Profile: Ellyrion
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• • L2 news, "Gracia expansion will ease the leveling progress extremely" o.o

  • I think ppl have missed the main point of NCSoft's strategy.

    L2 is NOT about the grind. The grind is NOT there if you know how to avoid it and admittedly its not easily achieveable for casual players.

    The fundamental consideration for ease of levelling is in infusing life into PvP.

    One of the underpinning principles of L2 is the PvP struggle for PvE content in order to make money and spin up the economy in favour of those owning the PvE realestate.

    In order to  PvP effectively you need levels ! First and foremost no argument. So by allowing easier progression NCSoft will indeed provide you with an opportunity to PvP.

    But consider this, high level areas constitute about 20-25% of the game and the end game areas maybe 5% of the overall world. Once you begin to increase the population density in the end game areas you will have to COMPETE for XP. This is a real competition, unlike any other MMO. There are no GMs there is no restriction on any tactics employable. Might is right and the loser gets to sit out.

    This is the real reason for making it easier to level.

    On a slight tangent, consider this as well;

    As you near the end game levels are not everything, you also need equipment and you also need skills.

    Equipment comes in 2 stages, firstly you must aspire to get the best equipment for your grade and secondly you must enchant it , imbue it with special abilities and various stones. This is not a quick process and certainly expensive!  After 4 years of L2 barely 10% if that of the population would have a piece of epic boss jewellery.

    Skills, I am not talking about knowledge in playing the game or any such stuff. Its not rocket surgery and everyone picks up the tactics quickly enough. What I am talking about here is skill overenchanting and clan skills. Overenchanting personal skills takes massive amounts of time and money, which you can only indulge in after you have levelled your main past lv 76.  Clan skills also require a significant group effort and millions of SP and CRP to improve. Again no easy feat and the reagents for clan skills must come from raid bosses which with an increasing density of population will become hotly contested.

    In conclusion,

    I do not believe L2 is becoming easier, however, it is certainly becoming more competitive, and that is a good thing ;)

    Regards,

    Ellyrion Fiallathandriel

    The Reckless Knight

    Lunatris

     

  • Posted: 7/17/08 3:49 AM
    Lineage II
• • Class Choice 2

  • Originally posted by thamighty213
    

    Hi guys planning on playing a duelist and ranger but want a 3rd toon.

     

    Are pikes in L2 and is their a class that specialises in them ?

    Oh my lord there certainly is !!!

    The Warlord IS the polearm (weapon category) specialist in the game. They possess a wide range of AoE melee skills which open up a whole new playstyle to those that are keen to exploit it.

    Orc Destroyers can also do this because of their racial skills, although the effects of Frenzy have been watered down a bit as a result of the Vampiric Rage nerf (a buff which allows you to drain health from your targets at a %rate of your damage).

    Spears, Pikes, Glaives, Poleaxes all fall into the polearm category and allow you to HIT a number of mobs in a roughly 180 degree frontal arc. The range and width of arc which ultimately decide on how many mobs you can hit are a function of your mastery level. The Warlord is the L2 polearm specialist and therefore has the greatest breadth of attack. They also have monster weakness skills so that at high level you will gain significant bonuses to damage based on the creature weakness type employed. Towards the end game you will get a range of high damage AoE attacks which make for extremely efficient, somewhat hazardous and challenging, but definitely rewarding XPing/levelling.

    You will need a group for this and a separate / buffer healer as a minimum. This is not a solo class.

    However, in groups they come into their own working especially well with tanks for AoE melee groups which they dominate.

    AoE melee groups are the most efficient way to level melee characters bar none. At higher levels they also constitute significant savings for progression and most importantly massively reduce the preceived grind of the end game. By way of example last chronicle we had  a few level 74 guys trying to get to their sub and we AoE'd in Forge of the Gods giving them about 1% per pull, which is insane XP at that level.

    If you're into group play then Warlords or Destroyers are definitely worth checking out.

    Regards,

    Ellyrion Fiallathandriel

    The Reckless Knight

    Lunatris

  • Posted: 7/17/08 3:25 AM
    Lineage II
• • Class Choice?

  • Kikinchaz,

    As it stands atm the DE's have an advantage over LE's because the benefits derived per point of strength far outweigh those of dex.

