The game is terrible at progression, it is really that simple. Gearing up is an annoyance as you have to go well out of your way to do it. I have no issues grinding gear but in this case you actually have to do a bunch of bullshit steps to go about it. I also thing mob density is trash and the archer bots don't help matters.
I'm all for the best gear being hard to obtain but even base gear can be a chore. Also the artificial XP walls this game has in place infuriates me to no end.
I don't regard spending a few minutes at the auction house once per 50 levels as being "going well out of your way". It's a little harder if you want to get pretty good gear rather than just something passable, but nothing like the awful "run this dungeon 10 times until you get the drop you want" that is common in so many other games.
The mob density is only a problem if you want to stand in one spot and grind. If you move around like you're supposed to, there are plenty of mobs.
What are the "artificial XP walls" that you speak of?
I am definitely checking out this game for sure and will sub I hardly play any game without subbing if there is a choice.
I definitely recommend subbing if you're planning to play it for the long term.. that extra +1 instance in each tab(dungeons, missions, saalus etc) per day makes quite a difference overtime... along with other perks like zero learning time for attributes, and other hindrances like trade and auction limitations removed makes it all worth it
Whether the extra dungeon run per day matters is largely a question of whether you're in a rush to get to the endgame or whether you want to take your time and clear everything. If your goal is to level as quickly as possible while skipping as much of the game as you can, then yes, the extra dungeon run per day helps a lot. But in several months of playing, there have only been maybe 1 or 2 times that I did more than 2 dungeon runs in a day, and those were only because someone used an instance clear voucher the first time so I did another run to do a real dungeon run.
The game is terrible at progression, it is really that simple. Gearing up is an annoyance as you have to go well out of your way to do it. I have no issues grinding gear but in this case you actually have to do a bunch of bullshit steps to go about it. I also thing mob density is trash and the archer bots don't help matters.
I'm all for the best gear being hard to obtain but even base gear can be a chore. Also the artificial XP walls this game has in place infuriates me to no end.
I don't regard spending a few minutes at the auction house once per 50 levels as being "going well out of your way". It's a little harder if you want to get pretty good gear rather than just something passable, but nothing like the awful "run this dungeon 10 times until you get the drop you want" that is common in so many other games.
The mob density is only a problem if you want to stand in one spot and grind. If you move around like you're supposed to, there are plenty of mobs.
What are the "artificial XP walls" that you speak of?
The game was full of those walls. Say level 50 needs 200k xp, level 51 only need 5k xp. Mobs at level 39 were giving 250xp a kill, mobs at 50 are giving 150xp a kill. The game is/was littered with crap like this, I remember people showing breakpoints and when to use the xp cards to get over these terrible moments. So many guides were on it.
Ah, you mean the XP resets. Those happen at level 16, 46, 86, 136, 186, 236, and probably 286. They're weird, but there is plenty of content to not need to grind at all, at least up to the 136 one. I haven't gotten to the higher levels yet.
You can use the experience cards whenever you want. I think the intended use is that you use cards whenever you've cleared the area you were on but aren't high enough level for the next area, so you use enough cards to be high enough level for the next area. It fixes the problem of leveling past content before you do it, as is common in a lot of other MMORPGs. But there's no rule that you have to do it that way.
It's not complicated and doesn't require advance planning unless you're trying to skip as much of the game as you possibly can on the way to max level. And even then, you can just go back and do some areas you skipped to get the cards you need.
You can use the experience cards whenever you want. I think the intended use is that you use cards whenever you've cleared the area you were on but aren't high enough level for the next area, so you use enough cards to be high enough level for the next area. It fixes the problem of leveling past content before you do it, as is common in a lot of other MMORPGs. But there's no rule that you have to do it that way.
It's not complicated and doesn't require advance planning unless you're trying to skip as much of the game as you possibly can on the way to max level. And even then, you can just go back and do some areas you skipped to get the cards you need.
the xp cards are more like the quest rewards but you choose the time to use then, not only there is that xp barriers(the wiki also have the xp tables if you want to know more) are there but also the xp diference from mobs, so in some maps are better to farm and give more xp then others, its also works if you match the weakness of that mobs with your skill/weapon to get that extra 50% of damage but also you should be close to the mobs lvl no more or less then 5 that is the base to get the max xp of each mob you kill and use the xp cards when you are lower then that point and there is no more map on your lvl range, till lvl 150 or so you can go straight without a problem, after that you need to check the world map and see what map you should go now, that also is the way you do to hunt for more main quest line. plus some hidden map around who give a lot of cards and good mobs with almost no one around to get in the way, with I find the weak point of this game, you will wanting to do dungeon with people on matchmaking to get the max xp bonus possible, but in world map if you can kill fast and mob fast you will want to be alone
Needless to say in spite of reading still very confused about where to put points and what classes to pick but am going to just bite the bullet and go Plague Doctor.
Just to clarify I know you need to use a path to get to Plague Doctor it is just that I was getting fatigued with too much theory crafting and went with one of the PvE builds. I think it was this one
Don't think you have to have your entire builds laid out ahead of time. I've changed my mind on class choices a number of times before the character had to actually make a decision. If you're primarily thinking about endgame, then early class pure damage skills tend not to be very useful later, as they don't actually deal very much damage unless it's multiple hits from a single skill. Percentage buffs can remain useful forever.
Most cleric classes do mostly physical melee damage, so plan accordingly. Even if your skills are magic damage, you mostly deal damage with a club or perhaps 1-handed sword, and that's physical damage. So all intelligence with no strength or dexterity will gimp a lot of cleric builds, though there are exceptions.
Also, there isn't necessarily that much synergy between skills of different classes. There are some exceptions, such as that a sadhu who doesn't have fade or safety zone from the base cleric class is going to be really pathetic.
The primary point of the pardoner class is to use simony and spell shop to make money. It would be very strange to go pardoner without either of those skills.
Comments
The mob density is only a problem if you want to stand in one spot and grind. If you move around like you're supposed to, there are plenty of mobs.
What are the "artificial XP walls" that you speak of?
It's not complicated and doesn't require advance planning unless you're trying to skip as much of the game as you possibly can on the way to max level. And even then, you can just go back and do some areas you skipped to get the cards you need.
TL;DR: The game does not hold your hand and people are stupid. Especially in F2P MMOs where nobody cares.
Just to clarify I know you need to use a path to get to Plague Doctor it is just that I was getting fatigued with too much theory crafting and went with one of the PvE builds. I think it was this one
http://www.tosbase.com/tools/skill-simulator/build/iskkjcuz48/
or
http://www.tosbase.com/tools/skill-simulator/build/t817x5wil2/
http://www.tosbase.com/tools/skill-simulator/build/nq9fr23bax/
Think may be full intelligence or a little con.
Most cleric classes do mostly physical melee damage, so plan accordingly. Even if your skills are magic damage, you mostly deal damage with a club or perhaps 1-handed sword, and that's physical damage. So all intelligence with no strength or dexterity will gimp a lot of cleric builds, though there are exceptions.
Also, there isn't necessarily that much synergy between skills of different classes. There are some exceptions, such as that a sadhu who doesn't have fade or safety zone from the base cleric class is going to be really pathetic.
The primary point of the pardoner class is to use simony and spell shop to make money. It would be very strange to go pardoner without either of those skills.