Serpent — Achaea's Forums

Archery possible as main combat focus?

Laani — Fri, 09 Apr 2021 08:24:09 +0000

I'm very new to Achaea and MUDs in general. Hoping to find one I can stick with. As the title reads - I'm extremely biased toward archery, marksmanship, using some sort of bow/crossbow in the games I play. I've read a few times through help files and browsing the forum that Serpent seems to be the best option but also that archery doesn't play a big role in combat.

Can someone confirm whether this is a fruitless endeavor? I'm not opposed to exploring other combat styles but do have a strong preference.

Appreciate it! And apologies if this is the wrong place for the discussion.

Weapon progression?

Liella — Sun, 21 Mar 2021 19:33:34 +0000

Hi! I'm a level 42 serpent and I started about a week ago, I think. Anyway, I'm using the whip I was given during the orientation but I have no idea when I need to progress and what I need to progress to.

Also, if someone could point me towards the right scabbard for a whip, I'd be grateful.

Thanks,

Liella

Arties for Serpents?

Oxy — Wed, 25 Jan 2017 16:50:28 +0000

I have many in my sights, and I won't be able to get any for a long time.

That said, I like planning ahead, and knowing what I'm saving up for.

So what do you recommend is best? I heard artie dirks are a must, are bows required too?

And how about stat arties or defensive stuff?

I imagine in the long run if I want to do any stealth stuff the gem/veil are sort of a must, but those are crazy expensive so I'm not getting my hopes up any time soon.

Serpent Reflex/Trigger Help?

Tlahtoani — Thu, 25 Jun 2020 13:21:17 +0000

Hiya, I'm a budding Cyrenian serpent and I'm looking for help getting started with reflexes and triggers for my class. I don't really know any of them so any help at all would be wonderful! Thanks!

Artifacts

Izrail — Mon, 29 Jul 2019 18:10:31 +0000

Quick question,

I have a lv1 lash, soa, and now a hunters belt. 16 dex. Trans subterfuge, avoidance, constitution, fitness, antidotes, and almost trans philosophy. Going to get a lv1 crit pendant next.

What should I go for after that to help maximize my hunting? Lv2 lash? Or artifact tattoos?

Let's Fix Pickpocket

Profit — Thu, 16 May 2019 16:51:22 +0000

It's been a while.

Currently, theft via pickpocketing is pretty all right. When you're not targeting specific items, it can still be a fairly lucrative endeavor. But, to be lucrative, it requires you to do it all the time. After a while, this starts to feel exploitative in that you're just targeting people when they're vulnerable and moving on, over and over. There's virtually no incentive to target bigger fish because you're not going to get anything different and, even if you do, there's a limit to how much you can get. The driving mantra, then, is quantity over quality. I think everyone will agree that it's super boring and tedious to have a thief running around trying to rob the same people ten times per day.

So, the problem then is the lack of targetability. With the ability to target high-value items in people's inventory, the focus shifts from quantity (rob everyone) to quality (rob the rich). The current targeted pickpocket system is horrible. It lacks fundamental mechanics to make the interaction fair, predictable, preventable, or interesting for anyone involved. When it succeeds, it's a miracle and the target is pissed because there's not much they could've done to avoid it. When it fails, it's expected and there's nothing the thief could've done to make it succeed.

To be successful, a good theft system needs three things: fairness, predictability, and preventability. Here's an attempt at creating that.

Pickpocket (not targeting an item)

Remains unchanged.

Pickpocket (targeting an item)

Change the base success percentage to 1%, which I suspect is lower than the current success percent.

Case (new skill)

Syntax: CASE 
Balance: 2 seconds

Case your target, watching how they react to your presence and, more importantly, how they choose to safeguard their possessions.

When you case a target, you (roughly) double the percentage chance of pickpocketing a specific item. After one case, the chance is 2%. After two cases, it's 5%. After three cases, 10%. After seven, it's 85% and that's the maximum. Cases last for one real life day: at the serenade, they all automatically reset.

Targets receive a message for every case used against them. The first two cases have messages to the target. The next three have messages to the room. The next two might do something unique, like forcing the character to yell that they're being cased.

