thank you for taking the time to read my posting. i have been playing final fantasy xi for nearly six years now and have quite frankly got tired of it. as much it was fun over those years, many of the friends i made in the game have grown up, got married, have been forced to leave for reality.
i dropped the game in February and have since been focusing on my work and playing pick-up titles. i did for a while attempt to return to the mmo world when my friend invited me to try out eve-online, but my gaming heart just wasn't in it.
since then, i have been searching for my new "fix" as it were. final fantasy xi ultimately set my taste buds on the fantasy element rather than pure science fiction.
my most recent search for a new world started when i went shopping and saw age of conan on the shelf. i then went home and asked google about it. after a few hours cross-referencing reviews, press articles and community feedback, i soon learnt about aion through another title - suffice to say i became entranced by what i had found and further to my excitement learnt that it was not available yet in the western markets.
http://www.aionsource.com/forum/images/smilies/10.gif
after more reading, video and wallpaper downloading, and massive amounts of research. i decided to uncover my guild wars box and reactivate my plaync account.
ffxi has a very particular way of defining how its players operate and it has greatly affected my bias and play style toward the game making it hard for me to adapt to other fantasy mmo games. i found that games such as wow and guild wars didn't last long with me purely because i was so brainwashed into the ffxi way of doing things - the hard way.
still, i feel now is a time for a change - i don't want to kill off the gamer within me having quit one game so, i am willing to give it a shot.
so now, i have reinstalled guild wars and reactivated my plaync account, but guild wars compared nothing to that of aion. i have learnt that, even though they are entirely different titles, they are also very different mechanically. my point is, if i want to get used to the way aion is likely to play, it would be best if i play something with some heritage to the game. i have deduced that this game would be, at very least, lineage 2.
http://www.aionsource.com/forum/images/smilies/14.gif
right now, i am downloading the client and will eventually install it however, i would like the opportunity to try out the 14-day trial. i understand that because of great misuse of the trial accounts having a great negative impact on the games' rich community, they have now limited trial serial codes to "invitation only".
to end, not only would i be very open to making friends in this community and to eventually play along side some of you but also to try out a relatively new game.
i have now purchased a lineage2 game licence and am looking forward to creating a character. i know i still have much to learn but if anyone out there is willing to take someone under their wing on adventures and such, i would be very happy indeed.
again, thank you for reading my wall-of-text. i tried to break it up a little but i am always quite detailed about my introductions.
i apologise if this post has upset or annoyed anyone - it was not my intention.
Welcome to the game :) It's a really in-depth game, lots of layers. Hope u enjoy yourself.... Be sure to ask questions, and once you create your character and try it out for a few levels, look for a clan...
thank you for your kind welcomes, it nice to meet and greet a new community and one that plays nice too.
i have now installed the game and am dabbling at making a character though should i be looking at a particular server or not? i seem to have ready quite a bit of controversy about the luna server, though i won't pretend to know what all the hype is about.
can any of you give me any ideas which server would likely be a benefit to join?
i have decided to create a human female warrior type. i want to be a tank girl!! :D:D:D
its going to take a lot of work, i know and i am excited about the journey ahead of me. i have had some inspiration from other players on the almighty youtube.
it took me a while to decide which race and class i wanted to persue but i got it nailed before even getting into the creation.
again, my intention for playing this game is primarily a learn experience and to adjust my method of playing practice. for instance, whilst in FFXI, i never made use of the mouse - so it is going to be something i may have to accept and harness.
if anyone is curious, i am from london, england so i reside in the GMT timezone if that helps anyone but please don't think that i will only engage with those in my own zone. i have played along side many japanese and americans over the years and enjoyed it all the same.
right now, i am fiddling with the graphic filter settings in the game. it seems that "out of focus" thing is a bit twitchy but it is a great idea. also, i am having trouble understanding what the difference between glow a/b and hdr a/b/c is and what they do.
i am running this client on my notebook which is a dell xps 1530 (dual 2.10ghz intel core2 duo t8100 @ 3582mb with nvidia geforce 8600m gt 256mb) pretty snazzy if you ask me - i'm happy with it, so far.
anyway, it is now 5:35am and as much as i could keep praddling on here or spending hours tinkering with my character, i'll get a few hours kip.
