When should I go to the main land?

[xmojo]

I went to the mainland 2 weeks ago so I may can give you an insight into what to expect, from both a soloing and team point of view.

I went over when I had done all the missions available on Silan. I was lvl 57 in Two-handed Sword, lvl 40+ in Crafting and lvl 30s in Magic and Harvesting. I had my Fire and Wrath, Ranger armor, about 1000 hp.

I started off soloing. I quickly discovered my armor/weapons and skills and hp/stam totals were inadequate and I died a lot to the predators. So my first priority was to build up my stats/skills. I also explored a little, ran some missions and generally learned the lay of the land and where I could hunt. I regularly looked at merchant's inventories and bought player-crafted gear whenever I could. I devised little strategies for the various creatures I could fight. I also learned that editing my fighting actions to suit was a good thing too

I joined a guild one week ago. Although I am predominantly a solo person, I also like the guild aspect. The benefits of guild membership are immense, especially if that guild has access to Cats. Guild members upgraded my equipment, gave me cats. Last night I teamed up with a healer, and he took me to areas of the Matis lands I could not dream of soloing at this point. Whereas I was solo fighting lvl 50-60 creatures, suddenly I was fighting lvl 60-70, and even the odd lvl 100 creature (I'm currently lvl 67).

Since joining the mainland my Two-handed Melee has gone from 57 to 67, my One-handed Melee from 51 to 67. My Crafting has gone past 50 and I've split it into Armor and Weapon crafting.

The main point I'm making is, the first weeks of mainland play can be very rough. But don't give up in frustration, because there are ways you can make it less rough on yourself.

[pyscojug]

1) Here is my question on the mainland, do I have to join a guild? I rather do pick up teams if possible because my play times fluctuate and I may not play for a few weeks at a time. Is it possible to play like that on the mainland? Also I just am iffy about the drama guilds usually bring, so I really really really would like to be as independant as possible.

2) Also I am dedicated to doing rifles as my main combat weapon. Since I will be level 21 in ranged when I hit the ML will that mean that I have a drastic disadvantage with leveling? I plan to have my melee skill (and actually all skills I can on the island) at lvl 51 before I leave for the mainland, so i definately will have as much health and stam as possible.

[sehracii]

1)
You don't need a guild. Can get by perfectly well on your own- and you'll probably end up making a solo guild for the fun of it and the storage.
I should mention though, if the play time is the main concern, forget about it. Most guilds won't care if you don't play often. My guild has people who can disappear for months and its not a big deal


2)
No disadvantage at all. There are mobs to lvl from 1, suckling yubos and up starting at the capital cities.

And I've said before, working to 51 on the island is tough. Only worth it if you're having fun, it should by no means be a requirement to expect to do ok on the mainland.

In fact, most people who do that would miss a whole region of hunting, the first zone is 0-50, already too low if you're at 50, first thing you have to do is trek to the 50-100 zone to find a good hunt

You of course have the ranged skill to work though

[pyscojug]

1)
You don't need a guild. Can get by perfectly well on your own- and you'll probably end up making a solo guild for the fun of it and the storage.
I should mention though, if the play time is the main concern, forget about it. Most guilds won't care if you don't play often. My guild has people who can disappear for months and its not a big deal


2)
No disadvantage at all. There are mobs to lvl from 1, suckling yubos and up starting at the capital cities.

And I've said before, working to 51 on the island is tough. Only worth it if you're having fun, it should by no means be a requirement to expect to do ok on the mainland.

In fact, most people who do that would miss a whole region of hunting, the first zone is 0-50, already too low if you're at 50, first thing you have to do is trek to the 50-100 zone to find a good hunt

You of course have the ranged skill to work though

Cool, and i am having a good time on the island (rezzing people, helping people kill missions, and what not). I really want to get bored of it before I leave it.

Also I like doing things the hard way for some reason and it would be cool to say on the island "I'm just a level 51 melee, 51 offensive magic, 51 defensive magic, ect..."

BTW- Anyone can make a guild? That is sooo cool.

