Retiree with many questions

Nolotozoth

Hello.

My friend and I are considering moving from one IRE to another with a hefty chunk of retire credits. Currently, we're torn on which one to pick. We've played Lusternia a very long time ago, and I just wanted to check with the community on some things before we make up our mind on where to go.

1) Last time I played, EMOTE-ing was a rarity, at least in the orgs I was in. How is the RP community in Lusternia these days? What org(s) should we check out if we're looking for RP?

2) In general, are there any orgs the community would consider to be especially 'healthy' for a newish player?

3) I don't intend on being a legendary duelist, but I would like to bash and be viable in group PVP, which I hear is great in Lusternia. I'm an amateur Lua programmer and have made/maintained systems before, but I don't want to start from the ground up again here. Are there systems with basic offenses available, or for sale?

4) What are the 'must have' artifacts for someone looking to bash effectively and dip their toes in PVP, how much will it run me credit-wise? For example, I remember arti pipes and the bar of soap being important when I played last.

5) How effective are Warrior (cavalier spec) and Monk (any spec) classes at PVE and group PVP these days?

6) How necessary are wonderitems and how hard are they to get?

7) Lastly, can someone explain stat buffs to me like I'm five? I think I understand the help file, but I don't understand the various sources where you can earn these buffs. Do you have to buy 11 Great Rune of Speed (500cr per) to have good balance speed or do you get +balspeed naturally from some other source? In the other IREs, balance speed is pretty important. Having a 24% balance buff seems strong/necessary.

I know these are a lot of questions, sorry. I would be very grateful for any replies or information, no matter how verbose or succinct they are.

Aeldra

Hello,

am going to try to answer those as I can.

1) I can only speak for the two orgs that I've been in (Serenwilde and now Celest), I always felt that players themselves could do with a little more emoting at times, but I have never had any trouble finding any decent role playing springing forth and I would say, personally, that itch was well-scratched in either org.

2) I would dare say that mostly depends on your timezone, I feel right now we have a strange balance where there's orgs that are generally not very active and then suddenly very active depending on what time it is. Maybe someone with more insight into which org can say more to that. I felt that in the  last  years all orgs have been very newbie friendly and welcoming.

3) I'm not aware of any systems for sale, but usually you can find someone who can at least share you some basic stuff to use as a basis.

4) "must have" I feel is always a stretch and it heavily depends on your class. for PK, I feel having scent (through a nose artifact) is pretty important, for bashing, having a gnome weapon with the respective 9  gearboxes for extra damage split is prudent.

5) I have personally felt that setting up as an effective Cavalier is not easy and requires a certain amount of fiddling with the mechanics. There's definitely people who've pulled it off. Monk is an overall strong class across the board, both for PK and bashing.

6) neccessary? I would say no. Helpful? yes, of course. The cornucopia has a small chance to produce another wondercrystal once it's at 10 crystals every ingame year (around 12 OOC DAYS), which can help you slowly build towards gaining more wonderitems if you can invest for the initial 10.

7) The buff system in on itself is relatively simple once you wrapped your head around it. You say you understood the helpfile, but just for clarities sake, the first number always says how strong the buff is and the second how 'high' the buff can last before its overwritten. For example, if you have three 1/3 health buffs and then get a fourth 1/3, you'll be at 3 total, not four, because there's no buff that is effective past the three. However, if you get a 1/4 or a 1/5 instead, you'd get your 4 in this example. These calculations are always done for your maximum benefit.

Getting them can be through numerous ways, that can be through class skills and abilities, consumables that you buy with renewable resources ( gold or aethergoop ), blessings from certain quests or of the Elder Gods, Artifiacts, etc. I would personally recommend to not go out of your way and try to max all of those, but maybe ask someone from your chosen org to help you figure those out. E. g. the effect of the balancing runes is very minor and generally having 6/6 balance recovery increase is not as powerful as it may sound at first. Having 13/13 health however may be vastly benefitial.  Not sure if that counts for an ELI5 explanation, but I hope it  helps.

