endgame gear

Zedsdead

I've been doing a ton of research to see if this is a mud i want to get into.  One thing I have not been able to get much info on is how endgame gear works.  Is the best gear attained through raiding mobs with groups, quests, pvp rewards, etc.?  I prefer games where you can be constantly working to improve your character as opposed to ones where you max out your gear/char pretty quickly, how does Achaea work in this respect?

Aktillum

There are no loot drops. You get gold from stuff you kill. You can buy credits with the gold that lets you buy top-tier gear, or you can buy credits off the website. Here are some related articles:

Earning Gold in Achaea

Artefacts and Lessons in Achaea

Iocun

Gear is, all in all, not quite as relevant as in some other RPGs, although it certainly can make quite a difference. There isn't any particular "endgame" gear though. Basically, there are two types of "powerful" gear: forged weaponry of exceptional quality, which you can either forge yourself if you play a knight class, or buy from other players, and artefacts, which you buy with credits. You can get credits by either purchasing them directly off Achaea's website, or earning them in-game through various means: buying them with in-game gold, getting them as rewards for some contests and such, leveling up to a certain degree, or some voluntary work for Achaea (becoming a newbie guide, mentoring proteges, etc.).

Artefacts and exceptionally good forged weapons add quite some power to a character, but they are, in most cases, not prerequisites for being successful. A lot of Achaea's PvP is based on knowledge of its combat mechanics and personal skill and experience with it and not just on having a powerful character, at least once you reach a certain point.

Cooper

You can max out a character in both gear and skills in under a day of playing. As in, you don't even have to be at your computer most of the time.

This isn't WoW. This is nothing like it.

Antidas

Cooper is trolling you, dont listen to him

Arlanda

It again boils down to what you want to do in Achaea. Just the level 3 stat gears are a goal long enough for most. Throw in things like veils, artie vials, pipes and other stuff. I'm sure you won't max out anytime soon

Jules

Zedsdead said:

I've been doing a ton of research to see if this is a mud i want to get into.  One thing I have not been able to get much info on is how endgame gear works.  Is the best gear attained through raiding mobs with groups, quests, pvp rewards, etc.?  I prefer games where you can be constantly working to improve your character as opposed to ones where you max out your gear/char pretty quickly, how does Achaea work in this respect?

If you want to be *really* good at the combat part of the game, you have to get good at programming and also understand the very complicated game mechanics - which I mean in the best possible way.  It doesn't seem like other games even compare.   I'm good at neither of those things and the game still has a vice grip on me (partly because of those things).  There's also a very deep roleplaying aspect - and the two often meld to a degree.  You can't be a badass if you aren't... actually a badass.  I really recommend you give it a shot.  Also, get Vadimuses' system.  It comes with a lot of support, and is probably the closest to/best "endgame" gear/tool for a new player (or even a not so new player) if I'm understanding you correctly. 

Dorn

There's not really 'endgame gear' in Achaea because there isn't really an 'endgame'. There is/was Dragon, but that was mostly a perk for people who like hunting.

If you want to level grind? Grind levels to your heart's content. Try to catch Penwize - he's on what, level 130-something now?.

If you want to PvP? You might want to get up to a decentish level, ~70-80 or so, but that's pretty quick, and from there you get the whole landscape of Achaean combat to play around with - every class has different tricks and tactics, and then players have their own tricks within those classes. You could quite easily spend months just figuring out the nuances of your class.

If you want to do something different? Become a political powerhouse. All those fighters who's spent all that effort'll be at your beck and call. Turn into a merchant and buy security with filthy lucre. Go explore and map every square inch of Sapience (and say hi to Delphinus when you see him).

Most people generally dabble in a bit of everything, with a focus in one field. This is usually by necessity - people who're good at PK usually end up getting lauded and nominated for political positions, politicians are frequently high profile targets, bashing is a good opportunity for an ambush if you have enemies, and if you die a lot in PK you'll need to get those levels back one way or another.

As for your question, " I prefer games where you can be constantly working to improve your character as opposed to ones where you max out your gear/char pretty quickly, how does Achaea work in this respect?", it's generally not your character that improves so much as you, at least in PK. Once you have your skills to where you want/need them, it becomes a case of you studying your class, figuring out what you're supposed to do to win, figuring out how other classes win and how you can stop them, writing scripts and triggers to keep track of what's going on and just generally learning how to play.

It's an ongoing process for most people. I don't think it'd be exaggerating to say that anyone who thinks they've learnt everything there is to learn about Achaean combat is wrong.

Lodi

As in real life, the most valuable commodity you can gather for your character is respect. Reputation is everything here. Achaea is a very real, living, breathing world once you get into it.

Arador

Amulet of Yendor is a must.

Akia

This is a skill based game not a gear based game.  There's gear that will help you bridge the skill gap a bit, some classes/item combos more than others.  But over all, you'll need to learn what to do in a fight over just mindlessly grinding for some gear like in most games.  And like most people said there's really not much for way of gear without paying a crapton for artifacts (which you really don't need at all to enjoy yourself).

Mannimar

"Paying a crapton" is optional at that. Paying only expedites you to your goal. 

Beliar

Do you need to know how to program if you buy one of the system to be successful at pvp?

Tanris

No. You can get by without any programming beyond aliases and triggers, and if you decide you want something more complex there are a ton of people who will gladly write something up for you, and a good deal will do it for free.

Iocun

This depends quite a bit on their classes though. Some classes simply have an inherent advantage against certain other classes.