Hey guys,

This is probably the millionth time you've read a post similar to this but I wanted to get some player perspective information on the current state of play on Uthgard before I created my character. I've been playing on and off on the Live server since late 2004, but I am increasingly becoming tired of how the state of play on there is and this server sounds interesting and even better, cheap to play! I have a few general questions, and several specific one's first before I create my character however.

The general one's are;
a) Which classes are playable in terms of competitive on Uthgard, and are there some wide gaps in group set ups due to missing classes?
b) Which classes are needed most on Uthgard in each realm?
c) What class do you suggest to make if it'll be my first and only character (please give suggestions for each realm!)?

Now more specific questions. My understanding is that certain zones and dungeons are not in Uthgard. Are Task Dungeons in Uthgard? Leveling is far slower on here than Live I hear. What would the average time be to take a character to 50, and do characters below 50, like one's between 45-50, venture out in the frontiers to RvR or is that impractical and no one would group with them? How is earning gold and affording templates on Uthgard, would Epic Armor and some random fill in items allow me to be competitive or is it very precise like it is on Live now in terms of templates?

I'm assuming champion and master levels aren't part of Uthgard, correct? Because I like that idea very much.

Thanks to all who respond, you will save me some headache and confusion! And to whichever realm I join, greetings!

First: I can only speak for Hibernia. I hope some others can explain the Details from the other Realms to you, too.

Agamon wrote: a) Which classes are playable in terms of competitive on Uthgard, and are there some wide gaps in group set ups due to missing classes?

The Animist isnt really playable in RvR, the pathing is bugged and bombers arent affected of Int. All others are playable.

Agamon wrote: b) Which classes are needed most on Uthgard in each realm?

Hibernia are in need of some good played Eld's and Heroes i would say.

Agamon wrote: c) What class do you suggest to make if it'll be my first and only character (please give suggestions for each realm!)?

As first Char i would take Animist- You are needed in every Raidgrp, you can solofarm or in duo with Manamenta and its a cheap char. But for RvR, i would lvl up another Char.

Agamon wrote:Now more specific questions. My understanding is that certain zones and dungeons are not in Uthgard. Are Task Dungeons in Uthgard? Leveling is far slower on here than Live I hear. What would the average time be to take a character to 50, and do characters below 50, like one's between 45-50, venture out in the frontiers to RvR or is that impractical and no one would group with them? How is earning gold and affording templates on Uthgard, would Epic Armor and some random fill in items allow me to be competitive or is it very precise like it is on Live now in terms of templates?

Task Dungeon? No.
Level to 50? Depends on your playstyle, on class and if u get / go grouped. I would say 2 weeks in average? If u play much, maybe less.
Below 50's in RvR? They are mostly in the BGs, rarely in Emain. Sometimes you can run in outer Primetime below 50 to Emain, if you are a Supporter. But i would say, below lvl 49 templated, u will need a Guild to do that.
Earning Gold & Affording Template? It's difficult to farm Money here on Uthgard now. The best way to farm Money in the beginning is to salvage everything and farming Seals in DF. Later you can also make Money, running on Raids through DF, Tajendi or Dragonraids. You can create for almost every Grpchar & Caster really cheap Templates with cheap Items and 99% Gear.
Epic Armor + Randoms? Not a real good alternative. 99% low cost templates are minimum standard on Uthgard.

Agamon wrote:I'm assuming champion and master levels aren't part of Uthgard, correct? Because I like that idea very much.

Not implemented here, right.

Agamon wrote:Thanks to all who respond, you will save me some headache and confusion! And to whichever realm I join, greetings!

Welcome to Uthgard!

What Milleu said, except I think if you get in the right guild, Emain is viable. I have been out there since my upper 30's, with my guild of the same level when BG's are slow. Big downfall, is US time after 7pm PST it gets real slow.

If you need help getting started and choose Hibernia, give me a yell, just ask for Adianne, and welcome to Uthgard!

I continue with tips from Hibernia:

Imo (and many others) Hibernia is the easiest realm to get a decent equip. CF, cheap Sheeroe drops and ofc Midar's bracers normally do the trick. - Most classes get capped or close to capped with 99% only or few MPs + Classic drops without Tajendi (you know about Tajendi already?). A bit more compliated to equip in Hibernia are maybe ... Nightshade, Valewalker (full MP cloth set is standard), highly split dependant BM temps (not too complicated though), Warden (if you want to get as much as possible)... I think that's it.

