09-06-2004, 09:18 PM
The combat is very refreshing. Very similar to Diablo meets Morrowind, actually. 3rd person view combat, full of lots of different styles and spells. It's not a clickfest, but it can get a little boring during long fights. There's minimal interaction to combat - click on monster, hit attack (or lead with a spell to "pull" the monster), then just stand back and watch your "toon" (as they call it) go at it with the monster. Where the tactics come into play starts with the opening moves - pulling. The full-out tanks have no way of pulling a monster save by using a bow - not my cup of tea, so I haven't played one yet. But pulling a monster allows you to take it on one-on-one - otherwise, you could easily get slaughtered, and running rarely ever works. After that, it's a dance of combat styles and / or spells to try and disable and defeat your enemy. Instead of constant clicking (or holding down the mouse button) like in Diablo, the fighting is always going until one of you dies. But much like Diablo, you have to be involved by choosing your skills, when to use them, etc.
I've found tanks to be fun characters, at least when you mix Magic into them (Paladins, for example - I'll get to them later). Pure tanks, with no magical ability whatsoever so far don't appeal to me. I don't take to combat styles so much as I do magic, although pure casters aren't 100% my cup of tea, either. They are very fun, though. Going toe-to-toe with monsters is a blast, but it gets old without having something to liven it up. Fighting in groups, though, adds a whole new dimension. Some combat styles you can only do in certain positions, i.e. to the side or from behind. With one person maintaining aggro, this gives another person the ability to perform these moves in relative safety - and said moves can often make battle much easier. Spell casters, OTOH, typically have to attack from afar and then find some way to "root" the monster - immobilizing it. Otherwise, if they have them, they have to rely on pets to maintain aggro, or the caster will soon be dead. Hence why it's almost a necessity to have a tank to hold aggro, so you can blast away from afar.
A strong party will have a mix of healing / enhancement magic, pure damage magic, and a tank. After that, any additions are pure gravy. Partying is by far the most fun, but soloing can be fun too. Whenever I get tired of simple combat, I try to seek out a quest or task to do. This not only gives me a cash and experience boost, but it allows me to explore the continent far more, and see the sights of the land - as well as the monsters. :)
As for items, they have a very interesting system worked out. The worst stuff around is dropped by monsters, usually, with the exception being some of the higher-level monsters - I picked up two very nice pieces of armor, and a good weapon last night from a monster. Still not the best "quality" (will get into in a moment), but better than store-bought. The ranks usually go monster loot, store bought, player crafted, and finally rare quest items. As I said already, monster loot is usually pretty drab and damaged, having a low Quality rating (quality determines how strong an item is in comparison to its base values). Store bought items aren't much better, being always a solid 85% Quality (most starting monster loot is ~70% quality, but magical items range higher, even into 90% Quality). While you can survive with store bought items, you'll quickly want to upgrade to some magical piece of equipment, be it from a monster, a quest, or a crafted player item. Which brings us to player crafts - they rock. :) The system is fairly good, forcing you to focus on one specific style of crafting, and limiting your abilities in the rest of the fields. This forces player trading - can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending, but the economy seems pretty good thus far, and players are pretty generous, especially in the lower levels. The other great thing about player crafts, aside from being anywhere from 94% - 100% (Masterwork) quality, is that they can be imbued with magical bonuses via Spellcrafting (and Alchemy, I think, but not 100% sure). Spellcrafting is the art of fashioning magical gems that grant bonuses to items, and then inserting them into said items. There are a whole slew of different gems, etc. to craft, just as many as there are for any other main crafting line. And these magical bonuses really help (although there are caps on how high your stats can be raised through bonuses - no Diablo-style bonuses where even a Mage can tank). Then there's of course Quest loot, which is probably some of the best in the game. I know that I usually wear my quest gear well into the blue and green (colors are used to depict the "con" of things, or how well they match up to your level and abilities).
