What you need to know about Archeage Online

On occasion I write a review or summary of a game I am looking forward to such as I did with TERA. Keep in mind some of the information is not mine and is copy pasted so there may be bias towards the game.

ArcheAge is a sandbox MMORPG being sponsored by TRION, the people that brought you Defiance and Rift. The goal of a sandbox game is to allow for player freedom and no one does that better than ArcheAge where a player may build houses, ships, gather resources, craft, quest, raid, and participate in massive PvP battles from sieges to world PvP. The game will run on the CryEngine used in the Crysis series.

BETA SIGNUP
https://www.archeagegame.com/en/

Interaction
You can interact with the game like none other. Every object in the game can be interacted with. If you see a tree climb it to pick fruit or cut it down and use it as a bridge to cross a river. You can plant trees virtually anywhere and they will grow in due time. Plant a forest and laugh as people get lost as there was previously no forest.


Or simply destroy terrain like a true badass.


Races


Class System
ArcheAge takes a different approach to the class system then most games. Instead of having no classes ala Darkfall or simple classes like World of Warcraft the developers decided to do something different.

Classes will be similar to Ultima Online in that you first pick between warrior, priest, mage, ranger, and custom (whereby you can craft your own class). There are 10 combat skill setups which go like this:

* Combat - Close combat
* Witchcraft - Debuffs, Crowd control.
* Invincibility - Tanks skills, all for defense and survivability.
* Will - Magical damage, magic defence, opening portals.
* Necromancy - Necromancer. Period.
* Wild nature - Ranger, taming skills.
* Magic - Magic.
* Assasin - Burst damage pvp build.
* Romance - Buffs (you sing, you play)
* Love - Heal and resurrect allies.

You may only have 3 of these skill sets active at a time and you can change whenever you want assuming you wish to pay a monetary in-game gold fee and take the time to re-learn the skills. This makes 120 possible combinations. Also skills can be combined with each other to make additional effects transpire such as using shock arrow after casting floating bubble will lift the selected player into the air and send them farther back.

Here are the 120 possible combinations:


