===============================
= Anarchy Online Newbie Guide =
= Version 0.16 =
= by Hahnsoo =
= Last Updated: 6/30/07 =
===============================
This guide is a work-in-progress, and may take some time to complete.
I felt that it was sufficiently complete to post on GameFAQs for now.
If you have any questions, corrections, or concerns, e-mail me at:
hahnsoo(at)gmail(dot)com
=====================
= Table of Contents =
=====================
1) Introduction......................[aong01]
2) Character Creation................[aong02]
3) IP/Leveling Guide.................[aong03]
4) Levels 1-10.......................[aong04]
5) Levels 10-25......................[aong05]
6) Levels 25-60......................[aong06]
7) Levels 60-100.....................[aong07]
8) Beyond 100+.......................[aong08]
9) General Suggestions and Tips......[aong09]
10) Class Specific Tips..............[aong10]
11) Weapons and Armor Guide..........[aong11]
12) Helpful Resources................[aong12]
13) FAQ..............................[aong13]
14) Glossary.........................[aong14]
15) My Two Cents.....................[aong15]
16) End Notes........................[aong16]
=========================
= Introduction (aong01) =
=========================
What is this guide?
===================
This guide is intended for new players just starting out in Anarchy Online,
with little or no previous experience in playing MMORPGs. It's been over a year
since I've started playing Anarchy Online, and I have gleaned a lot of helpful
information from websites and forums to help myself in playing this complex,
but rewarding, game.
This guide will assume a few things: First, you are a new player who has very
little familiarity with MMORPGs in general and Anarchy Online in particular.
Second, you are playing on a free account, AKA a fr00b, and you do not have
any of the expansions. Third, that you've already downloaded and installed
the Anarchy Online client. Finally, that you are are relatively familiar with
the controls, or at least have downloaded/printed the keyboard map here:
^ http://www.anarchy-online.com/content/guides/keyboardmap/keyboardmap.pdf
Also, for the purpose of this guide, it is suggested that you should join Omni
as your faction when it comes to that point early on in the game, as it is
slightly easier on the new player in this writer's opinion than Clan, and it is
definitely much easier than being neutral. You can still use this guide for
Clan or neutral affiliation, and I will note some of the differences in each
appropriate section if I can. All of three of the affiliations are viable, but
we will work from the standpoint of an Omni citizen.
Throughout the guide, you will find boxes like these:
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| * This is a "take-home message" box. Cool! |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
They will have the short and sweet version of that section, condensed to the
most essential points, to save you from some reading.
What this guide is NOT
======================
This guide will NOT be a comprehensive walkthrough. Instead, I will present a
short synopsis of "Things to do", along with some brief notes to get you
started. Also, a webpage reference usually will be provided if you need more
comprehensive information.
By no means is this guide an expert account of the most effective way to play
Anarchy Online. It is merely a collection of resources and advice that I have
found useful in my current play. Feel free to disagree with my opinions and
discover your own playstyle.
Useful References
=================
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| * All webpage references will start with a ^ carrot in this guide. |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
For more in-depth information on the basic aspects of the game, you can check
out the official Beginner's Guide:
^ http://www.anarchy-online.com/content/guides/beginnersguide/
Or the Official Newcomer's Guide to Rubi-Ka:
^ http://anarchy-online.com/content/downloads/media/pdf/guides/gameguide.pdf
The Official Manual is available as part of the installation and can also be
downloaded from FunCom here:
^ ftp://ftp.funcom.com/cd/manuals_pdf/english_manual.pdf
Anarchy Online in a nutshell
============================
Anarchy Online, or AO for short, is a massively multiplayer online RPG. While
the traditional MMORPGs tend to be based on a fantasy theme, Anarchy Online
takes place in a unique universe thousands of years in the future. Space
travel is common, computer use is ubiquitous, and nanotechnology and applied
genetics have drastically altered the face of humanity. However, Anarchy
Online has certain aspects reminiscent of the fantasy-themed MMORPGs. Mutants
and genetically-altered animals replace magical beasts and monsters, while
"nanoprograms" substitute for magic spells. While guns and lasers and other
technological weaponry are common, there is a large variety of hand-to-hand
weapons available as well, along with primitive projectile weapons like bows.
As a game, Anarchy Online has a steep learning curve, even compared to most
MMORPGs. The complexity is high and some of the mechanics are difficult to
explain and understand. This can be daunting for the new player, especially
those who are not familiar with MMORPGs in general. While there were many
online resources available shortly after its release, many of these sites
dwindled and disappeared as people lost interest or moved on to other things.
There are still several "core" sites that are useful for the new player,
but these resources can be hard to find, even using standard search engines
or fansite link directories. This guide will attempt to consolidate the
most important information while providing links to more detailed websites
about each topic.
Regardless of your prior experience, Anarchy Online is a great game to play
and enjoy, especially for the price (totally free!). However, your Anarchy
Online experience can be made even more enjoyable with the right tools and
the right information. This guide will attempt to bring those tools within
your reach.
The fr00b account
=================
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| * Fr00b accounts are limited, but you get to play for free! |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
If you are just starting out in Anarchy Online, you are probably using a
free account, or "fr00b" account.
What is a fr00b?
----------------
Fr00bs are people who use the free account offer that allows people to play
Anarchy Online Classic without having to pay for a monthly fee. This is
partially subsidized by in-game ads (which can be turned off if you pay the
monthly fee).
While the free accounts are technically level-restricted and have restricted
content, you can still level to 200 and participate in all of the content
in the basic game (without Expansions), unlike in the free trials offered for
other MMORPGs. This free offer lasts until January 2008 at this time, but may
be extended at a later date by Funcom. Basically, you can keep playing your
fr00b account as long as you'd like, as often as you like, until January 2008,
and possibly even longer if Funcom extends the deal.
In Fall of 2007, FunCom extended the fr00b accounts to include the Notum Wars
booster pack, which allows fr00bs to participate actively in tower battles.
What you CAN do as a fr00b
--------------------------
* Gain a maximum level of 200. This may take weeks, even months, to achieve,
so you'll be playing for a long time.
* Explore almost the entirety of Rubi-Ka
* Start off at the ICC Shuttleport Island, AKA Newbie Island. There are
several items that you can ONLY get there.
* Fr00bs, as of this writing, can participate in Battlestations, which came
with the Lost Eden expansion.
These are part of the Notum Wars "booster":
* Create zone control towers. Note that turrets can still shoot at you, if you
decide to attack one.
* Access the zone control buttons on the area map.
* Hear and use the player voices. (as part of the large client)
* Access several custom vehicle options (Yalm Paints)
What you CAN'T do as a fr00b
----------------------------
These options require Shadowlands:
* The Keeper and Shade classes are only available to Shadowlands subscribers.
* Perks are an option that can only be used by Shadowlands subscribers. You
will still see "You have gained a New Perk", but you can't do anything about
it. If you later subscribe to Shadowlands, you get all of your Perk Points
to spend.
* Gain Shadowknowledge and earn levels 201 to 220.
* Access the areas of Shadowlands (obviously).
These options require Alien Invasion:
* Gain alien XP and Alien Experience levels.
* The Global Market search terminals are for AI subscribers only, even
though fr00bs can open the search window.
* Create or enter player-created cities/buildings, although you will see the
buildings and you can use the Whom-pahs to teleport to the various dance
clubs/bars.
* Board alien ships after successfully repelling an Alien Raid. Note that
you can still participate in Alien Raids.
These options require Lost Eden:
* Run LE Missions, although you can team with subscribers so that they can run
LE missions of their own.
* Use Victory Points, through LE missions and Battlestations. Note that Froobs
can participate in Battlestations, and if you subscribe at a later date, the
Victory Points that you earn will carry over.
* Access and learn Research. Research is an alternate form of "leveling" that
gives a passive bonus to your abilities and skills. Research also occurs in
a global scale, as each faction has a number of global research goals.
* Access Vehicles. The Battlemechs/Turrets are for LE subscribers only.
* Purchase from the Lost Eden terminals in the tower shop.
Also:
* There are many powerful items that can ONLY be used by those who purchase
the expansions. Also, there are a few items that can only be created through
tradeskills if you have the expansions. As a fr00b, be very careful when
trading to ensure that you can actually use the item you are about to buy.
The same goes for item crafting... before spending cash for the materials, be
sure that you can actually craft the item in question.
* The expansions give several major boosts to skills, above and beyond standard
leveling and IP distribution. This includes Perks, Research, and City bonus.
It is not uncommon for a player with all of the expansions to have a 50th
level character that hits as hard as a 80th level character in combat, for
example.
* As a fr00b, your rate of growth and overall power will be much lower than
someone who has purchased the expansions. XP gain is a lot faster for those
who purchase the expansions. This is not because of an inherent bonus on the
part of owning expansions, but simply because the monsters in Shadowlands
give far more experience than an equivalent area in Rubi-Ka. Also, SL offers
unique content at the higher levels (Level 150 or higher), giving higher XP.
===============================
= Character Creation (aong02) =
===============================
Recommended Reading
===================
^ Ref: http://www.ao-universe.com/main.php?site=knowledge&link=0&id=241
** A good overview of Character Creation
Breeds
======
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| * Solitus is well-rounded, and can do well with any class. |
| * Opifex is agile and great for ranged combat and martial arts. |
| * Atrox is the strongest and toughest, but suffers later in nanoskills. |
| * Avoid Nanomage for your first character. |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
There are four breeds in Anarchy Online: Solitus, Opifex, Nanomage, and Atrox.
Atrox are technically genderless and so only have one gender option, but the
Solitus, Opifex, and Nanomage can be selected as male or female. Breed and
Gender are important for a handful of equipment prerequisites in the game (for
example, the Massive Steel Armor can only be worn by males), but in general,
you should have a good alternative if your breed or gender doesn't match. In
other words, gender shouldn't really matter in normal play other than personal
preference.
Breed selection is much more important as far as attributes and skills. Below
is a brief summary of the strengths and weaknesses of each Race.
Solitus
-------
The Solitus breed is what normally passes for "Human" in most games. It is also
the most versatile race, with no glaring strengths or weaknesses. You can't go
wrong with picking Solitus as your race. All of your core abilities will cost
the same to raise.
Opifex
------
This grey-skinned breed is more slender and agile than Humans. They have bonuses
to Agility and Sense (which are Light Green for them) and a penalty to Stamina
(which is Dark Blue). This makes the Opifex ideal for ranged combat, especially
Pistol Adventurers, Fixers, and Agents. They are also pretty decent Martial
Artists. Opifex gain the same amount of Health and Nano points as a Solitus per
point of Body Dev/Nano Pool, but tend to have less in each due to their racial
Ability penalties.
Most of the Opifex-only items are geared toward Agility and Sense, but these
items are few and far between.
Nanomage
--------
This breed is difficult to play for most new players due to the hits they take
in the Health department and is not recommended until you have a better grasp
of the game. They have superior abilities in Nano-related skills and overall
Nanopoints, but have less Health. They have penalties in Strength and Agility.
Later on in the game, they get access to race-only buff items such as the
Shades of Lucubration, but these items tend to be out of the grasp of a new
player anyway. It's something to think about for veteran players.
Atrox
-----
These fellas (if that's the appropriate term, since they are genderless) are
the big workhorse race of Anarchy Online. They receive the most Health per
point of Body Development, and have bonuses to Stamina and Strength. They make
ideal melee combatants and tanks, but their intelligence-based skills and
nanoskills suffer. Pick them if you want to be able to dish out a lot of melee
damage and take a lot of punishment. It is a good choice for the early levels,
but in the later levels you'll find yourself hurting in the nanoskill
department
Most of the Atrox-only items are geared toward melee weaponry and strength,
including the Silken Legchopper Gloves. Certain "large" weapons are also Atrox
only, such as the Support Beams and the Diamondine Kick Pistol. Oddly enough,
because Atrox is genderless, in many cases they can wear both male and female
outfits.
Profession/Class
================
In this guide, Profession and Class are used synonymously.
There are two classes that cannot be selected by a fr00b, the Keeper and the
Shade. Other than that, there is a wide selection of classes available to the
starting fr00b. Although each class is unique, a few of the classes have
considerable overlap as far as party role and combat abilities.
Your class determines what sort of nano-programs you can cast and also how
difficult it is to raise each skill. Nanocasting classes, for example, have an
easy time raising their nanoskills, but they tend to have a tough time raising
their combat skills. No skill in the game is restricted to a particular
profession, but your profession will play a large part in raising skills.
There is no such thing as the "best profession". Each profession has unique
strengths and weaknesses. Some are better at solo play, some are better in
teams. Some are good at blitzing, and others are good at direct damage or crowd
control or any number of essential gameplay traits. Each profession also has a
different difficulty threshold and different "level ranges" in which they excel.
Adventurers are easy to play and are strong from levels 1 to 100, but slow down
a bit when they get past level 100. Agents are very difficult to play (because
it requires some knowledge of all the other professions), and do not reach their
true potential until well past level 100. Engineers start out weak, but because
of their strong pets, they can solo comfortably throughout their career (but it
gets expensive to keep on buying new nanos). And so on, and so forth...
Abbreviations used in this section:
AoE - Area of Effect, something that affects multiple targets in an area
Behe - Essence of Behemoth, Enforcer line of nanos that add Strength/Stamina
BM - Biological Metamorphoses
FP - False Profession, Agent line of nanos that mimics other professions
MC - Matter Creations
MM - Matter Metamorphoses
PM - Psychological Modifications
SI - Sensory Improvements
TS - Time and Space
Also some terms:
Buff Begging - Asking for specific nano-skill buffs, usually in an annoying or
repetitive manner.
Holy Trinity - Three archetypes in most MMORPGs: Direct Damage, Tank, Healer.
Mocham's - A line of Meta-Physicist nanos that buffs nano-skills.
Wrangle - A line of Trader nanos that buffs weapon and nano skills for 3 min.
Adventurer
----------
The Explorers, FunCom Lovechildren, All-Around Combat Specialist
"Anything you can do, we can do better"
* Main Weapons: Pistol or 1-Handed Edged
* Alternate Weapons: Pretty much any other weapon
* Main Nanoskills: MM/BM/SI for Polymorphs, MM/BM for Heals
* Tradeskills: Poor
* Overall Difficulty: Easy
* Role: Mixed (Direct Damage, Healer, Tank, Solo)
The Anarchy Online equivalent of the "Ranger" class, the Adventurer is a
dual-wielding specialist, often focusing on pistols or 1-handed edged weapons.
The adventurer has decent one-shot heals, modest defensive abilities, and makes
a versatile combatant. The damage is highly-dependent on equipment, some of
which is difficult to obtain, but in general, you will hit for small amounts of
damage very quickly, rather than big hits. The Adventurer has a great selection
of Adventurer-only equipment, as well.
What you will love: Great Healing, Polymorphs, Being the Holy Trinity all in
one class. You are the Funcom Lovechild.
What you will hate: No meeps (teleportation nanos), no roots/snares, constant
jokes about playing a "Funcom Wuv-child", expectation to be the Holy Trinity at
all times. Polymorphs mean that your big furry butt will fill your whole screen.
Agent
-----
The Red Mages, Jack-of-all-Trades/Master-of-None, Glass Cannons
"Pow! 13k Aimed Shot! Wait, he's not dead?" *runs for life*
"Oh, I have that buff. Give me a couple seconds to cast it..."
* Main Weapons: Rifle
* Alternate Weapons: Assault Rifle, Bow
* Main Nanoskills: BM/PM/SI for False Profession, MM/SI for Damage boosts
* Tradeskills: Poor
* Overall Difficulty: Hard
* Role: Direct Damage
Agents are long-range assassins, with the ability to hide in the shadows and
strike with a powerful Aimed Shot (often killing things in one hit). They also
have the False Profession ability, which allows them to cast a wide variety of
nanos from other classes. This makes the Agent a versatile and powerful class
selection. However, this versatility comes at a cost, as Agents are one of the
weakest classes in terms of Health and evading attacks. They do not bloom until
later levels, and you really need to know the potential of other professions
before you can effectively play an Agent. Opifex is the race of choice for
these agile combatants.
What you will love: False Profession! High damage from Aimed Shots.
What you will hate: Low Health = Squishy agent. Expectation to be able to cast
buffs from all professions at the same time. SLOW casting time while in FP. You
will NEVER have enough IP.
Bureaucrat
----------
The Crowd Control, Snake Charmers, Miss Congeniality
"Nice Pet. I'll take it."
"What adds? I'll subtract instead." - Terwillinger, and his calms.
* Main Weapons: Pistol
* Alternate Weapons: Shotgun
* Main Nanoskills: MC/TS for Bots, BM/PM/SI for charms
* Tradeskills: Average
* Overall Difficulty: Hard
* Role: Support (Crowd Control, Mezzer)
Bureaucrats specialize in charming their foes, temporarily recruiting them as
allies. They also have Bots as pets, similar to Engineers. Bureaucrats are an
excellent support class, and as support classes go, are pretty difficult to
play. They have an excellent selection of roots and snares, a fair amount of
nukes, and several unique nanoprograms that only they can use, including the
Baton line of nanoprograms (which increases the XP gained by the party). They
are also specialists in the tradeskill of Psychology.
What you will love: Charming your enemies (Making Friends, and Influencing
People), wide variety of Crowd Control, spiffy outfits.
What you will hate: Wimpy bots. Relying on other people/enemies for your damage.
Poor weapon skills. Juggling Charms. Not being part of the Holy Trinity. No one
knows what you DO exactly...
Doctor
------
The Clerics/Medics/Healers, Voted Homecoming King/Queen by Popular Vote
"Every time I have to CH, I'll take a drink... wait, don't take off your armor!"
- Icydoc and his Complete Healing drinking game
"Nano please! Like, now!"
* Main Weapons: Poor with all weapons, but Pistol is default
* Alternate Weapons: Shotgun, 2 Handed Edged, 1 Handed Edged
* Main Nanoskills: MM/BM for Heals, MM/BM/TS for Heal-Over-Time
* Tradeskills: Average
* Overall Difficulty: Easy
* Role: Healer
A Doctor of any race is a welcome addition to any party, as they are the most
effective healers. If you are playing a Doctor, you can expect to get invited
by most groups in the dungeons. Your damage output will suffer though, and it
can take laboriously long to kill things as a solo player. If you thrive on
teamwork and don't mind waiting to get picked up by a group before really
taking off in terms of experience and loot, a Doctor is a good option. Nanomage
gives you more for your nano-skills, but most people pick Solitus as their
race for survivability. Most doctors use Pistols for their weapons, a cheap and
effective solution for primary weaponry. Naturally, Doctors are good at the
tradeskill of Pharm Tech.
What you will love: The most popular profession, period. Everyone wants you in
the team. The love and respect of your peers.
What you will hate: Being blamed for everyone's mistakes. Relying on a team for
damage. Running out of nano constantly. Buff beggars who want SFA/IC (Superior
First Aid/Iron Circle). Heal Aggro.
Enforcer
--------
The Guy/Gal with the Big Stick. THE tank.
"Me Trox. Me bash. Me kill."
"MONGO!!!" - Common Enforcer Warcry
"In battle! Use Item. Monster angry! Doctor safe!" - from Da Taunter!
"I am known by many names. Tank. Meatshield. Fighter. Brawler. Corpse.
I am the Enforcer." - from the Enforcer's Prayer (paraphrased in a hundred
other games)
* Main Weapons: 2 Handed Edged, 1 Handed Edged, 2 Handed Blunt, 1 Handed Blunt
* Alternate Weapons: Any Melee Weapon
* Main Nanoskills: BM/MC for Essence, BM/PM for Mongo, BM/MM for Challenger
* Tradeskills: Poor
* Overall Difficulty: Easy
* Role: Tank, Direct Damage
These guys are the tanks, and they are the heavy-hitters in the game. They are
designed to take damage and dish it out. As an Enforcer, your primary Job is to
stay on the front line, and hold the enemies as long as you can. You have a
variety of tools to keep aggro and a decent amount of skills to keep yourself
alive. You are also the first choice for most people when they want to select a
tank for their team. Atrox is the race of choice for Enforcers, but you can
also be successful with Solitus. Most Enforcers use large 2-handed Blunt or
Edged Weapons, although some use 1-handed Blunt or Edged or even Piercing
weapons dual-wielded.
What you will love: Being part of the Holy Trinity. Finding large sticks and
sharp sticks and killing things with them. Having more Health than God (even
the Nano Mage squishy Enforcers). Mongo is a great self-heal.
What you will hate: If you do your job right, you are always the first to die.
Ranged enemies. Expectation to always have the best and biggest weapon at the
earliest point in time. Mongo is also an AoE Taunt. Behe Buff Beggars.
Engineer
--------
The Guy/Gal with the Big Bot, Tradeskiller.
"/pet hunt. *yawn*"
"You need me to tradeskill what?"
"Mocham's + Wrangle plz" - A typical Engineer request
* Main Weapons: Pistol
* Alternate Weapons: Shotgun, Grenade Launchers
* Main Nanoskills: MC/TS for Bots
* Tradeskills: Good
* Overall Difficulty: Medium
* Role: Support
Engineers are probably the easiest of the tradeskill professions to play. They
have the strongest pets, have the easiest time upgrading their tradeskills,
and many tradeskill items are Engineer-only. Later on, they get the ability to
"warp" other players to their location, making Engineers popular for teams (if
someone dies, they can just get warped back to the team by the Engineer). Most
Engineers use Pistols, and some Engineers even endeavor to create their own
personalized pistol.
What you will love: A bot that will stay with you FOREVER, as long as you are
logged in. Tradeskilling. Beacon Warp. /pet hunt.
What you will hate: Buff begging all the time for nanoskill buffs (Mocham's and
Wrangles). Expectation that you are a tradeskiller, even if you haven't raised
any tradeskills. Bot Aggro (Why are they attacking me and not the big robot?!).
Fixer
-----
The Flash, Blitzers, Smurfs, Taxis.
"I have a need... a need for Speed!" - Top Gun (1986)
"Zooooooooom!" -Zipzipzoom, Fixer
"Hardcore Fixer-on-Fixer action is like watching a boxing match between 2 blind
men. Eventually, one of them will get lucky and knock the other one out. By
then, the crowd will go home, the judge will be asleep and the cameraman will
go off to film paint drying." - Tarradax
* Main Weapons: SMGs
* Alternate Weapons: Pistol, Ranged Energy
* Main Nanoskills: MM/BM/TS for Heal-over-Time, MM/MC/TS for Grid Armor, TS/SI
for Movement buffs, MM/SI for Damage Boosts
* Tradeskills: Good
* Overall Difficulty: Medium
* Role: Mixed (Crowd Control, Support, Tank, Direct Damage, Solo)
This class specializes in moving very quickly. They have access to a special
form of the Grid which allows them to transport themselves virtually anywhere
in Rubi-Ka. Run speed, Heal over Time, and NCU buffs make for a very well-
rounded class which excels at missions and soloing. They also have the best
evades, including the highly coveted Grid Armor line of nanos that allow them
to become virtually untouchable in combat. Their nanoskills, however, are all
dark blue. Opifex is the race of choice.
What you will love: Runspeed buffs. Heal Over Time. Fixer Grid. Submachineguns.
Meeps. Roots AND Snares.
What you will hate: Dark Blue Nano Skills. Runspeed/NCU/HoT Buff Beggars.
Submachineguns. Grid Armor will break your Piggy Bank (AKA Smurf Envy).
Martial Artist
--------------
The Hand-to-Hand Combat Masters, Kung-fu Ninja Monk fighters.
"Everybody was kung-fu fighting! Those cats were fast as lightning!
In fact it was a little bit fright'ning, But they fought with expert timing!"
- Carl Douglas (1974)
* Main Weapons: Martial Arts
* Alternate Weapons: 1-Handed Blunt, Piercing, Bow
* Main Nanoskills: BM/SI for Heals/Damage boosts, PM/TS/SI for Crit buffs
* Tradeskills: Poor
* Overall Difficulty: Easy
* Role: Mixed (Direct Damage, Healer, Solo)
The best part of the Martial Artist is the fact that you can do lots of damage
without investing in a weapon; your hand-to-hand damage goes up as you put
more points into the Martial Arts skill. Martial Artists have decent self and
team one-shot heals, a variety of boosts for their attacks, and dish out a lot
of damage with little/no dependence on equipment. However, they generally
aren't very sturdy. Opifex makes for great Martial Artists, but Solitus and
Atrox work well, too. I highly recommend this profession for your first
character, as you will never have to spend money on finding a good weapon.
What you will love: Not having to buy any weapons. Martial Arts attacks.
Critical hit buffs. Spiffy outfits.
What you will hate: Noticing that weapons tend to do more damage. Being expected
to be the healer despite mediocre heals. AND tank, too. Ranged Enemies.
Metaphysicist
-------------
The Meatball Persons. The Mocham's/Web buffers.
"I believe I can fly. I believe I can touch the sky." - R Kelly (1996)
"See my pets? Yes, I have three of them."