This system is fair in that it allows the target to avoid the thief: after they see the first case, they have 14 full seconds to avoid being fully cased. It is predictable in that it allows the thief to prepare for and depend upon the performance of their skills, while still having some element of randomness involved. It is preventable in that it it still relies on bypassing selfishness, rewear triggers, and so forth; moreso, it is preventable because the target is notified well in advance about what is happening.

Anyway, there's an idea.

Going Serpent

Atau — Sun, 21 Jul 2019 20:20:06 +0000

Hello,
After taking quite a bit of time off of Achaea, I have returned and decided I would try a Serpent this time around. I ended up retiring my old character so that I could have the credits, instead of a character that I have no desire to play after all these years. My question mostly is concerning these Traits. What are good for Serpents that wish to focus on combat eventually? As it is, I am an Atavian. I already have the following arties: Thoth's Fang, Etheral Boots, SoA, Ring of Endurance, and Logosian Bracelets. I have tri- transed my class skills, but have really nothing in anything else. After all of this, I still have about 1200 credits to spend. I can spend them on lessons or another artefact that you all may think may helpful. Again, how to spend my traits is my first concern, but I am open to all advice. Thank you.

Getting started with a Serpent

Mexis — Wed, 07 Nov 2018 21:53:14 +0000

Mainly interested in RP and diving into the Serpent lore and class. Not super excited about PVP though. Is there a place for that with Serpent class in the game?

How do I get started? Not trying to be the best thing ever, just want to enjoy some downtime from time to time with some storytelling and RP.

Note: I've played D&D for 20+ years and still play AD&D. Unsure if that matters, but trying to communicate I'm not interested in "winning".

Thank you!

Seeking some Serpent wisdom, especially with Artefacts

Tujaques — Sat, 02 Dec 2017 20:34:45 +0000

Quick Background:

I hope this wall of text isn't too obnoxious for everyone with all the questions but after much deliberation between Serpent, Jester, Shaman, and Runewarden I believe I've finally settled on Serpent. I haven't played since an extremely brief stint in Ashtan around 2010 and with all the changes I am in need of planning the best route when it comes to my Serpent. I've read quite a bit on the forums but a lot of my information might be quite out of date and I'd rather not waste too much money on stuff that won't really help in the long run. I'd like to make bashing up to dragon a bit easier (as I'm sure Serpent is still pretty squish) while also maximizing my PvP potential as I get around to focusing on combat, AND getting the most use should I decide to Multiclass into one of the above!

Questions:

I'll have about a total of 7500 Credits to spend with 2000 extra lessons although I'm sure a Veil/Hood is still required so more like 5500 and will likely have just a little less after Tr-Transing, plus some Survival, Vision, and Avoidance.

Spec/Trait: So far I believe I can spec to 15 Dex but would take a hit down to 11 Con and I will likely choose Nimble trait to help just not sure if the loss in Con is worth the Dex gain?

Dirk: I was under the assumption that a L3 was required to be competitive at the higher levels but recently told the L1/L2 dirks will work just fine due to a cap with the right Dex to match, so which would you personally go with?

Lash: I've read that some forged lashes can get close to 170-180 speed which would make me favor the L2 lash since I believe the L1 is at 187 and L2 209, is the extra 450 credits worth the 22 points in speed?

Silver Fangs: An increase to the damage of shielded mobs when bashing at higher levels or so I've read but also quite expensive at 500 credits.

Bow: Pretty much to help out group combat. I haven't read too much into the benefit of the increased speed so at the moment I'm considering just picking up a Ranger's Bow so as not to have to worry about the decay of a Dark Bow.

Shiny Charm: I've spoken with a few Serpents and they've made note that with the changes to server side curing illusions aren't used as often and instead a few have switched to Hypnosis. With the 33% increase how drastic of a difference could this make?

SoA: Pretty much a given plus I can use it if I multiclass, should also help in both bashing and PvP.

Wings: Almost as popular as the Veil/Hood so I'm sure I'll pick up a pair of Eagle Wings too. I don't see much benefit to the Atavian ones.

