How Casual?

[Kellaxe]

I have been playing AoC off and on since EA. I have several lvl 80's (Thanks to off line lvls) but all are horribly undergeared (Thanks to Hackers/gold farmers and my account being hacked a couple of years ago and all of my toons stripped of gear and money...including what little raid gear I had)

I want to play, but I am a true casual player. I have a busy work and family schedule, so I try to play often, but it is hard to play with any consistency, something that probably makes me not very wanted by guilds who run weekly raids or 6 mans. I really do not want to do PUG's as I like working with people I know (I.E...part of a guild) especially since I am new to raids and k6's, I need to learn the lay of the land, and PUG's are often less forgiving or willing to teach.

What does AoC offer a returning casual player? Probably not much as I doubt many guilds want players who want to play, but can't commit to a regular schedule.

How long do most raids take? (I have done all 3 T1 raids before, so I know how long each of those are)

How long do k6's take? (I have never done any...Khitai really seems like more of a commitment than I want to get involved in...I recently tried faction grinding on one of my toons, but my Sin is so undergeared I have trouble with many mobs, expecially in Kora Korum.

We also all know about the desparity of trying to get into PVP and the gear gap against higher tiered PVP players...PVP is probably the easiest thing for me to get into, but also could be like ramming my head into a brick wall over and over again expecting something to happen to the wall and not my head :P

I guess this brings up the ultimate question...Is AoC even a game you can play casually, and is this preventing it from really thriving?

[Vaere]

Yag loop takes under 2 hrs for the 3 instances... Depending if you are going for the rare boss in Yag itself. Can be done in an hour with a decent group. Gear is easy in Khitia. Cape in Vile is also another quick and awsome piece (depending on group and method, takes between 5 -45 mins).

Most of the new instances are aimed at casual players I think. Even T4 doesnt have much in the way of trash if you got into a raid for it (compared to old world raids)

[Kellaxe]

Yag loop takes under 2 hrs for the 3 instances... Depending if you are going for the rare boss in Yag itself. Can be done in an hour with a decent group. Gear is easy in Khitia. Cape in Vile is also another quick and awsome piece (depending on group and method, takes between 5 -45 mins).

Most of the new instances are aimed at casual players I think. Even T4 doesnt have much in the way of trash if you got into a raid for it (compared to old world raids)

Thanks Vaere...do the K6's need you to be geared to be effective?

I think this is the case on the progressive raids...

[RawssGoredon]

Apart from pillars of heaven, all Khitai dungeons are essentially 1 boss and maybe some trash mobs. House of crom is quick too. No guild would care if you are only a casual player.

[Mellaus]

You can definitely play very casually.

Actually, doing hard mores is the way to go, even more for you, because as you said, raids can take a lot of time, while hard modes offer a wide variety of instances, some done in 15 minutes while others might require 1 full hour.
Plus, once you're geared in khitan epic gear, you're set, it's T3 equivalent and in most cases is way better than T3 gear.
So, as sin, get tainted weapons and finely honed, 15% hit rating to be safe, then you can join any HM and make your character progress.

About PvP, you are right, you can go there in green gear, nothing will stop you to do so, but you'll get one shot by everything.
So for that, wait for the minis unchained, which should put everyone at the same level of gear and AA. Hopefully. If that feature ever hits live.

About guilds, every guild has social members, who cannot intend raids/HMs/sieges because of their schedule but are still members of the guild.

All in all, AoC offers a lot to casual players on the PvE side, so, no worries.

[Chaman-bourru]

Hi,

You can do a decent amount of stuff in rather short laps of time with a decent groupe. The main thing that can make it time consuming is waiting for other players AFKing, riding on slow horses, etc. and the occasional crashs. It's a bit annoying in 6mans, can be a lot in raids (since it's 24peeps).

But on paper, instances have few trash mobs in khitai so it's pretty fast to do with a good groupe that doesn't slack too much.

[Kellaxe]

Thanks for the replies...It definately gives me a boost of confidence I can do what I want to do, but at my pace. I just need to find a guild, and go from there.

[Loaf-of-Evil]

100% guild based. What server you on?

[Vaere]

Thanks for the replies...It definately gives me a boost of confidence I can do what I want to do, but at my pace. I just need to find a guild, and go from there.

Dont even need a guild really.. Many PUG groups lfm in global constanly for 6man's. Just let em know you are new, some will object, most will explain and you will be good to go.

[Prima]

It's one of the most casual-friendly endgames that I've ever played.

For one thing, AoC is very solo friendly. You can earn five pieces of epic armor comparable to Tier2-3 armor, an epic weapon, and your accessories without ever doing a group. Of course, you can get rare tokens faster in a group, but the point is, even with a weird schedule that results in you having to wait for PUG invites rather than getting a guaranteed guild group every night, you can still log in, start the circuit of solo content that gives rares and MoA, watch for groups in /global, and even if no groups ever form, you still make progress by the end of night.

The PUGs that are forming most regularly (at least Pacific time on Set server) are Amphitheatre (Unchained), and Warmonks/Palace Godslayer, then sometimes House of Crom (HOC). If you join a group advertising "K6 (Khitai six-man) GS (godslayer/hardmode)," they almost always turn out to be hitting Warmonks (Vortex and Reliquary of Flame), then Palace, then maybe one other dungeon (although 75% of the time, the group then seems to split up after Palace, or if there were any delays, they restart with Warmonks because its timer is only an hour; Warmonks/Palace is a nice, fast, easy run). I used to see Yag loops a lot, but they've been tapering off; I think people are bored to death.

What groups you are ready to join depends on what class you are.

• ROGUES: It's easy to get an unchained/hard-mode group as a rogue, because you're needed for your AA feats so much that the group almost doesn't care what else you do. You could probably do fine in any of the entry-level dungeons I listed with all blues, especially if they are the entry-level Khitai vendor blues.
• MAGES have to compete for the random DPS slot with everyone else because their AA is unnecessary for all but a couple dungeons. I recommend all Khitai blues, maybe even the two MOA-purchaseable epics once you hit Tier 4 with a faction.
• PRIESTS with AA get a ton of invites too, even with minimal gear. But some of the content is really rough on tanks and healers. You'd need a healer to tell you about which.
• SOLDIERS: Tanks require a ton of gear before they can hold their own in most hard-mode/unchained content, especially with undergeared healers. Even DPS soldiers will be expected to off-tank a lot.

For classes that require a lot of gear up front, just hit your factions and solo dungeons hard and get the best faction gear you can. Then try to make friends with the regular PUGers who can keep you afloat. It can be hard to find a regular tank or healer sometimes, so many people will be patient with you.

Check out the Newcomer and Raids & Tactics forum for some guides on the various dungeons, so you don't embarrass yourself in groups. Keep an eye out for the video guides, especially; I think BANTO has some particularly great ones on his YouTube channel.