I'm pondering a return...

Acrune

So, apparently its been 500-ish days since I've signed on, and certain people have been bugging me to make a return! So, I figured I'd at least consider it. I'd piggyback off of the other returning thread and just learn from that, but it sounds like that individual has different questions than I do. (I'm definitely staying in Celest, and probably whatever guild I happen to be in presently)

Anyways, the main reason I left is that it felt like I had nothing to do but the same old same old grinding for hours, waiting to have a brief period of excitement before getting killed on Nil and losing millions of essence that I have to grind back. Has anything changed in that regard? Is there anything new to do that would mix things up a bit? Anything particularly noteworthy occur in the last year and a half that makes lusternia a better game than when I left? If I was bored then, think I'd still be bored now?

Thanks in advance for any input!

Llandros

So yeah, in the nearly two years that you have been gone there have been one or maybe two -thousand- things that have changed.

Cosmic raids are few and far between these days so you are unlikely to storm Nil anytime soon. There are plenty of places to fight that aren't in org territory though like god realms and domoths. Also, there are new bashing grounds.

The underlying mechanics of getting essence through various ways, spending it on powers and losing it in death remains.

Malicia

Acrune! Need more old faces, come come.

Jaamil

Well, there's a plenty to do nowadays, even games such as psychodrama(I like that one) and Vengeance(don't like at all) aetherspace if you've benn gone that long or whatnot. But yeah, some new areas too, challenging ones at that.

Junia

Thing that didn't exist yet when you left: Junia.

That is all you need to know.

See you soon!

Akyaevin

The increased xp loss in enemy territory only applies in cities/communes and linked planes, not in denizen areas or even godrealms. Much nicer.

Acrune

Akyaevin said:

The increased xp loss in enemy territory only applies in cities/communes and linked planes, not in denizen areas or even godrealms. Much nicer.

Oo, I didn't know that. That is nicer.

Liok

Just to piggy back a little, I'm thinking of coming back, as well.  Are warriors still pretty crippled without weapon runes?

Karlach

Liok said:

Just to piggy back a little, I'm thinking of coming back, as well.  Are warriors still pretty crippled without weapon runes?

Pretty much, you can do somewhat well in group fights without them but the difference is still vastly significant.

Eventru

Morkarion said:

Liok said:

Just to piggy back a little, I'm thinking of coming back, as well.  Are warriors still pretty crippled without weapon runes?

Pretty much, you can do somewhat well in group fights without them but the difference is still vastly significant.

Can't you temper weapons up fairly high, so as to be usable (albeit decaying and not of altered damage type)? Maybe not as good as runed ones, but still, better than you used to have with unruned. Or was that changed/is it just not cost effective (at all)? Or am I just going senile?

Karlach

Eventru said:

Morkarion said:

Liok said:

Just to piggy back a little, I'm thinking of coming back, as well.  Are warriors still pretty crippled without weapon runes?

Pretty much, you can do somewhat well in group fights without them but the difference is still vastly significant.

Can't you temper weapons up fairly high, so as to be usable (albeit decaying and not of altered damage type)? Maybe not as good as runed ones, but still, better than you used to have with unruned. Or was that changed/is it just not cost effective (at all)? Or am I just going senile?

You can still get pretty good stats without runes, you can get a 220 speed set up with decent levels of precision.

What hurts is the lack of wounding runes.

Edit: Like I said, you'll be useful in group fights where Knights stack up and you'll make it easier for someone else to get the afflictions (or possibly score off their own) to make curing harder. But the difference before and after is huge, moreso than I'd dare say artifacts affect other class types.

Liok

So, wounding before stat runes?  (Speaking of 2-handers)

Lerad

Yes, stat runes only do better than unruned weapons at level 2 and above. You need to temper DOWN before you can attach a rune, though, so adding wounding runes means you get lower stats. Level 2 + wounding runes is where the investment finally starts to pay off without you feeling gimped in one side or another.

But generally speaking, a percentage based boost is probably better than +5 to a stat, so wounding runes are a better choice than stat runes if you can only choose one of the two. This is especially true for 2handers, who get an innate boost to their precision (wounding) stat in the first place, so a single wounding rune on a 2handed weapon is going to have more effect than a single wounding rune on a single 1handed weapon.

In essence, adding runes to your weapons don't add much to their effect until you start hitting the higher levelled stats AND get wounding runes to add on top of it. Effectively, runing knight weapons give less noticeable benefit per credit even when you're investing for level 1 stats, as compared to say, buying a magic damage rune for a caster. It also doesn't help that level 3 stats are so expensive too. Unruned weapons are sorta viable, if only because comparing an unruned weapon to a weapon with low level runes yields only a very small difference.

Liok

Gotchya!  Thankies so much

Rivius

If you've got demigod with decent strength, nightkiss/drawdown and forging runes you could do pretty decently. Against other warriors, high-end splendours and tattoos (along with great wound curing and parry/stance), you'll need those runes to get anywhere. For some specs you'll need them even less than others too. As a PB, you should be able to pull it off okay, especially if you try Aslaran.

To compete at top-tier you'll need the runes + demigod + good stats. Runes are more expensive than they're worth, so if you're short on credits, just stop at level 2s. The difference between 2s and 3s isn't big enough to consider urgent, especially for the unreasonable cost gap.

Liok

Rightio!  These are things everyone used to ram into me, but I never listened, heh.  This time around, we're gonna change all that.  First step is to go get Demigod!

eta: Also, what sort of stats are the way to go nowadays?  Last I was around, you dropped damage, raised speed to the highest increment of 10 possible, then dumped the rest in precision.  Still the case now?  Also, what should the stats on a bashing weapon look like?

And thank you guys so much, by the way.  The help is really appreciated!

Karlach

220 as Aslaran should suffice for speed, dump the rest into precision.

As for bashing, max out the speed to the highest 10 incriment, and pile the rest into damage. Again if you've a balance bonus you can afford a speed drop for damage increase.

Liok

Thanks yet again!

Karlach

Oh, always coal rune. When bashing you can ignore the prec one but ALWAYS coal rune.

Both weapons and armour, it's a massive difference.