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Review of Lineage II's grind, classes, and PVP
Crysillion
Member Posts: 5
Hello. I've been crusing around this site for a long time, but never really decided to get involved with the community. From what I've seen, this may actually have been a good choice, but that isn't what this is about. Now that Lineage II has went Free-to-Play, a lot of people have been giving the game a shot. Between clearly biased reviews and what can only be called terribly bad reasoning, it seems like thus far the game hasn't been reviewed properly.
Unfortunately, this is my first time writing a review, so that said it's probably not going to be that great, but I will try to touch up on a variety of points that are brought up regarding this game, particularly now that it has gone Free-to-Play.
First, it should be said that the game has changed tremendously since the launch of it's latest and biggest patch, "Goddess of Destruction." People who have played this game before may look at the game and see a variety of flaws, however with recent patches, many of these flaws have actually been addressed. But only to a certain extent.
The Grind
To begin with, it seems that people insist on calling Lineage II a "Korean Grinder", simply because it's from Korea and most games from the Eastern markets have required unheard of amounts of time to level up in their MMO's. I can tell you that NCSoft has begun treating their game being called "a gigantic grind" very seriously and have been trying to change it in a variety of ways, however at this time not enough has been implemented into the game to actually alleviate this for the long-term. Let me elaborate...
The journey from levels 1~42 are very quick. I've seen that this is the base of most peoples arguments. "Dude, I got second class in a single day. This game is not grindy." Let me tell you now that this is an illusion set-on by the developers to allure more people into playing their game. True, going from the very beginning all the way to your second profession (at Lv.40) is lightning fast. You can get it done in as little as 2 hours. However, that is usually where the argument ends. Anyone actually playing the game knows that 42+ is right back into the old fashioned world of Lineage II grind, but for anyone that has played the game before, it's not nearly as bad as it used to be. NCSoft has been making leveling easier and easier with each passing patch, introducing new ways for players to level up as well as making the general grind much more bearable. The recent patch has taken the biggest step towards this, cutting down experience required to level by as much as 2/3 (so you can only imagine how bad it used to be) and implementing Daily Quests that give absurd amounts of EXP. Still, at later levels, you can definitely feel the grind regardless.
The game in it's current state has 99 levels. Of course, like just about any MMO, they don't exactly want you to hit max level too quickly, but Lineage II takes it to an all new meaning. You will find that levels 1~42 can be done in a single day even by the most casual of players, and while some players can go all the way to level 60 and beyond in that same day (which would probably involve playing ALL day), the 60s is where the "brick wall" hits. At this point, you will find that leveling seems much slower than it was not even 5 levels ago. Instead of leveling over the course of 30 mins, you will now be asked for about 2~3 hours a level, at the 80s it will take noticably longer, usually in excess of 6~8 hours a level. That's still not that bad, if we're honest. Considering the cap is 99, that's pretty good. If you have someone to Mentor you (granting you +200% XP and amazing Mentor-buffs for as long as the Mentor is online), you'll probably make even more progress.
Until you hit Lv.85.
Lineage II's newest patch boasts how the level cap has been raised from 85 to 99, and when you hit Lv.85, you choose a fourth class. An amazing monstrosity of a class with ridiculously awesome skills called an "Awakened Class". These powerhouses boast brand new skills, completely erasing your old skills in favor of new ones, and generalizing all classes into basic archetypes. For instance, you may have noticed that Lineage II has several classes to choose from. However, when you become an "Awakened Class", you are either a Warrior, Rogue, Summoner, Enchanter, Healer, Wizard, Knight, or Archer. 30+ classes compressed into just 8. For me this was a huge letdown, but I'll get to that later.
It seems that NCSoft wants players to hit Lv.85 fairly quickly. It won't happen overnight, but people have hit it over the course of 2 weeks, and if you are more casual, perhaps it will take you 4~6 weeks. All in all, not bad going from Lv.1 all the way to Lv.85 and into the good stuff. However, once you actually reach Lv.85, it's almost like NCSoft punishes you for your accomplishment. The days of getting at least 1 level a day are over. You will now be at the mercy of the infamous "Korean Grinder" that hid it's face up until this point. It will not be uncommon for you to get only 0.01% a kill at this level. There are some situations where you may get 0.02 or 0.03, but that amount is considered to be pretty damn good in comparison. At best you'd get 5% an hour, and even then you better be going hard. It's worse because if you die, you lose 1%. This may not sound like a lot now, but considering you're usually getting 0.01% a kill, that sets you back roughly 100 mobs. A lot to lose considering you cannot properly AoE said mobs, which means you will very often be 1vs1ing these things until the end of time.
