Where would I fit best?

Kyrton

Hello, I started a character but then realized it would be difficult to make a commitment to something unless I knew what I was getting into so I decided to start this thread to get advice on the type of character I would like to play.

Considerations: I would like this character most of all to be enjoyable to play in a general sense with both for rp and combat.  I will probably focus on bashing and rp at first in order to get the hand of things then get heavy into combat once I understand the curing system, etc.  I am not quite sure what kind of character I would like to play, but for now I am going with the idea of a noble/honorable, kind, tough as nails, stoic type. When I do get into combat I would be most interested in raiding/raid defence so pve while being able to hold my own 1v1.

Goals:  I would definitely like to reach Dragon fairly quickly (this is just a personal goal because I like to challenge myself).  However, I do not want to just get bored bashing and quit.  I want this to be an enjoyable overall experience and interact with the world and perhaps even get involved in house/city politics or an order.

Classes: for some reasons the classes that most appeal to me are magi, monk, sylvan.

Cities: the cities that seem to appeal to me most are Cyrene, Ashtan, Eleusis, and Targossas.  I am curious how important is city culture in terms of being willing to get involved in combat?

Races: not very important, but for some reason Atavian appeals to me also dwarf (if I went monk) or perhaps tsol'aa (if I went magi/sylvan).

RP:  I like being in the role of defending the good and innocent/nature thus why targossas/eleusis/cyrene appeal to me while also pursuing personal excellence and being around members who are competitive (which sounds more like Ashtan?).  I would eventually like to get into the lore of my class and whatever organization I choose to try to advance in.  I would like to be useful to my organization and over time perhaps move to a position of leadership.

Credits:  I would like to do this with no/little real life $$.  I am willing to devote a lot of time to compensate.  I would like to be effective and useful particularly while raiding/defending even if I am not in the top tiers and hold my own 1v1.

Magi concerns: getting jumped.  Sylvan concerns: hard to tri-trans? Forestals seem to have a lot of writing/creativity requirements to rise in a house? Monk concerns: an rp environment that is too ascetic and not enjoyable in a somewhat casual way.

Eleusis concerns: Perhaps a bit too non-combative? Too sentimental? Targossas concerns: RP can be wooden if it attracts inexperienced players like Shallam used to. Ashtan concerns: too power focused? No cooperative influence?

Please feel free to suggest other classes, cities, etc as well.  I have a general idea of what I'd like, but perhaps posting these ideas would give someone an "aha!" moment of inspiration that would be useful in guiding me to a good in game fit.

I am very interested in @locun / @Iocun 's opinion (I couldn't tell if that was a L or an i

Naah

Kyrton said:

Hello, I started a character but then realized it would be difficult to make a commitment to something unless I knew what I was getting into so I decided to start this thread to get advice on the type of character I would like to play.

Considerations: I would like this character most of all to be enjoyable to play in a general sense with both for rp and combat.  I will probably focus on bashing and rp at first in order to get the hand of things then get heavy into combat once I understand the curing system, etc.  I am not quite sure what kind of character I would like to play, but for now I am going with the idea of a noble/honorable, kind, tough as nails, stoic type. When I do get into combat I would be most interested in raiding/raid defence so pve while being able to hold my own 1v1.

Goals:  I would definitely like to reach Dragon fairly quickly (this is just a personal goal because I like to challenge myself).  However, I do not want to just get bored bashing and quit.  I want this to be an enjoyable overall experience and interact with the world and perhaps even get involved in house/city politics or an order.

Classes: for some reasons the classes that most appeal to me are magi, monk, sylvan.

Cities: the cities that seem to appeal to me most are Cyrene, Ashtan, Eleusis, and Targossas.  I am curious how important is city culture in terms of being willing to get involved in combat?

Races: not very important, but for some reason Atavian appeals to me also dwarf (if I went monk) or perhaps tsol'aa (if I went magi/sylvan).

RP:  I like being in the role of defending the good and innocent/nature thus why targossas/eleusis/cyrene appeal to me while also pursuing personal excellence and being around members who are competitive (which sounds more like Ashtan?).  I would eventually like to get into the lore of my class and whatever organization I choose to try to advance in.  I would like to be useful to my organization and over time perhaps move to a position of leadership.

Credits:  I would like to do this with no/little real life $$.  I am willing to devote a lot of time to compensate.  I would like to be effective and useful particularly while raiding/defending even if I am not in the top tiers and hold my own 1v1.