[Fight]+[Illusion]+[Adamant] = Engineer
[Fight]+[Illusion]+[Will] = Contractor
[Fight]+[Illusion]+[Death] = Battle Mage
[Fight]+[Illusion]+[Wild] = Researcher
[Fight]+[Illusion]+[Magic] = Investigator
[Fight]+[Illusion]+[Vocation] = Assassin
[Fight]+[Illusion]+[Romance] = Drunkard
[Fight]+[Illusion]+[Love] = Consul
[Fight]+[Adamant]+[Will] = Warrior
[Fight]+[Adamant]+[Death] = Black Knight
[Fight]+[Adamant]+[Wild] = Wanderer
[Fight]+[Adamant]+[Magic] = Magic Knight
[Fight]+[Adamant]+[Vocation] = Daredevil
[Fight]+[Adamant]+[Romance] = Enamored knight (Not quite sure, but it has something to do with romance and knights)
[Fight]+[Adamant]+[Love] = Knight of Light
[Fight]+[Will]+[Death] = Battle Angel
[Fight]+[Will]+[Wild] = Inventor
[Fight]+[Will]+[Magic] = Tactician
[Fight]+[Will]+[Vocation] = Politician
[Fight]+[Will]+[Romance] = Poet
[Fight]+[Will]+[Love] = Monk
[Fight]+[Death]+[Wild] = Bandit
[Fight]+[Death]+[Magic] = Outcast
[Fight]+[Death]+[Vocation] = Scout
[Fight]+[Death]+[Romance] = Berserk
[Fight]+[Death]+[Love] = Martial Arts Master
[Fight]+[Wild]+[Magic] = Champion
[Fight]+[Wild]+[Vocation] = Spy
[Fight]+[Wild]+[Romance] = Battle bard
[Fight]+[Wild]+[Love] = Skilled fighter
[Fight]+[Magic]+[Vocation] = Robber-Witch
[Fight]+[Magic]+[Romance] = Magic Warrior
[Fight]+[Magic]+[Love] = Quack
[Fight]+[Vocation]+[Romance] = Brigand
[Fight]+[Vocation]+[Love] = Fighter
[Fight]+[Romance]+[Love] = Conqueror
[Illusion]+[Adamant]+[Will] = Exorcist
[Illusion]+[Adamant]+[Death] = Warder
[Illusion]+[Adamant]+[Wild] = Keeper of the forest
[Illusion]+[Adamant]+[Magic] = Paladin
[Illusion]+[Adamant]+[Vocation] = Scientist
[Illusion]+[Adamant]+[Romance] = Strategist
[Illusion]+[Adamant]+[Love] = Doctor
[Illusion]+[Will]+[Death] = Shaman
[Illusion]+[Will]+[Wild] = Ranger
[Illusion]+[Will]+[Magic] = Dark Mage
[Illusion]+[Will]+[Vocation] = Life-Giver
[Illusion]+[Will]+[Romance] = (Unknown how it is translated, but has something to do with elegance)
[Illusion]+[Will]+[Love] = (Unknown how it is translated)
[Illusion]+[Death]+[Wild] = Smart Geomancer
[Illusion]+[Death]+[Magic] = Wizard
[Illusion]+[Death]+[Vocation] = Construction engineer
[Illusion]+[Death]+[Romance] = Prospector
[Illusion]+[Death]+[Love] = Elemental Shaman
[Illusion]+[Wild]+[Magic] = The Wizard of nature
[Illusion]+[Wild]+[Vocation] = Guide
[Illusion]+[Wild]+[Romance] = Archaeologist
[Illusion]+[Wild]+[Love] = Summoner
[Illusion]+[Magic]+[Vocation] = Master
[Illusion]+[Magic]+[Romance] = Dancer
[Illusion]+[Magic]+[Love] = Magician
[Illusion]+[Vocation]+[Romance] = Headhunter
[Illusion]+[Vocation]+[Love] = Doer
[Illusion]+[Romance]+[Love] = Jester
[Adamant]+[Will]+[Death] = Defender
[Adamant]+[Will]+[Wild] = Forester
[Adamant]+[Will]+[Magic] = Defensive Wizard
[Adamant]+[Will]+[Vocation] = Hermit
[Adamant]+[Will]+[Romance] = Humble Poet
[Adamant]+[Will]+[Love] = Bodyguard
[Adamant]+[Death]+[Wild] = Manager (Seems like manager of nature)
[Adamant]+[Death]+[Magic] = Archmage (Not quite sure, but something that has to do with magic)
[Adamant]+[Death]+[Vocation] = Guardian
[Adamant]+[Death]+[Romance] = Policeman
[Adamant]+[Death]+[Love] = Priest of Death
[Adamant]+[Wild]+[Magic] = Technician
[Adamant]+[Wild]+[Vocation] = Muller
[Adamant]+[Wild]+[Romance] = Hunter
[Adamant]+[Wild]+[Love] = Battle-Chronicler
[Adamant]+[Magic]+[Vocation] = Apprentice
[Adamant]+[Magic]+[Romance] = Playwright
[Adamant]+[Magic]+[Love] = Scribe
[Adamant]+[Vocation]+[Romance] = Warrior-poet
[Adamant]+[Vocation]+[Love] = Friar
[Adamant]+[Romance]+[Love] = Warrior-protector
[Will]+[Death]+[Wild] = Shadow Hunter
[Will]+[Death]+[Magic] = Necromancer
[Will]+[Death]+[Vocation] = Inquisitor
[Will]+[Death]+[Romance] = Tragic poet
[Will]+[Death]+[Love] = Apostle
[Will]+[Wild]+[Magic] = Instructor (not sure)
[Will]+[Wild]+[Vocation] = Treasure Hunter
[Will]+[Wild]+[Romance] = Night man
[Will]+[Wild]+[Love] = Mentor
[Will]+[Magic]+[Vocation] = Dark soldier
[Will]+[Magic]+[Romance] = Wayfarer
[Will]+[Magic]+[Love] = Judge
[Will]+[Vocation]+[Romance] = Bard
[Will]+[Vocation]+[Love] = Prophet
[Will]+[Romance]+[Love] = Priest
[Death]+[Wild]+[Magic] = Psychic
[Death]+[Wild]+[Vocation] = Butcher
[Death]+[Wild]+[Romance] = Dark musician
[Death]+[Wild]+[Love] = Musician (Not at all sure here)
[Death]+[Magic]+[Vocation] = Angel of Death
[Death]+[Magic]+[Romance] = Reaper
[Death]+[Magic]+[Love] = Elder
[Death]+[Vocation]+[Romance] = Athlete
[Death]+[Vocation]+[Love] = Writer
[Death]+[Romance]+[Love] = Votarist
[Wild]+[Magic]+[Vocation] = Shooter
[Wild]+[Magic]+[Romance] = Rover
[Wild]+[Magic]+[Love] = Errant Priest
[Wild]+[Vocation]+[Romance] = Earth Keeper
[Wild]+[Vocation]+[Love] = Preacher
[Wild]+[Romance]+[Love] = Missionary
[Magic]+[Vocation]+[Romance] = Herald
[Magic]+[Vocation]+[Love] = Cleric
[Magic]+[Romance]+[Love] = Entertainer
[Vocation]+[Romance]+[Love] = Adventurer

