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Darkfall New Dawn review/tutorial tips for average or casual players
Sid_Vicious
Member RarePosts: 2,177
I started playing Darkfall New Dawn around 2/7/2018 and it was released 1/28/2018.
The population has remained steady, have had new people joining while some leaving, but since the world is so large and there are sub-continents to populate as well, the world does seem less populated now that people have spread all over the map. I do not think that it is less populated and seems to be steady so far... however most people who are fans of this game have already played it for years and have burned out or simply do not have the time and don't play games anymore. The game may steadily grow over time, but not without a little effort in the community's part.
This version of Darkfall has localized banking and an economy that is more like EVE than the other versions...
Pros
Skills unlock by themselves so there is no more need to ride back to your racial capital to unlock new skills/spells. This allows you to grind up a brand new character outside of your starter racial zones which is honestly what I would recommend doing from time to time as a new player (simply because its more risky and funner).
PVP race vs race is more rewarding (especially since you may score a lot from killing someone who is transporting goods from market/bank to another market/bank) so take the risk and just try grinding up in enemy lands for a bit, you may encounter some big scores daily or just sneak around like a ninja where you know its going to be dangerous!
Less grind needed to become viable because there are 5 titles but the game is so grindy that the mediation is the fastest way to level so if you are a casual player, so long as you keep meditation active, you will become PVP ready with all the skills/spells you need unlocked during your first month or two.
Nobody seems to have the same build anymore thanks to having only 5 titles available per character... to craft you must have a title in that craft and to have all of the spells in a school you must have a title for the school... it basically boils down to either archery, melee, mage, or a custom mix you come up with.
Crafting is much more important than it has ever been... mobs to longer drop any loot other than regs, crafting mats, and money for the most part while a title must be spent in order to craft something.
Meditation is earned now through quests and chaos chests a bit more generously than before.
Still fast-paced FPS combat like the Darkfall FPS fans love... but a bit more simple because of having only 5 titles and there is no way to have all of the spells...
The community is much nicer than ever before... haven't heard of a single trade-gank or being ripped off or anything like that so far. Even the "reds" are pretty friendly compared to the old game and may res you or leave your stuff on your corpse if you are killed by them.
Mounted combat, siege warfare, taxing villages, and naval warfare just as the original game had (but a bit more rewarding).
Player housing is available and everything in the game is crafted by a player for the most part.
No more having to grind for skills in a way that ruins gameplay and most skills/spells that everyone needs or uses starts capped so you only spend time grinding on your main skills.
Gear lasts longer and nice gear is more rare to come by... so having something nice is a bigger deal than before.
You no longer need tools for harvesting or regs for casting transfers and that saves a lot of time.
Organizing banks and looting has never been so easy! This makes the gameplay much funner than ever before in a surprising way.
Every time you die in this game you will notice that there is always something you could have done better to win a fight or at least get away once you have learned the game and know how to play so there is a lot of player skill required in this game, which allows a newer player to take down an endgame player unlike other MMORPGs.
Cons
Most active time to play is from 6am to 2pm PST so if you live in the US and work all day you may find that the game seems less populated than it actually is.
The server is in France. My ping is usually around 150 and I live in the Pacific North West but it does not seem to interfere with my gameplay. Its possible there is an advantage to living in the US because load lag may be more noticeable? (load lag is when the game suddently lags for a split second or two because others are approaching) So if you want to PVE with less danger just pay attention to the load lag.
The population is dwindling and game will not last forever so its best to join now if you ever want to play Darkfall of any kind again although you can still find fights in Rise of Agon but starting a new character might be a bit late for that game.
When you die far away from your home back you may be out of the middle of nowhere when you spawn and have to run naked for awhile until you get back to your main bank... but this is not the case when you have transported goods to various spots for you all over the map where you want to be active.
Riding on a mount is much more common and important in this game... at least you can carry good on the mount now and there is a sprint option so they are not as slow as before.
You may find yourself lacking gear if you do not prepare for losses ahead of time by making crafter friends, crafting yourself, getting help from a clan, or buying things on the market.