Magi concerns: getting jumped.  Sylvan concerns: hard to tri-trans? Forestals seem to have a lot of writing/creativity requirements to rise in a house? Monk concerns: an rp environment that is too ascetic and not enjoyable in a somewhat casual way.

Eleusis concerns: Perhaps a bit too non-combative? Too sentimental? Targossas concerns: RP can be wooden if it attracts inexperienced players like Shallam used to. Ashtan concerns: too power focused? No cooperative influence?

Please feel free to suggest other classes, cities, etc as well.  I have a general idea of what I'd like, but perhaps posting these ideas would give someone an "aha!" moment of inspiration that would be useful in guiding me to a good in game fit.

I am very interested in @locun / @Iocun 's opinion (I couldn't tell if that was a L or an i

Eleusis is the current bandwagon. Go there if you ever want to defect, an good combatant, or a fighter in general.

Alrena, Rangor, Iakimen, Exelethril, and a few others are great fighters.

Triak

I think an Eleusis Slylvan/Monk would suit you best.

Monk is better for bashing and Sylvan is better for PK.  Overall they are good for both though.  Minimal lesson investment as well.

Sticking point might be your house.  The Sentinels (monk) are far and away better than the Sylvanic Fellowship (lol name) which support Sylvans and Magi

Alrena

I can answer some things regarding Sylvans/Eleusis.

Sylvan, to be bashing effective, only needs Elementalism up to Viridian. For combat, you only need Elementalism and Groves (up to quarterstaff), so less than 2 trans skills. Obviously, more groves will help. Concoctions gives you a bonus to health elixir effectiveness for you, but other than that it is not important as you can generally get cheap or even free refills as an Eleusian. One downside of Sylvan is that your willpower can quickly run low while bashing in Viridian, which is slightly offset by the ability to harvest your hive (to instantly recover all willpower/endurance once an rl day), and grove rains that rapidly increase your willpower/endurance regen.

When it comes to Eleusis, pretty much all of our conflict is against Mhaldor. Eleusis is definitely not peaceful, as we regularly go on the offensive, but are also often defending the forests against Mhaldor's necromancers. There is plenty of combat in Eleusis, and a good few competitive people to learn from. 

I won't comment on the other cities, as I'm sure the people who actually play a character in those can be more accurate about that.

Agrias

It's Iocun.  i.  Anyways, in regards to your questions, you're pretty much asking the impossible.  A few things caught my eye, however.  Eleusis is not non-combat at all.  It's highly militarized, and as such has somewhat constant raiding and assaults (especially when Mhaldor decides to exterminate). Non-com right now would be Hashan, and possibly Cyrene.

In regards to class, if you have it narrowed down to three possible choices, then it seems like you've already done your homework and understand the base mechanics of each class already.  Shouldn't that make your choice easier?

RP/City/Class is all what you make of it.  All you can do is listen to other people list the pros and cons of each, but you will ultimately make your own decision regardless.  YOU will be the one playing that character, not anyone else.  Do what YOU want to do.

As far as monetary compensation goes, feel free to never spend a single penny on Achaea if you don't want to.  That is the joy of the model of the game.  It's always free to play, and is not pay to win by any means.  Artifacts help, but they do not win fights for you.  Hell, I have a fuckton of artifacts and I'm still a terrible combatant.  You can make credits through gold earned in the game, or you can win lotteries, be given them as rewards for friends or for contests in the game, or even through the fanfic contest, Artisanals.  There are many, many ways to earn credits without paying real money for them.  Though I like to pay for them when I can, since it goes to support the game that I've been playing for the last 12 years.

tl;dr version is get your hands dirty and try.  If you don't like a particular class/city combination, try a different one until you find one that matches your personality and desires.  That's the only real advice that anyone could ever give you.

Kyrton

One more idea/comment/concern:  In terms of getting a mentor or advice and being integrated into a community which would be the best house/city for the respective classes? For example if I were to choose Magi and join the Sylvanic fellowship is that viable in terms of learning retardation skill in combat from someone more experienced who might be willing to take me under their wing?  Is cataclysm still very sought after for raiding/defending?

I am definitely willing to put in the work toward an organization that helps its new members and in turn pay it forward when I am more established.  Perhaps this is one of the most important aspects of the game for me as it leads to real friendships and a sense of being a part of something fun and worthwhile.

Also I would like the opinion of @Penwize in terms of finding a group/organization/city that keeps up the motivation in terms of bashing for dragon.

Melodie

Afraid our lovely Iocun isn't active at the moment. I'm not nearly as good of a stand-in, but I'll see what I can do.