Generally, you'll find from back then, that with the addition of powerful server side curing and the overhaul of how combat works in general, things are a lot better to grasp now. Hope this helps.

Irilara

As a note to some of Aeldra's answers.

4) The gnome weapons are aethergoop items, not credit items, so your retire credits likely wouldn't help with getting one. Except possibly by working out a trade with someone by gifting them a credit artifact they want for a gnome weapon artifact being gifted to you. That said, there are ways to earn aethergoop in game, not only relying on promotions. However, there are artifact whips that can also be used, but are not as good as the gnome weapons.

5) I can't speak for Cavalier, as when I go warrior it's as a Pureblade. Monk, however, is my favorite archetype and I have, on various alts of varying levels of lesson investment, played all of the monk archetypes save for the Hallifax and Gaudiguch monks. Monks here are a bit different from how they are in other IRE games, and you'll spend a bit of time getting your head around how they work. But they are fun and can be quite strong in PvE and PvP. I don't check the forums here often, but if you do choose Lusternia and go monk feel free to shoot questions at me in game about them.

6) You'll be able to get the initial 10 wondercrystals if you make it all the way to demigod(level 100), as you get wondercrystals for level milestones. And if you don't plan to take part in any credit sales or the like that can get you wondercrystals, I do suggest it as the first wonder item you build, simply for the fact that it can, eventually, lead to more.

7) Also, you can't buy 11 balance runes to get the speed reduction that way, as the artifact runes don't stack like that. But as Aeldra said, there are a few sources for the various buffs and all.

Saran

To expand a little on 7 it can be a good idea to plot out a shopping list what you're looking at buying against your skills/race/demipowers/etc because you can cap out in various ways so it's not a matter of just getting everything.

For example, my empowering influencing buff is 13/13.

I get that from...

The trans influencing skill 3/10
A demigod perk 3/10
A wondermask 2/7
An artifact 5/13

There's some tradeskill options, a beastmastery thing, some curios (assembled artifacts) that could contribute to getting to cap instead of some of those but I don't really need them? 
I could also skip the demigod perk if I went down a different route for example and free up points.

Don't want to overwhelm, it's the sort of thing players can guide you on. 

Uzriel

1.  All of the orgs have pockets of RP in them, find one with a theme that you like.
2.  I think any org can be fine for a new player. I play in one of the darker orgs, and we don't jump down newbie's throats. Some orgs have a bit more of an active playerbase depending on timezone than others.
3. Server side curing pretty much beats any player-made autocuring system. There are various free modules available for mudlet especially that add extra utility.
4. As answered above, scent for pk, gnome weapon + 9 gearboxes (probably divinus as the damage type) for bashing. The health runes are pretty important too. You can get 20 credits a day for free, so anything is in reach sooner or later.
5. I'll let somebody else answer who plays the class.
6. Leveling to level 100 demigod gives you enough wondercrystals to build an item that can randomly give you more crystals every month. You can also buy more using xp after level 100, or from other players (generally at 50 credits each).
7. The speed artifacts are generally considered not high priority. In general getting a buff close to 10/10 can be doable without artifacts depending on your class getting to 13/13 usually requires artifacts. The first number represents your actual buff value. The second number represents the max buff that you're capable of getting.

Luce

As a note on Uzriel's answer to 7: Aside from Celerity, rooting, and experience (which are all outside of the weighted buff system), getting to 13/13 requires artifacts. The artifacts to take vitals and vitals regeneration buffs to x/13 are 500 cr each, damage type buffs and resists are 300 cr each, influence types are 125cr each, and all of them can be bought in 'tiers'.

For an unasked number 8) If you know the secret jutsus and nobody throws off your game, 20 daily credits will run you an hour or two of in-game work each day. There are two newbie friendly quests I know of off the top of my head that require no real combat, some puzzle skills, and a waterwalk and waterbreathe enchantment that can be done together in about an hour for all 20, then done again an hourish later by someone else. Once you get more weight under your belt you can start varying your DC plan up a lot more, but it's only tedious if you look at the long-game instead of eating that horse one day at a time. At the outside, if people just keep doing your quests, a mixture of about 3 hours of influencing and bashing should get you pretty close to a full load of daily credits, especially if you combine the bashing with questing by going after things you can turn in to villages for commodity quest tics and gather bards, scholars, and pilgrims at the same time. Or failing a full load, just do what you can and don't worry about it.

