I played DAOC for about a year (off and on for 3 years) started back before darkness rising but shortly after catecombs came out (back when you had to pay for toa and could sell epic gear on the market).
I didn't play alot but I managed to get my eldrich to rr4 cl4. (everyone knows hibbies rule) I was never satisfied with the pve or the raids but I had to do Toa raids just like everyone else to get the good gear, but I didn't get far.
I was primarily drawn to the pvp which somewhat got old at times but compared to other games it was the lesser evil so I stuck around.
After bouncing around through several other pvp equipted mmo's I find myself feeling dissatisfied so I thought I may as well try DAOC again since I played it the longest. (It only took me 3 months to get sick of wow)
I've noticed they released "the minotaur xpac" and I am undecided about whether or not it has had a positive if any impact on the game.
I think the primary reasons I quit the game was the excessive rogue love and the mage nerfing going on. (it seemed like rogues even out damaged mages)
One thing I have noticed is how the graphics seem to be acceptable even though the last time the engine was updated was with the catecombs xpac. I guess modern mmo's just don't seem to raise the bar despite all of the graphics hype around many modern mmo's.
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Prior to the last patch, they added new bounty point rewards. You can now use your bounty points to purchase scrolls and artifact/ML credit.
As for graphics, well yes not too much improvement in the MMO market. In DAOC, I think the engine can handle the artwork upgrades. LotM added a new race and class. It is kinda like a vamp, but you get power from being hit not from hitting. There is a huge dungeon that looks awsome. It is the larget in any MMO. It is an RvR dugeon that people run around and fight in. There are also mino-relics you can get while in there that you can use that given certain abilities until someone kills you can takes it from you.
They have begun updating the artwork on the original world. First they redid the starting cities, and now they are doing the Camelot Campaigns. Those are free and are updated every week or two. Right now the story line is that the dragons have begun attacking your homeland. They have each destroyed one city so far (maybe more because I am not following it that much). Once everything is done, then those cities will be rebuilt and will be upgraded.
There is 150% bonus to XP in the Classic zones so people are for the most part ouf ot the TD.
All of the zones on a cluster have been merged except for housing so you have an easier access to the population.
They made changes to the archer class that has some archers complaining. I haven't seen much of a difference myself. Heretics with their zombie Rez just got nerfed.
Oh, and Alb need to be killed.
I can't say I'll miss the toa battlegroup lagfest, and all the griping about me riding my horse showing off my "leetness" causing others to lag.
There is a huge dungeon that looks awsome. It is the larget in any MMO. It is an RvR dugeon that people run around and fight in. There are also mino-relics you can get while in there that you can use that given certain abilities until someone kills you can takes it from you.
Is it sort of like darkness falls but with a deathmatch twist?
They made changes to the archer class that has some archers complaining. I haven't seen much of a difference myself.
You just reminded me of all the times I broke my keyboard or mouse after endless sessions of getting sniped and one shotted by some archer. The most I have ever been hit by an archer was like 1500, but that was before the new resist abilities from darkness rising and I didn't have good enough resists- he was radaring me while I was sneaking around the back of the alb zone in the water.
Do they take paypal or something similar? I have really terrible credit now (college student with 4 charged off credit cards and many hospital bills unpaid from being uninsured) and could not get a credit card (not even the ones with 300$ annual fees).
I may get a debit card or a prepaid card or something.
I am unsure when this was added, but for awhile now there is a large island that now connects each of the realms out in the front. There are bridges that connect them all. It is an empty flat area meant for open fighing and there are mile gates. This was added prior to DR coming out. Well, the Labrynth is underneath that island. There are multiple entrences to the Labrynth.
The Lab is open to all 3 realms at all times. There is no "control" over it. You have a fairly safe area you load into and it gets more dangerous as you venture into it. People all pour out into a central area known as the Hub. This, during busy times espically at launch, was a huge place of fighting because everyone had to go through that area. Once you pass through that area you can keep exploring. There are encounters in there that can be done from solo-FG depending on the encounter. If you do it, then you can walk away with one of the mino-relics. This grants you and those around you different abilities. A bulls head will no appear on the map and it moves with you. You become a target now. All of the mino-relics expect for one can be removed from the Lab to use in NF if you can get it out. There is one that is just sitting there in the Hub that anyone can pick up w/o having to do encounters. People often grab that one up with their group to make themselves a targer.
Fighting in the Lab is similar to fighting in an urban enviroment. You have different places to go around the enemy and some choke points. It used to be common for say Alb to push there way past the NPC guards and into the stairs killing Hibs. Hibs would then try to defend the stairs. If they lost, then Alb could pout out into the entrence and get to the safe area. There is still a spot were people zone in where they are safe, just like when you first walk into DF, but you are mostly exposed, say when you are like at the top of the stairs in DF.
There are also some nice items that drop from the Mobs. There is now a new slot for a new gem you can get in the Lab. These gems provide differnet bonuses, bonus to resists, caps, skills, etc. Nothing different than what is already available, it is just a new slot. You need to be certain CL to use them. LotM raised the CL to 10.
They have been reworking the game to emphasize grouping and adjust for the lower population. There is supposed to be a new new frontiers this summer. I suspect, it will be smaller and they are adding new features. They are going to add "brushes" that are tall that people can move around in and not be seen. Some other new additions are planned but not released.