Kyrton said:

Hello, I started a character but then realized it would be difficult to make a commitment to something unless I knew what I was getting into so I decided to start this thread to get advice on the type of character I would like to play.

Welcome!

Considerations: I would like this character most of all to be enjoyable to play in a general sense with both for rp and combat.  I will probably focus on bashing and rp at first in order to get the hand of things then get heavy into combat once I understand the curing system, etc.  I am not quite sure what kind of character I would like to play, but for now I am going with the idea of a noble/honorable, kind, tough as nails, stoic type. When I do get into combat I would be most interested in raiding/raid defence so pve while being able to hold my own 1v1.

Balanced characters are some of the hardest but most rewarding to play. Sounds like you have some great ideas in mind though! Always good to have a foundation of ideals listed down to help you, if possible, so things like "noble", "honourable", "stoic", etc are keep to write down somewhere to help keep track of what you're doing.

Goals:  I would definitely like to reach Dragon fairly quickly (this is just a personal goal because I like to challenge myself).  However, I do not want to just get bored bashing and quit.  I want this to be an enjoyable overall experience and interact with the world and perhaps even get involved in house/city politics or an order.

If you want to get Dragon pretty quick, I highly suggest getting the IRE membership. While I know a little later you mention you want to spend as little money as possible, it's an extremely good investment for the dollars spent, and builds up over time as well. I have little to no disposable income, but it is the one thing I maintain.

If you want to make sure to remain involved, I highly suggest you join a city ministry as an aide as early as possible. This is a great way to not only give back to wherever you got, but it keeps you involved with the city while giving you time to do other things. Find what suits you and go for it! For more interactive ministries, you'll want to try Ambassador, Culture, Security/War, and for more introvertive ones, Trade, Chancellor, and Development.

Classes: for some reasons the classes that most appeal to me are magi, monk, sylvan.

This depends on the playstyle. Considering you want to be able to hold your own in 1v1, have decent-good bashing, and mainly focus in raiding/group combat later on, monk and sylvan are probably the better options. I've always had a little difficulty grasping monk rp beyond what's typically expected, but there may be other players who are able to deeper get into it. The good thing about monk, though, is that you can literally fit in anywhere - the same goes for magi (although magi are terrible when jumped, as you mentioned later). Sylvan is probably right in the middle of the other two, their main weakness being their long def-up (so bursting is kind of useless). That's off-set by a lot of factional advantages, though, such as soul resurrection.

So in summery...

Magi: Absolutely a huge game-changer in raids/group combat, though lacks any real LoS, since gaining a cataclysm is difficult. 1v1 is interesting but does rely heavily on retardation, and this tends to be a mechanic people either hate or love. Depending which you are, that might be your answer right there. Relies heavily on tricks for 1v1 as well, as they have no "finishers", but lots of room to be extremely creative in their kills. Artefacts can really power up this class, but aren't necessary to win (look at @Hasar and his 13 int).

Sylvan: Wonderful at both 1v1 and group combat, being able to deal out large amounts of damage and their finisher (heartseed) being fairly potent. Their disadvantage is a very long (compared to many other classes) defup to remain viable, but possess grove lightning as an extremely potent form of LoS. The other main consideration here is that if you wish to joins orgs, you will absolutely have to join Eleusis. I'll address more information on that in the cities section. Artefacts, like magi, can really power up this class, but aren't necessary to win. The major gamechanger would be a diadem that can pretty much make everything peaches and cream without need for the rest.

Monk: A beast in both 1v1 and group combat, although the lower end of monkhood can be very discouraging at first. However once you get past a certain threshold in your lessons, any monk can become a monster with the right training and know-how of how the class works. These guys can fit in in any city and are always desired (you can't have enough monks. Ever!). Their damage capabilities is quite good, but their main finisher focuses on getting you prone and keeping you there for as long as possible. No "instant" finishers like heartseed, but huge amounts of room for creative ways to get your opponent down and keep them there. Again, artefacts can seriously power up this class to beyond insane, but aren't necessary to do well (though to be fair, out of the three, this class would probably be the most artefact-reliant to reach the same amounts of amazing as the previous two).

Cities: the cities that seem to appeal to me most are Cyrene, Ashtan, Eleusis, and Targossas.  I am curious how important is city culture in terms of being willing to get involved in combat?

