Hyrkanian Insight: Knowing Your Class

Hello dear adventurers. This week in Hyrkanian Insight we’ll be talking about getting to know your class while leveling your “toon” in Age of Conan; and doing that during the process of leveling up and getting to the maximum level, (rather than speeding up to 80 and then having to learn everything about the class while, probably, messing up pulls, heals, or aggro in groups doing an instance or maybe even a raid.)

So, let’s have a look at the possibilities, come with me to the tavern for a friendly chat…

I will first state that when someone starts leveling up their, let’s say fourth or onward character, they possibly and most probably are already bored with the same quests and zones. (I’m skipping the first three characters because if you choose a different race, you’ll get to explore different areas.) Yes, I know there is now Gateway to Khitai to add a forth, but after that you are forced to go back to the old world and repeat the same old known zones.  Let’s face it, AoC doesn’t offer a wide variety of areas or a broad world to explore while growing up.

However, unless one is playing a class they’ve already played before, knowing the quests, the areas and even the encounters in mid-level instances, doesn’t mean they’ll know the inner tricks of a different class.  It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve done something and seen your main tank perform a task, or listen to others explain how a particular skill works, until you’ve used it yourself and seen for yourself once or twice, you probably won’t be completely used to it.

And that is why it’s important not to rush too much on your way to the high end content. Especially if you’re playing your first or even second character.  Offline levels are a huge temptation, though they shouldn’t be used in a bunch, boosting a lot of levels.  It means you will end up with a bunch of new skills and feats with which you need to become familiar, probably taking more time than it would, should you get them every few days.

Then we have instancing; mid-level instances not only provide very good equipment that probably won’t get replaced until you’re ready for the next instance, but also provide an experience that you won’t get playing on your own, or with another friend. Why? Because being in a full group (or a small group of 3+) demands different a playing style. When you’re on your own you don’t have to worry about overaggroing the mobs, or keeping an eye on the group members health, or checking for untanked mobs that are eating the healer or a mage or other cloth-light armor wearer.

Instances force you to learn tactics, to combine the skills and abilities of all the group members to succeed and defeat each encounter, be it a group of mobs on your way, or the bosses themselves. If soloing pushes you to certain limits, knowing how many mobs you can take on your own, or crowd control tactics when you’re outnumbered, grouping and instancing teaches you how to rely on others, and to cooperate;  which, in the end, will be really useful when you reach level 80 and start doing high end instances and raids.

The thing is that most of the mid-level instances have encounters that require tactics used further ahead in raiding. Kiting mobs away while killing the boss, off-tanking, splitting adds from boss, or cleaning a certain area before moving up, choosing the buffs and skills depending on the damage done by the bosses you’re fighting, or using devices before or during the fight to prevent certain skills or spells from the boss, or bosses with different phases that require different tactics on each one, are some examples of what you will encounter (just with added difficulty) later on if you progress towards raiding.

Some people just focus on getting to max level as soon as possible, and only then will they start worrying about how to do things. I’ve seen people in raids asking about skills that should already be thoroughly known, if they had grouped up during their leveling. I’m aware that there are certain tactics and facts that can only be experienced after you’ve reached level 80, but paying a little more attention while you’re questing and growing would help a great deal, and will also have the side-effect of you being considered a good gamer *big grin*

Of course, all this only applies if your interest in the game is PvE content; it is not the same playing with a group of people to defeat a boss in an instance, than fighting other gamers in a PvP area, tactics are very different, skills needed and useful are also different. I’m aware also that not all servers offer an easy opportunity for grouping up if you’re not in a guild, or the guild you’re in is a small one. Pugs (pick up groups) aren’t always regularly available, depending on the population of the server. But even if the population is OK, getting to know your class will prove a boost, because after a few runs with groups, people will remember the ones who know what they are doing and those that don’t bother.

And that will be all for this week’s Hyrkanian Insight. I wish you a nice weekend and following week, looking forward to your comments. I’m sure this is a subject with which some (or many) of you won’t agree.

Remember Hyrkanian Insight updates each Saturday.