Ancient Kingdoms

There's a way to set them on "defensive" where they won't attack and stick closer. However, they still move around a bit. They need to allow the "come here" command to be mapped to a key and a "stay still" command as well.

This game really just needs better dungeon design. Like I mentioned earlier, the elemental dungeon in the early 40s is nearly flawless. It's a five-boss run with multiple paths to each area, has a bit of that Planes of Power feel, and all the loot is actually relevant for the level range.

The problem is everything else. Chasing single bosses halfway across the map is a pain, especially with no real fast travel system (outside of city portal scrolls once you grind the faction). That's exactly why the elemental dungeon works so well, because it's self-contained and efficient. You're not wasting time just getting to the content. Exploration is great in theory, but in practice, they should've reserved most of those scattered, one-off bosses for quests, bounties, or something similar. As it stands, tying meaningful loot to them just makes farming feel tedious because of how the travel system is set up.

That said, the game still scratches an itch that Erenshor doesn't, for whatever reason. I can't quite put my finger on whether it's the progression or the pacing. But when it comes to mercenaries, Erenshor is way ahead -better AI, more control, and just a smoother overall system.

Kithani said:

For those that have played both, how does this game compare to Erenshor? I think I may stick to that one, 20 minute spawns with 1/50 chance to have the item I want sounds like shit I just can’t do anymore after college, lol. Sounds like this one is fun times though.

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Having put equal time into both Erenshor is better in almost every measurable way at this time if you're looking for an EQ like experience. The modding community is pretty good too if that is your thing. Also has better flexibility to play the way you want with sliders for xp, rare spawns etc.

Ancient Kingdoms is still fun to play through and see what's what and hopefully they can flesh it out a bit more by the time it's out of early access.

For the price they are both a steal though imo.

Some of the raid bosses look a little familiar.

Yeah mid 40s is a bit of a wasteland. The quests I am running include: Trying to kill Water Elementals is an occasional wipe. Trying to get a 5% drop off Frost Giants is a slow grind because they have mucho hps, and you need your head on a swivel for the stupid dragon.

The Twisted Haunt, which I think is the elemental dungeon Kirun keeps mentioning, is pretty good but I get bored running it over and over (although the 3 elemental bosses give 60k+ experience at level 43).

One thing Erenshor has that Ancient Kingdoms doesn't is other groups in game like a real MMO. Trying to find a mob to kill in the noobie area is the real MMO experience. I've never gotten past the opening area of the first dungeon on the noob island, so plan to main that game when I get bored of this one.

Hit 50 and Vet LVL 3 so far. Game has a LOT of really cool, but really difficult content at end game. It has been fun as fuck discovering all the new zones, bosses, etc. The Kael Drakkel (they call it "Winterforge") zone is such a badass homage - even has the AoW.

They really need to give mercs their level 40 and 50 class skills. It seems like they only get up to the level 30 class stuff, even at level 50.

Mercs only gain about 1% HP, 1% mana, and +1 damage per veteran level, so the scaling isn't that significant. Hitting 50 and unlocking the fourth merc is a huge boost, though, because you can run double healer, a tank, and a DPS (and for some fights, even triple healer). Some of the veteran abilities are also incredibly important, especially the first one that heals the entire party while restoring mana and rage. I honestly recommend just running the boss loop in Twisting Haunt over and over to hit 50. It also gives you a better chance at some early purples and the Staff of the Elements the Earth boss drops is reeaaaalllly good (over-itemized for its level IMO) for healers/casters.

It also feels pretty essential that your PC is a DPS class. Merc DPS is just awful since you can't control their stats, skills, or optimization in any meaningful way.

I almost managed to take down the Ancient Cyclops today, but I can't quite beat his enrage timer before he wipes me. I'll probably need to farm more gear - either to increase my tank's survivability or just hope for a lucky assassinate crit. This is one of the rare cases where playing a healer as the PC would actually help, since you could position yourself outside his AOE stun and keep the tank topped off. The NPCs just aren't smart enough to handle that. Once he ramps up in enrage, he hits harder while the entire party is stunned, and I can't quite keep my tank alive long enough for the healers to recover and start healing again.