I been bit by the bug. I have not played in…maybe 8 years. I don’t remember. I also don’t remember all the nuances to playingthe game so basically I’m a noob.
So questions:
I have seen some claim the game is dead. I guess they mean its a ghost town. How accurate is that?
Should i create a toon, any recommendations for a class? I am betting like most mmo ill be left solo. I have no idea how to twink or be level 20 running around with gear i am unable to equip at lvl 50. (From what i remember I had a hard time useing my own lvl gear). Any class to avoid?
Any advise on setting points (AP? IP? Cant remember) when i level. I remember it being very easy to mess that up.
…anything else i should be aware of?
Thank you in advance.
If these questions are best answered else where on some up to date thread please share a link.
The new progression server (RK2019) would be where to go. It is still level locked at 60, so there are plenty of people playing at those levels and a lot of people coming back as noobs needing help. It is actually pretty well populated at almost all times.
Everyone has their own ideas on what classes solo best. Good middle of the road classes like MA or adventurer tend to do well. Trader, enforcer, MP also work for most people. Doctors solo well at low levels. But I tend to be a soloer too, and on the new server there are plenty of opportunities to team, so your options are more open. I’d avoid squishy profs like NT or Crat.
There are a lot of guides for all classes around, and people are very happy to help give tips on a specific class you decide to try. IP can be intimidating, but it makes sense and you can’t hurt yourself too badly to start with.
Can’t advise you on class without knowing your preferred playing style. All classes I’ve played so far have been able to solo.
IP - I can only tell you what works for me.
I always raise Abilities (stamina, strength, etc.) without thought, until 100 or so, because the Abilities trickle down to other skills, you can easily do so without running out of IP (unless you go crazy on other things to spend IP on, which I don’t), and because level 50 implants is where I start to get serious on implants, which require 104 in some ability.
Under Body & Defense, I raise Body Dev (because HP), Evade ClsC, and Dodge-Rng (counters to commonly encountered damage types). Others I only raise as needed.
I raise my primary damage source, which can be either weapons or nanos, depending upon class.
Under Exploring, I raise run speed until it becomes too expensive.
Under Combat & Healing, I put points in Treatment, because Treatment is needed for implants.
Under Trade & Repair, I put points in Comp. Lit, primarily to maximize the buffs I can have. You need NCU to hold buffs, and Comp. Lit determines your NCU/belts capacity (plus determines your grid access, but that’s not really an issue in practice). It’s also pretty common for higher level people to give you buffs, either drive by or upon request, and they can’t if you don’t have enough NCU to hold them.
There is no need to spend all of your IP each level. You don’t lose them if you don’t.
Other general tips:
At low levels, credits are tight. If credits are an issue, don’t buy every nano or implant just because you have the IP for them. Buy nanos only because you know you need them (buy the lowest level version, and if you use it a lot, buy an upgrade if it’s useful and affordable, but if there’s an upgrade every couple of levels or so, don’t buy each one, unless you need and can afford to). AO has taken the game dev cliche of “interesting choices = more fun” to an extreme, and so most classes do not have enough IP to max out everything useful to them. Buy implants as needed, focusing on your primary damage abilities at first.
Once you leave the backyard area, go to Old Athen if clan, Omni-Trade if omni (probably Newland if neutral, but not sure since I’ve not played as neutral) (sided zones selected for ease of shopping) and choose missions there until about level 6 or 7, then go to ICC. In ICC, buy Newcomer’s armor in the shopping area. This armor will level up to your level if you click on it, so by the cheapest for sale.
Of course, you can buy this armor before then, but at level 6 or so, you can also go to the Subway dungeon, which for the most part is easily solo-able. Near to the entrance you’ll find a lady with a blue name, who offers you a quest to find her purse. Soon after zoning into Subway, you’ll find a thief. Kill it to get a purse, and return it to the lady, which will reward you with an instant level.
Go back into Subway and invite every solo player who is not gray or red to you, and stay there until you get an Ofab weapon that suits you, which should last you until level 40 or so until you find something better. Or if you prefer to solo, level up until you can solo the mobs that drop them. The max level for Subway is 25, and you can easily solo those mobs before then. Hit F10, choose Behavior if you need to disable leveling. The exp will be restored to you a little at a time once you re-enable leveling.
I was thinking soldier but really because i wanted to use a gun’ visually the idea of an armored guy with a rifle seems nice. Yet i don’t want to be standing there trying to shoot somthing for 30min (i remember some guns fire slow) when i could have just punched it lol.
Yet, I’m not married to it and MA is also on the list. I have usely played tanks and dps.
I think adven can do a s bit of both so may go that way…sigh this is wjy i end up being sn altsholic
Thanks for the help
Yes come to RK2019 where its sorta like old AO again. Lots of folks running around. I have not played a soldier much but I hear from some they can be a bit one dimensional. If you like guns maybe a Fixer? machine gun DPS plus fast run speed, own travel grid and nice buffs? They can also blitz missions really well to raise cash for you.
Thanks again. Think ill go MA at least for now. That way i can focus on relearning the game without needing to find creds to buy weapons. Downloaded just need to install and all that jazz. Thanks all
main game (known as rk5) is pretty dead from the perspective of a new player. The progression server is more active at the moment.
Enforcer and Martial Artist are two of the most powerful and easiest to play professions in the game. Martial artist requires the least amount of gear and items to keep progressing without ever feeling underpowered, and enforcer with the right gear is a faceroll for lower level content. Avoid the heavily nano dependent classes like Agent, NT, or Trader for your first toon, however I highly recommend trying out each of these professions once you understand the game better.
for IP, it really helps to know the significance of each stat you can put points into. also, skills range from light green to dark blue depending on your profession and breed. Light green is low-IP cost, wheras dark blue is High-IP cost. You need treatment for implants, computer literacy for NCU, base abilities must be raised accordingly to “max out” the other stats that are dependent upon them. Run speed should be prioritized, despite what others may say. just choose one main weapon skill to maximize Attack Rating, and raise special attacks just high enough to equip your weapons (there are a few exceptions to this, but mainly its just Brawl). Body development and nano pool (max health and max nano, respectively) are more or less worthwhile depending on your breed. Ie, Atrox will want to max body development while a nanomage would be better off investing 50-75%. Evade-close should be raised on almost every profession as melee is the most ubiquitous form of combat in AO. Dodge and duck are only needed on certain professions who can accommodate such builds or for pvp. Nano skills should only be raised high enough to cast the nanos you currently own, and be mindful of your professions IP costs for nanoskills; if they are all dark blue, think twice before investing multiple levels worth of IP for a single nano program. Initiatives are the lowest priority and are almost never worth investing more than 25% into.