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NeoQueen
05-10-2011, 12:31 PM
This is a WORK IN PROGRESS and needs a lot more user input. As you will see, I play mostly as a Mage and secondly as a Bear as my Archer is lacking in content. Please share what you have learned or what you have seen others do to help me get as much relevant information as possible.
Also, this is all from my point of view so if you disagree with something and/or have a better solution please let me know.

So, I like to go to the lower levels and play as my mage, either farming or just running levels. I have noticed that many players do things that you would have expected them to know not to do, but they don't. Thus I have created this guide! I hope to be able to let players in on the 'secrets' that others know and that help them to be better players for their chosen character.

This guide is not to answer such questions as which build to use, how to farm certain bosses and/or areas, or what items to use. (There are many other guides that address them.) This is simply to help others to better know the ins and out of their character and be better team players.


General Information

Gaming

-Quick Text is your friend. If you find yourself saying the same phrase over and over again then put it in quick text. This allows you to say it in the middle of a fight without stopping to type it out and possibly dying.

-When you want to buy potions go to Ellie in Forest Haven. Although a tad inconvenient if you’re in a game, it is cheaper than the store and you can get more for your gold, especially if you’re saving for something.

-When you die and wish to exit the game go to the Alien Oasis town. This way you spawn in the healing waters and don’t have to use pots.

-Always check the prices in the CS of items you wish to buy or sell. This protects you from getting “scammed.” If the item is not currently listed ask around to see what it normally goes for or compare it to a similar item. Always double check.

-When joining a game look for games in the beginning stages. This way you get more XP than joining at the end.

In-Game

-Be aware that having more than two bears in a game can be a headache if they don’t play well off each other. When joining a game look at the players there and make sure you’re comfortable with who is there.

-If you need to complete a quest by talking to a NPC in game try to join a game that is almost done. Tell the others that you just have to talk to one individual and then you will leave. Most people don’t wish for a player to join the game when they are at the boss. By telling them this, if they are understanding, you avoid getting booted and can complete your quest.

-When fighting Gold Fever someone always catches the Fever. If that is the case then please try to isolate yourself so your teammates don't catch it also. On the other hand, if you notice someone has the Fever avoid them like the plague.

-If you haven't fought a boss in Balefort Sewers do not, and I repeat, do not just run in and think you can kill them like you do other bosses. There is no shame in asking what the strategy is, as strategy is required for those particular bosses. Ignorance is not bliss.

Chatting

-If there is a lot going on in the chat pane PM the person you wish to talk to. This ensures they see what you said to them and are more likely to respond. You can also click the arrow button next to the message button and see your entire conversation with them.

-Spamming is not attractive and/or necessary. There can only be 25 people in the towne at a time so repeating something every...3...seconds...does not guarantee new people will see it. Write something then wait about 2-4 minutes and then write it again. This will allow you to reach more people due to not being on everyone's ignore list for spamming.

-PLEASE, do not PM someone begging for items and/or asking them if they want to buy your item. Chances are if they didn't contact you they're either not interested or you earned a spot on the ignore list.

Ursan

Ursans, in their pure form, are built for survivability. They are also great for crowd control when their skills of Taunt and Beckon are maxed out. Here are some nuggets of wisdom to being a better Ursan:

-Rush a room first. You can take more damage so being there first gets enemy aggro on you so that your teammates can be more effective.

-Beckon to a corner or wall. This allows your combo with Stomp to keep all enemies together and not scatter them as opposed to Beckoning in the middle of the hallway.

-Bears look great in Hooch Hats. Don’t know why but they really do.

-Focus on the boss and leave the lower beings to your team. You have a better chance of controlling enemies and dealing heavier amounts of damage so by focusing on the boss it allows your team to clear the area without getting one hit KO'd.

-If you plan on joining a farming and/or XP group ensure you have enough pots. You can lose your spot if you choose to go to Ellie to buy pots and everyone knows good PUGs are hard to find and Mages are not a guarantee (in presence and/or skill).

Enchantress

Enchantresses are, as I am, Nuke Healers. When full INT your mana and health regen are unrivaled, allowing you to use more skills without worrying about mana running out. Here are ways to be an effective Mage:

-Mage Heal counters enemy Freeze. So, this means that when you or your teammates are frozen in place, HEAL them so you can get back to fighting.

-Mage Heal counters Trash Heaps Sewage Stink in Catacombs. So, this means that when you or your teammates get hit by the stink bomb, HEAL them so you don't lose any more health.

-Spam Heal. It has been said before but many Mages still don’t do it. Unless in a full group of Mages, you are more effective healing your teammates constantly than doing straight AOE damage.

-DON’T RUSH A ROOM ALONE! Depending on build Mages are not built to survive. When soloing or approaching a room by yourself, stand back and target one or two enemies at a time. This way the enemies don’t rush you and you die many useless deaths.