I paid via pay-by-cash but they don't even send confirmation emails or specify how long it will take for the money to be debited. It was just as annoying when I used it for eve online. Why the heck do they make you buy your first month already before you can even try the trial out, that sucks (not like they are the only ones who do that).
At the loading screen it gets up to 90% of the bar and then it freezes for a short while, and finally says press escape to exit game- no errors or anything saying whats up.
It seems unnamed forces of evil are conspiring to prevent me from rejoining the hibbie crusades.
Sounds like your firewall is blocking daoc....
I finally finished downloading all of the xpacs, having to compress and junk things on my hardrive to make room ( 4 partitions on a 36g hd, windows xp + vista- drats).
I am currently rolling a lurikeen eldrich- got to level 23 in 2 days.
I am on the classic server, gareth, to see what its like.
It seems all of the pve community has left and only the rvr'ers remain (joy)- back when I used to play there was 2 carebears for every rvr'er.
Seeya in game.
Being one shotted by archers.
Being one shotted by backstabbers.
Pets pets pets, it only takes 2 people to take out a group with their pets.
Mezz, its long enough for 1 mage to single handedly take out an entire group.
Redundancy, its the same ole pvp over and over again, just not as severe as wow.
Continously nerfing hibernia.
It seems if you dont have stealth or pets your not going to do as well in pvp, your going to die twice per every one kill.
I am seriously considering cancelling my account, even after buying the expansions.
1. You shouldn't be getting 1-shotted by archers if you are equal level or higher than them. Even with the big archery buff, which got consequently nerfed last week, I was never 1-shotted if my buffs were up. You need to take a look at your gear and your buffs.
2. Stealthers are going to 2-shot you. Due to the stun, it is the same as 1 shot as far as you are concerned. However, as a caster you shouldn't be solo outside the keep anyhow and if you die, your group *should* kill the stealther.
3. Pets are always a problem in BGs because classes don't have the tools to deal with them yet. Even at 50 they are difficult, but managable if you are grouped.
4. As an eldritch, you have access to mez and nearsight, use them and mez is less an issue.
2. isnt that easy mode, just run around stealthed and instant kill people?
3. maybe they should fix it, or at least put a range on them, I hate being chased half way accross the map by pets that have permanent sprint.
4. only light specced elds have mezz, but light specced elds have only 1 wussy bolt vs void eld with 2 bolts. If you cant kill your target at range on a mage your doomed.
A. Assume that that stealthers will be buffed; always, unless you are playing on the classic servers (which dont allow for buffbots).
B. Any character with buffs will be > then any other character without buffs.
A. You'll find that playing a stealther is far from easy mode (at least that was my conclusion when I tried one after thinking much the same way).
B. Stealthers are sneaky per definition and allthough they seem to be alone more often then not they aren't. They often work in pairs (infiltrator/shadowblade/nightshade with scout/hunter/ranger).
C. This game is balanced on a group level with the exception of stealther classes, 1 versus 1 stealth classes are stronger then other classes 1 versus 1 because they are designed to be solo classes. Also stealther classes are specifically designed to counter magic classes.
A. Ahhh yes pets... the casters true nightmare, they can however often be one shotted, another tactic involves identifying the pet spawning class before he is able to target you and put his pets on you (if you interupt him he cant cast unless he uses the realm ability Mastery of Concentration (MoC). Also getting MoC for yourself is a life safer as well, since it makes you non interuptable and able to kill the pet spawning class before he kills you.
A. An eldritch is more a group class then a solo class, group with a crowd control class or hide high on the tower or keep walls.
A few general pointers:
A. Get yourself a template focussed on casting speed, damage and resists (or ask a guildie to help you out with that).
B. Get advice from an experienced Eldrich on how to play the class in RvR optimum.
C. Group up.
D. Death is part of the learning process.
E. Dont let yourself get frustrated try to learn from every death, try to recognize the reason why you got killed (xxx is overpowered is not a reason, standing still on a bridge is however).
F. Try to learn from every kill you make.
G. Dont be afraid to ask others for advice.
H. Try to group with the same people, adapt to their playstyle, learn on how to operate as a group and your role in it.
I. Make friends, those friends will give you groups later on in the end game.
J. Try to stay in Molvik for the maximum realm points before outleveling it.
K. Know that some people simply keep them selves in Molvik for ever since they love it in there and therefor are very experienced.
L. Know that there are a lot of end game players who have toons specifically for Molvik, these guys can offer you a wealth of advice but also can be your ticket into groups in the Frontiers once you hit lvl 50.
Ps. I know this goes beyond your question but it may be helpfull to others as well...
1. Long cast time
2. 20 second recast timer
3. Armor absorbs some of the damge - that is only good against cloth targets
4. Can be blocked by the target being in melee (total BS since the launch of the game!)
5. Shields can block/deflect some of the damage.
6. Bolts can miss
7. Resists reduce bolt damage.
8. Elds have the lowest level/dps bolts so more resitence and less damage.
Fire wizzies are usually the best bolt casters and even they fight in packs. They /assist on a target and then all cast a bolt.
There is only one reason to go with Light - Nearsight. It has the longest range in the game. If you can nearsight the enemy casters then they can't do anything to you. You only have one bolt to hit them with, but it is good against enemy casters and archers. Between that and Mez you are very group friendly but you play more of a support class and less of a death dealing class that way. But your spec DD is slightly above the base DD all Elds have so if you can get into a group, find an enemy group, then mez them, you should be able to pick off one target at a time.
On to my points for help.