What is the state of DAoC (on Uthgard)?
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Hello all,
I share the same story as many of you I'm sure. I played DAoC prior to ToA and fell in love with the RvR. However, with the release of ToA, the focus of the game shifted drastically from RvR to PvE. With the inclusion of artifacts (farming and leveling them up) and master levels (long raids and quests, at least at release of ToA), the game became similar to many others: A long PvE grind. Ultimately, the worst consequence from this expansion was how it made RvR unbalanced. A key part of DAoC that I enjoyed was the relative balance in RvR. Although some classes excel over others and the strengths of each realm are clear, you don't lose a fight simply because your opponent had the Best-in-Slot gear and you don't; players were almost all on equal footing regarding gear. So, after playing other MMO's and always reminiscing about the "good ol' days of DAoC", I've decided to give it another try. I found Uthgard, which keeps DAoC in its best form: Pre-ToA and using Old Frontiers! With this as an introduction, I could share my stories and highlights of my past in DAoC. However, I'm sure we all have these memories which is why we are still playing this game on this server. Let's just say that I played primarily 8v8 as a troll savage and loved it.  I understand that, even with Uthgard, the game has changed and evolved since the years that I played. Thus, I would like to present the following questions in hopes that I can get a better understanding of how DAoC is now: - What speed do mounts grant? Are they usable in RvR zones? Does this eliminate the need for speed classes? - When I played DAoC, any serious 8v8 group needed a speed class. However, upon browsing these forums, it seems that many group compositions don't use them anymore. Why is this? - To further expand on the previous question, I have always been intrigued by the minstrel. In the past, a well-played minstrel made an Alb group a significantly greater threat. Considering their versatility, ability to cast while moving and their speed song, I have always been interested in rolling this class. However, I am disappointed to see that they're not part of a typical Alb 8v8 group. Is it because they're not needed? That a more specialized class of a different role is more important? Perhaps there aren't enough skilled minstrels for them to be a typical choice? - Another class: the savage. My first love. Again, most Midgard groups seem to favor berserkers rather than savages. How come? Are savages still the same as before (self-buffs that take life, dual wielding hand-to-hand weapons that can quad hit)?- What is the general realm balance (regarding their power/control) on this server? I see that, currently, the Hibs have most of the relics. Is this typical? Is there a realm that is typically the underdog? - How is realm population in comparison to one another? - Following the same thought, how is the health of the server in general? Is it difficult to find RvR fights? How about the BG's? - What is the typical format of RvR now? 8v8? Zergs? How about duos/stealthers? - From the now-typical group compositions of each realm, which classes are there not enough of? An overabundance of? Ah! Yes, and as a tertiary discussion: My brother and I are two very experienced players that are looking to join the server. We want to be able to duo together (I can't count the times we ravaged DF as a shaman/savage when it was occupied by another realm) but also be viable for 8v8 setups. At this point, we are neutral between the three realms. Well, I think that covers most of the questions that I have. I appreciate your time in reading the post and (hopefully) for your constructive replies. If there is any additional information that you would like from me, just ask. Xaylen Last edited by Xaylen on Aug 12, 2013 16:32, edited 2 times in total.
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Welcome to Uthgard! I'll try to answer your questions in order.
Please refer to this Wikia page for details regarding speed and RvR zone limitations. As you can see, the speeder classes still grant much greater speed increases.
That is mostly true for Albion groups. Skalds and Bards are very much in demand in their respective realms. Minstrels, due to their "stealther hybrid" nature, aren't quite as group-friendly as their counterparts.
First of all, a minstrel's versatility is also his downfall - most of the roles they take (except for the fact that they are the alb speeder class) are filled better with more specialised classes. The sorcerer, for example, can mezz faster, at a much higher range and with a longer duration. They also demezz faster. The only "moving spells" the minstrel gets are instrument-based (i.e. their songs and the flute pulse single mezz) or their instants. Good for interrupting and emergency stun peels, but not much else - a theurgist will be able to rupt many, many more targets at once. You will be able to find the occasional group if you're persistent though. On the other hand, the minstrel is an excellent solo/small group class and always welcome on keep raids (to keep the zerg moving faster and, with the appropriate spec, climb into keeps, rupt wall huggers etc.). Duos and trios with stealthers are a lot of fun, too. The minstrel is a class that's quite hard to master, but gets more rewarding as your experience increases. Use of macros is not permitted on Uthgard, meaning that twisting songs has to be completely manual, while, at the same time, performing all of your other tasks. Prepare for some harsh micromanagement if you do decide to roll one.
I'm not overly familiar with Midgard on Uthgard. I'm convinced, however, that your description of the savage in regard to buffs and H2H is accurate.
Please refer to the statistics page on the herald for population info. I'm not quite sure of the current situation since I just got back from a 6-month break!
Judging by the low-RR announcements on the herald, I'm guessing BG population is fine. You can always find a fight if you're looking for one hard enough. On the other hand, it's summer and people suffer from sunlight-induced real life at the moment :p
You get a bit of everything, really. It just depends on where you go.
