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Any room for new folk?
HellCaster
Member UncommonPosts: 234
Salutations All,
I have read many good things about this seasoned game but I have also read some reviews saying if your not already a long time vet there isn't much of a future for you in this game due to veterans only working with other seasoned vet's etc.
I have no idea how true or false this may be, hence my asking you all for your input.
Also, I don't mind 100% grind games but how is the solo ability in this game? Is it more like EQ where you really need a group to make any real progress or is it easier on the casual solo gamer? Are you forced to RvR in order to produce a good character?
Thanks,
-H
Playing: varies every day it seems.
Comments
There is very little grind. The game used to require 50+ days played to reach level 50 (max level) but now you can do it in 72 hours. Most people will take 5-7 days played to reach level 50. Every class can solo, although not every spec can. But that is not a problem because it is fairly easy to change your spec. You can level by just killing, doing quests, or killing other players. When you go to the catacombs zones, those are your best quests that you can almost completely level just do doing those.
Veterens isn't an issue for most people. People play different realms on different servers and it is not uncommon for players to start over on a new server. New players also join the game often. I am not saying there are new players all over the place, but new players are there on all server types. You will find the most new players on the "classic" servers, but you will find more cooperative, nicer, and less RvR centric players on the reguler servers.
There are some nice ablities that can be used in both PvE and RvR that you can earn from RvR, but you never need to RvR at all if you do not want to. You can do just fine without it if all you want is PvE.
Yes this game is still very good , im an old mmo player started with UO in 1999 till wow came out i played it for 2 years + till i got sick of it . So i decided to DL the 14 trial and im having a blast on the classic server on my scout , very easy to solo and easy to get gear . PvP is great too you can play BG before 50 to give you some taste . Well hope it help you cya!
I haven't played DAOC in a long time, but even when I left, between the task dungeons and catacombs, you could pretty much level by yourself. From what I hear, they even made it a lot easier to get Artifacts and master levels...(High end items and skills).
As far as the pvp goes, it might be a little rough finding groups at first, but if you are a sociable person and can make friends with people, you'll find a guild soon enough.
I played DAOC for years and had tons of fun. I just left it when all my friends stopped playing, but it is still one of the best MMO's I've ever played.
D.
Thank you all for your feedback, I have downloaded the client and am about to start my trial.
Playing: varies every day it seems.
In the past few weeks they added a couple of chat commands that should be of use to you.
/advice (text) - this sends a broadcast out to everyone in your realm if you need help(advice) about something.
/lfg (text) - this sends a broadcast out letting people know that you are looking for a group and whatever else you type in there.
/region (text) - this is a general chat channel for the realm.
Thanks for the tip Julian
Playing: varies every day it seems.
You're question has been answered, so I won't go over it. However, there are nice people on the Classic servers as well. In fact, any server you choose will be a good one, but the Classic servers have the most population. Mostly because of the bot restriction and the fact that you can get into the RvR sooner, since you don't have to get artifacts. Let me briefly explain the difference.
On normal servers, most people have two accounts so they can two-box, which means they have a healer bot sitting at base. So they are more powerful right off the bat than people who play the game the way it was meant to be. This is why I left those servers. However, if you travel with a group that has a healer, you won't suffer the consequences of not having one. ToA is a water world type expansion. I found getting artifacts and ML's fun, but I hated swimming in the water. I personally think adding the ability to swim under water was one of their worst decisions, but I am one of the few who thinks so. I just find it annoying.
What I really meant to say when I reply is that I know choosing and settling down on a class and realm will be challenging. There are so many good classes to play and races and all 3 realms are nice to play in. So if you need help matching a class to your playstyle, let us know. The difference between the realms, other than looks are minimal. So pick a realm that you would be happy staring at for months.
Welcome to DAoC.
MMORPG's w/ Max level characters: DAoC, SWG, & WoW
Currently Playing: WAR
Preferred Playstyle: Roleplay/adventurous, in a sandbox game.
I am sure you have already picked a server and realm, but I can briefly point to the difference between them:
Regular - has more PvE content, but it is almost all duable by a group or less. People are more likely to XP out in the world. Has better RvR (because of the ToA abilities). There are people running second accounts that are "bot" accounts used to buff/heal. It is a huge myth that everyone has one. I would say maybe 1out of 8 or 10 actually has one. This is based on the numerous people asking if someone has a bot to buff them, and that in many groups there is usually only 1 person that has a bot nearby. Those that have bots, tend most often to play assassin classes. Also, those that do have bots, sometimes have 3+ accounts for various reasons and so this adds to the impression that everyone has a second account.
Classic - less PvE content and more focused on RvR. You are more likely to get lower level groups, but those groups are more likely to go through instances because it is the best/easiest way to gain experience if you have a full group. People also find PvE, in general, to be something that is in the way of RvR. It is a myth that bots do not exist here, they do. They are not in the same numbers, maybe 1 in 20, but they are used a lot to level and sometimes in RvR depending on the class.
