Ancient Kingdoms

Well I killed Pyroth (he didn't drop his quest item), Nyxarion (only issue was the fear but powered through), and tried Urzak: his Primal Fury skill is a MUST INTERRUPT during enrage. And there is enough lag that properly stun countering a skill is difficult. So I died. The Primal Fury skill even puts my health in the danger zone outside of the enrage, it is pretty brutal.



I guess I could use a Dispel Magic scroll but I only have 1. Hrm need to farm arcane runes from Sunken Temple.

Also killed Captain Kragek again and he still won't drop a set glove for anyone.

I also finally went into the Northern Waste (snuck past the North Gate Guardian, not ready for that yet) and got scrolls from the town there. I tried to kill a purple wyvern but was ill prepared. Need to check out his skills - may be time to use that poison purge artifact.

Also, I note there is a Temple of Veeshan equivalent and a Molten Core equivalent? Kinda cool.

From Kragek third kill. What is even this? Forgot to use my Fatecharm too.

Yeah, this is why I was saying that Mage is far and away the best PC class. It definitely has the most "complete" kit and it's the only reliable way to do mobs like Urzak, Overseer, Gate Guard, etc. "early". You can eventually just overgear/VT them down, but it's soooo much easier with mage dispel. They really need to give you a more reliable way to farm scroll mats.

I have all the world bosses on farm (Spirit of the Forest is crazy easy once you get the Staff of Flowers and Dawnstone from the treasure hunts), but not really any upgrades off of them outside of the Legendaries. I still haven't had a black scale drop for the Draconic Key - last piece I need and in 8 kills, still no luck.

Got King in WF down as well and he's pretty much on "farm" status now, after having a rough few tries at him. I ended up dropping his Legendary Artifact on first kill, which has insane stats...



Now it's just a matter of getting the Gate Guard on farm, and he's an absolute nightmare. I finally killed him after four attempts, but there's no way I can do it consistently yet. During his buff + enrage window, he hit me for over 13k in a single swing. Even with Parry, Avatar, miss debuff, mage debuff, and rogue debuff running, the fight still feels like a total dice roll. I can burn Runeshield to survive one enrage window, but it doesn't last long enough to finish the fight, so I still have to live through another phase afterward. The game has a real issue where "difficulty" mostly comes from mobs scaling to absurd damage levels, which turns encounters into RNG checks more than anything else. You're basically praying for favorable rolls.

I'm sure once I get more VT levels for health, full Runeshield duration, AC, and the rest, it'll smooth out, but right now the fight just isn't reliable. Luckily, he dropped his haste belt on my only kill, which is basically BIS for Rangers and Rogues at 20% haste. The Ssaryx version is solid too, but it's only 15%.

At this point I mostly run the world boss loop, then Avatar of Water, followed by Captain, King, and the Ssaryx area. I mainly need VT levels now before I can realistically handle Morwyn in Vault of the Vanished or Hrimsorr in Winterforge. I tried both around three VT levels ago and got completely destroyed. My gear hasn't changed much since then, and I doubt those few VT levels alone are enough to matter yet.

I hit VT60, so now the goal is pushing toward VT100 so I can start farming Legendary Artifacts from the Altar events. Those should help my mercs a lot, especially since I already lucked into Glacierheart for my main character.

The game is still fun as hell, and hopefully I'll be breaking into the ToV and MC areas soon. I also need to farm the boss in the middle of Despair since he drops a ton of strong FR gear for MC, but the area is incredibly touchy because of how tightly packed the mobs are. The NPC command system in this game is also pretty rough, which is what makes it such a PITA. Honestly, Erenshor completely smokes this game when it comes to AI and companion commands.

I am 47 VT I think? I have a Dawnstone, but haven't seen the Staff of Flowers yet. Duly noted.

It's funny how the typical end game routine in a game like this is ultimately comparable across players - Fabled Lizardmen + Ssaryx, Kragek, do-able world bosses and Sunken Temple is my current cycle. I haven't ventured into the Vault yet because the keyholder hasn't spawned for me.

The Sunken Temple Teleri Scholars drop Arcane Runes at a 5% rate, which is the same % for every mob aside from a high level named in Despair who 50% drops one (looks like the other 3 mobs that drop them are in the same room as the named). Those scholars are easy kills, so it is just spawn timer limited, as per usual, for farming. Dispel would help the Thalassor fight as well, because that 30,000 hp heal over time really drags it out lol.

