Atlantica Online: Inventory Tetris... How to Stop Playing It
MMORPG.com Atalntica Online Correspondent Matt Plourde writes this article dedicated to giving people the maximum amount of storage possible to save their inventories.
After playing many computer RPGs with limitless inventory space, Diablo was one of the first games to introduce "Inventory Tetris." While Atlantica does't have different sized items, the mini-game of inventory management is alive and well. You'll amass large amounts of crafting supplies, consumables, skill books, treasure maps, holiday event items, boxes and more as you travel toward Atlantis - so, here's some helpful tips to keep your inventory clean and your heroes in the field!
Mercenaries
The easiest way to gain more inventory space is to hire more mercenaries. Of course, the number of mercenaries you are allowed to hire is tied to your level, so you only have so much control. Each mercenary has 10 slots to hold items and resources. Surprisingly, this is probably one of the most realistic inventory systems in modern MMORPGs, despite the fact you can have a stack of nine thousand cannonballs all in one little inventory slot!
If you have purchased a mercenary room license, you can make "mule" mercs to hold items and just store those mercs in a merc room. You must move the mercenary to your party to retrieve the items, and it costs a small amount of Will to swap them into the party - but it's a pretty easy way to gain more space.
Inventory License
You can purchase a permanent inventory license from the Item Mall for $15, or you can try to find one for sale on the market (they come in 7, 30, 90 and 110 day time limits) - however, there usually aren't any available for sale. At any one time, you can have two extra inventory bags active. These bags give you an extra "bar" of inventory space, just like an extra mercenary (10 slots). However, you cannot store weapons/armor there!
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Warehouse
The Warehouse in Rome can hold items as well. When in Rome, click on the "Town" button and the Warehouse will appear as an option. There's no NPC to visit, you can access the warehouse from anywhere in the city. My only complaint about the warehouse is the interface - it's somewhat clunky as you must click an item and then click a button to transfer the item to/from your warehouse. No Drag & Drop!
Remember, you cannot store Gold in the warehouse - that's what banks are for! I strongly suggest you make frequent use of the bank, as you lose a percentage of your carried gold when you die.
The Market
If you find you have large stacks of materials, and you have just no space left, you can store your items on the market! Most crafting materials have a "fixed" price on the market which means there is an unlimited amount of the item for sale at a certain price. If you craft anything, you often rely on purchasing materials from the market at that fixed price. So, if you have a stack of 5,000 copper ore that you plan to use later, you can always throw it up on the market for a price above the fixed price! It costs anywhere from 1-3% of the value to post the item on the market, but it never expires. Further, if someone mistakenly buys the items, you just made a profit as you can return later to purchase at the fixed price!
The downside to the market trick is you can only have so many items up for sale at any one time. So, if you do a large amount of selling, then this may not be a good solution for you.
Breaking
Bust out that hammer and break-down armor/weapons that you do not intend to sell on the market. You gain ingredients called "shards" which are used in some of the medium/higher level crafting formulas. All of these ingredients (such as elemental shards) stack nicely into one inventory slot and/or sell quickly on the market.
Unfortunately, you use up one hammer per item you break - so, now you have to carry around hammers as well. Further, you need different hammers for higher quality items.
Boxes
Boxes drop from monsters and you click on them to receive a random item. Commodity Boxes hold skill books and growth potions. Material boxes hold crafting materials. Enchant boxes hold enchant stones. Equipment boxes hold armor and weapons. Book boxes hold higher level skill books.
My suggestion? Leave as much stuff in the boxes as possible. Don't open the boxes while you are adventuring. Fifty Insect Equipment Boxes will all stack nicely into 1 slot, but fifty pieces of insect equipment will take up fifty inventory slots. So, exercise some restraint and wait to open your boxes until you have access to a warehouse, some hammers, and maybe the market.
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Crafting
When you craft items, you make big "batches" of items. Once finished, all those items get dumped into your inventory. So, plan ahead and either schedule the items for use, sale or breakdown. Of course, there's always a chance the items you craft will come out with high enchants already on them - so, you must be flexible. The only real rule to remember is: don't finish a crafting job in a dungeon and click "Retrieve Items." You won't have space for loot!
Final Thoughts
Atlantica throws a mountain of *stuff* into your inventory. The good news is everything is useful - there is no junk. Unfortunately, there are no NPC vendors to sell things to. Everything goes into the market where other players make purchases. This is good and bad. Bad because you can't make a "quick sale", however it is good because the entire economy is player-driven. For the most part, this concept works.
So, don't despair at your overloaded backpacks - work the system and you'll find you have room for everything.