[xmojo]

In fact, most people who do that would miss a whole region of hunting, the first zone is 0-50, already too low if you're at 50, first thing you have to do is trek to the 50-100 zone to find a good hunt

There are some really tough predators in the 0-50 zone, name the gingos and the raguses, which are between lvl 40-52 (blue 3- and 4-star creatures) and mix freely amongst the lvl 20-40 herbivores. I found my lvl 57 Melee, when I first arrived on the island, was sorely underpowered and struggled to cope with the predators. I would suggest having lots of HP before hitting the mainland and lots of dappers. Hit the merchants before your first hunt and buy the best player-crafted armor and weapons you can use.

Solo play is possible; no guild required. But if you want to progress rapidly in your levels and regularly update your equipment to the best you can use, a guild can do that for you. As a solo player, I recommend you also team up with a Healer from time to time if you can find one for some powerlevelling if that's your style. I'm primarily a solo player, but last night I came across another player and we formed a team. He took me to an area where the creatures were 10-20 levels higher than what I comfortably hunt, and he provided healing while I did the hacking. I went from lvl 64 to 67 in One-handed and from lvl 65 to 68 in 2-handed in an hour. The higher quality mats I was looting also allowed me to gain a few levels in Crafting too.

[vesas]

Slightly off-topic but, if I go to the mainland with a friend who's a different race, what sort of level would you need to be strong enough to trek to meet them? Is it a very long journey?

Also, does it matter if you live in a different place to where your race lives?

Thanks

~ Vesas ~

[ajsuk]

Slightly off-topic but, if I go to the mainland with a friend who's a different race, what sort of level would you need to be strong enough to trek to meet them? Is it a very long journey?

Also, does it matter if you live in a different place to where your race lives?

Thanks

~ Vesas ~

I'd say it depends on where you go... the lakes is a hell pit to get out off to anywhere else but jungle,desert and forest lands arn't too horrid if you know the way, are good at sneaking and have a bit of luck... your talking around an hour capital to capital, roughly, assuming you don't die and have to restart or something.

And you can live anywhere you like really, Fame maybe an issue as far as merchants/TPs etc but its only a bit of mission work.

My advice would be to join a guild, they are a big help.

[kiexa]

Slightly off-topic but, if I go to the mainland with a friend who's a different race, what sort of level would you need to be strong enough to trek to meet them? Is it a very long journey?

Also, does it matter if you live in a different place to where your race lives?

Thanks

~ Vesas ~

approximate adventure levels/team size (advised size to make it fun)

upto level 120, 9 person team, anything lower than level 70 will die too often on any trip

upto level 160, 6 people needed for a sucessful fun trip

upto level 200, 4 people needed

upto level 240 2 people needed

a cross land trip can take anywhere from 30 mins to 2 hours.

Mounts are also your friends, (apart from tryker->matis or reverse) mount trips can take as little as 15 minutes from one main city to the next, they are very likly to die, but ask a passerby (dont beg) about mounts, they will prolly buy you one to test to destruction (about 600k dapper).

the most important thing is to have fun, dont join a team of 6 level 250`s wanting to help you to another land, because you`l be standing behind them, out of harms way and play no part in the trip, this is where alot of people fail, be part of your own adventure, organise a trip, invite younglings, hire a guide (guild Samsara) and have fun at your own pace.

[vesas]

Thanks for the answers folks. Two quite different answers there. I'm guessing Ajsuk's answer is if I want to try to sneak there and hide from stuff/try not to die, whereas Kiexa's is if I want to make a fun trip of it with some frends and actually kill stuff along the way.... I guess I'll just go there and see what happens and if I can find some folks to hook up with.

My friend is Tryker and I'm Fyros so that looks like a very long journey and 'The Lakes' that was mentionsed as very tricky...that's the Tryker area?

Thanks for the help anyway.

~ V ~

[acridiel]

Yes, Lakelands.
Pretty easy to go at first, because of the many bodys of water where aggro does not follow, but harder on the sneak skill later in areas where there´s no water to flee to. And A LOT of aggro in some places.

Acridiel