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Have I Been Converted?
So, six months ago, I bought Lineage 2. I'm always keen to try any new MMO's, and despite being warned against this title, I bought it, seeing as it was being sold for only £5 (about $9 US). I figured that with a free month, what did I have to loose?
At the time, I was into heavy rp, story and quest heavy titles. My only prior experience of the Asian MMO was FFXI, which I had enjoyed, but had grown frustrated with the difficulty and not being able to leave the newbie areas. I was a virtual MMO virgin at the time of playing FFXI (it being only the second MMO I'd ever tried), and was still at that impetious stage where you want to see and explore all of the areas. I had the first two expansions (the third hadn't been released yet) and I couldn't understand it when people were telling me it would be a very, very long time before I could see these. God, way back then, I didn't even know what grind meant. What I did realise though was that it was tough, and perhaps not quite the game for me.
Many months later, and I had bought Lineage2. I was still heavily into more Western type games, like EQ2, and, dare I say it, WoW (I still do play these games). So, when I bought Lineage2, you can imagine that I didn't really take to it. I could not understand this type of game, where the grind was so monstrous. Barely playing, I gave up after a month.
Now, six months later, and something was calling me back to this game. It wasn't the rp, or the quests, etc as I know that isn't L2's strongpoints, and anyway, I had other games to cater for those needs.
It was precisely the reasons I normally hated a game, that were, ironically, luring me back to it.
All the threads telling me not to play it, due to the monstrous grind, and hellish difficulty curve were actually attracting me. I wanted to see if I could hold my own in such a demanding, and hardcore environment. So, just a couple of days ago, I reactivated my account. Was I insane? Was it because I was under doctor's orders to remain in bed as I'd been ill? Was it the medication?
Whatever the reason, I updated the files for C5, and plunged headlong into Teon, choosing an elven mystic.
At first the sight of the bots made my heart sink. I thought the company had sorted this problem out? Not by the evidence on what I could see. Nevertheless, I proceeded on.
As with all new MMO's, it took me awhile to learn the interface (I still am, although I'm getting the jist of it, and starting to make my own macro's). I was still disappointed by what seemed like a lack of community, as it seemed like forever before I met another human being (as in player, don't think my character has met a human in game yet!).
So I began playing, and with an entirely different frame of mind. I would grind, and grind, and grind! And you know what? It's actually quite fun! I printed out a sheet of monsters, listing their xp, att range, sp, etc. Noted the ones in my area and which would give the best xp, and which ones to avoid.
Now, bear in mind that I am only a couple of days into it, and still a major newb. But something is happening! This thing is...well, for want of a better word...addictive! I met a couple of people around my level, and we are busy doing our own little quests, and comparing notes on how we are doing, as well as teaming up when a mob (like the second kaboo orc chief and his dogs) is too strong to face alone. I know there is still loads that I have yet to see and experience, and I am looking forward to that.
It may be early days, but do you think I've been converted to L2?
Comments
When i quit the game over a year ago I promised myself I would never come back I was so fed up with botters and a$$hat gankers and the horrendous grind, yet here I am reupping my acct as we speak. I don't know what it is about this damn game but I feel the same as you. I have an overwhelming need to prove myself in this game, to say to someone at some point "hey i have a lvl 70+ toon in L2" just to see their eyes boggle lol.
Anywho now that you are back try to find yourself a clan that is lvl 5 or more that has an academy. Going into an academy is very useful not only to u but to the clan as well. It helps with the grind and the need for gear. Alot has Improved with the last few chronicles and the game has become that much more fun.
And to answer your question, Yes
Welcome back
Thanks for the tip Leo, btw, that's another plus I've found so far. The community is not as bad as what people claim it to be. Sure, there will be griefers, and the like, but every MMO has them, and the competitive nature of L2 means that they are inevitable. However, upon returning, I've already made a few allies on Teon, and they've given me valuable advice on how to get going. I'm only a lowlie level 11 Mystic at the moment, but someday I hope to be able to Summon. Until then, I shall be aiming for Spellsinger (that's in the right branch, right?).
There is this compulsion though, it's like whenever I have some spare time, I feel I must log in, just to kill a few mobs, then it turns into, 'I'll just play until I level,' and before you know it, you've been playing for hours without even realising!
Hope I continue to enjoy it. From what I hear, the higher the level, the more fun it gets. I'm really looking forward to the day I can fight in my first siege!