Items, NPCs, and Monsters all "con" in multiple different colors, from highest to lowest: Purple, Red, Orange, Yellow, Blue, Green, and Gray. Purple means the item or monster is way out of your league - don't even bother wearing it, and don't bother fighting it alone. Red items are the same - worthless to wear, as the further away from you an item is (Purple, Red, Orange), the quicker its Condition diminishes, and the less actual use you'll get out of it. Red monsters, OTOH, can be soloed if you're good enough (I do it all the time), but usually require a group to take down. Orange items can be worn, with some increased wear and some diminished use, but usually become yellow within a level or two, so it's typically alright, and sometimes even recommended, to wear orange items. Orange monsters are usually easy to solo for many classes, but some might find them too challenging without a group. Yellow gear is right where you want it to be - just above you, but quite usable with minimal wear. Yellow monsters are usually easy for anyone to solo, unless you're considerably weak, they're considerably strong, or both. Blue is right at or just below your level when it comes to items and monsters. They both will quickly turn to Green in a level or two, so it's best to be on the look out for new gear and prey, although sometimes they can still be worth your while. Green is definitely below you, and when it comes to monsters, they're a pushover. Gear that's Green isn't usually worth keeping, unless you have nothing else (Cain quest reward, anyone?). And when it hits Gray, you're wasting your time completely. You get NO experience for killing Gray monsters (minimal for Green, average for Blue, good for Yellow, great for Orange, and beyond that you hit the exp cap), and Gray gear is absolute junk compared to what you could have.
Speaking of items, I never did fully go into them. Items have several attributes: Condition, which is how intact the item is. When this goes down, the items abilities and usefulness go down with it, meaning you need to repair it. It's best to repair an item before the Condition gets below 90%. Quality, which is how good an item is overall. 85% Quality is about average - no better, no worse, while below that is reducing the items worth to the player, and above that increases it because it performs far better. A weapon at 85% Quality will deal far less damage than one at 100% Quality, or even 95%. Durability is how much an item can be repaired before it becomes unrepairable. Everytime you repair an item, it loses Durability permanently. Sometimes it loses none, sometimes a lot. I've seen items get repaired and go from 100% to 71%, and others stay at 100%. Needless to say, sooner or later everything breaks. However, most items throughout your career are constantly being replaced by newer, better items, so you'll hardly ever have to worry about being without gear. Besides, with player crafting, you can literally create an endless amount of items, provided you have the cash, time, and skill (all of which take a boat load of time). This, however, does keep the economy in check. The final attribute is Bonus. I don't know precisely what this does, I just know that all Magical items have it, and the more powerful the enchantments, the higher the %. Starting magic items are ~1%, with the next few levels being 5% and 10%. Suffice it to say, an item with a Bonus is a good thing. :)
And to get totally off track (simply because I've run out of things to say and want to get back to playing): as of the latest patch, you you start a new character, every week you gain a new level, you get a free level. That's right, so long as you level at least once a week, you will gain a free level each week. Gives the low characters quite a boost, and allows people like me to test out 8 different characters at once. ;) Now if only I could find a place with good cash that I could SURVIVE in. :P Oh, and the Platinum Edition, which has the full game and all expansions, is $30 in stores, probably less on Amazon. :)
Got to get back to playing now, but I'll come back when I have more to say (like about my favorite class thus far - the Paladin).
I've found tanks to be fun characters, at least when you mix Magic into them (Paladins, for example - I'll get to them later). Pure tanks, with no magical ability whatsoever so far don't appeal to me. I don't take to combat styles so much as I do magic, although pure casters aren't 100% my cup of tea, either. They are very fun, though. Going toe-to-toe with monsters is a blast, but it gets old without having something to liven it up. Fighting in groups, though, adds a whole new dimension. Some combat styles you can only do in certain positions, i.e. to the side or from behind. With one person maintaining aggro, this gives another person the ability to perform these moves in relative safety - and said moves can often make battle much easier. Spell casters, OTOH, typically have to attack from afar and then find some way to "root" the monster - immobilizing it. Otherwise, if they have them, they have to rely on pets to maintain aggro, or the caster will soon be dead. Hence why it's almost a necessity to have a tank to hold aggro, so you can blast away from afar.