Despite this, I think NCSoft is trying to make change. They have introduced a few party zones for 85+ that I have yet to try, but hear are amazing (so perhaps if you're playing with friends, you could not only enjoy their company, but level much more quickly), which does imply that you'd be much better off partying than going it alone. I see this as a good thing, but that may just be me.
All in all, the grind to get the feel of the game and see if you even like it is non-existant. By the time you're in your 60s, you should be able to say whether or not you see yourself playing this game, and the levels up until then are not that bad at all. No worse than traditional MMO's of this day and age, if I'm entirely honest. So if you've been putting the game off because of it's grind, I think you should at least give it a shot.
The Classes
The classes in Lineage II used to be one of it's main selling points. The game has over 30 classes each with their own playstyle. Many will argue that all Lineage II did was "reskin nukers, tanks, healers and fighters and tried to make it a big deal". Really though, each class has it's own unique playstyle. Being a Human Archer (Hawkeye) for instance, is very different from being a Dark Elf Archer (Phantom Ranger). You may ask how so, but it's the little things. Hawkeye's have a skill called "Dash" which lets them run fairly quickly for periods of time. This is valuable for an Archer class for obvious reasons. Phantom Ranger's are more of the slow, hard hitting types because of the Dark Elf Fighter's base stats boasting superior STR, which influences attack power and critical hit damage. They also have low CON, which means they can get stunned very easily and have less HP, where-as the Hawkeye has superior CON, and will therefor get stunned less and has much more room for error due to higher HP. It's the little things like this that seperate the classes. Some classes have more differences than others, but it's unfair to simply say that the game had 30 classes and more than half of them were useless because that is simply untrue.
Regardless of that debate, NCSoft took a wild turn with their latest patch and condensed all classes into 8 basic archetypes when players hit Lv.85. All warrior type classes become Tyrr Warrior's ar Lv.85, all healers become Aeore Healer's, all archers Yul Archer's, etc. etc., this means that ultimately whichever class you pick to begin with is just about irrelevant in the long-term, as long as it fits for the class you're going to be. (i.e; if you want to be a Warrior, you will be a Gladiator, Warlord, Destroyer, or Tyrant). To me, this was a stab in the heart for the game. The multitude of classes was a huge selling point for many people and now that the game has chosen to go with 8 basic classes, the game becomes much more traditional and loses some of it's unique standard. However, it should be said that I have personally noticed that he game becomes much more fast paced when you Awaken. Your speed over-all is quickened, your skills are more tactical, and what you choose to do in PVP is much more important and matters so much more than it used to. The variety is also there. For instance, nukers finally stop mashing one key over and over again. Now they have a few skills they would be wise to use. Not just one single nuke over and over again. A huge plus to the gameplay of it all, but kind of silly that it only shows up post-85.
The PVP
The one reason many people still play Lineage II is hands-down the PVP. I've seen this be thrown into debate quite a bit, and I am going to try my best to clear up why people say Lineage II's PVP is so good. To some people, Lineage II's PVP is awful, and for those people I say that the game is quite simply not for you. Being entirely honest, the PvE and raiding is for the most part easy, boring, repetitive, and all too uninteresting. Most people deal with it because the PVP is very much so the opposite.
Before I get into it, let me first explain how the PVP system works. A quick rundown. If you attack another player, your name turns purple for 2 minutes unless you keep attacking in which case it constantly resets the timer until you stop attacking, in which it takes 2 minutes to wear off. When you are purple, you are "flagged". It means that you are open to PVP. If other people attack you, they become "flagged" as well, but if they kill you, it counts as a PVP, not a PK. The difference is that you lose nothing by killing a flagged player, but if you kill someone who does not flag, it counts as a PK and your name goes red. This means that other players may attack you, and upon doing so, will not flag. You're red, you're an outlaw, so everyone is going to try to kill you because it has absolutely no downsides to them. No risk of flagging, no risk of PK. Killing a rednamed player is almost like killing a mob. Nothing bad really happens to you. So, PKing is risky.
In order for the rednamed person to work off his PK status, he has to kill a number of mobs in order to work off his acquired negative "karma" for killing another player. At lower levels, this system is clearly broken because it requires players several hours of nonstop grind to work it off, however once you awaken, working off a redname takes mere minutes.
