pvp sytem

Zedsdead

Hey, I am looking at starting up mudding again after a 15 years absence and am mainly interested in a pvp focused mud.  Can anyone give me a brief rundown of the pvp system in this mud?  I have been unable to find much info other than all the websites claim it has the best combat system.  I am interested in how pvp works, ie. is it free for all pk, clan based pvp only, 1v1 or team based, are there pvp events, etc?

Akia

Well, I'll be the first to say that I've probably played every single MMO since the Ultima Online/Everquest days (mid 90s) and I'd never found a combat system even close to the depth of Achaea.  But you already knew this from the overall reviewes of random websites.

How PvP "works" is an interesting concept in Achaea, you can basically attack anyone for any reason or no reason at all, but it's probably not the best choice!  Everyone usually finds reason to creating a conflict, so as to not ruin the experience of the game for the people they play against.  There are things like clans, and they do have conflicts but it's usually not as open as a guild vs guild conflict in other mmos.  There are much larger conflicts that would be city vs city based which we usually call "raids'.

Most people would say 1v1 is dead, but it's really not, you can have a great time 1v1 dueling or sparring people in the arena(no loss of experience or consumables). 1v1 combat is constantly being balanced to make a better experience for everyone.  A lot of people play to only to 1v1 as group combat isn't their type of thing.  

Group combat, city vs city, or small skirmishes are probably the most fun you'll have.  You learn to work with your team mates and kill enemies as efficiently as possible, securing shrines(of divines), areas, or just for the heck of it.  There's so so many reason to get into group conflicts, most people enjoy it, some do not.  

Overall, if you think you've got a PK/PvP mindset, and are good at that type of thought process, Achaea is for you!  Thinking outside the box here will make you amazing at what you do, as most people don't(in pvp).

You won't find anything better.  Give it a try.

Lyr

* Ring of flying and earring of Sinope required.

(I kid, I kid. Sort of.)

Tanris

You were onto something until your negation statement.

Ignore this misguided one, ring of flying is the best thing that can happen to your character.

Tvistor

Someone I knew got a ring of flying once, and the next day he got a scholarship IRL.

Iocun

Chuck Norris once was attacked by a pixie wearing a ring of flying. Chuck Norris died.

Zedsdead

Thanks for the input Akia.  What is the motivation for pvp in this game?  Is it like vanilla Wow where you just pvp for the fun of it and there are not really any rewards or death penalties?  Or are there things like pvp rankings, pvp rewards, some form of death penalty, etc.  in this mud?

Aktillum

People PvP different reasons, most of it is RP-PK, "faction vs faction". There are some "free PK" zones. Yes to PvP rankings, you get EXP from PK, you lose XP from dying. Also, city raids.

Here is a "recording" of PvP in Achaea: http://www.whiteraventechnology.com/tlanuwa_vs_ceff.html

Vaehl

Aktillum said:

Here is a "recording" of newbs PvPing in Achaea:http://www.whiteraventechnology.com/tlanuwa_vs_ceff.html

ftfy

Iocun

Most people don't PvP for any material rewards, but simply because they enjoy it. There are combat rankings, but they don't apply to the majority of PvP that happens in Achaea, but only to specifically arranged spars in "arenas". This excludes any form of group combat from it, for instance, and also means that some prominent PKers don't join these rankings at all. As mentioned, there are XP rewards upon killing and losses upon losing, but I assume that those don't matter that much for most of the people heavily involved in it.

Vadimuses

Mentioning PvP without any mention of artefacts so far is unfair to the newbie looking to give it a go. Someone should provide a neutral writeup on how they do significantly affect it.

Iocun

Well, (s)he did create another thread which covers artefacts too. Not sure if anybody's capable to provide such a neutral writeup though, since we all have a bit biased views, one way or the other, and also, because it depends a lot on the person's class. It also depends a lot on ones definition of "being successful".

But yeah, artefacts help.

Cooper

Just based on how you are wording things and what questions you are asking, I'm not sure Achaea pvp is going to be something you will get along well with. I'd suggest you look at a different, non-text based game.

Akia

Cooper said:

Just based on how you are wording things and what questions you are asking, I'm not sure Achaea pvp is going to be something you will get along well with. I'd suggest you look at a different, non-text based game.

What is this I don't even

Don't listen to this guy, he's a baddie.

Aeolithon

Someone edit cooper's picture with the sorting hat shouting SLYTHERIN please

Zeon

How could you possibly suggest that? Just because you're familiar with WoW doesn't mean you wouldn't be able to make the transition to a game like Achaea. Most of us didn't experience MUDs as our first gaming experience.

Also trying the game to see if you like it doesn't take long and you don't lose anything if you decide it isn't for you.

Aeolithon

Vadimuses said:

Mentioning PvP without any mention of artefacts so far is unfair to the newbie looking to give it a go. Someone should provide a neutral writeup on how they do significantly affect it.