They've made summoners a lot better than they used to be, a year ago I would have told you to avoid that class at all costs, but Elven Summoner is a pretty nice class now. You'll be able to do some nice soloing with very little support, and you'll be useful in a group with mages later on for PvP or some PvE maybe too.
If you want to go pure nuker (spellsinger), you'll need a lot more support to solo efficiently. By support I mean you'll need to play more than one character at the same time. You'll want either a Shillien Elder or an Elven Elder to recharge yourself. Shillien Elders are most useful for their Empower buff which increases your magical attack, but Elven Elders fucking ROCK when they get to level 76+.
I think the level for Empower 3 (the highest level of empower spell) is like low 40s, so if you're really ambitious you can level a shillien elder up to 46 or whatever level empower is, and then make yourself an elven elder as well for higher levels.
If I had to choose one or the other though, to be honest, I'd probably go with SE. It'll be more useful for more levels.
Good luck!
Again, thanks for the heads up. It's a good job that you told me about that, or I may have ended up going a class I didn't want to. I'll be heading back to Stractics, and reading up on a lot of stuff. At the moment I've just been concerned with the newbie info (1-20), but it is definitely an Elven Summoner I want to be as my class. I'm glad that they are good at both solo-ing and working well as a team, as I should be doing a mixture of both during my stay with L2.
Primarily I'll be solo-ing, as I like to play the game at my own pace, and do my own thing. However, I sometimes like to group, and I know there are bound to be parts of the game where that will be required.
Actually, that is something I was wanting to ask you guys.
In Final Fantasy XI, after the initial newbie levels, it was sort of essential that you found a group to get anywhere, and it was often hard to find people who were willing to do so.
Is L2 a game where solo-ing becomes nigh on impossible after a certain level? If so. when, and how do you find groups? I mean, is there a looking for group channel or something? Or a way to ask, without sending out a shout?
As was recommended earlier, I'll be trying to get into a clan as soon as possible, and this should help out that problem. However, until then, or if everyone in the clan is busy, how do you go about finding a group?
Oh, and another, newbie question! I noticed in the Elven Village that there is an edifice called a 'broadcasting tower'. At first I thought this may be used in some way, for precisely that reason, but after examining it, and nothing happened, I figured it had another purpose. Is it something to do with the village being under attack? Like the enemy has to capture it to conquer the village (a sort of capture the flag type deal)? Or is it some form of viewing device?
Whilst I have your ear, yet another question! I heard from a friend that a good way of earning money was to buy seeds from the manor guy. Then you throw one on a mob, and then when you kill it, you harvest it. This sounds strange, but I suppose it's one of these little eccentricities that you find in Asian games. The only problem is that whenever I go to him to buy seeds, there are none in any of his trade boxes (they are all blank). Now is this because I am only level 11? Or is it a time thing, when he has them at a certain period?
Welcome to L2. Yes it is addicting.
I actually quit back in November, not because I didn't like the game, just because I found I was missing too much real life while playing it, LOL. Talk about a time sink... I dual boxed, so I leveled up an EE, Spellsinger, SE, Swordsinger and also a prophet just for fun. Got the EE and SpS into their 70s.... it just amazes me though, most of my friends have characters that are 78/76. In fact, my whole clan was like that with the exception of, well, me. Of course, I consoled myself with the fact that most of them either had much more time than me or botted (not being bitter here, they really did, LOL.) But as much of a grind as it was, I still find myself thinking about the game and missing certain favorite spots I had, or wishing I could do Antharas again, etc.
As far as grouping - most people get groups within their clans and alliances. That's why it's important to be in an active clan/ally that fits your playstyle and time zone. If you can't find a group in clan/ally chat, then next would be the people on your friendlist. A lot of smart people fill their friendlist up with important character types (like healer, SwS, BD) so that they can easily put a group together based off of who is online. There aren't really many pick-up groups any more. Too much politics for that. The best bet for a pick-up group would be a catacomb or necropolis. In order to go into those places you have to sign up as either dusk or dawn in town. Beware though - there is one week of competition and one week of reward - during that second week the side that looses is shut out of the necros/catas and gets some lovely debuffs. Dawn usually wins on most servers I think, except for Lionna.
