PVP melee vs ranged - if you can't beat 'em...
Posted: Fri Dec 19, 2014 3:07 pm
As some of you may know, I - and many others - have long been campaigning (pleading?) for pvp to be balanced between melee and ranged players. My dwarf character is now level 202 and I was getting so frustrated that ranged characters (higher & lower levels ) could defeat me by hit and run tactics that I created an archer alt, L3on3. Ok - not the most imaginative name, I agree.
Hypocritical? Maybe...no, definitely. But now I am in the interesting position of being able to compare the advantages and disadvantages of each. Here are my thoughts:
1. PVP
Goes without saying really and the point I created the archer character. Archer wins hands down. No contest.
2. Movement rate
The dwarf can move quickly with the speed skill and even faster with the potion of speed, but they are both temporary. The archer always moves quickly. Think of the early quests you do to level up quickly. Some involve you going on screens you have no right to be on as a level 5 noob. One hit and you're dead. My dwarf character was slow and got killed by faster monsters. My archer can outrun most enemies without any problems. The archer wins this one.
3. Levelling up/PVM/gold
My dwarf is lvl 202 and I reckon I've been playing about 18 months. I've paid for 20 lvls (90 to 100 then 190 to 200) and have spent looooong hours grinding the rest. The archer is lvl 85 after about 1 month and no money spent on levels. Ok - so in those 18 months, the character skills have been developed and the dwarf 'hit all within one space' skill is fantastic. But - those blue swordsmen on the bottom screen rarely drop the dark mage staff. The bandit archers are no good for melee characters as they are too far away and killed by ranged characters. So, my archer can level up quickly and get rich quickly at the same time. Archer wins.
4. Role playing
Difficult one to quantify this. As my dwarf character suffers in points 1 - 3, I quickly resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn't be able to kill someone in pvp if I fancied owning their expensive armour or whatever. I've therefore been quite easy-going and have made some great friends on here. Simply because of the advantages in points 1 to 3, it is VERY tempting to role play an archer in the opposite manner: attack people for little reason, jump in and kill spawns and so on. I'll say both score equally here.
Ok - admittedly these are my subjective views on the topic, but - returning to the original point -they do back up the case that pvp needs to be sorted out. To be honest, I can't really see me playing my dwarf character as things stand and this is a great shame (18 months is a long time on FT).
Hypocritical? Maybe...no, definitely. But now I am in the interesting position of being able to compare the advantages and disadvantages of each. Here are my thoughts:
1. PVP
Goes without saying really and the point I created the archer character. Archer wins hands down. No contest.
2. Movement rate
The dwarf can move quickly with the speed skill and even faster with the potion of speed, but they are both temporary. The archer always moves quickly. Think of the early quests you do to level up quickly. Some involve you going on screens you have no right to be on as a level 5 noob. One hit and you're dead. My dwarf character was slow and got killed by faster monsters. My archer can outrun most enemies without any problems. The archer wins this one.
3. Levelling up/PVM/gold
My dwarf is lvl 202 and I reckon I've been playing about 18 months. I've paid for 20 lvls (90 to 100 then 190 to 200) and have spent looooong hours grinding the rest. The archer is lvl 85 after about 1 month and no money spent on levels. Ok - so in those 18 months, the character skills have been developed and the dwarf 'hit all within one space' skill is fantastic. But - those blue swordsmen on the bottom screen rarely drop the dark mage staff. The bandit archers are no good for melee characters as they are too far away and killed by ranged characters. So, my archer can level up quickly and get rich quickly at the same time. Archer wins.
4. Role playing
Difficult one to quantify this. As my dwarf character suffers in points 1 - 3, I quickly resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn't be able to kill someone in pvp if I fancied owning their expensive armour or whatever. I've therefore been quite easy-going and have made some great friends on here. Simply because of the advantages in points 1 to 3, it is VERY tempting to role play an archer in the opposite manner: attack people for little reason, jump in and kill spawns and so on. I'll say both score equally here.
Ok - admittedly these are my subjective views on the topic, but - returning to the original point -they do back up the case that pvp needs to be sorted out. To be honest, I can't really see me playing my dwarf character as things stand and this is a great shame (18 months is a long time on FT).
