A newbie's overview

I started playing Lineage 2 three days ago and since the game caught my attention, I decided I would actually give away my newbie's(or noob's) perspectives about the game.

Character creation: I really liked the diversity of the classes to choose from. I ended up making a wizard aiming in becoming a Soul Taker. Nonetheless - it's not intolerance - the looks of the male characters disgusted me. Come on, not only there are few facial choices but they are also stereotypical ugly ********, the male elfs look extremely gay, the humans look like academy sods that only look at their own muscle at the mirror, the orcs are green - :confused: but I actually think they are the coolest - and the kamaels also look gay. Did I miss anything? I suppose the general idea can be understood. In the end, I picked up a considerably beautiful female human character to play with, and I'm male, as the rest of the 90%. If I'm not wrong, the game has a strong eastern influence, which I hate. It's still an awesome game.

Leveling up: For my surprise, I don't have to be a sadist in order to improve my character, it's "pretty easy" ( comparing to Ragnarok at the very least, but don't discart the possibility that I'm an impatient noob). Wonderful. By the way, am I the only one who feels extremely underpowered when PvE? People around me seem to be frenzied juggernauts that kill the monsters with one hit and never die. Madness.
Besides, I'm must be horrible at MMRPGs because I feel an incredible hardship when trying to get to level 48+. Tell me the secret, juggernauts! Such an easy time, right?

Gears: In the first place, what are gears? Truth be told, I'm still new to the game so I really don't know what are the good armours and robes and weapons and staffs and whatever else- it's never ending. What's more, I know I'm being too picky for a F2P, but I disliked what I've seem and been given until now. The robes and armours seem ugly for me :(

Quest: Only one quest got stuck in my head: the one for the second class transference. What the #$%%6 was that line to kill an irrelevant boss? And what about the people that kept cutting the #$#$% line? Even I ended up cutting the ##@@##$$ line. And still, who #$$% $##$ decided to do that @#@#$ line? #$#$%%. I waited one hour and a half in the ##%$% line, then I decided to ###@ skip it and, using macro, I killed the boss in five minutes, KS most likely, there was a bunch of more than fifty people going at it. SO TAKE THE ADVICE> DON'T FORM LINES NOR WAIT AT THEM: most of mankind is incapable of minimal politesse.

That's it, maybe later on I'll keep my irrelevant overview. The best of luck for you all - if anyone actually reads this extensive text. AND forgive my terrible English, I'm not a native speaker of it, and my nationality is extremely irrelevant, as any other, it's just another mean to express intolerance and violence.

ITT: OP missed the fact the game is designed by koreans, and complains about the "heavy asian influence".

EDIT: regarding your leveling issue, since you r account is new, you have a load of bonuses to take advantage of. Head over to the main game site and look for the "path to awakening" page. Log in with your game account and claim your rewards; you should have access at 48 to a top C grade gear set of armor, weapon and shots. At 45 and 50 you get B grade sets wich you can use at 52; at 55 and 60 you get a set of A grade gears to use at level 61+; and finally at 70 and 75 you get one S grade set of items that lasts 90 days.

Just do your quests, grind a bit; you can still level up nicely in Cruma tower or assult the Ivory Tower crater. Sea of Spores should still be within your level range.

D grade and lower is ugly looking; at level 48 you are still a "noob" by L2 standards. The old experience curve put mid level range over 50 and until level 70; when you see the B and A grade gears you'll be pleasantly surprised, but there is little customization, L2 is about ARMIES, not individuals.

And if you don't like the second class change quest; NOW it's only a "meaningless boss"; it used to be 3 to 5 separate quests that you started to take at level 35, chained; that took over a week to complete. Please, DONT COMPLAIN. Oh, and you could finish them before level 40, so you had to STILL level up to 40 before they took effect, now they give you a boost of exp to level from 36 to at least 40 so you get it for free.