-Keep track of your teammate’s health. Most Balefort Sewer runs consist of one or two mages. This means that you have to really be aware of what health status teammates are at.

-Revive ASAP! This goes with keeping track of your teammate’s health. If you are doing that you should know immediately when they die. Hit REV! Don’t wait until you think is a good time. Fact is, when your tank dies, enemy aggro targets someone else. If that’s you and you don’t Rev, you can be screwed. Rev immediately for self preservation.

-Kiting keeps you alive longer. Because Mages have ranged attacks they don't have to stand in one place to deal damage. Move around and don't allow those enemies with swords and axes to get close and deal damage.

-My Mage combo is Ice Storm, Lightning, and Fire Storm. One thing I like to do is follow a bear, and when they Beckon (hopefully against a wall) I begin my combo. I have found this to be very effective in keeping the mobs together and dealing heavy damage.


Archer

Archer’s are all about the DPS. However, due to low armor are very susceptible to a one hit death. Make sure you keep constant track of your health and mana and stay close to the Mage if one is available. Here are some tips to be all you can be:

-When using the Scream and Blast Shot combo, make sure you are facing the most enemies. This increases the effectiveness of your combo.

-Kiting is best learned as an Archer due to ranged attacks. Archers have the longest distance they can attack from so kiting helps you to stay alive longer.

-DON’T RUSH A ROOM ALONE! Depending on build Archers are not built to survive. When soloing or approaching a room by yourself, stand back and target one or two enemies at a time. This way the enemies don’t rush you and you die many useless deaths.

-If you plan on joining a farming and/or XP group ensure you have enough pots. You can lose your spot if you choose to go to Ellie to buy pots and everyone knows good PUGs are hard to find and Mages are not a guarantee (in presence and/or skill).

NeoQueen
05-10-2011, 12:32 PM
There is a really good guide on etiquette by LadyHadassa (http://www.spacetimestudios.com/showthread.php?23264-gaming-etiquette-(manners)&highlight=etiquette), so if you want a more in depth look you should look up her thread. This is just my quick 2 cents so you don't become blacklisted by other players.

My Quick Etiquette Guide

-Be respectful. Don’t join a game and start handing out orders like you’re the PL God cause you’re not. Also, insulting the way others play is not the way to go. If you have a problem with what someone is doing PM them and politely tell them.

-If you want to sell something go in a town. Trying to sell an item in the middle of a game is annoying and not helpful.

-Running off on your own is not a good idea. You either irritate other players by taking the XP or seriously annoy the mages by having them come look for you if you die.

-Don’t run off, try to fight the mob, realize you can’t do it alone, than come running back with them on your tail. Stay with the group and you’ll get to it eventually.

-When you join a game take the path that the other players took. Don’t take another path and kill everything as that takes away the XP for the others.

-Hypocrisy does not look good on anyone. Treat others how you want to be treated. If you get mad about what someone did, don't turn around and do it to someone else.

kiitz
05-10-2011, 05:20 PM
Bears:

1. Taunt will set off active traps into super explosions. Taunted traps almost always kill anyone near them and send the player flying EXTREMELY far. Players only fly more than like 10-15 yards if it was a taunted trap. This is a good way to note if there is a noob bear in your group taunting enemies while people are still near grates. This can be especially deadly in swill pits when the group pretty much does not have a choice but to stand on grates at somepoint in time. As a bear, NEVER hit taunt when there is even a chance that a grate will become active and anyone will be near it. Even if the grate looks dormant at the time, a little lag is all it takes to kill people. I only taunt near a grate right after it has gone off. A good alternative to taunt when over grates is hell scream.

2. Hellscream - Hellscream does a mini stun and also makes it easier to land beckon. The mini stun is incredibly useful because you can use it on the same group to extend the stun from beckon/stomp, or use it on a group close to the group you are killing while beckon/stomp is still down. Hellscream also seems to be super effective against the slimes in Catacombs and Roach. You also get an added bonus of there being a glitch that shows frost on slimes when you use Hellscream on them, so its quite easy to tell what you've hit.

When going into the large especially difficult packs in catacombs and roach, my rotation is: Hellscream-> Taunt -> Beckon-> Stomp -> Hellscream.

I have tried many different rotations and found this to be the best. The CD on HS is low enough that it comes back up. Also, the initial HS stuns the mobs so they aren't pounding you while you get into position to beckon. Hellscream before beckon also helps pull all the mobs in the group in, instead of leaving 1-2 stragglers.

3. Beckon tends to only work when the mobs are targeting you. I am not sure why this is the case, but it just is. Therefore taunt before beckon is usually recommended. An even better option is to always be the first person into a room. Mobs almost dead? mini boss almost dead? Don't stay to keep spamming slashes, the rest of the group can take care of it. Most end-game bears don't even do much more than taunt, hell scream, beckon and stomp before the boss. They pull off their grouping combo and move on to the next group of mobs. You can only do this if you have confidence in your teammates to come in, pull of combos on the mobs and clear them before the stuns wear off. Also, unless you are in dex or int mode, you are doing an next to no damage so spamming those slashes and auto attacking really doesn't do much.