Arties make you bad and you don't need arties to fight unless you're already bad. This doesn't include Monk where artefacts are okay as long as you are actually good. 

There are such things as PvP rankings. The most to be garnered out of achaea pk is your own enjoyment, the satisfaction it can provide when facing challenges and overcoming them and gathering a reputation as a decent fighter can earn you a lot of respect. Expect to encounter many, many idiots that think they're great because they can gank you 6 deep or defeat you once out of 5 fights because of their overwhelming artefact collection: but I suppose this is the same everywhere. once you break past that, it is seriously fun.

Not like WoW though, Achaea combat is damn technical and there is a hell of a lot to learn if you want to excel. One of the reasons I like it so much really.

Akia

Vanilla WoW was actually pretty technical and interesting, used to have to be pretty skilled to win in pvp for the most part.  And if you were good enough you could actually fight 2-3 or even 4 people at once.  Now it's just a gear and button press fest, where it actually even tells you what buttons to press next, so dumb.  People didn't like getting curb stomped by people that were better than them, so they dumbed it down so much it stopped mattering how good you were, in order to keep subscriptions, and it worked.

Achaea isn't like this yet, it's slowly getting there via forum whining and most of us are trying to fight it.  I know it's a foreign concept to a lot of gamers these days but you have to actually not suck a PvP or PvE to win in Achaea (there's barely any spoon feeding), and you have to actually think and innovate to be the best.

Those that can't fight, forum.

Delphinus

Akia said:

I know it's a foreign concept to a lot of gamers these days but you have to actually not suck a PvP or PvE to win in Achaea

I question your concept of winning, sir.

Aeolithon

Didn't mind that Rho guy.

Synbios

Akia said:

Those that can't fight, forum.

So all of us here are non-fighters. How tragic.

Daslin

For once I will agree with everything @Akia has said. He's putting it in fairly simple terms a non-player can understand. Honestly in regards to the question of op.... If you can think and retain knowledge, you'll do well.

Eld

@Synbios No, he didn't say only non-fighters forum. The logical implication is that everyone who doesn't forum can fight. Which at least makes me feel better about losing to 18 year olds 10% of my might.

Tanris

Pretty sure that Mizik guy was owning all these omni artied dudes no problem before he even could be persuaded to get an artie elm pipe (then he proved us all wrong by getting one free in a monthly promotion, gdi).

Same goes for Zeon. Vaehl seems to do ok. Etc.

If you're good, you can kill artied people without artifacts. Generally the first indication for me for if someone is looking for an excuse is if they say I can't kill x because he's too artied. Excuse falls flat, plenty of unartied people have probably killed them already.

You can get by with never investing a $ into Achaea (although I'd advise dropping like $10 at the least if you decide to stick around, because it'll make your character permanent). Micropayments here serve the same purpose in nearly all other MMOs, they can speed up the process of acquisition of various things, but they'll never give you a crushing and unbeatable edge over other players.

Unless you get a ring of flying, anyway.

 

Mizik

I can't always drop $100 on text.

I can always glance over a log and copy what someone else did. Then you take this tactic you saw someone do, make one change. Two changes. If I had used venom x instead of y on that last slash, then target would have been forced to cure x before z. Remember curing and afflicting is and educated rock paper scissors. You can always control what your target will cure, and that's what you pay attention to. If I slash curare/xentio, the target will eat bloodroot, then kelp. Now just expand that to multiple scenarios.

My advice: don't start with Serpent. Anything with a cheap easy kill - Knights are best since they only need 2 skills and no artefacts; they can pump out more damage than most other classes naturally and come with built in damage resist/health regain that most classes have to buy multiple lv 3 artefacts to ineffectually emulate. You can snipe just as well as a Knight as you can with a Serpent (better, since you'll have falcon on all snipe targets), and Serpent is for the most part an ineffective melee meshers.

Infernal is best. Vivisect is very simple and can kill virtually anyone. It comes with Gravehands and Vigour for survivability, which if you've played any class without it will leave you wondering why. A powerful class with a small learning curve goes a long way in teaching you how to understand mechanics.

And venoms? Only use venoms that give you an immediate effect you can control. Go for the lasting effect - something that will last more than one second. Multiple herbs or multiple salves. If you slash the legendary curare/aconite, assume the opponent will instantly eat bloodroot/focus - may as well have slashed without venoms. Consider that it's the second venom in a doubleslash that is the one you care about, since the first will be cured instantly, but the second will have to wait until herb bal is back. If you want to stick prefarar, you'll logically think "I need to get past the deafness" so pref/pref. Think beyond the afflicting, think what the reaction will be. Obviously, they'll cure sensitivity before redeffing deafness. Will they cure sensitivity before paralysis? Even if I can't slash at herb balance, I know that on the next doubleslash he'll be starting off herb balance, meaning from now on he'll have at least one affliction on him.

One step will always lead to the next. It's these little conundrums that make the game.

Aktillum

Mizik said:

Think beyond the afflicting, think what SVO will do

Truth