You feel extremely underpowered because you are not using top grade gear that is available from the Path to Awakening; wich is usually top armor and jewels; and a +4 weapon. Learn to use soulshots, else it's unbearably hard to kill mobs your level.

Also, don't hunt yellow named or light pink, avoid red named monsters at all costs; they take too long to kill; stick to whites and greens unless you can one shot those.

IF you ask nicely, we can give you friendly advice; whining gets you flames.

I gotta say i do agree some chars look hideous. That's why i pick a kamael FEMALE, looks good in everything and is good to look at.

At d-c grade you won't find that much shiny apealing looking armors, they were made years ago and usualy the lowbie ones are simplified on their looks on old games like this one. The VERY(almost pointless)detailed, shiny/glowing armors are mostly from 80+ lvl.

As a starter it's normal to feel weaker than most. Most you meet along the road already played this game upside down and know mobs weaknesses, the best gear, how to upgrade it etc.

Lvling up till that lvl is easy and pretty much to 80..but it will start to hurt at 85 if you're not constant..and it's more 15 levels to go to 99..and the XP requirement starts to become absurd :p and few zones to eficiently level.

And yea, the game was made by koreans.

ITT: OP missed the fact the game is designed by koreans, and complains about the "heavy asian influence".

Since I'm still around here, I'd point out that I know it. It doesn't take a genious to realize the game was made in Asia ( God forgive me if Korea is not in Asia ). It seems that most of the MMORPGs F2P come from a not-so-western culture, if you know what I mean. Personal taste can't be discussed, though. And I take my references from European medieval armours such as Effort from Dragon Age. Yeah, a full retail game with ( I suppose) much more investment. But let's face the principle of Reductio ad absurdum, nihilistic perspectives. It's all irrelevant. But, dude, don't the male characters look ugly...

As for the tips, thank you very much good sir. The developers certainly made our life much easier rsrsrs. I don't don't appreciate very much staying at the same level for more than 2 hours when I do try to level up. But O the dynamics!

What's more, whining and flaming are equally bad, I merely supposed pointing out perspectives wouldn't hurt the feelings of anyone. I dislike lamb acting such as:

"O man, Lineage 2 is perfect. DA BEST. What, it isn't? GT@F ##@#$ @#$$56 *starts roaring* :D"

I gotta say i do agree some chars look hideous. That's why i pick a kamael FEMALE, looks good in everything and is good to look at.

At d-c grade you won't find that much shiny apealing looking armors, they were made years ago and usualy the lowbie ones are simplified on their looks on old games like this one. The VERY(almost pointless)detailed, shiny/glowing armors are mostly from 80+ lvl.

As a starter it's normal to feel weaker than most. Most you meet along the road already played this game upside down and know mobs weaknesses, the best gear, how to upgrade it etc.

Lvling up till that lvl is easy and pretty much to 80..but it will start to hurt at 85 if you're not constant..and it's more 15 levels to go to 99..and the XP requirement starts to become absurd :p and few zones to eficiently level.

And yea, the game was made by koreans.

Very true. And per say, I got traumatize by Ragnarok's monstrous hardship to level up. I would kill fifty monsters to gain 1% and then die, losing 5%:( . There was a system called ROPS in it, that would give away ALL THE BEST WEAPONS if you were willing to spend more than fifty hundred dollars at it. I wasn't. I got to level 81 and gave up. If the developers did make Lineage 2 "easier" - which reads: not frustrating- they will keep me playing it and eventually I might even buy some itens they sell ( such as those to win EP). My cousin is has been playing this game for quite some years now, so I gave it a try, worth the time indeed. And Kamael females are gorgeus, amazing design.

Enjoyed the read, thank you :)

didn't read the comments, but if you dont have mentor be sure to get one and follow path to awakening on you account website and claim rewards and be sure to have your soul-shots activated!