And as far as the manor - they are sold out because they can only sell a certain amount of seeds and *certain* people know exactly when the seeds go on sale and buy them up instantly. Find out when they go on sale and see if you can beat them to it... doubtful, but you can hope. Using the manor system is a great way to earn adena.
Oh, just writing this post makes me miss the game ( /tear ) ......... but I like the sun too much to go back.
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Kirithia - 7X Phantom Ranger on the Bartz server
As said before most parties will come from your own clan but if you need to there are always Catacomb/Necro parties after level 20. Also Dion on most servers is Raid party pick up heaven for characters in the 30's as there are always people shouting for people to fill out Raid groups.
The broadcasting tower allows you to watch sieges going on over the weekends at the different Castles in the game. This gives players a safe location to observe sieges because if you stumble into a siege zone during a siege you are fair game to either side.
The Manor system is just one way to make money. There is a sticky post at the top of this forum that pretty much breaks down all of the main money making systems in the game. You should read that as it will be very helpful to you.
I hope this answers your questions.
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Kirithia - 7X Phantom Ranger on the Bartz server
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I've been looking at L2 for sometime myself and i'm intrigued by it, for the same reasons the original poster said. I kinda want to measure myself in this extra hardcore environment. Got really bored of WoW and the like and i've been on a one year MMO break. The only thing that will make me come back in a MMO is good PvP. Therefore, Dark Age is on the top of my list: Best RvR ever. But i played it and would like to try something else.
Only one thing will determine if i do try lineage or not and it's how you acquire your gear: Is the "best" gear crafter made, or raid oriented like WoW?
This will make or break the game for me right there.
Eagerly awaiting your answer.
What deserves to be done, deserves to be "well" done...
All gear is craftable. All gear might drop at a raid of one sort or another or you can buy gear from other players. There is nothing gear related that drops exclusively that I know of besides the Demonic Sword.
Gear is also incredibly expensive, thats the balance I guess.
Well When I started back in beta I had no Idea what class I wanted to be so I just pick what looked and sounded cool. Big mistake I found myself rerolling 4 times and with the grind you can imagen the pain. What helped me alot was finding a privite server that gave 1000x exp and playing with the skills and stuff of each class I thought I might like. Granted Privite servers are not 100% like the real game, but it did help me get an idea of what I wanted out of my toon.
GL bro welcome to L2
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Kirithia - 7X Phantom Ranger on the Bartz server
Yes it does!
I HATE stupid raiding for gears. I want to be able to craft it myself or at least, eventually buy it from another players. And have the option to make good diplomacy/friends that will help me with it, which you can't do with moronic bind on pick up items.
So thanks for the answer! I'm one step closer from stepping in... I just need to watch the system requirements and if my computer can run it, i'll play :-)
What deserves to be done, deserves to be "well" done...
Yes it does!
I HATE stupid raiding for gears. I want to be able to craft it myself or at least, eventually buy it from another players. And have the option to make good diplomacy/friends that will help me with it, which you can't do with moronic bind on pick up items.
So thanks for the answer! I'm one step closer from stepping in... I just need to watch the system requirements and if my computer can run it, i'll play :-)
There are "raids" in L2 also. The main difference from games like Wow is they are alot less involved and time demanding. You dont have to worry so much about about having a perfect party balance because most of the raids I ever went on, there are like 80 or 90 people. Just getting to the raid boss can be an adventure onto itself if a rival guild shows up....I was on one raid where we never even made it inside, it was just a mass melee between guilds fighting over who was going in. (no instances in L2)
They are also not restricted to endgame either. There are raids at level 20 if I remember correctly. Call it casual raiding lol. You run in with these huge, I mean huge groups and try to take out the boss and such. Its done as much for fun as the XP and loot. I always had a good time in an L2 raids unlike most of the other na*i raid games I have played. The nice thing is you dont have to do it. When you do, its more then likely just a guild event or something.
Yes it does!
I HATE stupid raiding for gears. I want to be able to craft it myself or at least, eventually buy it from another players. And have the option to make good diplomacy/friends that will help me with it, which you can't do with moronic bind on pick up items.