"No, I don't have Composites. Sorry." - Selmah's logon.
* Main Weapons: Poor with all weapons, but 1 Handed Blunt is default
* Alternate Weapons: Bow, 2 Handed Edged, Pistol
* Main Nanoskills: All Nanoskills
* Tradeskills: Average
* Overall Difficulty: Hard
* Role: Support, Direct Damage
Metaphysicists are known for two things: Nanoskill Buffs and summoning Pets
(often called "Meatballs" or "Blimps"). They get three pets: Attack pet, Heal
pet, and "Mezz" pet. They are also one of two classes that eventually get the
gift of Flight, with the nano Quantum Wings (Who needs a Yalm anyway?). They
aren't too sturdy and aren't great with weapons, but with enough resources,
they are pretty self-reliant, capable of soloing most of the time.
What you will love: Quantum Wings. Self-reliance for nano-skill buffs. Your
Meatballs do everything for you except loot the chests.
What you will hate: Mocham's Buff Beggars (even if you can't cast them yet).
Short duration of pets. Running out of NCU all the time. Poor Weapon skills.
Composite Buff Beggars (You can't even CAST composites as a froob).
Nano Technician
---------------
The OTHER Glass Cannons, Kiters, Nukers.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" - Typical NT, running away from a horde of kited enemies
"We aren't surrounded. We're in a target-rich environment." - Dingzap, in ToTW
* Main Weapons: Poor with all weapons, but Pistol is default
* Alternate Weapons: Shotgun
* Main Nanoskills: MC for Nukes, MM/TS for Humidity Extractor
* Tradeskills: Average
* Overall Difficulty: Medium
* Role: Direct Damage
Nano Technicians are an almost pure caster class. They deal direct damage with
their huge amount of nano nukes, both on single targets and AoE. They
also have
the unique nanoprogram "Humidity Extractor", one of the few ways to recover
nanopoints over time. They are very vulnerable in melee combat, but can deal
enormous amounts of damage.
What you will love: Wiping out a group of 20 monsters with your nukes. Nullity
Sphere literally makes you invulnerable. Humidity Extractor (everyone loves a
nice Humidity Extractor).
What you will hate: You are squishiest squishy that has ever been squished.
Running out of nano DESPITE having Humidity Extractor. Layers are not equal to
heals. Fumbles and countered Nano-programs.
Soldier
-------
The Guy/Gal with the Big Gun.
"TMS up! Ack! TMS Down!" - typical Soldier in combat
"That's the sound you hear just before you drop dead... PEW PEW!" - Snarfblatt
* Main Weapons: Ranged Energy, Assault Rifle, Pistol, Shotgun
* Alternate Weapons: Any Ranged Weapon
* Main Nanoskills: MC/TS for Damage Shields, PM for Taunts
* Tradeskills: Poor
* Overall Difficulty: Easy
* Role: Tank, Direct Damage
Soldiers are best known as ranged attack specialists, but also do well as tanks,
due to their unique ability to create powerful reflect shields, both long-term
versions and a short term shield that blocks nearly all damage. They have a
variety of buffs for ranged weapons, and can do well with nearly any ranged
weapon in the game. If there is one thing that they lack, it is a solid heal,
so they tend to fare better in a team with good healing.
What you will love: TMS (Total Mirror Shield). Full-Auto. Being part of the
"Holy Trinity" (both Tank AND Direct Damage). Big Guns. Having more ACs than
God.
What you will hate: One-More-Hit-Healing is your only self heal, and it's not
very good. When TMS runs out (uh oh). Running out of ammo ALL THE TIME.
Trader
------
The Wranglers. The Lowbie PvP god. Riding Shotgun.
"So far, wrangling has not earned me anything, except a load of trouble, and
2/3rds of my customers who aren't even grateful. Do tell me that it's not like
this all the time, please." - GDB2222
"It's like this ALL THE TIME." - Hahnsoo
* Main Weapons: Shotgun
* Alternate Weapons: Pistol
* Main Nanoskills: PM/TS for Drains and Wrangles, SI for Calms, BM for Heals.
* Tradeskills: Good
* Overall Difficulty: Hard
* Role: Support
Traders are merchants who also happen to be quite good at shotguns, for some
reason. They have access to the special Trader shop, and have several key
Trader-only items. Their drains allow them to cast nanos and use weapons far
above their normal ability, while their wrangles are one of the most sought
after buffs in the game. They are one of the classes that excel at tradeskills,
and even have several powerful tradeskill buffs. They even have decent heals
and calms, to boot.
What you will love: Drains. Equipping obscenely powerful weapons. Being feared
universally in low level PvP. The Trader Shop (PROFIT!). Tradeskills. Calms.
Computer Literacy buffs.
What you will hate: Wrangle buff-beggars (see Engineer). Being feared in low
level PvP means that NO ONE will fight you. Running out of nano/NCU all the
time. Your charms are worthless. Fumbles and countered Drains. Aside from low
level PvP, no one knows what you DO exactly (see Bureaucrat)...
Recommendations
---------------
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| * It's easiest to start as Adventurer, Doctor, Enforcer, or Martial Artist. |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
I personally can recommend four classes for a starting character. These classes
for one reason or another are fairly easy to play.
* Adventurers are the "default" class recommended by Funcom and for a good
reason. They can do well with nearly any weapon, and they have an easy "set"
of overlapping nanoskills. All you have to do is keep raising MM/BM/SI and
whatever primary weapon skill that you want. Good heals and versatile weapon
selection are key to this class.
* Doctors are the best healers in the game. While you won't do well as a solo
character, you will be very popular in all teams that you come across, making
leveling an easy affair. Just keep raising MM/BM and TS, and you'll be set.
You may not even have to raise a weapon skill at all.
* Enforcers are the brutish damage dealers, and can take and dish out the
punishment. Just keep raising your weapon skill, and investing in enough
nanoskills to use your next Mongo, Challenger, Essence, or Damage Shield.
Enforcers are also highly sought after in parties, as they are the tanks.
* Martial Artist is my personal recommendation, as you will never have to
invest in weapons. Raise your evades and your Martial Arts skill as high as
you can and raise BM/SI for your heals and damage nanos.
Note that these aren't recommended characters for all players. These class
recommendations are for starting players, to get used to the game and to have
an easier experience in the early levels. All of the classes are viable for
the experienced player.
==============================
= IP/Leveling Guide (aong03) =
==============================
Anarchy Online is really a skill-based system masquerading as a level-based
system. In other words, your abilities are not automatically improved as you
level up. Instead, at each level, you are given a set amount of Improvement
Points or IP that are free for you to spend on any abilities or skills. These
abilities and skills are capped at each level, preventing you from spending
too much on any single ability too soon.
Each ability and skill costs a certain amount of IP per point, and this is on
a linearly-increasing scale. For example, if you pay 10 IP for a point in X
skill, you might have to pay 12 IP for the next point, 14 IP for the next
point after that, etc. Abilities and skills marked in Green are the easiest
to increase and cost fewer IP, as well as higher maximums per level, while
abilities and skills marked in Dark Blue are the most difficult to increase
and cost much more IP per point. Light Blue/Teal skills are average to
increase. The color scale is determined by both your profession and your breed.
What to do when you've leveled
==============================
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| * Keep your Abilities high. You will need at least two maxed for armor. |
| * Max out Body Dev every level. It translates directly into Health. |
| * Max out only one primary weapon skill. |
| * As a new player, max out Computer Literacy and Treatment. |
| * Upgrade Map Navigation only up to 130. Caution: Map Nav cannot be reset. |
| * Do NOT learn Vehicle: Ground, Vehicle: Water, Adventuring, or Swimming. |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
This section is sorted according to the same order as the "tabs" on your
character development screen.
Abilities
---------
* Strength
* Agility
* Stamina
* Intelligence
* Sense
* Psychic
Also known as "stats", these are the primary abilities of your character. It
is recommended that for your first few levels (up to level 10), you spend as
many points as you possibly can on ALL of these. After level 10 (or whenever
you'd like), it is generally acceptable to spend less on the attributes you
don't use much and max out spending on the attributes that you are using.
Points put into Abilities "trickle down" to your skills, raising the linked
skills by a small, but significant, amount. Abilities are also the main
prerequisite for equipping almost all of the armor in the game. Finally, the
maximum points that you can put into a skill is limited by its base abilities.
If you have trouble selecting which Abilities to focus on, you can use the
following guidelines:
* If you Shift-Left Click on your skills, you will see which attributes trickle
down into those skills. Shift-Left Click on your primary weapon skill, and
focus on those attributes to make sure that your main weapon skill is always
maxed out, especially if you are a primary melee or ranged combatant.
* If you aren't focused on weapons, another good gauge of what abilities to
raise is the kind of armor you would like to wear. For example, almost all
Tank Armor backslot items are based on Strength and Stamina.
* Agility is the stat that supports the most implants... nearly every implant
has a configuration that requires Agility. It is recommended that you raise
this or even keep it maxed out. It is also easy to buff.
* Intelligence trickles down to the most skills and all of the nanoskills. Thus,
it is a good bet to keep this stat high, especially if you focus on nanos.
* No points spent in abilities are wasted. You may slow down your nanoskill
and weapon skill development a bit if you focus too heavily on Abilities, but
the points put into your abilities will help you in the long run.
It is important to note that the only way to reset your Abilities now is to use
the full IP reset ("Reset All Skills") option. So changes to your Abilities
are practically permanent. Fortunately, IP invested in your Abilities is never
wasted, as all of them will be "maxed out" around level 160ish.
If you max out all your Abilities every level, however, you will not have IP to
spend on the rest of your skills. I recommend spending 20% to 30% of your IP in
your Abilities per level. Typically, what this means is keeping 2-3 of your
Abilities maxed out, having another 1-2 of your abilities at around 50-75%, and
one ability in the sinkhole from 25-50%. A popular choice for Ranged combatants
and nano-casters to pooch is Strength, as it is basically only useful for melee
skills and certain types of armor geared toward melee fighters. A popular choice
for professions that aren't nano casters to pooch is Psychic, as it is only
necessary for certain nano-casting buffing items and for Nano Pool.
For some ideas on early IP spending for Abilities, check the Class Specific Tips
section at (aong10).
Body skills
-----------
* Martial Arts
* Brawling
* Dimach
* Riposte
* Adventuring
* Swimming
* Body Dev.
* Nano Pool
Body Development determines your Health, and thus it is imperative to keep
this maxed at all times. Every little bit in Body Development helps.
Martial Arts is the primary skill of the Martial Artist class (duh), and for
anyone who uses unarmed combat as their main attack. It has the singular
advantage of upgrading your damage and attack rating based on your skill alone,
but it is expensive to raise for most classes doesn't give much bonuses other
than the damage.
Otherwise, if you are not a melee or martial arts specialist, this tab is
probably a waste of time and IP. Brawling is often needed as a prerequisite
for many melee weapons and is a useful special attack in its own right. Brawl
does damage based on the points put into the skill, and recycles every 15s.
Dimach is also a prerequisite, but usually it is needed in much smaller doses,
mostly in double digits and rarely into triple digits.
Do not spend points on Adventuring, unless you have a good reason. A 21 in
Adventuring should be enough for Omni characters to equip the Omni Assault Pack
in the early stages of the game. Adventurers get access to the nice Backpack of
Survival which may warrant putting points into this skill.
Do not spend any points in Swimming. There are only a couple of places where
you will need to swim, and these are short distances that any character can
cross without putting points into swimming. Swimming is a worthless skill.
Weapon skills
-------------
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| * Do NOT split your IP between multiple weapon skills. |
| * Stick with weapons that only require a single "Primary Weapon" skill, but |
| develop as many Special Attack skills as you think you need. |
| * The more points you put into your Specials, the faster they recharge. |
| * You only need as much Multi Melee/Multi Ranged as the LOWER of your two |
| weapons. Despite their description, they do not affect attacks/damage. |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Melee
-----
(primary)
* 1h Blunt
* 1h Edged
* Piercing
* 2h Blunt
* 2h Edged
* Melee Ener.
(special attacks)
* Parry
* Sneak Atck
* Mult. Melee
* Fast Attack
Misc Weapons
------------
* Sharp Obj
* Grenade
* Heavy Weapon
Ranged
------
(primary)
* Bow
* Pistol
* Assault Rif
* MG/SMG
* Shotgun
* Rifle
* Ranged Ener
(special attacks)
* Fling Shot
* Aimed Shot
* Burst
* Full Auto
* Bow Spc Att
* Multi Ranged
The primary weapon that you decide to use will greatly determine which skill you
are going to raise among the Weapon skills. There are two general categories of
weapon skills, the primary weapon skills and the special attack skills.
Primary weapon skills determine your base attack rating. Max out the primary
weapon skill for your favored weapon. Do NOT split your IP between many
different weapon skills. While there are many weapons that require multiple
primary weapon skills, it is highly suggested that as a new player you stick
with weapons that only require one of the primary weapon skills and a couple of
the special weapon skills. It is very easy to spread yourself too thin in the
weapon skills categories, so just stick to one Primary weapon skill and weapons
that only use one Primary weapon skill.
Exception: Many Soldiers like to use Assault Rifle/Ranged Energy hybrids, and
there are many good weapon options for this pair of primary weapon skills for
Soldiers.
Special attack skills are also often prerequisites for wielding weapons. These
include skills like Aimed Shot, Fling Shot, Full Auto, Burst, Brawl, Fast
Attack, etc. The level of skill helps determine how long a weapon takes to
"recharge" its special attacks. The base time for the special attacks of a
weapon is determined by the Recharge Time; the lower the Recharge Time, the
faster the weapon specials are recharged. Early on, you will want to only
build up points in the specials as high as you need to wield the weapon. In
later levels when you have IP to spare, it is good to max these out so that
your special attacks can recharge faster. Note that Wrangles (a popular Trader
buff nanoprogram) do NOT increase these special weapon skills, but you can get
special weapon skill expertise nanos to buff them yourself.
For a list of all the recharge time formulas for all special attacks:
^ http://forums.anarchy-online.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=99162
Multi-Melee and Multi-Ranged are special skills used for dual-wielding
(using two weapons, one in each hand). You can dual-wield either two melee
or two ranged weapons (but not a melee and a ranged), and the weapons do not
have to be identical or the same "type", although many weapons cannot be
dual-wielded (if they can, they will have a Multi requirement). You only
need as many points in Multi skills as the LOWEST requirement of the two
weapons you are dual-wielding. If you have two pistols, for example, and
one of them has a requirement of 100 and the other has a requirement of 150,
you only need a Multi-Ranged of 100. Multi-wielding skills have NO effect in
combat, aside from equipping weapons.
If you have trouble allocating skills, stick the general formula of investing
the maximum IP that you can in your Primary Weapon skill and investing half as
many points of the primary weapon skill, including buffs, into the appropriate
special weapon skills. For example, a Pistolero Adventurer would max out
Pistols, and have about half his/her Pistol skill (including buffs) in Fling
Shot and Multi-Ranged.
Speed skills
------------
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| * Every 600 points in Melee Init, Ranged Init, and Physical Init reduce your |
| recharge time by 2.0s and attack time by 1.0s, to a minimum of 1.0s/1.0s |
| * Evade Close Combat and Dodge Ranged are the two important evade skills. |
| * Put points into Run Speed, but you don't need to max it out. |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
* Melee. Init.
* Ranged. Init.
* Physic. Init
* NanoC. Init.
* Dodge-Rng
* Evade-ClsC
* Duck-Exp
* Nano Resist
* Run Speed
There are four "Initiative" skills, each corresponding to different types of
attacks. Melee Init speeds up Melee attacks with weapons (but NOT Martial
Arts), Ranged Init speeds up Ranged attacks (but NOT regular bows), Physical
Init speeds up Bow and Martial Arts attacks, and Nano Casting Init speeds up
the casting of Nanoprograms. You should only put IP into the appropriate
Initiative corresponding to your weapon of choice, and perhaps spend points
in Nano Casting Init if you are a class that requires combat-casting of
nanoprograms (the instant heals of the doctor and adventurer, the combat nano
programs of the Nano-technician and Bureaucrat, etc.).
I believe Melee, Ranged, and Physical Init will reduce your attack times by 1.0s
per 600 points, and your Recharge times by 1.0s per 300 points. This doesn't
affect special attack recharges (which work on their own formula), and works on
a different scale after 1000 points, but it's a good rule of thumb to remember.
More important in this category are the evades. I would put at least 1 point
per level into Evade Close Combat and Dodge Ranged. Duck Explosion is the least
important of these, only useful in PvP. Nano Resist is important, but only put
points that you can spare here. If you are a front-line combat class, I would
try to max these out or get these as high as possible.
Evades are important for two reasons. The first obvious reason is that they
help you avoid hits. However, you will rarely dodge hits unless your Agg-Def
slider is set more toward Defensive and your Evades greatly exceed the Attack
Rating of your attacker. In practical terms, you will only evade a lot of hits
if you are a Grid Armor fixer or you are higher in level than your opponent.
The second reason evades are important is because the rate at which you receive
critical hits is affected by Evades. It is unknown what ratio of Evades are
needed to avoid criticals, but if you find yourself consistently getting
"double crits" (two critical hits in a row) or getting critically hit on the
first attack in every encounter, then it may be time to raise your evades.
Of special note is the Add All Defense modifier, which adds to all evades except
Nano Resist. This modifier is very useful in boosting your evasion capabilities.
Run Speed is important to max out early on, but when you reach about 200, you
may want to hold back some points. Basically, just upgrade your Run Speed if
you have spare points and you feel like you want to move a bit faster.
Trade & Repair
--------------
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| * Max out Computer Literacy, until you reach about 250 to 360 points |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
* Mech. Engi (ME)
* Elec. Engi (EE)
* Quantum FT (QFT)
* Weapon Smt (WS)
* Pharma Tech (Pharm)
* Nano Progra (NP)
* Comp. Liter (CL)
* Psychology (Psych)
* Chemistry (Chem)
* Tutoring (Tutor)
A starting character should not probably delve into the murky realm of
tradeskilling. It is difficult to make any money at all from tradeskills, and
the IP and money investment into it often is not worth the rewards. Tradeskills
are beyond the scope of this guide, and in general, IP should not be invested
in these skills for the new player. If you want to do some tradeskilling, I
would suggest creating a primary tradeskiller whose sole purpose is to utilize
these skills (either a Fixer, Trader, or Engineer).
The single exception is the skill Computer Literacy, which is absolutely
essential for equipping better NCU and belts, along with using the Grid. There
is some debate as to how much you should put into Computer Literacy, but I would
suggest for your first few characters to max this skill out. At around 250
points, you can start to slow down if you'd like, as by then, you'll have
access to most of the Grid and a decent 5 slot belt (hopefully the Guardian
Circuit Board from Temple of the Three Winds). Higher Computer Literacy is
generally not needed as much for combat-oriented classes, while nano-casting
classes may want to continue to invest in Computer Literacy for more NCU and
utilities (like a Nano Formula Recompiler). On a personal note, I always max
my Comp Lit unless I'm building a level-locked character for a specific task.
However, as you get more experienced, you may want to dip your toe in these
tradeskill waters. It is best to specialize in a couple of areas (such as Armor
creation or Implant creation) first as IP is tight in the early levels. I would
spend no more than 25% of your IP each level in this category if you are a
primary tradeskiller... any more than that, and you risk harming your
development and slowing down your growth.
Some common tradeskill processes (in order of least to most difficult):
* Monster Parts - These can be turned into Blood Plasma by a Bio-Comminutor,
which can be purchased in the tradeskill section of any General store. It
requires Pharm Tech. Good shop food. In addition to the usual tradeskill
classes, Doctors and Agents are proficient at this skill.
* Implant Creation - By and large, this requires Nanoprogramming. In addition
to the usual tradeskill classes, NTs and MPs are proficient in this skill.
Jobe clusters (special implant clusters) may require other tradeskills.
* Gems and Jewelry - Requires Mech Engi. Gems, normally sold as shop food, can
be made more valuable through cutting them and inserting them into rings. You
can sell the cut gem, or you can raise the QL of the gem by inserting it into
a higher QL ring and then sell them for even more cash. The idea is that you
get more money from higher QL items, and putting a low QL gem into a higher
QL ring raises the overall value. For more info:
^ http://arcanum.aodevs.com/crafting_jewelry.html
* Plate armor creation - Requires Mech Engi, Elec Engi, and Chemistry.
^ http://arcanum.aodevs.com/armor_carbonum.html
Carbonum Plate armor (popular) falls in this category. Expensive in terms of
skills to make, but the tradeskill tools and reagents are readily available,
with the exception of Notum Saturated Metaplast (extremely rare).
* Nanobot armor creation - Requires Nanoprogramming, Comp. Lit, and Chemistry.
^ http://arcanum.aodevs.com/armor_cas.html
A different category of armors which requires Notum Fragments and Chips to
process. Since Notum Fragments and Chips only drop from monsters, these
armors are harder to make, but are also more sought after. Includes the
popular and powerful CAS Symbiotic and Barter armors.
* Nano-Crystal creation - A two-step process, involving Instruction Discs
(which requires Nanoprogramming and Comp. Lit.) and Carbonrich Rocks (which
requires Mech. Engi, Elec. Engi, and Field Quantum Physics). The end product
requires Nanoprogramming and Mech. Engi. Note that for each Instruction Disc
you will need a Carbonrich Rock that equals or exceeds the QL of the ID. Full
process is described here:
^ http://arcanum.aodevs.com/crafting_nanodiscs.html
Other notes:
* Weaponsmithing, by and large, is not a viable tradeskill process. There are
only a handful of weapons that are remotely usable, and it actually costs
more money to build the weapon than it does to buy it or blitz it! The single
exception to this is building Perennium weapons, but those require parts from
Shadowlands, and are only usable by Shadowlands subscribers. If you are dead
set on making weapons, the recipes can be found in the appropriate booth in
any tradeskill section of any general store, in the form of a manual.
* Note that a lot of tradeskill processes also use Breaking and Entry as part
of its recipe. You might want to consider keeping this skill high on your
primary tradeskiller.
* While you can create Nanokits, Nano Rechargers, Treatment Laboratories, and
other Pharm Tech items, most of these are much more cost efficient to buy
from a booth. The process becomes more viable at higher QLs (which cannot be
found in stores), but even then, you will find many Health/Nano curing items
in missions.
* Enriched Notum Nuggets can be bashed to make Notum Chips and Fragments:
^ http://arcanum.aodevs.com/crafting_notumnuggets.html
* Save all of your Notum Chips/Fragments, and Enriched Notum Nuggets! They sell
from 1k to 2k per QL (with QL 200 pieces going for as high as 500k-1m each!).
However, Notum Pellets are worthless (at least, on the open market).
Nano & Aiding
-------------
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| * Nanoskill selection is highly dependent on your profession |
| * Invest 41 points in MM and BM for the Ability Boost generic nanos. |
| * Invest 66 points in PM and SI for the Expertise line of generic nanos. |
| * Max out Treatment. You will always need more, for implants and labs. |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
* Matt.Metam (MM)
* Bio Metamor (BM)
* Psycho Modi (PM)
* Matter Crea (MC)
* Time&Space (TS)
* Sensory Impr (SI)
* First Aid (FA)
* Treatment (Treat)
There are two groups of skills in this tab, the Nanoskills and the Aiding
skills.
The Nanoskills in which you invest are highly dependent on your character's
profession. However, there are a few general rules that I like to follow:
* Almost all buffs to skills involve PM and SI. If you want to be good at nano
buffs, invest in those two categories. I would recommend having at least 66
points in both, because all of the generic Expertise buffs require that much.
* Almost all buffs to abilities involve MM and BM. I would get around 41 points
in each, to utilize the generic Ability Boost buffs.
* MM and BM are also used in Heals, both general Team/Single Heals and HoTs.
* MC is generally used in Nukes, Pets, and Shields. If you want to focus on
any of those three categories, invest in MC.
* TS is used in anything that provides bonuses over Time, like Shields, Pets,
HoTs, and DoTs. It is also used for Nano Rechargers. All characters should
probably invest in a little TS, at least.
First Aid is a good skill to invest in when you have spare IP, but it's not
essential. It allows you to use Stims, like Nano Kits and First Aid Kits. I
personally don't invest much in this category, especially in classes with good
heals (like Adventurers, Martial Artists, Fixers, and Doctors). Classes without
a good self-heal may consider raising this skill.
Treatment is essential for high level implants, Nano Rechargers, Treatment Labs.
I would highly recommend maxing this out, no matter what class you are playing.
Implants are an important part in developing your character, and you will always
need more Treatment.
Spying
------
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| * You will need up to 2 times the QL of your missions in Break&Entry |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
* Concealment
* Break&Entry (B&E)
* Trap Disarm. (TD)
* Perception
Concealment is essential for those who use Aimed Shot (mostly Agents), but it
is not useful for much else.