Cyrene: Extremely friendly and supportive city based around neutral-good, especially if you are new/just returning. Here you can find an amalgation of all kinds of different attitudes, beliefs, ideas, and people to go along with it. The main drawback/strength of Cyrene is the lack of a central ideal to focus around - the reason it can be either a drawback or strength depends on your playstyle. It leaves you able to more or less freely play how you wish, but it also does leave you with a lack of direction, which can be disheartening for some. Some political issues, but usually a good environment of people. Other thing to note is that Cyrene does not actively partisipate in conflict. It does deal with raid defence as necessary, and partisipates in things like CTFs, but Cyrene does not actively raid due to its core foundation of peace/etc. This drives some people batty, and thus Cyrene is not a core place to learn combat in most instances. Gets raids mostly from Ashtan or Mhaldor (more the latter lately, though it changes up), and is on good terms with most cities. You will have a certain freedom to roam and learn as you wish that is rarely gained in other cities. Houses are struggling very hard, though, unfortunately (every single one of them).

Targossas: The newest city of Good. This city is a theology, and thus you will be expected to have a good (hurr) understanding of the beliefs, both relating to Aurora and Deucalion. Very strong direction is given here which is great for newer players, if you are willing to walk to the beat of their drum. This city is also still in the middle of being built (they got Houses only a week or two ago), so there may be idle times where someone is a bit busy to assist you. If you are able to be somewhat self-motivating and independant, while at the same time working to assist your citymates, you will shine very well here. Combat is a large part of this military-based city, and so you will be encouraged very heavily (I believe only city defence, not offence, is required past a certain point, but correct me if I'm wrong here) to join in, eventually. Being a citizen of Targossas, you will have more restriction of whom you may speak/interact with, and several of the cities do not allow Targossians to wander through. There seems to be some negativity on forums about Targossas recently, but piece of advice, avoid the Rants section, and you'll likely find a brighter attitude about it.

Eleusis: The city is based around the protection of Nature. Despite your earlier worry, I assure you, this place has a mix of both combat and non-combat. For the last while, Eleusis has been engaged in daily conflict with Mhaldor, and the two cities go back and forth on offence/defence often. While combat is encouraged, it is not required, however you will be expected to do your part for Nature - how you choose to do that part, however, is entirely up to you and has several options. This is the village/city that is now the only place where forestals (sentinel, sylvan, druid) may reside beyond those who were grandfathered into the cities, and thus there are several of them. You'll be able to find great teachers for sylvan here, and speaking as a present citizen, we could also definitely use more magi or monks (especially magi though). Eleusis suffers a few issues such as less-than-active leaders, but this is something that has been continually addressed and slowly changing for the better. The Sylvan House is an interesting one, with friendly people. It is a bit more of a scholary House by nature (hurr hurr), of course, and there are both pros and cons. I can't comment on the other Houses as I have no personal experience with them.

Ashtan: The city of freedom/chaos/probably some other stuff. The most common theme here presently, though, is combat. Ashtan current is the powerhouse of Achaean cities, with some of the most citizens (Cyrene may still outrank them in pure active citizens alone, may not), and with certainly the most artefacted/skilled warriors. Due to the "freedom" concept, though, this also tends to draw some of the less desirable characters in the game, and while I have not played the character extensively, it was a bit of a frustration on my alt. You would have some of the best monk teachers here hands-down, though I am a bit uncertain as to the magi climate, though there probably are one or two. Like Cyrene, you can more or less be free to follow nearly anything here, with the exception that instead of avoiding Darkness/Chaos/Evil, Ashtan only has a dislike for Evil (and even then, Mhaldorians may wander in as long as they're not enemies). Unfortunately I have no comments on the Houses as it's been long enough any opinion of mine would be outdated and inaccurate. Combat is not a must here on either front, but it is heavily encouraged/rewarded. Despite popular forum opinion, there are roleplayers here if you work to speak and interact with them.

Races: not very important, but for some reason Atavian appeals to me also dwarf (if I went monk) or perhaps tsol'aa (if I went magi/sylvan).

Races: Go for whatever inspires you and what makes sense for your character and background you'd like to have. Find the kind of roleplay that speaks to you and inject it into your race, if possible. If you'd potentially like to know Vastar's Order better, try for Atavian. Same for Dwarf and Phaestus, and Tsol'aa is a great choice if you end up in Eleusis. I would probably choose this last to fit in with the makeup of the rest of your choices.

RP:  I like being in the role of defending the good and innocent/nature thus why targossas/eleusis/cyrene appeal to me while also pursuing personal excellence and being around members who are competitive (which sounds more like Ashtan?).  I would eventually like to get into the lore of my class and whatever organization I choose to try to advance in.  I would like to be useful to my organization and over time perhaps move to a position of leadership.

