Newbie's questions about the (pay to play) mainland.

[azziane]

Hi!

I am new to Ryzom and have not yet decided if I will give it a try once I run out of free content. If you could give me some info about the main land I would be grateful.

1)I heard there were no dungeons in the whole game (and by dungeon I give it the AD&D definition, as an underground/tunnel/cave kind of fighting area with a begining from which you crawl to an end). Is that true?

2)I have not seen enough of the game yet to understand how grouping is done. I understand the concept and am familiar with other MMORPGs. But the skill based XP system makes me wonder how group are formed. Do you just go sending messages such as "team looking for a lvl 125 defensive magic healer"?

3)How long would you say it takes to go to one end of one skill tree (lvl 250 if I remember correctly)?

4)I hear that any character can master every single skill tree. Do you get XP penalties on some tree/path? What is it based?

I probably have a lot more questions but these 4 are the main ones. Thanks for your help.

[katriell]

1)I heard there were no dungeons in the whole game (and by dungeon I give it the AD&D definition, as an underground/tunnel/cave kind of fighting area with a begining from which you crawl to an end). Is that true?

There's some really cool little caves along the cliffs in a desert canyon region called Scorched Corridor.

Also, there are kitin nests in various places throughout Atys, which are like hollow mountains. At least one of those nests is located in the Prime Roots (a set of regions which are all underground), and resembles a large and confusing cave/tunnel system.

Though kitin nests contain hordes of giant genocidal insects who protect their queen and larvae, none are driven by a particular goal or "quest," aside from the obvious (kitin larva are very valuable as crafting materials). This will soon change with the upcoming addition of a rather dungeon-like kitin nest, which will be at least in part driven by NPC-given missions.

Ryzom Ring will allow players to create their own "scenarios," which could be anything from simple locations to explore or hold events in, to complex scripted acts likenable to quests or dungeons.

3)How long would you say it takes to go to one end of one skill tree (lvl 250 if I remember correctly)?

Totally depends on how much you want to grind. I've heard of people reaching 250 in offensive elemental magic within a few months. On the other hand, I've been playing for over a year and my highest skill is still 230.

4)I hear that any character can master every single skill tree. Do you get XP penalties on some tree/path? What is it based?

There is no penalty, limitation, restriction, etc. You could attain every level there is. It would just take a really, really long time.

[azziane]

There is no penalty, limitation, restriction, etc. You could attain every level there is. It would just take a really, really long time.

Right, that's what i've been hearing. I just realized my question was badly worded. What I meant to ask is: do you level up in every skill tree at the same speed? or do you get bonus or penalties? And if so then what re they based on? Your race? Your level in other skills?

What I really would like to know is actually this:

Let's say I decide to play a Fyros melee guy with huge armor and a big 2 handed sword (a tank kind of self-imposed class). And let's assume it takes me one year to max out my Fight melee tree without working on anythign else at all. So I am a 250 melee fighter, with 0 in ranged fight, 0 in magic and 0 in harvest/craft.

I then decide to work on my magic skills. Would I just go back to the very begining of the game with the lowest level mobs, and work my way through the magic tree in the same manner I work my way through melee fighting? And, assuming I am not using any melee during that time, I would gain XP at the same rate I was when begining my melee career?

It is a lot of words to express a probably simple question. But the concept is very confusing, albeit exciting, for a brain washed WOW/EQ player like me.

Thanks for your help!

[jamela]

Welcome to Atys Azziane

2. In my own experience forming teams from scratch tends to begin with your friends that you levelled with in the first place. Then your guild, which often includes at least some of the first group Then guild allies, who then become your friends too. Then people and teams that you bump into, often in the area you want to explore, some of whom become your friends

In answer to your second post, Yes. That is how it would work, although it's never likely to happen in practice. On the other hand, starting magic when you've already got 250 melee levels would mean you already have outstanding HP and Dodge or Parry attributes, not to mention a wealth of other abilities (unless somehow you neglected to train them, in which case you've no business earning level 20, let alone 250), making your magic training a great deal easier.