Sorry, not up to speed on that.
I'm guessing one of the "core duos" of each realm is enough, you can always just build a group when there's no room in others. For Albion, I recommend Sorc + Cleric, Bard + BM in Hibernia (alternatively Mentalist + Enchanter) and maybe Skald + Shaman in Midgard? Seems like a viable duo every time I've encountered one. I hope I could help. If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask. |
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154%, yes, no/partly
Well, I think every group runs a speed class (for example sorc is one, too ), but especially Alb groups rarely run minstrels. Bard is vital, and Skald... I think most mid groups run one. They love SOS!
You always hear - we would run minstrel, if there were good ones... then everybody thinks, "woot, here I come.. I rock the server, I play minstrel anyway..." and ends up tasking or stealthing. It is way easier to take another damage class instead of minstrel into setup. Also, most alb groups run theurg for rupt. The base setup is like cleric, cleric, sorc, pala, theu, 3x dps - if you ditch 1x dps for minst, alb pressure could drop enormously. If you drop theu, you miss the pets, the bubble, haste has to be charged...
Afaik savages are counted as onehanded attackers and therefore get blocked all the time => bersi prefered
See Herald on uthgard.net. No real underdog, relics change every few months.
See Herald
Depends on your timezone - on European primetime there is heavy action, from 8v8 up to zerg wars. At other times you have to look for duos or small man.
All formats found, from solo up to zerg wars, from solo stealthers to 7 rangers + bard grouped
I only play Albion, but I heard there is an abundance of warriors, shamans and skalds.. bersis are looked for. For albion there are too many reavers and theus, pala, cleric, sorc are always needed, mercs are sometimes rare, but can be even up to 3 in a typical alb setup. Maybe you should know, that for high end pve raids only certain classes are picked up. For albion its pala, cleric, reaver (2x), theu - and for Dragon Raid only also friar and maybe ice wizz or cab. So at least one of you two should play one of those classes, or earning money will be hard at 50. If you want to both pvp duo and 8v8 with your 2 chars, there arent too many options. You need buff, heal, speed, cc, dps... there wont be many other options than sorc(theu) and cleric, though for pve pala + reaver/merc is nice. Maybe you finally xp some more toons - so you can switch to the needed class. For hib it could be bard + bm, for mid healer+warrior/bersi. Ex-Albion-Logres: Bogner [Sankaras Erben] and co Ex-Camlann: Dirtymind [FEAR] and Stinkerle  |
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Excellent, thank you so far for your replies. I appreciate the resources that have also been mentioned (I should have found this myself...)
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To be Honest, a well played Minstrel is worth more then any DPS can ever be. Sadly on this Server there is like 1 good Minstrel at the moment.
Of course Minstrel doesn´t fit in every Setup since if u ran a Minstrel your supposed to push 95% of the Time( i would run 2 Merc, Minstrel), but you have a lot of Utility only when we talk about RA´s. SoS for Counter SoS or get your Caster / Cleric´s Free AoM nice Backupheal and so on.... Purge, Moc etc... You are the second demezzer in Albion which can help a lot. You have the oppurtinity to mezz in the front where the Sorc mostly doesn´t even stand a chance to mezz an eldritch for example. Good instant-rupt and you have 1 guaranteed rupt because of the broken flute mezz on Uthgard. Someone who say Minstrel are not viable in RvR don´t have a clue. As someone already said there are simply too less good Minstrel around on Uthgard, that´s it.
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Xacrag, that's encouraging.
I've seen some great minstrels in the past that had a significant effect on group performance. But, they are certainly a complicated class. So many options that it would be difficult to perform well. This is one of my interests in the class. I do well under pressure and like the challenge.But I don't want to put myself in a bad position right at the start. Do you think that the Uthgard impression of minstrels could change? Last edited by Xaylen on Aug 12, 2013 16:32, edited 1 time in total.
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 Ex-Albion-Logres: Bogner [Sankaras Erben] and co Ex-Camlann: Dirtymind [FEAR] and Stinkerle |
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noone will grp a rr4 minst, so it will be a long run before u can join grp rvr. doubt it is worth it, since a good merc is always competitive to a minst, is more likely invited and not that ra dependend.
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A Good Merc can´t be any competitive to a good minstrel and will never be lol.
But to answer your question and like the guys say minstrel´s aren´t that popular here(sadly), well as enemy i´m always happy  if they run w/o minstrel ^^.
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and because low rr minstrels are that mighty u ve how many in ur alb setup as a set grp? =)
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Lol
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It's not because a low rr minstrel isn't mighty, but more that there simply aren't any well played minstrels around. Xacrag already said that there is probabaly just 1 good minstrel and that might be the reason why you rarely see any minstrels in rvr groups. So rather group another mercenary, who kinda executes his job no matter how he is played, than a bad minstrel.  |
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he was talking about the usefulness of minstrels in tankgroups, not castergroups. even you should get that  |
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There's not 't' at the end of Uthgard.
RIP : Ectoplasme
My own version of Uthgard Character Builder |
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ty shin, didnt think about that. i fully agree with xac |
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