If you run a lot of missions, you are going to run into a lot of locked doors
and chests. The formula for calculating the amount of B&E that you need to pick
a locked door or chest is the QL of the mission times 1 for doors and times 2
for chests. Be sure to have enough B&E to get to the goodies that you want.
If you play mostly in teams, you may not need as much. Also, you can implant
or buff B&E, so keep that in mind when saving IP.
Perception is used to equip crit scopes in HUD3 and to detect hidden objects
or concealed individuals. It is more necessary in PvP than PvM, and there are
several powerful buffs that can raise Perception. You can probably skip this
skill.
Navigation
----------
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| * Investing in Vehicle Ground and Water is a waste of IP. |
| * You cannot reset Map Nav! Invest as few points as possible into it. |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
* Vehicle Air (VA)
* Vehicle Ground (VG)
* Vehicle Water (VW)
* Map Navig. (Map Nav)
The Vehicle skills are, for the most part, a waste of IP. There are several
vehicle options in the game, but you can use the "top" vehicle, the Yalmaha,
with as little as 81 points of Vehicle Air, which is easily obtainable through
implants and trickledown from your abilities. Still, it is cheap to put a
handful of points into Vehicle Air if needed and not likely to affect your
development.
The other vehicles that do not fly are, by and large, a waste of credits and IP.
They are cheaper, but the runspeed boost is marginal and they do not allow you
to avoid combat over large spans of territory like the Yalmaha. You can easily
acquire either an Adventurer polymorph or a Fixer runspeed buff to do virtually
the same thing. Sparrow Flight and Playful Cub are two Adventurer polymorphs
that are even available as a Hacked Graft, allowing anyone to cast these. In
other words, Ground Vehicles are a waste of IP.
There is very little reason to use Vehicle Water, as there are almost no
instances where you would have to swim, making the skill as useless as Swimming.
It is necessary to have SOME Map Navigation, but this is the single skill that
cannot be reset. Use Implants to get your Map Nav as high as you can. You'll
need around 130-140 points of it to use all of the Map Upgrade units (except
for the "Sided" map upgrade).
********************************************************************************
So, to recap...
Skills that you should "max out"
--------------------------------
* Your Primary Weapon Skill - Whatever weapon you decide to focus on, I'd max
this skill out. If you use pistols, for example, max out your Pistol skill.
* Body Development - This is your Health Points, and directly determines your
ability to survive.
* Computer Literacy - This is necessary to use the better NCU belts and to
access all of the locations on the Grid. Later on, you may not need as much
of it, but it's important to have at least 250 Computer Literacy.
* Treatment - Since all implants require the Treatment skill to equip, and
implants are nearly essential for playing viable characters in AO, it is
important to put as many points as possible into Treatment. It has the
added side benefit of allowing you to use higher level Nano-rechargers and
Treatment laboratories for out-of-combat healing.
Recommended Skills
------------------
* Agility and Stamina are used for many implants. Agility trickles down into
many skills, while Stamina directly helps your Body Dev.
* Intelligence trickles down into all Nanoskills, making it very useful.
Skills that you should avoid
----------------------------
* It is not necessary to put any points into Swimming, Vehicle: Ground, and
Vehicle: Water.
* Adventuring is really only useful for fr00bs for wearing some of the
higher level backpacks, but there are much better backslot items available.
* It is necessary to have SOME Map Navigation, but this is the single skill
that cannot be reset.
********************************************************************************
Other things to do when leveling
--------------------------------
* Consider upgrading your stash of First Aid Kits, Nano Rechargers, and
Treatment Labs. If your Treatment, First Aid, and Time&Space skills have
gone up, you can expect to use higher level healing items in between battles.
* Certain items are "leveling" items, and thus you may want to update them when
you level up.
* You can also consider upgrading your implants, if you've been increasing your
abilities and Treatment skill.
NCU and buffing
===============
Recommended Reading
-------------------
^ http://www.ao-universe.com/main.php?site=knowledge&link=0&id=6
** A good overview of the various belts and chips
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| * To use buffs, you need as much NCU as you can. |
| * Computer Literacy is necessary to use higher level decks and chips. |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
The amount of "buffs" that your character can use at any given time is limited
by a value called NCU (Nano Controller Units). This number is increased by a
variety of equipment, but is most likely to mainly come from your deck and NCU
chip slots. The higher NCU you have, the more buffs that you can utilize. Some
classes are extremely buff-heavy, and thus benefit more from having high NCU.
Other classes can skimp a bit on NCU, if they do not rely on too many buffs to
function.
The most important skill for this is Computer Literacy. Be sure to max out your
Computer Literacy skill every level, so you can use the best NCU belts and
chips. Note that other than the number of Deck slots, the QL of the NCU belts
has NO bearing on performance, other than increasing the Computer Literacy
requirement. Thus, you actually want to get the LOWEST QL of belt that you can
find within a certain deck slot threshold. For example, when you first upgrade
to a 3 slot belt, you will want to find a Belt Component Platform near QL 30.
NCU and Belts can be purchased from the Tools Booth in any General Store, at
varying QLs. These QLs are random and rotate occasionally, just like other
shop booths.
Alternative sources of NCU include Rings (Ring of Nucleus Basalis, ToTW rings),
armor (Advanced Salesman's Hat, Carbonum Armor), and even weapons (the Original
Electronicum).
Buffing Computer Literacy is notoriously difficult to do. There are no nano
buffs that can be cast on others to increase Computer Literacy. Traders and
Agents (FP Trader) have very strong self-buffs, but for the majority of
professions, you will have to equip custom implants in the Eye, Head, and Right
Hand along with a small amount of special buffing equipment in order to raise
your Computer Literacy enough to get into higher belts and chips. Luckily,
belts and chips do not suffer from Over-Equipping, so once they are installed,
they run at full capacity even after you remove the buffing equipment and
implants.
Switching Chips and Belts takes a very long time. Do not jump or open bags or
do anything when you are doing this! It may cancel the process and you will
have to start over. It is best to simply sit in a quiet area and go away from
your keyboard.
One special belt of note is the Guardian Circuit Board from the Guardian of
Time in TotW. It has five slots, adds bonus NCU as well, and only requires
225 Computer Literacy to equip. Most people jump to this belt as soon as they
can, until they are ready to equip a 6 slot belt (which requires a minimum Comp
Lit of around 360). It is fairly easy to get, simply because it is NoDrop and
every person only really needs one of them, so it is often left on the body of
a recently-killed Guardian of Time.
Title Levels: A brief explanation
=================================
All of the classes have named ranks, called title levels, which represent a
significant increase in the threshold of your skills and abilities. You start
at Title Level 1, and as a fr00b, you can go up to Title Level 6. Each Title
Level has an associated name with it which is class dependent. At each Title
level, not only does your skill cap go up, but the IP per Level increases as
well. Note that there is a Title Level 7 but it can only be achieved if you
have Shadowlands.
Title Level 1 - Initial title level (5,000 IP per level)
Title Level 2 - Earned at Level 15 (10,000 IP per level)
Title Level 3 - Earned at Level 50 (20,000 IP per level)
Title Level 4 - Earned at Level 100 (40,000 IP per level)
Title Level 5 - Earned at Level 150 (80,000 IP per level)
Title Level 6 - Earned at Level 190 (150,000 IP per level)
Title Level 7 - Earned At Level 205 (not available for froobs)
Title Level Name Progressions
-----------------------------
Adventurer
Scout -> Hunter -> Preserver -> Adventurer -> Wanderer -> Ranger
Agent
Informer -> Spy -> Agent -> Assassin -> Master Assasin -> Grandmaster Assasin
Bureaucrat
Clerk -> Bureaucrat -> Secretary -> Manager -> Minister -> President
Doctor
Nurse -> Medic -> Doctor -> Surgeon -> Master Surgeon -> Chief of Staff
Enforcer
Docker -> Worker -> Foreman -> Union Man -> Made Man -> Don
Engineer
Techie -> Mechanic -> Engineer -> Chief Engineer -> Master Engineer ->
Nobel Prize Engineer
Fixer
Lifter -> Thug -> Embezzler -> Fixer -> Doer -> The Man
Martial Artist
Initiate -> Apprentice -> Monk -> Master -> 5th Dan Master -> 10th Dan Legend
Meta-Physicist
Disciple -> Devotee -> Priest -> Archdeacon -> Spiritual Leader -> Saint
Nano-Technician
Novice -> Apprentice -> Initiate -> Sorcerer -> Techno-Mage -> Techno-Wizard
Soldier
Militiaman -> Mercenary -> Soldier -> Lieutenant -> Colonel -> General
Trader
Courier -> Salesman -> Merchant -> Board Member -> CEO -> Chairman and CEO
========================
= Levels 1-10 (aong04) =
========================
Recommended Reading
===================
^ http://www.ao-universe.com/main.php?site=knowledge&link=0&id=213
** ICC Shuttleport Island Guide from AO Universe
^ http://www.aofroobs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4647
** Beginner Tutorial for the chat client
Newbie Island
=============
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| * You will probably spend most of your early levels at the ICC Shuttleport |
| Island AKA Newbie Island. Learn how to play the game here! |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Welcome to the ICC Shuttleport, AKA Newbie Island!
Usually, when I start a new character, I spend some time changing and fiddling
with the interface to my liking.
The FIRST thing I would do is set your inventory to List Mode. You can do this
by clicking the "I" in the upper left corner of your Inventory and clicking the
"List Mode" option. This makes it a whole lot easier to manage your inventory.
You can also use this for your bags (when you get them later on), and in the
trade window (makes shopping a breeze, at a glance).
Later on, I would also recommend separating out your Trade window from the
right sided scroll bar. Right-click on the "Trade" label of the open window and
drag it out into your playing field. After selecting List Mode, stretch the
window out so you can see at a glance the Count, Price, and Quality.
I would also re-arrange your chat windows. You can find a tutorial for this
here:
^ http://www.aofroobs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4647
Finally, I would also download and install the Atlas of Rubi-Ka from:
^ http://forums.flw.nu/viewtopic.php?p=1044
Or alternatively, you can use the CSP map from:
^ http://www.creativestudent.com/ao/
How to earn money on Newbie Island
----------------------------------
Making money on Newbie Island is difficult, as you do not have access to any
backpacks and the items that drop from the creatures in this area generally
do not sell very well. However, since you need cash to buy the various starter
items on Newbie Island, there are a few ways to earn it:
* Sell all the Blue Corundum, Yellow Corundum, Seashells, and Melted Circuit-
Boards that you come across.
* If you have changed your affiliation to Clan or Omni, make use of the side-
specific shops for selling your loot, as they have a much better sell price
than Antonio.
* Certain items can only be purchased on Newbie Island. In particular, the
sided Sunglasses, the Omni-Tek Technical Library, and the Omni Smelling Salts
all are only purchased from the sided vendors. While these items are a bit
expensive for your current budget, they all can be sold on the mainland for
much more than their purchase price. You can expect about 50 to 200k for the
sunglasses, 200 to 500k for the Smelling Salts, and 500k or more from the
Omni-Tek Technical Library (less for Omni, more for Neutral or Clan who
cannot purchase these at all).
I generally spend levels 1 to 6 killing Surf Lizards and Island Reets for
Yellow Corundum and Perfectly-Formed Seashells. After level 6, I hunt Cargo
Droids and Waste Collectors for Melted Circuit Boards. Fill up your inventory,
then run back to the sided store to sell!
The beginnings of Tradeskilling
-------------------------------
^ Ref: http://www.ao-universe.com/main.php?site=knowledge&link=0&id=106
There isn't much Tradeskilling that you can do in Newbie Island. However,
what little is there can be used to increase your weapon damage so that you
can kill things faster and thus get out of Newbie Island faster. The weapon
upgrades do not actually require any Tradeskills... they just require you to
combine a component with Antonio's Adaptation Factory and then combine that
component with your weapon. You can either use the Tradeskill Kit window to
do this or simply pick up the item that you are combining and Shift-Right Click
onto the item you want to upgrade.
Important Note: If you intend to make the Tinker Pistol on the mainland, it is
very important that you buy a spare Solar-Powered Pistol. You will probably
want upgrade your pistol to an Electrical Surge Pistol, which cannot be made
into the Tinker Pistol. So buy a spare Solar-Powered Pistol for the purposes of
upgrading it into the Tinker Pistol. It will save you the pain of creating one
from scratch.
Things that you should do
-------------------------
* Choose your affiliation. You should probably do this as soon as possible so
that you can take advantage of the upgraded Newcomer Armor. I suggest Omni,
because it is easier on the new player (you can always experiment with Clan
later), in my opinion.
* If you are Clan or Omni, buy the cheapest Newcomer Armor that you can afford
and upgrade all of the pieces with a Clan or Omni Badge. Since the Newcomer
Armor becomes a leveling item when upgraded, you don't need the more
expensive versions.
* Since the most recent patch, you can get free Newcomer Armor from quests that
Travis Molen gives you.
* Get two shoulderpads of the appropriate side. If you are Omni, get two Omni
shoulderpads. If you are Clan, get two Clan shoulderpads. This means doing
the appropriate quests TWICE, but it's well worth the effort, since good
shoulderpads are generally hard to find.
* Buy the Nanoprogram container of your profession. This booth is next to
Antonio, and gives you a package deal on all of your "starter" nanos.
* You can obtain a Small Backpack from one of the quests off of Adri Alfi. This
adds 21 slots of storage inside the bag and is well worth the time and effort
to get on Newbie Island.
* You can obtain a Shiny Band and Range Meter by doing the tasks given to you
by the ICC Observer.
Optional things to do
---------------------
* If you choose Omni, and you are planning on doing tradeskills of any kind,
make sure you pick up an Omni-tek Technical Library from the same person
that sells the Omni badges to upgrade your armor. You can also just buy
these and sell them on the mainland at 50k to 300k in credits for a tidy
profit, as they are ONLY sold on Newbie Island.
* Likewise, the Omni Sunglasses and Smelling salts are a good item to pick up
from the same shop. Clan has their own sunglasses, but no neck item. The
sunglasses and smelling salts are not nearly as much in demand as the Tech
Library, but you can probably sell them for 50k to 100k on the mainland.
* Additional Note: These items are subject to supply and demand, so the price
for them fluctuates.
Equipment Suggestions and Tips
==============================
* The best armor that you can get at this point is the Newcomer Armor upgraded
by an Omni badge or Clan badge, which is a leveling item that goes all the
way up to QL 15. Even at QL 15, it is better than most of the armor that
you'll find early on. If you are Neutral, tough luck... you'll have to
harvest armor from the Dynabosses. The large robot dynaboss is great for
higher QL armors.
* Be sure to upgrade your weapon! All of the weapons on Newbie Island can be
upgraded to a higher-damaging form.
* Brandon Thorn gives you free Treatment Laboratories, Nano Rechargers, Nano
Kits, and First Aid Kits for bringing him three Monster Parts. The QL for
these freebies scales with your level!
How do I leave this place?
==========================
When you've had your fill of Newbie Island, then head to the sided Recruiter of
your appropriate affilation (Neutral, Clan, Omni). After talking with them,
you should get a starter pack of Maps and a key. Head to the Teleport Tower,
and use your key on the terminal to the right of the appropriate Teleporter.
This will be your first glimpse at Whom-pah travel. Above the Whom-pah teleport
devices, you will see the names of the three starter cities, Borealis (Neutral),
Athens (Clan), and Rome (Omni).
Once you leave Newbie Island, you cannot come back!
=========================
= Levels 10-25 (aong05) =
=========================
Where in the heck am I?
=======================
By now, you should have reached the mainland. There are many differences
between the safe confines of Newbie Island and the world of Rubi-Ka, and not
just the size. *grin* Some things that you should do:
* Find out where the shops are. Specifically, find out where the Basic General
Store is located. There are three Quality levels of shops, Basic, Advanced,
and Superior. Basic is the one you'll be dealing with first and it supports
equipment from QL 1 to around QL 50.
* Buy backpacks. There is a Container store in the Subway and in all Advanced
and Superior General Stores. Note that the Adventuring requirement on the
backpack is only needed to WEAR the backpack, not USE the backpack to store
items. Each backpack holds up to 21 items, and all backpacks carry the same
amount of items (including the "Book of Knowledge")! Later on, you may want
to mix and match the bags because the icons are different (helpful for
organizing), but when you are short on cash, it is perfectly acceptable to
just use Small Backpacks. Like any inventory, I would strongly suggest using
List Mode. Also, you can Rename your backpacks.
* If you are a Pistol user, or simply someone who likes nostalgia, I would
recommend trying to find where the "Backyards" are. These locations are
where your apartment will be located (once you select one... it's mostly a
cosmetic choice, and not important for gameplay). They contain a Bank term,
a Surgery Clinic, and a Holo-World. The Holo-World contains some low level
enemies and a Second-Hand Peddler Merchant who sells some items not found
anywhere else. The Original Electronicum pistol is sold up to QL 10 here.
The Backyards are the locations where people used to start the game. They are
called different things according to affiliation... for example, in Rome and
Omni territory, they are called "Highrises".
* All General Stores, Backyards, and select other locations have two structures
that are very important for common gameplay.
** The first is a Bank Terminal. This represents a "second inventory" of
sorts, where you can store items. While the storage is limited, you are
allowed to put Bags full of items in the Bank, and it counts for only 1
space for that bag.
** The other important structure is the Surgery Clinic. This device, for a
nominal fee of 30 credits, allows you to switch in/out your implants for 5
minutes, and also heals you for 1000 Health and Nano Pool, making it a
cheap and effective way to heal up quickly.
* Find out where the Mission Terminals are. Mission Terminals will be the main
way for you to make money and gain experience when you aren't exploring a
static dungeon or adventuring in the wilderness. I cannot emphasize enough
how valuable these terminals are... Missions are the lifeblood of your
character advancement.
* Find out where the Insurance Terminals are. These simple structures "save"
your progress. At later levels, you will lose your experience points into a
separate pool of XP when you die (this pool gets recovered eventually, but it
still slows you down). Saving at Insurance Terminals will not only prevent
this from happening, but also "save" you at that location, so you will return
there when you die at one of the "Reclaim" terminals.
* If you can, download the Atlas of Rubi-Ka. It is far superior to the default
Planet Maps that come with the client. You can find it here:
^ http://forums.flw.nu/viewtopic.php?p=1044
Another map that I use is the CSP map. You can find it here:
^ http://www.creativestudent.com/ao/
* Lastly, find out where the Subway is. Each of the major cities of the three
factions has a Subway, which is the first static dungeon that you'll go for.
Your starting location on the mainland will be VERY close to the Subway.
Missions
========
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| * Early missions are a great way to build up XP and cash in low level play. |
| * Mission Sliders determine the parameters of your mission. Find a setting |
| that is right for you! |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Recommended Reading
-------------------
^ http://forums.anarchy-online.com/showthread.php?t=265462
** An old thread which goes into great detail about mission slider settings
Missions can be thought of as random "instanced" dungeons. Mission terminals
give you a task, after which you head to a location set by the mission,
complete the task at that location, and receive a reward in experience, loot,
and credits.
Missions can be undertaken as a solo player or as a team. Team missions have
multiple levels (separated by elevators) and also contain a boss monster who
has a chance of dropping special boss-only loot in addition to regular loot.
These boss monsters guard the end objective of the team mission.
Learning How to "Roll" Missions
-------------------------------
"Rolling" a mission is as simple as right-clicking on one of the Mission
terminals scattered across most of the major cities and towns of Rubi-Ka. You
will get a display of 5 missions (sometimes less) that randomly selects both
the location of the mission and the reward for completing the mission, as well
as the type of mission.
There are various sliders that appear below the Request Mission button:
* Easy-Hard: This slider determines the difficulty of the mission, in terms of
the level of enemies in the mission. It is relative to your level. At the
lowest setting, all of the enemies will be "grey" and not give you XP. At
the highest setting, all of the enemies will be "red" and be difficult to
kill. This slider also determines the QL of the mission reward.
* Good-Bad: Supposedly, this slider determines the "altruism" of the mission
and the level of violence you can expect to complete the mission. Actually,
all that it does is change what kind of missions are rolled. If you are
having problems finding the kind of mission you want (you want a Find Person
mission instead of a Repair or Find Item), fiddle with this setting.
* Order-Chaos: Sets whether or not you will be facing monsters or humans. Order
missions tend to have all humans, while Chaos tends to have all monsters.
Chaos missions also tend to have multiple "factions" of monsters, so you may
run into mismatched groups (a robot and a Manteze in the same room).
* Open-Hidden: Sets the number of locked chests and doors, as well as hidden
areas in the mission. If you have a low B+E, you might want to set it more
to Open. If you have a lot of B+E and want more XP, set it to Hidden.
* Phys-Myst: Sets the type of enemies in the mission. Phys missions have more
melee and damage-dealing enemies, while Myst have more nano-casting enemies.
* HeadOn-Stealth: Sets the number of cameras, turrets, and hidden traps in the
mission. Moving the slider to Stealth increases these obstacles.
* Money-XP: Sets the Credit reward and XP reward for the mission. Since the
XP reward typically equals the value of one or two mobs in the mission, even
on the highest XP setting, most folks set this slider to Money for credits.
Note that none of these settings have any influence on the type of reward that
you will receive. You will get more "chances" for the reward that you want
with Find Item and Return Item missions, due to the fact that the item you are
looking for will count as a 2nd rolled item, but the reward is random. In other
words, there are no "best" settings to roll a particular item.
My personal favorite settings, for most situations, is all Bad, all Order, and
all Money. This gives me 3 Find Item, 1 Return Item, and 1 Repair mission.
All of these mission conditions are easy to control, relatively easy to blitz,
and this slider setting yields 9 potential items total (since both the mission
reward and the Find/Return item in question count as a rolled item).
Most people, when rolling missions, either are trying to complete the mission
for a token, or trying to "blitz" the mission to get the reward. When rolling
multiple missions, it is best to try to get all of the missions in the same
location, so it is easier to travel to each one.
The easiest missions to get tokens are ones with mission parameters that are
easy to control, such as Find Item, Return Item, and Repair. The easiest
missions for blitzing are ones with easy objectives like Find Item, Find
Person, and Repair. Find Person is especially easy for Blitzing, as you can
simply run around the mission like a madman, tapping on the TAB button until
you target the person you need to find.
Fixers tend to be excellent at "blitzing" missions because they have runspeed
buffs, "meeps" (teleport directly to the Grid), the Fixer Grid, area root and
snare nanos, and Heal over Time nanos.
Traders, Crats, and Nanotechs are also great at blitzing missions because they
have several "calm" nanos that allow them to simply calm any opposition and
walk up to the target scot-free. Adventurers also have a calm, but it is less
useful for this purpose.
Finally, Agents (and Adventurers, with the Pronouncement of Greatness nano)
can blitz missions by Stealthing through it, using Concealment to sneak past
the monsters. Technically, any character with Concealment can do this, but
Agents are the only class that almost always has this skill raised.
For a look at the items available from missions, be sure to check out the
Master Blitz list:
^ http://ao-universe.com/guides/classic/master_blitz_listv2.0.php
You can also use Kimi's Rollability Facts database to figure out if the item
that you are looking for can actually be rolled:
^ http://www.arpa3.net/ao/
Token Boards
============
Another good reason to run missions is the sided Token Boards. Clan and Omni
characters get a certain amount of tokens every time they successfully complete
a mission. This token is received when you receive the mission reward. You
need to kill all of the enemies in the mission in order to have 100% chance of
receiving a token, with lower percentages if you do not kill all of the enemies
or the enemies you kill are too low in level (grey).
The Token boards provide higher and more bonuses as you raise them. You also
gain more tokens per mission as you level up.
Levels 1-14 = 1 token
Levels 15-49 = 2 tokens
Levels 50-74 = 3 tokens
Levels 75-99 = 4 tokens
Levels 100-124 = 5 tokens
Levels 125-149 = 6 tokens
Levels 150-174 = 7 tokens
Levels 175-189 = 8 tokens
Levels 190+ = 9 tokens
Neutrals do not get tokens, unfortunately. Here is a list of some alternate
neck slot items (also for folks who are too lazy to grind for tokens):
* Solyoz Intimate Helper - Fixer shop. Adds a small bonus to health/nano.
^ http://auno.org/ao/db.php?id=158763
* All-Match Augmented Bowtie - Buffs tradeskills, as well as health and nano.
^ http://auno.org/ao/db.php?id=156540
* Collar Casero de la Cripta - From Crypt of Home. Unique. Provides valuable
bonuses to the "Speed" tab skills, as well as NCU.
^ http://auno.org/ao/db.php?id=246125
* Collar of Amplification - From the Biomare/Foreman's quests, final reward.
Adds a bonus to a single nanoskill, which is changed by right-clicking the
Collar. Also buffs treatment by 7.
^ http://auno.org/ao/db.php?id=259265
* Experimental Cyborg Token Board - Comparable to the sided token boards, this
board can only be worn at Title Level 6. Drops from high level cyborgs.
