10-20-2003, 02:54 PM
Here's a rundown for the current state of the game, for DAoC.
Since DAoC's release in October of 2001, there have been some sweeping changes. Spell lines, and Melee Style lines have been completely revamped.
Spell lines have been changed/altered to make different Specializations more viable and fun. Originally, there was a definitive Specialization for each class, now there are multiple ways to specialize a character (melee or spellcaster) and still be deadly in PvE and RvR)
DAoC introduced Realm Abilities (RA's), that players could purchase to help strengthen their character in RvR (Realm vs Realm) and PvP. When you kill an enemy player, you're awarded Realm Points. In the past you were awarded Realm Points, but they served no purpose. Now they do.
There are 10 Realm Levels, with each Realm Level having 10 Realm Ranks. For each Realm Rank you obtain, you are awarded 1 Realm Ability Point. When you reach level 20, you are automatically awarded Realm Rank 1, Level 1. This gives you 1 Realm Ability Point.
At Realm Level 1, Rank 2, you are awarded another point, and so on...
The highest level is Realm Rank 10, Level 10, for a total of 100 Realm Ability Points.
With these points, you can purchase additional abilities from your Class trainer, that will strengthen your character. Some abilities are Class-only, and can only be purchased by a particular class. Your class will only be able to view and purchase the realm abilities available to him/her.
Some abilites include a new Weapon Style, a new DD Spell, the ability to fire multiple arrows at once, the ability to make an enemy pet turn on it's master, the ability to see all stealthed players at clipping range for 1 minute, every 30 minutes and so on...
DAoC has also introduced Player and Guild Housing. This is a free expansion that was made available to players a few months ago. You can have merchants at your house to sell items for you, NPCs that sell crafting items, a forge, a lathe, a personal vault to hold more items, a bind stone, and NPCs that will teleport you to various places within the realm. There is also a Market Explorer, much like the Bazaar in SWG, where an NPC will display all items that are on Player Merchants, along with the location of the house where you can purchase the item.
Spellcrafting and Alchemy have also been introduced.
Spellcrafting is a Player Tradeskill that allows a player to imbue items onto Player-Crafted weapons and armor that will boost Statistics, Skills, and Resists.
Alchemy is also a Player Tradeskill, which allows a player to imbue "procs" and reactive "procs" to weapons and armor. Alchemists can also make poisons (that are more powerful than NPC bought poisons), weapon and armor dye, and can also imbue charges of Direct Damage spells and DoTs to weapons and armor.
99% of the game's best armor and weapons are Player-Crafted, Player-Spellcrafted and have Alchemy procs or charges. The other 1% come from the realm's dragon or epic dungeon.
Shrouded Isles was released last October, and has brought in 6 new zones for each realm, 3 new dungeons including an Epic Dungeon for each realm, 2 new classes and 1 new race for each realm.
With the most recent patch, yet another zone was added to Shrouded Isles, along with flying mounts for player travel.
New keep designs were also added, to make Keep Defenses and Keep Attacks more fun and different.
Mutli-group quests were added, and made so that any player completing the same step of the same quest in the general area got credit for an NPC kill that required multiple groups. This kept people from having to kill an NPC multiple times to get people from 3-4 groups to complete a quest.
The "Team Lead" program was launched. This program allows players to apply to become a team lead for a Specific Class in the game. Players chosen for this role interact directly with Mythic's Development and QA teams to help balance the classes between the 3 realms. There are also Team Leads for RvR for each realm, PvE for each realm, Quests for each realm, and Tradeskills.
Players are now granted experience for killing other players. Previously, only the PvP servers awarded experience for Player Killing. Now, all servers do.
Battlegrounds have been created for lower level players. These things are an absolute blast. There are 3 Battlegrounds:
Level 20-24 - Realm Level 1, Rank 3 (Cap)
Level 25-29 - Realm Level 1, Rank 6 (Cap)
Level 30-34 - Realm Level 1, Rank 9 (Cap)
Each Battleground consists of a Keep in the center of the map. Each realm will port into their "Portal Keep" and make their way to the center of the map. The Center Keep is surrounded by a moat w/ 3 bridges. Players fight for control of the Center Keep, and PvP/RvR can happen anywhere on the map.
You are restricted to each Battleground by Level and Realm Rank. (See Above)
The way Relic Keeps are guarded have changed. If a realm is dominant, and holds all 6 of the Relics, their Relic Keeps NPC guards will despawn, making it a little easier for "underdog" realms to lay siege to the Relic Keep and get their Relics back. Basically, the more Relics you have, the less NPC Defense you have at the Relic Keeps.
Regular keeps can now be claimed by Guilds. If you Guild chooses to claim a keep, NPC Guards will spawn with your Guild's cloaks and emblems, along with banners on the keep with your guilds colors and emblems.