I addressed the cities roleplay up above, but as far as the good/innocent nature, you'll definitely find more of a home in Targossas, Cyrene, or Eleusis. If you want competitive members as far as combat goes, Eleusis or Targossas is likely better, although Cyrene does have the Wardens. Class-lore is such a rich, deep thing, and I highly suggest it if you can find your little niche. The way to find this, however, might just be trying different things to see how well it suits you. Never be afraid to try different things if you find you don't like what you're doing. The great thing about a new/young character is that you can more or less move between cities without a lot of fuss, as long as you remain polite about it. If you want to get into leadership, like I said earlier: Ministries are a great way to do it! So is getting involved with combat, and your House. Express yourself, and don't be afraid to get yourself into the fray. We like spunky novices.

Credits:  I would like to do this with no/little real life $$.  I am willing to devote a lot of time to compensate.  I would like to be effective and useful particularly while raiding/defending even if I am not in the top tiers and hold my own 1v1.

As mentioned earlier, IRE membership is a great investment, but not completely necessary! I mostly get most of my funds IG through different means, though this is much more difficult early on, as a fair warning.

Magi concerns: getting jumped.  Sylvan concerns: hard to tri-trans? Forestals seem to have a lot of writing/creativity requirements to rise in a house? Monk concerns: an rp environment that is too ascetic and not enjoyable in a somewhat casual way.

Getting jumped definitely a concern as a magi (or a non-deffed sylvan). Sylvans are just as hard to tri-trans as the rest really. You only need two skills plus a bit of survival to be combat viable (concoctions is great but not necessary), which also applies to magi (don't need enchantment so much until you're ready to trans it). Monk I am a less certain of, though I understand you don't need to be tri-trans to be effective. I think most of the rest of your points I addressed earlier.

Eleusis concerns: Perhaps a bit too non-combative? Too sentimental? Targossas concerns: RP can be wooden if it attracts inexperienced players like Shallam used to. Ashtan concerns: too power focused? No cooperative influence?

Addressed earlier!

Please feel free to suggest other classes, cities, etc as well.  I have a general idea of what I'd like, but perhaps posting these ideas would give someone an "aha!" moment of inspiration that would be useful in guiding me to a good in game fit.

My main suggestion would be to try your initial interests, and if you run out of them and aren't satisfied, try opening your mind to other options, such as Mhaldor, which is a great place if you've got the mindset for it.

I am very interested in @locun / @Iocun 's opinion (I couldn't tell if that was a L or an i

Edit: Forgot to include monks in my class thoughts!

Melodie

Kyrton said:

One more idea/comment/concern:  In terms of getting a mentor or advice and being integrated into a community which would be the best house/city for the respective classes? For example if I were to choose Magi and join the Sylvanic fellowship is that viable in terms of learning retardation skill in combat from someone more experienced who might be willing to take me under their wing?  Is cataclysm still very sought after for raiding/defending?

I am definitely willing to put in the work toward an organization that helps its new members and in turn pay it forward when I am more established.  Perhaps this is one of the most important aspects of the game for me as it leads to real friendships and a sense of being a part of something fun and worthwhile.

Also I would like the opinion of @Penwize in terms of finding a group/organization/city that keeps up the motivation in terms of bashing for dragon.

Missed this in my essay earlier.

You'll be able to find a mentor in pretty much all classes in all cities with the possible exception of monk in Cyrene (I don't know how active Rinzai is anymore). We don't have a lot of Magi in Eleusis right now, but there are a few (Alrena, Lothiac) who understand how the class works very well and would be able to teach you. Cataclysm is, sadly, not as useful as it once was, but it's nice to have if it's possible.

@Penwize is currently also MIA, not too sure where he's gone. We're hoping he'll be back pretty soon, though.

Kyrton

Ok wow thank you @Melodie for that very good across the board breakdown.  It is much appreciated.  I think based on what you described Eleusis definitely sounds more like the place for me.  However, you used some terms I am unfamiliar with:

1. LoS

2. "Relies heavily on tricks for 1v1 as well, as they have no "finishers", but lots of room to be extremely creative in their kills."

The creativity aspect definitely sounds appealing to me.  What do you mean by tricks?

3. "long def-up (so bursting is kind of useless)"

???

(although magi are terrible when jumped, as you mentioned later)

How annoying can this become over time?  If you begin to become important in raiding/defending are you opening yourself up to being constantly griefed?