^ http://auno.org/ao/db.php?id=244719
Title Level 1 Moneymaking
=========================
* The QL 10 Concrete Cushion - This item is not store-bought, but instead found
as a reward on missions. These generally go for about 200-300k on the open
market, as a pair (you have to roll two of them).
* The QL 22 OT-Windchaser M06 Quartz - This item is coveted for its ability to
increase Treatment. It comes in QLs from 22 to 25, but the QL 22 is the most
valuable due to its lower reqs. Sells for 200-500k on the open market.
* The Leet doll quest -
^ Ref: http://www.ao-universe.com/main.php?site=knowledge&link=0&id=24
Just outside the Bronto Burger near the Newland Grid exit is a girl that
wants her Leet Doll back. The lamp that she gives you as a reward sells for
about 25-30k to the shop, making for some fairly good quick cash for early
players, especially those who do not want to advertise on the shopping
channels all day.
* Blood Plasma -
^ Ref: http://arcanum.aodevs.com/pharmacy_treatment.html
Monster parts can be made into Blood Plasma using a Bio-Comminutor and some
Pharmatech skill. Blood Plasma sells for about 60k per unit at QL 200, but
even at lower levels, it makes for great shop food.
Special Quests
==============
Mr. Blake's Quests (Omni Only)
------------------------------
^ Ref: http://arcanum.aodevs.com/quest_mrblake.html
* Omni-Tek helmet - A great helmet for Omni characters, especially early on.
* Omni-Tek Assault Backpack - Probably the earliest decent Back slot piece
that you can wear at this point. It's also a source of confusion for many
new players, as in order to get this item, you need a Scottish Whiskey to
deliver to the Omni Barracks lieutenant. You need to have 21 Adventuring to
wield it, so be sure to spend a few points there.
Dr. Bobic's Quest (Clan Only)
-----------------------------
^ Ref: http://arcanum.aodevs.com/quest_inventorbobic.html
* Notum Hood of Bobic - This item is a great "helmet" that provides a small
boost to intelligence and good Armor Classes for its level.
Implants
========
Recommended Reading
-------------------
^ http://www.dd.org/~tale/ao/premade-implants.html
** A list of the profession "premade" implants in the Basic Stores
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| * Keep Treatment as high as you can so you can use the best implants! |
| * Remember that the Surgery Clinic gives you +100 to your treatment. |
| * Always keep the primary attribute of the implant in mind before buying. |
| * Stick with the Premade implants to save time and headaches, if you don't |
| know what you are doing. |
| * Check all the booths, not just your class ones! |
| * The Soldier Leg Implant and the Trader Chest Implant are two good choices |
| for boosting your Stamina, Agility, and Strength. |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
When you reach the mainland, you will finally be able to use implants. At every
store, there is a Surgery Clinic which allows you to add/switch your implants.
It costs a few creds, gives you +100 to your Treatment skill, and refills 1000
Health and Nano Points. Simply right-click to activate it for the next few
minutes.
********************************************************************************
SPECIAL NOTE: Implants are one of the most difficult parts of the AO learning
curve to overcome. Do not expect to understand the intricacies of Implanting
and Implant creation overnight. There is a lot of information here to cover,
and you may have to come back to it over and over again. The only real teacher
is experience. Make mistakes, learn from them, talk with other players.
********************************************************************************
Implants can have from 1 to 3 upgrades. They typically require some amount of
Treatment and a specific ability to equip, depending on the implant. The
implants have three grades: Faded, Bright, and Shiny. Shiny improvements give
the highest benefit, while Faded give the least. Each ability/skill has only
one of each grade, so you can't have, say, two Shiny Intelligence improvements.
If you wanted to maximize a single ability or skill, you would need a Shiny,
Bright, and Faded cluster in your implant configuration. This is called "Triple
Implanting".
For example, say that I want to maximize the amount of Matter Creation that I
receive from my implants. I would need to select all three gardes of clusters
that are linked to Matter Creation. This means I need a Shiny (Head), Bright
(Right Hand), and Faded (Eye). Since I can only find Matter Creation (Shiny)
in the Head, I would need a Head implant with the Shiny slot filled by a Matter
Creation (Shiny) cluster. Same goes for the Bright slot in the Right Hand and
the Faded slot in the Eye. I cannot have Matter Creation in any other implants,
because there is only one Shiny, one Bright, and one Faded slot for this
particular skill. I can fill the other Shiny, Bright, and Faded slots in the
rest of the implants/slots with other skills, however.
(Note: This does not include special implants like Notum Splice which break the
rules of general Implant creation)
When choosing implants, think of how the implant can work for you. For example,
it is worthless for a Bureaucrat to have an Implant with Shotgun if the Crat
does not use Shotguns at all. Conversely, an Adventurer who wanted to maximize
his/her Fling Shot would be wise to select all the implants that increase Fling
Shot. Still, all implants give SOME benefit, and so it is often beneficial to
fill all of your implant locations with something, if you can afford it.
Every Basic General Store (such as Rome Blue Basic, where Mr. Blake resides)
has profession-specific Implant booths, which provide a suggested layout of
implants at various QLs. I would recommend using these booths when you are
first starting out, but keep in mind that you can always use any other
profession booths and shop for your implants at multiple booths. In particular,
I can recommend both the Trader Chest and the Soldier Leg Implant. They give
boosts to Stamina and Agility, which are often necessary to insert most of the
implants out there.
Whompah Travel
==============
^ Old link: http://travel.to/rubi-ka/
Whompahs are found in select hubs throughout Rubi-Ka and give you instant and
free travel between the various cities and towns. There are several good maps
out there that show the "Whompah Routes". It is a good idea to figure out how
to get to common locations using the Whompahs. For example, many Omnis will
first figure out that they can reach Omni Trade from Rome by taking the Whompah
from Rome Red to Omni-Entertainment, then taking the Whompah to Omni Trade.
It requires no skill to use a Whompah... simply walk up to the gate, and you
are transported.
Also, several player-created cities out in the wilderness have special Whompahs
that teleport you to the various bars across Rubi-Ka. There are whompahs to
Rompa, Baboon's, Reet Retreat, and Neuters R Us. These can be used to return to
the Omni and Neutral "home cities" quickly after a mission or wilderness travel.
Subway
======
Recommended Reading
-------------------
^ http://www.ao-universe.com/main.php?site=knowledge&link=0&id=122
** Guide from AO Universe
^ http://forums.anarchy-online.com/showthread.php?t=435283
** Guide from the Official Forums. No pictures, but more in-depth.
There are actually three subways, one for every faction (Clan, Omni, Neutral)
in the home city of each respective faction. The content in the Subway is
identical between the three.
Once you hit level 25, you can no longer enter the Subway. However, if you
are already in the Subway, you can continue leveling past level 25. It is
believed that you are "kicked out" at around level 30 if you have an extended
stay in the Subway.
Locations for leveling
----------------------
At levels 10 to 15, I tend to go to two locations. There is a "bathroom"-like
location on both the North and South end of the upper Subway. The southern
bathroom is guarded by 3 Stim Fiends, 1 Infected Attendant, 2 Slum Runners, and
an abundance of Filth Fleas. The Filth Fleas (especially the ones inside the
smaller room) are easy to kill and give a fair amount of XP.
The Northern "bathroom" is harder and has Workman Strikers and Architect
Strikers. In the doorway to the smaller room, there are two Workman Strikers
that respawn VERY quickly. If you can handle this room, it's a great place to
level until you are about level 15.
I also make sure that I kill all the Stim Fiends that I can find along the way,
as they almost always drop both a Nano Kit and a First Aid Kit, which is useful
for healing.
After level 15, I tend to get bored and head to the Deep Subway. The door to
the Deep Subway is guarded by Eumenides. If he hasn't already been killed, be
prepared for the fight of your life. I wouldn't take him on unless you have at
least one competant healer in the group.
In the Deep Subway, you'll find the rejects (which drop great weapons, Nano
Crystals from the Generic booth, and occasionally Living Cyber Armor). These
are social mobs that are fairly easy to kill, as long as you don't get
overwhelmed. They guard the long corridors in the Deep Subway, and give good
XP until level 20. Deeper in the Subway, they are higher in level and give
even more XP.
Near the end of the Deep Subway, you'll find a room filled with Slum Runners.
The respawn time is slow, but these Slum Runners give a great batch of XP.
Things that you should do
-------------------------
* Living Cyber Armor is dropped in the Deep Subway by most of the humanoid
enemies. This is a leveling item, and goes all the way to QL 50. They can
also be acquired in a series of quests, although the Chest piece is almost
impossible for most Omni players to get in the quest, because a crucial quest
item is in Athens. Living Cyber Armor is mediocre, but it's free and has a
Health bonus. If you are a Nanomage or focused on Int/Psy, this armor could
hold you over for a while.
^ Ref: http://arcanum.aodevs.com/quest_livingcyberarmor.html
* Morphing Memory drops from most of the robotic monsters (and some of the
more organic ones) in the Subway. You should get at least one. It is a
leveling item, and goes all the way to QL 200, making it an ideal item for
your NCU deck slot 1. Unfortunately, you can ONLY put it into deck slot 1,
so it will not solve all of your NCU needs.
Optional Things
---------------
* The Strike Foreman is in a passageway overlooking the main "subway tunnel".
He occasionally drops the Boots of Infinite Speed, which allows you to cast
the adventurer nano buff Terrain Knowledge, regardless of your class. It's
an interesting item, but not really necessary.
* Eumenides, Vergil Aeneid, and Abmouth Supremus all drop the Ring of Nucleus
Basalis. This ring is highly-prized because it adds NCU with only a req. of
Treatment (which is easily buffed). It generally sells for 500k on the open
market. It is also a leveling item, although it is worth more if it is NOT
leveled.
* Abmouth Supremus also drops Juggler's Treat, a Unique ring that is one of the
very few ways for all classes to buff Multi Melee and Multi Ranged (by 10).
Abmouth is very difficult to kill, even with a full team, so few people see
this item unless they have a character that is twinked for killing Abmouth.
Equipment Suggestions and Tips
==============================
* Because money is tight, you will probably get your first non-newbie weapon
either on a mission or as a mission reward or as a drop in the Subway.
However, the newbie weapons can last you quite a while, especially if you
have upgraded them at Newbie Island, and the ranged weapons have unlimited
ammo, which is a plus.
* Since armor isn't a high priority at lower levels (as whatever armor you
are wearing is very likely to reduce the damage you take to the minimum
anyway), consider purchasing a set of the Omni-Med suit, if you are Omni.
It provides substantial bonuses to Treatment and First Aid, allowing you to
use the higher QL First Aid Kits and Treatment Labs early, making healing a
breeze.
* Carbonum Armor is a popular choice, if you have the cash. Many tradeskillers
will make the armor "at cost" for you if you buy the plates yourself. Still,
I would suggest "tipping" them anyway for their services. On the open market,
QL 1-90 generally goes for 10k per QL for a full suit.
^ Ref: http://arcanum.aodevs.com/armor_carbonum.html
* If you have a Trader friend, or can hire a trader, consider having them buy
a QL 15 Cap of the Besieger to craft into a Physician's Cap. This leveling
item goes all the way to QL 75 and outpaces nearly all helmets up to QL 90!
The Psychic and Stamina requirements are higher than a comparable hat, but
it provides good protection and a bonus to Treatment, Pharma Tech, and First
Aid to boot.
^ Ref: http://arcanum.aodevs.com/armor_physicianscap.html
* Living Cyber Armor is a good option all the way up to level QL 50, but there
is another leveling chest armor available for those with high Strength and
Stamina called the Massive Steel Armor. This is dropped by Eye Mutants.
^ Ref: http://arcanum.aodevs.com/armor_massivesteel.html
Most folks stick around the Subway and solo missions (within their "home" city)
until they get past level 24. At level 25+, you no longer can enter the Subway
and are ready for the next section of the game...
=========================
= Levels 25-60 (aong06) =
=========================
These levels are mostly marked by a single dungeon, Temple of the Three Winds.
You will become very familiar with ToTW as a starting player in Anarchy Online.
Some things to do
=================
* Make sure you get used to saving yourself at the insurance terminal. Do this
early and often, so that you don't lose XP into your pool.
* Buy up an ample amount of Small Backpacks (around 5 or 6) to store loot.
* Run some low level missions to make money. You can save quite a bit of money
if you roll missions for your nano crystals, rather than buying them.
* At this point, you should be able to cast the appropriate Expertise for your
primary weapon skill and any support weapon skills that you use. Also, you
should get the Expertise nano buff for any Nanoskill line that you often use.
Title Level 2 Moneymaking
=========================
* QL 44 Galahad Beyer pistols - One of the few ways to buff Comp Lit. These
generally go for 500k to 900k on the open market for a pair. Demand for this
item tends to be low.
* Sealed Inner Sanctum passes are obtained by trading an Exarch Robe from ToTW
to the Blind Cultist outside of ToTW. They generally sell for 100k on open
market.
* Purifying Rods from ToTW sell for about 100k each to PvPers. Demand is low.
* Omnifiers and Clanalizers now drop from missions (at around QL 50). Demand
for these items tends to be high, and they sell for about 100k each to the
appropriate side, and 30-50k each to the opposite/wrong side. A good idea is
to dump all of these items on a Neutral alt to sell to the appropriate side.
Conversely, if you need Clanalizers and have Omnifiers (or vice versa), you
can often trade them 1 for 1 from the opposite side if you have a Neutral or
opposite sided alt.
* As soon as you are able, head to Foreman's. Loot drops there faster than any
other location at these levels. If you are Omni, there is even a convenient
Advanced General Store nearby to sell your loot and a save terminal at the
top of the hill.
* Save your Notum Fragments, Notum Chips, and Enriched Notum Nuggets. These
sell for 1k per QL, generally, on the open market. Pellets are worthless.
The Joy of Self-buffing
=======================
By this point, you should have at least 66 points in PM and SI and 44 points in
MM and BM. This will allow you to use two very important nano-lines, available
in the Generic nano booth.
The first are Expertise nanos. These nanos will buff a variety of skills by
20 points each. They cost a small amount of NCU and last only 30 minutes, but
these rudimentary buffs can prove to be the difference between equipping a great
weapon or having to wait for 5 levels to do so. All of the weapon skills, nano
skills and tradeskills have an Expertise buff. Pick these up as soon as
possible and start using them.
The second are the Boost. These will buff any of the core six abilities by 12
points each. They don't last long, but they don't take up much NCU. Again,
these nanos may be the difference between using a new armor and implant now and
having to wait a few levels. They also provide trickle down to your skills,
giving you a small but significant bonus. A common example is using Intelligence
Boost to increase Computer Literacy by 3 points.
Missions
========
Token Boards
------------
Although Missions can be a rather dull grind, I would highly suggest completing
some missions for the tokens, especially if you've hit Title Level 3 at level
50 already. The token boards give many useful bonuses, and it's the best way to
"buff" your character at this point.
Grid Travel
===========
By now, you should have enough Computer Literacy to use most of the Grid. The
3rd floor and some of the 2nd floor will still be inaccessible with a high
Computer Literacy requirement, but those are areas that are more appropriate
for higher level characters.
Here are the Computer Literacy requirements for all of the exits and gridpoints:
First Floor
-----------
* 0 - Emergency Exit (will get you out of the grid)
* 0 - Organization Exit (will teleport you to your org's tower fields and city)
* 75 - Omni-1 Trade
* 80 - Old Athens
* 80 - Tir
* 90 - Borealis
* 90 - Newland
Second Floor
------------
* 75 - Omni-1 Ent
* 80 - 2HO (Stret East Bank)
* 90 - Meetmedere (Newland Desert, fly north to Mort)
* 100 - Rome (Rome Red Grid or RRG)
* 120 - Galway
* 120 - Harry's (fly north to Milky Way, take Ferry nearby to Pleasant Meadows)
* 120 - Lush Hills
* 130 - West Athens
* 150 - Clon**** (north to Andromeda)
* 180 - 4 Holes
* 250 - Broken Shores (City of Home)
Third Floor
-----------
* 150 - Omni-1 HQ
* 450 - Camelot (Avalon)
* 460 - Sentinels (Mort)
Temple of the Three Winds
=========================
Recommended Reading
-------------------
^ http://www.ao-universe.com/main.php?site=knowledge&link=0&id=171
Getting There
-------------
As Omni, you can actually arrive at the Temple of the Three Winds from Rome
Green. On the East wall of Rome Green, south of the Jobe Whompah, is an alley
with a portal to Temple of the Three Winds. To use this portal, you need to be
below level 60 and pay 1000 credits to Windcaller Cerrak in front of the portal.
Neutrals can also use this portal as well.
As Clan (and Neutral), you need to either Grid or Whom-Pah to Tir. Head north
from the city of Tir, zone into Greater Tir County, then keep heading north
until you reach the Temple.
It is a long trek out to ToTW, far away from any cities. So be sure to stock
up on Ammo, Treatment Labs, Nano Rechargers, etc. Bring a lot of spares, as
folks tend to run out of supplies when they are out there.
Where's the Loot?
-----------------
Almost all of the items in the Temple of the Three Winds are either Unique or
NoDrop or both. The Unique items are fairly easy to acquire, simply because
everyone can only have one. However, the drop rate of all other loot is very
poor here, so don't expect to make much money in the Temple of the Three
Winds. You can't collect multiple items, and you can't sell the items that
you CAN accumulate.
Choo Choo!
----------
Trains are long trails of monster groups that follow fleeing players. Running
into a Train tends to be fatal, because the monsters tend to stop and attack.
Trains become a BIG problem in the Temple of the Three Winds,given the straight
corridors, wide level disparity, and difficult boss monsters. It is not
uncommmon for you to face a train of cultists and perhaps even a boss as you
walk down the front entrance. There's really no way to prepare for this other
than just knowing that you can face a train at any time in this dungeon and
that you are ready to run at any time when it happens. I typically move to the
closest wall, and try to hide behind some object to stay out of Line of Sight.
Even if I am seen, it typically reduces the amount of enemies that I would have
to fight.
The "Monster" Map upgrade (installed with 130 Map Nav) is helpful to see trains
coming before they hit you. At an earlier point, you can use the People Map
upgrade to see other players running. Most of the time, they are just running
to another area, but sometimes they are followed by a train.
Locations for Leveling
----------------------
Generally, at levels 20 to 30, I stick to killing the Cultists in the initial
lobby area/corridors and the large room with Defender of the Three. At around
level 30, I head down the middle path beyond Defender of the Three and kill
Cultists (slightly higher in level) and the Windcallers and Exarchs in Nematet's
room.
The enemies in Aztur's room (beyond Doorkeeper Gartua in the right path) are
tougher, but give better experience. They respawn slowly, though, and you'll
bump into other teams that want to try to kill Aztur or the Exarchs in that
room.
The most popular location for leveling in ToTW is the spiral ramp down to Lien.
There, one will find an abundance of Deathless Legionnaires, which are called
"Legos" by many players. These give between 3000 to 4000 Xp each and are great
for leveling between 30 to 50. Unfortunately, they tend to be heavily camped.
Boss Monsters
-------------
Listed in order of difficulty from easiest to hardest:
* Defender of the Three - Drops Notum Splice, 1H Blunt weapons.
* The Curator - Drops Rockcrusher Gauntlets and Touch of the Gripper. Also
heavily camped, because he occasionally drops the rare BM/MM buffing Notum
Ring of Three and its MC/TS counterpart.
* The Reanimator - Drops Withered Flesh, Crumbling Funeral Urn, 1H Blunt weapons
Occasionally drops Lien's Crystalizer, Barrow Strength.
* Gartua the Doorkeeper - Rarely drops Keeper's Vitality.
* Guardian of Time - Drops Guardian Circuit Board, Bracer of Amplified Sound.
Occasionally drops Guardian Tank Armor, which is why he is heavily camped.
* Windcaller Yatila - Drops Barrow Strength, Crumbling Funeral Urn, Lien's
Crystalizer.
* Lien - Drops Dark Memories, Crumbling Funeral Urn, 1H Blunt weapons.
Occasionally drops Memory Loop and the Ring of Memory Loss.
* Nematet, Custodian of Time - Drops Temporal Chalice, Touch of the Gripper.
Rarely drops Nematet's Eye.
* Uklesh - Rarely drops Frozen Tear of Uklesh. Spawns Khalum after dying.
* Khalum - Occasionally drops Fist of Orion. Spawns Aztur after dying.
* Aztur - Drops the Stygian Desolator (100%). Occasionally drops Holy Book of
the Immortal.
Things that you should do
-------------------------
* Cultist Robes - the Temple of the Three Winds has a good variety of Back
slot items. Shoot for an Exarch Robe, at the very least, which are dropped
from... well, Exarchs. Also, accumulate multiple Exarch Robes if you can and
stash them, as they will become important later on to enter the Inner Sanctum
dungeon.
* Cultist Rings - There are a variety of powerful rings that are dropped by the
Cultists here. You'll start out with the Bronze Ring of Three (dropped by the
Faithful) and work your way up to Silver, Gold, and Platinum (dropped by
Acolytes, Reverends, and Windcallers, respectively). The most powerful are
the Notum Ring of Three, a unique item dropped by bosses and Exarchs. Be sure
to get at least one Notum Ring of Three and one Platinum Ring of Three. Note
that while all the rings are Unique, you can pick up a second Notum Ring of
Three from The Curator, because his ring occasionally has different nanoskill
bonuses (and thus is considered a different ring).
* If you are a 1-handed Edged Weapon user, pick up a couple of Phase Blades.
They do decent damage until you can find something better, and drop like crazy
in this place from the Exarchs and Windcallers. You can also, if you are
really lucky, can pick up a Frozen Tear of Uklesh from the boss monster of the
same name, but he is quite a chore to kill without a good team.
* 2-handed Edged Weapon users hit the jackpot here, with good items that drop
from the monsters here. One is the Frost Scythe of the Legionnaire, which is a
very common drop from the Legionnaires. The other is a drop from Aztur (the
toughest boss monster in the Temple of the Three Winds), called the Stygian
Desolator, and is probably the best 2-handed Edged weapon until you can
upgrade to a Panther. Energy Scythes are also a common drop, but they aren't
nearly as good as those two weapons.
* 1-handed Blunt Weapon users will find Howling Skulls and its bigger brothers,
the Skull of Lamentation and the Skull of Woe here.
Optional things to do
---------------------
* The "Meatpads" - There are special shoulderpads that drop from a couple of the
minibosses in this area, Barrow Strength and Tainted Flesh. While they have
minor penalties against certain abilities, their advantages far outweigh their
penalties. Barrow Strength provides a significant boost to damage, while
Withered Flesh adds to health and ACs.
* Touch of the Gripper - This Right Arm implant adds several nice bonuses,
including a prodigious bonus to damage. If you aren't using your Right Arm
implant slot for anything useful, then this implant is made for you.
* Rockcrusher Gauntlets - Drops from the Curator. Adds damage as well as good
armor.
* Shadowfade Armor - This Agent-only armor drops from the various Windcallers
and Reverends in ToTW. It is NoDrop and provides great ACs for its reqs.
My personal Checklist for ToTW
------------------------------
* Barrow Strength - From Windcaller Yatila
* Exarch Robe - From various Exarchs
* Guardian Circuit Board - From Guardian of Time
* Notum Ring of Three (common) - From various Exarchs
* Platinum Ring of Three - From various Windcallers
* Rockcrusher Gauntlets - From the Curator
* Touch of the Gripper - From the Curator
* Withered Flesh - From the Re-Animator
* (optional) Notum Splice - From Defender of the Three
* (optional) Dark Memories - From Lien
* (optional) Notum Ring of Three (rare) - From the Curator
How do I get out of here??
--------------------------
Unfortunately, ToTW is way out in the middle of nowhere. Clans have an advantage
in that they have an outpost and major city (Tir) nearby, but other factions
will have to either run to a player city (there are several to the east and
west, quite a long trek), or die (and teleport back to the reclaim terminal).
If you are Omni or Neutral, get used to getting a "ding" (gaining a level) then
dying to go back to Rome/Borealis.
Special Note for Traders
========================
At level 25, you now have access to the Trader shop. It is a terminal in the
special luxury shops near where you would purchase a vehicle. See the Trader
class guide below (aong10) for locations of these stores.
Equipment Suggestions and Tips
==============================
Other than the plethora of superior melee weapons available at the Temple of
the Three Winds, there are other equipment options that you can possibly
pursue.
* The Tsunayoshi Smith - Southern Artery Valley 2600 x 2900, W of 10-3 Outpost
^ http://arcanum.aodevs.com/trade_meleeshop.html
He sells many great melee weapons from QL 1 to 150. Some are Enforcer only,
but all of them come in a variety of models with different special attacks.
His weapons tend to be slow, but pack a good punch.