So, if you start on classic you are far more likely to get a group at low levels. You are also more likely to get full groups. This can make things easier when you want to RvR because the people you level with are also likely to be around to RvR with. On the other hand, the motivation to do PvE for anything other than level, is missing from the community at large. At level 50 you will likely have nothing to do but RvR. While their is PvE content, you can earn most of those rewards just by killing other players. People might be doing the dragon quests and a Darkspire raid but that is it.
On the regular servers, you are less likely to group at low levels. When you do group, at any level before 40 and not in RvR, you are likely to not have a full group. Once you hit level 40, there will be full groups to join and a lot of PvE content to do. At level 50, people will still be doing PvE content. They will be doing at least some of the Champion quests, they will be doing ML steps, artifact raids, and the epic zone is filled with people doing the dragon quests. Whatever the next campaign is, people will also be doing that. Getting into a good guild and alliance are essential for successful play on the regular servers because they provide money, items, and easy access to people to play with.
Alb has the highest population, they reproduce like roaches. Mid is the least populated. There are 45 classes between the 3 realms so there is a lot of choices.
Thanks for the follow up guys.
Actually, I haven't picked a server or class yet because while patching up I noticed the free catacombs upgrade for the trial so I held off starting anything and downloaded / installed it.
I prefer the PvE content so I am leaning towards a regular server. Class is a big question, as I have noticed that there is a wealth of classes per realm to choose from. In EQ I enjoyed playing a shadow knight but I am open to ideas. Straight casters typically aren't my thing but I like melee+spell classes and pet classes.
Suggestions are welcome.
Playing: varies every day it seems.
The closest class to a SK is the Reaver on the Albion realm. The Reaver is a cross between a tank and a Necromancer. He can Lifetap and cause pbaoe dmg and debuffs and can fight with a shield and sword, whip, or mace. As far as the pet classes go, there is a whole slew of them out there. The only pet classes I would be warry of are the Animists and the Theurgists, because they aren't your typical pet class. They spam pets that only last up to 2 min and you have little control over them.
As far as servers go, it sounds like Julian is giving what he believes a fair review of the servers, but it is a bit biased since he plays on the regular servers and he wants the population there to grow. The Classic server does have its fair share of guilds that PvE a lot. While the Classic servers do allow a faster transition from leveling to RvRing, that doesn't mean the entire community is comprised of PvPers. In fact, you can see that there are usually over 1k people playing on the Classic servers, but only a hand full of people actually RvRing and doing BG's. Believe it or not, a lot of people are PvEing, whether it be Dragon Raids, Dark Spire, Champion and Epic quests, or leveling alts.
However, if the population level wasn't so low on the regular clusters (could be fixed my merging clusters) and they didn't have the /level command, which allows every person that has a level 50 anywhere in the game to auto level to 20, I would be playing there. Because I do enjoy the ML's and extra PvE content. I do have a level 50, so I can benefit from the /level command, but if everyone had to level from 1 it would allow more people to group with around 20. I don't know, maybe I will dust off the normal servers and give it a shot.
MMORPG's w/ Max level characters: DAoC, SWG, & WoW
Currently Playing: WAR
Preferred Playstyle: Roleplay/adventurous, in a sandbox game.
Do pet classes level the fastest?
Playing: varies every day it seems.
Yes i think so , necro and bonedancer are the best soloer around .
I wouldn't worry about leveling the fastest, but pick a class you like to play. The fastest is measured by either no down time or killing the most targets in a short amount of time. Another thing to consider is how complicated you want to class to be. For now, stay away from animists and theurgists because they are the most complicated. Even if you could figure them out, you will die so often at low levels until you learn to play them.
I read the description of Shadow Knights (it was been about 6 years since I played EQ) so I can't say for sure what it is like. It does look like you want to play a hybrid class. If you play a Vampiir it is a melee hybrid. It will be a little complicated for a new player to learn what to train, and it is a button smashing class (by that I mean you are always having to do something). The class gains power by doing damage. The power can then be used for a melee range danage spell, self-buffs, or debuffs on your enemy. You get an endurance tap that is very useful against tanks in RvR, and will make sure you can keep attacking with melee styles. It is also a class that has "self-buffs" on all the time such as bonus to str, dex, and con. This gives you a huge amount of hit points and damage. You only wear leather armor so you take a lot of damage as well. But, this does mean, you are able to just sit at a spot and kill constantly with no down time once you get the hang of the class. Also, if you get a BAF then it is not a problem either. It is a class designed to solo.
There are charm classes, but I won't go into those because each realm has such different abilities with each one.
As for other things, Pet classes do level fast, but the pet takes some of your XP. Necromancers are a popular farmer for Alb, or used to be at least. Summoned pet classes are the safest to play because the pet will hold the argo and then you can kill your target without worrying about taking damage yourself. Cabalist, Enchanters, and spiritmasters are those classes. I would say the Enchanter and Spiritmaster are the better classes because of PbAoE - it is an area affect spell that is a small bubble but does huge amounts of damage I think it is the most powerful damage spell in the game. So, you send your pet out to get a bunch of agro. You heal your pet to keep it alive. Then you have your pet bring the mobs back to you, and 2-3 PbAoE later you have a lot of dead mobs around you.
