Explain "Levels" in AC

Talyn

I never played AC so I apologize if these questions sound strange.

I hear AC is primarily a skills-based game, while your level is merely an indication of total xp, is that roughly correct?

Is there a leveling up process where your character grows with each "ding" and then after a certain point, the growth stops? ie. is there a theoretical level cap where the number over your head keeps increasing but the only further growth is in your skills?

Also, do mobs also use this system? How do you tell which mobs are appropriate to gain xp or whatever you're after?

Rubycat

You are pretty much correct, your level is nothing more than a show of your total experience

-if you dont use the experience you gain till say level 10, your stats and skills will be at the same as when you were level 1-  -none of your stats or skills automatically increases when you level, as well you increase stats and skills by pumping experience points into them.

The only thing that caps at the max level is your ability  to acquire skill points toward new skills (training or specing) -you get skill points at certain level intervals which changes as you level higher and it takes more levels per skill point

Falconoffury

Level can give a general idea of one's experience, but where that experience goes can greatly vary the results.

One's level does not calculate against the level of others to determine anything. Individual skills are calculated against other skills or difficulties to determine success or failure. For example, your sword skill is calculated against the melee defense of your opponent if you are attacking him with your sword. Also, you may be trying to craft some oils with your alchemy skill. In that case, your alchemy skill is calculated against the difficulty of the recipe.

The beauty of this system is that it is multidimensional. The success of battles is determined by ability to cause damage, skill level, difficulty, positioning, ability to absorb damage, and other factors. Each one of these factors is independent of one another. In most games these factors are directly correlated to level. AC offers a level of control over one's development that I have not seen matched in any other MMORPG.

beavil

Mob's also gained levels....A Crystal Lord spawned outside Fort Teth and it took hundreds of people to finally kill it.  There were corpses everywhere.  During the mayhem he leveled from 600 to 601 I'm not sure the original level though.

 

Skills were capped at a certain point.  When you hit  210ish most of your skills were maxed out.  The top level was moved a few years ago from 126 all the way to 275ish.   I remember putting too many xp points into my jump skill and would always plaster myself into the wall above the ledge I was trying to jump to.  Although it was nice being able to jump to the roof of my villa

 

I'd go back in a second if there were enough people to make it feel like a mmorpg again.

 

Showing off your maxed character and all your uber weapons to a town crier just isn't the same.

Wrymstrum

The main benefit of gaining levels (aside from just the xp that you get in the process) is that at certain intervals you will get skill points which you can use to train new skills.  At first you'll get one point every time you level, but after a while it will become one point every five levels and then every ten levels, etc. 

 

The xp that you earn as you level up will need to be invested in the skills that you have to raise their level. 

Elapsed

Someone just take a picture of their skills panel and post it.

zantax

This may be a bit more info then you need but here is a link to a website that explains what your looking for...

http://www.gamespot.com/gamespot/guides/ac_gg/p1_01.html

Reading this thread was great, I remember the great crystal in the PVP dungeon on all servers.  It was part of some story arc quest and on every server except 1 the crystal was killed within a week or 2.  Except on one server where a PvP guild decided instead of killing it, defend it, and sacrafice yourselves to it.  The results were that these guys kept letting the crystal kill them and eventually it would level up becomming tougher and tougher.  They would also defend the crystal from all quest goers in an attempt to alter the outcome of the story on that server.  Unfortunatly after like 25 days of holding down the fort the servers had a problem and needed a reboot, which then reset the crystal and the guild could not log in quick enough to save it.  It was an amazing month...

To answer your question in my own words let me just say if AC didn't have a "Level" in it I believe it would be considered the best "Sandbox" style mmo out on the market today.  Read that link above if you still don't get it ask again I would be more then happy to give my own thoughts on the system and explain it to the best of my ability.

 

bcrankshaw

lol

 

Thats an amazing story about the crystal

You dont see things like that in MMO games nowadays

Jamkull

---

Originally posted by zantax
This may be a bit more info then you need but here is a link to a website that explains what your looking for...
http://www.gamespot.com/gamespot/guides/ac_gg/p1_01.html
Reading this thread was great, I remember the great crystal in the PVP dungeon on all servers.  It was part of some story arc quest and on every server except 1 the crystal was killed within a week or 2.  Except on one server where a PvP guild decided instead of killing it, defend it, and sacrafice yourselves to it.  The results were that these guys kept letting the crystal kill them and eventually it would level up becomming tougher and tougher.  They would also defend the crystal from all quest goers in an attempt to alter the outcome of the story on that server.  Unfortunatly after like 25 days of holding down the fort the servers had a problem and needed a reboot, which then reset the crystal and the guild could not log in quick enough to save it.  It was an amazing month...
To answer your question in my own words let me just say if AC didn't have a "Level" in it I believe it would be considered the best "Sandbox" style mmo out on the market today.  Read that link above if you still don't get it ask again I would be more then happy to give my own thoughts on the system and explain it to the best of my ability.
 

---

sorry for getting off topic... yeah it was on harvestgain or frostfell, not sure which... but there is a monument erected in memory of the attempt by the players of that server. and it is only on that server you will find it. not sure what town it is near, can't remember lol... it's been so long now.

but yeah, there was some other tidbits on the forums after the crystal finally fell. something to do with the server reset being done on purpose because the devs really didn't want to have to write a whole different storyline for one server. thus in honor of the event though the monument was done. and the devs did appologize for having to resort to such tactics. but it was pretty amazing...

there needs to be a game just like AC made but have the manpower to allow for multiple and different storylines on each server due to actual player involvement. sure, it would cost more to play but, it would be worth it imo.

--- now back to your regularly scheduled forum topic --- :P

Burtzum

Originally posted by Jamkull


 

there needs to be a game just like AC made but have the manpower to allow for multiple and different storylines on each server due to actual player involvement. sure, it would cost more to play but, it would be worth it imo.

--- now back to your regularly scheduled forum topic --- :P

 

I'd rather have one server with story branches written in a couple months in advance and the players' actions alters the course.  Just need a big enough world and a good way to keep too many players from being in the same place at the same time.  Easier said than done I guess.  EVE can manage ok with 30k players, but with a WOW-like player base you'd need a helluva huge world and a ton of spiffy servers heh.

xPaladin

Originally posted by Rubycat


You are pretty much correct, your level is nothing more than a show of your total experience
-if you dont use the experience you gain till say level 10, your stats and skills will be at the same as when you were level 1-  -none of your stats or skills automatically increases when you level, as well you increase stats and skills by pumping experience points into them.
The only thing that caps at the max level is your ability  to acquire skill points toward new skills (training or specing) -you get skill points at certain level intervals which changes as you level higher and it takes more levels per skill point

 

Hmm.. I could be wrong, but don't you also gain (or split) xp into the skills you used? If you were level 10 but used a spear the entire time you'd gain some skill points in spear and the defenses without actually spending any of your xp.

Ah yes, thinking about that little skill-up "ding" sound brings back happy memories.