    Invariably the point difference between LE's and DE's dex ammounts to nothing. The 6 points of str however set them worlds apart.

    The difference in con is likewise not overwhelming and whilst you will be easily stunned, the end game equipment bonuses tend to cancel out those issues to a large degree. Various tatoos and gear options become available as you near the end game and I know many a DE player that enjoys their toons despite these perceived weaknesses.

    So racially speaking DE > LE because the game is not balanced between offense and defense. Offense prevails at all levels of the game.

    WRT all initial characters, DO NOT concern yourself with PvP or the end game on your fist class.

    Firstly you will have a choice of classes at 75 when you subclass. Sure there are some limitations but by and large they're not insurmountable.

    Secondly equipment and skill overenchants make the end game, and those are best tackled at 78+ for the better success chances.

    So my advice to you as a starting player is go for what motivates you and inspires you visually. Remember that you can subclass at 75, the first class choice is not really that important, its a matter of what you enjoy playing. Once you get to 75+ you will develop flexibility as to what suits your clan/group etc...

    In the meantime, enjoy your time in L2

    Regards,

    Ellyrion Fiallathandriel

    The Reckless Knight

    Lunatris

  • Posted: 7/17/08 3:10 AM
    Lineage II
• • Me and a few friends from work want to try this game...

  • Originally posted by xephonics
    

    Originally posted by Ellyrion
    

    LOL Xeph sounds like you need a group ;) P

    Nice summary Sovrath, I think you're cutting and pasting by now from the previous 20 or so hahah ;P. Its ok though lots of new ppl coming to the boards these days. Thats a good thing for L2 !

    Regards,

    Ellyrion Fiallathandriel

    The Reckless Knight

    Lunatris

     

     

    One of the reasons I quit was becuase it was so hard to get the RB groups.  that and the mind numbing grind in a dismal setting.  Kinda made me want to kill myself every night.  Always had a headache, etc.

    Looking to get into pick up groups for RBs is allready setting yourself up for failure. This is one of those issues that ppl need to be realistic about when playing L2. Whilst its entirely your prerogative whether to play in a clan or not, you should not expect that clans or random players will band together unselfishly to bring down a raid boss on the basis of the random pick up rule for loot.

    Considering the SS / BSPS, spirit ore and potions consumed as part of the raid encounter it would be extremely optimistic to consider this as some form of regular event.

    Its hard enough getting gear as it is, the last thing a clan will want to do is coordinate a raid and then try to work out loot split amongst a bunch of random players. Its hard enough to do with organised alliances....

    The only noteworthy exception to this rule is the killing of RB's for subclass or noblesse quests. On Kain at least I must say that ppl have always been accommodating to their fellow players, and have allowed out of clan ppl to sit in and/or benefit from the successful raid IOT allow ppl to progress through the game.

    Other than that the choices were always with the players. The clans control the end game, if you want to be a part of it, then you need to consider joining one.

    Regards,

    Ellyrion Fiallathandriel

    The Reckless Knight

    Lunatris

     

  • Posted: 7/08/08 8:29 AM
    Lineage II
• • Me and a few friends from work want to try this game...

  • Originally posted by Lordlow
    

    L2 has a lot of great looks but that's about it. Community is all farmers and inflation and most cases none existant. Dev's put out friendly msg's saying 'don't buy adena' but from what I've seen nobody could afford anything in L2 with out going that road. Grind, Grind...yes..Grind. Quest chains are horrible if you find any at all. After 3 years and two lvl 60+ I still havent found the point of this game however 'cool' it looks.

    I'm sorry to hear that. Its disappointing that you never found a clan which would match your playstyle. There really are other avenues of making money but without knowing your circumstances its difficult to make suggestions. Having said that after 3 years its not like you would need those anyway, but at least we could discuss your groupping preferences and playstyle. As you no doubt know, thats the key enabler for the majority of the strategies for profit making.

    As the community matures there are more and more "supportive" clans out there surfacing the fore. It may be too little too late, but for those still looking for something different there are definitely good opportunities out there.

    Regards,

    Ellyrion Fiallathandriel

    The Reckless Knight

    Lunatris

  • Posted: 7/08/08 8:15 AM
    Lineage II