I have just found out that L2 has gone F2P. I didn't believe it at first when I saw this, but it turned out to be real! I have never played L2 on retail servers. I came close to doing so at one point, but stories of bot overload, grinding hell and annoying server politics made me change my mind. I have to admit that I have tried L2 on different private servers in the past (L2 vets reading this probably hate me now), and although it clearly isn't the same as on retail I had a lot of fun!
That was quite a while ago (last I played retail was on interlude I think). In the meantime, L2 has changed a lot and I'm wondering if it still has the same feel to it. I have been reading about this "awakening" and it kind of disappoints me. Basically, they have reduced the amount of classes at 85+ to six generic classes which are now the same for every race? And it doesn't matter which class you were before, if you are a Feoh Wizard you're the same as all Feoh Wizards? This sounds weird to me and makes me think the whole feel of L2 with all the different classes has now changed.
Anyway, the awakening process is at lvl 85+ and probably something I will never achieve. If I would start a character, I would still have to go through the whole class transfer path. I usually like to play caster-type classes but not all of the casters have always been as good and they have obviously changed over time. The sorcerer was a crappy class way back when. Is this still true? And what about the necro? Do SpS and SH still burn through their mana as quickly as they did before, with having downtime every few minutes?
And finally, are there any fundamental changes in L2 which made the game really different from what it was before?
Sorry for my wall of text, I can imagine not many people are going to reply. But I would appreciate it if you did!
Basically, they have reduced the amount of classes at 85+ to eight generic classes which are now the same for every race?
Fixed.
If you wanna level up a wizard, i recomend necromancer(this one great for solo with summon) or sph, best mp management and if you choose your locations wisely you won't run out of MP(mana herbs, 2-3shot mobs), you can also raise a kokaburra that will considerably recharge your mp once it hits lvl 55.
Also if it makes any diference, you can summon servitor + pet at same time, many servitors now don't take XP as they used to, but all pets still do.
Hiting 85 now is much quicker than you imagine, you go to 40 in few hours, you get free time limited gear till S grade, you get quests that give much more XP than previous quests, everyday. And xp requirements after 79 have droped like a rocket, the class quests are done in 30 minutes, very acessible. The party matching system helps a LOT to find parties for kamalokas and very known XP areas, you can be a party candidate on a party, and if you fit for that party you get invited, wherever you are.
To help even further, you can get a mentor, while mentor is online(mentor needs to be awakened), you get a 200% xp bonus and basic awakening buffs (equivalent to PP+SE+EE+profecy buffs).
The downside to the recent changes is that, servers are overcrowded, sometimes you cannot login, there are many KSers and you won't like the new PK system i supose..and BOTs still exist and adena site spammers.
Bots still here, although not as bad as they were a few years ago. The grind has changed so getting to 85 probably feels like what the private servers did, not sure, never played on one myself, but you can hit 40 and finish your second class change quest in a little over 2 hours once you know where you are going. The game has changed so everyone can quickly get to 85 before the "Official server" grind starts.
As far as server politics, yep if your in one of the big PVP clans, expect to see alot of politics. If you are in a quiet clan, you should be free from most of it.
As for the "Awakening", I to don't like the changes they made 1 little bit. But yeah you pretty much have it. Grind to 85 on any class you want, then Awaken and start a new game with new skills from one of 8 classes. All the races are pretty much the same except for base stats and some racial skills.
First of all, I would like to thank you both for your reply! :)
Fixed.
If you wanna level up a wizard, i recomend necromancer(this one great for solo with summon) or sph, best mp management and if you choose your locations wisely you won't run out of MP(mana herbs, 2-3shot mobs), you can also raise a kokaburra that will considerably recharge your mp once it hits lvl 55.
Also if it makes any diference, you can summon servitor + pet at same time, many servitors now don't take XP as they used to, but all pets still do.
Hiting 85 now is much quicker than you imagine, you go to 40 in few hours, you get free time limited gear till S grade, you get quests that give much more XP than previous quests, everyday. And xp requirements after 79 have droped like a rocket, the class quests are done in 30 minutes, very acessible. The party matching system helps a LOT to find parties for kamalokas and very known XP areas, you can be a party candidate on a party, and if you fit for that party you get invited, wherever you are.
To help even further, you can get a mentor, while mentor is online(mentor needs to be awakened), you get a 200% xp bonus and basic awakening buffs (equivalent to PP+SE+EE+profecy buffs).
The downside to the recent changes is that, servers are overcrowded, sometimes you cannot login, there are many KSers and you won't like the new PK system i supose..and BOTs still exist and adena site spammers.
Thank you for the fix, it was a typo. I did mean eight, don't know why I wrote six. :)
This is actually quite disappointing. It seems to me like they have made the whole game pre-awakening redundant and made it so you get to level 85 as quickly as possible so you can get your new class. Sounds really stupid to me.
Bots still here, although not as bad as they were a few years ago. The grind has changed so getting to 85 probably feels like what the private servers did, not sure, never played on one myself, but you can hit 40 and finish your second class change quest in a little over 2 hours once you know where you are going. The game has changed so everyone can quickly get to 85 before the "Official server" grind starts.
As far as server politics, yep if your in one of the big PVP clans, expect to see alot of politics. If you are in a quiet clan, you should be free from most of it.
As for the "Awakening", I to don't like the changes they made 1 little bit. But yeah you pretty much have it. Grind to 85 on any class you want, then Awaken and start a new game with new skills from one of 8 classes. All the races are pretty much the same except for base stats and some racial skills.
Again, this doesn't sound so great to me either. It's okay to make the grind less harsh, but this sounds like they have just made a part of the game redundant.
i have never played retail...on retail i had a lot of fun... last i played retail was interlude...
lolwut?
0¢
Read carefully. I have never played retail, but I have played on private servers and I had a lot of fun doing so. The last sentence obviously missed a comma and maybe a clarification. It should be: "When I last played [on a private server], retail was on interlude."
This is actually quite disappointing. It seems to me like they have made the whole game pre-awakening redundant and made it so you get to level 85 as quickly as possible so you can get your new class. Sounds really stupid to me.
Being the game old how it is, it's not surprising, 85 is the new start point and most new comers already playing l2 upside-down and it can be a downer when it would take so long to reach where the real fun begins. Since all that time you are investing on learning that class becomes close to obosolete once you awaken since a lot changes.
And didn't you say grinding hell was one of the things that drove you off? Well they made it easier..but i can garantee, grinding hell begins at 90 and with so few zones to eficiently level, you're gonna be stuck there awhile unless you play 24/7 or bot .