So thanks for the answer! I'm one step closer from stepping in... I just need to watch the system requirements and if my computer can run it, i'll play :-)
There are "raids" in L2 also. The main difference from games like Wow is they are alot less involved and time demanding. You dont have to worry so much about about having a perfect party balance because most of the raids I ever went on, there are like 80 or 90 people. Just getting to the raid boss can be an adventure onto itself if a rival guild shows up....I was on one raid where we never even made it inside, it was just a mass melee between guilds fighting over who was going in. (no instances in L2)
They are also not restricted to endgame either. There are raids at level 20 if I remember correctly. Call it casual raiding lol. You run in with these huge, I mean huge groups and try to take out the boss and such. Its done as much for fun as the XP and loot. I always had a good time in an L2 raids unlike most of the other na*i raid games I have played. The nice thing is you dont have to do it. When you do, its more then likely just a guild event or something.
Yeah well, as long as it's not a "forced" feature like WoW (if you want to better your character) i don't have any problem with that. I just want the "option" of getting my gear by other means then raiding. Which in my case, the most fun part is about crafting/trading my stuff.What deserves to be done, deserves to be "well" done...
Nah, its nothing forced on you at all. Look through any L2 board, no one even talks about it its such a no big deal thing. (by the way, this site sucks for an L2 community, hit Warcry ( http://lineage.warcry.com/ ) Alot of the random raid bosses are just mobs that spawn out in the wilderness anyway. The only way to really craft though is by playing a Dwarf. If you can really get him up there in level, you da money man.
To the other guy guy about "mats" yes all mats have value. I wouldn't sell them in the newbie area though. I would wait until you at least hit Dion and sell them to player shops for better prices.
Also the most critical thing is learn the manor system. Thats where you will make your money. Also read the "seven signs" event on the offical page. Farm seals for ancient adena and never pay for a weapon upgrade again.
Because it early and I'm still nursing my first cup of coffee, I'll even post the key links
l2warehouse http://www.l2wh.com/
classes/races http://www.lineage2.com/Knowledge/race_human.html
Seven signs http://www.lineage2.com/Knowledge/sevensigns.html
New player guide http://www.lineage2.com/guide/bonuses.html
Manor system http://www.lineage2.com/Knowledge/manor.html
The statement that "all mats have value" isn't exactly true. No one is going to buy any kind of NG armor/weapon mats for more money than the NPC would buy them. Just sell all that stuff to the store. You'll probably want to sell most of your D-grade mats as well, unless you are extremely patient and want to leave your computer on 24/7. (Check l2wh.com to see what sells and what doesn't - and how much to sell it for.) Keep basic mats like Animal Skin, Coal, Charcoal, Thread, Animal Bones, etc. Those things can be sold to other players at competitive prices (best place to sell is in Giran.)
A lot of people love L2 for the market. They make hundreds of millions of Adena by finding a niche. Some do armor, others do shots, others do crystals, etc. Some people look around and when they see a great deal on something, they buy it, then turn around and sell it for several million more. I've known some players who never even leave town - they spend all their time playing the market. Not my idea of fun in a video game but they love it!
Anyway, another thing L2 has are tons of ebayers, especially ones that ebay and won't admit it no matter how obvious it is. One week they're begging for 5m to buy top C gear, a month later, they hit 61 and show up in full A gear . . . When you ask em how they got it, they say, " a friend quit and gave me all his stuff"
I'm kind of kidding to some degree.
Anyway, I'm not condoning ebay as it is wrong, i have a lvl 70 glad and a lvl 46 prophet on 2 separate accounts i'm not looking to sell on ebay. I have close to 1 billion adena worth of gear and full A grade for a lvl 70 gladiator. Roughly 1 million adena = $1 dollar on that non-NCsoft sanctioned ebay.
I'm willing to not sell everything for half price ($400), both accounts and everything. Full setup, you can even buy everything, sell it for $900+ m adena then sell the adena on ebay, (not that i'm condoning it), and make a good profit out of it. plus you still have both characters.
Things above happen all the time in this game and I do not condone it as it leads to ruination of the game.
Anyway, stuff above happens all the time, feel free to contact me so I can further educate you on how 3rd party interference is ruining lineage 2. Or perhaps you can purchase the stuff off me in order to prevent someone from abusing it and ruining the game.
Also, Torak lies, you don't need a dwarf to craft, just collect all the mats and pay a negligible crafting fee in Giran. I never saw any reason to ever make a crafting dwarf. Too much opportunity cost imo.
Oh well,
Cryomatrix
You can see my sci-fi/WW2 book recommendations.
