General impressions from a new beginner

[flurgx]

Hi!

I started playing the game yesterday 7th JAN 2014 (v0.7.0)
I played until lvl 9
Now I want to give you some feedback.
First of all, I LOVE the game - it's nice how everything unfolds, and the character develops into a warrior

There are also things i didn't like too much
I know, I know, we are still in BETA Phase, so don't take it personaly, as I said, I LOVE the game

-) The respawn rate in the dungeons is way too fast - it starts in the frist dungeon, where the rats are, and goes on in the church and in the abandoned house (where i was looking for the bones) - so this respawn makes it impossible to actualy WALK OUT of the dungeon, you have to DIE OUT - and that's sad because you loose all the experience
Later i managed to actually walk out of the church dungeon, but there i have been already lvl 8 or so
(I have to admit that I found out about the BREAD and the BRATEN very late)

-) Some Quests are not translated in German, and some are. WHY? I am fortunate to understand English and also play the English Quests, but if someone doesn't? If you need help translating, tell me .. I can't tell which quests are affected, but I'm sure you can...

-) I had the feeling that leveling, especially in the early levels(3-6 or so), takes a bit tooo long AND/OR the quests are too strong for the little level .. like the first rat dungeon and the respawn problem mentioned above ...
I think I had to kill 100 rabies dogs and 30 boars or so, too make me ready for the dungeons (although they give the good precious meat) ... I think that is too much .. like if you look at the experience required for the ascension, it goes from 1600 to 1900 to 2600 or so ... the gaps are getting pretty BIG ...
and then, if you finish the quest you get BAM 2000 exp ...
I would say it is simply not balanced

-) Oh yeah, another thing that makes me CRAZY sometimes, the inconstancy about winning or loosing a fight against a monster, and the inconstancy about loosing health within a fight against the same type of monster
for example the caterpillars, that you need to slaughter when you go for the book, that this guy has thrown into the woods north of his camp ...
I walk the trail getting ALMOST to the book, maybe 1 caterpillar left - OK
I try again (and again), and I can not even win against the FIRST caterpillar - same equipment, same level, all the same ... I can't understand!!
same is true for the rabies foxes, sometimes they suck 6 health from me, sometimes the kill me, sucking all the 30 health ...
you are getting the point, right?

-) That's it for now, if I find something new, I'll update it here

Again, thank you for this wonderful game, I realy enjoy playing it, and I would love to recommend it!
Is there a facebook page ??

[sorrow]

To address the respawn rate. Its a 3 min wait. You have to leave the map and wait 3 min to have all the monsters respawn.

For the translation problem yes we would love to have help from anyone who's willing to give it. Contact oskar for more info on this subject.

On the leveling up part all I got to say is... hahaha you think its it takes long to level up in the early levels then wait till your my Lvl when you need millions of XP to Lvl up.

To address the fighting weather you win or lose. What is your stats? As well as level

[Zukero]

Hi flurgx, and welcome to the forums !

Thank you for your feedback, and true to the philosophy of this wonderful community, I will try to address all your points.

- The respawn rate can seem fast at the beginning (before lv10 at min), but eventually, as you'll grind your way towards higher levels, you may come to think of it as too slow Bread & braten can help, but soon you'll encounter the most useful potions in the game, and note that all the players really heavily on them. You really shouldn't expect to go very far without drinking many of them (or eating whatever HP filling goods you might have in your inventory).

- Translation, just as the game, is a work in progress, and translations often lag behind the english content a bit. Search around the forums, and you should encounter the german translators (seen some activity on that recently). I'm sure they'll be glad to get some extra help !

- Leveling is indeed a bit hard in the beginning on the game, and we are working to create new beginner oriented content, so that you'll gain more levels with with XP rewards from easy quests, rather than grinding the small dogs for hours. Although, AT is rather grinding oriented, and you should expect to do some from time to time if you want to reach high levels, get the best (rarest at least) items, or reach the most remote places without too much pain/potions.

- The combat system is actually pretty simple, but the beginning stats are very low for the player. Read this page for more info, and don't forget to check out your enemies' stats before engaging combat. There are some monsters that are really tough to beat, even for levels 70+, and harder enemies will come in future versions too....

