to overwhelm? What, if any, are the restrictions on Truename?

Jesters: Tarot I'm familiar with. How exactly does Puppetry work? You fashion a puppet. Abilities require a certain number of fashions before they can be used. Say I get 40 Fashions (random number). How many times can I use the skills that require 40 fashions? Do fashions wear out? Is there a range limit?

Vayne

Arditi said:

No, but Ourania and Babel are BFFs, which means that Hashan can pretty much call on the Ashtan gank squad if they'd ever need it.

Nothing formal, just something that makes raiding Hashan even more pointless.

You could easily test that theory if you want. I am not sure what put such a chip on your shoulder though.

Sena

Valdus said:

Forged goods: 1.5s DSL's sound very attractive, but how difficult is it to get a pair of 250 Rapiers? (That was the number I heard last.) Are there Forging artifacts and are they required to get anything worthwhile?

The chance of getting a pair of 250+ rapiers (unruned) is very small, and would probably cost you 1000 credits minimum. The chance of forging them yourself is even worse, even forging 12 hours a day for a RL year only gives you a small chance of ever making one. 240+ is more reasonable, but will still cost you hundreds of credits or a lot of luck/time with forging.

The only forging artefact is a forging hammer, which halves the forging time and greatly increases your chances of getting decent stats. Forging without a hammer is often a waste of time/gold.

Valdus said:

Bashing: I'm assuming that Knight bashing is fairly good once you start getting a higher crit chance, but what about some of the other classes? Do Apostates bash with Deadeyes Bleed, or are they running around with just Decay in Necromancy? What's Jester bashing like?

Knights are great at high levels with trans chivalry+weaponry, but horrible at low levels/skill. Apostates (almost always using decay for bashing) and jesters are both mediocre (not great, but not terrible either) for bashing, but I don't have enough experience with either to give specific details. Serpent bashing is much more variable than most classes (here is an in-depth description), but generally pretty good outside of novice bashing and underworld-level bashing. Blademaster bashing is always excellent.

Arditi

Vayne said:

Arditi said:

No, but Ourania and Babel are BFFs, which means that Hashan can pretty much call on the Ashtan gank squad if they'd ever need it.

Nothing formal, just something that makes raiding Hashan even more pointless.

You could easily test that theory if you want. I am not sure what put such a chip on your shoulder though.


I don't have a chip on my shoulder.

Though if me posting about Hashan gets Hashan to raid Mhaldor more, I'm replacing the "Post Comment" button with a Skinner box.

Vayne

Arditi said:

Arditi said:

No, but Ourania and Babel are BFFs, which means that Hashan can pretty much call on the Ashtan gank squad if they'd ever need it.

Nothing formal, just something that makes raiding Hashan even more pointless.

You could easily test that theory if you want. I am not sure what put such a chip on your shoulder though.

I don't have a chip on my shoulder. Though if me posting about Hashan gets Hashan to raid Mhaldor more, I'm replacing the "Post Comment" button with a Skinner box.

We raided tonight, you certainly were not a factor though!

EDIT: It's unfortunate you don't have a chip on your shoulder then, all the alternatives I can think of are not preferable.

Valdus

Back to the subject at hand please.

Valdus said:

Some excellent and helpful information in here. Thanks!

I am surprised nobody has tried to plug their House/City though.

Another question regarding Class: Last year, Runewardens were being suggested as an extremely potent class for combat. Thus far, nobody has mentioned them at all and have instead put forward Infernals. Instead of making a comparison of the classes to their equivalents on other IRE games, could someone perhaps give me the pros and cons of each when compared with one another?

Forged goods: 1.5s DSL's sound very attractive, but how difficult is it to get a pair of 250 Rapiers? (That was the number I heard last.) Are there Forging artifacts and are they required to get anything worthwhile?

Bashing: I'm assuming that Knight bashing is fairly good once you start getting a higher crit chance, but what about some of the other classes? Do Apostates bash with Deadeyes Bleed, or are they running around with just Decay in Necromancy? What's Jester bashing like? Occultists! Warp, just how much does it suck for Bashing?

Occultists: I love the skillset and the general theme of the class, but is it viable top tier? Hypothetically, if it were artifacts out with everything it could get offensively, could the damage the class can put out be enough to overwhelm? What, if any, are the restrictions on Truename?

Jesters: Tarot I'm familiar with. How exactly does Puppetry work? You fashion a puppet. Abilities require a certain number of fashions before they can be used. Say I get 40 Fashions (random number). How many times can I use the skills that require 40 fashions? Do fashions wear out? Is there a range limit?

Sena

Valdus said:

Jesters: Tarot I'm familiar with. How exactly does Puppetry work? You fashion a puppet. Abilities require a certain number of fashions before they can be used. Say I get 40 Fashions (random number). How many times can I use the skills that require 40 fashions? Do fashions wear out? Is there a range limit?

In addition to a fashion requirement, abilities also have a fashion cost. So if an ability requires 40 fashions and costs 2 fashions, and you have 45 fashions, you can use the ability 3 times before falling below 40. A few abilities (summon, command, and throttle I think) are limited to the same area, but most can be used from anywhere on the same continent/island/etc.