Since I'm still around here, I'd point out that I know it. It doesn't take a genious to realize the game was made in Asia ( God forgive me if Korea is not in Asia ). It seems that most of the MMORPGs F2P come from a not-so-western culture, if you know what I mean. Personal taste can't be discussed, though. And I take my references from European medieval armours such as Effort from Dragon Age. Yeah, a full retail game with ( I suppose) much more investment. But let's face the principle of Reductio ad absurdum, nihilistic perspectives. It's all irrelevant. But, dude, don't the male characters look ugly...

As for the tips, thank you very much good sir. The developers certainly made our life much easier rsrsrs. I don't don't appreciate very much staying at the same level for more than 2 hours when I do try to level up. But O the dynamics!

What's more, whining and flaming are equally bad, I merely supposed pointing out perspectives wouldn't hurt the feelings of anyone. I dislike lamb acting such as:

"O man, Lineage 2 is perfect. DA BEST. What, it isn't? GT@F ##@#$ @#$$56 *starts roaring* :D"

Oh, I meant that, for some years now, Asian guys have preferred their girly looking men as somehow, in their perception, it's more manly. Go figure.

L2 was designed at the peak of some very popular boy bands in asia; facial hair is not popular over there anyways. The characters are all young males and females of their respective races, except Dwarves, wich by their own account in the lore are adults but still "young" and inexpert.

And respect to F2P; nah, there are several western made MMOs; one of the latest F2P is allods, a Russian made game (wich could still be "asian" by the esctrict definition of Asian countries) and has more in common with WoW than L2, at least regarding character design.
And it's a very interesting game to see, since the human males conform to a Russian aesthetic.

the looks of the male characters disgusted me. Come on, not only there are few facial choices but they are also stereotypical ugly ********, the male elfs look extremely gay, the humans look like academy sods that only look at their own muscle at the mirror, the orcs are green - but I actually think they are the coolest - and the kamaels also look gay

That's because this is an asian game, and its a different culture over there.

In that culture, "Bishonen (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Bishonen)"men are considered VERY attractive and hot (Like Raiden on Metal Gear Solid 2) but on more european and american cultures they are considered way too girly and effeminate, this culture is more used to the beefed up Rambo type of action heroes.

Having said that, I do agree that they exaggerated it quite a lot :P Male elves (particularly with their last hairstyle and the pink hair color) are THIS close (holding index and thumb an inch apart) from being flat-chested women.

Male Kamael are also quite close to being transvestites (Wearing lipstick, high heels, putting their hands on the waist when standing still, and some of their emotes.......)

and what exactly is wrong with green orcs? tons of fantasy settings have green orcs and they tend to be quite cooler than orcs from other settings (A few settings with green orcs: Warcraft, Elder Scrolls, Dungeons & Dragons, Warhammer, ect)

Wonderful. By the way, am I the only one who feels extremely underpowered when PvE?

I'm gonna take a wild guess and say you weren't using the free gear given with the Path to Awakening, nor the newbie buffs, nor SS correct?

When in combat Soulshots (and for casters Spiritshots) are not optional. This game is nigh-unplayable without them. Trying to kill a monster without SS is like trying to kill someone with a gun, by bashing them in the face with it, rather than use the bullets.

Gears: In the first place, what are gears? Truth be told, I'm still new to the game so I really don't know what are the good armours and robes and weapons and staffs and whatever else- it's never ending. What's more, I know I'm being too picky for a F2P, but I disliked what I've seem and been given until now. The robes and armours seem ugly for me

Consider yourself lucky. Up to very recently, stores only sold the most basic of the basic gear. The rest had to be crafted by farming materials for MONTHS in order to get them.

However, now all the gear you will need from level 1 to 76 will be given free to you, via the Path to Awakening website, which you SHOULD use. After 76, to get gear prepare to sink several months because gearing up in this game is NOT easy.

Quest: Only one quest got stuck in my head: the one for the second class transference. What the #$%%6 was that line to kill an irrelevant boss? And what about the people that kept cutting the #$#$% line? Even I ended up cutting the ##@@##$$ line. And still, who #$$% $##$ decided to do that @#@#$ line? #$#$%%. I waited one hour and a half in the ##%$% line, then I decided to ###@ skip it and, using macro, I killed the boss in five minutes, KS most likely, there was a bunch of more than fifty people going at it. SO TAKE THE ADVICE> DON'T FORM LINES NOR WAIT AT THEM: most of mankind is incapable of minimal politesse.

