Newbie Guide

Here are some comments and experiences as related by our members.

Balar's Comments (11/2/2001)

When doing crafting (tradeskills) you'll see the term "consignments" used on many websites. These are actually "tasks" given to you by the craft master.

Spare the other players some spam (unless you'd like to type out long roleplay commands). When you want a quest or a task use: /whisper task or /whisper quest

Corin's Comments (11/2/2001)

Thought I'd write a quick bit on the races & classes of Albion based on a week in the game. Bear in mind that I've only actually played a Briton Friar (to 7) and a Saracen Mercenary (to 6)...but I've checked out a lot of forums & sites too :)

Races:

Highlander - big strong & stoopid! Look like EQ Barbarians. Best class: Armsmen, Mercenary (probably good Pallies too).

Briton - normal humans. If you want to play a Friar you MUST be a Briton. Flat starting stats - all at 60. No advantages, no disadvantages. No nightsight issues, not like an EQ human (was). Best class: well, Friar, obviously :) otherwise average at all, bad at none.

Avalonian - tall slender. Look a bit like EQ high elves & are a similar concept. Best class: elementalists, mages & (probably) clerics.

Saracen - smallest Albion class. Look & feel a bit like EQ dark elves - but only a very bit :) Very dextrous & agile. Best class: rogues.

Read the manual on base classes & advanced classes. Be CERTAIN that you pick the right race for your character. Eg. don't play a Highlander Acolyte if you want to be a Friar!!

Advanced Classes:

(nb: acolyte base class is a bitch to level - consider grouping after lv3/4)

ACOLYTE (Healers)

Cleric
Similar in concept to EQ Cleric, except all healers get rez very early (lv10) in DAoC.

Friar
In EQ terms the Friar is a Monk/Cleric hybrid who specialises in the quarterstaff (unless he's mad, that is). Friars deal significant damage, but wear light armour (they do get some nifty evade skills however + moves that lower aggro on them & raise defence). They heal MUCH less well than Clerics & can only buff themselves (excellent self buffs, including HASTE). I have found Adie to be somewhat frustrating so far. Although she solos easier than Sam (a Mercenary) & this is without a haste buff currently & somewhat inferior equipment, in groups she is expected to hang back & heal -- clerics seem to be a rare commodity in Albion thus far! Because of two things -- it's virtually impossible to get a spell off when under attack & you must wait 4secs between stopping attacking & starting casting (though I recently discovered that it handles this automatically if you whack your spell hotkey, thus greatly speeding up those emergency group-mate heals). Anyway, it's such a unique concept, I'm going to soldier on. And they do dish out great damage (with wonderful animations) making them very useful to the group with or without a cleric... Quarterstaff style is unique to Friars.

FIGHTER (Tanks)

Mercenary
Mercenaries specialise in dual wielding small fast weapons. Dual wield works wierdly in DAoC & the long & short of it is that you must wield identical weapons in each hand to get the best use out of it. Because the left hand can only wield small fast weapons, this limits you to ... small fast weapons *laugh*. You're also restricted on armour, though you get a minor Evade skill to offset this.

In recent balancing discussions, it seems that Mercs and their over realm cousins are a bit disadvantaged at present because of a glitch in the way weapon quality works. To get round this, resign yourself to wielding orange weapons & paying the price in more rapid degradation. It would also be an excellent idea to make full use of your styles (main advantage of fast weapons - can use styles faster) & to get your weapons enchanted once wielding steel or better. A fun class with a lot of very fun styles. Probably closest to the Monk in EQ, but with better armour.

Paladin
Pallies get 1handed, 2handed, shield & chants. Chants are unique to pallies & work very like EQ Bard songs, except that you typically use one at a time. Currently, you can twist them, but this is believed to be a bug. Additionally, it's impossible to twist chants AND use your styles effectively...not a good idea. Pallies are the ultimate Albion tank and as such are a popular choice.

They don't score so well in tankey skills as Armsmen, but their chants effect the whole group & are really decent (eg regen). This class will be a joy for anyone used to EQ pallies. 2handed weapon styles do a lot of damage, but shields are excellent in DAoC too. They don't just add a miniscule amount of ac, they actually BLOCK blows...a lot. They also uniquely block arrows - very useful in RealmvsRealm where an archer class can take out an unprotected caster in a single shot. Sheild specialisation has its own styles. Sam has the first of these Numb, which is very like an EQ bash but with a longer duration & some really fat damage..nice.. I don't think pallies ever get a way to pull long range, but may be wrong...look it up if it bothers you.

Armsmen
Like an EQ warrior, the best combination of dishing it out & taking it. Has unique weapon option- pole arms. Probably ultimately won't dish out as much damage as a Merc in a toe to toe fight, but will take it much better.


ROGUES

Infiltrator
Said to "own" the indoors, Infiltrators get a range of VERY useful skills in RvR. They've recently had their defensive skills hugely overhauled (as have all rogues) to make them much better in PvE. Hide/Sneak skill makes them semi-visible at very close range - completely invisible further away (UNLESS your foe has perception skills...ie, is another scout/rogue).

Scout
Excellent use of bows. I witnessed a scout take an even con (to him) mob down to a sliver with 2 shots as it charged him. "Owns" the outdoors. Shares many skills with the Infiltrator.

Minstrel
Like an EQ bard, including run speed! :)

I think all rogues + merc dual wield. But dual wield isn't so amazingly unbalancing in this game as it is in EQ.


MAGES (Albion has 2 types of caster, unlike other realms)

Sorcerer
Like an EQ enchanter. Charms last a silly length of time & it's common to see a sorcerer walking around with a bandit pet :) I've also seen sorcerers taking on multiple mobs solo with charm & mez. I've also seen them running like a girl to the guards *laugh*.

Cabbalist
Albion's best pet class. Like an EQ necromancer (get life taps). Considered a bit iffy (join rogue Guild of Shadows along with Mercenaries from the Fighter base class & Infiltrators from the Rogue base class). If they're anything like Hibernian Enchanters (played on to 9) they will be EXCELLENT solo. My Hibernian even got a group run speed buff, so really has it all for a solo life.

ELEMENTALISTS

Wizard
Wizards are the ultimate dd'ers, just like in EQ. Spell effects are AWESOME, ranges are enormous. They gain the unique ability to cast vast AE's on the RvR battlefield.

Thaumaturgist
A weird one :) Get great dds & a lovely melee-friendly damage buff. Can summon multiple short-lived pets to fight for them (really funny to watch).

Very sketchy on classes I've only played along side. I still know Hibernia slightly better, having clocked up more time there & can say that Mythic have been careful to make sure that every class brings both useful and desireable skills to the group (they're not always the same thing!)

It's quite a complicated game. You WILL tear your hair out over Specialisations & you MUST read up on them, but that aside...come join the fun :)

Realm vs Realm

The latest patch message was very revealing on this, as was my reading up on Fighter skills.

Here's the beef:

• Everyone can use /stick to stick to a player no matter how hard he tries to duck & weave: ducking & weaving just won't work in DAoC pvp
• Tanks get two skills at later levels that are really excellent. One concerns PvE, but I'll mention it anyway: (1) Protect & (2) Intercept. If Sam designates that she's Protecting the cleric, a percentage of any hate that the cleric earns will be applied to Sam instead. Intercept - if Sam sees the cleric under attack, she can close on the mob or player & hit Intercept. Instead of the cleric taking blows, she will instead - at reduced defence.
• Casters get a Bladeturn spell that turns the first attack of any size & then expires.

Put all these things together, and the battlefield begins to look like it'll actually work :))