* Missions are a great way not only to roll items that you need, but also to
spawn bosses at the end of the team missions. A variety of items are boss
only, and thus it might be worth your while to roll the dice and see what
kind of valuable loot you can find.
==========================
= Levels 60-100 (aong07) =
==========================
Title Level 3 Moneymaking
=========================
* Foreman's loot - Enemies in Foreman's drop a large amount of loot. You can
easily fill 10 bags full with a 30 minute session there. If you are Omni,
there is a convenient Advanced Shop nearby where you can sell your loot.
There is even a chance that rare loot such as Grid Armor and Nullity Sphere
discs will drop. Notum Fragments/Chips are common drops, as well as higher
quality armor.
* Missions - At this stage you can start blitzing for Battle Suits and Tank
Armor, both of which sell well as shop food. Armor (especially Body and
Pants pieces) also sells fairly well.
Missions
========
Once you reach Title Level 3, it is very difficult to find a mission in Rome.
Instead, you'll have to trek out to other surrounding areas. Because you should
now have almost universal Grid access from your high Computer Literacy, this
shouldn't be too much of a problem. If you have the Huge Map, you can even see
how far the Mission locations are from Grid locations so that you can quickly
trek out to them through the Grid. Another clever thing you can do is use the
Player-created City Whompahs (which lead to one of the bars in various different
locations) in a Player-created City near you. Simply roll up a few missions
near, say, the Reet Retreat, then take the Reet Retreat Whompah in any of the
Player-created Cities.
Dyna Hunting
============
At level 60, you should be strong enough to take on some of the Dynamic Bosses
(also known as "Dynas") out in the wilderness, especially in the regions of
Wailing Wastes and Newland Desert. These are boss monsters that occasionally
drop rare loot that can only be obtained from Dynas, including profession-locked
"Master" weapons (if it's locked to a profession, it's probably valuable), rare
Nano Crystals and Instruction Discs, and buffing armor (armor that increases
abilities, useful for twinking). The locations of these Dyna bosses are on most
player-created maps out there, including the Atlas of Rubi-Ka and CSP map. I
would suggest downloading one of those two maps if you want to do some serious
Dyna hunting.
Biomare/Foreman's Dungeon
=========================
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| * Biomare/Foreman's is a dungeon for levels 45-100, with lots of loot and |
| good ranged weapon NoDrop items. |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Recommended Reading
-------------------
^ http://www.aofroobs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7
** AO Froobs discussion and guide, including a great map.
The Reception Clerk
-------------------
Unfortunately, the dungeon starts off with a "bang", with the front door guarded
by the Reception Clerk. While he isn't difficult to take down by himself, when
he is attacked or aggros you, he summons several Outpost Sentries and Guard
Mechdogs to attack you, and these tend to be high level and quite lethal to
anyone below level 60. Occasionally, there will also be a train of Toxic
Floaters/Bloaters and Guards dragged back to here, adding to the lethality and
confusion. If you want to breach the front door, form a team to help you get
past the Reception Clerk. Alternatively, you can just wait for another team
ahead of you to clear him and his goons. Once you get an Alpha Security
Clearance card in Foreman's, he will cease to attack you on sight.
It is important to note that the Reception Clerk summons adds according to the
players that he sees. If there are 10 people milling about near him, he will
send a force of 10 Outpost Sentries/Guard dogs. Thus, larger parties may have
a tougher time than smaller parties getting past the Clerk. Also, if there are
multiple parties in the main area, be prepared for a world of hurt.
One trick that I use to get past the reception clerk is hiding behind one of
the pillars with a character that has a pet. The Reception Clerk does not
summon helpers if the pet attacks him and he cannot see you. Thus, as long as
your pet can solo the Reception Clerk, you can take him down unscathed.
The "Golfballs"
---------------
The Golfballs are a series of teleporters in this dungeon, so named because they
resemble a hollowed-out golfball. They are generally used as "waypoint"-type
markers to indicate progress within Foreman's Dungeon. Each Golfball has an
Emergency Exit button nearby, handy for teleporting you back to the entrance.
Note that you can't use the Golfballs while in combat, so don't try to use them
to escape. You can, however, use the Emergency Exits near the Golfball.
The Security Clearance Card quests
----------------------------------
If you are Omni, talk to Linda. If you are Clan, talk to Rodriguez. If you are
Neutral, you can talk to either one. On another note, you can do the Security
Clearance card quests before you do the Collar of Amplification quest, and it
won't mess anything up.
This quest tends to be rather tedious, because you have to go back to the quest
giver multiple times, after every task given. While each portion has a time
limit, if it runs out, simply go back to the quest giver and you'll pick up
where you left off (so you won't lose any progress if you fail). The steps for
this quest are:
1) Disable security cameras - You get a camera scrambler device, which you need
to "use" like a lock pick on various floating cameras scattered throughout
Biomare. The cameras respawn rather quickly, and you can use the scrambler
on the same camera multiple times after they respawn.
2) Kill 8 Floaters - The Floaters are located in the Biomare sewer.
3) Kill 8 Bloaters - The Bloaters are tougher than the Floaters and reside in
the area beyond the Floater corridor.
4) Kill Tri-Plumbo - Tri-Plumbo is a tough boss that sits in the corner of the
room in the sewers. You will definitely need a large team or higher level
help to take him out.
5) Take the Blank card to Johnsson - After receiving the Blank security card,
you need to find Maintenance Supervisor Johnsson. He's a large Atrox with a
shovel who patrols the pit just beyond the 1st golfball, before the hangar
area. Just jump down and kill him. Use the Blank card on the laptop that
he drops.
Emergency Exits
---------------
These buttons are placed next to every golfball, and there is one in the sewer
and hangar. Emergency Exits look like fire alarms, and if you press the button
(Right-click on it), then you are teleported back to the entrance of Biomare.
They can be life-savers, allowing you to teleport away from a train (your own
or someone else's). Note that if you are "Recovering from Teleport", you won't
be able to use them until that is up, so don't go charging into battle right
after you use a Golfball... wait for the teleport recovery to wear off.
Locations for Leveling
----------------------
From levels 35-45, I tend to just stick with the area before the 1st golfball,
and kill Base Defenders. At levels 45 to around 60, Floaters in the Foreman's
Sewers give good XP. At around level 60 to 70, I would "graduate" to the
Bloaters further down the hallway. From levels 70 to 90, the area just before
the 3rd golfball with the Security Officers and the area after the 3rd golfball
with the Bodyguards is the best for gaining XP, especially the SD Power Core
quest with the deactivated droid. The "Mortiigs" and Adenated Scorpiods give
a lot of XP, but are also difficult to beat.
Boss Monsters
-------------
* Tri-Plumbo - Needed to finish the Security Clearance Card quest, this guy at
the bottom of the sewers is one tough melee cookie, hitting for 200-300 each
time. Worse, he is good at killing off your healers before the tank.
* The Lab Director - Drops the Customized IMI Desert Reet 1000. Beware the
spawns that add once he aggros you, in the form of "Radiation Balls", round
robots that do a huge amount of radiation damage. He also occasionally drops
certain fill-out forms needed for Bureaucrat equipment.
* Rik-Rak - Doesn't drop much. Avoid him if you can, and he probably won't aggro
you. If you do attack him, watch out for the add that spawns, a robot that
will root/stun the primary attacker.
* T.I.M. - Drops a couple of useful scopes, one for an Engineer only and another
which boosts Ranged Init by 180. While the requirements for the latter are
geared toward Agents, one can easily equip this scope with custom implants
and help from some Agent Aimed Shot/Rifle buffs.
Things that you should do
-------------------------
* If you are a pistol user, I would highly recommend getting at least one
Customized IMI Desert Reet 1000 (CDRs for short). These are NoDrop items
that often drop from the Lab Director. It will be difficult to get them if
you have a group with an average level of less than 80.
* If you are an SMG user, the Gamma Ejectors dropped from the Bodyguards past
the third Golfball are great weapons to use. Again, you would need a strong
group that can comfortably fight its way to the Bodyguards. Alternatively,
if you have a Gamma Access security card (which is obtained from those same
Bodyguards, natch), you can simply run to the third golfball without having
to fight.
* The Collar of Amplification is the reward for a series of quests within
Biomare. It adds +7 to Treatment as a neckslot item. It also modifies a
single nanoskill by +10, and this can be changed by right clicking it.
Crypt of Home
=============
The Crypt of Home is located to the Northwest of the City of Home, which can
be found right outside the Broken Shores grid access point.
Recommended Reading
-------------------
^ http://www.ao-universe.com/main.php?site=knowledge&link=0&id=153
** AO Universe's guide to this dungeon
Warping In
----------
Crypt of Home normally is level-capped at 110, which means you cannot enter it
through the front door if you are above that level. However, an Engineer with
Beacon Warp can warp you inside, allowing a higher level character to run amok.
While this means that you can easily beat up the bosses inside, it also means
there will be others who are pursuing the same goal.
The Front Door
--------------
The first thought that you might have when entering CoH is "Gee, this is a
really short dungeon... what the heck are these levers for?" The CoH is locked
by a mechanism that requires two people to flip a lever at about the same time
to open the front door. If you aren't fast enough, you might need a third
person to dash through the door while the other two are pulling levers. In
any case, if you get a person through the front door, you are good to go,
because beyond the front door is another lever on the floor which will open
the front door for the rest of the team (after a delay and a monster spawn).
Bane
----
If you decide to head down the side passages instead of going straight to the
Crypt proper, you will run into a few enemies and the first boss of Crypt of
Home, Bane. He drops the Bracer of Dark Flame and occasionally drops the
Bracer of Recondite Flames (an excellent Adventurer/Martial Artist item). He
also drops the Human Skin Hood (a PM/SI buffing item, among other things).
Skincrawler
-----------
Past the Blorrgs is a door that leads to a small chamber filled with creatures
called Skincrawlers. They drop bits and pieces of hide which can be used to
make Crawler Armor. There is also an Alpha Skincrawler boss in the area which
occasionally drops Brother's Brass Knuckles (an MA hand armor item) and a
Damaged Proliferation Unit (which, when repaired, upgrades Crawler into Prowler
Armor).
It is also the home of the first Cenobite Shadow spawn point.
Kizzermoles and the Pit Demon
-----------------------------
After exploring around the conduits (reminiscent of a sewer system), you will
come across a room with many Kizzermoles. Kizzermoles do quite a bit of melee
damage, attack in large groups, and respawn quickly. They drop Kizzermole
Gumboils, one of the few decent "thrown" weapons (mostly used in PvP). Beyond
the Kizzermoles is a lever which, when pulled, spawns a Pit Demon. You can
backtrack and kill the Pit Demon. It randomly drops the Hood of Wicked
Inspiration, Pit Demon Heart (used in making a Reanimator's Cloak), and Pit
Demon Spit.
Things that you should do
-------------------------
* More Robes! - There are two robes that drop here, the Cloak of the Revoked
and the Necromancer Robe. Both of these can be upgraded with certain parts
into very nice robes. The Reanimator's Cloak in particular (from an Indigo
Carmine/Pit Demon Heart and the Necomancer Robe) is particularly coveted.
* Adventurers and Martial Artists will find the Bracer of Recondite Flames
useful. This drops from Bane.
* Meta-Physicists and Keepers will, likewise, find Sacrificial Ensigns of
Cerubin to be useful.
* Fixers can find Bundles of Twisting Nerves, an NCU item that adds to various
skills, including BM and MM, as well as +20 to NCU. These drop from Blorrgs.
* Crawler Armor can be made from Skincrawler parts, which is a decent Agi/Sen
armor. It requires a tradeskiller with a MRR (Shape Soft Armor)
* Various strong weapons drop from Cenobite Shadows. There are only three of
them and they have a one hour respawn rate. They vanish as soon as they
spawn, so you either need a very high perception, an area effect attack like
Mongo or AoE nukes, or you need to use a /hunt command with a pet.
Equipment Suggestions and Tips
==============================
Armor
-----
There are a lot of good armor drops in the Foreman's Dungeon, ranging in a wide
variety of QLs. Popular choices include Nadir/Obtru Steel-Ribbed, Senpai Primus
Decus, and the Storm Carbonum Armor (clan only) dropped by Tri-Plumbo. At this
stage, a popular backslot item is the Reanimator Cloak, which is created from
combining the Necromancer Cloak and Indigo Carmine (made from a Pit Demon
Heart).
Other options include rolling a set of armor from missions (which will involve
running a LOT of missions) like Graft Armor, Omni-Pol Elite, Biotech Armor, or
Nano Armor. You can also have a set of high-end armor crafted for you, if you
have the credits.
Melee weapons
-------------
The weapons that you received at the Temple of the Three Winds should still
work well here. There are several high-end items from the Crypt of Home that
are highly sought-after: The Chiroptera, Howlet, and Panther. They have
exorbitant requirements, and often sell for millions of credits on the open
market. They only drop from Cenobite Shadows, which can only be "revealed"
through area-effect attacks in certain areas of the Crypt, making them quite
difficult to acquire. The lower QL versions actually sell for higher, because
of the lower requirements.
Ranged weapons
--------------
The pistol du jour is the Customized Desert Reet 1000. If you use pistols,
you will want this weapon, either on your off-hand or dual-wielded. If you
are a Bureaucrat, you can also get the Dark Pistol or Dark Pistol of the
Revoked from the Dark Cenobites in the Crypt of Home. The Dark Cenobites are
right there at the entrance, so you should be able to farm them pretty easily.
As far as SMGs, the main choice is the Gamma Ejector in Foreman's Dungeon,
followed by the Blackbird from Crypt of Home (for Fixers and Soldiers).
Getting a Yalm
--------------
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| * Yalms are expensive, but they are almost essential for getting around in |
| Rubi-Ka. You can FLY! |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
At about this time, you should probably start saving up for a Yalm. Yalm is
short for Yalmaha, and it is a flying vehicle that gives you a significant
amount of freedom in exploring Rubi-Ka. By holding down the Right Mouse Button
you can point the "nose" of the Yalm in any direction and proceed forward in
that direction (using Autorun or W or the Up arrow). It is equipped in the
HUD1 slot (for some reason) when in use. It can't be used indoors. Did I
mention that you can FLY?
The problem is that even low quality Yalmahas cost over 4 million credits and
require a minimum of 81 in Vehicle Air to fly. You will want to save up for a
low QL Yalm (aim for about QL30-40), which will cost about 5 million credits,
and require between 81 to 120 in vehicle skill. This will require some amount
of time to purchase, as the QLs of Yalms are completely random. There are two
Vehicle Shops in Rome Green (north and south of the Jobe Whompah) and two
Vehicle Shops in Rome Blue (mirror image of the Rome Green shops). When you
have the cash, visit all four locations and cross your fingers. If you don't
hit the jackpot, try again later, after burning some time on missions and such.
It is imperative to get a Yalm by the time you reach TL4. At this point, you
will have exhausted most of the content that you can easily reach by foot, and
your missions will send you to far-flung regions which are difficult to access
without flight. It is easy to get caught up in the "buy better armor/items/
weapons/nanos" game, but keep your eyes on the goal of buying a Yalm by the
time you reach level 100. I found that a few trips through Foreman's Sewers
doing loot runs gave me enough cash to buy one when I first started out. Some
classes are able to sell their services for tips, as well, which can raise the
needed cash.
Fixers can often delay the purchase of the Yalm because of the Fixer Grid.
However, the Fixer Grid quest itself is much easier if you own a Yalm. I still
recommending purchasing a Yalm if you have a Fixer character, but if you can
swing the Fixer Grid quest without one, you may forstall the inevitable.
Metaphysicists generally don't need Yalms. Although it is nice to be able to
stay afloat indefinitely, they possess a nano called Quantum Wings which allows
them to fly. Quantum Wings has a playshift requirement, which means when you
are first able to cast it, it will cancel after every zone (which gets very
annoying), but by the time you title-cap all of your nanoskills in TL3, you
should be able to use Quantum Wings unhindered through zones.
Adventurers also have the ability of flight with the polymorph "Calia's Form:
Parrot", which is castable on others. However, they won't be able to cast this
nano until at least late TL4, and not comfortably until TL5. If you can stand
to be without a Yalm for that long, my hat's off to you. It is difficult,
however, to reach the content that you need to access in order to level up high
enough to cast this nanoprogram in the first place.
Here's an interesting story about my main character:
I happened to get my Yalm at 4.6 million credits at level 80. After painfully
saving money from looting the Biomare Dungeon, I accrued 4.7 million credits.
After one cycle of shop hunting, I found a QL 37 Yalm for 4.6 million, with a
minimum Vehicle Air skill of 111. I happened to have exactly 111 in my Vehicle
Air skill at the time of the purchase. Sometimes, you just get lucky. *grin*
Advanced Implants
=================
By now, you should have outgrown the implants that are in the premade booth in
the basic store. Unfortunately, these implants only go to QL 100. In order to
have higher implants, you need to have custom implants made. There are two
implant booths in the Trade section of most General stores, and one implant
booth in the General Store main booth area. The implant booths in the Trade
section are of random QLs, but the implants in the main booth area of the
General store come in consistent QLs. Most folks, when making custom implants,
go for the QL 110 and QL 125 implants found in the Implant booth of the Superior
General Store.
- Custom Implants -
Recommended Reading
-------------------
^ http://forums.anarchy-online.com/showthread.php?t=475485
** Muha's guide to implant creation
Implants can be created from scratch. To do so, you will need "A Basic Implant"
of the appropriate slot, and 1 to 3 clusters (Faded, Bright, Shiny) that fit
into the implant. You do not need any special equipment to combine implants.
Simply Left-Click the cluster and Shift-Right-Click onto the implant, or use
the tradeskill window with the implant as the target.
Some notes:
* The bonus that you get from a cluster is based on the QL of the IMPLANT, not
the bonus that is listed in the cluster's description. This means, by and
large, the description of the cluster is probably worthless, except as a
convenient reference.
* You can insert clusters into an Implant lower than the QL of the implant. A
Shiny cluster can be up to 86% of the QL of the implant. Bright and Faded
can be 84% and 82% respectively of the QL of the implant. This means that at
QL 200, you should look for Shiny clusters at QL 172+, Bright clusters at 168+
and Faded clusters at 164+.
* You can insert clusters into an Implant that are higher than the QL of the
implant. A QL 200 cluster can go in a QL 1 implant, if you so desire. The
bonus, again, will prorate to the QL of the Implant.
* There is no easy way to determine what is the prerequisite ability needed to
equip the implant. For example, Computer Literacy Shiny clusters go in the
Head. If you JUST have the Shiny cluster, then the implant is based on
Agility. If you add a Bright Nano Pool cluster, though, the prerequisite
changes to Psychic! It makes no sense. The only way to predict the ability
requirement is to make a "test" implant of low QL with the same grades of
clusters or to use an implant design program like Nano Nanny or iMatrix.
* There is no generic easy rule about how much Nanoprogramming is needed to
implant a cluster. It is based on the QL of the implant and the particular
cluster that you are implanting. Note that the QL of the cluster does not
matter in terms of how difficult it is to make the implant, as long as it fits
within the parameters listed above. Max Health and Nano Skill clusters, in
general, are harder to insert than other bonuses. For a list of all the
cluster multipliers for Nanoprogramming:
^ http://www.aofroobs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4535
* Note that the QL of the implant will raise if you have high enough skill in
Nanoprogramming. QL 1-49 implants do not raise in QL. QL 50-99 implants can
raise up to 1 QL per cluster implanted. QL 100-149 can raise up to 2 QL per
cluster. QL 150+ can raise up to 3 QL per cluster. This could put a spanner
in the works if you have calculated your clusters exactly.
* Jobe Clusters require skills other than Nanoprogramming. They can only be
placed into implants that are at least QL 100 as the end product (you could
theoretically put a Jobe cluster into a 99 implant if the end QL is raised to
100). At QL 100, Implants with Jobe Clusters require TL 3+, but above that
the implants require higher title levels.
* When hunting for Clusters in Omni Trade shops, remember that there are two
floors of shops, one on the ground floor and one on the third floor. They
sometimes have different stock (although sometimes they are identical,
depending on how busy the shop is). Search for clusters up to QL 50 in Basic,
QL 50 to 100 in Advanced, and QL 100 to 200 in Superior.
- Cleaning Implants -
Implant cleaning is a tradeskill that requires a special tool, called an Implant
Disassembly Clinic. These tools are not sold in stores. Instead, they are
made from an Implant Disassembly Unit found in the Fixer Store. Although the
Implant Disassembly Clinic has a "Fixer only" requirement, this is just for the
purposes of equipping it into Util2. Any profession with enough Breaking&Entry
(B+E) and Nanoprogramming (NP) can use it to clean implants.
You can clean any regular implant that doesn't have a Jobe Cluster from QL 1 to
200. Refined Implants cannot be cleaned.
Simply target the Implant that you want to clean in the tradeskill window or
Left-Click the Implant Disassembly Clinic and Shift-Right-Click the implant.
This task requires 4.75 x QL of the implant in B+E and 1 x QL of the implant in
NP. The QL of the Implant Disassembly Clinic must be at least 90% of the QL of
the implant. This means that you will want at least a QL 180 Clinic to do all
implant cleaning tasks.
Once you clean an implant, the clusters in the implant are gone forever. You
lose any clusters in the implant. You have been warned...
One clever technique used to raise the QL of basic implants involves buying
Faded clusters and repeatedly implanting/cleaning the implant. This "steps up"
the QL of the implant with each cycle, due to the QL bumps that occur when
implanting clusters. Faded clusters are preferred because it is easier to hit
the QL bump limit with less Nano Programming skill (and they are cheaper).
- Twinking Implants -
Recommended Reading
-------------------
^ http://gro.dd.org/~tale/ao/ql200-imps.html
** Sample paln for installing QL 200 implants
^ http://www.aofroobs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=735
** Another QL 200 implant plan by Sferykal
^ http://www.aofroobs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4653
** My guide for creating a level 15 Atrox Enforcer twink
Twinking is the process of putting higher level equipment on a lower level
characters. While weapons and armor follow over-equipping rules, implants do
not lose any of their potency once they are installed. In other words, it is
most beneficial to install the highest level implants as possible in your
character. This is simply common sense... but when most people refer to
"twinking", they talk about squeezing a ridiculously high QL item on their
character.
Twinking is not for everyone. If you plan on leveling your character regularly,
you will get less out of it than someone who plans to stay at a certain level
(for staying in the level-locked dungeons or PvP/Tower Battles). It also costs
a LOT of resources, so you may want to just level your character normally and
not worry about Twinking at the lower levels. You'll level up so fast that
all of the effort you put into squeezing better implants into your character
will be wasted shortly as your implants become obsolete.
I don't recommend that you worry about this until you get past TL3 (Level 50)
and have at least one higher level character to funnel credits and equipment
down to your lower level character.
To do so, you will need two things, Treatment and Abilities, raised as high as
possible. Because the best way to raise those two abilities is through nano
buffs, you will also need a high amount of NCU. Generally, the process is a
multi-step regimen as follows:
* 1) Raise Computer Literacy through a set of "temp" implants in the Head, Eye,
and Right Hand. Other buffs include Computer Literacy Expertise, any buffs
to Intelligence, a Salesman's Hat, QL 44 Galahad Beyer Pistols, and the Omni
Special Grey InternOps Suit. This is only necessary to get higher NCU in, so
you can skip this step if you already have a good belt and NCU.
* 1a) Sometimes, I need to wield QL 44 Galahad Beyer pistols on a character
that may not necessarily have the skills to do so. In this situation, I
either make do without it, or install temporary implants for Multi-Ranged
and Full Auto, using Riot Control to buff Burst and a Wrangle/Extreme
Prejudice to buff Pistol.
* 2) Install the highest level belt as possible. Afterwards, Install the
highest level NCU as possible. Note that if you already have sufficient NCU
overflowing, you can probably skip this step.
* 2a) You may want to consider having other NCU buffing items installed as
well, like Carbonum Armor and the Collar Casero De La Cripta.
* 2b) After this step, you may want to consider installing a higher level
Treatment Library, as they require high amounts of Comp Lit as well.
* 3) Now that you have loads of NCU, you should be able to hold a lot of buffs.
Proceed to get the buffs that you need to raise various stats and treatment.
* 3a) Stamina and Strength both are easy to buff, with dual Concrete Cushions,
Essence of the Behemoth, and Iron Circle. You can also implant Stamina with
Premade implants from the Soldier/Trader booths.
* 3b) Agility is also easy to buff, with Feline Grace, Tsakachumi rifles at
QL 40, and implants in the Feet, Waist, and Leg. Typically, these implants
require Stamina to implant, so you may have to buff Stamina first, to get
some of your Agility implants in!
* 3c) Other ability buffs include +15 Sense from Enhanced Senses (Agent), +10
Intelligence from a pair of QL 1 Second-Hand Old English Trading Company
Pistols, +40 Intelligence/Psychic from paired OET Jess Pistols.
