Hey everyone, I'm new to the forums too so forgive me if this post is in the wrong section.
I just purchased this game a few days ago and I'm honestly still stuck in the decision making process. So many of the classes I'm intrigued by but it's hard, given my knowledge of the classes, which one I should go for.
I had a few questions if you guys don't mind: I really want to go for one of the more dual wield adept classes, which seem to be gladiator and bladedancer, but the elf race is the one I'm most fond of so my questions is - Do the swordsingers get any benefit from dual wield or is that not usually their weapon of choice? This class sounds really interesting to me so I wanted to learn as much about them as possible. Are they decent at pvp later on, or just merely for support? It's just such a hard decision as pretty much all of the melee professions sound exciting to me.
My last question is about the servers: I finally decided to go with Lionna but I notice there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of people around, atleast in the elf starting city. Do any of you have any experience on this server or maybe some knowledge of the population? I usually try to stear clear of the #1 server on the list hehe, so Lionna seemed like the perfect choice.
If any of you on Lionna happen to be in a clan that's recruiting I would be very grateful if you'd consider me. I plan on playing alot and I'd contribute in any way that I can.
Thanks in advance for any advice you guys can spare.
I like all the elf classes myself,have tried everyone minus the dagger, the swordsinger is called its name cause it needs a sword to sing its songs.They help alot in pvp , their role mostly being singing, but with arrest now they can help take out the healers.No matter what server you are on you will not see many ppl in the newbiw towns, it takes only about 4 to 6 hours to get to 20 with the newbie buffs. Once you get to places like gludio and dion you might see more ppl.
sws get shield masteries for a reason. since thier songs dont NEED duals, simple sword/shield is preferred by some. bow by others, 2h sword by others yet, and polearm last. thats the beauty of the sws. total flexibility for every situation. for pvp many sws carry bow. simply because in pvp a sws with a bow can be just as lethal as a SR unbuffed.
If you're really into a dual sword user--go blade dancer.
You will level to 20 pretty quickly--the class change quest to palus knight is very simple.
Don't use duals on that PK till lvl 40 though!!!!!! If you can afford it he should have a faster weapon or a harder hitting one.
Personally I like els/brig shield and brig gear (mithril heavy is okay too). Lots of varying opinions on that, though.
As BD's learn dances they are pretty popular to take along on exp parties. Remember long before you do much real pvp you have to do a LOT of pvE.
That means either killing mobs all by your lonesome or in efficient groups. You'll have a good chance of being welcome in those groups 40+ as a blade dancer.
The Orc race has a class that dual wields, the Orc Monk. This class doesn't use swords but fist weapons. The class doesn't shine until much later in levels compared to other races.
They use a set of animal totems which are self buffs to project themself into, they are a flexible class.
Also, a note about the Ork Monk: Fists, by default, are like blunts in that they have higher base accuracy than swords and dualswords, yet have half the crit rate. There are Totems (abiet much later in level) to increase your crit rate, but Orc Monks seem to rely mostly on attack speed and raw P Atk, where as Gladiators seem to favor Critical Chance and A P Atk as their main source of damage.
Bladedancers are sort of a mix, because of their buffs. They get a P Atk buff, an Attack Speed buff, and a Critical Power buff (all those are equal in power to the highest available 20 min buff associated with them, such as Might level 3 = Dance of Warrior (The P Atk one)however, they do stack with their counterparts).
In my opinion, Gladiators are the best solo class available that specializes in dual-wielding. Tyrants(Orc Monk) are a close second (and in my opinion are better at PvP than Gladiators, and can beat a Gladiator in a self buffed fight) but they tend to reach their capacity later in level than Gladiators do. Bladedancers are the least efficient and slowest to solo, yet the easiest to party level with. They progress even slower than Tyrants, and they lack armor masteries post-40 (though as far as I know they still have more P Def than Tyrants, as well as level 1 Ultimate Defense) but they are a godsend to any party, be it melee or caster oriented.
Thanks much for the responses. I guess the bladedancer does sound like the closest thing to what I want, but I'm still really liking the elf so far so I'm still undecided.
As for making an orc, I'm a real sucker for elven lore so I'm definitely going with either the elf or delf. I'll probably give an orc a try as well later on though.
Don't suppose any of you know of a good site for L2 pvp vids? I'd like to get an idea on some of the class playstyles.
Here's a tip. Get a character ( elf preferabely, for run speed ) and go all the way to rune.. then valley of saints. If you walk carefully... you can make it through without a problem. If you do.. keep scouting until you see people who think their too badass. You know the type... the ones who leave their drops on the ground... pking you if you come near. Once they realize your level they'll think you're baitng them... so they wont even go as far as flagging around you. In the mean time..