There are many players with a lot of knowledge on the contents and strategies for AT in this forum, and they gladly help beginners. There are already countless threads that you should read that will help you make the most out of your grinding time !

As for a FB page, no. We do have a Google+ page, but it's rather empty and rarely receives any posts. The main online activity is here.

[rijackson741]

-) Oh yeah, another thing that makes me CRAZY sometimes, the inconstancy about winning or loosing a fight against a monster, and the inconstancy about loosing health within a fight against the same type of monster
for example the caterpillars, that you need to slaughter when you go for the book, that this guy has thrown into the woods north of his camp ...
I walk the trail getting ALMOST to the book, maybe 1 caterpillar left - OK
I try again (and again), and I can not even win against the FIRST caterpillar - same equipment, same level, all the same ... I can't understand!!
same is true for the rabies foxes, sometimes they suck 6 health from me, sometimes the kill me, sucking all the 30 health ...
you are getting the point, right?

I'll add a little to what others have said regarding this point. A monster can do a given amount of damage per hit, and has a given number of hits per round. So for example, a rabid fox does 3 damage per hit, and gets two hits per round. So it could do 0, 3, or 6 damage per round, depending on your luck (or lack of luck!). A larval burrower (a.k.a. the caterpillar) can do 1 to 6 damage per hit, and gets two hits per round. But with a larval burrower there is a big difference: it is capable of a "critical hit". When a monster (or you, if you have the right gear) lands a critical hit the damage is multiplied by a given amount. A larval burrower has a 21% chance (i.e. about 1 in 5) of landing a critical hit, and if does the damage is multiplied by 3 (that multiplier is not the same for all monsters, or for you if you have the right gear, but that's what it is for larval burrowers). So, depending on your luck (or lack thereof) a larval burrower could hit you for anything between 0 (it misses both times) and 2*6*3=36 damage (it gets two critical hits at max damage) per round. That's what makes them hard to beat, especially when there are many of them. Monsters that can land critical hits are very dangerous. So, in summary, most monsters do have a range of damage they can do (determined by the range of damage per hit and the number of hits per round), but it's usually not too large. Monsters that can land a critical hit are another thing altogether. Their range of possible damage is much larger, and if you are unlucky, possibly lethal. Be wary of them.

Yes, AT can be hard for a lower level character. As Zukero notes, the developers are working on rebalancing the earlier part of the game. It never gets easy though, by design. You have to work for your rewards

[gladson1976]

I think that is too much .. like if you look at the experience required for the ascension, it goes from 1600 to 1900 to 2600 or so ... the gaps are getting pretty BIG ...

Regarding the large gaps in the XP required for the succeeding levels, that is calculated using the formula ([level]^2)*55 and cumulatively added.
So the table below shows the XP required for the subsequent level ups (for upto 20 levels)

Level (lvl^2)*55 XP
--------------------
1 0 0
2 55 55
3 220 275
4 495 770
5 880 1650
6 1375 3025
7 1980 5005
8 2695 7700
9 3520 11220
10 4455 15675
11 5500 21175
12 6655 27830
13 7920 35750
14 9295 45045
15 10780 55825
16 12375 68200
17 14080 82280
18 15895 98175
19 17820 115995
20 19855 135850

and yes, its not easy being a low level character takes a lot of work getting to the top

[valshaq]

Hi flurgx,

I had stated partly similar views in a recent thread.
Those crit monsters really kill you on low levels.

Part of the problem is you can't differentiate eg a wild boar from an anklebiter by looking at it. The first will be doable with bad gear and low HP by using cooked meat etc. but the second might kill you before you got any chance to flee.

About escaping dungeons: I first thought you would be able to leave the catacombs via the hole in the cemetery (wouldn't that be fitting?), too.
But as long as you're not strong enough, only enter dungeons as far as you've still got healing and have a chance to back out. Oh and don't forget those "easy" monsters at / before the entrance (getting killed by the ants before the snake cavern really is no fun).
Regeneration is really making a very big difference here.