Nolotozoth

Thank you so much, all. I've been poking my nose around a lot in-game and browsing help files, but I still have a few questions if you're willing to help me out.

1) I checked POLITICS in game and it seems like one of the alliances I've heard about has an advantage over the other. Is this just a player number imbalance thing, or was this latest string of conflicts just unlucky? Sorry I don't really remember how these work! I'm asking because if it's a numbers thing, I would likely prefer to assist the underdog rather than contribute to any ongoing imbalances.

2) I am SO TORN on what class to pick. Right now I'm focusing mostly on Monks, likely Nekotai or Ninjakari. If you have the patience, could you tell me the basic mechanical differences between Nekotai and Ninjakari? The classes seem rather complex mechanically, enough that I can't really catch the gist of how they operate just by reading ABs.

3) I also wouldn't mind a summary of what it's like to play a druid/mage (the other class I'm considering since they seem invaluable in groups). What do you do if a different kind of melder is present in your group?

4) I appreciate greatly the advice on things I didn't think to ask about, like daily credits. Is there anything else I should know before I dive in here?


Thanks again.

Aeldra

1. There is a definitely numbers inbalance between the alliances right now, paired with the loss of a few key combatants on that side which is slowly recovering. Such things do  happen, but the tides always do change

2. Sorry, haven't played neither, but I can tell you that all monks work on the same core principles with certain differences in what their tertiaries are and how their kill methods are executed.

3. melds are an absolute game changer if they're present. Fighting an enemy meld without your own melder in the group is tedious and puts you at a distinct disadvantage unless you can aprehend and murder the melder quickly. One thing to be aware of, if you choose to play a mage with a focus on melding (as opposed to say a chemist ), you'll end up being a primary target for enemy forces. A meld gives your group a distinct and important advantage, from breaking down enemy melds to effectively hindering your enemies across almost the entire battlefield. A melder, because of that, often ( but not always ) takes a more passive role, focusing more on staying alive and hitting enemies from afar then being in the fray of battle itself (if all linked melders are slain, the meld disperses and has to be reinstated ).

4. My main advise is, never be afraid to pester people with questions. If something doesn't make sense or you don't get something, ask people. The majority of people are really helpful towards new players in particular!

Irilara

Alright! Monks and what they do, with a focus on nekotai and ninjakari.

Monk are defined by building katas. Attack forms, which contain up to two arm actions and one leg actions. There is an exception in that there are also full kata actions like Nekotai's FinalSting, but for the most part you're looking at the arm/arm/leg style. This is the same no matter what sort of monk you play. The reason monks are fairly strong in both PvE and PvP is that they get these multiple actions per balance. For PvE that's three attacks per balance, each of which has a chance to crit. For PvP it's because that's three attacks, which once you've learned enough of the skills can each cause an aff, plus your weapon can have poisons and deliver affs that way as well, for up to five affs per go. That is not a gaurantee, as there is poison shrugging, various abilities that can give a chance to not have a limb break, and other ways of avoiding the affs, but still.

These all relate to stances. As you attack you will progress through stances. You'll start off without a stance, then move into base, then twist(with options for low or high), then centre, then surge(again, low or high), then killer, then it circles back around to base. These stances fade after a period of not attacking, and harder hitting moves require you be in a higher stance to use them. Stances have various bonuses for a brief time when you swap into those stances, or for being in them, depending on the type of monk. So nekotai get bonuses that cause more bleeding, while ninjakari cause more bruising. So obviously attacking as quick as you can is the goal, to keep aff pressure, bleeding/bruising pressure, damage, AND to ensure you're getting your stance bonuses.

So on to specifics. Both Nekotai and Ninjakari use stealth as a secondary skill, which has some use in combat but is more utility focused. It's about, oddly enough, sneaking around. You can hide, of course, mislead as to which direction you leave out of, eavesdrop on channels like CT and GT, or if you get a head make a mask for impersonating people. There's other things as well.