That out of the way, back to the review...
Personally, I think the main reason people like L2's PVP is the spontaneity of it all. It's not uncommon to be out leveling in the wilderness and some random person start shit with you. You can either attack back or deal with it, but it should be said that when you Awaken, players outright PKing you has a much less noticeable penalty, so they tend to do it a lot. This means that you can either choose to ignore the person or fight back, but if you ignore them, they may kill you anyway. In many situations, it's worth it to just fight back and do battle with the opponent. These break out constantly at varying locations, sometimes for no other reason than wanting that person out of their leveling spot. Honestly, it's probably that Lineage II forces no alliance or enemy onto the player. Many MMORPG's are going with a Faction route now, where your ally and your enemy are preset. In Lineage II, anyone can be anything and your reputation is important.
For instance, I tend to have a bit of a bad reputation on the game because I talk a lot of noise when it comes to PVP. Because of this, when people recognize me and know who I am, they tend to want to kick the shit out of me and sometimes succeed in doing so, but it's all part of the game. It may sound ridiculous, but my heart races when I fight someone, win, and see some people show up around the corner or beyond a hillside, see me flagged, and want to take a shot at me as well. With no time to recover lost HP, I have to fight back. Fight back or die. The times when I manage to pull it off, despite all odds, are incredible. Never have I received such an experience in a Faction-based MMORPG.
Clan wars are better, as clans who are in war with each other may flag and kill an opposing clanmate without gaining a PK status. You cannot PK a member of a clan your clan is at war with. Even if they don't fight back, you only go up to being flagged. This means that opposing clans have no choice but to mutually co-exist or fight. If one man has nothing to lose from outright killing you, then you will feel much more compelled to fight back and try to survive. Even in these situations, it is not uncommon for outsiders to get involved. After-all, attacking a player who is already flagged means you can only be flagged yourself, so if you do actually manage to kill them, you do not become rednamed. This means that by merely flagging, you become a PVP magnet within this game. That said, it's not hard to find PVP. Not hard at all.
If you wish to test this theory and are currently playing this game, try attacking a player. Hit them only once, then continue leveling. Watch how many people go out of their way to flag back in an off-shoot attempt to murder you. In this game, it seems that people love to fight as long as someone else is already flagged. Nobody likes going redname, but nobody seems to really mind being purple.
Basically, I suck at writing reviews, but wanted to clarify on a few points. I would add some flashy pictures, but I can't think of anything that'd be relevant. Sorry if half this review doesn't make sense to you, I'm simply trying to clear up some questions about the game regarding how some core mechanics work.
Thanks for your time.
Comments
Thanks for the write up, very nice read.
I tried L2 back in beta and recently before going F2P and liked the game offerings, particularly the PvP and the upcoming XP boosts. But, unfortunately for me, my biggest issue with the game was the clunky WASD controls instead of the game's traditional mouse control, something i couldn't adapt for this type of game.
One thing I should touch up on that the PVP scene, while existant, is pretty bad thanks to recent updates.
It's kind of sad when you're fighting someone, and they can mount their horse (all Awakening chars get one) and run off at the speed cap within 1 second. You can also buy Blessed Scroll of Escape's (bsoe) for adena, which means players will just abruptly disappear back to town mid-combat and you'd be hard pressed actually KILLING anyone.
I'm finding this to become more and more of an issue as I play aggressively. It's not uncommon for wartags to simply run away, and for some reason now it's setup so that if you're chasing someone, even if you're right on their heels, as long as they're running, you'll never actually hit them. Skills don't even tend to work, unless they're ranged. I've actually given up on perfectly good fights just because the opponent decided to run endlessly, hop on a horse and troll around me, or simply bsoe out to safety. It's actually starting to ruin the feel for me. I want to say PVP happens frequently, but honestly... it's just as frequent that one side of the fight finds a way to skimper out of dying and just run off.
Very sad.
Very good review and about right also.
But when you hit 60 and it go slow is becouse they hope you will pay for xp pots or other advancements to lvl faster.
I saw guys first day on aria server with full S-Grade while server was open for maybe 12 hours.
So far for me it was fun reaching lvl60 in 2days solo(dont join clan i see only polish people i think no english speaking lol)100% f2p.
So now as your review say im going to hit a grind wall well see how it go i think first 60 went way to fast btw.
