Character Diversity?

[miclam00]

Is there much character diversity in this game? It seems like most everyone who has been playing for a while has the same skills, mostly that being a melee weapon + elemental magic + healing. With no cap on what you can learn and not a very wide range of skills to choose from, I imagine most veteran players are just clones of each other.

[greymar]

There actually is.

You say "a melee weapon"... you'd be surprised what a difference which melee weapon you are using can make.

And.. with every other skill.. there is the matter of level vs. wisdom. I've seen plenty of folks with lots of levels, but don't know how to effectively use them. This is particularly true of people who power-grind themselves up to 250 and say "I am UBER Warrior!!" only to get themselves and their entire party killed because they don't know a thing about tactics.

I'd say there's more "diversity" here than in any other MMORPG around.

[sehracii]

There are certain skills that are more popular then others, like elemental magic. If you don't want to be a clone though there's absolutely no reason to do those skills.

I have 6 combat skills higher than any of my elemental/heal/2H melee and I don't think many people would call me a weak character.

Have to take it upon yourself to become unique and not just follow the crowd.

[karmelit]

I find that a bit hard to agree to. Most players I know or have met have some distinct flavour that separates one from the other.
The first thing that comes to mind is how the player talk and act.
Then you got the different faces which you recognize just by looking.
In addition it depends on what weapon is prefered.
And then you got style, one might be a veritable force attacking the closest prey, another again might chose to pull closer but still at a distance.
One might be an awesome scout knowing how to avoid some and going for other prey. The next may know nothing but force and attack any aggro mob to clear the path before moving on.

I am sure others can add to why they think players do come across differently

[calel]

Let me reassure you that's a misconception. Because everyone can possible obtain all the same skills this doesn't mean everyone uses them in the same way. Each and every player has their own set up of skills and stanza bricks, tailored to their own preferences. There's no real 'right' way to use skills nor an 'I win' button; everything has to be weighed down to preferences, circumstances, equipment and role.

What works for me as a Master forager may not work for another due to circumstances and gear; those two Master heavy Swordsmen may have a different use of stanzas as their gear boosts different statistics, ... etc etc

[marct]

There are certain skills that are more popular then others, like elemental magic. If you don't want to be a clone though there's absolutely no reason to do those skills.

I have 6 combat skills higher than any of my elemental/heal/2H melee and I don't think many people would call me a weak character.

Have to take it upon yourself to become unique and not just follow the crowd.

+1 I have been around as long as the rest. I have the highest of the 3 you name at LvL 174. I have 2 Foraging Trees higher than that.

And ask anyone around, I am NOTHING like the rest of the old timers.

Everyone that wants to be is unique here. Everyone that wants to be the same identical chewed over a million times crud is.

There is not really a build that is 'the best' even the 250 Heal/250 Elemental/250 2h All play differently, with different actions using different stanzas. Everyone has their unique characteristics.

[rushin]

it's only the plod's that clone

after all this time i only have digging tree's mastered. feel no urge to join the rat race and get ele/heal/melee to 250.. as previously said you can be as unique as you want to be, it's really up to you.

[hmclee]

Everyone is uniquely different based upon what and who they choose to be. I have been here almost since release and still have only mastered one skill and my favorite skill not being the one mastered. And not everyone likes elemental magic or 2h melee; I certainly don't. I wouldn't considered myself a weak character either having mastered neither of them.

[certago]

example

elemage who wants to make spells for every situation can choose of:

- 42 doublespells built of 2 different sorts of damage as there are Mobs, that are very vulnerable to special combinations
- 7 doublespells using the same damage spell like acid/acid for cuttlers etc.
- 7 single spells (acid, cold, etc.) for situations where little hp/sap drain is crucial for survival (if you have a melee with you whom you have to heal while bashing a vorax... there are countless situations to think of)
- 7 singlespells with the effect spray, bomb and "forgot the name"
- 7 doublespells with the effect spray, bomb and "forgot the name"
- some special spells using the over-time-damage-stanza

Now we double this number because we need:

- the same amount of spells as above with "concentration stanza" when beeing attacked and interuption would loose the fight for mage

When you have managed to raise both off ele and also off affliction you can combine all doudlespells (with no further effect like bomb) with an off affliction spell of your choice - therefor you should know which mob resists which aff spell and take that into count.

I think you now get the idea of the possible complexity of elemental magic.

I guess I even missed some options... but anyway - there is no ele like another except the highlevel-noobs as they are all they same: dead.

*waves* Sorenal

PS: I'm a melee from my heart and only a 115 elemage so forgive me if I forgot something.

[johntf]

Personally I find a person can have the same skills, I see many with avatar of destruction despite the fact it's the title anyone wish sense would least display (in my opinion lol) there is on a base level a similarity someone with 250 in melee and magic would have the same hp, sap and regens etc, same blocks and base resists. But what weapon you took etc makes a difference as to the path of magic although most master elemental first as it's well easy and offers some obvious rewards.

However even if everyone had the same skills, the game would not play the same the knowlege of how best and where to use what skills and how to set them up is a far more important power than simply having them availible.