First impressions of TCoS

dhuberma

For the past two days I've been fooling around with Chronicles of Spellborn. It's in an open beta stage where it's currently free to try out. You only have to pay after you reach a certain level, but as far as I can figure, you get plenty of game play before you have to make a decision.

The download is fairly small - I think I got it in 2 hours total. It's pre-patched, so you only download once and then you can hop right in.

You create a new character in what is, I think, the most unique character creation module to-date. Pay attention though, because this process is actually important! What has me intrigued about TCoS is the game is not item-based. The armor and weapons you select in the character creation module can, from what I can tell, be the same armor and weapons you use for the rest of your character's life, from level 1 to 50. Apparently you enhance the gear along the way, but you never really change it out. So when you are equipping yourself, spend some time to make yourself look good, because that might just be your look for your entire career My first character, Farnaby on the PvE server, seems to be visually reminiscent of a Tumerok from Dereth (AC/AC2), sans tail.

After you create a character, you have to spend 20 minutes in a tutorial which I couldn't seem to figure my way out of. It teaches you some basics of the game, but is fairly vanilla and boring.

Then the game starts.

As best I can tell, there is almost no need for money. You'll notice some gold spammers occasionally in the /zone chat, but everyone just laughs at them because there's no need for money in this game (yet?). It's not item-based. You do some elementary quests which teach you about the whacky and wild world called "combat". It's quite a bit different from other games I've played. Positioning is important (it took me a fight or two to figure out why I was dying -- my sword swings weren't connecting with the MOB!), and building a well-constructed "skill deck" is important. What I like -- as an old, uncoordinated, slow-witted and slow-reacting zhlub -- is that it doesn't feel like a twitch game. Yes, I can be "better" and "more efficient" if I'm good at pressing buttons; but I'm not good at pressing buttons, and I'm not suffering too badly from it.

A quick aside on crafting: based on my reading, crafting can be both complex and important. But there is no grind. A level 1 character can create the uberest most important level 50 thingie (sigils, I think). Crafting is based on finding the right ingredients and/or recipes, I guess. I haven't crafted anything yet, as I can't seem to find any recipes or enough items to combine into something.

The game doesn't (at early levels, at least) have any quickie modes of transportation. You're walking everywhere. It's a bit slow-paced/EQ-like in that regard. The first city is detailed, though not as ginormous as Norrath's cities. There's not a whole lot to do there at first, but I get the feeling more and more opens up as you progress.

At level 5, you pick a specialty. I'm a level 4 spellcaster who is about to ding 5 and become a Rune Mage. What's cool is I cast DD magic primarily, but I swing a sword (and can advance that skill) pretty well and I even have a very minor lifetap and direct heal.

To conclude, I've only played a few days, but it feels nice so far because there's no grind. You advance in natural MMORPG ways (questing and killing) but so far you don't have to kill something more than 5 times. There's plenty of backstory for lore buffs. The progression is linear so far, but I hold out hope it will open up as I get past the lowest of levels. I'm taking it in bite-sized chunks -- a half hour here, and hour there -- and it's an entertaining diversion.

jimsmith08

Youll be pleased to know that you can change your weapons and armour at any point, it works like a traditional loot based game in that respect. However, the gear never gives you any advantage, 2 chest pieces will always have the same amount of sigil slots depending on your level. The gear is also level based, so you may come across a level 30 helm or a level 25 sword which of course cant be equipped by somebody of level 15.

In the starter zone,theres a couple of quests for new weapons and a red shirt, plus you can find a few decent recipes. Its much easier now that the marketplace is in game to find new clothing rather than having to get lucky and find a recipe

Wharg0ul

Nicely written, OP.

As a fellow Rune Mage, let me give you one very important piece of advice:

When you star getting your fire spells...do NOT use melee attacks while the mob is on fire. Do NOT use fire attacks on mobs that your team mates will be attacking with melee.

Fire spreads, you see. You can accidentally kill yourself or your entire team if you are not careful with the pyrotechnics.

Being a Rune Mage requires a bit of tactical thought....but it is SO MUCH DAMN FUN!

Good luck, and be sure to check out the Spellborn Wiki, and SpellbornDB.