I know right after c5, and the freaking dumbass academy system, every fudging clan ingame was botting up users to get points.
that is really what made me and my wife quit it. I hate having to find the crapiest lvl spots cus all the good ones are camped to high hell with bot teams (catas come to mind *cringes)
My god has horns.... nah, I don't think he is real either.
The bot problem is so bad it's... impressive? (think about quake3 when you tripple kill with the rail gun, that "impressive"). Even though the late efforts from NCSoft-NA to arrange them with periodic massive bannings, you *have to* play this game in official server to understand what is a bot problem.
You will have no big problems until you get to level 5x and have to get your B-grade equipment. Then you will understand why buying adena is *so much* extended. And the B-grade will become a joke once you have to get the A-grade at level 6x.
If you plan to play the game to its maximmun, that is to pvp in the clan wars and castle sieges, you will be a fool/nobody if you are not in your 3rd class change (lvl 76+) and full A-grade equipment with overenchanted S-grade jewelry (and better if you can afford some boss jewel). We are speaking about 1000 million adena at least. If you PvP with shitty equipment in a top clan, gL.
The fastest way would be multiboxing support classes that can help your main to level up faster, as buffs are extremely important in the game. For the top equipment, well, Don't Leave Home Without It.
As a recommendation, do not make a "healer" char as your main. The damage-dealer characters are more rewarding to play, even if it's some support class as bladedander, swordsinger. As said, summoners were very nerfed in the past but at high levels they are competitive. The current FOTM are necros and daggers, and the most famous class at pvp is the archer. Because of the imbalances of the game to heal at higher levels is almost impossible (potion spamming and 2-3 shot kills).
gL.
Actually the bot problem isn't as bad as before they started the bans. It was BAD then compared to now in C5. You still have bots and still see them in the lower levels when you start the game. But at higher levels there are not too many.
I hope NCSOFT keeps up the bannings and keep banning all the botters. In fact it would be best if they eliminated the use of 3rd party programs to cheat, but this isn't a perfect world and thats probably not going to happen as long as there are people who play the game willing to pay real life $$$ in exchange for in game money.
I hope when they release Lineage 3 later this year or early next year, they learn from this experience and COMPLETELY fix the bot problem.
I've played a SpS to 70+, an SE to 60+ and a SwS to 50+, but I still keep going back to my EE. As much as I love my SpS and love soloing, the EE is my preferred class in groups (pve and pvp - obviously I don't 1v1 on my EE...)
As far as ebaying/botting is concerned, yeah, lots of people ebay, not as many bot (too dangerous to risk getting your character banned - but some take that risk.) I used to waste a lot of energy getting upset about it, because IMO it's cheating. However, if you like the game - you like the game, and you just have to decide to get over it. It's still a fun game. It's not like you're running around a bunch of robots with no one to talk to. And my groups usually have no problem finding a spot to xp. There's usually one live person running the bot groups, so if we see a room we want, we talk to them and ask for it for a few hours. They almost always let us have it. I'm not sure if it's because they are afraid we'll report them, afraid we'll train them, or just because they have plenty of other bots they can monitor, but whatever the reason, they are usually polite and willing to compromise.
Been playing for 2 years and am almost level 75, woohoo! Mind you you can level faster than this, or slower depending on how you want to play the game. I have enjoyed it, the only part I don't enjoy is my RL time disapearing, but you get it under control after a while. You just gotta know when enough is a enough.
Higher levels are fun, grind becomes longer, but heh, you just gotta learn to love the grind. It actually can be fun. The good thing about L2 is there is always a goal to reach. You never can really say, "I beat L2" because there is always something to do. Some people like this, and some people don't.
If you want to go Elemental Summoner (I am a Spellsinger) You go Mystic ---> Wizard ---->Summoner. You can actually choose during the wizard stage if you want spellsinger or summoner. But if you want one of the two you must go Elven Wizard for your first class transfer. I would definately say Elemental Summoners are a more solo friendly class. If soloing is what you like Summoners, Spellhowler, Necromancer, are some of the best soloers imo.
Ah, the bot problem is MUCH better now than it was before. There will always be bots though, so get use to it. When you get to 70+ you don't really see bots anymore...they rarely make it that high before they get the ban hammer...which is good since a bot train can get to lvl 70 in less than a month.
Again, welcome! And enjoy your stay.