There are not many things on the market so you may have to make friends with some crafters or else not have any gear (or make stuff yourself but you only have 5 titles for your character so you cannot do everything like the old Darkfall).
I find that the UI is not as good as ROA... I am using a macro on my keyboard for a couple things but its not a big deal and mostly because I have a special gaming keyboard.
Without a LOT OF PRACTICE dueling you will most likely have a hard time with PVP. The average player is good with twitch-based combat.
There is no more fast travel so if you have to get somewhere... it will take a long time and if you die along the way you maybe stuck out in the middle of nowhere until you run naked to the nearest bank. There is a way to kill yourself so that you can warp to a bind nearby but that is it. No recall or bindstones.
If you would like any help feel free to contact me in game or ask me during my stream:
https://www.twitch.tv/covertahhps
The population has remained steady, have had new people joining while some leaving, but since the world is so large and there are sub-continents to populate as well, the world does seem less populated now that people have spread all over the map. I do not think that it is less populated and seems to be steady so far... however most people who are fans of this game have already played it for years and have burned out or simply do not have the time and don't play games anymore. The game may steadily grow over time, but not without a little effort in the community's part.
This version of Darkfall has localized banking and an economy that is more like EVE than the other versions...
Pros
Skills unlock by themselves so there is no more need to ride back to your racial capital to unlock new skills/spells. This allows you to grind up a brand new character outside of your starter racial zones which is honestly what I would recommend doing from time to time as a new player (simply because its more risky and funner).
PVP race vs race is more rewarding (especially since you may score a lot from killing someone who is transporting goods from market/bank to another market/bank) so take the risk and just try grinding up in enemy lands for a bit, you may encounter some big scores daily or just sneak around like a ninja where you know its going to be dangerous!
Less grind needed to become viable because there are 5 titles but the game is so grindy that the mediation is the fastest way to level so if you are a casual player, so long as you keep meditation active, you will become PVP ready with all the skills/spells you need unlocked during your first month or two.
Nobody seems to have the same build anymore thanks to having only 5 titles available per character... to craft you must have a title in that craft and to have all of the spells in a school you must have a title for the school... it basically boils down to either archery, melee, mage, or a custom mix you come up with.
Crafting is much more important than it has ever been... mobs to longer drop any loot other than regs, crafting mats, and money for the most part while a title must be spent in order to craft something.
Meditation is earned now through quests and chaos chests a bit more generously than before.
Still fast-paced FPS combat like the Darkfall FPS fans love... but a bit more simple because of having only 5 titles and there is no way to have all of the spells...
The community is much nicer than ever before... haven't heard of a single trade-gank or being ripped off or anything like that so far. Even the "reds" are pretty friendly compared to the old game and may res you or leave your stuff on your corpse if you are killed by them.
Mounted combat, siege warfare, taxing villages, and naval warfare just as the original game had (but a bit more rewarding).
Player housing is available and everything in the game is crafted by a player for the most part.
No more having to grind for skills in a way that ruins gameplay and most skills/spells that everyone needs or uses starts capped so you only spend time grinding on your main skills.
Gear lasts longer and nice gear is more rare to come by... so having something nice is a bigger deal than before.
You no longer need tools for harvesting or regs for casting transfers and that saves a lot of time.
Organizing banks and looting has never been so easy! This makes the gameplay much funner than ever before in a surprising way.
Every time you die in this game you will notice that there is always something you could have done better to win a fight or at least get away once you have learned the game and know how to play so there is a lot of player skill required in this game, which allows a newer player to take down an endgame player unlike other MMORPGs.
Cons
Most active time to play is from 6am to 2pm PST so if you live in the US and work all day you may find that the game seems less populated than it actually is.
The server is in France. My ping is usually around 150 and I live in the Pacific North West but it does not seem to interfere with my gameplay. Its possible there is an advantage to living in the US because load lag may be more noticeable? (load lag is when the game suddently lags for a split second or two because others are approaching) So if you want to PVE with less danger just pay attention to the load lag.
The population is dwindling and game will not last forever so its best to join now if you ever want to play Darkfall of any kind again although you can still find fights in Rise of Agon but starting a new character might be a bit late for that game.
