Hi folks.

There's a group of us thinking of moving from WoW to AoC but would like a little more info before we decide to buy the game. Since you now need a copy of the game to see the official AoC forums I havnt been able to find the answers to any of these questions and was hoping someone here would be able to help.

1. We are primarily interested in the PvP aspect of the game and we dont really want to have to raid PvE content for endless hours every night to get the top gear in order to be competative. Will there be ways of getting high end gear other than raiding?

2. How "hardcore" is AoC expected to be at max level? We are fairly hardcore players but we also have jobs/kids/school to deal with. Will we have to be playin 8 hours a day to keep our gear up to date?

3. The combat system seems like it has the potential to make skill a far greater factor than it is in WoW where 1v1 or small group (eg 2v2 arena) fights are determined primarily by gear and class. Would those of you with pvp experience (from beta or whatever) agree with this or is there still an aspect of rock, paper, scissors like there is in WoW?

4. Overall how balanced is PvP?

5. The sieges look great, but what little footage ive seen so far shows pvp fights to be over very quickly. I cant imagine sieges being very fun if your character only lasts 2 seconds every time he gets into a fight. How is this being addressed?

6. How are feats and combos learned? I've been watching interviews with the developers and a couple of times they seemed to suggest that new abilities would be unlocked as a result of PvE progression. Again this is the whole will we have to PvE to PvP thing.

7. For some reason the WoW devs have decided that healing classes should be able to spec into damage talents and top dps charts in raids. Will the same sort of thing happen in AoC or will classes have a more definite role?

I realise it's kinda early to be asking some of those questions, but if anyone has the experience or knowledge from other forums to answer any of those I would be very grateful.

Hi there Zode,

I'm making the progression from WoW to AoC, albeit via Oceanic servers, and haven't had the chance to play too much into AoC, but will answer a few of your questions here.

I don't know much about PvP (I personally SUCK at it, so tend to stay away from it) but can tell you that Feats seem to be basically the same as Talents in WoW and your skills are what u just get in your 'spellbook' in WoW. The combat system DEFINITELY requires a lot more skill than in WoW and should make for some very interesting combat at end game.

I know this doesn't answer all your questions, but hope it helps you a little bit. I'd be playing AoC now if it weren't for server downtime. At any rate, enjoy!

7. lol spriests, ret pallies, feral druuuds, and enhanny shammies are topping your raid meters?

As far as pvp goes, I think its great. Its unbalanced with some classes, but theres 12 to choose from. As of now, I think rangers are a bit over powered. They cant stun and kite leaving nearly anyone fighting them screwed, but Im sure in time more balance will come.

Gear will be a factor of course, but the player has to think more about whats going on. Fighting a class the same level as you gives different results in my experience. Ive stealth attacked a class and killing them with ease, but got slaughtered by the same class and level from someone else. Ive been more suprised by PvP outcomes in this game more than others. Its more about skill than WoW is thats for sure.

Combos and abilities are learned just by reaching new levels, you dont have to learn them from trainers. Feats are just like talents are in WoW, you spec in them each level. Skills are something new though. Everyone has skills, like climbing and hiding. You are alotted points that you can distribute to this diffent skills and can be changed around at anytime with a small cost. So if you come across a ladder or cliff to climb, it may say you need 150 points in climbing, so you have to take some off one skill to be able to add it to climbing. Some gear gives modifiers to skills like the hiding skill.

Healing classes are healing classes, but none of them are just healing classes. A priest in AoC has a fighting chance against a mob of 2 or 3 just like any other class solo. Theyre not healers like your used to. Theyre not all powerful healers, but more of healing/secondary role class. One healing class has very powerful AoE damage, while another has great CC. Healers not only heal, but do damage and other rolls. Potions and food buffs are some of the biggest healers so far in my experience. No more one shotting healers, they fight back and are just as hard as other classes.

This is all I can really tell you in response to your questions. Seige battles and what not are a little far off for me. My advise to you is to play it if your truely bored with WoW and want a new approach to an MMO. If not, your going to compare it to wow, if your bored with wow and really want a new game to play, its worth a shot. I did and Im loving it. A few polishes and Ill be completely happy with it. Sorry I cant tell you more.