Guilds can upgrade their keeps, which will increase the level of the NPCs that guard the keep. Upgrades are paid for in the form of Guild Bounty Points. When you kill a player, you are awarded Realm Points and Bounty Points. The Bounty Points you earn go to you as a player, and they also go toward the Guild Bounty Points. When your Guild has claimed a keep, and that keep comes under seige, messages will be displayed in Guild Chat that a Guard or Guards at your keep, and will also display the number of enemies in the area at the time the NPC was killed. This will give your Guild a heads up and let you know what kind of force you need to muster up in order to fight off the enemy.
DAoC's latest expansion - Trials of Atlantis - is set to release October 28, 2003. Including the Original DAoC release, and the Shrouded Isles expansion, there were 21 total zones for each realm. Trials of Atlantis is going to release 20 new zones for each realm. (yes 20!)
Trials of Atlantis will also introduce new "Master Levels". There are 10 Master Levels for each class. These Master Levels are obtained by completing quests in the new zone of Atlantis - A.K.A The 10 Trials of Atlantis. Each Master Level will grant an ability, spell, weapon style, etc... that will help round out the player's class.
With ToA (Trials of Atlantis) players will now be able to swim underwater. There will be underwater epic battles, dungeons and more. There is no air restriction to underwater travel. Most people like this because there is no hassle to come up for air or for a underwater breathe spell (Unlike EQ).
I've been in ToA Beta since the 1st phase, and can honestly say it's one of the most graphically breath-taking things I've ever seen. (Yes, I played SWG)
Also, any player that reaches level 50, in any realm on any server, will automatically be allowed to create a level 20 character in any realm on any server. There is no limit to the number of level 20 characters you can create. On some servers, where realms have been deemed "underdogs" players with existing level 50 characters can create new level 30 characters.
Additionally, Mythic will be releasing a free expansion called "Frontiers" in the next 4-6 months. This expansion will focus solely on PvP/RvR. They will go over the Frontier lands, revamp the landscape, change keep layouts, change terrain, add obsticles and settlements, and finish balancing what little is left between the classes in each realm. This is the first expansion for an MMORPG that is focused 100% on PvP. Did I mention it will be free?
All in all, DAoC is shaping up to be a great game that keeps getting better. I will be picking up Trials of Atlantis next week. DAoC has a Gold Edition box set, where you can pick up the original DAoC client, along with the Shrouded Isles expansion for 29.99 at EB.
If anyone is interested, lemme know. I currently play on the Igraine Server. I have some money and gear there, and should be able to give people a nice start at getting their character leveled up.
-Keetz
Since DAoC's release in October of 2001, there have been some sweeping changes. Spell lines, and Melee Style lines have been completely revamped.
Spell lines have been changed/altered to make different Specializations more viable and fun. Originally, there was a definitive Specialization for each class, now there are multiple ways to specialize a character (melee or spellcaster) and still be deadly in PvE and RvR)
DAoC introduced Realm Abilities (RA's), that players could purchase to help strengthen their character in RvR (Realm vs Realm) and PvP. When you kill an enemy player, you're awarded Realm Points. In the past you were awarded Realm Points, but they served no purpose. Now they do.
There are 10 Realm Levels, with each Realm Level having 10 Realm Ranks. For each Realm Rank you obtain, you are awarded 1 Realm Ability Point. When you reach level 20, you are automatically awarded Realm Rank 1, Level 1. This gives you 1 Realm Ability Point.
At Realm Level 1, Rank 2, you are awarded another point, and so on...
The highest level is Realm Rank 10, Level 10, for a total of 100 Realm Ability Points.
With these points, you can purchase additional abilities from your Class trainer, that will strengthen your character. Some abilities are Class-only, and can only be purchased by a particular class. Your class will only be able to view and purchase the realm abilities available to him/her.
Some abilites include a new Weapon Style, a new DD Spell, the ability to fire multiple arrows at once, the ability to make an enemy pet turn on it's master, the ability to see all stealthed players at clipping range for 1 minute, every 30 minutes and so on...
DAoC has also introduced Player and Guild Housing. This is a free expansion that was made available to players a few months ago. You can have merchants at your house to sell items for you, NPCs that sell crafting items, a forge, a lathe, a personal vault to hold more items, a bind stone, and NPCs that will teleport you to various places within the realm. There is also a Market Explorer, much like the Bazaar in SWG, where an NPC will display all items that are on Player Merchants, along with the location of the house where you can purchase the item.
Spellcrafting and Alchemy have also been introduced.
Spellcrafting is a Player Tradeskill that allows a player to imbue items onto Player-Crafted weapons and armor that will boost Statistics, Skills, and Resists.
Alchemy is also a Player Tradeskill, which allows a player to imbue "procs" and reactive "procs" to weapons and armor. Alchemists can also make poisons (that are more powerful than NPC bought poisons), weapon and armor dye, and can also imbue charges of Direct Damage spells and DoTs to weapons and armor.