OMG X_x so much swearing....... is that kind of language really necesary? you can still express your point without needing to be censored 8 times in a single paragraph.

As for the class change quests, again consider yourself lucky, they used to be a lot harder, and required from 1 week to a month to complete. Since they are more or less redundant these days, they've simplified them, but since there's a HUGE influx of new players, its natural that there will be competition for the quest-mobs.

I don't don't appreciate very much staying at the same level for more than 2 hours when I do try to level up.

=/ you will not like the last 15 levels then. Because while its fast to level at first, its pretty normal to spend up to 15 hours to get from 97 to 98. Of course, by that point you will depend on parties to level up, so time tends to fly faster.

Very true. And per say, I got traumatize by Ragnarok's monstrous hardship to level up. I would kill fifty monsters to gain 1% and then die, losing 5%

Lineage II used to be like that too, it was the reason I left in the first place. Hell, die enough times and you could de-level your character, which was NOT fun at all.

Lineage II used to be like that too, it was the reason I left in the first place. Hell, die enough times and you could de-level your character, which was NOT fun at all.

That old PK system was a blast!!!!!!

I started playing Lineage 2 three days ago and since the game caught my attention, I decided I would actually give away my newbie's(or noob's) perspectives about the game.

Character creation: I really liked the diversity of the classes to choose from. I ended up making a wizard aiming in becoming a Soul Taker. Nonetheless - it's not intolerance - the looks of the male characters disgusted me. Come on, not only there are few facial choices but they are also stereotypical ugly ********, the male elfs look extremely gay, the humans look like academy sods that only look at their own muscle at the mirror, the orcs are green - :confused: but I actually think they are the coolest - and the kamaels also look gay. Did I miss anything? I suppose the general idea can be understood. In the end, I picked up a considerably beautiful female human character to play with, and I'm male, as the rest of the 90%. If I'm not wrong, the game has a strong eastern influence, which I hate. It's still an awesome game.

Well, depends on your taste. Being quite a newb myself (with only some year-old xp from those much hated private servers) I can only compare the game's aesthetics to what I am used to from other stuff I've played, and I personally consider it far superior to most other MMOs, particularly with regard to the fact that the game is actually already 7 years old.

I would like to have some more options, though. Not anything like in Aion (which is too much in my opinion), but a couple more face/hairstyles, maybe size (like in Guild Wars). Male models may not appeal to everybody. If you want to play something absolutely undoubtedly masculine in L2 go for dorf or orc. Actually I like the male models more than those ridiculous hulks on steroids that appear to have an IQ lower than their shoe size that you get in many other MMOs.

Leveling up: For my surprise, I don't have to be a sadist in order to improve my character, it's "pretty easy" ( comparing to Ragnarok at the very least, but don't discart the possibility that I'm an impatient noob). Wonderful. By the way, am I the only one who feels extremely underpowered when PvE? People around me seem to be frenzied juggernauts that kill the monsters with one hit and never die. Madness.
Besides, I'm must be horrible at MMRPGs because I feel an incredible hardship when trying to get to level 48+. Tell me the secret, juggernauts! Such an easy time, right?

From what I've seen so far I guess one can count levels 1-43/45 as one big tutorial. The real game expierience starts later. And I hope it gets much harder, as it used to be, because the reason I left my previous MMO was basically that it became too shallow and overtly casual to be fun.

Gears: In the first place, what are gears? Truth be told, I'm still new to the game so I really don't know what are the good armours and robes and weapons and staffs and whatever else- it's never ending. What's more, I know I'm being too picky for a F2P, but I disliked what I've seem and been given until now. The robes and armours seem ugly for me :(

You won't get awesome gears at low levels in any MMO I've played. Most of those games are (among other things) about getting high level and getting stuff that makes you look awesome and do awesome things. At level 10/20 you are supposed to look like a rag doll.