Of course I'm also looking at getting a Wyrmskin Pack, DragonSkin Quiver, Sip Ring, and some vials/pipes but should I also look at going for better defensive Artefacts as well such as Shackles and Buckawn Amulet? Or should I spend the remaining on a stat increase to Dex and Con like Boots and Belts?

Whew that was a ton of questions, and I hope not overly obnoxious. Thanks for any opinions you guys can offer.

New player interested in PvP and Raiding!

Descretia — Thu, 27 Jul 2017 22:26:21 +0000

Hey all, very excited to jump into this game and was curious if anyone had any advice for starting Serpents(if this is even a good class to try starting as in Achaea). The PvP in this game appears deep and rich and the Serpent class sounds like it has a wealth of skills to manipulate, deceive, and control other players with as well as some presence in raiding. Mhaldor, as the city of Evil, sounds like a good place to live as one imagines they would have many enemies to choose from.

Are my assumptions correct? Many of the posts here appear outdated. Just want to make sure my fangs will be fighting for an active group and that the proper skills will be employed in battle. Thank you.

Is it useful to learn Venoms or Hypnosis if I'm only interested in hunting and not combat?

Saible — Mon, 22 May 2017 04:30:36 +0000

I don't want to invest a bunch of lessons in venoms and hypnosis if I'd be better off learning other skills to help me hunt and level up. I'm also looking at buying some artifacts for Saible. Maybe a whip and something to improve her health? Any suggestions? What's good for serpent hunting?

Illusion

Teotwauki — Thu, 04 May 2017 23:13:51 +0000

I just returned to the game to find illusion equilibrium has been extended quite a lot when used in conjunction with a dstab, making the conventional dstab/illusion impractical when fighting aside from one off illusions like a magi would use. From what I could see searching, this was to try and nerf serpent a bit at the higher artifact levels, correct me if I'm wrong, that's about the only info I could find. Serpent have always been a fairly stable class that I think most people would consider balanced, they have received some buffs to skills to make them more competitive as combat developed and systems/curing changed, although nothing I would have thought were game changing. I have been away from combat for a very long time though.

Illusion has always been an integral part of serpent combat, illusions add a whole other dimension to combat that isn't just a situation prep. With the advent of higher automation in combat, I think illusions are still quite valid and useful, and keep Achaean combat interesting as people have to code around them or employ their own knowledge of combat to ignore them. They also add an almost infinite depth to combat that can be tailored depending on class and situation, either against systems or the player. Anyway, I'm just shocked this was changed as this changes the dynamic of the class completely and brings it inline with most other affliction classes.

Anyway, seems the advanced search feature isn't on there forums, or I can't find it, and I'm not having too much luck after searching through 15 pages of "illusion" results. Can anyone enlighten me as to why illusion was changed specifically, if it was just a balancing issue, why illusion and not another skill?

Now that some time has past, would everyone say it was a positive thing, did it achieve what it was intended to achieve?

Bask and worm splice interruption

Paine — Fri, 15 Apr 2016 00:21:07 +0000

Not sure what happened but I used to be able to use SAY, check SCORE, etc. even send a TELL while using bask and worm splice. It was a little tricky because you had to use full tell and full name, not name tells, not reply, not rel. Now, you can't do any of the above. You can't even check your score to see how much willpower is regenerating while basking. This is pretty annoying

Some targeted serpent questions.

Belahm — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 16:25:52 +0000

Hey there! So, rather new and well on the way to tri transing my serpent. Huzzah! I have heard some initial things that have sounded problematic to me though, so I will ask.

- I have been told a serpent needs an artefact dirk to be viable in combat. Is this true? I am a rajamala with 16 dex.

- If this does have a shed of truth, how much more important is it than say an artefact sword to a rune warden?

- related to the above, should I then prioritize a dirk or work on my other skills like avoidance?

- what level should I be reaching to start learning the 1v1 game? I am very interested in learning combat so any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

edit: all these questions are themed around artefacts for a reason. I just don't want to have to drop a bunch of money to have a hope in combat. I don't mind having a hill to climb against slight advantages, but if I outright have to drop 500-1000 to get on the same level then the class is probably not for me.