When you die far away from your home back you may be out of the middle of nowhere when you spawn and have to run naked for awhile until you get back to your main bank... but this is not the case when you have transported goods to various spots for you all over the map where you want to be active.
Riding on a mount is much more common and important in this game... at least you can carry good on the mount now and there is a sprint option so they are not as slow as before.
You may find yourself lacking gear if you do not prepare for losses ahead of time by making crafter friends, crafting yourself, getting help from a clan, or buying things on the market.
There are not many things on the market so you may have to make friends with some crafters or else not have any gear (or make stuff yourself but you only have 5 titles for your character so you cannot do everything like the old Darkfall).
I find that the UI is not as good as ROA... I am using a macro on my keyboard for a couple things but its not a big deal and mostly because I have a special gaming keyboard.
Without a LOT OF PRACTICE dueling you will most likely have a hard time with PVP. The average player is good with twitch-based combat.
There is no more fast travel so if you have to get somewhere... it will take a long time and if you die along the way you maybe stuck out in the middle of nowhere until you run naked to the nearest bank. There is a way to kill yourself so that you can warp to a bind nearby but that is it. No recall or bindstones.
If you would like any help feel free to contact me in game or ask me during my stream:
https://www.twitch.tv/covertahhps
NEWS FLASH! "A bank was robbed the other day and a man opened fire on the customers being held hostage. One customer zig-zag sprinted until he found cover. When questioned later he explained that he was a hardcore gamer and knew just what to do!" Download my music for free! I release several albums per month as part of project "Thee Untitled" . .. some video game music remixes and cover songs done with instruments in there as well! http://theeuntitled.bandcamp.com/ Check out my roleplaying blog, collection of fictional short stories, and fantasy series... updated on a blog for now until I am finished! https://childrenfromtheheavensbelow.blogspot.com/ Watch me game on occasion or make music... https://www.twitch.tv/spoontheeuntitled and subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUvqULn678VrF3OasgnbsyA
Comments
Run through all of the quests in the starter areas and finish all quest chains for meditation points... you will want to do the "turn in 12 meat" repeatable quest whenever you can (every 22 hours) in every starter area for the meditation points because its worth it. You also should get into the habit of capping villages with a clan or do the daily dungeon quest (or two) to make sure your meditation points do not run out... (this means that you will want to play the game probably 10 hours a week at least to keep meditation going always).
You can make money trasporting goods from starter city to starter city... so get into the habit of transporting goods to market places all over... that way if you die somewhere, the nearest spawn always has stuff in the closest bank for you. For example, you can purchase goods for cheap and the busiest city, then transport the goods to other cities and make up the prices. If you need a mount you could always cancel one you have for sale on the market or whatever. Today I bought a couple dozen mounts for cheap and transported them to every city around my racial area so that I always have access to mounts easily and make some money at it because I am selling them for twice the price that I for them... if you craft you can make some money doing this, and even sell goods that normally would be just sold to the vendor or trashed in the original game.
Be careful which titles you pick... as its important to stick with your choices because changing a title started the level/rank back to 1... also you will want to start meditating right away, just find it in your journal. Usually people start with vitality for more health at the beginning.
You will want to join a clan or make friends with crafters right away... so going completely solo without ever interacting with others cannot be done unless you have alts and don't mind being behind others in PVP.
NEWS FLASH! "A bank was robbed the other day and a man opened fire on the customers being held hostage. One customer zig-zag sprinted until he found cover. When questioned later he explained that he was a hardcore gamer and knew just what to do!" Download my music for free! I release several albums per month as part of project "Thee Untitled" . .. some video game music remixes and cover songs done with instruments in there as well! http://theeuntitled.bandcamp.com/ Check out my roleplaying blog, collection of fictional short stories, and fantasy series... updated on a blog for now until I am finished! https://childrenfromtheheavensbelow.blogspot.com/ Watch me game on occasion or make music... https://www.twitch.tv/spoontheeuntitled and subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUvqULn678VrF3OasgnbsyA