I also want to make a Draconian pick-axe but it needs 50 ore - wtf!

Yeah, this game really hit a sweet spot for me - the farming, the slow progression through gear and levels/VT. I can't believe I have spent some 120 hours on an isometric, pixelated, single player (as I choose to play it) interpretation of EQ/WoW.

Love it.

I know I am going to really immerse into Erenshor as well, which is why I really want to stay with Ancient Kingdoms until I truly feel like I've hit a point of frustration or boredom.

Edit - I was going to try the North Gate Guardian last night while sneaking into the Northern Wastes for the first time but decided against it. That was, evidently, a good decision!

Ah yes, so I put my Winterforge fatecharm in my primary backpack and make my way to Captain Kragek. On the way the guards drop 2 ranger set boots. Kragek drops that pos +40 char ring and............Ranger set gloves.

Welp, that's enough for me for tonight. RNGesus just laughing it up.

Cashed in all my Adventurer Guild runes for, well, basically loot boxes. Among the random augments were a couple of interesting items with great resists. Took a small drop in hp as that artifact is more a caster item:





Also this:

Urzak with a dispel scroll for the Primal Fury during Enrage is easy-peasy. Stack in a Scroll of Lethargy for good measure.

Tried Avatar of Water blind, realized he has a problematic AOE that needs to be countered. I farmed for a couple more tries at him later.

Kragek has dropped gloves for my Druid and that is it. He really is a stingy prick.

Pyroth dropped his legendary that has to be an early BiS for the rogue:

This wait for the second key-holder spawn in the Vault of the Vanished is bullshit. 50% spawn chance my ass.

Edit - I knew it - as soon as I complained it spawned lol.

Slaanesh69 said:

Urzak with a dispel scroll for the Primal Fury during Enrage is easy-peasy. Stack in a Scroll of Lethargy for good measure.

Tried Avatar of Water blind, realized he has a problematic AOE that needs to be countered. I farmed for a couple more tries at him later.

Kragek has dropped gloves for my Druid and that is it. He really is a stingy prick.

Pyroth dropped his legendary that has to be an early BiS for the rogue:

View attachment 629305

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Dagger is pretty good for all the classes that can use it, honestly. The +rage makes Rageblow go brrrrrrrt.

Anyone have tips on bagspace? I found a note that told me how to make a wolf bag, but are there more I can make in the beginning? Found one green one from a drop, and bought 2.

Did a boss that had its first mechanic other than spawning adds. Troll boss that stomped on the ground and caused rocks to fall down for crazy damage. I had mage shield on and it wiped my mana, next one oneshot me at 1kish health + 1/3rd of my mana that I had gotten back from a pot. On the next try I tried to follow the NPCs when they ran, but the rocks track? I was even running sideways and the white indicator of a drop followed me, still hit me. Had used a stronger pot now though, so finished the fight (also had 500 more hp) at no mana and half hp, using all pots I could.

Mana pots (not even greater, as I don't know how to make those) seem crazy expensive to make. One of the ingredients I've only gotten from one spot from some gnomes.

That said, looking at the most recent posts here I do see this is actually an MMO, at least from items. As a newb looking at linked items from high level players where one item has more stats than all my gear combined

I put this down initially. But tried it again yesterday when I was bored... I found mounts, then som rares.... Then it was 5 hours later. Fun fun game.

Is there any point in keeping the multiple notes with lore? I kinda wish they would be added to a journal or something when you loot them instead of taking up an individual bag space. I kept them in the bank, but spent all my money on space there. Have 3 pages, next one costs 10k. I don't have anywhere near that at selling things for 50-100 a pop and getting 5-20 gold per chest or drop. Bank is full of crafting items that "I might need later", though have no idea how to make anything with them.

Only notes I am keeping are two from a set of 4 that seem special? Each note has different names. Treasures unbound and a cunning society are the ones I've found so far.

PS: that items now show that they are part of a tradeskill was a great addition. I sold all my gems that were merchant. But I also assume that items with no craft tag are just for selling even if they don't say merchant? For instance heavy lumber which hints at a trade skill in the description, but isn't tagged as such. I sold all items not tagged. Red bottles, old coins, etc (and still bank is completely full). I've had to sell most of my rings/necks that say they are for crafting since they take up one spot each and I have no idea how to use them. I think I am missing some town or something that shows other crafting things. I'm level 36 and only been to forest and dwarf towns doing the quests around those two zones.