I made about 1m an hour camping these two guys spots. They ended up having to cycle through 4 buffers and 4 dds/ mages to help pick up drops from there on end. Still... I made out with free mats and some adena... plus I ****** them off. I don't really need this adena... but for a new player... it's a sweet way to start off. I would have taken more sses of drops... but it was redundant by then.
If they pk you... port back and continue picking up their drops. If a mob kills you... same thing. I kept logging next to their buffers and went a few rounds without dieing. Funny stuff~
well, it does sound like a quick way to get money but I wouldn't want to make a whole bunch of enemies on the server, especially considering I still don't have a guild.
Think I'm just going to do it the hard way :D
6 chars eh? Very nice, although I'm probably going to wish I could have more later on hehe. There's so many classes in this game I'd like to try at some point. Sword singer or bladedancer will definitely be my first though. Still kinda leaning towards the swordsinger.
Here's a thought I'm curious about: What if you just used dual wield against casters and weaker melee types and then switched to a sword/shield setup when going against the tougher classes (in the case of a swordsinger I mean?)
To start with money, try night time fishing or manoring.
For either, find out the basic mechanics of manor/fishing from guides, and then send one of your characters to Giran to get a feel for which fish scales are priced high on your server (usually black, purple, jade, yellow). Jade is easy to acquire at a low level by night time fishing (read all the info from the fisher NPC and a few guides and it should be a snap to get used to) after raising your fishing mastery to 5 or so. There is a free fishing rod available from questing.
Manoring is a bit more tricky to give advice on, but I can only say - if you figure it out it's worthwhile. If you need more help with it, drop me a board PM and I'll drop by your server and walk you through it.
well, it does sound like a quick way to get money but I wouldn't want to make a whole bunch of enemies on the server, especially considering I still don't have a guild.
Think I'm just going to do it the hard way :D
You can do this with a level 1 alt char. They won't ever know who you are, if you don't tell anyone ;)
It's funny, but I once went over to VoS to help with rezzing a clan-mate (my lvl 52 Destroyer was meat shield for the Bishop). Holy smokes, on that one particular day, I saw one part of VoS covered in adena as far as the eye could see. I'm not sure what happened, but every once in a while I kick myself for not going back there after the clannie was rescued and picking what could have been a few million.
well, it does sound like a quick way to get money but I wouldn't want to make a whole bunch of enemies on the server, especially considering I still don't have a guild.
Think I'm just going to do it the hard way :D
People who don't you know will cheat and grief you the moment it becomes profitable to them. This is Lineage ][. This is why there is pvp. You have just decided to screw yourself over for the next two months just because you didn't want to spend a day taking drops from a person who obviously doesn't care that much for them. All you have to do is create one character and keep it there... picking up drops daily... while transfering it to your main when you're finished~
If I ever decide to switch to an already populated server... this is what I'd do. If I had a choice to do this on Franz.
Meh... if you decide to go on lionna... give me a pm. I think I still got a mill or two left in items on alts. They will be mage items... so you will have to sell them. Sell them for my prices and you are guaranteed not to wait long. Either way.. hit me up if that's the server you decide to play on.
Just know that people will be scarce... because starter areas aren't places you stay for very long ( unless you are Splatter ).
If you want to meet people.. go to Giran. You will wish you where the only one there.
It's not that I don't want to take the time to go there and take the drops, it's just, since this is the first time I've played this game, I'd like to try and make my own money the first time around. I do the same on all games that I play. Don't get me wrong, I love recieving a little in-game help, but I don't really feel right making millions after a few hours of playing the game for the first time.
I appreciate the suggestions though :)
Also, if any of you that play on Lionna get bored enough ^^, feel free to drop me a line. I made 3 of the chars that I would actually consider playing so I could check out the starting areas and get a feel for the game (love it so far btw.) Their names are Aisen (elf), Sericen(delf), and Alacres(human.)
It's not that I don't want to take the time to go there and take the drops, it's just, since this is the first time I've played this game, I'd like to try and make my own money the first time around.
And their is nothing wrong with that.....But believe me when i say.
That adena is hard to come by and when you see some of it laying on the ground with no one around. You will be picking it up :)
This isn't just a case of ninja'ing other's drops (to OP).
There are many areas where players xp who don't have any intention of picking up their drops.
For instance (though it's impossible to navigate around without aggro dropping you) Alligator Island, Enchanted Valley, Outlaw Forest, Forgotten Plains--heck, even Orc Barracks and Abandoned Camp at times, etc.