If you want a template you can't find in the template section feel free to contact me via PM.. I believe I'm quite good at making them, I posted some in the thread already, but it's always dependant on the ideas people had when they asked me for one..

Thanks for the responses so far guys, it sounds like if I played Hibernia I'd choose a Hero. I played Albion on the Live server, so a switch of realm could be very refreshing and make the leveling grind more interesting too. What type of Hero is needed most, a S/S, LW, or CS? Or does it matter? I am from the Eastern United States time zone, so if there is a huge population drop during the evenings, then I'll probably need to aim for more solo play and look for groupings on the weekends. It also sounds like I need to look for a decent guild that will allow me to play pre 50 in the frontiers too. That isn't a huge deal to me however.

It sounds like I'll probably need assistance when the time comes to template, is there a specific site/post that lists templates for different classes? I'm one of those people that believes as long as you have a solid template, your skills will carry you further than the greatest template, so I'm not looking for an expensive template with lots of toys ect.

Two weeks average to get to level 50 is way faster than I expected, I was thinking 4-6 weeks. If I played about 1-2 hours a day average, would that 2 week time be accurate or would that push it more towards 3 weeks or more?

I'm not familiar with Tajendi, is that a zone specific to Hibernia?

I forgot to mention in my first post, what about patching the game? I'm currently all patched up to Live standards, what would I need to do to be able to play on the Uthgard server? And if I played on the Live server periodically, or for whatever reason decided Uthgard wasn't for me, would that mess up the Live patching and also Uthgard patching if I switched?

Thanks for the help you three, and if I do join Hibernia I will take you up on your offer Adianne and Kirillow!

What type of Hero is needed most, a S/S, LW, or CS? Or does it matter?

Afaik the usual spec for group play would be 50 shield, 50 CS/LW, rest 1h weapon of your choice.. You job is guarding mostly. LW seems to have the higher damage output (level 50 backstun) but CS has more utility (backsnare) and since you got slam already..

I heard quite a lot of people from the US (especially Eastern) complain about the poulation at their prime time, true.. But that's a problem you face in every realm.. My guild The Covenant is mainly US players btw.. Nice bunch of people, not too high RR, not too complicated to get an invite.. Maybe you'll meet some of while leveling

It sounds like I'll probably need assistance when the time comes to template, is there a specific site/post that lists templates for different classes?

Not for classes but for realms: In the realm subforums you'll find a sticky with various templates..

Not too long ago I posted a decent hero template in there: 2 MP armor parts and MP shield, rest 99% quality - Free choice of weapon types, all capped except (oh my!) one point in quickness

Two weeks average to get to level 50 is way faster than I expected, I was thinking 4-6 weeks. If I played about 1-2 hours a day average, would that 2 week time be accurate or would that push it more towards 3 weeks or more?

I would expect a bit more then, visit the BGs, get some groups going and it should be alright.. It's fun almost imo

Tajendi is a custom instanced zone for a maximum of 8 players each. There are some good drops that people put into their templates, they sometimes have slightly higher stats than classic drops, sometimes better utility (charges, procs etc.), but nothing really you need to compete.. The quest reward cloak from Taj1 though is pretty standard.. But it's a nice story, takes max 3 hours and your cloak is guaranteed

Ptaching is no big deal, Uthgard doesn't check for your version.. Normally it takes some time to make the latest one compatible.. UIs might have some problems with the older and/or newer versions though.. You will notice.

The Uthgard patch you run before you log in here does in fact mess with the DAoC folder a bit.. It's no big deal repatching onto Live again, it's rather about getting from Live to Uthgard again especially if you are running older UIs like I do - But don't bother too much about it, it's no big deal

I advise against playing Hibernia. They are the strongest realm and have no need for further help.

If you're to play only one class, you need to determine what archetype you enjoy most of the three: Healer, DPS, or support.

From there, you can make a better determination of what class will suit your needs.

Largely viable classes for most types of play:

Hibernia: Bard, eldritch, druid, blademaster
Albion: Minstrel, theurgist, cleric, mercenary, paladin, cabalist
Midgard: Warrior, skald, zerker, savage, runemaster, healer, shaman

All of those classes can be played in small-man and 8v8 regularly.
Stealther can be played on any of the three realms.

