Looking at Gracia

Lineage 2: A Look at Gracia

MMORPG.com Lineage 2 Correspondent Chris Sides writes this look at the most recent Gracia expansion for NCsoft's Lineage II.

Lineage 2 had felt like it was down in the dumps until the release of Gracia. The players of Aden love it, NCsoft loves the response from the community, and all this has created a great gaming environment. In this article, I will write about key features of the Gracia expansion, and I will also give my opinion on each feature.

The Gracia expansion has updated Lineage 2 in many fun and exciting ways. This expansion includes: the Vitality System, new skills, Kamaloka, a new hunting ground; and many more updates to existing systems. Some of the updates for the older systems of Lineage 2 include: cheaper armor/weapons, battle system changes, changes to existing skills, changes to PvP, a better pet system, new quests, changes to the interface, and NPC changes. I will talk about the more important of these changes in this article to really show the importance of Gracia

The Vitality System is a system that increases your experienced gained by a percentage. At Vitality level 1 you gain a 150% increase to experience; at level 2 you gain a 200% increase to experience; at level 3 you gain a 250% increase to experience; at level 4 you gain a 300% increase to experience. In my opinion, this is the best component of this expansion. Vitality points can be gained by either being offline, in a peace zone, or while hunting raid bosses. Lineage 2 has been infamous for the amount of time it takes to level. With this system, the leveling is still challenging but much more rewarding. Now you can level more than one class to max level without spending half your life doing so.

New skills have been implemented into the game along with changes to existing skills. Many new skills have been added, but I going to talk about two new skills that I feel are most effective. The first skill is called anguard. This skill has been added for all Knight classes and can be attained at level 43, but not really effective until level 44. Vanguard is a stance that requires a dual-sword or a two-handed sword. Once a player achieves level 44, and has the skill anguard, they can acquire four new skills that can only be used while in Vanguard stance. These skills include:

• Power Divide - Delivers a powerful blow that seems to cleave the enemy in half. Requires that a two-handed sword or a two-handed blunt weapon are equipped. Ignores shield defense. Over-hit is possible.
• Full Swing - Attacks nearby enemies by widely swinging a two-handed weapon. Requires a two-handed weapon. Ignores shield defense. Over-hit is possible.
• Double Strike - Delivers a powerful blow to the enemy by alternating between two swords. Requires a dual-sword. Ignores shield defense. Over-hit is possible.
• Blade Hurricane - Attacks nearby enemies with a dual-sword. Requires a dual-sword. Ignores shield defense. Over-hit is possible.

The second skill is called Inquisitor. Inquisitor is a skill only for Healer classes and is acquired at level 43. Just like Vanguard, Inquisitor is a stance skill and does not become really effective until level 44. Once a player achieves level 44, and has the skill nquisitor, they can acquire four new skills that can only be used while in Inquisitor stance. These skills include:

• Divine Punishment - Brings down the gods' retribution upon an enemy.
• Divine Flash - Detonates sacred energy to attack surrounding enemies.
• Surrender to the Holy - Instantly decreases resistance to divine attacks and increases resistance to darkness attacks.
• Divine Curse - Casts the wrathful curse of the gods to reduce the effect of recovery magic by half and continuously decrease HP.

These new skills have really added some unique experiences to Knight and Healer classes that have not been experienced before. Anytime an expansion offers new experiences with old classes; it deserves to be recognized.

Kamaloka is a new hunting ground added with the Gracia expansion. Kamaloka has the following requirements:

• Entry NPC - Guard Captain
• Party Requirement - Party of 2-6
• Type - Raid-type hunting ground
• Instanced Zone Duration - 30 minutes
• Entry Limitations - Once per day

Every day at 6:30 AM (server time) Kamaloka will reset and be playable from beginning to end again. Kamaloka is for levels 18-78 and can be entered at the following places:

• Gludio Castle Town: Bathis (levels 18-31)
• Dion Castle Town: Lucas (levels 28-41)
• Town of Heine: Gosta (levels 38-51)
• Town of Oren: Mouen (levels 48-61)
• Town of Schuttgart: Vishotsky (levels 58-71)
• Rune Township: Mathias (levels 68-78)

Kamaloka is an amazing instanced raid dungeon and at that, it’s tons of fun. The Lineage 2 community has always loved and pushed the PvE of this game and Kamaloka really feeds their addiction. Kamaloka has added a new feeling of excitement to PvE that I have not felt in Lineage 2 for a long time and the community has shown how much they love this hunting ground.

PvP in Lineage 2 has always been very intense and for the diehard players. The biggest addition to PvP is the Fame system. Fame can only be acquired by characters level 40 and above, and characters that have completed their second class transfer. Fame is gained in many ways including: advancing into a fortress, castle, or hideout siege, by killing an enemy, or by consuming a Noblesse gate pass through the Olympiad Guide. Why would you want to gain Fame you might be asking? Gaining Fame allows you to purchase superior and masterwork A-Grade armor and weapons. What player doesn’t love the feeling of gaining new gear and seeing how awesome they look? Adding a new PvP system and new gear that can only be gained through this PvP system is a qualification for a great expansion.

The battle system has been changed to give a more realistic feel to combat. It is now more realistic since you gain a bonus to damage the closer you are to your attacker. Whether it be close combat or long range; the distance between you and your attacker effects the amount of damage you deal. Realistically, the closer you are to someone; the more damage you can deal with an object. This addition to combat has created a great feel to the game and deserves to be recognized.

Gracia has added great new content to Lineage 2 and has reformed some of the old systems. Gracia has updated Lineage 2 by adding the Vitality System, adding a new hunting ground called Kamaloka, added new skills and revamped some of the old skills, added a new PvP system called Fame, and many more. When an expansion truly restores a game, it needs to be noticed. Gracia should be xpansion of the Year since it has literally reborn Lineage 2.