It's not at all uncommon to arrive there solo and see 3-500,000 adena plus mats lying around....no one in sight.
In those cases you aren't even doing anything questionable. Heck, if someone is nearby pm them and ask if they are leaving their drops--fairly often they'll type back "take them" and sometimes even give you buffs! (at least on Lionna).
I made about 1.2 badly needed adena on Alligator Isle over 3 evenings and was the only person there! Outlaw area--same.
I just follow a couple self-imposed rules:
1) If someone is hunting or resting nearby I consider the adena theirs.
2) If no one is evidently around the stuff on the ground is fair game.
3) I'll trade getting pk'd for making a mistake against 500k in 15minutes every day on a low alt and laugh all the way back to the village.
4) When I make a mistake and come across a person who wasn't in sight initially, I ALWAYS pm them and offer to give them what I picked up.
That's not camping other people's drops imo.
The idea of taking a new toon to one of these types of areas is actually pretty legitimate imo. If you're truly new to L2 you probably aren't aware of the values of some of those material drops either--10 animal bones, 2 enria, 15 iron ore, 50 thread, some C or B grade fabrics or blades, coal, 3 stone of purity, spellbooks, recipes, etc...those can easily sell for ANOTHER couple hundred thousand or more!
I wish way back when I would have known people left 1 million adena worth of stuff on the ground!!!! I worked my tail off to earn that first million--lol.
Also, go ahead and read up and try manor. It's never gotten me the millions others claim, but it's always been a good low level addition since you're hunting/questing anyway!!!!
The best situation is when you get paid 3 times for killing one mob........once when it drops 150 adena or whatever, once when it gives you a quest item that earns more adena, and once when you seed it and it gives you some 'fruits' which are turned in for materials you can sell. If you're NOT getting paid more than once--find more productive mobs to kill. This game gets EXPENSIVE!
What has been proposed is called Kill Stealing. You don't have to do that. True enough, many high level grounds are littered with loot, but if there happens to be a person hunting and you pick up his drops, be prepared for the consequences. For a low level toon, that's not much, but why start off playing the game like an [censored]. Trust me, you'll have 80+ levels to perfect that player style, if you so choose.
Here's a novel idea: just ask. There are quite a few high levels who won't mind letting a lowbie have their drops. Asking first is certainly a much more respectful approach than just taking without permission.
That said, if you stumble upon a field of loot with not a soul in sight (make sure your game options are set to view players and NPC's at a "very wide" range), then finder's keepers applies. Have at it, man!
When I level my mage sub, I like to leave the loot lying there. I have plenty of money, and it simply is not worth the time it takes to pick it up. Sometimes I pickup when I'm getting set to call it a night, mostly depends on my mood.
Now.. if someone just comes and starts taking it.. that ****** me off, and I'll pk the guy just for being rude. If someone comes, and asks if they can have it, I always say yes.
During the last heart event, a guy came, he asked, I told him all I want is the hearts. That guy followed me around picking up for like an hour - he didn't touch a single heart, but I'm sure he had to have made close to a mil. And yup, I buffed him every 20 mins when I buffed myself.. he was a melee so he killed some mobs, but was killing so much slower than me, I hardly noticed or cared.
Was a cool day. All because he simply asked.
So yeah.. I recommend asking first, you might be surprised at the results!
No it isn't. Kill stealing is when someone pulls a mob, works it down to just about 50% HP, and someone else comes along and kills it, taking the lion's share of the XP and drop rights without placing themselves in danger.
This is just cleaning up the lag-inducing junk on the ground.
No it isn't. Kill stealing is when someone pulls a mob, works it down to just about 50% HP, and someone else comes along and kills it, taking the lion's share of the XP and drop rights without placing themselves in danger.
This is just cleaning up the lag-inducing junk on the ground.
Yeah, pickng up drops is definitely not kill stealing. Also, if they had wanted the drops, they should have picked them up during the alotted time where they are the only ones who can do so. And dont give me that it is slows down my lvling if I have to move. Well, too bad. the timer on loot is there to prevent others from picking it up. It you want it get it then or it is fair game.
Thanks alot for all the responses everyone. I would have replied sooner but I've been at work for most of the day.
After reading all the posts I'd have to agree with DrakkosIV's methods. If I did want to take a drop I'd ask first to make sure the person was ok with it. Otherwise, I think I'm just going to try and get my fishing up and maybe look into the manor system a bit.
Thanks alot for all the advice guys, really appreciate the help.