99% of the game's best armor and weapons are Player-Crafted, Player-Spellcrafted and have Alchemy procs or charges. The other 1% come from the realm's dragon or epic dungeon.
Shrouded Isles was released last October, and has brought in 6 new zones for each realm, 3 new dungeons including an Epic Dungeon for each realm, 2 new classes and 1 new race for each realm.
With the most recent patch, yet another zone was added to Shrouded Isles, along with flying mounts for player travel.
New keep designs were also added, to make Keep Defenses and Keep Attacks more fun and different.
Mutli-group quests were added, and made so that any player completing the same step of the same quest in the general area got credit for an NPC kill that required multiple groups. This kept people from having to kill an NPC multiple times to get people from 3-4 groups to complete a quest.
The "Team Lead" program was launched. This program allows players to apply to become a team lead for a Specific Class in the game. Players chosen for this role interact directly with Mythic's Development and QA teams to help balance the classes between the 3 realms. There are also Team Leads for RvR for each realm, PvE for each realm, Quests for each realm, and Tradeskills.
Players are now granted experience for killing other players. Previously, only the PvP servers awarded experience for Player Killing. Now, all servers do.
Battlegrounds have been created for lower level players. These things are an absolute blast. There are 3 Battlegrounds:
Level 20-24 - Realm Level 1, Rank 3 (Cap)
Level 25-29 - Realm Level 1, Rank 6 (Cap)
Level 30-34 - Realm Level 1, Rank 9 (Cap)
Each Battleground consists of a Keep in the center of the map. Each realm will port into their "Portal Keep" and make their way to the center of the map. The Center Keep is surrounded by a moat w/ 3 bridges. Players fight for control of the Center Keep, and PvP/RvR can happen anywhere on the map.
You are restricted to each Battleground by Level and Realm Rank. (See Above)
The way Relic Keeps are guarded have changed. If a realm is dominant, and holds all 6 of the Relics, their Relic Keeps NPC guards will despawn, making it a little easier for "underdog" realms to lay siege to the Relic Keep and get their Relics back. Basically, the more Relics you have, the less NPC Defense you have at the Relic Keeps.
Regular keeps can now be claimed by Guilds. If you Guild chooses to claim a keep, NPC Guards will spawn with your Guild's cloaks and emblems, along with banners on the keep with your guilds colors and emblems.
Guilds can upgrade their keeps, which will increase the level of the NPCs that guard the keep. Upgrades are paid for in the form of Guild Bounty Points. When you kill a player, you are awarded Realm Points and Bounty Points. The Bounty Points you earn go to you as a player, and they also go toward the Guild Bounty Points. When your Guild has claimed a keep, and that keep comes under seige, messages will be displayed in Guild Chat that a Guard or Guards at your keep, and will also display the number of enemies in the area at the time the NPC was killed. This will give your Guild a heads up and let you know what kind of force you need to muster up in order to fight off the enemy.
DAoC's latest expansion - Trials of Atlantis - is set to release October 28, 2003. Including the Original DAoC release, and the Shrouded Isles expansion, there were 21 total zones for each realm. Trials of Atlantis is going to release 20 new zones for each realm. (yes 20!)
Trials of Atlantis will also introduce new "Master Levels". There are 10 Master Levels for each class. These Master Levels are obtained by completing quests in the new zone of Atlantis - A.K.A The 10 Trials of Atlantis. Each Master Level will grant an ability, spell, weapon style, etc... that will help round out the player's class.
With ToA (Trials of Atlantis) players will now be able to swim underwater. There will be underwater epic battles, dungeons and more. There is no air restriction to underwater travel. Most people like this because there is no hassle to come up for air or for a underwater breathe spell (Unlike EQ).
I've been in ToA Beta since the 1st phase, and can honestly say it's one of the most graphically breath-taking things I've ever seen. (Yes, I played SWG)
Also, any player that reaches level 50, in any realm on any server, will automatically be allowed to create a level 20 character in any realm on any server. There is no limit to the number of level 20 characters you can create. On some servers, where realms have been deemed "underdogs" players with existing level 50 characters can create new level 30 characters.
Additionally, Mythic will be releasing a free expansion called "Frontiers" in the next 4-6 months. This expansion will focus solely on PvP/RvR. They will go over the Frontier lands, revamp the landscape, change keep layouts, change terrain, add obsticles and settlements, and finish balancing what little is left between the classes in each realm. This is the first expansion for an MMORPG that is focused 100% on PvP. Did I mention it will be free?
All in all, DAoC is shaping up to be a great game that keeps getting better. I will be picking up Trials of Atlantis next week. DAoC has a Gold Edition box set, where you can pick up the original DAoC client, along with the Shrouded Isles expansion for 29.99 at EB.
If anyone is interested, lemme know. I currently play on the Igraine Server. I have some money and gear there, and should be able to give people a nice start at getting their character leveled up.
-Keetz
People thought I was dumb, but I proved them.
hock: Wow.
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