2010-03-21, 08:00 PM
Murr, I also send a recommendation for LaTale. A majority of cash items are tradable there. (as in, can be put in trade window/shops) Including pet life extension items, instant heal potions, exp buff potions and the like. Some pet coupons can even be bought with in-game money from cash players, but most of those are very expensive.
Unlike most 2d MMOs, there's no invincibility frames after every hit, meaning tanks actually have a use and you have to actually think and not over-aggro while grinding. Sometimes it becomes so engaging I've forgotten that I'm 'grinding', since i can actually die if im not careful. The upgrade system. which revolves around applying "puzzles" to items is well balanced in that the upgrade resource is buyable in every town; So no player feels left out YET it still takes a lot of work to make an item "godly". Love it way more than MS's scrolls with crappy drop rates (hard to make a good item AND hard to even get the chance... bleh.)
Regarding the grind...The game doesn't reach grindfest (least by my standards) until lv 130 or so, 110 if someone chooses to solo.The party system is very nice for increasing exp gain. A party of two for example, will cut the exp earned per kill to 75% of what you would solo. However, with 2x the killing power you really could earn 1.5x the exp overtime compared to solo grinding. the benefit incresases a bit more with a bigger party as well.
If you choose to spend cash however the grind can be reduced to nothing depending on which version you play. NA Latale (OGP) it's possible to buy FS items and "enchant" them piece by piece for extra exp. a 24% bonus can be achieved from that alone. a Exp stone can add up to an additional 25%. and some special fashion sets can carry with it an innate 20-40% exp bonus too (while still being enchantable) There's even some very controversial exp potions that's been released. Currently 200% exp bonus potions and 500% exp potions can be bought in the cash shop, or won via LTs 'Gacha" known as LaDeck. Get them and there is no grind in this game whatsoever. On the bad side: it's made the top rankings worthless, and can make finding a consistent grinding partner frustrating. (and you thought temporary 8x was bad?!)
Also on the bad side : LaTale is highly latency sensitive, the game is server sided as opposed to client-sided, meaning there's a tiny delay after keypresses that may exist depending on how high your ping is. If you can ping california servers between 0-100 ms, its too negligble to even really care about unless you're into PVP. But at about 150-200 ms range (like me) you'd have to be careful in what class and sometimes even skill tree you choose.
Overall, LaTale is worth a good look if you have a taste for 2d and keyboard controls. Fun combat system (though its a bore until level 40 or so), worthwhile party exp system, instanced dungeons to hunt bosses in (no 1 party per channel crap) and classes that actually feel different when playing them.
Unlike most 2d MMOs, there's no invincibility frames after every hit, meaning tanks actually have a use and you have to actually think and not over-aggro while grinding. Sometimes it becomes so engaging I've forgotten that I'm 'grinding', since i can actually die if im not careful. The upgrade system. which revolves around applying "puzzles" to items is well balanced in that the upgrade resource is buyable in every town; So no player feels left out YET it still takes a lot of work to make an item "godly". Love it way more than MS's scrolls with crappy drop rates (hard to make a good item AND hard to even get the chance... bleh.)
Regarding the grind...The game doesn't reach grindfest (least by my standards) until lv 130 or so, 110 if someone chooses to solo.The party system is very nice for increasing exp gain. A party of two for example, will cut the exp earned per kill to 75% of what you would solo. However, with 2x the killing power you really could earn 1.5x the exp overtime compared to solo grinding. the benefit incresases a bit more with a bigger party as well.
If you choose to spend cash however the grind can be reduced to nothing depending on which version you play. NA Latale (OGP) it's possible to buy FS items and "enchant" them piece by piece for extra exp. a 24% bonus can be achieved from that alone. a Exp stone can add up to an additional 25%. and some special fashion sets can carry with it an innate 20-40% exp bonus too (while still being enchantable) There's even some very controversial exp potions that's been released. Currently 200% exp bonus potions and 500% exp potions can be bought in the cash shop, or won via LTs 'Gacha" known as LaDeck. Get them and there is no grind in this game whatsoever. On the bad side: it's made the top rankings worthless, and can make finding a consistent grinding partner frustrating. (and you thought temporary 8x was bad?!)
Also on the bad side : LaTale is highly latency sensitive, the game is server sided as opposed to client-sided, meaning there's a tiny delay after keypresses that may exist depending on how high your ping is. If you can ping california servers between 0-100 ms, its too negligble to even really care about unless you're into PVP. But at about 150-200 ms range (like me) you'd have to be careful in what class and sometimes even skill tree you choose.
Overall, LaTale is worth a good look if you have a taste for 2d and keyboard controls. Fun combat system (though its a bore until level 40 or so), worthwhile party exp system, instanced dungeons to hunt bosses in (no 1 party per channel crap) and classes that actually feel different when playing them.