Returning player questions!

Lykas

Using an old perma-dormant character to post this, so I know exactly a bit more of what I wanna do. 

So, I used to play off and on, I was around during the Bal'met incident, and I was a regular a bit before that as well. I remember the ship sailing stuff was fun, fishing was interesting, and combat was actually semi-manageable, either because I had a Vadi system at the time, or some other reason that allowed me to actually manage as a low-tier combatant. I won't cover who I was, because I'm coming into the game fresh.

So, now that introducing myself is out of the way. I'd like to ask a question of the player base, and get a few pointers.

1. How hard is it to get to level 100? I'm coming from my main home over in Aetolia, where getting endgame is intended to be such a breeze, that it's actually rare for anyone to -not- be one of the three end-game races, because people will actively drag new players out hunting to take them to level 90-95, even 97, and go over everything they need to bash to help them hit that level 100, and it isn't hard to stack XP multipliers, with 300% xp being rather easy if you work at it. 

2. what's the best class for the goal of attaining dragon? I know BladeMaster was one of my preferred classes on a short-lived character, but I couldn't find myself sticking with the "grind" at the time, and other things in my life had pulled me away before I could genuinely claim the character, and as a side-note, are forestal type classes still restricted to Eleusis, with Alchemists being the opposite that locks forestal types (like druids, which was the class I was thinking of playing) from joining?

3. How difficult is it to find RP with everyone? Is everyone generally quiet in regards to "hooks" offered, but otherwise might response to individual nudges or pokes? Would it be difficult for me to walk up to a city or community where a gathering of players are, and offer a "hook" for RP with me, and anyone in the group will speak up?

4. How quiet is the general game's combat scene? Is combat difficult to get into again? Or is it as easy as it was around the Bal'Met incident, where I wasn't anyone special, but I was capable of handling myself, probably thanks to that system I mentioned. Or some other curing system, I forget how I set it up, and it's been the equivalent of a decade's worth of time in my brain since then, it feels like.


5. oh! how hard is it to get that multi-chromatic relic/artifact thing that was a big thing around the Bal'met incident that allows players to rotate between each dragon color?

Thank you, and I want to say I'm looking forward into possibly joining back up, instead of wandering off to Starmourn or something (not to crap on it, I'm just not sure on whether or not sci-fi is for me, when I've always been a high-fantasy sorta dude)

[Deleted User]

1. Time consuming, but not difficult. It just takes persistence and discipline. It's significantly slower than Aetolia, and while you can stack bonuses, they're generally expensive and you won't get close to 300%.

2. Almost any class is viable, but you want something you can comfortably avoid dying as. Nothing is worse for the grind to endgame than dying. Knight is the easiest choice since it has great DPS even without artefacts and is very tanky. Blademaster is only okay and requires you to sacrifice DPS for tankiness. Forestal classes are still restricted to Eleusis and they do not have access to Alchemist. Forestal classes can't join any other organization.

3. RP is plentiful if you go looking for it. This applies to every faction. Not everyone is keen on doing dedicated roleplay outside of specific scenarios, though, so don't get discouraged if you walk up to someone and they don't respond.

4. Combat is also plentiful if you go looking for it. Every org participates to some degree, some more than others. Avoid Cyrene if you have interest in city scale raiding or similar. You can find duels and spars pretty easily, though.

5. I'm not sure about whatever artefact that is (I wasn't here for it), but you can complete dragon talisman sets that allow you to use that color. If you complete all of the dragon talismans, you become an Elder Dragon which can dragonform much faster. It similarly takes a lot of time to get all of the pieces, though, unless you go through the effort of bargaining and trading with other people.

Lykas

@Issam thank you for the information. That's definitely useful, some additional questions: Are the "Knight" classes still split between Infernal, Runewarden, and Paladin? And how are the curatives looking, as far as things go? Are they still like.. split 50/50 like Aetolia had for a long time with Undead/living cures? Or did they finally do away and convert them all to a single set of cures as Aetolia had done recently (say..last year or so, I think)

Edit: Also, for someone returning, you recommended against Cyrene, though that was typically where I went to. How would you rate general friendliness to someone who's nearly a newbie ( I grasp basic concepts and actually playing the game, but it's basically a new game for me at this point), for a place like..Ashtan? Or maybe Hashan? (I remember not liking Hashan at one point, and it was actually for reasons I'm pretty sure might not be in play anymore.)

[Deleted User]

There are two sets of cures, minerals and herbs. They're entirely interchangeable but it's inconvenient to use both at the same time (serverside curing doesn't support it).

Those are the knight classes, yes. Same restrictions as usual - Infernal is Mhaldor only, Paladin is Targossas. There are four specializations and each lends itself to different playstyles and strategies. Don't choose sword and board for hunting (yet - there's a classlead in the works that may make it better, but for now it's the lowest possible DPS while hunting).

I think every city is friendly enough to newcomers, but one big factor might be timezone differences. Each has general time frames that they're most active in, and that can impact the amount of help and welcoming you'll get. Targossas, for instance, is most active around 7-11 EST (0:00 - 4:00 GMT), while Ashtan's population tends to skew a few hours later than that. There's some degree of representation for every org at all times, but it can definitely make things more difficult if your playtime runs opposite to the org's general trend. 

It's also worth noting that I'm only advising against Cyrene if you're interested in raiding - they do not raid other cities, and most other cities do not raid them. You can still find virtually everything else you might want there.

Galyleo

Bard is pretty tanky too, but that said if you do go bard I would suggest getting at least con belt and bracelets for arties at a minimum. However, that is more of a 'These are good things to have on any class' kind of thing when bashing. That said, bard bashing isn't bad at all. I have a l1 rapier and my balance time when bashing bounces between 1.7s (sometimes) to 1.9s. Adding in the speed with harmonics such as Anthem, Wassail, Continuo, and Hallelujah it gets really easy as long as you don't try and take on more than you can chew (like two mhun knights or some mhun keepers). There is also the harmonic Paxmusicalis which we can use to give us a little break in the middle of a fight as well, if we need it. The main thing to remember about Bard is that their damage comes from int and str. I'm not sure how much of each effects pve and pvp. I went troll and picked seer just to play it safe, and even put my trait into str so that my str and int were actually even. I have no idea why I did it, it just seemed like a good idea, even more so since I knew I was going to be getting a few artifacts. I'm not sure how much of that is actually helpful to you, but I thought I would add my two cents about bards. I've been having fun playing one since I started and I'm surprised it's taken me this long to even give one a shot.

[Deleted User]

For PvE, bard scales solely with strength. For PvP, the jab is based on strength and accentato is based on intelligence. 

Galyleo

Ahah! There is that answer!

Jinos

Issam covered most things already.

As for RP potential - Other novices in your house are a good cornerstone for interaction. When you make friends with other people undergoing the same tasks, it's a lot easier to talk, immerse yourself, and grow your character.

Plus it's a lot more fun having someone you can hunt with, and practice combat with who is on the same track as you.

Not that you can't do these things with the rest of your Citymates, but I've found that once you make a few friends that way, everything else you want to accomplish doesn't feel as insurmountable.