* 4) Raise your Treatment. You get the following bonuses from various boosts:
Easy to get bonuses (you should have all of these)
-------------------
* +100 from the Surgery Clinic
* +78 from the Full Omni Med Suit
* +20 from Treatment Expertise
Other bonuses
-------------
* +10 from the Windchaser M06 Quartz rifle (QL 22-25) +10
* +3 to +18 from Treatment Library in HUD2
** Doctors can substitute a Pharmacy and Treatment Library
** Fixers can substitute an Implant Disassembly Clinic
** Agents can use any of the above with the appropriate False Profession
* +7 from Collar of Amplification in Neck
* +4 to +10 from Biomech Cloak on the Back
* +1 to +4 each from Ring of Presence in both Fingers
* Physician's Cap, Stalker Helm, or Biomech Helm on the Head.
* High level Biomech Boots may exceed the bonus from the Omni-Med suit boots,
so keep this in mind.
* +80 from Superior First Aid (SFA)
* If you can't find a Doctor willing to cast SFA, you can use lower treatment
buffs like the +35 bonus from Specialist Treatment (Doctor) or the +60 bonus
from Robust Treatment (Adventurer).
* 5) Treatment laddering. This is the tricky part, and is only necessary if
you need even more treatment than all of the bonuses from your equipment. At
this point, you install a temporary Head implant with Treatment in it. This
allows you to implant a higher level implant in the Eye. With both the Head
and the Eye in, you can finally implant a higher Right Hand. With the bonuses
from the Eye and Right Hand, you can remove the Head and replace it with a
higher QL. Usually, you can repeat this process at least once (if you have
enough Ability to support the implants), with diminishing returns.
* 6) Install your implants! Typically, you will want to have custom implants
that have similar Ability requirements. The Head, Eye, and Right Hand
implants will usually lag a bit behind in terms of QL because of the Treatment
laddering step.
========================
= Beyond 100+ (aong08) =
========================
Title Level 4+ Moneymaking
==========================
* Missions will become your mainstay of making money. Blitz for Animas, Nanos
that "create" things (like Smuggler Shipments), Tank Armor, Armor (body or
pants), full sets of armor (to sell on open market), and Battle Suits. Battle
Suits, in particular, bring in the most amount of cash when sold to a shop.
In order of most to least value:
** (Assault-Issue) Omni-Pol Elite Battle Suit
** (Assault-Issue) Omni-Pol Battle Suit
** Flawed Plasteel Battle Suit
** Desert Battle Suit
** (Augmented) Urban Battle Suit
* High QL Monster parts drop often from Borgs and other mobs at this point.
Bags of these Monster Parts, after processing them into Blood Plasma, will
sell to the shop for about 1 to 2m per bag!
* Blitz for all of your nanos. Not only are you forced to do it anyway (since
QL 125+ nanos aren't sold in shops), it will save you a ton of cash.
* While Team missions are typically designed for a team (duh), you can also roll
Team missions for soloing. They take longer, but the boss at the end often
gives good loot. In particular, Controller Recompiler Units (CRU) are coveted
and sold on the open market for 70-80k per QL. Since the number of items on
the boss is determined by the number of people on the team, many people form
"CRU parties", where 6 people form a team and roll missions separately at
different locations as a solo endeavor, the single purpose being to kill the
boss and hopefully get a CRU to sell.
Token Board Grind
=================
By now, you should have earned at least the 250 token board. Now is the time
when the Token Board grind gets really tedious. However, the rewards for the
400 token board and the 1000 token board are so great that it usually is worth
it to run easy missions and grind out some tokens so you can achieve the 1000
token board. Try to select missions that are close to a grid terminal or Whom
Pah, and do "clumps" of missions in the same location to reduce the amount of
time you take to travel. Set your mission difficulty slider bar to about 30
to 40 percent, whatever setting will make the enemies "green" but not "grey".
Also, select missions types that are easier to control in terms of completion
like Repair, Return Item, and Find Item.
Cyborgs
=======
The easiest way to level after 80+, by far, is killing Cyborgs in Mort and PW.
The shortest distance to the 'borgs would be to take either the Sentinel Grid
or Whompah for Clan, then heading to the Southwest at the "6 o'clock" position
of the Toxic Lake, or use the Grid to get to Meetmedere and head directly
North, then Northwest after the zone change to Mort. You'll arrive at an Omni
Ruins (with working Mission Terminals!). This place is heavily camped, and thus
you may have problems with finding enough 'Borgs to hunt regularly or finding
a team with an empty slot or appropriate level range.
There is also another similar camp to the north by northwest of the Toxic Lake
in Mort. Perpetual Wastelands has two barracks in the far northeast corner of
the zone which has higher level Borgs.
Borg hunting hints
------------------
* Having a team is almost essential. You'll want a well-rounded team with an
aggro-stealing tank, a competant healer, and enough run speed on all members
to dodge attacks.
* You have to learn a new way of fighting here, called Team KITing, or "Killing
in transit". Basically, you run away from the borg, only attack if you are a
safe distance away (i.e. outside of melee range). In teams, you would
designate one "puller" who would aggro a single 'borg, run back to the team,
and then run around in circles around the team while the team takes potshots.
* Do NOT stand and fight against Borgs. You will probably die, unless you are
a high level enforcer with great armor and evades. If you get aggro (it will
say "Attacked by Cyborg Colonel" or something similar in Red), run around in
tight circles around the group until you lose aggro.
High Level Team Missions
========================
At around level 120+, even Borgs in PW will fail to give you the XP that you
need to steadily progress. Usually at this point, people either tend to grind
out missions for some tokens or band together in teams to run high level team
missions. At around QL 200, the missions will provide a total of 6m to 10m XP
to each member. Above 200, missions become significantly harder per level (the
jump from 201 to 210 is about as drastic as the jump between 150 to 200), but
also give MUCH greater experience. At TL4 and early TL5, I would recommend
running missions as close to 200 as possible, without going over 200 (unless
you have a very strong team).
Most people, when running teams to do High Level team missions, tend to roll
missions at either Newland or Meetmedere and try to target the location of
Broken Shores. Many of the missions in Broken Shores are near the Gridpoint at
the City of Home, which also has convenient Bank terminals and Insurance
terminals. As far as slider settings, most folks go LLLRRR, which means
setting all the "optional" slider settings all the way to the Left for the top
three and all the way to the Right for the bottom three.
High Level Dyna Hunting
=======================
Alternatively, many folks form small groups and hop from dyna to dyna in Belial
Forest or Perpetual Wastelands. Each boss gives a great amount of XP and often
drops great loot as well. It requires all the team members to be highly mobile
(either relying on Yalms/Quantum Wings or Calia's Form: Parrot) and skilled at
navigating using an outside map like CSP or Atlas of Rubi-Ka.
Inner Sanctum
=============
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| * Inner Sanctum, or IS, is a high level dungeon for character levels 125+ |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Recommended Reading
-------------------
^ http://www.ao-universe.com/main.php?site=knowledge&link=0&id=145
The Inner Sanctum is the "next level" of the Temple of the Three Winds. You
need to be level 125 and you need to have an Inner Sanctum key (which is
created from an Exarch Robe by the Blind Cultist outside ToTW). The Inner
Sanctum is home to a lot of tough enemies and a lot of coveted items. It is
generally suggested that you go with a full party of at least level 150s.
The entrance portal to IS can be found outside the Bronto Burger east of the
Subway in Galway Shire, outside of Borealis, and next to ToTW.
Na na na na na na na... I'm Steve Austin!
-----------------------------------------
The dungeon as a whole removes runspeed buffs and gives you a -500 to your
runspeed. This means that Fixer runspeed and evasion buffs are useless here, as
well as Trader's Quantum Uncertainty and MA's Reduce Inertia. The Adventurer
Wolf Form buffs and Free Movement/Terrain Knowledge Nano are the only runspeed
buffs that work here (much Advy love, again). Fortunately, the dungeon is
fairly compact in size, although it greatly resembles ToTW. While you cannot
be Beacon Warped in (as usual), you can use meeps to escape.
Pulling in the First Floor
--------------------------
The first floor in IS is a great place to gain experience at late TL4 and TL5.
While High level team missions tend to give more, the enemies in IS are more
predictable and you can clear out the first floor every 10 minutes.
The key to pulling enemies on the first floor is the fact that when you attack
or cast a nano on an enemy, they will only chase after you if you are within
their line of sight. Thus, you can use the pillars to block off portions of
line of sight and drag enemies back. You might still get messages that say
"Attacked by..." but you'll only be chased if you are seen. A competent team of
TL5 folks with good healing can handle everything on the first floor except
Fezael (Keep away from this Trox of doom).
The first group consists of High Exarch Hannah (level 187), High Exarch Netole
(level 187), Corrupted Soul (level 185), and Archdeacon Seamus (level 205).
Seamus has a nasty nuke that takes off 1k to 1.3k each time he casts, so either
hit him with Nano Shutdown (if you have an MP), or outheal his damage.
The second group consists of High Exarch Leonard (level 187), Corrupted Soul
(level 185), High Exarch Niaf (level 187) and Archdeacon Tarrius (level 205).
High Exarch Leonard has a nasty "Total Mirror Shield"-like special ability that
can make him a chore to kill. Tarrius generally debuffs your nano skills with
Major Shutdown, similar to the Minor Shutdown cast by Exarchs from ToTW.
The third and last group consists of High Exarch Izbel (level 187), Corrupted
Soul (level 185), High Exarch Mellou (level 187) and Archdeacon Wynna (level
205). Wynna can attack VERY quickly with Martial Arts, and double critical hits
from her can spell doom for her target.
At the end of the hallway is Fezael the Watcher, flanked by two Corrupted Souls
(level 185) You can pull the Corrupted Souls and kill them, without gaining
aggro from Fezzy. If you manage to kill Fezzy, he opens the portal to the
2nd floor of IS.
Of note, the robes that you can gain on this floor can be used by the Blind
Cultist to make more Sealed Inner Sanctum Passes, if you so desire.
The Permapass
-------------
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| * Kill the Fanatics ASAP! They explode after 41 seconds! |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
The main point of the second floor is to obtain the two halves of the "Inner
Sanctum Knowledge", which not only gives you a permanent pass to enter IS (so
you no longer have to burn through Sealed Inner Sanctum Passes), but gives you
access to the third floor of IS.
As soon as you enter through Fezael's portal, you'll be attacked by a small
group of Unhallowed/Corrupted Souls. Eliminate these quickly, then proceed to
the "rear" wall of this room, to the North, behind the ramps flanking Elzek the
Confessor. Talk to Elzek, if you wish. There is no need to attack him at all.
There are two central bosses in a group of 5 on each side, Jeuru and Iskop.
Both Jeuru and Iskop, when aggroed, occasionally produce Fanatics, who look
like the Cultists from ToTW. These Fanatics, while generally fairly weak,
explode after 41 seconds to cause 6000 points of AoE damage to the group! So it
is imperative that you kill these as soon as they spawn.
Jeuru and Iskop each drop one half of the pass. Jeuru is the easier of the two.
Iskop, when attacked, spawns two Pandemonium Idols, gigantic golems that greatly
resemble "Hecklers" from SL. These Idols respawn after being killed, so there
is NO point in killing them. The respawned Idols tend to chase after the
squishies in the group, like the healer.
The procedure for clearing each side is to pull the 4 guards surrounding the
bosses to the team, then taking on the boss all by itself. One person tanks
the boss and does small amounts of damage to it (and tanks the Idols, when they
appear), while the rest of the team adds supplemental damage, heals the tank,
and watches out for Fanatics to spawn. I suggest having at least a TL6 Tank,
and enough healing to keep that tank alive (1 TL5 Doctor, or 2 other healers).
Third floor
-----------
To be continued...
What do I do now?
=================
Once you have reached TL5 or higher, pat yourself on the back... you have
"arrived". You will start to breed-cap your abilities, and have more IP than
you can possibly spend. You are no longer a "newbie" at this point, and thus
you probably have outgrown this little guide. There is still much of Rubi-Ka
left to see, and if you get bored with RK, you can subscribe and try out the
content in Shadowlands, Alien Invasion, and now Lost Eden. Some of the things
you can do in the "end-game" as a froob include:
* Tower Battles - If you are into PvP at a large scale, you may want to try
your hand at capturing/defending towers. Each tower field is level-locked,
and as a froob, your chances are much better at the lower levels than the
higher levels, as the differences between fr00b and subscriber are much less
pronounced.
* Dyna Bosses - There are some very difficult Dyna bosses that range from level
200 to 250 in Belial Forest and Perpetual Wastelands. Try your hand at these
encounters if you have a strong team.
* Unique encounters - There are dozens of unique encounters across RK that
require a balanced team, great tactics, and good timing. These include:
** Hollow Island - Waves upon waves of Eremites, culminating in some unique
loot and tough bosses.
** Mercenaries - Some of the toughest bosses in the game also have some of
the best loot in the game. A long and involved raid.
** Biodomes - Proactive/Reactive Armor drops in this raid, as well as certain
unique nanos.
** Ljotur - A crazed lunatic with crazy armor and even crazier adds.
** The One - An ugly monster and his ugly servants.
** The sided armor - Some of the best armor in the game (TL6 locked) are the
Omni Armed Forces and Sentinels armor, and require some special and
difficult quests to obtain.
** The PvP quests - You can obtain a special merit board by undertaking some
new quests for the greater glory of your faction.
** Tarasque - The ultimate RK enemy is also the hottest PvP spot, as Clan and
Omni duke it out for the chance to slay the Dragon.
* Events - Every month, there are usually at least two unique events that occur
in the major cities, from annual holidays to mass invasions. Some of the
events include:
** Massive rollerrat attack! - While fighting off waves of literally hundreds
of dyna boss rollerrats, a gigantic level 255 Rollerrat with more Health
than God emerges.
** Alien Raid! - Who says that Aliens are just for AI subscribers? A Massive
Alien Raid can occur in the home cities themselves (usually heralded by a
thick green fog).
** Zombies? - Everyone loves a good zombie raid. Grab your shotgun and
machete and fend off waves of Bio-mutants that have invaded Rome.
** Storyline events - Events in the storyline from Unionist strikes to a big
speech from a plot bigwig like Phillip Ross or the Sentinels general all
can happen at any time. Usually not much combat is available, but some
good roleplaying to be had.
** Festivals and annual Holidays - from Halloween to Christmas to Valentine's
Day, celebrations in the real world also occur in RK.
=========================================
= General Suggestions and Tips (aong09) =
=========================================
Buffs
=====
Most of the business of playing AO involves buffs or buffing. Whether it is a
general health buff to help you survive or ability buff to help you equip a
suit of armor, it is a good idea to get to know the kind of buffs that are
available. This section will mainly focus on the most common ways to buff your
abilities and skills.
Strength
--------
* General Boost - +12
* Essence line - Enforcer nano, up to +27 points (Essence of the Behemoth)
* Iron Circle (IC) - Doctor nano, +20, stacks with Behe. Also has a younger
brother named Enlarge for +10.
* Prodigious Strength - Does not stack with Iron Circle, +40.
* Concrete Cushions - Generally at QL 10, adds +16 when equipping a pair.
* Extruder Nutrition Bar - Made by an Extruder, a Trader-only item from the
Biodomes. Generally costs 5k-10k on open market per bar, adds +2 to all
abilities for a short period of time. Level 50+ required
Agility
-------
* General Boost - +12
* Feline Grace (FG) - Agent nano, +25
* Tsakachumi Counter-Sniper Rifle - Low QL +4, QL 40+ gives +20
* Kirch Kevlar armor - Requires Agi/Str, adds +1 to +5. Boss loot only.
* Extruder Nutrition Bar - See Strength entry
Stamina
-------
* General Boost - +12
* Essence line - Enforcer nano, up to +27 points (Essence of the Behemoth)
* Iron Circle (IC) - Doctor nano, +20, stacks with Behe. Also has a younger
brother named Enlarge for +10.
* Concrete Cushions - Generally at QL 10, adds +16 when equipping a pair.
* OT-Windchaser M06 Quartz - QL22-25, adds +8 to Stamina
* Modified Omni-Tek Armed Forces Training Helm - Omni only, +3
* Extruder Nutrition Bar - See Strength entry
Intelligence
------------
* General Boost - +12
* Neuronal Stimulator (NS) - SL Only, not for froobs! Cast by Nanotechs, +20.
* Second-Hand Old English Trading Company - As low as QL 1, +5/+10 for a pair.
* O.E.T. Co. Pelastio - QL 70+, +10/+20 for a pair.
* O.E.T. Co. Jess - QL 100+, +20/+40 for a pair.
* Modified Omni-Tek Armed Forces Training Helm - Omni only, +3
* Notum Hood of Bobic - Clan only, +3
* Extruder Nutrition Bar - See Strength entry
Sense
-----
* General Boost - +12
* Enhanced Senses (ES) - Agent nano, +15.
* Personalized Robot Brain - Shoulder item, +1 to +12 bonus dependent on QL.
* Kirch Kevlar armor - Requires Agi/Str, adds +1 to +5. Boss loot only.
* Extruder Nutrition Bar - See Strength entry
Psychic
-------
* General Boost - +12
* Neuronal Stimulator (NS) - SL Only, not for froobs! Cast by Nanotechs, +20.
* O.E.T Co. Jess - QL 100+, +20 each (+40 for a pair).
* Kirch Kevlar armor - Requires Agi/Str, adds +1 to +5. Boss loot only.
* Extruder Nutrition Bar - See Strength entry
Computer Literacy
-----------------
This skill is notoriously difficult to buff, and most folks resort to using
temporary implants to beef this up for better NCU.
* Expertise - +20
* Omni-Tek Grey Special InternOps suit - +1 per piece, up to +6.
* Galahad Beyer pistols - +20/+40 dual-wielded, starts at QL 44
* Trader buff line - Self-only
* Advanced Salesman's Hat - +5, Trader only.
* Salesman's Hat - +5, from Zoftig Blimp in Hope
* Senior Omni Intern-Op Coat - +1 to +8. Boss Loot only.
* Ring of Presence - +1/+2 to +4/+8. Found in missions and boss loot.
* Remember that Computer Literacy is 100% Intelligence-linked. Thus, any buffs
for Intel will trickle down into Comp Lit.
Treatment
---------
Treatment is essential for implants, and thus any item that buffs treatment is
highly sought-after.
* Expertise - +20
* Specialist Treatment - +35, Doctor nano.
* Robust Treatment - +60, Adventurer nano. Doesn't stack with Doctor nanos.
* Superior First Aid - +80, Doctor nano.
* Omni Med Suit - +78 with all 6 pieces. Bought from Omni Clothing booths or
can be rolled. Wearable by any faction.
* Surgery Clinic - +100. Found in every shop, adds a big boost.
* Windchaser M06 Quartz rifle - +10, Rollable, shop buyable (rarely).
* Biomech Armor - +5-+12 varying qualities and pieces. Rollable, shop buyable.
* Collar of Amplification - +7, from Biomare/Foreman's quests
* Standard Medical Epaulet - +6 to +7, from George the Leet. Doctor only.
* Ring of Presence - +1/+2 to +4/+8. Found in missions and boss loot.
* Stalker Helmet - +5. Made from Stalker Carapace.
* Physician's Cap - +2 to +6. Made from Cap of the Besieger and nanobots.
Breaking and Entry
------------------
* Expertise - +20
* Fixer buffs - +130 for Karma Harvest, lesser buffs exist
* Crowbar Subtlety - +32, Engineer nano. Stacks with Fixer buffs.
* Pick-a-Finger - +16, Right Finger, from Fixer shop.
* Dirty Bioplast Overall - +10, Back Slot, Trader/Engi only.
* Handy Steel-Ribbed Gloves - +1 to +12, boss loot.
* Cyborg Death Squad Armor gloves - +1 to +12, Fixer only.
* Lollygagger's Monocle - +8, Head slot. From Zoftig Blimp in Hope.
* Large Backpack - Black Button - +5, Back slot. Container booth.
Reset points
============
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Take-home message: Save your Reset Points! |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Reset points are given at every Title level and are used to "reset" a single
ability or skill. If you feel that you need to change your character to
something completely different later on in your character's life, you can use
Reset points to achieve this. However, the main problem is that you only have
a limited number of these... once they are used up, you have to earn more (by
reaching the next title level). You also have to disequip EVERYTHING to use
any of your Reset points, so it's not really useful for twinking items. Even
if you "mess" up by putting a couple of points in Swimming or Vehicle: Water
early on, I would highly suggest NOT using up any of your Reset Points until
you reach Level 50 or so. It is very unlikely that you have lost so many points
that you character is completely ruined. Some folks use reset points at times
when a major patch changes their character concept and they need to "reroll"
their character to compensate. So save your Reset points... you never know when
you might need them later on down the road.
Petitioning
===========
The /petition command puts you in touch with ARK, the Advisors of Rubi-Ka.
These folks are player volunteers who field questions and and act as a liaison
between you and the GMs in-game. If you have problems, especially technical
problems such as getting stuck in the geometry or not finding a certain NPC,
the first step is to get in touch with an ARK. The proper way to petition is
to type:
/petition ReasonYouArePetitioning.
Team Play
=========
Typing /lft in the chat window marks you as available for teaming on the team
window/interface, like so:
/lft CommentsOnYourTeamingPreference
One useful command when you are the team leader is the /team loot command. This
allows you to set who can loot the corpses of enemies that your team kills.
This command sets the team loot to rotate through the party in alphabetical
order:
/team loot alpha
This command sets the leader as the only person who can loot:
/team loot leader
To reset the team loot as a free-for-all:
/team loot all
When valuable items are dropped from bosses (for example, Controller Recompiler
Units off of a team mission boss), it is best to randomly "roll" for the loot.
To do this, each person designates themself a number. After everyone chooses a
number (hopefully between 1 and the number of people gambling for the item), a
designated roller will /tell helpbot roll X, where X is the number of people
involved in the roll. You can copy and paste helpbot's response to the team
chat, which will also send a verify code to the team. This is the most common
method of randomly assigning loot. Typically on rare items that are camped and
looted repeatedly, the winners are set apart from the rolling pool until every
person has had loot rights once.
Trading and Tips
================
There's no real right or wrong way to trade, but player trading requires some
savvy and good communication skills. Here are some tips:
* For price checks or availability, you might want to do a quote on Mrshop
(see bot section below) or on arpa3.net/ao/ first.
* To do a price check based on the GMS (Global Market Search) data from AI
player shops, you can check out http://pricewatch.aomarket.com/
* Become familiar with the usual trading spots, like the OA gridpoint or the
Omni-Trade gridpoint.
* Become familiar with the most popular items and prices for those items.
* Remember that prices vary between Dimensions, so a price check for an RK1
item may be different than an RK2 item.
* Be polite and reasonable. If the other party is rude, then you do not have
to trade with them.
Price Guide
===========
Note that prices are subject to market supply and demand, and the whim of the
individual seller. When possible, I will try to list what I feel is the fair
market value of an item, but most of these items will fall within a range.
For the purposes of this price guide:
* 1k = 1,000 credits
* 1m = 1,000,000 credits
All QLs
-------
* Notum Chips, Notum Fragments, and Enriched Notum Nuggets sell on open market
for 1-2k per QL, with higher QLs worth more credits. A QL 200 notum can cost
500k to 1m, depending on the buyer.
* Original Electronicum pistols can be bought from QL 1 to 10 in the Backyards,
and therefore aren't sellable on the open market (you can try, of course).
Above that QL, they generally sell for about 2k to 5k per QL, with QLs 10 to
50 being much cheaper (due to being sold at Jobe).
* Uncommon Boss loot weapons tend to sell for about 5k to 20k per QL. Examples
of these weapons: the Division 9 Plasmaprojector, Yatamutchy X-3 Counter-
Sniper rifle, SOL K-91 Monster, Bronto Anesthetic Pistol.
* Popular rollable weapons tend to sell for about 2k to 10k per QL, depending
on the weapon. Often, you are paid a flat "finder's fee". Examples include
the FDA Caterwaul rifle (1m for QL 200), BBI Faithful pistol.
* Carbonum Armor as a full set sells for about 10k per QL, up to about QL 90.
Above that QL, 10k per QL won't even pay for the plates, so it's a bit more
expensive (although probably not more than 30k per QL for a full set). Sided
versions sell for about 1m more to the appropriate side (i.e. Omni Carb set
at QL 50 would sell at about 1.5m on the open market).
* Omni Steel-Ribbed/Apocalypse armor sells for about 20k to 50k per QL, varying
according to market demand. Higher QLs tend to sell for less per QL, but
more credits overall. A QL 200 set would sell for about 6 to 8m.
* CAS Symbiotic Armor sells for about 50k to 100k per QL, with higher prices at
lower QLs (for lowbie twinks, mostly). Below QL 100, expect to pay close to
the 100k per QL price for a full set. A QL 200 set, however, goes for 10m.
* Buffing boss loot armor (Nova Dillon, Dillon, Kirch Kevlar, Sekutek Chilled)
all tend to sell for about 200k to 500k per piece.
