First and foremost, I enjoy the game immensely. Pretty much kicking myself for not giving this a world years ago. I do wish Mythic added a third faction and didn't mirror the classes--but, I guess they'd have to call it DAoC 2 (or perhaps they can re-release this game with a new name 'Camelot Unchained'
).I play with a team of 6; 2 of which, has decent WAR experience from a decade ago, so we're slowly chipping away at the game and learning. We play three nights a week for a few hours each night. We've embedded ourselves in a guild (which they have been amazing) and have been seeking veteran players for help (also amazing). Two players are in mixed vanq gear, rest are in conq gear.
I started the journey playing a shadow knight--realizing that the white lion is a better fit for the team--currently RR56/conq gear with one piece of vanq purchased.
Here's what I like:
I like queuing for scenarios to level. I also think that as long as you continue to stack bodies, you're always going to have enough war crests to get the next tier-set item. Scenario, table slap some people, go walk the dog. It's perfect for a grown adult that has a million other priorities.
It's fun, engaging, the game is very different than others where DPS is god. Here tanks and healers feel far more impactful... to the point where I thought about playing a tank (for 35 seconds and then I was like naw lolol). When you work together and you break what seems to be a perpetual stalemate, is fun. It almost felt like 2 caster group fighting eachother on DAoC, minus theurg pets. We all hate theurg pets. Glad theurgs did not make it into WAR.
The two classes I've played are fun, each spec didn't feel pointless (1-39). One class you're just stacking bodies and securing kills, other class you're applying a stupid amount of pressure with bursts of kill threat. Sometimes I had to take my socks off to count the amount of kills I was getting.
What I do not like:
40+, now for veteran players, sure this may not be that big of a deal. I understand that there are certain strat, IE dungeon clearing/saving crests for endgame. Unfortunately, we didn't get that feedback until it was a tad too late.
There is a ton of the game I/we have to still learn, mechanics and yada yada; however, after leveling purely in scenarios/playing scenarios, warbanding a handful of times, I would argue that we have a reasonable understanding of the game. I rarely die questioning 'why?'. It appears that a majority of the spankings are due to gear imbalance (i'm sure some of it is mechanical and teamwork failure). And I'll be frank, it feels bad. It was tolerable while learning the game... ah, I should not have done this//we should have communicated guard/heals better... I should have switched targets faster, I should have burst here... typical feedback loops you do in order to improve.
That's when we turned to vets, got feedback on positioning, rotations, tactics, specs, etc. Started to sharpen the skills. But still barely scratching people in BIS gear and getting absolutely shredded by PUGS in BIS gear.
Here's my suggestion:
I am not asking for a change in the carrot/stick. I think if it was super easy to gear//who cares. What I am asking is that warcrests match next tier of gear. Example, when I hi realm rank 58, I will still need hella crests. Based on my pacing, I'll probably be RR66 before being able to afford the full set (and then on-pace for my next set). Just so we're all tracking, the WIKI price is incorrect, it's far cheaper on the wiki than it is in-game.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, please align the pacing of RR to item-set tiers. Or at least with whatever level allows people to be competitive. Dark Age of Camelot, get to 50, spellcraft, BIS go. Stratification comes from RR, not gear. Here, RR does not feel impactful, but it's the gate keeper for gear, which is the impact, it appears to be backwards. Which is fine, but as a dude with responsibilities and not up to speed, it feels like Super Mario 64 never ending staircase.
BL: I think PVP viable gear (not BIS) should be aligned with what the WIKI says for cost. From what I see, it appears only boots/gloves can be sold? Allow other pieces to be sold. I'd drop a couple hundo for gear. Playing a few hours on NA (low population) is definitely a challenge as well. Less than 300 people online nightly significantly decreases populations and spreads them out.