Venom logic questions. (asthma prio)

Aesi — Thu, 03 Dec 2015 15:34:56 +0000

Okay. so, we know for a lock we need to start with at least kalmia, impatience, gecko, slike, vernalius (damn you fitness/shrug)

against a paralysis priority I can do this all day.

How does one successfully secure a lock vs kalmia prios? I can build up the affs all day with a kelp stack, but it seems the people I fight prio asthma at #1 (some over darkshade, so yay lightwall kills)

but how does one actually lock an asthma prio?

new to serpents and stuff, can ya help?

Wytch — Sat, 28 Nov 2015 18:03:30 +0000

so im trying to figure out which illusions i should be adding to my vstacks and dstabs, but i dont relaly get it. which ones would be best for which situation if you dont mind sharing info?
please and thank you !

what do these abilities do?

Obla — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 12:29:56 +0000

So i've recently got ghost and cloak in subterfuge. Now i've read the AB on them but i'm still unsure what they do or how they describe me to other people, could anyone inform me what happens?

Achievement System for Pickpocketing NPCs

Chris — Wed, 17 Jun 2015 08:18:26 +0000

You submit the idea #990 'Pickpocketing NPCs can be profitable. I wish there was an achievement system or quests I
could pursue for pickpocketing NPCs and/or pickpocketing certain items that I can only get from special characters.' for
review.

A functional Affliction Machine for learning venom combinations

Chris — Tue, 16 Jun 2015 02:32:01 +0000

Greetings everyone,

I have an idea for the serpent class that I would like to be discussed.

In order to practice your doublestab combinations, it must be done through some sort of PVP combat. I was thinking of a payable 'machine' or dummy that has 3 different speeds, in which you are able to doublestab and target with arrows. You are able to 'load' the machine with the cures needed and it would tell you the afflictions that it has collected/cured. This would enable all serpents to practice in private and hone their skill.

What do you all think?

Pickpocket and Stealth tips.

Makina — Sat, 23 May 2015 20:16:22 +0000

I'd like to have some tips on how pickpocket works on people.
I'd also like to have tips on staying stealthy (Not getting caught, or seen by others.)
It would be very much appreciated, thank you.

Another thing, is there a way to speed up the pickpocket action, with items or something like that?

Snake Loyal

Bade — Thu, 30 Oct 2014 14:27:21 +0000

So I was in a house, had a viper. once I left didn't realize I'd lose my viper. Now I have a rattlesnake, thats fine but if I had cudtomized my biper woukd I have lost the custom job? Also could I make my snake a cobra, asp, or viper with customization when they are hoise snakes?

Pickpocket

Amarillys — Thu, 12 Feb 2015 06:04:09 +0000

What things are capable of being lifted off a person using pickpocketing?

Made Some Archery Stuff, Evidently People Like It.

Kenway — Mon, 09 Dec 2013 07:06:10 +0000

So one of the first things I did on gaining darkbows in Chivalry was figure out a way to make shooting easier, I think most people do this but I found my House's help scrolls on it kind of lacking in what I wanted. So I made my own. I love how it turned out and since I've started sending people script packages (mainly custom prompt tag additions to Svo) people have been telling me they really like it. Most recently @Wessux questioned why I wasn't charging 10cr a pop for it. So I thought I'd post a little here about what it does. Not sure if this goes in the Arena or Scripting so I just went with Arena. Huge shout outs to @Maethros (though I'm pretty sure he's dormant now) and @Grinidon for being my pincushions through what I'm pretty sure was several thousand arrows worth of testing. Hope you all like what you see and if you want it, it works for serpent and I have a version that works on Omni as well.

It uses three different keybindings, the first, will locate the target, aim, and shoot them. The second just aims and shoots in that direction (taking away the time it takes to locate them which is only about a second but still.) And the third, which says "Screw you aiming, I'm a man and I don't need you!" and randomly flings arrows in their general direction at a slightly faster rate, but also allowing you to keep up defenses like breathing or shield while you do it.