Triak said:

Monk is better for bashing and Sylvan is better for PK.

to break the tie what is more useful in raids?  If I get involved I may get the IRE membership to make bashing easier and tritrans but I would like credit spending to be kept to a minimum and not rely on artefacts very much.  For some reason vibrations and retardation sound like an interesting combat mechanic and I am curious to explore it.

I would like to hear from anyone involved in Ashtan's monk/magi guilds as well in terms of what kind of rp is available.

Adioro

Just a small note about monks, everyone always cites it as hands down best at bashing...which is true, if you like bashing for 15 mins of every hour and sleeping the rest of the time. Endurance drain as a monk is absolutely staggering, after trying a bunch of different classes (admittedly with only fabled in the skills so I could keep trying new ones and not embrace), I found knight classes like runewarden to be 'best overall' at bashing (lower endurance drain, though still noticeable, with lots of tank and, assuming decent weapons, not painfully slow), but with the caveat of having a large equipment 'buy in'. Serpent was unexpectedly fun, at least for me, though the general consensus seems to be that it's really weak bashing. But hey...you can garrote all day every day and laugh at the idea of endurance drain.

Melodie

Kyrton said:

Ok wow thank you @Melodie for that very good across the board breakdown.  It is much appreciated.  I think based on what you described Eleusis definitely sounds more like the place for me.  However, you used some terms I am unfamiliar with:

-Very happy I've been able to be helpful so far!

1. LoS - This means "line of sight", which are attacks you can use within, literally, your line of sight across multiple rooms. So say you have an enemy two north of you, you can use some attacks to hit them. The other would be "area attacks", which means you can hit anyone within a 3 room radius of you. Some attacks are LoS, some are area attacks, and some (like shooting arrows) are only adjacent (meaning only one room over). These attacks cannot be used within the same room as you, but are designed for slightly more long distance fighting.

2. "Relies heavily on tricks for 1v1 as well, as they have no "finishers", but lots of room to be extremely creative in their kills."

The creativity aspect definitely sounds appealing to me.  What do you mean by tricks? Retardation is an amazing equalizer that allowes not just the Magi, but all classes to do certain things that would not otherwise work in normal conditions. It's a bit lengthy to explain, but in general times, retardation makes all of your input commands about one second slower (thanks @Iakimen for the correction here!). This includes curing, which is a huge deal. So afflictions with retardation are that much more important, and if you can throw your opponent off-equilibrium, they are in some very serious trouble. Tricks include using things like envenomed daggers to afflict with certain venoms. I don't know all the ins and outs, as I've never played a Magi, but I've fought against them and it is some scary stuff. A good mentor will be able to help teach you all of these tricks, and you may be able to invent your own, too!

3. "long def-up (so bursting is kind of useless)"

??? - Starburst is a tattoo that, when you die, will automatically bring you back to life. However, you will come alive with absolutely no defences at all. This is okay/dealable with most classes, but for some (including magi and sylvan), you really have to put up defences in order to at all be viable in attacking, so sometimes "bursting" (as it is often called) is kind of useless. It does depend on the situation, of course. Sylvan's viridian takes ages to do, plus putting up elemental channels, plus barkskin, and between the three, you're not going to have the time to put them up again if someone is slamming on you hard.

(although magi are terrible when jumped, as you mentioned later)

How annoying can this become over time?  If you begin to become important in raiding/defending are you opening yourself up to being constantly griefed? - Completely depends on the faction you join. It can be pretty annoying but dealable. From what I understand a lot of Magi will roam around with viberations (room-control affects) to help mitigate that if they're expecting to be jumped, but most times they'll just run away as neccessary. It can be annoying, but every class has pros and cons. If you become important in combat, you may indeed expect such things to happen. Hasar deals very well though, so I'm pretty sure it's doable if you're willing to put up with it to play to the other strengths of the class. Dragon also does not have this problem, once you obtain it.

Triak said:

Monk is better for bashing and Sylvan is better for PK.

to break the tie what is more useful in raids?  If I get involved I may get the IRE membership to make bashing easier and tritrans but I would like credit spending to be kept to a minimum and not rely on artefacts very much.  For some reason vibrations and retardation sound like an interesting combat mechanic and I am curious to explore it.

I would like to hear from anyone involved in Ashtan's monk/magi guilds as well in terms of what kind of rp is available.

