So I’m really vamped about getting AoC, but being in Korea is not helping my gaming hobbies. Is it possible to download the client to my computer here? I’m quite willing to buy a copy from Newegg and have my brother open the box to give me the serial number, but first I need to know if they offer a way to download it from their website after account activation.
Secondly, what do you guys think about the mage classes? I’ve heard that the classes I’m most interested in are the most broken in terms of usefulness and overall playability. The necromancer was and always will be my first love
As far as I know, there’s no direct download at this time. It’s just too big, two DVDs full. Two and three day airmail rates aren’t that bad. (But if you do have it mailed to you, be sure to have your brother open it and tell you the code over the phone so you can register immediately. Don’t risk it getting lost in the mail.)
I’ve played the Bear Shaman up to 18 and the Demonologist up to 19. Both are about ready to leave the newbie island.
The Demo levels very easily. Although there’s a pet, it only gives a buff and does a little AoE damage. The class is pretty much a traditional mage class. I currently have a quick blast, a longer blast with a stacking DoT, a cone attack, and two AoE nukes. Oh, and a hold. Including the pet, there’s a total of five buffs to help keep me alive. Stuff dies quick, and I can survive a bit of things pounding on me. I don’t know about PvP balance or end-game usefulness, but Demos are definitely able to solo PvE easily.
The BS is more difficult. There’s two HoT and one burst heal with a long recharge. I get several melee combos. Survivability is tough, though. More than one mob of the same level is a death sentence, at least in the newbie levels. The class plays like a melee class that depends on heals to survive, but without a variety of melee attacks to make it interesting. Not fun at the moment.
Stick with the BS. I found from 25-40, I could easily take on 3 mobs simultaneously…as long as none of them could stun me my heals would keep me at or near max health while I beat them down. Thats changing again a little at 40, as some mobs (mostly bosses) seem to be doing more damage again.
The Necromancer and Demonologist are actually a tad bit underpowered right now, they have trouble taking on 3 mobs at once for instance (compare to my Herald, who can pretty much wipe the floor with four or five if he’s careful). The priest classes are a bit more complicated than other games, most healing damage comes from HoTs, rather than direct heals, not to mention they’re not targeted they’re in a cone in front of the caster meaning you have to (gasp!) aim your healing spells, and you have to do it early, since it’s not burst you can’t too easily heal someone at 5% health.
Also, something I take issue with:
End game usefulness. This stuff changes so fast I’d rarely take that into much account. My first character in WoW was a warlock… they went from way underpowered to ferociously overpowered by the time I was done leveling. You never know how it’s going to turn out.
That’s true enough, Jragon. I definitely recall how class balancing drastically changed across several MMOs. I guess I’d just better stick with my choice once I get in.
It really sucks that there’s no download. I get great speeds here and I don’t need it immediately, but shipping rush will be stupidly expensive. I leave back to the states in 20 days, so I guess I’ll just wait. Hate to be on this side of the curve, though.
Aw, who am I kidding? I’m a casual gamer at best. I wasn’t going to catch up to those high level guys anyway!
With AoC being a newer game expect the balance to change some. I think they are more concerned with hammering out the game stopping bugs… like some quad cores getting BSoD from the game.
Also, I’ve been playing a Demo and a Barb. I swear the Demo is just blowing things away faster between 10-15, which is as high as I have gotten anyone… Either way its a lot of fun watching things run around on fire.
I’m a casual gamer at best. I wasn’t going to catch up to those high level guys anyway!