Very old returning character

Cerres

Hey guys, so I used to play a very long time ago (think age of Tranquility, Kay, Zero, Andelas) and I'm trying to decide on if I want to invest time and money back into Achaea, with the new retirement system recently put in place and gaining some credits.  I'm interested in a few classes, mainly Shaman, Serpent, and Priest.  I played Monk, which back then was pretty much ez-mode if you had a few aliases and even a little bit of coding knowledge.  My question is, especially with server-side, are affliction classes really still doable, without hitting a learning curve that's more like a wall trying to figure out ways around curing.  Secondly, is there at least a little bit of a challenge fighting as a Priest now?  Before it was pretty much Demons/Sap/Sap/Sap/Absolve.  I'm not looking to steamroll people right out the gates, but I would like to learn my class, and be viable in all forms of combat.  Thanks for any tips and help thrown my way.

Kiet

Server-side curing hasn't affected the potency of any affliction classes except serpents who lost aff illusions. Even then, they were compensated with other large buffs and are very strong right now.

Priest is now an affliction class, too, and really strong. Shaman is really strong right now, too. Really, all three of those classes are good at the moment in solo/group combat, and all are affliction-focused.

Amranu

Shaman is really strong right now, too.

This opinion is based on... what exactly? I don't think I've even fought you and I'm realistically the only Shaman actively pking right now

Cerres

Are you just that strong, maybe?  All joking aside, thanks for the info, Kiet.  I'm looking over the changes to Knights too and they look interesting, but those classes weren't for me then, probably not for me now.

Sarapis

Cerres said:

Hey guys, so I used to play a very long time ago (think age of Tranquility, Kay, Zero, Andelas) and I'm trying to decide on if I want to invest time and money back into Achaea, with the new retirement system recently put in place and gaining some credits.  I'm interested in a few classes, mainly Shaman, Serpent, and Priest.  I played Monk, which back then was pretty much ez-mode if you had a few aliases and even a little bit of coding knowledge.  My question is, especially with server-side, are affliction classes really still doable, without hitting a learning curve that's more like a wall trying to figure out ways around curing.  Secondly, is there at least a little bit of a challenge fighting as a Priest now?  Before it was pretty much Demons/Sap/Sap/Sap/Absolve.  I'm not looking to steamroll people right out the gates, but I would like to learn my class, and be viable in all forms of combat.  Thanks for any tips and help thrown my way.

Welcome back.

I'll say this: The main overall difference in combat now vs. back then is the server-side curing (which we implemented mainly because client-side curing got so good people felt forced into it) and combat being just much better tuned and balanced in general. Combat is more nuanced now than it was back then.

Kiet

Amranu said:

Shaman is really strong right now, too.

This opinion is based on... what exactly? I don't think I've even fought you and I'm realistically the only Shaman actively pking right now

? Even you've agreed with me that shaman is in the upper half of the classes, that's 'really strong' for me. That it's not undisputed #1 (or even top 3) doesn't mean it's not strong.

Cerres

Hi Sarapis (Matt still?).  Thanks for the info.  I remember mailing you a money order for my first batch of credits waaaay back when.  

Cooper

I think the main difference between then and now is that every class is dangerous, and will kill you (fairly) quickly if you aren't paying attention, even with automatic/server side curing.

Most classes do more damage than they used to (ignoring heavily artied people) due to defense stacking changes - levels (and health) are much easier to gain too.

Afflictions come faster than they used to.

Side note, the age of Kay, Tranquility, and Zero/Andelas were all separate. The only constant was me pwning all of them.

Sarapis

Cerres said:

Hi Sarapis (Matt still?).  Thanks for the info.  I remember mailing you a money order for my first batch of credits waaaay back when.  

Yep, still Matt. Sign of the times: We don't even accept mailed in payments any more. 

Dairon

Sarapis said:

Cerres said:

Hi Sarapis (Matt still?).  Thanks for the info.  I remember mailing you a money order for my first batch of credits waaaay back when.  

Yep, still Matt. Sign of the times: We don't even accept mailed in payments any more. 

Brings back old memories. I did this when I was in middle school too. Entirely forgot

Citrus

Dairon said:

Sarapis said:

Cerres said:

Hi Sarapis (Matt still?).  Thanks for the info.  I remember mailing you a money order for my first batch of credits waaaay back when.  

Yep, still Matt. Sign of the times: We don't even accept mailed in payments any more. 

Brings back old memories. I did this when I was in middle school too. Entirely forgot

Same for me, I think a lot of Achaea's original population were in middle/high school, it's interesting that since a lot of players are still the same and many returning that the community/game itself has matured and now the average age of the Achaean player is probably much higher.  (I'd actually love to see actual statistical comparison)

Szanthax

Cooper said:

I think the main difference between then and now is that every class is dangerous, and will kill you (fairly) quickly if you aren't paying attention, even with automatic/server side curing.

Most classes do more damage than they used to (ignoring heavily artied people) due to defense stacking changes - levels (and health) are much easier to gain too.

Afflictions come faster than they used to.

Side note, the age of Kay, Tranquility, and Zero/Andelas were all separate. The only constant was me pwning all of them.

Pwnd