PVP so far on core and aria server almost non excistence i dont know why exactly but it seems getting back to normal these days take ages with no xp gain i think.
Im bit concenred that im gonne be frustrated with attack went ASTRAY and ULTIMATE defence mobs have with knowledge that xp gonne get alot more slow after 60 im already annoyed with ASTRAY/ULTIMATE DEFENCE hehe
So far nice after 7 years im playing L2 AGAIN:)
Hope to build full AMD system RYZEN/VEGA/AM4!!!
MB:Asus V De Luxe z77
CPU:Intell Icore7 3770k
GPU: AMD Fury X(waiting for BIG VEGA 10 or 11 HBM2?(bit unclear now))
MEMORY:Corsair PLAT.DDR3 1866MHZ 16GB
PSU:Corsair AX1200i
OS:Windows 10 64bit
Now that I'm really getting into it, I'd say that it'd be wise for anyone reading to completely avoid this game. Servers are being overran with bots, NCSoft is constantly making changes and decisions that make the playing experience worse (just today they did a ninja maintenance to reduce how much EXP you get post-85 to make the grind EVEN LONGER, as well as increase the mob's levels and power). The company just isn't any good, and I'm afraid that more sooner than later Lineage II is going to be back to it's old roots in every sense of the word, including being totally dominated with bots and otherwise being dead.
Lineage II is a AAA title gone free, but it's hard to respect it when GM's are non-existent, cheating is rampant, and they want to make the leveling process even slower, almost to encourage more people to bot.
Kind of devolved into a bit of a rant here, but it's just silly how bad it's getting. If you haven't started yet, I recommend fully that you just go out and play something else.
Well I can't speak for the level 85+ crowd but what I noticed when I logged in this afternoon(After Maintenence) is the mobs that were white before are yellow now, are no harder to kill and gave more EXP. If anything from my personal experience they just gave the leveling process a little more of a speed boost. Of course the toon I was playing was in the 60's so this may not be true for all levels but I thought it was an improvement overall.
Yes, botting is coming back in a big way but being someone who was there in Beta through Interlude I can say it still isn't anything like it was back then.
Bren
while(horse==dead)
{
beat();
}
I am currently downloading Lineage 2 to play it for the first time. The grind does not really scare me off, I have played Rappelz for about 4 years now off and on. For those of you that don't know Rappelz, may I introduce you to the king of the korean grind. Max lvl at 170, only a handleful have reached it. Masterclass is at lvl 150, and those guys get a whole .02-.05 exp per hour long dp if they are lucky with using ss to double exp.
The pvp or lack of in some cases do not scare me, once again I have played Rappelz. Back in epic 4 pvp was all over, you could not leave town without some one trying to kill you, it was fun. Now, in epic 7, pvp is dead, the pently for it is so high that you only pk as a last resort when someone really crossed the line. Like tell someone you wish their wife got r***ed cross the line.(Yes that did happen to a member of my guild and yes it did start a war that lasted a few fun filled days of hunting and killing.)
As for the class system, once again I point to Rappelz. All races look human, just different races of human. Grand total of about 7 different 6 different classes, and although each races class play a little different it is not by much. So gaining races and classes.
As for the bots, sadding once again pointing to rappelz. We currently have 3rd party sellers spaming our ingame chat with bots, so atleast L2 bots do something other than spam chat. We also had a know combat bot issue back in epic 3 and/or 4, not sure if it still is there and we just don't know but back in the day the gms found a simple counter to it. Players would always buff each other, and well if you buffed a bot the bot disappeared, poof, gone, vanished into thin air.
So giving Lineage 2 a chance, can't be any worse than Rappelz, and if it is better my guild in Rappelz has been thinking about moving to a new game. One of my guildmates is coming back to L2 after playing it before it was P2P, so not going in alone, which should help.
I also have a strange talent for just ending up in powerhouse clans, guilds, alliances, what ever each game calls them in every game I play. So I should be fine.
Cool story bro
Tell me how you like the game afther you try it out.
Gratz for your 1st review, its very nice.
For me, just one important topic as missed: The craft/economy.
Im only lvl 76 atm, so no idea how it is S80 and more, but everthing is death for D,C,B,A and S because of path to awekening.
Im not saying the path to awekening is wrong, but there is things in-game that did not adjust to this new model, for example:
When i back to L2 my main char was lvl 71, so i dont have the 90 days S weapons.