A strong party will have a mix of healing / enhancement magic, pure damage magic, and a tank. After that, any additions are pure gravy. Partying is by far the most fun, but soloing can be fun too. Whenever I get tired of simple combat, I try to seek out a quest or task to do. This not only gives me a cash and experience boost, but it allows me to explore the continent far more, and see the sights of the land - as well as the monsters. :)
As for items, they have a very interesting system worked out. The worst stuff around is dropped by monsters, usually, with the exception being some of the higher-level monsters - I picked up two very nice pieces of armor, and a good weapon last night from a monster. Still not the best "quality" (will get into in a moment), but better than store-bought. The ranks usually go monster loot, store bought, player crafted, and finally rare quest items. As I said already, monster loot is usually pretty drab and damaged, having a low Quality rating (quality determines how strong an item is in comparison to its base values). Store bought items aren't much better, being always a solid 85% Quality (most starting monster loot is ~70% quality, but magical items range higher, even into 90% Quality). While you can survive with store bought items, you'll quickly want to upgrade to some magical piece of equipment, be it from a monster, a quest, or a crafted player item. Which brings us to player crafts - they rock. :) The system is fairly good, forcing you to focus on one specific style of crafting, and limiting your abilities in the rest of the fields. This forces player trading - can be a good thing or a bad thing, depending, but the economy seems pretty good thus far, and players are pretty generous, especially in the lower levels. The other great thing about player crafts, aside from being anywhere from 94% - 100% (Masterwork) quality, is that they can be imbued with magical bonuses via Spellcrafting (and Alchemy, I think, but not 100% sure). Spellcrafting is the art of fashioning magical gems that grant bonuses to items, and then inserting them into said items. There are a whole slew of different gems, etc. to craft, just as many as there are for any other main crafting line. And these magical bonuses really help (although there are caps on how high your stats can be raised through bonuses - no Diablo-style bonuses where even a Mage can tank). Then there's of course Quest loot, which is probably some of the best in the game. I know that I usually wear my quest gear well into the blue and green (colors are used to depict the "con" of things, or how well they match up to your level and abilities).
Items, NPCs, and Monsters all "con" in multiple different colors, from highest to lowest: Purple, Red, Orange, Yellow, Blue, Green, and Gray. Purple means the item or monster is way out of your league - don't even bother wearing it, and don't bother fighting it alone. Red items are the same - worthless to wear, as the further away from you an item is (Purple, Red, Orange), the quicker its Condition diminishes, and the less actual use you'll get out of it. Red monsters, OTOH, can be soloed if you're good enough (I do it all the time), but usually require a group to take down. Orange items can be worn, with some increased wear and some diminished use, but usually become yellow within a level or two, so it's typically alright, and sometimes even recommended, to wear orange items. Orange monsters are usually easy to solo for many classes, but some might find them too challenging without a group. Yellow gear is right where you want it to be - just above you, but quite usable with minimal wear. Yellow monsters are usually easy for anyone to solo, unless you're considerably weak, they're considerably strong, or both. Blue is right at or just below your level when it comes to items and monsters. They both will quickly turn to Green in a level or two, so it's best to be on the look out for new gear and prey, although sometimes they can still be worth your while. Green is definitely below you, and when it comes to monsters, they're a pushover. Gear that's Green isn't usually worth keeping, unless you have nothing else (Cain quest reward, anyone?). And when it hits Gray, you're wasting your time completely. You get NO experience for killing Gray monsters (minimal for Green, average for Blue, good for Yellow, great for Orange, and beyond that you hit the exp cap), and Gray gear is absolute junk compared to what you could have.
Speaking of items, I never did fully go into them. Items have several attributes: Condition, which is how intact the item is. When this goes down, the items abilities and usefulness go down with it, meaning you need to repair it. It's best to repair an item before the Condition gets below 90%. Quality, which is how good an item is overall. 85% Quality is about average - no better, no worse, while below that is reducing the items worth to the player, and above that increases it because it performs far better. A weapon at 85% Quality will deal far less damage than one at 100% Quality, or even 95%. Durability is how much an item can be repaired before it becomes unrepairable. Everytime you repair an item, it loses Durability permanently. Sometimes it loses none, sometimes a lot. I've seen items get repaired and go from 100% to 71%, and others stay at 100%. Needless to say, sooner or later everything breaks. However, most items throughout your career are constantly being replaced by newer, better items, so you'll hardly ever have to worry about being without gear. Besides, with player crafting, you can literally create an endless amount of items, provided you have the cash, time, and skill (all of which take a boat load of time). This, however, does keep the economy in check. The final attribute is Bonus. I don't know precisely what this does, I just know that all Magical items have it, and the more powerful the enchantments, the higher the %. Starting magic items are ~1%, with the next few levels being 5% and 10%. Suffice it to say, an item with a Bonus is a good thing. :)
And to get totally off track (simply because I've run out of things to say and want to get back to playing): as of the latest patch, you you start a new character, every week you gain a new level, you get a free level. That's right, so long as you level at least once a week, you will gain a free level each week. Gives the low characters quite a boost, and allows people like me to test out 8 different characters at once. ;) Now if only I could find a place with good cash that I could SURVIVE in. :P Oh, and the Platinum Edition, which has the full game and all expansions, is $30 in stores, probably less on Amazon. :)
Got to get back to playing now, but I'll come back when I have more to say (like about my favorite class thus far - the Paladin).
Roland *The Gunslinger*