Droigan said:

Anyone have tips on bagspace? I found a note that told me how to make a wolf bag, but are there more I can make in the beginning? Found one green one from a drop, and bought 2.

Did a boss that had its first mechanic other than spawning adds. Troll boss that stomped on the ground and caused rocks to fall down for crazy damage. I had mage shield on and it wiped my mana, next one oneshot me at 1kish health + 1/3rd of my mana that I had gotten back from a pot. On the next try I tried to follow the NPCs when they ran, but the rocks track? I was even running sideways and the white indicator of a drop followed me, still hit me. Had used a stronger pot now though, so finished the fight (also had 500 more hp) at no mana and half hp, using all pots I could.

Mana pots (not even greater, as I don't know how to make those) seem crazy expensive to make. One of the ingredients I've only gotten from one spot from some gnomes.

That said, looking at the most recent posts here I do see this is actually an MMO, at least from items. As a newb looking at linked items from high level players where one item has more stats than all my gear combined

I put this down initially. But tried it again yesterday when I was bored... I found mounts, then som rares.... Then it was 5 hours later. Fun fun game.

Is there any point in keeping the multiple notes with lore? I kinda wish they would be added to a journal or something when you loot them instead of taking up an individual bag space. I kept them in the bank, but spent all my money on space there. Have 3 pages, next one costs 10k. I don't have anywhere near that at selling things for 50-100 a pop and getting 5-20 gold per chest or drop. Bank is full of crafting items that "I might need later", though have no idea how to make anything with them.

Only notes I am keeping are two from a set of 4 that seem special? Each note has different names. Treasures unbound and a cunning society are the ones I've found so far.

PS: that items now show that they are part of a tradeskill was a great addition. I sold all my gems that were merchant. But I also assume that items with no craft tag are just for selling even if they don't say merchant? For instance heavy lumber which hints at a trade skill in the description, but isn't tagged as such. I sold all items not tagged. Red bottles, old coins, etc (and still bank is completely full). I've had to sell most of my rings/necks that say they are for crafting since they take up one spot each and I have no idea how to use them. I think I am missing some town or something that shows other crafting things. I'm level 36 and only been to forest and dwarf towns doing the quests around those two zones.

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Gold income seems VERY low at the beginning but will pick up. I have 8 bank slots and 230 k saved up right now. You need to make sure you have banked money to revive your mercs and repair your items when you wipe.

In retrospect, you are better off to sell everything until you know you need it, aside from alchemy and scroll crafting items. I don't think there is anything so rare that when you want it for crafting later you can't find it in a reasonable amount of time. For a while I saved every gem, then sold them all off for tens of thousands of gold and a ton of bank space.

Once you get a full set of lore notes it combines into a book that you read and you get a couple of added stats. There seem to be one of the set rarer than the others but sell them until you have the space to start hoarding.

If you haven't been here, this is your bible : Ancient Kingdoms Compendium Punch in "backpack" in item search and it will give a list and you can target farm if you like. For instance, elementals drop a bag, giants drop a bag, etc. Later you can make a 14 slot bag, and find another 14 slot bag in boxes you buy from the Adventurer's guild.

I haven't played a mana class, but pot use seems like it is meant to be supplemental rather than a dependency. My group's mana is maintained by my warrior Veteran skill Battlefield Restoration. There must be some mana restoration skills in your skill tree, or perhaps in Veteran points. There are some items later (chest pieces I think) that help mana regen, but I note that my mage burns through mana pretty fast regardless. And I have never given my group mana pots, only health pots.

Any other questions shoot them in here. There are very few videos or help tidbits on the internet, the game is not as popular as it should be (lol). Most of my info has come from following progression several levels behind Kirun , short steam chats, or the compendium.

Edit - and the draw, the carrot, are all those items with the juicy stats. That's what keeps me playing, the upgrading skills and items, and beating progressively harder monsters. The giants in Everfrost used to be such a challenge and took forever to kill, now I just burn through them easy to get to Winterforge. The dragon world boss that killed me so many times while xp farming the giants is now on farm.

FINALLY! The Draconium ore circle in NE Northern Wastes is actually pretty easy, decent xp from mobs (I got 1.5 veteran points doing it) and the panthers drop lots of meat for cooking (move speed food).



Edit - my bind is in the city in Northern Wastes (Felarii) and typically every time I die I go out and do a cycle or two of the Draconian ore farming.

