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Playing alone in AoC
In MMO's I tend to have a character dedicated to solo play so I wanted some thoughts on how people think it will play out in Ashes.
Class combination thoughts?
Should one person be able to destroy an army?
Summoners able to control and command massive hoards?
Where could solo play be strong? Where could it be week?
Class combination thoughts?
Should one person be able to destroy an army?
Summoners able to control and command massive hoards?
Where could solo play be strong? Where could it be week?
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From what ive heard solo play should totally be possible, if I may Quote here: "Playing alone is completely accepted, and feasible."
Concerning your class, I think you are looking for something like a jack of all trades since you wont have a team backing you up. There is still no information on what the classes exactly can but I think something like Fighter/Cleric could suit solo play. Since you have heals, you are not totally squishy and still can put out a decent amount of damage.
Are we talking about an army of players or an army of NPC's? :D Npc's maybe yes. Players probably not.
There is little information on the classes and skills so we dont know if summoners can control larger groups of creatures. But I personally think that "massives hords" are not likely.
Solo play will probably be strong in either the Economy or crafting aspect, since you dont have to rely on a group or in the mercanary stile where you wander around looking for tasks to fulfill where a large group could hold you back. Maybe the player ambushing solo PKer could also work.
Raiding will obviously be a problem when soloing.
You wont be missing out on sieges and the likes tho, since everybody can join any side as far as I know. Even if hes not a part of the fighting guilds.
Maybe playing solo and playing with groups could bring different rewards and skills. Say you're a tank and frequently playing with a group, maybe this could unlock abilities to gain health based on how many or in your team. Or in contrast: if you're a tank playing alone you could get an exclusive ability to buff you based on the number of enemies. This way playing alone while questing could become extremely beneficial raids as you could have more diversity in the skills of each individual.
Also, the ordinary solo player would be a jack of all trades. But what if a system was implemented where by solo mastering a certain profession you could learn to craft items that are extremely unique to the creator.
i.e. Someone who is mastering blacksmithing could stumble upon a solo dungeon that could teach them a new style, or tell them of a rare material that only he has access to harvest.
I enjoy playing solo every now and again in MMOs, but eventually it goes boring/lonely. When that happens it's normally a struggle to even get accepted into a large guild. I'm sure there will be plenty of content for a solo player though.
And what about quest that can only be played once and once only by only one group?
Anyway i think this game is focused on the community and cheers other people to communicate but you can always try the lone wolf by joining random groups raiding\defending nodes,caravans and etc then leave to another adventure.
Now for your other question about the weapons\abilities as long as it doesnt affect the balance it would be nice to have a unique thing only to you but again if that weapon\ability makes you stronger than others and affects the balance it would ruin the fun in the game.
About the quests from what i understand because of the node system there will always be something other nodes\servers have different in matter of quests events and that is really cool.
If you lvl up a node to lvl 6 for example you attract greater monsters and quests and maybe awaken a dragon nearby making a huge event that other nodes or even servers dont have. If im correct the location of the node also makes everything different
I dont know if you meant something like that but im excited about this node system.
Should one person be able to destroy an army?
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An "army" is a bit too much for a single person to kill within a balanced game. However, I would like to see a system similar to Lineage II, in the sense that a very well geared player could kill various others before being taken down, admitting that he had consumables and good knowledge of game mechanics and strategy. There is just something inspiring about going to town in-game and seeing that one person who somehow got hold of many powerful items and gear.
I'm not quite sure how they'll explore level balance in this game, but it would be nice to have a soft cap at first, with a very difficult hard cap to hit.
I know this is something you could keep track of on your own, but if the game could help me with a slightly more comprehensive friends list that would be fantastic!
Adding skills out side of the skill tree for when you achieve something special might make the game more complicated but titles that give bonus stats or some kind of passive skill could smooth that out.
Summoners might be the best for solo play as far as balance goes although we don't really know what the skill tree they might have is.
EXAMPLE
Summoners either control a large group creatures to cover attack. defense, or support roles as they need them making them a one man army as long as the can direct the creatures well, or a Summoner controls a single summoned creature that they can augment with attack, defense, or support skills changing that creature from its basic form to a form that fits what they need at the time.
( Basic summon Golem boost with speed boost skill becomes more of a fighter than a tank)
You can do 1 man tasks/quests for the node, but nothing you do is solo.
Thats what makes ashes so special.
It puts the word community into MMOs.
What's not possible is to play an MMO like a single player game.
So... soloing does exist in Ashes... and is a playstyle supported by the devs.
A group of player characters your level or higher should be able to easily defeat you.
Ashes has enough open world PvP combat, an archetype with Stealth (especially invisibility) is a good strategy for avoiding unwanted combat. As are archetypes with roots and snares.
You don't have to formally join a party or a raid in order to participate in content.
If something is too hard for you to do alone, you can skip it or find help.
You can be solo and participate in a siege.
EXAMPLE
If I were to level up in the middle of a caravan quest and came to a critical stat value in my skill tree, if I am in a group at the time I have to think about our skill balance and how the other members of the groups skills are laid out and pick what benefits the group the most. If I can solo the the pick is all about me and how I want to build its much simpler and a lot of fun that way.
I love my solo time as well as being part of a group that works together to accomplish things. Often times a person has limited time to play or to focus on tasks.
There were times in DAOC when a "Call to Arms" was broadcast and players, both guilded and solo committed suicide to go defend the relics or such.
In Planetside we had our Outfits and often times would invite solo players to join our missions.
I have not played a game yet in all my years where a person absolutely could not solo. Often times players are in game when most of their friends or guild mates aren't, that rarely stops them from playing. If one needs help on a quest or such a shout out usually does the trick.
Ultimately it is what you put into the game and what you find satisfying in the end that counts.