But i have a dinasty weapon offer by NCSoft in some event previous to become free to play, i reach lvl 76 (S-Grade) and start searching how to put a SA (+ 15% casting speed)... well, its cost around 100 millions.....
The main problem is not the cost, but that i will never sell this weapon to anyone because market is death to S-Grade (unless shots ofc).
So, it seams im going to play without SA on weapon untill lvl 85 then i hope R-Grade market is alive so it worth investing on gear/weapons because we can sell it later on.
Final note: With path to awekening all the Gemstones S and lower should be really cheap, 100m is to mutch for a outdated Grade.
ya pretty much all game in the f2p world offer similar!free till 50% then buy item to kevek at a proper pace ,it is a good deal!
In L2 is still optional. I play without xp boost itens (+50% xp), dont even have mentor (+200% xp) and i will continue this way, have no rush to get lvl cap (not here, not in any mmo).
I used to love this game before they pussified it (made it easy).
Sure some people might say Grind but i say it is about enjoying the time played as I was never about "end game". I spent 2 years playing this game and never got a Character past level 55 which might seem strange but again getting to the top level was not really my goal ( I enjoyed exploring and trying new things out, socializing with my clan, being killed by people .. oh wait I did not enjoy that part so much lol)
I really enjoyed everything about this game and no other MMORG has come close to it for me.
I remember my first PVP experience (it was not much of a PVP) .. I Was sitting outside a city on a hill relaxing and I got shot in the back with an arrow..(dead)... ahhh good times.. lol.
I did try going back to play awhile ago after they started to make it easier for people (I assume to get more people playing)
I could just not get into it, as it just felt so different. So easy.. I was being hand fed everything from the start. I was sure not going to pay to play a game where I felt I was being treated like a kid who has never played a MMORPG (sorry if that offends anyone, but thats how it felt).
I am tempted to try it again since it is free now.
I apologize for recent rants I've made on this topic that have undoubtedly come off as a bit whiny. In all truthfulness, when games go F2P, their customer support tends to go right out the window, so honestly it's not much of a surprise.
The current state of the game is that you could bot night and day for days in populated spots, get called out by people, get petitioned, and still not get banned. But with the game being F2P, you can't really complain about that too much anymore. Nevertheless, it is still incredibly annoying and becoming more and more of a problem with each passing day.
I've heard all the tales of people enjoying the journey of Lineage II and not just rushing to endgame in the past, but this seems to have changed. Once you hit 85, it seems things go back to "normal", or at least as much as they even could at this point. Until then, yes it is indeed everyone rushing to awaken, not that you can blame them. All the good stuff waits for you there.
Which is kind of what's so messed up about the situation. Until 85, it's almost like you're not even playing current-day L2. You're playing a game to see if you qualify to play present L2, because you lose just about everything when you awaken that it really makes no sense that you don't just select these classes right from the beginning. There are a few underlying things, such as new racials, but nothing too extreme.
Well, the good news behind everything is that when they try to push their game being "Truly Free", they aren't joking. You are not locked out of any kind of content whatsoever by not spending any money, and you are not given too big of an advantage for spending money. Nothing serious, no cash shop gear or anything that'd make you directly superior to everyone else outside of some extra EXP gain. The Agathions may seem intimidated, but their cooldowns are massive so they're not really a big deal either, if you can believe that. That said, I can at the very least respect them for not pulling what Aion EU did and lock people out of things unless they pay. Lineage II really is "Truly Free". Always nice.
i found thi sgame to be dull boring and just plain old horrible teamed up with its massivly over populated jap/korean players....its one of the top 10 wost mmos
I feel the same way about Star Wars The Old Republic so I feel your pain brah.
I know what you mean. The game was much better back then even though it was a bit too hardcore but thats what made it special.
Thanks OP, that was really helpful for me. L2 is really a completely different game now. And from the sound of it, a much worse one.
Well, from the point of veiw of someone just now trying it out I have to see it is one of the better free mmorpgs I have seen. A much higher attention to detail, better storyline, and more unique mobs and boss fights than most.
Come on, it even has cut scenes, a f2p game with cut scenes.
As for costumer service, give them time to adjust to being a f2p game, for gods sake it has just barely been a month since they did this. When a p2p game goes f2p they get alot of new players, sometimes more than they were expecting. It changes how the whole system simply because you have more people. It will take time to for them to get used to this, but seeing all the patches and updates it looks like they are trying to get everything adjusted just right.
