Thanks for that Oloh. Can you expand on the class system a bit?
Yeah. It goes like this.
Basics. There are 10 trees that work very much like WoW talent trees. The translations out there all suck, but they are basically: (1) Fighter, (2) Tank, (3) Rogue, (4) Hunter, (5) Discipline Priest, (6) Healer, (7) Necromancer, (8) Mage, (9) Enchanter, and (10) Bard. For some reason, you can only pick 1 of 6 trees to start, but you get access to the second (like level 6) and third (level 10) trees very quickly so it doesn't really matter. It takes about 2 hours or so to get all 3 trees. Each tree has 5 passives and about a dozen actives...all pretty standard MMO fair based on the class descriptions above. For example, Bard plays instruments and has group buffs. Necromancer is a caster with dots, channeled spells and lifetap. Warrior is a mobile melee brawler. Tank is a defensive/CC style character. The "classes" that you see people talk about (120 classes!) are just one word description for a combination of your three trees out of the 10. For example, a Fighter/Rogue/Tank is most often translated as a "Champion" or "Predator." It is the PvP FotM right now, with approximately 16% (last time I checked) of all players over level 10 taking that combination.
Respeccing. You can reset your points
withinyour three trees at any time for a very nominal fee that scales with how many total points you have invested. There is no downside to doing this other than respec cost. The respec cost does not seem to go up if you switch a lot, so you can always stay pretty flexible. You can also respec your
trees(i.e. take a different class) by visiting a NPC that is readily available in most major quest hubs. It also costs a fee, which is higher, but still relatively nominal. In addition to the fee, there is an additional downside in doing this, in that all new trees after your first three start at level 10. So, if you are level 32, and picked three trees initially and stuck with them, then respec one of your three trees, your trees will be at level 32/32/10. The next section tells you what impact that level disparity has, but the good news is, the tree you switched away from keeps its level, so if you try out your new spec for a few levels and end up with a character level at 35 and your tree levels at 35/35/15, but decide to switch back to your original class, you will be at 35/35/32. In this way, you can actually get your character to level 50 and all 10 classes at level 50. It is actually quite a grind to do this though because you wont have quests to carry the leveling of the new tree, so you will have to basically just play the game at 50/50/10 while the third tree slowly levels up or straight up grind mobs that give a lvl 50 experience.
Leveling. Your
characterhas a level and each
treehas a level. Your trees level at the same rate as your character and when you choose your trees at 6ish and 10, they start at 6ish and 10, such that at level 10, you will have a character level of 10 and three trees, all level 10. If you never switch trees, your trees will always stay at the same level as your character. Your character level controls most things, such as talent points, hp, mana, stats, gear requirements, etc. Your
treelevel only determines which abilities within that tree are available for purchase. For example, the first row requires a tree level of 10. The second row has talents that require tree level 15/20/25, etc. So, the bottom line is if you play your character and get to level 50 with no tree respecs, you will end up at 50/50/50. If you switch away then, you will be at 50/50/10, but will still have the same amount of talent points to spend. You just wont be able to spend them in the new tree on anything but the first row (and passives) until you level your third tree higher.
So, the net result of this is that, with enough effort, everyone can have all 10 trees at level 50 and be able to switch between them for a nominal fee. This gives a sort of "AA like" progression where you can always make your character better. It is technically more efficient and faster to level an Alt, though, with the new trees because both character level and tree level go up from Quest EXP. There are only so many quests in the game and quests are quite good exp, so if you want to get all 10 trees on 1 character, it will be quite an investment.
One final note is that gear itemization is seemingly neutral. There are a LOT of Agility/Int/Strength items and Str/Agility items out there, so it doesnt seem that the itemization forces you into forced into "one stat" kits like Rogue/Hunter/Tank or Necro/Enchanter/Mage. In fact, I play a Necro/Enchanter/Mage and getting pure Int gear or Int/Spirit/Stamina gear is hard.
If you have any other questions, I can answer them.
As far as Trion publishing the game, I view that as a very positive sign. Trion has a successful MMO out there. They have billing methods set up and server infrastructure. I don't know how much localization will be done by them, I doubt it is a ton other than translations, but from what I have heard and can see, I expect that the combination of Trion having experience as a MMO game developer and ArcheAge being designed for export from the ground up, I do not expect a lot of localization difficulties. I'm very happy with the US publisher choice....it really took one of the major concerns I had with the game off the table.