The way it works is that you potentially get experience points for any succesful action you perform. So if you start out a fight as melee and manage to draw blood, you are due melee exp when the critter is killed. If you switch to heal during the fight and successfully heal someone you're teamed with who has also earned a share of the exp, then you will be due healing exp also. Highest skill level involved in any kill or forage determines the experience earned as a whole, so use of high level skills can nerf lower level actions.

[blaah]

3)How long would you say it takes to go to one end of one skill tree (lvl 250 if I remember correctly)?

it's totally up to you. if you find group in your play time to level you favourite skill (fight/magic), then it's really fast (powerleveling). xp catalyzers (cats) make it even easyer (1 cat doubles 100xp)

it's only 18mil xp for combat and 12mil xp for craft after all (check my sig)

[pugmak]

The way it most often works out is kinda like this:

"I think I wanna be a tank" says me.
"This tanking is fun but I need to work off some death penalty (called DP. It's an xp debt acquired by dieing) in a safer way, so maybe I'll dig a bit." says me.

"I wonder how that crafting works? I hear folk talking about it all the time. Maybe I'll try that for a minute" says me.

"humm... pulling mobs with that acid spell got me a couple levels in magic to spend... maybe I'll get heal spell so I can rez our healer if he falls" says me.

"I sure do like tanking, what? need a rez? be right there! oh, choice fiber? that's over behind the town next to that split tree. Yeah, I can make you a nice sword if you want to give up the mats for it, or pay me "

One of the best things about this char development system is that if you get bored doing one thing, just start doing the other things. If you find you have a hole in your capabilities that you'd like to fill with a skill from a lesser used branch of the tree, work that branch a bit and get that skill.
etc etc.

Think "flexible, adjustable and fully customizable" when planning your character development.

[mehanson]

Let's say I decide to play a Fyros melee guy with huge armor and a big 2 handed sword (a tank kind of self-imposed class). And let's assume it takes me one year to max out my Fight melee tree without working on anythign else at all. So I am a 250 melee fighter, with 0 in ranged fight, 0 in magic and 0 in harvest/craft.

In case its not clear, let me add that if you work exclusively with the big 2H sword, you'll only be maxing one branch of the melee tree, that of 2H sword.

The skill trees branch at various levels. Taking the fight tree (and assuming 2H sword) as an example:

its Fight from level 0-20. at 21 it branches into Melee and Ranged combat.

Melee combat branches again at level 51 into 1H melee fight, 2H melee fight, and Close Combat.

2H Melee branches again at level 101 into 2H Smashing, 2H slashing, and 2H piercing.

2H Slashing branches again at lvl 151 into 1H Axe and 2H Sword.

2H sword gains a new name at lvl 200 becoming 2H Master Sword.

Now let's say you did nothing but the 2H sword for all this time. Now that you've hit 250 in 2H sword, you decide to pick up 2H axe fighting. You will start at level 151, where the 2H slashing splits into Axe and Sword. If you were to pick up a mace and start smashig bugs, you'd be back at level 101, where 2H smashing seperated from 2H slashing and 2H piercing.

If you were to decide to take up daggers next, you'd drop back to skill level 51, where close combat split out from 1H and 2H fighting.

Pick up a pistol, and now you're back to level 21 where ranged first separated from melee.

Start throwing spells around, and guess what? you're back to "ground zero" because you haven't worked that skill at all. But you still have all the stats you earned while working your 2H big sword, so you can probably kill that weanling Yubo with magic before he kills you <G>

You don't lose what you already have, but your skill level with the new weapon is less than with your mastered 2H weapon, and the damage dealt is less accordingly, so you probably want to take on slightly lower level mobs until you "learn" that new weapon.

Hope this helps.... BTW, I think someone "counted" almost 10,000 levels if you were to try to max every branch of every skill tree. No one's done it yet, or even seriously attempted it as far as I know. There are a (very) few who are working on mastering every branch of the melee tree, or every branch of the crafting and forgaing trees, but the rest of us just aren't that "grind happy".

[azziane]

It all unfolds thanks to you guys.

Thank you!