* Boss loot nano crystals vary wildly in price. Popular IDs/Crystals include
Skill of the Highlander, Nullity Sphere I and II, Fixer Long HoTs, and some
Soldier buffs. Check Kimi's site for details:
^ http://www.arpa3.net/ao/
* Treatment Library - Tradeskilled. Materials are shop-buyable up to QL 125
which makes a QL 129 Treatment Library. Worth a "tradeskiller fee" of about
50 to 500k depending on the QL, plus cost of the materials. Above QL 125, the
price goes up to around 10k per QL.
* Controller Recompiler Unit - These drop from mission bosses and are used for
alien raids (part of the AI expansion). They have a fairly stable price of
70 to 80k per QL.
* (Excellent) IQ Rings - These are rare drops (from any enemy that can drop a
ring, as well as mission chest loot) that add a 1% to 7% bonus to XP gain.
Despite their flavor text, they can be removed/equipped freely at will. While
all of the QLs are useful, generally these rings become valuable at 4% and
higher, with 4% going for 1m, 5% going for 2m, 6% going for 4m, and 7% going
for 8 to 10m. These prices highly vary due to the rarity of the item.
QL 1-49
-------
* Second-Hand Old English Trading Company pistols - As low as QL 1, with lower
QLs being more valuable. Commonly sold in Basic stores and rollable. 50k to
100k per pair. I generally sell them for 50k per pair, at QL 1.
* Concrete Cushions - Rollable. The QL 10 is the most favored. Sells for 200k
to 500k per pair. I generally sell them for 300k per pair, at QL 10.
* Windchaser M06 Quartz - AKA Treatment Rifle. These rifles come in QLs 22 to
25, with 22 being more valuable. Price range of 100-500k, with higher prices
for the QL 22 version. I generally sell for 250k. Rollable and Shop-buyable.
* Robot Instruction Disk - These are found in missions as random loot, and each
modify a different type of melee weapon. The Thrusting weapons version has
the highest demand, so the price fluctuates and inflates regularly.
** Improve Crushing Weapons - QL 10, 500k to 2m, 1m average
** Improve Thrusting Weapons - QL 20, 2m to 10m, 5m average
** Improve Slashing Weapons - QL 30, 1m to 5m, 3m average
* Salesman's Chip - 50 to 500k, 200k average. Drops as random mission loot.
* Tsakachumi Counter-Sniper rifles - AKA Agility Rifle. QL40 is the most
wanted QL (+20 bonus), but QL1 is also in some demand. Price range of 200k
to 500k for the QL40 (300k average), and 50k to 100k for QL1 (50k average).
Rollable and Shop-buyable.
* Galahad Beyer pistols - AKA Comp Lit pistols. Generally sold as a pair, from
400k to 1m a pair. I generally sell for 500k a pair. Comes in QLs 44+, with
QL 44 being the highest value (lowest requirements). Rollable and Shop
buyable in Basic and Advanced stores.
* Sealed Inner Sanctum Passes - 50k to 1m, 100k fair market value.
* Purifying Rod - 50k to 500k, 100k fair market value. PvPers love these.
* Rare Boss loot class-specific weapons tend to sell well. These drop at QLs
40 to 50, and are specific for a particular class. The front-runners in this
category are the Pump Trainee/Master (20-30m), Barret AM Sniper (2-4m),
Icebreaker (2-8m), SOL XI/XII Medical Laser (2-4m), Light Miasma Beamer (1m,
with the QL50 version selling for about 4m and higher). Be warned that not
all of these weapons are in high demand (for example, the Schuyler Pup).
QL 50-99
---------
* Soft Pepper Pistol - While it comes in various QLs as mission loot (a Sealed
Weapon Receptacle), the QL 51 is the one that most people shoot for. 2-4m on
open market. Note that the highest QL is 194, for some odd reason.
* O.E.T. Co. Pelastio pistols - Starts at QL 70. Not very popular, for some
reason, compared to its bigger and littler brothers. 400 to 800k for a pair.
Rollable and Shop-buyable in Superior shops.
* Grid Armor Mark I drops in this QL bracket. It always appears as an ID, and
goes for 10m to 15m on the open market according to demand.
* Nullity Sphere also drops in this QL bracket. It sells for 10-30m, with 20m
being the fair market price.
* PPPE (Shape Soft Armor) and PPPE (Shape Hard Armor) are both boss loot only
at exactly QL 60. The Shape Soft Armor version goes for 40-80m, with average
fair market value at 60m, while the Shape Hard Armor version goes for 30-50m,
average fair market value at 40m.
* Omnifier/Clanalizer - Sells for 50k to 200k to the appropriate side. Sells
for much less to the opposite side. Make a Neutral alt and be sure to sell
them to the appropriate side, or trade them one for one. 100k is the fair
market value, and this has been stable for a long time. Only sell for 50k if
you are desperate, and only buy for 50k if you want to wait for a long time.
* Metallic Mantis armor starts at this QL and goes up to around QL 130. It
generally goes for about 500k to 1m per piece.
* Biomech Cloak/Helmet - 100k to 500k.
* Stalker Helmet - 300 to 750k, 500k average.
QL 100-149
----------
* Nanocrystals above QL 125 are all not available in stores. This means that
you can only loot them, blitz them, or purchase them on open market. If a
Nanocrystal only appears as boss loot it can be worth 1m or higher. Most of
the other rollable crystals are worth 200k to 800k (a blitz hiring fee). Most
people will pay more for a full set (all 6 Infuses, all 6 Mocham's, etc.).
* Rare boss loot weapons such as Gravity and Corpse Cutters go for 2m to 10m on
the open market. These weapons drop at QLs 140 to 150, and tend to be class
specific (although not always).
* Small Titan Message Container - Low demand, but makes the Miyashiro Coffee
Maker. 200k to 1m, with average fair market value of 500k. QL 100 only.
* O.E.T. Co. Jess pistols - Starts at QL 100. These are low in demand, but
sell for 500k to 2m each and are commonly sold as a pair. I generally sell
for 2m a pair. Rollable and Shop-buyable in Superior shops.
* Crypt of Home weapons that drop from the Cenobite Shadows sell for millions
of credits on the open market. Prices vary according to demand, but in
general, the lower QL versions are worth more (up to 25m for QL 100), and the
higher QL versions are worth less (1m to 2m). These weapons include:
** (Blinded) Blackbird
** (Crispy) Chiroptera
** (Hungry) Howlet - Note: Low demand for this weapon, for some reason.
** (Pained) Panther
* Various Crypt of Home loot sells for about 250k to 1m. Here are some prices:
** Hood of Wicked Inspiration (250k to 1m, average 500k)
** Pit Demon Heart/Indigo Carmine (500k to 2m, average 1m)
** Necromancer Cloak (200k to 1m, average 300k)
** Cloak of the Revoked (100k to 500k, average 300k)
** Crawler Armor full set (1m to 4m, average 2m)
** Proliferation Units (500k to 1.5m, average 1m)
** Bracer of Recondite Flames (250k to 1m, average 500k)
** Bundle of Twisting Nerves (100k to 500k, average 250k)
** Collar Casero De La Cripta (500k to 2m, average 750k)
** Spirit Tech Circlet of Cerubin (1m to 3m, average 2m)
** Gamboling Masters Wear (3m to 6m, average 5m)
** Human Skin Hood (200k to 1m, average 500k)
** Kizzermole Gumboil (? varies according to demand, PvP item)
* Grid Armor Mark IV goes for about 90m to 140m, with an average price of 100m.
* Albrecht Tank Armor drops from Boss loot, and starts at around QL 125. Price
range of 500k to 2m, with higher prices for lower QLs.
* Sharpshooter's Chip - Drops from Agent mobs at QL 100+. 10-40m, 20m average.
QL 150+
-------
* Bags of Silver Ingots - Used in making Arul Saba bracelets. Silver Ingots
start becoming valuable for tradeskilling at around QL 150. I generally sell
them for 3m a bag, which is considered cheap by some folks. Expect between 2
to 5m per bag, depending on the buyer.
* 64 NCU Memory - Rollable. Since NCU can only be purchased up to QL 125, any
NCU memory above 125 is valuable. QL 200 memory (64 NCU Memory chip) goes for
800k to 2m on the open market, with 1.5m being the fair market value.
* Belt Component Platform 6-x - AKA 6-slot belt. 500k to 2m, with higher
prices for lower QL. Lowest QL is 160.
* Gold Ingots - At QL 190+, Gold is used for making Virral Triumverate Eggs.
Prices vary between 200k to 1m per ingot. I generally expect 250 to 300k.
* Soul Fragments at QL 190+ are used in making Virral Triumverate Eggs and sell
for about 750k to 2m, with 1m being the fair market value.
* Robot Junk at QL 190+ are used in making Virral Triumverate Eggs and Arul
Saba bracelets and sell for about 500k to 1m. Prices fluctuate daily on this,
depending on demand.
* Implant Disassembly Clinic - At QL 180+, 2 to 10m, with 4m average.
* Mantis Eggs are "harvested" from the Smuggler's Den (from Mantid Breeders and
the Mantis Queen) and are worth between 2m to 5m each, with 3m being the
average fair market value.
* Cold Stones at QL 144+ are used in making a Notucomm Mesh, which is used in
making the Yalmaha Stiletto and Notucomm Mesh Trenchcoat. 300-750k, with
500k being the fair market value.
================================
= Class Specific Tips (aong10) =
================================
This section will focus on "mini guides" for each class to help you seek some
sort of direction for your chosen class in particular. It won't go into great
detail, but it might set you on the right path.
Adventurer
----------
= General Play Tips =
* While you are not the best healer, your healing skills are quite good. Be
sure to supplement the healing of the party doc, or even substitute as the
party healer if needed.
* The "Lick Wounds" line of self-heals is an excellent and instantaneous option
for Adventurers. Probably the best reason to use the Grinning Hunter line.
* At late TL4/early TL5, you get access to Calia's Form: Parrot. This nano
allows you to fly, just like a Yalm or Quantum Wings!
* The Wolf Form has a unique buffing line of nano programs that require both
the caster and target to be in Wolf Form. These greatly buff perception, and
are sought after by folks wishing to use a higher level Targeting Scope.
= Suggested Abilities =
Ranged and Melee Adventurers have different ability spreads, due to their skill
distribution.
Melee Adventurer
----------------
Strength = Maxed
Agility = 75-100%
Stamina = Maxed
Intelligence = 50-100%
Sense = 25-75%
Psychic = 25-50%
Ranged Adventurer
-----------------
Strength = 25-50%
Agility = Maxed
Stamina = 50-100%
Intelligence = 50-100%
Sense = Maxed
Psychic = 25-50%
= Suggested Weapon Progression =
My view on the whole "1HE vs. Pistol" debate comes down to IP spending and
level/title caps. It is much easier to buff into a higher level pistol than
it is to buff into 1HE weapons, due to the lack of good melee special outside
buffs. Thus, a Pistol adventurer will spend less IP (only on Pistol, Fling,
and Multi-Ranged) at early levels and equip higher level weapons. However, at
later levels when IP is more plentiful, 1HE catches up and overtakes Pistols in
damage, especially with the high-level end-game weapons.
Thus, Pistol users probably will have an easier time early on (up to TL4),
whereas 1HE users probably will be the better choice at higher levels. Both
paths are viable, of course, so don't think that you have to start with pistols
and switch to 1HE later. Pick one and stick with it.
- 1HE -
Max out 1HE, Multi-Melee. Keep Fast Attack, Brawl, and Sneak Attack high.
* TL 1: Paired Reet Spine Swords (Upgraded Newbie Island weapons)
* TL 2: Kinetic Axes. Can be bought at QL 9-10 from the Second-Hand
Peddler in the Holoworld of the Backyards (Highrises for Omnis). Can be
rolled on mission terminals up to QL 25.
* TL 2-3: Phase Blades, from ToTW.
* TL 2+: SOL Fire Executioners. Rollable, boss loot.
* TL 4+: Chiropteras, from Crypt of Home. Crispy Chiroptera is top of the line.
* TL 5+: Frost Shard, from IS. Weakest of the three 1HE weapons from IS
* TL 5+: Icebound Heart, from IS
* TL 5+: Gelid Blade of Inobak, from IS. Strongest of the three 1HE weapons.
* TL 5+: (Enhanced) Mantis Scissors, from Smuggler's Den
Other options include Meibatsu Daitos from the Tsunayoshi Smith
- Pistol -
Max out Pistol, Fling Shot, and Multi Ranged. Increase Burst to use
CDRs.
* TL 1: Paired Electrical Surge Pistols (upgraded Solar-Powered Pistols)
* TL 2: Buy a pair of QL 10 Original Electronicums from the Second-Hand Peddler
in the Backyard Holo-Worlds (Highrises for Omnis). Higher QL Original
Electronicums drop as boss loot and can be purchased in Jobe by subscribers.
* TL 2-3: Joint Clans Scout Pistols, from Clan/Neutral weapon terminals and
Adventurer enemies.
* TL 2-3: SOL K-91 Monsters, boss loot. Can be difficult to obtain.
* TL 2+: BBI Faithfuls, from the Trader Shop, best if used after about level 80
due to slower speed, but viable if you don't have JCSP or SOL K-91.
* TL 2+: MTI Grey, Boss loot. Best if used after about level 80,
very similar to BBI Faithfuls.
* TL 3+: Customized IMI Desert Reet 1000, dropped from Lab Director. Good
off-hand pistol throughout your career.
* TL 5+: Parasitic Hecataleech, from IS
* TL 5+: Right Hand of Entropy, from IS
* TL 5+: Prelude to Chaos, from IS
* TL 5+: Reign/Pain of Patricia, from Mercenaries raid
Alternative pistols - The Original Electronicum, Bronto Anesthetic Pistol
= Suggested Nanoskills =
* Max out: BM and MM for Heals
* High: PM and SI for Buffs and for Polymorphs
* Moderate to High: MC for Damage shields and Armor buffs.
* Minimal: TS, just enough to use a decent Nano Recharger.
Because you have great self-heals, you may be able to scrape by with a minimum
amount of Time and Space and First Aid, but keep in mind that you will want to
keep your nano pool flowing to fuel your heals.
= Class-only equipment =
* Backpack of Survival - This backpack comes in QLs of about 50 to 150, and
drops off of Adventurer enemies.
* Globetrotter's Helmet - Another item that drops off of Adventurer enemies
from QL 50 to 150.
* Omni-Scout Armor - Drops from Dynas of all QLs. The Forest version is geared
more toward Melee, while the Desert is geared toward Ranged. The gloves in
particular grant a good Multi-(Melee/Ranged) bonus. Omni only.
* Bracer of Recondite Flames - From Crypt of Home. Overrides your damage to Fire
AC, which can be very useful when fighting resistant enemies. It also adds a
whopping +23 Fire damage. One of the best Unique items for an Advy.
Agent
-----
= General Play Tips =
* Hide, then Aimed Shot. Finish off enemy. Wash, rinse, repeat.
* When playing in a team, be aware that you will probably gain aggro faster
than other classes because of Aimed Shot, putting you at risk. Use the
Repressor and concealment to lose aggro, and try to use your Aimed Shots to
finish off targets rather than to start off the fight. A powerful Aimed Shot
at the beginning of the fight might mean you'll spend the rest of the fight
running away instead of contributing.
* Your two ability buffs, Enhanced Senses and Feline Grace, are castable at an
early level and are generally sought after on the open market as a service.
You can make quite a bit of money selling this service. 100 to 200k is a
standard tip, but tips of 500k to 1m aren't unheard of.
* Agents work best when they borrow nanos from other classes via False
Profession. For example:
** False Profession Metaphysicist is a great choice for switching classes, as
you get access to a Heal Pet, Attack Pet, and Nanobuffs (off-setting the
False Profession penalty).
** False Profession Trader is another great choice, as you get access to
drains, wrangles, and Comp Lit buffs.
* If you want to end False Profession early, save at an insurance terminal and
/terminate. While you will have to rezz, the FP nano buff is removed.
* While Agents cannot access the Trader Shop, they can access the Fixer Shop
with False Profession Fixer.
* An HUD3 scope can greatly increase your ability to Aimed Shot and equip
higher rifles. Targeting Scope - Vision Enhancers provide massive bonuses
to Aimed Shot, while the Enhanced Target Acquisition scope from TIM in
Foreman's increases your Ranged Init, Rifle, and Aimed Shot.
= Suggested Abilities =
Strength = 0-25%
Agility = Maxed
Stamina = 25-75%
Intelligence = 75-100%
Sense = Maxed
Psychic = 25-50%
* Agility and Sense are the two abilities that you should max out.
* I would also max out Intelligence, as it trickles down to your nano skills.
* I would keep Stamina just high enough to raise your Body Dev and to use the
implants that you need.
* Strength, by and large, is worthless for an Agent. Psychic isn't needed much
either, save for equipping gear and having enough Nano Pool to cast the nanos
that you need.
= Suggested Weapon Progression =
Max out Rifle and Aimed Shot. Increase Concealment.
* TL1: Newbie Island Rifle
* TL2: Gripo-Com AKR 1k20, preferably of a high QL (up to QL 50).
* TL3+: Roll for FDA Caterwauls or buy Yatamutchy Counter-Sniper Rifles.
* TL5+: Longshot
= Suggested Nanoskills =
Note: Because of False Profession, your nanoskill choices may be affected by
the kinds of nanos you want to cast from other professions.
* Max out: BM/PM/SI for False Profession and Buffs (PM/SI)
* Moderate to High: MM for Damage boosts (with SI)
= Class-only equipment =
* Kevlar Wool Balaclava helmet - Bought as a canister from the Fixer Shop. This
NoDrop leveling item looks a bit shady, but it levels (requiring some credits
every level) all the way up to QL 200 and is probably the last head slot item
you'll ever need to wear. That is, of course, unless you wear...
* Sharpshooter's Helmet - Combine a Sharpshooter's Chip and a Kevlar Wool
Balaclava helmet to make the Sharpshooter's Helmet, another great leveling
helm, even better than the Balaclava. Sharpshooter's Chips are rare drops
from Agent enemies, and sell for millions of credits on open market.
* Shadowfade Armor - These pieces of armor drop in ToTW and make for a great
suit for many levels. Suitable for Level 40+ Agents.
* Gloomfall Armor - Similar to Shadowfade, except they drop in IS (third floor)
and are much stronger. Suitable for TL5+ Agents.
* Because of the Agent's ability to change classes, Agents can wear many of the
class-specific items from other classes. In order to determine whether or
not you can use an item, look it up at a database like Auno.org or
aomainframe.net. If it has the tag "Visual Profession = Foo" instead of just
"Profession =", you can use it in False Profession. Some of my favorites:
** Cyborg Death Squad Armor - Agi/Sen, good ACs, Fixer only.
** Barter Armor - Good bonuses, but Psychic/Intelligence. Trader only.
** Organic Combat Suit - MA Only. The Red Organic Combat Suit is a favorite.
** Veil of the Revoked - Enfo/Trader only.
** Sacrificial Ensigns of Cerubin - MP/Keeper only. AAO and Fire/Cold dmg.
Bureaucrat
----------
= General Play Tips =
* Crats are a mixed bag, with a little bit of everything, but they are
primarily a nanocasting class.
* You can have up to two pets charmed at the same time, using two different
Charm nanolines. Read the description of the charm for details.
* Your target's Psychic attribute determines whether or not you can charm them.
Debuffs to Psychic can help you charm higher level enemies.
* Support your team by calming adds. If you are being attacked by two enemies,
you can calm one of them so that the team can focus on the other.
* In a team mission, it often is a good idea to charm the pets summoned by the
MPs, Engis, and Crats in the mission. When you kill the summoner, the pet
stays with you as your loyal servant, and when the charm runs out, the pet
deactivates. No fuss, no muss.
= Suggested Abilities =
Strength = 0-25%
Agility = 50-100%
Stamina = 25-75%
Intelligence = Maxed
Sense = 50-100%
Psychic = Maxed
= Suggested Weapon Progression =
My suggestion for a Crat is Pistols. Your main damage will come from your bot
and charmed monsters, however.
- Pistol -
* TL 1: Paired Electrical Surge Pistols (upgraded Solar-Powered Pistols)
* TL 2: Buy a pair of QL 10 Original Electronicums from the Second-Hand Peddler
in the Backyard Holo-Worlds (Highrises for Omnis). Higher QL Original
Electronicums drop as boss loot and can be purchased in Jobe by subscribers.
* TL 3+: Customized IMI Desert Reet 1000, dropped from Lab Director.
* TL 3 to 4+: Dark Pistol (of the Revoked), dropped in Crypt of Home.
= Suggested Nanoskills =
* Max out: PM and SI for calms. BM for your charms.
* High: MC and TS for your bot.
= Class-only equipment =
* Bureaucrat Suits - Rare drop from inside mission chests. Decent bonuses,
and they look pretty snazzy as well.
* Biomare Bureaucrat Suits - Made from Sealed Orders dropped by the Biomare
Lab Director. One suit for Clan and Omni, and a generic suit for anyone,
with some special bonuses not found on regular Bureaucrat Suit.
* Superior Miyoshiro Coffee Maker - Makes "Crat coffee". Tradeskilled from
the Small Titan Message Container, uncommon mission loot.
* Briefcase of Holding - Equippable "weapon" that uses Psychology for its
attack skill. If you use it, you can access your bank anywhere! Restricted
to level 100 and higher, made from a Sealed Order dropped from level 100ish
Bureaucrat enemies.
Doctor
------
= General Play Tips =
* Healing does garner aggro, almost as much as damaging an enemy, so be careful
when using your team heals.
* Keep your nano pool going! Either ask your teammates to stim you with nano
kits during a fight, or sit down in the middle of the fight and use a nano
recharger if you can.
* Your Initiative debuffs play a huge role in preventing damage to the party.
Hit the monsters with the strongest unbreakable Init debuff that you can.
* Superior First Aid (SFA) is castable at around Level 120, and can be a source
of income when cast as a service. Typical tip for SFA is 200 to 500k, with
tips of 1m or higher being fairly uncommon.
= Suggested Abilities =
Strength = 0-25%
Agility = 50-100%
Stamina = Maxed
Intelligence = Maxed
Sense = 50-100%
Psychic = Maxed
* A lot of treatment buffing items require both Stamina and Psychic. Thus, keep
those two maxed out. Psychic trickles down to your ever-needed nano pool.
* Intelligence trickles down to all your nano skills, so max it out.
= Suggested Weapon Progression =
Doctors just aren't that great at weapons. Later on in your career, you'll have
enough IP to overcome your Dark Blue weapon skills, but you should focus on
your healing abilities rather than damage dealing in TLs 1 to 4. During these
low levels, Pistols are probably the best, due to the buffing pistols available
and the relatively minimal IP cost of using a Pistol. Many Doctors utilize an
IP reset or two later to switch to different, more powerful weapons. Shotgun
is another good option, as there are many powerful shotguns that do not require
specials or multi-wielding.
As far as melee choices, the three most popular options are 2HE, Martial Arts,
and 1HE. 2HE has several early choices for damage from ToTW, but peters out in
later levels. The "Styg Doc" is a bit of a cliche. Martial Arts gets expensive
in IP, but does good damage throughout your career. 1HE has the singular
advantage of having implant clusters that don't conflict with many nano skill
and other nano-caster clusters, and there are end-game weapons to be found at
Inner Sanctum.
You can also go weaponless. A lot of docs are "chalice docs", who run around
with a Temporal Chalice from ToTW and focus only on healing.
= Suggested Nanoskills =
* Max out: BM and MM for your main heals.
* High: TS for your HoT. MC for other nanos.
* Note: You will eventually need enough PM/SI to cast SFA. However, aside from
treatment buffs, they aren't used for much else. You won't be able to cast
SFA until level 120ish anyway, so don't worry about it until TL4 comes along.
= Class-only equipment =
* Temporal Chalice - Drops from Nematet in ToTW. Large bonuses to BM/MM and
nano pool. Does not deal much damage, thus useless as a weapon. However,
it's great for when you are in a team and healing is more important than for
you to deal damage.
* Standard Medical Epaulet - Drops from George the Reet in Greater Tir County.
Right Shoulder item that buffs First Aid and Treatment by a small amount.
* Pharmacy and Treatment Library - A variation of the Treatment Library, this
Doctor-only version gives higher bonuses.
Enforcer
--------
= General Play Tips =
* Regardless of which melee weapon you choose, you will do well. While each
option presents its own challenges, all of the melee weapons are viable.
* Early in the game, Enforcers are major damage dealers due to their strong
proficiency with melee weapons. However, later on in the game, their role
changes from damage dealer to tank as other professions "catch up" and start
to deal more damage. Be aware of this role change and adjust your tactics
accordingly.