Well Server that I recommend are Bartz, Aria, Sayha, and Pheonix to chose from
Let me introduce myself. I am KnightOfDarkness, I play on the Aria server and my main is a human fighter>knight>dark avenger>hellknight (A.K.A. Dark Offensive Tank)
To get started their are alot of classes and one or more to reach a person's individual interest
There are 6 classes to choose from: Human, Elf, Dark Elf, Orc, Dwarf, and more recent Kamael
People interested in going head to head in dealing as much damage as possible and taking on the world will want to go with a warrior type class
(gladiator, destroyer, tyrant, warlord)
Those interested in swiftly sweeping in to deal quick powerful blows and relying on running and evading will want a hit and run class such as
(treasure hunter, plainswalker, abysswalker, beserker, soulbreaker)
Those interested in dealing powerful damage from afar and being able to run and evade should go with
(hawkeye, silver ranger, phantom ranger, arbelestor)
Those who like to deal powerful damage to many and cripple their enemies with a little less on the defensive side will want to go with
(sorcerer, spellhowler, spellsinger, necromancer)
Those who like to command creatures to fight for them while giving them support should go with summoners
(warlock, elemental summoner, phantom summoners)
Those who like to assit others in enchancing their abilities and/or healing/reviving them should go with
(bishop, prophet, elven elder, shiellen elder)
Then there are the fighters who boost themselves and their party members for enchanced ability aka the bard classes/chanting classes
(bladedancer, swordsinger)/(warcryer, overlord)
The people who like to be able to take lots of hits and defend their friends
(paladin, darkavenger, temple knight, shillienknight)
Then there are people who like to make money(the hardest part of the game)
warsmith, bountyhunter
I suggest you pick a euro server (teon, franz or luna), unless you like playing late evenings and nights.
I am euro myself, but on Sayha, which is a US/NA server. We have a pretty large euro population here too, but the server load is still highest late at night, and things like sieges, manor, auction, events, etc are set to US prime times.
I would suggest Teon, as well. It has a pretty high population, and is Euro based... so for the activities, it is based on European times. Later on, as you level up, the times things happen become pretty important, like "prime time" discounts and event drops, sieges, etc.
There is a healthy European population on almost all the NA servers. ATM, Phoenix server seems to be the highest population of the NA servers. Bartz is the oldest, and has an okay population. Sayha and Aria and Devianne are lower populations.
I have been having a little play as a Human but went back to check out the Kamael. Being a new addition to the races, are there any advantages and disadvantages of playing Kamael as opposed to the other races or is it purely just a visual thing?
I understand they can transform later on in end-game. What benefit does this draw besides looking good?
I am now at the crossroads of character design again. I thought I had made my mind up but it seems I haven't.
Human or Kamael.
Are the Kamael, being dark by nature and pail skinned, are they regarded as the "evil" or "demonic" side of the divide?
I think I will have to do more reasearch into the class tree for Kamael. I am trying to look for a reliable wikia for L2 but have only found Stratics and they seem to lack any substantial Kamael data.
Kamael are pretty fun to play. Since they were introduced so late in the game, they aren't really appreciated by the other classes, so most have found a hard time getting a party with them. At high levels, they are really awesome though.
Ummm... the Kamael. They're a complicated thing to explain.
The Final Form is kind of powerful right now. They get a boost on all stats (patk, matk, pdef, CP / HP / MP - not sure about CP but I guess so), and some skills that can ONLY be used in Final Form. Also, all the other skills become unavailable to you.
They're divided by gender too. Meaning that until subclass level, there are separated classes for male and female Kamaels (with the exception of the Soul Breaker that is available for both). They also have different initial stats: the male Kamaels have more STR and less DEX, while the females have more DEX and less STR. I'm honest with you, I wouldn't play a female Kamael at all, unless I wanted the archer-type (Arbalester), that is available only for female Kamaels at first. A male Soul Breaker in my opinion is superior than a female Soul Breaker in so many ways...
Anyway... they're not regarded as the "Evil" or "demonic" side, no. They're a race that was built by the Giants to help in their revenge against the Gods and hence they were very powerful at the beginning (lore-wise, that is). Also the reason why they were sealed in their Island, the fear of their true power and all that. But that's lore. As for the in-game mechanics, they're very powerful Damage dealers, but can be a bit squishy.