Then they both have a choice between acrobatics and psionics/psychometabolism(monk only specialization of psionics). Acrobatics is dodging and such, moving faster, being harder to knock down, standing up without being on balance, faster writhe and tumble alternatives, and some acrobatic maneuvers for jumping from room to room, attacking that way, and such. It is very much about retaining mobility. Which is useful on a monk, as shutting down mobility(rendering limbs unusable, paralysis, being knocked down and so on) is a way to stop our stance progression, which can hurt our offense.

Psychometabolism is more defensive in nature. See, you get 3 psionic channels, super, sub, and id. And certain abilities in psionics and psychometabolism use one or more of those channels, and can be used to set up defenses. Such as gliding, which lets you glide along water(waterwalk), as well as GLIDE in a direction to pass through a bunch of rooms quickly(sprinting). Further, more powerful defenses need to be locked, which makes that defense active, but means you can't use the channel for anything else while it's locked. A couple examples of this are bloodboil, which makes it so you don't bleed, but it instead costs you ego when you would bleed, or bonedensity, which gives you a chance to not have your bones break when they otherwise would. Useful stuff. I, personally, prefer psychometabolism, but both it and acrobatics are quite good.

Now for the meat. What is different between Nekotai and Ninjakari? I will preface this by saying that I haven't been Ninjakari since before the monk rework so some of my info could be out of date, but I am currently a Nekotai(most of the time).

Nekotai use 2 claws, ninjakari use 1 chain weapon. This does not mean a ninjakari cannot make two arm attacks in a form. They can. A nekotai will cause bleeding, a ninjakari will cause brusising. Bleeding causes damage over time unless clotted, while bruising causes damage on movement unless clotted. A nekotai tends to focus on this bleeding, and can cause a lot of ice(a curative) wounds. Further, one of our kicks can increase the balance on using curatives, with which curative is affecting being determined by where we kick.

Ninjakari cause bruising when they strike, and I believe they have a bit heavier dust focus than ice, as well as having abilities that do things like stun, knock someone off balance, or other similar things. Further, they have a bit heavier focus on grapples, if I recall right.

Both of them(and all monks really) make use of hemorrhaging and a monk ability called burst. See, hemorrhaging is built up when you hit someone with an attack that causes bleeding or bruising, and it builds up to a cap of 850 hemorrhaging. Burst, when used, converts all of the hemorrhaging into half that amount of bleeding/bruising depending on the type of monk. So, 400 hemorrhaging would convert to 200 bleeding, 800 to 400. And! If a monk uses burst while at a certain threshold, something special happens. With the OG 4 monks(nekotai, ninjakari, shofangi, and tahtetso) bursting while at 750 hemorrhaging or above that puts the target in a weakened state temporarily, which then lets you use your instakill ability on them. For the new monks(nunchaku and tessenchi), they can instead burst a form to afflict with a mental or spiritual aff(mental for nunchaku, spiritual for tessenchi). Then their trans abilities do 15% more damage per mental/spiritual(again, depending on which they are) on the target.

This... This is all probably a lot more than you were looking for as an answer, and I should stop rather than keep going. So in short!

2) Ninjakari and nekotai's mechanical differences come down to if their attacks deal bruising or bleeding, and what afflicitions they can apply more readily.  A nekotai can more readily damage limbs, cause hemophilia, can more easily stack ice cured afflictions, and can even sometimes hit with a third poison via scorpionspit. Ninjakari can more readily cause stun, cure delays, and have a kick usable in surge or killer that lets them reduce poison shrugging by 20%, which can really help with hitting with a critical poison at the right time. Both are good, and the basics of them(or any monk class) will carry over to others. It's just the strategies you go for would be different slightly.

Nolotozoth

@Irilara Wow, thanks a buttload. That's exactly what I was looking for, and more!

Jatius

As a note, ninjakari can also cause bleeding. AB NINJAKARI BARBS iirc. Ninja can also wreck limbs like it's no one's business.