Jovolo

Infernals & Runewardens: 

Runewardens have a distinct lack of a 'Finisher' while Infernals get vivisect as well as having the ability to disembowel. Disembowel is a large damage spike ability, that typically does around 65%-70%+ damage if you do it correctly, whereas vivisect is an ability that instantly kills an opponent when they meet the requirement for it (That is: 4 crippled limbs). 

Runewardens's defensively have algiz, gular, and wunjo/nairat runes to assist them. Algiz gives a 10% damage reduction, Gular raises a stonewall that can only be demolished by Dragons or other Runewardens, and wunjo/nairat refers to 'ground runes', which will transfix an opponent upon their entry into the room. You can use this to tumble/mountjump out of rooms if you're in danger. They can also increase the stats on their armour by 8 points (It might be 6), and thanks to the Jera rune (Which raises constitution by 1) you sip, on average, a little more than you normally would.

Infernals on the other hand have access to gravehands which hinders movement from any non-mhaldorian as they try to leave the room. This is useful offensively as well as defensively, as when you leave the room/tumble out of the room, it will be much more difficult for your opponent to follow you to follow-up their kill attempt. They also have an ability called Vigour, which increases health by 20% when used. This can even increase your health beyond 100%, but only up to a maximum of 120%. They have a similar ability called Sapience, which does exactly the same thing except for mana. Against Knights + Monks, Infernals have an ability called putrefaction. This provides a 20% cutting and blunt damage resistance. 

Infernals have a slower and less damaging 'base' than Runewardens when it comes to DSL speed, as Runewardens can increase their weapon stats by +10 (Damage, to-hit, speed). Infernals, however, have an ability called Frenzy that increases their DSL speed by 33% for a specified (By you) amount of time. This means you can sacrifice the nimble trait in favour of something more helpful, and simply use Frenzy when it counts. 

While Infernals are very suddenly dangerous during a fight with Frenzy and Vivisect/Disembowel, Runewardens apply a more constant pressure with Hugalaz (A ground rune that hits with passive damage on all your enemies in the room) , Thurisaz (A targeted, delayed damage ability that can be used within the area - however, it's very easy to simply play defensively when you see these two runes employed) and their higher speed/damage output. 

An issue with Runewardens, though, is that their runes (currently) are completely negated by water in the room they're trying to sketch in. Thurisaz also only works on targets in the same area as the Runewarden, and you'd find that at a higher level, more people will play defensively when you start to sketch Hugalaz/Thurisaz.

Infernals have an infiltration ability called Blackwind, which instantly sends you into a 'Blackwind phase', in which you cannot be attacked by other players and you can move around undetected (apart from Mindnet, which alerts the user as to when you enter and leave an area). You can also use this defensively in group battles. Its use is frowned upon in duels. 

Forged goods:

It is very difficult and also very costly to acquire a rapier with 250 speed. It is more feasible to find one in the 240 - 249 range, but it will also cost you hundreds of credits per rapier. There is indeed a forging artifact called 'Hammer of Forging', 

Bashing:

Apostate bashing is not great. They have demon apathy (Which makes you not receive any damage during a small time period, and then you receive a % of all the damage you received in that time period as soon as it wears off. I can't remember the exact %). They also share Vigour with Infernals. 

Infernal hunting is very nice (I'm currently trying to hunt to Dragon with it), as you get putrefaction against blunt damage of denizens, you get vigour to boost yourself to 120% health, you can transverse back to Mhaldor for refills/food if you need to as long as another necromancer is around (This is a channeled ability which allows you to travel to a room that has gravehands in it. Channeled means you cannot perform any actions during the delay before it takes place). 

Jester hunting isn't bad, bop is quite good as a bashing ability, they get the universe tarot which can transport them instantly to several areas on the main continent, and they also get priestess tarot which heals for a large % of health. I can't remember the exact number but I think it's close to 33%. 

Occultists bashing is eh. 

Occultists:

Occultist is very viable as a top-tier class if you have the artifacts to back it up (This is A LOT of artifacts), but I personally feel it's a pretty boring class. It's very 'trick' based, meaning the more skilled opponents you fight at a higher level will be able to avoid your strategies and you'll end up relying on damage as a means to kill. 

I cannot give you the exact restrictions on truename as I can't remember. It's something like 2 or 3 per person, and you cannot truename someone that died to truename or something like that. Someone else will really need to correct me there.

Jesters:

Puppetry fashions decay back to 0 if you spend a full hour without fashioning your target at all. This does not occur if you have the target of your puppet allied and they also have you allied. You can have many, many puppets of lots and lots of people. Including allies for puppet travel, puppet leech and puppet summon. Puppetry abilities do have a fashion cost. Truefashion is an ability that will randomly and often allow you to take 2 fashions instead of 1 as you FASHION PUPPET OF <target>. This speeds up the fashioning process. The range limit differs per ability. Some can be used only in the area, while others can be used anywhere on the same continent/island as the target. These continent/island-wide puppetry abilities are, but not limited to: Travel, Mangle, Puncture, Reckless, Bleed, Concussion. Most notably not included is puppet summon, which is an area-wide ability. 