[spoiler]

[/spoiler]

"But what if they move?!"(or in the case shown below, you move) You may ask. Never fear, 'cause this happens. At which point you just try the location shot again and if you still can't find them, they've turned a corner! And for those of you who care, I did in fact just notice the lack of space in the not in line of sight echo and it is now fixed!

[spoiler]

[/spoiler]

You may notice the echo is coloured, that's 'cause I'm using blue arrows! When I switch colours, the head and fletchings switch with me! This is my using undyed arrows and automatically calling a direction to the party. If anyone else in said party had this script and was targeting Wessux, they'd now be able to skip the locating key and just start shooting him right off the bat! Science!

[spoiler]

[/spoiler]

Me shooting without aiming. The rebounding is just showing that breath can be pretty readily kept up since I have breathing gagged.

[spoiler]

[/spoiler]

I should add that if they leave your room in any direction, including flying, you will also, not have to locate them and can just start shooting provided you have your bow out.

That's it! Tell me what you think! Any ideas for additions are totally welcome. If you want the package, lemme know! Hope you enjoyed!

Whips, Hunting, and the Recent Changes

Bronislav — Thu, 01 Jan 2015 12:26:46 +0000

Whips:
   Whip of Thorns:             77     187      165     300 credits
   Razor Whip:                 81     196      173     700 credits
   Serpentis Whip:             84     204      180    1400 credits

Lashes: Thinner more agile whips
   Viper's Coil:               55     164      187     300 credits
   Wyvern's Lash:              59     174      209     700 credits
   Elentari's Scourge:         65     181      225    1400 credits

Before the tradeskill/weapons/armor changes, Bron had a pretty sweet whip: 78/blah/192. My garrote speed was at roughly 2.25~ seconds thanks to Dexterity having an impact on it along with whip speed, and I was really happy with hunting as a Serpent.

Now, all non-artefact whips are at 73/175/159. My garrote speed is at 2.8~, and there's a noticeable drop in the damage I now deal. You wouldn't think that roughly half of a second would have -so much- of an impact on hunting for me, but it really does.

Now I need to consider getting an artefact whip/lash, but the question is, which one's really worth getting? I -really- miss the lightning-fast garrotes, but I worry that having a Damage score that's even -less- than what I have now is going to be even more irritating, especially if there's a cap to how much Speed affects garrote balance. The lower to-hit scores are a lesser concern, but I can still imagine the heartache involved with trying - and failing - to garrote bigger enemies for piddling amounts of damage at 2 seconds per.

So, what are your thoughts on this? Does anyone have experience with artefact whips and/or artefact lashes in regard to hunting post-Dexterity changes? I'm interested in stories and perspectives on this to kind of ease my mind in either direction. Thanks in advance.

Scytherus and you.

Caladbolg — Fri, 03 Oct 2014 00:45:30 +0000

So Scytherus is something i've been looking into lately, as trying to add it to my stack or use it so that when people start getting relapsed they switch to cure it instead. the problem is, it seems completely random on how it works.

I've asked a few older serpents (Because as far as I know nothing with Scytherus has never changed) and they all generally tell me they have no f'in clue how it works because the camus stack.

So new thread about Scytherus to get more information out about it!

Serpent Questions.

Exelethril — Tue, 05 Aug 2014 15:50:55 +0000

I have a few questions in regards to the serpent class. (Assuming I have 1.5k credits to spare)

How viable is serpent bashing if I maximize Dex? (low hp)
How "strong" is serpent bashing? Like, do I need a good whip, etc.
Will a level 2 dirk suffice for combat or should I get a level 3?
Should I maximize Dex? When do diminishing returns kick in?

Current State of Theft

Datrius — Sun, 20 Jul 2014 00:28:40 +0000

Ok, before I begin I'd like to go ahead and admit that I am still relatively new to the Serpent class. I have however been experimenting with Pickpocketing quite a bit lately. To be frank, I find the theft ability as is quite disappointing. I've heard all the old stories about how theft used to be, and how griefy it could be. But I think the current system is too far to the opposite side. I want to make it clear that I am not calling for an all out change to old ways. But I'd like to see an open discussion about how things could possibly be changed to achieve a balance. I realize that people don't like losing possessions or earned coin, but in a living breathing fantasy world, that's part of the risk you take. As it stands right now, the only things it's really possible to get are amounts of gold 5k or lower, sigils, and letters.