"Hey kid, did you take your bread with you?"

[flurgx]

Hey guys, thank you for you answers,
I have read them all very carefully

let me adress some of the statements made

To address the respawn rate. Its a 3 min wait. You have to leave the map and wait 3 min to have all the monsters respawn.

I was not talking of the respawn rate within the "open field map" - but the respawn rate within caves - it is definitely not 3 minutes.
just take the very first cave, next to Andors house - the rats respawn there WHILE I am still in the cave, within 1 or 2 minutes ...
That makes it impossible, to walk in, slaughter all the rats, kill the queen rat, and walk out - because at the time you want to walk out the cave is full of rats again (at least it was so in my experience)
ADDING to the respawn rate, I experienced in the "open field map" that I can kill a monster, walk one empty field, and that monsert will again appear right in front of me! (so seen with a caterpillar, and a rabies fox right east of Glenville) - I think it's a bug, isn't it?

between if i want the map to be respawned i just go to sleep


Thank you for the explanation with the critical strike - and the formula for it - monsters with critical strike are to be avoided, indeed


I will go and have a look to the translation section in this forum, thank you

Quote "- The combat system is actually pretty simple, but the beginning stats are very low for the player."
I agree, beginning stats are VERY low - pure loweness

As an idea for further development, and because you also want to keep players busy with quests in the low levels, there came this idea to me - The guy who sends you in the cave to kill the queen rat, he could give you a second quest, after finishing the cave ... for example he could say "you are a brave young man, I have another task for you if you feel brave enough" -- "go to the east, there you will find wild boars, they have sharp tooth, bring me one" (or mabye he likes some meet, to prepare his lunch with, then bring him some meet (2 or so))
It doesn't always have to be a new character who gives you new quest, I personnaly think it's nice if I know the people I am working with, and if I know where they live ...

Okay, may the shade be with you

[fiernaq]

AFAIK, respawn rate is universal. There is no difference between caves, open fields, hills, etc..

To understand respawns, you need to know a bit about the map system. Each map has several layers (one of you map experts chime in here please). One of the layers is the "spawn" layer. Map makers draw out an area or several areas (I think they can even overlap) and those are the areas monsters are restricted to. This way monsters can't spawn on trees, tables, walls, etc. and they are sometimes even limited to a single square so that the monster can't even move (to block an area until you kill the monster(s)).

All monsters share the same respawn rate. It is a very low % chance that any individual monster will respawn anywhere within its map defined spawn area minus the square that your character is currently on. That means that yes, there is a small chance (I've seen it happen many times) of a monster spawning right in front of you immediately after you kill it or it could even respawn where you killed it before right after you pass by. This can be a bit disturbing if you're not aware of the reasons why it can happen but once you understand how the map areas work and how spawn layers dictate placement combined with the respawn behavior of mobs then it all starts to make sense. It may not be the best system in the world but it's actually quite simple and it works well enough for what we need done.

Yes, if you are on a map and you clear the entire map and start wandering around, monsters will gradually start respawning most likely before 3 minutes have passed. That 3 minute marker is for something else entirely. A map that you are not currently on will, after 3 minutes, respawn all monsters on that map. In other words, when I'm clearing the Gargoyle cave, I quite often kill more than just the 17 monsters that are on those 3 map screens (9 shadow gargoyle trainers, 5 shadow gargoyle masters, and 3 shadow gargoyles) because as I walk along, they occasionally respawn behind me even though I'm not sitting still on one screen for more than 3 minutes. However, occasionally, I'll have to stop while I'm in one of the rooms because I get called to do something in real life and when I come back more than 3 minutes later, all monsters in the other rooms will have respawned while the monsters in the room I'm sitting in most likely haven't all respawned. This is by design, not a bug. That's how it's supposed to work.

Also, as mentioned elsewhere, sleeping in a bed will automatically respawn all monsters including monsters on the same map as you are currently on. A lot of people use a bed purely to respawn monsters so they can kill them all again rather than having to wait 3 minutes.

[flurgx]

thank you for that very detailed explanation fiernaq

Now I understand better - still I'm not a friend of this system

but a friend of the game