Mithridates

If you go magi, you can expect to be useless if jumped (unartied, that is) and also be targeted first during raids. But if you enjoy retardation fighting as much as I do, it's the class for you. Retardation can really level the playing field against someone much higher level/artifacted then you are. 

Zincor

Adioro said:

Just a small note about monks, everyone always cites it as hands down best at bashing...which is true, if you like bashing for 15 mins of every hour and sleeping the rest of the time. Endurance drain as a monk is absolutely staggering, after trying a bunch of different classes (admittedly with only fabled in the skills so I could keep trying new ones and not embrace), I found knight classes like runewarden to be 'best overall' at bashing (lower endurance drain, though still noticeable, with lots of tank and, assuming decent weapons, not painfully slow), but with the caveat of having a large equipment 'buy in'. Serpent was unexpectedly fun, at least for me, though the general consensus seems to be that it's really weak bashing. But hey...you can garrote all day every day and laugh at the idea of endurance drain.

Trans Fitness.  Also, the ring of endurance and the circlet of willpower are both fairly cheap artefacts, considering the prices of others.  Make friends with forestals that can make campfires or grove rains.  Make use of wp/end regen rooms in house estates.  

Edit: Also, not sure if I am correct on this completely, but now that stances carry through as you move rooms, I think you use less endurance now.

Kyrton

Also, one more abstract question.  Which of the above classes is more survivable in different scenarios?  Is it very time consuming to bash for the gold for artefacts?

Melodie

Kyrton said:

Also, one more abstract question.  Which of the above classes is more survivable in different scenarios?  Is it very time consuming to bash for the gold for artefacts?

Magi: Getting jumped will suck unless you have vibes down. Kind of squishy without artefacts, but lots of escape ability if you know what you're doing.

Sylvan: Getting jumped without defs will suck, with defs (mostly viridian/channels/barkskin) will be fine. Virdian gives +2 int and +2 con, so sylvans tend to be more tanky even without artefacts. Same escape abilities as magi, except instead of crystalhome, you have grove return/flow (for forests only).

Monk: As long as you can react fast (enemy whoever is hitting you, get up one or two basic defs like kai trance), you'll be fine if you're jumped - probably the best off. Monks are easily one of the tankiest classes in Achaea thanks to several of their healing abilities, not to mention artefacts.

Bashing for artefacts: This will most definitely be a time-consuming thing. IRE membership will help a TON, but even without it, it's possible. Some of the best ways to get gold/credits in-game include bashing higher-level areas, deep sea fishing, trade skills (this has an initial lesson investment, three aren't tied to class but require credits to learn, the rest are tied to class for now), buying credits from your city/House, playing in any city/House games/contests to earn prizes (often credits). There are probably more, but that's some of the best/easiest. It'll take a long time (I'm still working on mine), but it's worthwhile and neat to get that sense of accomplishment in earning your way forward.

Hasar

As a sidenote, there is a classlead that was accepted afaik, by @Kaden, that will help with the getting-jumped-no-vibes-up problem for magi.

Melodie

@Hasar, wtf happened to your avatar.

What is that.

I'm so confused.

Edit: Oh, looking at the bigger picture of it helped. All good.

Nim

Melodie said:

Afraid our lovely Iocun isn't active at the moment. I'm not nearly as good of a stand-in, but I'll see what I can do.

Dalran

Kyrton said:

Ok wow thank you @Melodie for that very good across the board breakdown.  It is much appreciated.  I think based on what you described Eleusis definitely sounds more like the place for me.  However, you used some terms I am unfamiliar with:

1. LoS

2. "Relies heavily on tricks for 1v1 as well, as they have no "finishers", but lots of room to be extremely creative in their kills."

The creativity aspect definitely sounds appealing to me.  What do you mean by tricks?

3. "long def-up (so bursting is kind of useless)"

???

(although magi are terrible when jumped, as you mentioned later)

How annoying can this become over time?  If you begin to become important in raiding/defending are you opening yourself up to being constantly griefed?

Triak said:

Monk is better for bashing and Sylvan is better for PK.

to break the tie what is more useful in raids?  If I get involved I may get the IRE membership to make bashing easier and tritrans but I would like credit spending to be kept to a minimum and not rely on artefacts very much.  For some reason vibrations and retardation sound like an interesting combat mechanic and I am curious to explore it.

I would like to hear from anyone involved in Ashtan's monk/magi guilds as well in terms of what kind of rp is available.