And as far as the grinding goes, crazy thing about it, most players hate the grind. Just be glad that the quest storyline is great. Hell. I don't want to lvl faster for power, I want to lvl fast to get the next part of the very detailed storyline.
Look at this way, at the moment this game is one of if not the best free mmorpg on the market, it can only get better from here and it is not going anywhere anytime soon.
And on a side note, yes, I will most likely be putting money into this game at some point because it is worth it.
Yes, this game is the best FTP game on the market and also has the best FTP Model. Truly Free is totally whats up and so far it has been Truly Free. I am an old school Lineage 2 player and like all people with all mmos we miss the old days but things change and I understand that. Good to see you like the game and hope you keep enjoying it.
For being an F2P game, yes, all things considered, it is one of the better ones. But that's not really a fair thing to say considering the game was P2P for around 7 years before making this change. It's just a case of a game being outdated and underplayed being more-or-less forced to go F2P to attract new players and thus new revenue to stay afloat. That is exactly what happened, but the game has had horrible customer support for the past 2~3 years I've heard, I was simply underlining the point that it's F2P and now that's kind of an accepted thing. Sadly that's how it works. "Hey it's free, you can't complain!".
The game has a fair amount of complexity in it's skills and politics that give it much more depth than most F2P games, again a huge plus, but also a byproduct of the game being so old.
The point is, on a scale of 1-10, the game falls somewhere in a 4~5 number. It's not really really bad, but it's far from great. If it was being hosted by a proper company, then I could probably easily put that up to a 8~9 because for the most part, it's not the game itself that's bad, it's the company that's running it. Yes, I said NCSoft is trying to make change in my original post and I stand by that, but I feel it's going to be a "too little, too late" ordeal. Because this is a Korean game, our NA (and EU) version is behind by about 6 months. If we have any serious bugs, we have to wait for the Korean version to fix them. This also goes for any serious imbalance issues or client bugs which L2 seems to also have a lot of since GoD (oddly, it did not have nearly as much before this patch).
I will only speak on the part about it going free to play as the rest of the post is not even worth replying too.
When we say its the best FTP that includes other pay to play games that went free so it is fair to say its the best. Lineage 2 lasted 8 years in the west as an Asain Pay To Play and to me that will always be a success. Sure it could have done better but what game not named World Of Warcraft could not have also done better? Now I have to get back to trying to awaken my sub.
You make its age sound like a bad thing. Trust me, its age helps it alot. In fact most people say Linage 2 has aged much better than most games, when you consider some don't even make it 2 years, most are lucky to have 5 years. This game has 8 years under it and it is still in its prime.
Think of Lineage 2 as a fine wine, it will only get better with age.
As for the whole being forced to go f2p, maybe, but I can tell you this, Lineage 2 will make more money as f2p than it ever did as p2p. Simple fact is f2p games in most case makes more money.
And as for customer service, once again pointing to rappelz, Lineage 2 can not be as bad. In Rappelz we have people getting their accounts hacked and stuff taken. They send the email to customer with all screen shots and everything else needed inculded. They don't hear anything back for a month, sometimes 2 or 3.
As for it being a Korean game, not true what you said about bug fixes. Rappelz is a korean game as while, NA is 6 months behind on only the major updates. The NA gms are allowed to fix bugs and tweak the balence a little bit. Simply because thing happen when the code is translated from Korean to English. And being 6 months behind is not bad, because we get to see most of the bugs and how to fix them before we even get the bugs if we get them.
Why do have such a negative take on Linage 2?
No, you don't. I very much enjoyed your review. Thanks!
BTW does anyone want to be my mentor?
I was thinking of trying this game, but the bit about awakened classes sounds.... well, terrible. Can anyone bring any more information on that, because it sounds like they decided to simply homogenize the class system at high levels. Is this for balance or laziness?
I have not yet awakened so I can not tell you anything about that, but everyone says the real game starts at lvl 85.
However, even if you think the awakened system is a turn off you still should try it, there are so many awesome things you can do in this game. My main is lvl 55 atm and I have loved every minute of this game. And there are plenty of side quests for when you can't take anymore grinding. Like the more than meets the eye quest that I just did that allows you to transform, it is awesome.
The real game dont start at lvl 85, at lvl 85 you just enter in the last fase of the game.
Imo the real game start at lvl 41, if someone dont like after this lvl this is not the game for him.
About awekened class's, dont know nothing about, didnt get there yet.
I really like the diversity of class's bellow lvl 85......