If you want to heal, a Warden might work for you. It is a strong melee class with some nice spells available including healing. Valewalkers are pretty cool and you get to walk around dressed like death. Friars and bonedancers are also worth looking into if you want melee+caster.
I know it is hard to believe, but while some classes level faster than others, for the most part it is not going to be an issue that you will notice so you should pick a class that you might have fun with and less that will level the fastest.
As for the servers, yes I do play on a regular server. I used to advise people to always go classic if they were new. There were good reasons for that when I did. Those reasons no longer exist for me. If the regular servers were as they are now when the classic servers were launched, the classic servers would not be needed. If it would not upset a lot of people, I would want those servers closed and have people transfer their characters because there are few reasons to play on those anymore. I am sure there are people that do PvE on the classic servers. Servers types are basically charactures. For every one person talking about how great the PvE is on the classic servers I hear from 5 that saying it is nothing but pure grind and everyone just wants to get to 50 to RvR. For every one person that says they get groups easily and at low levels on the regular servers, I hear 5 that say it is a barren wasteland.
The only reasons I would suggest playing classic: if you play at odd hours because those servers always have a good population; you have played the regular servers and you just hate the abilties added with ToA; you like the feeling of having tons of people around even if you do not group with them; grouping at low levels, no matter what, is very important to you. So if groups/tons of people = the best playing experience for you, then classic might be for you. If you want more to do, more playing experience, faster leveling (you get free levels every certain amount of days if you have earned a level), don't care if you solo a lot, play during prime time hours, are more interested in higher level content with groups, then regular servers might be best for you.
The fact is, in terms of XP, 2 people is the most efficient way to level until around level 40 on any server. It is better to go solo, than to have 4 people in a group. The way to compensate for this are to do task dungeons. These are instances and when you accomplish your goal you get a huge XP award. Further, you get a bonus based on the number of people and their levels in a group. As much as people want to blame free level 20's (you get these on the regular servers if you get a level 50) that is not the case. I always start off at level 1 because it is fun, but I would never group with more than one person unless I am helping someone out because the XP loss is a substantial hit that isn't worth it. When the XP dynamics are changed, then people will change and want to group more. The reason why there is more grouping on the classic servers is that is is possible to get 8 people together to do instances. There are a few other places where a full 8 people might be able to level efficiently as well and I am sure there are some that just like to group and level. It is all about efficiency.
Any room for new folk? I'd think there has been ample room for quite a few years now.
Thank you Julian for your in-depth posts,they are most helpful.
Whats the lowest level for these task dungeons you mentioned and where would I find them? A web link is most helpful.
Playing: varies every day it seems.
You can do task dungeons at level 1- 50 to do them all you need to do is find task masters and they will give you a task to complete in a instance dungeon near the task master where you need to kill a certain type of mob or just to kill the entire dungeon but a webpage for it you could try to check the catacomb website for more info I thing.
Hi I'm Ravkeen!
Emilia_Emi Lvl 56 Witch
Now Playing : Black Desert Online
"America is not at war, the US Military is at war, America is at the mall."
The first one will be near the starter town you begin at. You will talk to a taskmaster to get your mission. When you are too high of a level, then they send you to another taskmaster in another area. In terms of soling and leveling the fastest. Levels 1-5 do not matter that much. Level 5-10 it might be worth it. But after level 10, it is not worth doing TD solo.
I forget what the exact bonus is, but it is something like 15% bonus per character in a TD. So if you are solo you get a 15% extra XP plus the XP reward for finishing it.
On the other hand, if you level out in the world, there is a 50% bonus to XP. In addition to that, if the area is not hunted you get a camp bonus. If you go into a dungeon, there is a dungeon bonus on top of the 50% XP. The dungeon bonus applies to all of the catacombs zones, but not the TD. If you do catacombs quests you will get almost the best XP per time invested.
If you group up for the TD, it raises in difficulty and therefore XP. But, it does not scale perfectly. So while 4 people will be a 60% bonus, when the XP is divided it comes out less than if you soloed and got the 50% bonus. You really need 6-8 people for it to be the best way to XP.
Are those XP bonuses specific to Regular servers or do they apply to Classic as well?
Playing: varies every day it seems.
All XP bonuses are the same for the regular and classic servers. The only differences between then are when you get your free level and that is determined by what realm/cluster you play on. The more populated a realm/cluster is, the less often you get a free level.
Yeah levelin aint hard at all anymore. I had my armsman CL5 during the 2 week trial. The new Dragons Revenge stuff is also really nice. New Dragon Slayer Armor, and weapons, along with dragon raids. A very nice addition.
Thank you all for your advice. I started off playing a Reaver but got bored of it quickly and rolled a Vampiir which I am having a blast with, talk about non-stop killing machine. I think I will be buying the game and staying with the classic server I started on.
Thanks again,
-H
Playing: varies every day it seems.