Droigan said:

Anyone have tips on bagspace? I found a note that told me how to make a wolf bag, but are there more I can make in the beginning? Found one green one from a drop, and bought 2.

Did a boss that had its first mechanic other than spawning adds. Troll boss that stomped on the ground and caused rocks to fall down for crazy damage. I had mage shield on and it wiped my mana, next one oneshot me at 1kish health + 1/3rd of my mana that I had gotten back from a pot. On the next try I tried to follow the NPCs when they ran, but the rocks track? I was even running sideways and the white indicator of a drop followed me, still hit me. Had used a stronger pot now though, so finished the fight (also had 500 more hp) at no mana and half hp, using all pots I could.

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What mercs are you using?

Druid is the best "solo" healing merc, but there are a few bosses early on where you're going to want to run double healer - CLR and DRU. CLR heals for a shitload, but his heals are on a really slow cast - 3.5s I believe. Later on, when you get the 4th merc, you'll usually just always run 2 healers. As you gear up and get more veteran levels, there are some bosses where you can ditch the CLR to get another DPS and make fights faster.

I gotta say, the hardest basic gear-slot to upgrade is bracer. My warrior is still running this, my last blue equipment item:



Also, as an aside, I killed Avatar of Water. Bosses with AoE require careful placement. Pulling the Avatar of Water to the hallway protected most of my mercs from the AoE. Either that or the mage is finally dispelling, not sure lol. Also, Thalassor, the head priest in Sunken Temple, casts an AoE mana drain that is annoying af, but if you place the mob on one side of a pillar and your mercs stay on the other, they avoid the AoE but can still fire spells at the mob.

So if I was bored and was deciding between this and Erenshor, what's the TL;DR pro/con list for each?

Identikit said:

Thank god though, 45-50 sucked, there needs to be some more content at that level.

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The content isn't really the issue IMO. Twisted Haunt is probably the best designed dungeon in the game. The issue is that the EXP required from 45-50 is just way too high. They could cut it in half and it'd still feel like it took some "time".

Khane said:

So if I was bored and was deciding between this and Erenshor, what's the TL;DR pro/con list for each?

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It's hard for me to give a completely current comparison on Erenshor since I haven't played it much since the initial release, but my biggest issue with it was always the lack of an "epic" feeling tied to progression and gear upgrades. The core systems are solid, but I never really got that strong power progression fantasy from it. I'm honestly waiting to see what raids bring to the table, because I think that's a big missing piece that could really elevate the game and give gear progression more meaning and excitement.

Ancient Kingdoms, on the other hand, absolutely nails progression. The pacing of combat, the dungeon crawling, building up veteran levels (basically AAs), learning encounters, testing your limits against new bosses, finally getting a kill, and eventually turning that boss into "farm" content? That loop feels incredibly satisfying. There's a real sense of growth and accomplishment there that keeps you invested.

Where Ancient Kingdoms struggles, in my opinion, is with the AI systems and party commands. The command structure is extremely basic, and even then the mercs don't always respond consistently or intelligently. That's one area where Erenshor is significantly ahead. Its AI controls are much more refined, and the game does a fantastic job of making the world feel alive and "MMO-like" despite everything being AI-driven. Ancient Kingdoms, by comparison, feels much more like a traditional solo RPG experience.

So for me, it really comes down to what you value more. Ancient Kingdoms has the stronger gameplay progression and long-term character growth, while Erenshor does a much better job with immersion, AI party control, and capturing that MMO atmosphere.

Feel free to ask about any other specifics, but that's my general breakdown between the two.

Khane said:

So if I was bored and was deciding between this and Erenshor, what's the TL;DR pro/con list for each?

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Ancient Kingdoms is a great 2d pixel RPG. It is further along in development and as Kirun stated, the progression system is better.

Erenshor is a single player MMO. The world feels more alive. Think of it more of a .Hack system of NPCs talking (I should play that again). The next update of it will have raids added to it too. Group play actually plays like an mmo, early levels will have to pulling, breaking camps, mezzing, etc. Not sure if AK does that later on, but in Erenshor you start seeing the "mmo" features very early.

So while I would recommend both, Erenshor has massive potential if you like what it offers, it will only get bigger. But it might take a while (single dev?). Ancient Kingdoms is nearly feature complete from what I understand.

This if you have friends, erenshor if you don’t.

just picked this up and definitely would be better with friends.