Well, I’m a bit late getting to this blog, but at least I managed to get it posted this week. That is something of an accomplishment, as I’ve had two midterms and a major lab due this week. However, next week, AC2: Legions will be available, so I really need to be on the ball.

I had wondered what to write about, but after a little consideration I decided to write about a couple of things; the mechanics of playing, and some of the unique careers available. I plan on returning to the various adventures I have had upon Dereth in a future blog.

When I first started playing Asheron’s Call 2, I made a small mistake. In AC2, the tree skills, can be moved to a hotkey bar, and the three basic ones are already there. I started playing a Human, so my three basic attacks were Riposte (melee), Deadeye (missile), and Mindlash (magic). In addition, all tree skills cost vigor (kind of an endurance/magic reservoir) and vigor is limited. All of my attacks were grayed out, and it took me a moment to determine that I had to equip my weapon.

I looked in the pack, and found a staff, a bow, and a sword. Equipping the sword, as I had planned this character to be melee, I dutifully moved to attack a drudge. Repeatedly, I struck it with riposte, and I watched as my vigor drain away, until I could not attack. I waited until I had regained some vigor, and attacked again with riposte. Fortunately, as this quest is keyed specifically toward beginners, I was still able to win the battle. What I was overlooking was the auto-attack function, which is a straight-forward attack which does not use vigor. The tree attacks are meant to be used tactically, not as a base attack, and that was something I had to learn.

On the topic of combat, there are a number of visual clues, which are not duplicated in text. The most obvious is the vulnerability flash. When a mob (Mobile Object – the monsters or non-static NPCs) begins to flash with a golden glow, they are vulnerable. If the mob is hit during this vulnerability period, the attack is usually more effective. This is even more pronounced with tree skills. With the number of possible attacks, the number of situations, and the management of your vigor and health, combat in AC2 has layers of effectiveness and is an interesting challenge to master.

Asheron’s Call 2 also was set up to try to appeal to both group and solo players. There are two types of mobs, group mobs and solo mobs. Group mobs have superior health and regenerative abilities, and reward more experience if they are successfully defeated. The experience is actually designed to be split up among a fellowship, but this is not to say that a solo player can not take on a group mob, they can, but it is considerably more difficult.

Beyond combat there are other things to do. The craft skills, which feed directly to combat, are just one example, but one of the most unique examples, in my opinion, is the music. In the case of music, there is no direct effect on combat, but it adds an element of fun. As AC2 is a game, that is something that should be considered important, and to me, it is.
The developers of Asheron’s Call 2 spent a certain amount of time developing the sound systems of their creation. There are a number of instruments available that can be used, and even a few items that can add to this. It is possible to go in to a city and start playing, and quite possibly others will join you. You can even play your voice, which is different for each race. Of course, where there’s music, dancing will soon follow. There are a number of emotes that send a character into a dancing routine. These do not really add anything to the game other than atmosphere, and some players prefer not to be involved with it. I’m not one of them. To me, it’s just another way to enjoy the game.

Now that I’ve mentioned some very basic mechanics, I’ll continue on as a career advisor. I won’t actually suggest what to play, but there are some classes that I feel are interesting classes, and it would be a shame to ignore them.

First off, let me state, that the normal fantasy classes are not directly available, normal being warrior, mage, priest, archer, and rogue. Almost all fantasy games revolve around these classes and the same can be said of most fantasy novels. Asheron’s Call 2 does not provide for a rogue class, and priests are really an extension of magic wielders.

As I’ve stated before, at this time, AC2 provides for 3 races which generally are divided into disciplines that are based upon the philosophies of the races as described by their backgrounds. Each race has two classes in each discipline, which means six classes. So there are eighteen classes that are available, to play, not counting non-classed characters and hybrid-class characters.

The most interesting aspect, though, is that almost all classes have different styles of animation, and different styles of combat, even though all races include the pseudo-classes of damage dealer, tank, ranged, magic, and support. In each case, there is an additional element that ties the class to its racial component, which slightly modifies the way the pseudo-class is played.

Two classes I would like to mention, though I’ve just started playing them and can’t offer much information are the Human Alchemist, and the Tumerok Hivekeeper. These classes don’t seem to have a corollary among other games. They both fall under the missile discipline but don’t seem to actually belong there natively.

The Alchemist carries a flask, yes a flask. The basic attack is Fire-Breath, which interestingly enough, is described as a melee attack. The animation is to drink from the flask and then breathe fire. My first alchemist is Kaylith, on Frostfell, and I’ve just advanced her to Alchemist. Alchemists seem to be able to choose Left-Side or Dark-Side, I’m afraid I can’t really shed any further light on these arcane terms yet, but I guess, that is actually in keeping with the character of an Alchemist.

The Hivekeeper carries a nest. Apparently the base attack they have is to summon a wasp. By the way, wasps on Dereth are pretty big, but I guess you’ll have to see it to believe it. I have a character, Keikorua, who will become a Hivekeeper this weekend. I’ll let you know how it works out. It should be interesting.

There is another class, that seems somewhat unique, but I have no one near the level of becoming one. It is the Lugian Tactician, which is also classified in the discipline of Missile weapons. Tacticians are armed with a wrench, and from what I understand, they build artillery on the spot.

In this blog I have used the term discipline to refer to the major means of combat, Melee, Missile, and Magic. I have also used the term pseudo-class, to refer to what are basically archetypes of MMO game characters. To my knowledge these are not official terms, and I used them to simplify the overview into more specific parts, primarily to make me happy.

Well, that concludes this blog for the day. I’ll write again soon. Thanks for reading.

Gueron