Combat
The style of combat in ArcheAge is that of tab targeting which is sad considering they originally were going to be more of an FPS style of combat. There will be massive PvP battling as well as smaller skirmishes and sieges. There will be ground combat typical of any MMORPG as well as mounted combat.

 

Siege Warfare Video


If that wasn't enough there is also naval battles where you can build massive ships and use them against each other or against the NPC enviornment.



The type of ships vary in size and cost. You can use your ship for piracy, fishing, domination, exploration and more. There will be hand to hand combat allowed on ships as well. When a ship is destroyed it will return to your inventory as a broken ship that needs to be repaired, otherwise it de-spawns and spawns regularly like any typical inventory item.

Before I forget let me also mention air combat. You can build gliders as transportation and use them in combat as well.



Raiding & Big Fucking Monsters
The game will offer the freedom of choice and this includes PvE content with raids and massive monsters. This includes sea monsters like the Kraken




Housing
There will be housing similar to that of Ultima Online where you get your yard and a house, however, housing will only be available to roughly 50% of the population at release due to space constraints. There are different styles of houses and sizes which can be either private or public. Grow grapes and sell them or make wine and drink it with your friends. Purchase NPCs to guard your house from hostile guilds or perhaps sell items for you as a marketeer.

Southern Continent: Houses built here can't be destroyed, only way to loose them is by not paying the taxes.
Northern Continent: When the enemy takes over a territory, they can demolish all houses built within a 100m radius from the center of the territory.

When a player loses his house, it will be sent to him via mail, so its possible to rebuild it again as it was before, so technically he just lost the housing spot earlier and have to look for a new one.

Tax rates, depends where is your house located:

Southern Continent: There is a standard tax rate on the main continents set by the developers. The bigger the house, the higher the taxes. It didn't work out a percentage, but it seemed reasonable...ish. For lower level players the amount seems like a lot because the quests don't pay out that much. For higher level players the amount is chump change. Keep in mind that this is for the smallest house, so if you really want a big house expect it to cost you.

Northern Continent: On the so called PvP Continent the taxes are determined by who owns the territory.

Here are pictures of 2 of the styles of castles offered in ArcheAge



Castles are built using parts such as towers, walls, etc which combine to make a castle. Design and implementation will vary from castle to castle.

Graphics
It's no surprise the game looks so well when it is using the CryEngine. Here are a few screenshots to show off the engine.