And still, even the low level sets in Lineage II look far superior to a lot of high-end stuff you see in other games (particularly including the bad big W game). You get some of the best gear ingame (for your level range) just from completing your class-transfer q and you can also use the packs from the path of awakening web site, which gives you yet another option for complete gear up to A-grade, so you can even chose between two sets if you do not like the looks of one. Even the big bad W game, notorious for making things incredible easy, is not giving away high end stuff that easily (and those things used to be high end at their particular level and you had to farm like crazy for them before, as far as I know).

Quest: Only one quest got stuck in my head: the one for the second class transference. What the #$%%6 was that line to kill an irrelevant boss? And what about the people that kept cutting the #$#$% line? Even I ended up cutting the ##@@##$$ line. And still, who #$$% $##$ decided to do that @#@#$ line? #$#$%%. I waited one hour and a half in the ##%$% line, then I decided to ###@ skip it and, using macro, I killed the boss in five minutes, KS most likely, there was a bunch of more than fifty people going at it. SO TAKE THE ADVICE> DON'T FORM LINES NOR WAIT AT THEM: most of mankind is incapable of minimal politesse.

Did the q on Naia 2 times. First time the GM let several hundreds of mobs spawn after we waited for quite a while. Everybody was behaving well. Second time I stood in line for maybe half an hour. Everybody was behaving well again, except for 1 player, who was righteously PKed :D

Did my quest, no problem. I fully agree with you, though, that this part is annoying and maybe should have been instanced. The developers instanced the 1st class transfer quest, even with ingame movie & stuff. Awesome. They should have done the same for the 2nd class transfer, because if you open up new servers and make leveling so easy that even the greatest possible MMO-dork can reach second class transfer in 4 hours playtime, you should have expected that to happen. So NCSoft would better have these qs instanced. Nevertheless even if you're righteously angry that's not a reason to rant in such abusive language about it, I guess (although I find it amusing ;)

That's it, maybe later on I'll keep my irrelevant overview. The best of luck for you all - if anyone actually reads this extensive text. AND forgive my terrible English, I'm not a native speaker of it, and my nationality is extremely irrelevant, as any other, it's just another mean to express intolerance and violence.

As a last word: your English is actually quite good, nothing to forgive here, I suppose.

Reviving the dead, it would seem. Still, @Sawaruna, I indeed agree in many points such as the aesthetics: considering how old Lineage 2 is, it's graphically amazing. Too bad I've been playing too much Neverwinter Nights 2 :) Once you really do get into a game, you tend to make considerations based in it. And if you've never played it, I truly recommend, single player can be very refreshing from times to times. I'm looking forward to the gear options I will have later on. As a last consideration, I pray for those that did and will do the class transference class, misery now has a name: line...

@derah, I'm actually thinking I haven't used the Spiritshots - but I'm yet to confirm - I would suppose it's not received at Talking Island. Thank you for the help.
As for the swears (@#$), they were my not-so-good sense of humour:rolleyes: ... mixed with some hatred towards the transference quest. There wasn't any censorship, just me randomly typing the upper signals of the keyboard. It adds to the comical feel! Besides, I know a comedian that almost got arrested for his jokes, I also blame him for this taste.

I'll most certainly keep playing Lineage 2, especially because it seems to have a differential, maybe the quests or the PVP system. It's very well done and free. "Free" deserves a repetition. Free.

The big series of quests/tutorial from lvl 1 to 40 do include teaching you about soulshots/spiritshots. Seems like you didn't read the quest windows so closely.
Regardless l2 has now become easier than what it used to be, that's why you find it wonderful so far, but in bigger levels you'll probably find it hard. I'd advise you to group with people, it's one of the few things that make time fly easier. Joining a clan can help a lot as well.
Good luck anyways.