I am currently planning on maining my adventurer on the RK19 server but I have heard really bad things about Adventurers because of nerfs. Are they actually that bad? Would I be better off rolling a different profession? I like to play both PvP and Pvm. If you don’t think I should play Advy, what other prof would you recommend? I have a 220 MA on the other server that I mained so I don’t really want to play another, but I will if that’s the best option.
I havent ever played an adventurer but I have noticed a lack of them on both rk2019 and the old server
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I appreciate the comment, I have noticed the same thing. I enjoy playing the profession a lot, but I really don’t want to be irrelevant.
True jack of all trades, master of none. They can heal, just not as well as docs or even MAs. They can dps, just not as well as quite a few classes. They just don’t excel at anything. Over nerfing didn’t help either.
What’s funny is back in 2001 I’m pretty sure they were the most played class.
You’d be surprised at how often advies are asked to tank at high level PvM on the old server. RK19, there are enough enforcers that light tanks aren’t needed that much.
On RK19, I’m not looking forward to camping CDRs, there are a lot of classes using pistol. Until then, it’s not much damage-wise (at 45 I’ve seen people doing 750+ per hit, I’m doing about 250+ with a low min damage and only fling shot)
Bright side… um, reet form means you don’t need a yalm early?
What really got nerfed if you don’t mind me asking. Do you think I would be better off as a different profession?
It’s been years. I really don’t remember the specifics of the nerfs. But with regards to playing them play what interests you. If you like the idea of an Adventurer go for it. They aren’t gimped by any means.
Oh please, don’t use that term since “THE LIGHT TANK EXPLAINED”
All I can say is when that particular profession balance patch hit (the Adv one, not the DAoC 1.62 patch), I retired my Adv because … PBBLLT! there went the group utility. No more immovable tank, no more group/other morphs, no more a lot of things.
I think perhaps the issue was that Adv used to be very strong in a lot of areas at the same time and could buff others quite significantly. With the 18.7 patch came a philosophical change, where each morph was more like a FP, making the character bias towards a particular role (hp tank/evader/crit DD/add damage DD). With that change they lost the morph other option. Personally I think this was a good idea, as who wants a raid full of wolf/kitty anyway? As to whether the implementation got the balance right? I’m not experienced enough to say
they could have just added versions of the buffs that didnt have the transmorphs instead of driving the profession’s playerbase to the hills lol.
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Advs used to be a top contender for DD, they were very tanky, had super high evades and lots of utility…
They are still playable, but it might be hard to solo pande with them today.
All in all its still a good prof in my opinion, but a shadow of former self.
So out of interest then: are there different builds to capitalise on each morph now, or is there still a roughly optimal generic build?
I haven’t played my adv since the great nerf of 2015 the 18.7 changes rip 2001-2015.
Holy crap Caloss I’m a big fan. Would you recommend I main a different profession then?
Main the game, play them all and see what feels right for you. I don’t have a main anymore haven’t had a main for a long time now, also thanks for watching 
My adventurer was the first toon I made, in August 2001. I have a huge fondness for ranger types, which dates back to my first experience in games, the Zelda series, which were much more fun than the Pong/Tetris stuff I was used to.
I’ve had mixed experiences with ranger types in MMO’s, beginning with Everquest, where rangers were given a taunt and no ranged weapons, i.e., Aragorn from Lord of the Rings.
I adapted, and figured out that my role was to protect clerics and chanters (because I could grab aggro off them asap, which they could then save me in return, if they had a clue), and before the feign death classes had the abilities to use them, to use my abilities to split mobs by reducing the range of social mobs to aggro, slowing one of their run speed, then running like heck back to the raid group, and when I died, and the mobs started to return their original position, the raid could kill the one I snared.
“Ranger Down!” was the cue to kill the mob I snared, which separated it from the other mobs that killed me.
We moved from EQ to AO, and I again chose ranger, which of course, is the adventurer, and find that my effectiveness is solely governed by my weapons, of which there were not a lot of good choices:
http://forums-archive.anarchy-online.com/showthread.php?10982-Freedom-Arms
after the Freedom Arms were nerfed (and I still have two of them, but they are obsolete due to better weapons existing now) , I found that AR/Ranged Energy (Nova Flows) were more effective than any other option.
I quit, and next time I returned, I choose engineer instead, during which time, advents are pretty good at healing.
Next time I returned, advents can choose between ranged or melee. But which one is better depends upon which items are available and which you can obtain. Under level 100, the best ranged items, such as CDR requires a group, while the melee weapons drop like candy and are easily roll-able.
At some point in between, I returned to EQ, 2-boxing my ranger and cleric. When I last played my EQ cleric, players would literally kneel when I zoned in (EQ players tend to role play more than any other MMO I’ve played). But when I returned, it was my ranger who gets a tell, wanting me to join a group. I have no idea why, other than the removal of the most onerous death penalty I’ve ever encountered in an MMO (loss of all your gear, and painful amounts of exp, which a cleric could mitigate by casting resurrection on your corpse, thereby teleporting you to your corpse, so you could retrieve your gear, plus regain your lost experience, the amount of which depended upon the level of the cleric’s resurrection spell).
Bottom line, class effectiveness is solely based on how devs choose what skills to give them, and in the case of AO, what weapons are are available, and whether it’s a light green skill to level or dark blue.
And now this game is so old, players choose who to group with, which is invariably min-max at the end game. And adventurers have tended to be well-rounded, and hence not desired in groups.
i.e., if you want to join group end-game content, developer and player whims have not favored advents over the years. If you prefer to solo, any class will do, so play what you enjoy.
Just be warned that developer whims have been all over the map over the years, which definitely has affected my wariness of playing my very first AO toon (born 2001, but only level 70-ish now). Plus now knowing how players in very old games like this are invariably min-max.
You’re describing a problem AO always had. There are lots and lots of weapons, most of them are crap if not insanely over equipped. Some dungeons made it better (TotW, Foreman’s, later on the redesigned Subway, SoM redesign, CoH, also SL made it a bit better), but only for certain profs and weapon choices. AO was and is very unevenly itemized, at least until AI came out. Since AI, Funcom started a strategy of giving something to everyone. They even tried to fill up some early/mid game holes (hence the Subway redesign, or the Reck).
As I see it, Adv is still a totally viable prof with great soloability, but without the expansions it won’t be easy, at least when playing ranged. There’s a big hole there with a, probably, heavily camped, group needing boss dropping the weapon of choice for at least 4 profs (Lab Director for CDRs). Wardog in the Reck later on will also be camped, but he’s on an okay-ish respawn timer. When SL hits, the Jobe Pistols will be a thing (as it’s still the main damage source after 15 years… Funcom… it wasn’t a too good choice to give us Advs a FA Pistol), but damn rare… if you really want to play Adv, go melee. You’re going to have a much easier time, weapon wise.