_____________________________________
As an Ashtani Magi, the Warlocks are a nice house, but the RP of Ashtan definitely revolves around the Occultists house. Mainly for a lack of people that interested in RP, those that are head to the Occultists. Crystalism is an amazing skill, strong passive damage, afflictions, prone, mana drain. Utility with being able to portal to people. Cataclysm is amazing although harder to get since it requires more than one Mage to spin it. And retardation is one if the funniest skills in the game. Takes a lot of practice but is arguably the only viable way to kill someone as a Mage that has a ton of healths/resistances and the like. Also you can die in retardation just as easy if your opponent knows what he/she is doing

At school on my phone so my thoughts might not be as collected and formatted exactly how I may have liked in this post!

Adioro

Oh! As another aside on this topic, don't forget that you can change class for basically free all the way up to fabled in two skills. I definitely took advantage of that when I was deciding on a class. Fabled is enough to give you a good idea what you're in for.

Kyrton

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for your input.  I have decided to pursue a monk for now as I think over the long run it will be a more versatile character fitting with my goals in a variety of situations, but if I don't enjoy it very much over the course of a month or two I will try something else out.  Thanks so much!

One more question, in terms of Magi vs Sylvan, which house would you find to be most active?  Which house would be more.. estoeric?  This can be for any city I have read good things about the Mojushai and am drawn to their ethos as well as the arcane kindred from a roleplaying standpoint.  I am willing to sacrifice activity for a "deeper" experience however, I would still like to be combat ready/capable and learn from the best.

Tharvis

Sylvan is only really accepted in one city, Eleusis, and only one non-eleusis house accepts them, being the Merchants. The merchants are, in my opinion, decently active. Can't speak for the eleusis houses though, sorry.

I was a member of the Kindred for a while, they have a VERY deep experience, but the work you'll have to put into it is quite heavy (unless they ditched some of the requirements)

Mithridates

If you want to learn magi tactics, come to either Targ for me  and Terra, Cyrene for Kaden, or Mhaldor for Scrublord Hasar.

Aepas

well if you want esoteric, Mhaldor is the way to go! There you can wonder why people and yourself would play in the most bleak place with the most constricting rules and the meanest attitudes, all while abusing and hating yourself for being weak every single day!

But really, I think you sound like a loosis guy to me, plenty of great people with great attitudes in both RP and PVP. Sure we all have our days, but they are one of the few people I really enjoy fighting against. Always good sports. They'll also have a decently flexible way for you to play out your RP with your tough n gritty attitude while still being a pretty nice dood.

Right now houses have their merit, but if you really want to get into the deeper stuff you'll be wanting to look towards orders. Having an active house is nice, but based on what you've said I think you should just join what works and start looking into possible orders to join.

But really, you're going to find plenty of good people anywhere you go. Have fun and I look forward to killing you someday!

Kyrton

Aepas said:

 Have fun and I look forward to killing you someday!

Thank you I will, I look forward to dying (though hopefully not too often) while I learn the combat system haha.

Agrias

My protege is awesome.

Iocun

Heard my name being mentioned! Well, I don't know why specifically my advice was requested, but it seems you got all the important information either way. I think monk is a good choice for what you were looking for and your originally voiced concern of monk houses perhaps being "too ascetic" is probably unnecessary. Some level of "ascetism" can play a role in some of these orgs, but it's rarely enforced to an extreme and often more the RP decision of individuals.

House/city-wise I don't have enough first-hand experience to be able to say what you can expect in each of them, but I wouldn't worry too much about making a "perfect choice". It's impossible to find orgs that will completely satisfy every character plan and expectation. If you're too fixated on a preconceived character development you'll often get disappointed. Rather, keep your rough goals for your character in mind, join whatever house/city sounds most appealing to you from the outside and then let yourself be carried to wherever that takes you. This includes allowing the orgs you choose influence your character. You don't have to plan out everything from the start.

Oh, and as for "being combat ready and learning from the best"... well, one doesn't necessarily have to learn from the best to become the best! Good teachers are valuable, no doubt, but one can learn just as much by fighting/talking with people who aren't much more experienced than yourself, as well as being generally curious, inquisitive, and willing to experiment. If you just blindly follow some mentor's advice, you'll never surpass that mentor!

Kyrton

That's why your presence was requested haha.  Thanks for that post.

I had read a lot of your posts on the forums before this thread and your advice seemed sensible.

Aerek

Aww, @Iocun has a fan!

Get in line, kid. Some of us have been waiting a long time for the chance to become camel groupies.

Kyrton

I think that camel has a tumor or a large mammary gland or something by the way

Sena

I always assumed that was a keg of alcohol for some reason.