4. Dual spec, Dual spec, Dual spec. This is more important for bears than any other class. Why? Simply put STR bears kinda suck at PvE. A full Str bear can't hit jack and does no damage. A Str bear with a lot of dex and some hit pieces can have good hit, but will still do next to no damage. A dual spec bear in dex gear will do a LOT of damage. A HUGE component of aggro is how much damage you do, and a bear in str gear simply doesn't do enough damage to hold aggro on bosses when there is a strong (RR or custom) bird or mage (mega/custom with staff) in the group.

Sorry to say, but if I am on my bird and a bear with a melee weapon joins the game, first thing I do is look at his stats. If he has 300+ Str and 66% hit, you know you've just pretty much gotten the equivalent of level 30 bird in effectiveness and you get to basically 4-man the instance. Sure, he can take a beating if anything ever attacked him... but nothing ever really does since the mobs are enjoying the light tickles he is doing with his sword. Taunt? Yeah, every now and then, but honestly ineffective when not coupled with damage. Bears who ignore hit have probably not put in the time to learn their class well. Not uncommon to see bears with 100% str and very low hit also stand in the middle of rooms and do their amazing beckon/stomp combo. Did you see how the mobs flew everywhere and now they are scattered all over the room?? Cool right!!



Roach(for bears/tanks): Everytime the boss says "cockroach power!" he gets more powerful. 2 roach powers are okay. After the 3rd, I usually start kiting. If roach isn't past 50% of his HP by then, your group is probably screwed. You can (and should) do roach in full dex gear (assuming you are a pro bear and have dual spec and a respectable set of dex gear). You can tank roach with 1 or 2 roach powers even with only 85 armor and basically no dodge. After the 3rd, he will usually 2-3 shot you. After 4+ he will go around 1 shotting ppl. While kiting, hellscream, taunt, auto with ranged and crushing blow, stomp and beckon will still land. Don't recommend beckoning though, unless you want him to 1 shot you as he merrily glides up to/past you.


Enchantresses:

1. On bosses, only hit drain life after you see a combo sign. This will dramatically improve your chance of doing PWNED mega combo (assuming you have a bear and birds) even though you can't be sure its the crushed combo. The crushed combo happens extremely frequently due to the low cooldown of both crushing blow (4s) and break armor (6s?) and the fact that these are abilities that are spammed and high priority in killing bosses. If you are really pro, hit drain life after you see a small blue spark looking thing from a bird and a combo. This is super hard to see cuz of all the other visual graphics flying everywhere. I've found if you only hit drain after a combo sign, you can usually get a PWNED about 1/2 or 1/3rd of the time. That results in 2-3 Coffin drops on each boss fight which is pretty good for 1 mage.

2. Get the Gem Blast Staff for clearing regular mobs too! Its pretty sweet. AOE proc. Why not?


Birds:
1. Ummm... I have a 55 bird too, but can't think of any tips. Its kinda easy playing a bird... Toughest part is just gotta watch your health and be ready to spam pots at a moments notice...
2. Get good gear if you can afford it and aoe root + cruel blast your way to victory. In most MMOs, pure DPS tends to be easiest to play. Less responsibility, 1 main role.

NeoQueen
05-11-2011, 10:33 AM
Updated and added some new tips.

NeoQueen
06-16-2011, 08:09 PM
Updated. Hope people do find this somewhat useful...

Register
06-16-2011, 09:17 PM
very nice guide
i will completely read it in just a few mins :)

Dark Avenger
06-24-2011, 09:24 PM
could you include how you chat privately with someone by just typing? i know you can do it just cant remember how...

Otukura
06-24-2011, 09:31 PM
could you include how you chat privately with someone by just typing? i know you can do it just cant remember how...

/t <player name> <message> to send the first message
/r to respond to the last PM.

Trollee
07-26-2011, 06:13 PM
Kiitz great guide there on bears and enchantresses ! I learnt a lot from that as I have a pure dex lvl 55 bird and have only just created a bear, I naturally assumed that I should make it pure str. But now I will not, thanks !

Tykez
07-30-2011, 08:53 PM
I just started playing Pocket Legends again after i got my new iPod, and this has really helped refresh some of the memories and potentially improved my gameplay. Thanks for making this guide :]

Navygreen
08-11-2011, 11:41 AM
This is helpful, thank you. I have had PL for a while now but just now actually getting into the game. I have so many other games to play, sometimes I put off a game for a while before I play it. Glad I got into this!

NYCFanMan
08-17-2011, 08:38 AM
What's kiting