8v8 hib is the weakest realm currently due to the way the server is setup. OF RAs may come, they say they will come eventually then you would be in good shape.

det tanks dominate here, casters are pretty weak. in hib and mid you will usually see 1 caster in an 8 man, eld and some runnies run around. bold groups run more then 1 caster, we tried on hib as a debuff group. albs run the usual setups so, therg/sorc are popular, cabbies are far and few between...

I am US and most of the euros are pretty cool when it comes to putting groups together (pvp/rvr), they are less concerned overall with getting that "perfect" setup before leaving the pk then US groups are, and really just want to play, so to be honest play what you like.

You acknowledged the fact that he is no actual noob to DAoC? He knows how the classes work probably ^^

I advise against playing Hibernia. They are the strongest realm and have no need for further help.

This is just nonsense. The strength of realms always fluctuates, some months ago Mid was considered to be the strongest realm in terms of succesful pugs even though Alb had the relics together with Hib. Now Hib is overpopulated cause they got all the relics..

If you plan on playing a bit longer here it doesn't matter what realm you play.. Seriously.

Thanks for the additional replies guys. I did a little further forum reading and it sounds like I'll play a Hero in Hibernia as suggested here, although I must ask if a Warden or Champion would be a good choice too if this is a heavily melee oriented server as it appears to be. Are those classes broken in some way or is it just that there are plenty of them already in the game?

I don't concern myself with the realms populations, realm populations shift like the wind on Live and I imagine it is similar here too. I'm one of those that stick to a realm as I consider myself a casual player, usually playing a max 1-2 hours on any given evening, with the occasional 4 hour play on a weekend night. I don't have time to maintain and play multiple characters on multiple realms. I've been an Albion since the start, and only dabbled into Midgard recently on Live as a few friends wanted to trio with me there (also don't know anything about Midgard as on Live they have those amazingly easy BG quests that make you never need to leave the BG besides to train until 50). Never played Hibernia though, this should be fun.

So my final question before I begin here (I promise to stop pestering you all!) is why I should play a Hero over a Warden or Champion.

Thanks, and I'll see you in the game!

Champions lack Stoi and the Damage of a Hero or BM, and their Spells do not make up for it. Thats why you would pick a Hero as deftank (better Def, more Damage, way better def RAs) and a BM for DPS (Charge, Stoi, and DW is the only viable option to penetrate enemy defense atm.).

Warden is somewhat viable for Hybrid and Meleegrps, but you will be forced into a very defensive role to enable one of your druids to play offensiv (Heal and Buff, low Weaponspec). If you got no Problem with that your good to go

the strength of the realms dont change, population and relics does not determine the strength. strength is classes and the way this server is designed (which btw is a design that was never implemented in any previous period in DAOC).

mids have always had the best pugs, and always will. they require the least amount of classes to cover all the basics..
albs, if played well, with a good setup, should beat any group, BUT are the weakest pugs since it takes highest numbers of different classes to cover all of the abilities/spells.
hibs are decent all around, but struggle here, mainly because caster dmg is weak here compared to melee. as a realm they rely heavily on caster dmg, certainly unlike mids, and unlike albs since albs have the best interrupts of all 3 realms

but, with old RAs there is a lot more balance, and with tanks being able to be CC'd, and old MOC, casters will become much more viable.

Kirillow wrote:The strength of realms always fluctuates, some months ago Mid was considered to be the strongest realm in terms of succesful pugs even though Alb had the relics together with Hib. Now Hib is overpopulated cause they got all the relics..

Hib is one of the strongest realms here, they are just the laziest, or PvE centric perhaps. They don't have as much presence as Midgard or Albion in RvR. However, when they want something, they take it.

However, since they are so lazy, a regular RvRer would be welcome

but, with old RAs there is a lot more balance, and with tanks being able to be CC'd, and old MOC, casters will become much more viable.

This is one of the main reasons not to choose a champion too. With old RAs champions will loose Det.

Wardens don't have shield specc here making them viable but not standard in groups. You can make them very effective though and having 4 rezzers makes some well played tank groups almost unkillable I heard

If you do plan on visible solo - which is supposed to be pretty impossible - hero might not be the best choice though, but I think you know that

Thanks guys, I will stick to the Hero idea. Would I find the PvE grind better S/S or LW? CS styles mature late if I understand them correctly (although maybe they are different from Live), so I probably wouldn't try CS until 40. Planning to make my character this weekend, it'll be Agamon unless that name is already taken. Look me up if you need a lowbie to grind with!