Hello - I have a couple of questions.

Hello, I just started playing SotA and it has interesting mechanics and story-driven gameplay that interests me despite all downsides. Yet the tutorial and hints-as-you-go system are pretty vague on or poorly explain some game mechanics.

1. I understand the skulls on a pole system of area difficulty, but character progression is a mystery to me. The 1 skull areas are way too easy, yet the 2 skull areas aren't survivable. I have been leveling up my skills, purchased a few new ones and have a general idea of how my characters skill set meshes together. I spent a lot of time crafting to get better gear, yet I am only able to make stuff marginally better than the starting gear. It doesn't seem right for a game to expect me to drop 1000's of ingame gold on the craftwork of other players, as the armor i see in public vendors is much better, albeit expensive. My question is what I'm doing wrong progression-wise. It seems after nearly 20 hours of combat experience I should be able to progress to the next tier area, considering I'm surrounded by them on the world map. Is it my equipment, the skills I'm leveling up and using (primarily fire spells), or simply that I haven't put in the time to hone my character enough to be sufficiently prepared?

2. I have noticed that you can purchase recipes from some vendors, yet there's no telling where to buy recipes, even if you know what you need. Does crafting require these purchased recipes or can I craft something in the interface by simply looking up its required materials and meeting the proficiency requirement?

3. Is there a fleshed-out 'pulling' mechanic in this game, akin to other MMO's? I noticed that animals and monsters have different AI in relation to character movement, yet if I attack a single monster in a group, they all rush me and it's a slugfest from there. Is my lack of survivability in tier 2 areas just my lack of game knowledge and leashing mechanics?

4. I'm at a point in the story where I get the quest to get the Keystone to access the Necropolis and speak to Thanatos. I'm supposed to go to the Tower of the Shuttered Eye with Min Liang Tan but the area is way above me. Is there some element I'm missing here or is it just a break in story progression where I'm meant to level up? The latter seems uncharacteristic for the feel this game is trying to achieve.

Thanks in advance for your time. If you'd like to contact me in-game, my IGN is Schbee Toadlicker.

 

Ahhh yes, I've noticed quite some variance in difficulty even between a single skull rating. And you might notice you're particularly vulnerable to certain type mobs based upon your character design, so some zones may be harder for you than others. For instance, I tend to do better vs. Undead, since I'm heavy into Sun and Life magic. Very quickly after my first 1 Skull, I ventured into Whiteguard Foothills for some 2 skull action. You'll definitely need to experiment to find the perfect spots for you as you progress. Keep in mind too, a lot of balancing and adjustments is always in our future. So expect more granularity between the zone levels and polish to the difficulty scaling as the game develops.

No recipes are required and honestly recipes are considerably expensive considering you don't need them. Simply go to the correct crafting station for the recipe, input the exact ingredients into the ingredient list, once you have input the proper ingredients (at the proper crafting station), you'll notice the CRAFT button becomes selectable. Once you craft the first of that item, it then gets added to your recipe list where you merely need to double click that recipe for the ingredients to auto-populate the ingredient list. Practice with some low level simple items to get the gist of it then move on to more advanced items. I use SotAWiki.net for my recipe research, and open each part of the recipe in a separate tab, then cycle through the tabs simplest to most complex to finally create the final item.

It can be quite challenging facing 2 yellow or orange targets simultaneously, to say the least. I try my best to pull one off from the other by hopefully running slightly out of range of one of them, but sometimes that isn't possible. I used ranged spells, so if I cannot get one separate, I stick and cast a few, then move whilst casting insta-cast heals, then stick and cast a few more. Once I whittle one down, I run, recharge, then return to the remaining guy at full strength and can usually take a single target while standing my ground. Slowly moving through an instance peeling off 1 target at a time and not going to slow to be overtaken by respawn is a fun and very strategic challenge. Also, as the mobs patrol around, if they seem to separate enough, I can peel one off with a ranged spell without alerting the other dopey bastards. Keep in mind, I'm FAR from a combat expert, but this is what has worked for me

Ahhh sorry, I've yet to quest in hopes to exerience those for the first time after the game is fully polished (though I am finally considering testing the Love storyline... I'm getting impatient lol). Perhaps someone else can comment.

