Newbie's questions

[Lithuanian2]

Hello everyone in the Un-chained world of Age of Conan,

let me introduce: yet another free-to-player, hoping to find his place under AoC sun. I am a total newbie here, total PvE and in love with crafting if crafting is not extremely hard as has its own rewards. Played Istaria and Lotro (Lotro is still played from time to time).

And now, up to questions:
1) Class choose. I came for ranged class, "nuke, self heal and nuke again" type like Lotro's Minstrel. Initially I was adviced Priestess of Mitra, but found her to be weak. Then, Necromancer came. Good, powerfull with his own private army...yet not ranged one. Now I am for Tempest of Set (PoM was deleted). Nice try, but only 2 offensive spells. Question: which class is closiest to Lotro's minstrel?

2) For any ranged class: what build is the best for doing maximum damage in the shortest period of time? I do not care much about healing - if enemy is dead, I don't need to ne healed. So far I see 3 skill trees and I usually pick middle one.

3) Crafting. I heared it begins at lvl.40. Does it make sense to craft stuff like weapons...or better hope for quest rewards?

4)How to survive forced groups quests, like Bat in Acheronian ruins or finding evil Hortensia? My low lvl.20 toon got killed each time in Picts' village,there were too many Picts

[Derled]

Hello everyone in the Un-chained world of Age of Conan,

let me introduce: yet another free-to-player, hoping to find his place under AoC sun. I am a total newbie here, total PvE and in love with crafting if crafting is not extremely hard as has its own rewards. Played Istaria and Lotro (Lotro is still played from time to time).

And now, up to questions:
1) Class choose. I came for ranged class, "nuke, self heal and nuke again" type like Lotro's Minstrel. Initially I was adviced Priestess of Mitra, but found her to be weak. Then, Necromancer came. Good, powerfull with his own private army...yet not ranged one. Now I am for Tempest of Set (PoM was deleted). Nice try, but only 2 offensive spells. Question: which class is closiest to Lotro's minstrel?

2) For any ranged class: what build is the best for doing maximum damage in the shortest period of time? I do not care much about healing - if enemy is dead, I don't need to ne healed. So far I see 3 skill trees and I usually pick middle one.

3) Crafting. I heared it begins at lvl.40. Does it make sense to craft stuff like weapons...or better hope for quest rewards?

4)How to survive forced groups quests, like Bat in Acheronian ruins or finding evil Hortensia? My low lvl.20 toon got killed each time in Picts' village,there were too many Picts

play pvp, makes u better in pve than any pure pve player
bind ur things on skill bar right and just kite with hp pot and launch few spells and kite again

[Derled]

go for demo or ranger if u want fast nuke class, but at 80 necro more use than demo in almost everywhere,

[Mellaus]

Most classes start showing their potential around lvl 40-50.

For instance, PoM and ToS both feel weak and very limited at low level, yet they're among the heaviest hitters in end game.

ToS has very few spells at beginning and it's quite boring, yet at higher level you got tons of offensive spells and abilities to use.

You could also try demo, well rounded class, very effective in any scenario, being close range, long range, single target, large AoE.
Demo got all the tools to deal with any kind of situation.

That being said, if you want a caster able to heal, then it's either PoM or ToS.
I myself like my ToS much more than my PoM but it's a matter of taste.

[Greyloins]

Crafting in AoC is nearly universally agreed to be pretty bad - we're waiting for a delayed revamp but there's no telling when that will arrive. So if crafting's important for you, you might wanna get ready for disappointment...

Regarding classes, there aren't really any pure healers like you find in other MMOs. The trick of healing is keeping up a couple of heal over time effects and managing your "big cooldown" heals so you don't waste them when it's unnecessary/when other healer's use theirs. Even the priest classes spend most of their time doing damage, sometimes pretty damn respectable damage.

All the ranged classes can do decent damage, though the pom and ranger have some serious burst in PvP while the necro and demo deal better dps lategame. The ToS is especially good with AoE damage, but typically doesn't stay at long range... Note that most AoC'ers will recommend a melee class to a newbie; these are more unique since they have the combo system as opposed to ranged classes being more like other mmos.

You can solo Tortage with pretty much every class over lvl 19, though it can be very hard on some. Bat Demon, Pict Chief and Askia are the hardest - you might wanna find a group for these or skip them while you're still inexperienced. The Black Ones quests should be easier to solo - just remember you can run around and kite a bit while you get health back up from potions/hots.

[Thainster]

Best advice for all new players is to join a established guild, then you can ask all your questions in real time while playing and get help and advice with everything and also be able to join groups or get someone to help you if your stuck at some nasty boss ;-)

[Phil77]

First thing.. dont believe anything a pvp'er says about pve.

[Lithuanian2]

Well, I know about combo and this what fascinated and made me mad in Lotro. Use attack1, attack2, attack1 and attack1, get Special Nuke combo. Good if one masters (Lotro's Warden was very cool), bad if someone like me is impatient person.

Concerning Guilds: which ones are helpfull and active? I am getting cold invites without explaining, always decline then...and see no info about reputable Guilds. ANy reccomendations?

Once more about crafting: are crafted weapons (if we take weapons as example) better than quest given ones? looted ones?

[Thainster]

Well, I know about combo and this what fascinated and made me mad in Lotro. Use attack1, attack2, attack1 and attack1, get Special Nuke combo. Good if one masters (Lotro's Warden was very cool), bad if someone like me is impatient person.

Concerning Guilds: which ones are helpfull and active? I am getting cold invites without explaining, always decline then...and see no info about reputable Guilds. ANy reccomendations?

Once more about crafting: are crafted weapons (if we take weapons as example) better than quest given ones? looted ones?

Check the guild topic on this forum.. ;-)

[Halfdead]

First thing.. dont believe anything a pvp'er says about pve.

Because every pvper is wrong? Apparently you miraculously know everybody.

Tos and Pom are really fun in pve and pvp. But like people have said you don't get much out of them until level 40/50.

Crafting is ok, at endgame though, raid/group weapons gear are gonna be better than the generic crafted gear you're given. You have to grind/farm for rare recipes of decent gear/weapons. Even then, raid quality is going to be better. Especially if you go premium and buy the khitai expansion. Their gear well above any crafted.

There are a lot of helpful guilds and there are also a lot of bad ones. If you plan to do end-game raiding, join a newbie guild and then look for a higher raiding guild in your time zone when you get your toon decently experienced.