There used to be a LOT more disadvantages for the Kamael that made them a tough, strategic class to play. Right now, they're just as any other class since they removed the soul restriction for the skills. When they were first released, every single Kamael skill needed a soul to be cast (you get souls from mobs as they die), so if a Kamael found him/herself without souls, they were good as nothing. Now there's no such restriction anymore.
There was also the healing penalty at first. They would be healed for half the amount as the other classes. Now they get healed for 90%.
If you're going to play a female Kamael, then you would have two choices. An Arbalester, which is the ranger type (archer), that has a lot of traps and very interesting skills such as Temptation (lure mobs without aggroing everything), Decoy (you create a clone of yourself to grab hate - emergency skill), Stun trap, Root Trap, etc... but they're archers. Meaning it might cost you in shots, and bows, and arrows. They're expensive.
The Soul Breaker is a fast-attack type, with a fast-attack speed and high crit rate. They use rapiers, and could be considered somewhat the "dagger-types" of Kamaels. They have very interesting DD skills (Checkmate does a LOT of damage, Shining Edge is awesome). They get nukes as well (they're somewhat a melee-nuker hybrid). Death Mark is one of the best debuffs in the game in my opinion). You have party buffs (Dark weapon, protection from darkness). You can steal other enemy's buffs (including other classes' self buffs). You can root and silence the enemy. You can fear them. You can cast a debuff called Curse of Life Flow (at lvl 60) that will steal the enemy's HP with the damage you make (and it's party wide, meaning that anyone in your party might be healed from that curse). Later on (lvl 66 I think), you have a skill called Curse of Divinity that deals damage according to the number of buffs the opponent has... I'm having a lot of fun with my Soul Breaker.
If you decide to play a male Kamael, then you have two options.
One is the Soul Breaker, that does pretty much what I've already explained. Except that the male Kamaels have a higher STR and lower DEX so they hit harder. They also get some of the common pre-40 skills that can be very useful in PvP and sometimes PvE (Mobile Ultimate Defense-type skill called Sword Shield, Strike back - that reflects damage that is inflicted upon you, just amplifying the value a bit). The rest of the skills are pretty much as the female Soul Breaker
Berserker... Two-handed sword fighter, very nice skills, hits very hard but slower than a Soul Breaker. They have a hate-like skill, they have a mobile UD (Meaning your pdef and mdef go to the roof but you can move around, slowly though. The tank's ultimate defense skill immobilize the tank). You have, after lvl 60, two VERY good DD skills called Crushing Pain and Contagion (requires previous bleeding though) that deal 3k-5k damage to the mobs. You have disarm, which is very useful on PvP because it removes the enemy's weapon for a certain period of time. You have the rush skills (stun, bleed, AoE damage). I guess I covered everything heh...
I love my Kamael boys. They're PvE beasts. But if you're looking for something that will "pwn" in PvP, bear in mind that the Kamaels can be very lethal against a lot of classes, but it all boils down to strategy and knowing exactly what skills to use.
Hope my LOOOOOOOONG post has been useful and welcome to the game!
Heh thanks Coth, I'm a Kamael Fan-girl (points to signature) so I kinda specialized myself in the Kamael Business when they first released.
I still think Kamaels can be quite nasty in PvP if the player knows what he/she is doing, because it's not like most of the "point and click to win" classes. But I'm not a PvPer so you know :D
That was a very informative read, thank you so much.
With that knowledge now I think I can form a stronger decision on what race I will take on. The thing is, I really wish to be a tank of sorts - perhaps this is either Pheonix Knight or Hell Knight.
Over the years in other games, I have always played as a back-lined mage or a front-lined melee attacker (e.g. assassin or ninja). Now I wish to explorer the arts of skillful tanking.
In ways, I guess I am preparing myself for the Templar class in Aion.
"The Templar is a brave soul who must hold the frontline, using their shield to block and parry attacks while waiting for a weakness to show itself before retaliating. A Templar becomes more powerful when struck; indeed they can only reveal their full potential when they are in the midst of combat.
The Templar isn’t just a heavy shield and pointed sword however. Unlike their Gladiator cousins, I have seen Templars using incantations and chants to protect and heal their allies, making them a versatile yet sturdy class." - Quoted from http://eu.aiononline.com/en/classes/article/warrior
I guess this would translate to either of these classes in L2 (correct me if I am wrong).
"Phoenix Knight: These hallowed Paladins worship the god of light to protect their lord and uphold justice. Phoenix Knights use healing spells invoked by the blessing of the god of light. They are guardian knights who fight to protect fellow knights rather than to kill the enemy."