Arditi

Valdus said:

Occultists: I love the skillset and the general theme of the class, but is it viable top tier? Hypothetically, if it were artifacts out with everything it could get offensively, could the damage the class can put out be enough to overwhelm? What, if any, are the restrictions on Truename?

Occultists are easily one of the best class in the game for raiding: When fully artied, they have incredible damage (because a lot of their melee damage is passive and scales off intelligence), incredible ranged capability, and the most escape mechanisms available to any class.  Without artifacts and even with some (i.e, not artied to the gills), you're going to struggle in one-on-one because a lot of your killing power is random and thus not completely under your control.

Ultimately, if you choose a class that's 'top-tier' but you just don't like playing, you won't enjoy it. Pick a class that you are absolutely in love with and play that. Running around playing "flavor of the month" classes means you end up spending way more money on credits and artifacts, and you won't develop the firm role play associated with whatever class you jump in and out of.

Korben

Knight bashing is OK but knights are a gear-heavy class, so there will be a gear hurdle to get past as you develop your bashing ability.

Monks are better. Horkval monk, as I'm sure you've heard, is the king of bashing.

Magi are also a good bashing class. Grook Magi, in particular, can flood rooms for regen which saves a fortune in refills in the long run. If you're planning to buy credits, there are many arties that improve their bashing and combat.

Sylvans are also a great bashing class, plus they can refill for themselves and have travel abilities, unlike monks who must walk everywhere. On the downside they require spending in all 3 class skills, whereas monks and magi can get by with 1 trans skill plus a little in the other two.

Occultists are not good bashers, in terms of tankiness or damage output (or so I've heard, no firsthand experience). This is compensated, however, by travel abilities and escape abilities (important for open PK areas).

Valdus

Jovolo, Korben, Arditi, Sena: Thank you so much.

I believe I'm well equipped enough to make an informed decision as to where I want to go. The only problem is so many look awesome. Jester looks hilariously fun. Apostate is just.. Well. Awesome. Infernal/Runewarden both look solidly amazing and Occultist seems made of win.

Goodness how will I decide? I think I'm going to have to look into Houses now and see which appeals to me that offers the most of these classes. The one in Mhaldor, Congregation or something, has several. But Mhaldor is scary! Population reports indicate it's small too.

Still! Thanks so much everyone.

Silas

Only class worth anything is paladin, what are you all on about?

Mishgul

Paladin is a good class, but you will struggle with it early on. Vivisect and Disembowel are easier to pull off, though Damnation is harder for someone to counter against a good Paladin. I say that, Invictus wrecked me in a duel earlier, and the only reason he didnt' kill me again is because he used rebounding so I just used that to break my own head to prevent him setting me up properly. I have a feeling it will not be as easy to not die to him next time I fight him though if he reads this.

Ruth

Having a small population isn't necessarily bad. It can benefit the novices. More time and attention can be spent upon each of them!

Nizaris

RE: Apostates.

Deadeyes bleed is horrible for bashing. Each deadeyes takes, I believe, 250 mana to perform. Compared to decay, which is 40 mana, I think. So, deadeyes bleed is costly.

Deadeyes bleed is also quite weak. I believe the I remember it taking a few bleeds for me to kill even a rat, compared to a single decay.

Deadeyes bleed is meant primarily as a way to force the target (an adventurer) to clot, thus draining their mana, thus preparing them for catharsis instakill.

Demon apathy is very nice, especially when combined with putrefaction and a boar tattoo. However, it will slow down your DPS considerably (every ten seconds, I get in one apathy and two decays, versus about 3 decays otherwise). At the end of apathy's ten seconds, you take all damage collected through its duration, minus 40%. Note well: this can be a liability in some situations.

Putrefaction gives you basically another +20 armour against cutting damage, which is nice, but it costs a small amount of health over time (roughly equivalent to the healing effect of a boar tattoo). I personally purchased a permanent boar tattoo for 100 credits just so that I could keep putrefaction up permanently.

I've personally optimized for tanking somewhat. Between apathy, putrefaction, 51/20 armour, trans avoidance, demon armour, and a shield of absorption artefact; my physical damage reduction can be quite high (I think I found somewhere around 85% with all enabled against being shot by a @Isaiah's bow?). Add in sip rings, constitution arties, necromancy vigour, and a high level, and it can get a little silly.

For what Apostate has in tanking damage, it lacks in doling it out. @Dontarion can probably provide better numbers comparisons, however.

For combat, Apostate is a very well-rounded class, having answers to most situations: high damage reduction to stand still and take a beating while doling out afflictions, gravehands to keep target in room, high afflictions per second (but not as high as shaman), stain to cut off one avenue of lock escape, catharsis to take out mana users who concentrate too much on offense, etc. Lots of ways to kill with apostate.

Valdus

If Evileye Bleed is very weak, is the Bleed that Shaman get in Curses stronger?

Sena

Valdus said:

If Evileye Bleed is very weak, is the Bleed that Shaman get in Curses stronger?

I'm not sure exactly how strong Evileye bleed is, but Curses bleed with swiftcurse is one of the best bashing attacks in the game, doing high damage with a very low balance cost.