 

Welcome. Please feel free to add me as a friend and I'll happily help out if you have any questions in game.

1. unforunately, the way they level up in game is rather tedious (you have to make sure you are gaining xp in your xp pool in order for it to go to the skills you are using). Themo Lock's guide does a good job of explaining things. Sadly, it is not always intelligent when you should switch from one skull zone to the next. Also, not all skull zones of the same level are equal.

2. you do not need recipes. http://sotawiki.net/sota/Recipes has a list of all current recipes.

3. pulls and aggro are not working as expected.

4. Unfortunately, you just need to grind grind grind to get up to a level you can survive that. Or group with someone able to help you survive.

 

Welcome Drygva!

 

Hiyas and a Hearty Welcome!

 

It can sometimes help to lure some wolves or crocodiles into the skeletons.

 

Thanks for the replies, after reading that Themo Lock guide, I understand the progression and experience a lot more. And sadly after spending several thousand gold on recipes I know they're not needed.

 

Crafting is an expensive hobby in this game. You have to level up quite a bit and put lots of gold and time into it. Generally I would say that it's better to wait until you can make gold more easily before you start leveling things like blacksmithing.

Even though you think gear is expensive, it's much cheaper to buy decent gear from public/player vendors than to get the skills to make it. But of course crafting is a fun part of the game, so it's up to you.

 

I was a victim of that too when I started in persistence. I was checking out different towns looking for Recipes like they were important. At least now we know... LOL!

 

Personally I wish the recipes were required (either bought or taught by a fellow player). It would make the world a bit more interesting I think

 

Welcome to SotA, @Drygva !

I'm glad to see that people have answered your questions. You did not mention if you were using food. Food has become important for regeneration during combat. The more simple foods can be purchased from the Innkeeper NPC. You can also craft it or buy it from a crafter.

 

I was about to ask about focus regeneration in-combat, and that seems to be the answer I was looking for. Also I finally am making it in 2 skull areas if I'm tactical about it.

I noticed that crafting was much more expensive then bought items. I think I'll consider your advice. Plus I'd rather wait for a more fleshed out system, as the crafting in this game while interesting seems very bare-bones compared to the intended finished product.

 

Don't waste your money on food, it's not at all important or necessary for low/mid-level adventuring and you lose the buffs when you die.

 

Please feel free to add Jade to your friends list. When I am on I am happpy to try and field questions.

 

The zones really vary in difficulty. No 2 are the same. Melee is typically an easier fight. Death touch is a lifesaver.

Plate is good for early mitigation, but not with higher tier spells

Passives in many trees help immensely.

Get L40 quickly in your favorite active glyphs, then make an unlocked deck.

Welcome Drygva!

 

Welcome to the game!

 

Welcome to SotA, Drygva!

My advise for you is: although you CAN play SotA solo, you don't have to. If you find it too difficult to level alone, switch to multiplayer-mode and ask some of the folks around. In many cases you will find someone to help you out. It's much more fun this way, too. If you prefer to play solo you will need to play around with your skills and finding suitable scenes then. As stated earlier by others, your will find some areas easier than others. Build up your skills and learn about deckbuilding. (There are some great posts about that in the skills-section of this forum to that topic). Understanding deckbuilding and optimizing your deck will help you ALOT. And playing with friends adds more to the fun, too. So have fun

 

Now that R36 is in play, those recipes have become valuable. There is no longer the ability of discovery, though there are recipes that are trainable, if you can find an avatar with that particular recipe.

 

According to the current (R36) placing materials on a table for unknown recipes no longer works. This is why everyone was rushing to learn as many recipes they could before Thursdays release.

 

It's not like this any more,death does not remove food buffs according to the guildies who tested it yesterday.