With how things are now, theft is not only easily avoidable, but almost impossible to pull off a good, significant theft. You've got bell tattoo that warns you as soon as someone looks at your possessions (Countered by Mesmerise, a skill you don't get until you are completely transed in hypnosis vs Bell a skill about 182 or 183 lessons into tattoos) and Selfishness (Can be stripped, if you know the pickpocket timing). Two perfectly good skills to help prevent theft.

Now, consider I have a target who has sigils and letters in their inventory, but no gold. I've done this multiple times since I started thieving. I'll drop the selfishness, time it perfectly, and still get told they have nothing of value. They have journals, backpacks, books, all sorts of stuff but "They have nothing of value." Targetting pickpocket does it exist, and it's supposed to have a chance of success. However, I have continously tried targetted pickpocket (Including with Mesmerise), and have never succeeded a single time. It has been every single time an immediate "You are discovered." mesage. The Admin who handles Issue Me's has even said that the chances are currently very, very slim to even accomplish a targetted pickpocket. So I'm thinking we need to increase the success possibility of this so that there actually is a chance of pickpocketing an actually significant item or items.

I'm not suggesting we go back to the old means of theft by any means, but I would like to see an open discussion about how it is now. I'd also like to see other ideas that could possibly improve it without making it imbalanced in either direction. Being a victim of theft does suck, yes, but it's part of the risk of being in an open and player inhabited world such as Achaea.

Young Serpents

Isaiah — Tue, 08 Jul 2014 18:39:11 +0000

I would like to discuss how serpent combat isn't even feasible without an Arte dirk. Dstab speed is far too slow for the speed of server side curing. I not sure how we would adjust this without making Arte dirks worthless. Even when you add in hypnosis which would require a much larger chain for someone with a dirk. This from what I have seen is a big turnoff / frustration piece for newer serpents and I feel it is rediculous that I have to say that they need a level 2 dirk 'even while specced Dex'. If anyone has any advice for a new serpent or has some correction point for what I just said please chime in.

Serpent - AKA the class that hates you.

Nellaundra — Fri, 21 Sep 2012 16:14:57 +0000

Alright, I have to ask. What are the very bare bones basics of Serpent combat and what's needed to succeed? I've been left to my own experimentations out of misplaced pride and stubborness, and all I have to show for it is a very very crude venomlock. I know that Tri-Trans is even more needed than the rest of the classes, but what else is needed? I can't even remember most of my own aliases most of the time from just the sheer amount of them that are needed.

Newbie Serpent looking for a bit of help!

Koyuki — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 00:17:30 +0000

Hey guys, I've recently picked up Achaea, in terms of that I've tried a shit load of different characters and classes and decided to stick on Serpent.

Long-term I plan to buy credits, but right now I just want to focus on everything I will need to be successful as a serpent. The hunting currently is a giant bore as I need to secrete/bite and I feel that even jester could be faster than this until I get to camus. So I wanted to know if it's better to trans out my Venom or Subterfuge, or if there's a certain skill I should prioritize in one of the two before going for something else. I thoroughly enjoy the aspect, ideas, and abilities that come with this class; so I have no plans of changing long term or getting discouraged from combat. I'm not sure which house I want to join, and I have no intention of having a giant debate throughout this discussion about which house is better than the other, but I do want to know anyone who would be willing to help me out in game, or send me occasional messages just to make sure that I'm not being a complete fuck up!

Like I said, I am going to buy credits long term, but I just want to know what I need to purchase with credits, invest into with lessons, or anyone that I need to watch out for, or look for as a mentor. I also take IC/OoC barriers very seriously and sort of a die hard in the RP department, so I don't actually expect Koyuki to waltz up to some Naga that OoC offered to teach me a few things.

Thank you so much for anyone who can get back to me!