So as many of you know, in May I'll be resubbing once again =) Since being in China I've gotten quite the itch as usual from reading all of the new content. Therefore at the end of May, myself and 2 of my IRL buddies will be playing again. We are going to resub just for some fun and to try the new lower options such as the facility hub. Unfortunately, my knowledge from beta - 2009 isn't going to cut it I dont think. For the first time I seem COMPLETELY lost as to all of the new stuff and have no idea what it's going to be like. I was around when societies first came to be but they're apparently more important now and bigger. Level 8s and epics. Void magic. The new races. Olthoi play. Lum. Gearcrafting. Town network. All of it is so foreign to me now haha. Hell Tarin Mage wasn't even near done with his augmentations, though I heard of a 2 week timer now which is awesome and will help a lot.

So I'm gonna look to my old friends for some help. I know I should check the wiki a lot but it is on and off on the Chinese internet, especially at work when I have time to sit and look things up.

A few random questions:

Town network...I understand it and saw the picture with the portal names and all. I have read though that lots of portals are "destroyed". Are all of the old portals gone? Just nothing there? Or I heard someone say they're not working. So say I am at AB, and I head to the Bashi portal. Is it still there but just not working? Or not there at all? I'm going to miss all of the old routes and such...Silly they didn't just leave them.

Lum: I'm not even gonna ask because all I've read is negative things about it haha.

How long should it take us to get say 150? We'll be playing pretty regularly I'm guessing. I heard 1-50 in the hub is easy and quick. Also some new dungeon called Crystal Craig that wasn't around during my days.

Okay this is the real help I need..Those were just random curious questions.

The new races...A quick question: Does armor show up on them like every other race? Shadows..I know you can play one without legs. Whats it look like when you're wearing a full suit? Empyreans are bigger right? What do they look like with full armor on? Gear knights? Aren't they already armored? I tried to find pictures but once again, the internet...So if anyone could maybe post a pic of each, that'd be great. I even heard the undead's flaming head is pretty bad, but I can't picture it.

Now the real stuff...Template help

I've already got Tarin Mage, and even though I love mages, I'm gonna reroll a melee of some type just to be different. I'll either go 2 hander, or UA/void or some similar hybrid.

My buddy is going to make an archer since he's never played one. This means he'll need a mule also, but thats not biggie.

The 3rd is making a mage, and thats also easy...

The thing I am going to struggle with is the new races. It used to not matter, but in my eyes, reading the differences now, some races outpower the others by far! It appears if you're not making a dagger / mace/ UA / staff / or TW, then theres no other option than to pick Empyrean or Undead. I know some might want Assess Creature for the new lenses, right? But none of us 3 will be doing that I'm guessing...We're pretty old school and can stick to life magic vulns if needed. Both have arcane spec'd which arcane is always needed and seems to by far overpower the other races with its free credits. If that's the case then I guess we'll all be playing Empyrean or Undead. Is that a smart decision? If so, which augmentation is better, the undeads or the empyreans? The only other option I saw worthy was Gear knight or Viamontian due to having armor tink for free and loyalty spec'd which would be nice I guess for our little xp chain we'll be making? And if thats the case then Gear knight because of the free aug.

So help me understand the new races please and see bonuses to them because right now it seems every one of us should either be empyrean or undead for the free arcane lore, and probably all the same one of those two depending on which aug is better between them.

Also can you give me your tips on the hybrids? Im considering one for DT when we join up with Kal's clan over there and not sure which of the many posts to believe. Ua / Void? Sword / Void? Axe / void? Mace / void? Not sure...That template I will need help on because I've never done a hybrid before...

Thanks guys and can't wait to play with you all again!

For 1-50, if someone has a pack full of the quest items for the Hub quests, then it takes about two or three hours TOPS to hit 50 . . then, if you have a friend they can level you at crystaline craig (or other locataions) super quick, to about 100, in like a day I would guess. Then you can easily park yourself in innner fiuns or get some more help and hit 140 in a couple of days. Then, depending on spec (2hand melee rocks at this) you park the toon in the 140+ olthoi dungeon and just level up in the various parts until you hit 275.


Profit.


Luminescence is pretty much the "alternate" leveling system; If you want to advance your toon past skill caps and augment gems you need this currency to buy further "augments". Pretty much like augment gem, just require an alternate currency. Very powerful from what I hear compared to a toon that has none versus one that has several lum augments.


Almost all quests from 1 to 150 got massive experience increases, so if that is your preferred route of leveling it is quite viable.

 

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Thanks Nuke! Great advise. Unfortunately since there will be 3 of us, I doubt this will be possible. Maybe we can do it for ourselves if we reroll later on haha!

Very curious to what ppl say about the race questions I brought up...also still wondering what the hell the new races look like and how armor affects their looks.

Racial choices:

Mage:

Unless you intend on using a racial melee skill (void UA should be Sho or Shadow (the latter can swap racial to UA), Empyrean or Undead (the latter can swap racial to spec lore) is your choice.

Melee:

Whichever melee racial will determine your race:

UA - Sho/Shadow
Staff - Gharu'n
Mace - Gear Knight/Viamont
Dagger - Aluvian
Spear - Tumerok (not available yet)

If you're going sword, 2h, axe, bow, or xbow, Aluvian is the best option as they can swap their racial for Assess Creature which allows them free access to a wand with an innate imperil spell that has a spellcraft higher than what's normally possible for even most with life magic.

Tumeroks will be able to do the same once released.

Missile:

TW - Gharu'n (they swap to it) or Lugian (not released yet).

Again, Bow/Xbow should go Aluvian as the assess creature wand is amazing and, if you don't choose that, you get dagger as a synergistic back-up.

As for augs, they're inconsequential especially when you'll be able to get up to 8 per month and they won't be really felt until later in your character's life (though empyrean do get turn in that life foci immediately and cast life magic without it). All human races will have a new innate aug soon, but no details are forthcoming.

 

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Thanks Tao! Lots of great info.

Ok so sounds like my buddies mage should go for the spec'd arcane lore, but everyone else should go for the assess creature wand with Aluvian..
I knew about the wand but it didn't seem that great to me. I figured if you had life magic already, it wasn't exactly necessary. Even if the wand was cool, I wasn't sure it was worth the extra skill credits. I'll keep that in mind for sure though.
Cant wait to resub!

Keep the info coming guys. Would love some other opinions on everything.

The best part is it has a 20% melee mod and can be buffed allowing you to imp a lot of content safely then whip out the rend. The fact it has a spellcraft higher than a melee's life skill would ever be is a huge draw and allows you to keep life trained saving you credits.

Alternatively, you may want to use Alchemy Phials to land the imps, vulns, and fester (and even craft level 7 life buff gems) which could allow you to forgo life magic altogether if you'd rather. They reach the same spellcraft as the imperil lense and is an item you can throw from behind a shield. In this scenario I would say go Undead or Empyrean (as they can swap to alchemy).

 

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Thanks again Tao. The lens sounds useful but I just thought life would be okay. If it is that nice then maybe Aluvian / Tumerok will be a good choice for the melee chars. The mages will def be going Empyrean / Undead it sounds like, and I guess one aug isnt better than the other? You can end up getting them in the log run anyway right? Would it be wise to get the more expensive one xp wise in this case? And yeah, if I make a UA / void later on sho / shadow would be best for sure.

Maybe I'll choose by looks. If anyone wants to show me pics I'm still lost as to what they all look like! And so curious what legless shadow critters look like with celdon leggings on or something =P

I believe all of them are worth the same.

Yes, you can get all of them eventually.

 

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