Crafting/Planting/Breeding

"Planting" - planting the seed doesnt consume labor point.
"Pickup" - any plant could be picked up anytime (consumes 1 labor point), and replanted in another location.
"Watering" - after planting crops can be watered, watering the plant basically skipped its first phase of growth, so after the first phase is over you couldnt water it, could be done only once and consumes 1 labor point if done by hand, but if its done with a tractor it wont consume labor point.
"Harvesting" - Crops can be harvested, while the trees and bushes have more options, the fruit from them could be collected and also they could be chopped down for the wood, these actions consume from 1-5 labor points depending on the skill level.
Crops and trees growth depending on the climate, also the water plants and livestock growth depending on the climate:

Criminal System
There are 2 ways of committing a crime: murder or stealing.

Murder:
By killing other players from the same NPC faction.
After the incident Blood splatter traces will be left behind on the ground and other players (eyewitnesses) can collect it.
After collecting, it appears in the inventory as an item and by right clicking, it gets "reported" as a crime and the player who committed the crime will recieve a Crime Point.

Stealing:
By stealing plants or livestock from other players from their protected lands (protected with scarecrow).
The thief leaves Footprints behind, which can be turned in the same way as the blood, upon which the thief receives a crime point.

After you reach a certain number of crime points you will be notorious. If you die you will get a choice asking if you want to go to the court for a trial or right into the jail (certain time).

The jury is made up of 5 random members of the court (players). To become a member in the court (juror) or part of the jury, the player needs to be level 30+ and sign up at an NPC in the town. When a criminal is sent for a trial, the players who signed up for the jury will get a message box, asking them if they want to participate on the trial or not, the first 5 players who accept to be the judge will get ported into the courthouse (its advised to be very fast with clicking, if you would like to become a juror).


If the criminal found guilty he gets ported into a prison cell where you may interact with other inmates, play prison soccer (football) or break free.

If a player gets sent many times into the prison, eventually he will became a pirate (will be ported to the pirate island).

What you need to know about the Pirates:
To become a pirate, you must fill 3k total karma. You decide on how to collect that amount of karma (stealing, killing, PK...)
By being a Pirate, you can create an Expedition Force of pirates.
By not being a Pirate, then you can't take the Pirate party, in other matters as well as he can not take the Pirates. (not sure if he means party or expedition force)
Pirate with impunity to kill all the factions.
Pirate can kill all with impunity. Blood remains.
NOT pirate steal with impunity. Traces remain.
Pirates can't talk to NPC's on the southern continents.
Pirates agryatsya Guard all in the South. (cant find out what this means)
All NPC on the Pirate Island are friendly to a Pirate.
There are quests for Pirates on the Pirate Island.
Pirates can get a one hour lasting +1% damage buff on the Pirate Island.

Summary
What the game offers
- 120 Class variations
- Ships & Ship Combat
- Player Housing and Guild Castles
- World PvP continent, Sieges, Duels, Battlegrounds and more
- Unparalleled world interaction with the ability to climb trees, destroy and modify terrain, plant trees, build bridges over rivers, etc.
- Unique crime system. Become a jury member to decide the fate of a criminal player or become a pirate and live life on the edge.
- Player driven economy, punishment, and world
- Water, underwater, ground, and air combat with ships, mounts and gliders to name a few.
- Amazing graphics with the CryEngine
- Very good customization with the ability to not only add scars, tattoos, and paint but select where on the body or face it should be applied via a 4 way slider.
- PvE raiding, big fucking monsters, etc.

For more information
http://archeagesource.com/topic/1705-english-guides-and-tutorials-list-to-archeage/

 

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Most of the PvP happens on the northern continent where the majority of the player houses will be as they can be placed near anywhere versus only in designated areas in the southern continents. Castles, etc will also be in the northern continent. I am not sure if there is an abundance of world PvP in the southern continents or not.

The factions may change in time as they are adding more races as mentioned above. Also factions doesn't mean you cannot kill your own faction which is nice. Pirates are not a faction but rather bandits I think where you can kill anyone with impunity.

There is no information that I can find about looting in PvP