Thank you, ValerieRose, for giving me more insight into the Kamael. As much as they appear attractive to play, it wouldn't necessarily suit me and my agenda.
Thank you Coth for the suggested website - I will study it; and thank you Armenua for the key-combo!
Hello there and welcome to L2.
I hope your stay will be a long, eventful and fun one. (at least until Aion ?)
Whatever race/class you make, be sure to find a clan at some point, a good clean (as legit as possible..) clan with people to have fun with ! I think this aspect is extremely important for a long fun play :P.
Elinas, if you want to choose a human tank, I suggest the Dark Avenger route. It's a less boring leveling tank (well, I'm not very much into tanks unless I have a good party), but the Dark Avenger gets the help of a Dark Panther that is an awesome DD.
The Paladin (Phoenix Knight for 3rd class) doesn't have much of that. They apparently get a Phoenix summon next update, but I'm not sure what level that will be.
And I am biased, I love my Kamaels, but if you really want to be a tank, then they're not for you. They're all DD classes at heart.
As for a server... I'd suggest one of the Euro ones, since you're in the UK. I play in Aria, and it's kind of a pain sometimes to match the US-based times (I'm in Italy).
My suggestion is not L2 because you'll have a hard time gettting all the things u need to compete in this game. But if you wait a lil longer you'll find a new hot game to play AION: Towers of Eternity.
That was a very informative read, thank you so much.
With that knowledge now I think I can form a stronger decision on what race I will take on. The thing is, I really wish to be a tank of sorts - perhaps this is either Pheonix Knight or Hell Knight.
Over the years in other games, I have always played as a back-lined mage or a front-lined melee attacker (e.g. assassin or ninja). Now I wish to explorer the arts of skillful tanking.
In ways, I guess I am preparing myself for the Templar class in Aion.
I guess this would translate to either of these classes in L2 (correct me if I am wrong).
Thank you, ValerieRose, for giving me more insight into the Kamael. As much as they appear attractive to play, it wouldn't necessarily suit me and my agenda.
Thank you Coth for the suggested website - I will study it; and thank you Armenua for the key-combo!
Now back to my character I suppose.
Elinas :)
Pheonix Knight is the Holy Human Tank
Hell Knight is the Dark Human Tank
Pheonix Knight-
More defensive
has a variety of healing spells
is very powerful agains't undead type creatures(in pvp vs necromancer summons)
more party oriented
vanguard stance with 2handed sword for more damage
Hell Knight-
More offensive
has a variety of debuffs and life draining skills
can summon a dark panther servitor to assit with high damage
more soloable, solo oriented
vanguard stance with dual swords and panther for more damage
A dual-sword or two-handed sword are required for all Vanguard stance-specific skills. Paladins and Temple Knights will utilize the dual-swords, while Dark Avengers and Shilen Knights will use the two-handed swords.
I see Paladins use duals and DA uses two-handed. Or is that a mistake on the official update notes ?
My suggestion is not L2 because you'll have a hard time gettting all the things u need to compete in this game. But if you wait a lil longer you'll find a new hot game to play AION: Towers of Eternity.
Please read the discussion. :)
I already know about Aion, which is why I am playing this - to become accustomed to this game mechanic.
I already know about Aion, which is why I am playing this - to become accustomed to this game mechanic.
I believe Aion will be closer to WoW in terms of game mechanic than to L2.
Or so I was led to believe.
In terms of graphics... well, clearly L2/GW style and such, that much is obvious :p.
So my first day has gone well I think. I am quite happy with my character so far and I think I am doing pretty well.
Basically by carrying out quests, farming and exploring on the "newbie" island, I have managed to acquire a Bronze Breastplate and Bronze Gaiters - my first heavy parts of armour that I exchanged in tiers from cloth attire. I am now working to upgrade/exchange my sword at the moment. I have a pretty good shield and some basic jewellery too.
Here are some photos of me at the end of my first day in the game.
You may not have known, but Aria is home of the Lineage 2 Role-Player's Association (http://www.l2rpa.org), so if you have any interest in role-play, swing on by and visit.
If you'd like to PM me your character name, I have a welcome basket for you.
I picked Aira because I liked the sound of the name. And yes, I enjoy role-playing. I don't know how to contact or add people in the game yet - as I do not know anyone to do so.