* Mongo is a strong tactical skill that can bring salvation or death to your
team. Be sure to use Mongo to draw mass Aggro when you need to pull enemies
away from the weaker members, but also be aware that these sort of situations
may also backfire and ruin careful pulls or calmed monsters.
* Remember that you have multiple aggro tools at your disposal. From nanos
like Taunts and Mongo to HUD items like the Library of Foul Language and
Aggression Enhancer.
= Suggested Abilities =
Strength = Maxed
Agility = 75-100%
Stamina = Maxed
Intelligence = 50-100%
Sense = 50-75%
Psychic = 25-50%
= Suggested Weapon Progression =
All melee weapon lines are viable for an Enforcer. Some example progressions
are below.
- 1HB -
* TL 1: Newbie Island bats
* TL 2-3: Howling Skulls from ToTW
* TL 2-4: Schiacciamento clubs from the Tsunayoshi Smith
* TL 3: Skull of Woe and Skull of Lamentation from ToTW
* TL 5+: Skull of Misery and Skull of Despair from IS
* TL 5-6: Blood Mace/Bat from Ian Warr, Mercenaries Raid
- 1HE -
* TL 1: Reet Spine Swords
* TL 2-3: Phase Blades
* TL 2-4: Meibutsu Daitos from the Tsunayoshi Smith
* TL 4+: Chiropteras
* TL 5+: Frost Shard, from IS. Weakest of the three 1HE weapons from IS
* TL 5+: Icebound Heart, from IS
* TL 5+: Gelid Blade of Inobak, from IS. Strongest of the three 1HE weapons.
* TL 5+: (Enhanced) Mantis Scissors, from Smuggler's Den
- 2HE -
* TL 1: Keeper Sword
* TL 2: Longmoon, rollable, shop buyable
* TL 2: Guard of the Gentleman, bought in Jobe by an SL subscriber
* TL 2: Energy Scythe from ToTW
* TL 3: Frost Scythe of the Legionnaire from ToTW
* TL 3: Stygian Desolator from ToTW
* TL 4+: Panther from Crypt of Home
- 2HB -
* TL 1: Newbie Island weapon
* TL 2: Icebreaker, boss loot
* TL 2: Support Beam of Intolerance from Subway
* TL 2+: Black Staff from the Tsunayoshi Smith
* TL 4: Gravity, boss loot
* TL 4+: Howlet from Crypt of Home
- Piercing -
* TL 1: Newbie Island weapon
* TL 1-6: Improved Tango Dirks. All the way! Bought from Trader shop, rollable.
* TL 1-6: Newland Fish Knives, Boss loot.
* TL 6: Slayerdroid Crystal Claw.
= Suggested Nanoskills =
* High: MC and BM for your Essence Buffs.
* Medium: PM for Mongo. PM/SI for weapon buffs.
= Class-only equipment =
* Library of Foul Language - Drops from Cyborgs of all kinds. A useful taunt and
aggro tool.
* Veil of the Revoked - Also shared with Traders. One of the best backslot
items in the game. It is invisible, and gives great ACs. The Comp Lit/Intel
requirement, though, is prohibitive.
Engineer
--------
= General Play Tips =
* Your pet is your lifeline. You won't do damage without your pet.
* Most of your protective and offensive nanos can be cast on your pet.
* Be sure to acquire at least one nano in the "Energize Shell" line. Pets can
easily be rooted/snared, and if you don't have this nanoline, you will be
forced to wait or recast the pet.
* Engineers are often invaluable to teams due to their Beacon Warp nano. This
allows them warp fallen teammates back to the team's location.
* Beacon Warp also is generally used as a service, typically to far-off
locations or locations where normal entry isn't possible (i.e. Crypt of Home).
* Trimmers allow you to adjust your pet's combat performance on the fly. Simply
target your pet and right-click the trimmer.
= Suggested Abilities =
Strength = 0-25%
Agility = 50-100%
Stamina = 50-75%
Intelligence = Maxed
Sense = 50-100%
Psychic = Maxed
= Suggested Weapon Progression =
Engineers are poor in nearly all weapon skills. They are marginally better at
pistols and grenades and have the best buff in the game for those two weapon
skills. Thus, it is probably best to stick with one of those two.
= Suggested Nanoskills =
* Max out: MC and TS. Your bots depend on these skills, so it pays to have
these nanoskills as high as possible.
* Keep High: MM, for damage shields (with MC) and Beacon Warp.
= Class-only equipment =
* Construction Sleeves - Buffs tradeskills, found in the Subway.
* Repairman's Hat - Made from a Salesman's Hat (from Zoftig Blimp in Hope) and
Super-stabilized Nanobots (need 2 Notum Chips/Fragments and nanobots from the
trade section).
* TIM Scope - T.I.M. in Foreman's drops a special scope just for Engis.
Fixer
-----
= General Play Tips =
* You can easily keep your Evades high as a Fixer.
* Fixers have access to a special shop in Borealis. The Fixer Shop has a
variety of items that aren't found anywhere else.
* To Grid Armor or not to Grid Armor: My view is that you should only plan on
making a Grid Armor fixer if you already have Grid Armor crystals. Some folks
pump useless IP into MC and vaguely plan to "go with Grid Armor someday", but
using Grid Armor means changing your focus drastically from a fixer that does
not have (and cannot depend on) the defense bonus from Grid Armor. In short,
if you happen to be lucky or rich and get some Grid Armor nanocrystals, roll
up a new Fixer instead of trying to retrofit Grid Armor onto an existing one.
Also, don't hold your breath hoping to get Grid Armor on your Fixer. The
exception is Grid Armor Mark IV, which is only castable late in the game
anyway when you have plenty of IP to throw around.
* Fixers excel at Breaking and Entry. This will be the main tradeskill task
that people will hire you for. The other task is purchasing items from the
Fixer shop.
* For some odd reason, Fixers have a buff to Sneak Attack called Backpain.
* Fixers are often hired for the Perception buff combination of Blood Makes
Noise and Karma Harvest (or one of the other B+E/Perception buffs).
* Fixers are often spammed with requests for "NCU/GSF/HoT". While the tips
from this service can give you some incidental cash, it can be annoying at
times to constantly buff people with NCU, runbuffs, and Heals.
* Fixers have access to a unique version of the grid called the "Fixer Grid" or
"F-grid" for short. To gain access to the self-only version, you have to
complete a long and involved quest. I recommend completing this quest at
around level 40 to 80, as the degree of mobility that you get from this
ability is invaluable. Quest guide:
^ http://www.ao-universe.com/main.php?site=knowledge&link=0&id=30
* After level 100, you will also have a chance to gain the team version of the
F-grid, which allows you to give teammates the ability to access the Fixer
Grid. This is highly sought after as a taxi service. It is also much easier
to accomplish than the self-only Fixer Grid, especially if you have at least
one Calmer to help you. Quest Guide:
^ http://www.ao-universe.com/main.php?site=knowledge&link=0&id=31
* You have two lines of Heal Over Time (HoT) nanos, a short HoT and a Long HoT.
The Long HoT lasts for 20 minutes, is level-locked to cast (but not to
receive), and heals less frequently than the short HoT. The short HoT heals
at a faster rate, but lasts for a couple of minutes, and casts faster. Use
the Long HoT for general healing, and the Short HoT when you are taking a lot
of damage, or you anticipate taking more damage than usual in an encounter.
= Suggested Abilities =
Strength = 25-50%
Agility = Maxed
Stamina = 50-75%
Intelligence = 75-100%
Sense = Maxed
Psychic = 25-50%
= Suggested Weapon Progression =
SMGs, SMGs, SMGs. Fixers are specialists in SMGs, and have the buffs to
support it. Max out SMG and Burst. You will have to make a decision as to
whether or not you want to dual-wield early or later in your career. I highly
suggest doing it later, as there are several good weapons that are single wield
only anyway. It will save you IP until you reach TL4 and IP is much easier
to spend.
* TL1: Dual Silent Spitters. (upgraded Newbie Island SMGs)
* TL2: MTI Russian Good Days (paired) or OT Kerans Automatic Grinner.
* TL3: Gamma Ejectors as soon as possible, otherwise OT Kerans Automatic
Grinner/Mausser Chemical Streamer (single) or paired MTI Russian Good Days.
* TL4+: Blackbirds (paired as soon as possible)
* Endgame: Paired Blinded Blackbirds
If you cannot get a Blackbird, the Gamma Ejector will last you for a while.
Other viable (but less damaging) options include Mausser Chemical Streamers,
OT Kerans Automatic Grinners, Paired MTI Russian Good Days, Summer SMP Burst,
Sol Chironis Systems, Manex Catastrophe.
= Suggested Nanoskills =
Nanoskills are difficult to raise due to being dark-blue, and unfortunately,
almost all the nanoskills are used for a fixer (especially if you use Grid
Armor). An NCU Hacker Interface goes a long way to help you out with these.
* High - MM and SI, for your HoTs and Run-speed buffs
* Moderate - BM, TS, and PM, for your HoTs and SMG buffs.
* Unless you have Grid Armor, keep MC low.
= Class-only equipment =
* NCU Hacker Interface - HUD2 item made from a lockpick and a Nanoprogramming
Interface. Make this item as soon as possible, as it is a Leveling item that
adds a huge bonus to all your nanoskills.
* Bundles of Twisting Nerves - These NCU add +20 NCU and some small bonuses to
various skills, including Nanoskills. Add 5 of them to your NCU for a huge
collective bonus. From Crypt of Home, Blorrgs.
* Cyborg Death Squad Armor - Drops from cyborgs. Lots of bonuses, probably
some of the best protection for Fixers.
* Padded Love Armor - Stamina only armor, adds lots of bonuses. Boss loot.
= Fixer Shop =
^ http://www.ao-universe.com/main.php?site=knowledge&link=0&id=107
Found in 440x400 in Borealis, in a piece of broken junk. Requires 180 B+E.
Martial Artist
--------------
= General Play Tips =
* Don't forget your heals. Your heals (and Tree of Enlightenment) can help you
and your team survive.
* Your damage buff line not only raises your fist damage, but also changes the
"element" that your fists do. Take advantage of this and use the various
damage buffing armor/implants out there.
* Your damage is directly related to your Martial Arts skill. It is imperative
to raise this as high as possible.
* You are a "crit-based" class. Your damage will be greatly augmented by your
critical hits.
= Suggested Abilities =
Strength = 50-100%
Agility = Maxed
Stamina = 50-100%
Intelligence = 50-100%
Sense = Maxed
Psychic = 25-50%
= Suggested Weapon Progression =
It is suggested that you use only your Hands and Martial Arts skill when you
play a martial artist. While there are a few good weapons, it takes a large
sacrifice of IP to deviate from unarmed combat. Remember that you can use
Brawl and Dimach as well when you are unarmed.
= Suggested Nanoskills =
* Max Out: BM and SI for your Heals.
* Moderate to High: PM/TS/SI for your Critical buffs.
= Class-only equipment =
* Tree of Enlightenment - Don't leave ToTW without this attack! Made from the
various Tree of Enlightenment tattered book fragments throughout ToTW, this
attack can be redeemed from the Master living in a niche to the west of ToTW
near the player cities. It deals damage, heals your party for a modest
amount, and uses Dimach instead of Martial Arts for its locked skill.
* Gamboling Masters Wear - The "pink dress" provides superior ACs and important
bonuses for combat. The only downsides are the price (3-6m on the open
market) and, well, the color. Drops from Cerubin in CoH.
Meta-Physicist
--------------
= General Play Tips =
* Get used to juggling the various /pet commands. You will have up to three
pets, and it can get hectic to control them all in battle. I typically make
various macros as follows:
/macro Att /pet attack
/macro Heal /pet heal
etc.
* While the Attack and Heal pets are available in stores, the Mezz pet is not.
You have to acquire these by rolling them on missions.
* PvP tip: A lot of Midlevel PvP players rely on Composite Infuses to buff
their nanoskills. However, this is removed easily by casting any of the
Mocham's Gift nanos, a "friendly" buff!
* MPs have the unique gift of flight, via Quantum Wings. You will be able to
skip out on purchasing a Yalm. Generally castable at around 75-90. Note that
Quantum Wings has a playshift requirement, which means that if you can only
cast it while fully buffed, then you will lose it when you change zones. All
you have to do is recast it after you zone, in this situation.
* All of the nanobuffs are highly sought after as a service, especially the
various Mocham's Gift buffs. Typical tip is about 100-300k per buff, with
tips of 1m for two Mocham's being fairly common.
* You can use the Nanobuffs to buff yourself to higher nanoskill levels. This
allows you to cast higher pets and nukes. However, this also means that MPs,
as a whole, are dependent on having a high amount of NCU. You will need as
much NCU as you can get. Wear a 6 slot belt with high QL NCU chips as soon
as possible, and pursue NCU bonuses from other sources like Carbonum Armor,
ToTW rings, Ring of Nucleus Basalis, and the Collar Casero De La Cripta.
* Nano Shutdown is a nanoprogram that debuffs an enemy's nano skills by -2000!
This is a great way to open a combat, as it prevents the enemy from using
nanoprograms on you and your team. Note that this is the only way to stop a
lot of the various nanoprogram "nukes" used by Unique bosses.
= Suggested Abilities =
Strength = 0-25%
Agility = 50-100%
Stamina = 50-75%
Intelligence = Maxed
Sense = 50-100%
Psychic = Maxed
= Suggested Weapon Progression =
MPs are poor with all weapons. It is a challenge to choose a weapon for the
MP, as all weapons are equally (non)viable. 2HE can probably save you the most
IP, due to only needing two skills to wield most of the good 2HE weapons from
ToTW, but 1HB supports a unique line of items that the MP can create out of
thin air (and nano points). Pistols are also great, due to the various buffing
pistols available. Finally, one of the signature weapons of the MP class is
Bow, which tends to be slow but powerful.
My suggestion for anyone who wants to do active combat is to go with 2-Handed
Edged, and acquire the weapons from ToTW (Energy Scythe, Frost Scythe of the
Legionnaire, and Stygian Desolator). These all only require some amount of
2-Handed Edged and Fast Attack, and while you will probably want to raise Melee
Init as well, they are cheaper to equip than equivalent weapons in other
classes. Later on, you get access to the Panther, which is more expensive in
IP but is also one of the best "end-game" weapons available to fr00bs.
My suggestion for anyone who wants to be a bit more passive is either 1HB (and
equip a Pillow with Important Stripes for nano-skill buffs, with ToTW 1HB
weapons for damage if needed) or Pistol (which has many many buffing weapons
and can deal decent damage as well).
In all cases, in the mid-range of your career, you will probably be relying on
your pets for the majority of your damage.
= Suggested Nanoskills =
MPs will eventually want all Nanoskills raised to the Max. However, since IP
is limited, one should probably focus on getting enough MC, BM, and TS early on
to cast your pets.
PM/SI are very important for your nano-skill buffs. Your progress will be
limited mostly by the nano-skill buffs that you can cast and carry in your NCU.
= Class-only equipment =
* Sacrificial Ensigns of Cerubin - Drops in CoH. Best used if you have the
Skulls from ToTW, but great if you use any Fire/Cold damage weapons.
* Yearning armor - Drops from Meta-Physicist enemies and Medusas. Has Great
bonuses, especially for Bow users.
Nano-Technician
---------------
= General Play Tips =
* One of the best ways to increase your Nano Init by a large amount is using a
Nano Formula Recompiler. This only fits in Deck Slot 6, so you will need a
6 slot belt before you can use it.
* Nano-Techs are one of the Calming classes, and they are fairly good at it.
When you aren't nuking, be sure to calm the adds. You can also blitz missions
this way, using Calms.
* Zap all of your teammates with the Humidity Extractor buff. It helps the team
out immensely.
= Suggested Abilities =
Strength = 0-25%
Agility = 50-100%
Stamina = 50-75%
Intelligence = Maxed
Sense = 50-100%
Psychic = Maxed
= Suggested Weapon Progression =
NTs are poor weapon users, relying mostly on their nukes. I personally would
recommend pistols, as not only are there many buffing options for pistols
(especially for MC), but it is the cheapest for the NT in terms of IP. Specific
pistols to look for would be any pistol that adds to your Nanoskills, like a
Soft Pepper Pistol, or any pistol that adds Intelligence (O.E.T line of pistol).
= Suggested Nanoskills =
NTs have the best Nanoskill multiplier out of all the classes, and thus can
easily raise all of them.
* Max out: MC. This is your bread and butter nanoskill, and it powers all of
your Nukes.
* High: MM & TS. These skills power your Humidity Extractor line of nanos.
= Class-only equipment =
* Notum Splice - From ToTW. Note that any class can equip this fine Left Wrist
item, but only NTs can use its special ability, which gives you a huge
recharge in nano points over time. This could be a lifesaver, so keep it
ready in your quickbar.
* Hood of Wicked Inspiration - Crypt of Home drop, from Pit Demon. As soon as
you are able to wear it, it will probably become your only head slot armor
for a very long time. Provides bonuses to nanoskills, nukes, and nano cost.
* Notum Saturated Metaplast armor - Extremely rare, made as a tradeskill item
from Notum Saturated Metaplast plates dropped from Mole Robots or the Hollow
Island raid. You'll probably never see more than one or two pieces of this.
If you are bored and want to burn a few hours, you can kill the Mole Robots
(with whimsical names such as Digglet, Scooper) at Pleasant Meadows south of
the 20k Whompah, or to the Omni Mines east of Clon**** gridpoint (across the
bridge). These plates are typically QL 40-60. The plates from Hollow Island
drop as boss-specific loot from QL 130-200. This means that you won't be
able to find pieces from QL 1-40 and 60-130.
Soldier
-------
= General Play Tips =
* Cast your Deflection Shield buff on your team. It will save your healer some
Nano and anxiety.
* Be sure to use your Taunts to draw aggro. You are one of the best tanking
classes, and in some ways you are superior to Enforcers.
* Use your Total Mirror Shield! (TMS) While it overwrites your deflection shield
buff, it can save you from being killed.
* Riot Control and Offensive Steamroller are two buffs that are uncommonly
sought after as a service from Soldiers. A tip of 100-500k is typical.
= Suggested Abilities =
Strength = 50-100%
Agility = Maxed
Stamina = 75-100%
Intelligence = 50-100%
Sense = 75-100%
Psychic = 25-50%
= Suggested Weapon Progression =
Most ranged weapons are suitable for soldiers. The most popular choice tends
to be a hybrid of Ranged Energy and Assault Rifle, but a soldier can become
proficient in SMGs, Pistols, Rifles, Assault Rifles, Shotguns, and Ranged
Energy. Pick the weapon that appeals the most to you and stick with it.
= Suggested Nanoskills =
= Class-only equipment =
* Gunner's Cap - Requires Agi/Sense, drops from Soldier enemies. Great ACs and
small bonuses to Ranged specials.
* Omni-Pol Trooper Armor - Boss loot. Great ACs, but that's about it.
* Charred Abaddon Chassis - IS Drop. Probably the only decent Battle Suit, for
TL5 high level soldiers.
Trader
------
= General Play Tips =
* There are two drain nanolines, and they can be used in tandem. This allows
you to "ladder" drains such that you can keep casting higher and higher
Drains, giving you better attack ratings and nanoskills. Start out with a
Deprive/Divest line, as these are easier to "land" on a target than the
Ransack/Plunder line.
* You have calms. Use them. Calms in a team setting can mean the difference
between a total party kill and a successful encounter. Calms allow you to
break a fight while soloing, thus giving you a chance to recharge halfway
through the fight. Attack, calm, then sit and heal/recharge, then stand
and attack again.
* You can hit a monster with drains, AC drains, and nanodrains without breaking
a calm! The monster will still aggro you, but they won't attack. Use this
technique to buff yourself up before starting combat. You can also re-calm
the monster after buffing so you can recharge your nano/health.
* The charm nanoline is worthless, by and large, since it paralyzes you. If you
do manage to use a charm, though, it allows you to use the charmed creature
as a "pet". Remember that /pet terminate command will end the charm early.
* Traders get access to the Trader Shop at level 25, which has a variety of
items to sell to other professions.
* It is fairly easy to accidentally hit yourself with a drain, root, calm, or
health plunder, which can be greatly annoying. Be careful of what you are
targeting! If you hit yourself with a Health Haggler line, though, you can
heal yourself for a substantial amount.
= Suggested Abilities =
Strength = 25-75%
Agility = 50-100%
Stamina = 50-75%
Intelligence = Maxed
Sense = 50-100%
Psychic = Maxed
= Suggested Weapon Progression =
Max out Shotgun only (no specials). Decide early on if you are going to dual
wield or single wield.
* TL1: Upgrade your Solar-Powered Shotgun with a Screwdriver for a decent
Trader-only Shotgun.
* TL2+: Single/Dual Secure Arms Home Defenders or Vektor ND Shotguns are
both viable choices through out your career. Another good choice is Uncle
Bazzit's Diplomatic (Trader Only).
* TL4+: Maw of the Abyss. Drops in 2nd Floor IS.
= Suggested Nanoskills =
* Max out: PM and TS. These are the basis of your drains and wrangles.
* High: SI is mportant for buffs (along with TS) and calms (along with PM).
* Moderate to High: BM is Used for trader heals and health draining attacks.
More important at later levels, you can skimp on this at early levels.
* Moderate: MC is more important at later levels for AC buffs.
* Minimal: MM is not used for most Trader nanoprograms, and whatever MM you
need, you can obtain through drains or outside buffs.
= Class-only equipment =
* Advanced Salesman's Hat - Made from a Salesman's Hat (from Zoftig Blimp in
Hope, about 400k) and a Salesman's Chip (drops randomly in missions and from
Trader enemies, 100 to 500k on open market), this is a leveling item up to
QL 75 and provides great head protection.
* Barter Armor - Probably the best Int/Psy based armor in the game. Provides
many bonuses, and great ACs. Crafted from Nano Armor.
* The Extruder - From the Biodome Raid. Makes Extruder Nutrition Bars.
* Veil of the Revoked - Also shared with Enforcers (for some reason). One of the
best backslot items in the game.
= Trader Shop Locations =
- Omni -
* Omni Trade - 230x490 (NW corner, sign says "Fine Things")
* Omni Ent - 845x430, (SE, look for the gigantic Yalm sign)
* Rome Green - 410x340 (midline on East Wall, south of the Jobe Whompah)
* Rome Blue - 540x330 (midline on West Wall, mirror image of Rome Green)
- Neutral -
* Newland City - 290x315
* Borealis - 652x576 (sign says "Hi Tech")
* Harry's - 3040x3030 (Go down the road, it's a shop to your left)
* 20k - 1190x2350
- Clan -
* Tir - 395x545 (NW Corner)
* Old Athens - 370x500
====================================
= Weapons and Armor Guide (aong11) =
====================================
Again, this is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of the armor and weapons
in the game. To look up particular stats on any single item, I suggest doing
a search at one of the web databases or posting a query on the itemsbot bot.
This is simply intended as a brief guide, giving you the tools you need to
select armor that is right for you.
---------
- Armor -
---------
Recommended Reading
===================
^ http://www.dd.org/~tale/ao/armour/armour.html
** A comprehensive look and ranking of various RK armors. Some candidates are
missing (Omni Steel-ribbed ranks as a 9.5, Apocalypse Leather ranks between 9.0
to 9.5), but a fairly good listing. Note that it compares armor value against
QL rather than abilities needed to equip the armor, so the ranking is a bit
inaccurate.
Armor Mechanics
===============
It is generally accepted (although still not proven) that every 10 points of
Armor Class (or AC) that you have against a particular damage type reduces the
maximum damage of the attack by 1 point. However, Armor does not affect the
minimum damage, nor does it affect any +Damage bonuses of the attacker (which
add to both min and max damage). If an enemy is hitting you for the same amount
of damage per hit (except for critical hits), then you have "maxed out" your
armor against that enemy, and no amount of additional armor will help you.
Title Levels 1 and 2
====================
In the early game (Title levels 1 and 2), Armor isn't nearly as essential, much
like evades. Enemies hit for such little damage and with such tight damage
spreads that even modest protection will give you more than enough of an edge.
Combined with the strong backslot armors that provide an overwhelming amount of
protection and the fact that you will progress through TL 1 and 2 very quickly,
it is often a good frugal decision to not purchase any armor at the early title
levels, instead focusing on getting a full set of Omni-Tek or Clan Newcomer's
Armor and a strong backslot armor (usually a Robe from the Temple of the Three
Winds).
Example: Level 10 Armor setup, Omni-Tek
---------------------------------------
* Head - Omni Armed Forces Training Helm
* Body - Omni Newcomers Armor Breastplate
* Arms - Omni Newcomers Armor Sleeves
* Hands - Omni Newcomers Armor Gloves
* Legs - Omni Newcomers Armor Legs
* Feet - Omni Newcomers Armor Boots
* Backslot - Omni Armed Forces Assault Pack or Robe of the Faithful
Of special note, the rings from Temple of the Three Winds also provide a
substantial armor bonus (among other good bonuses), and should not be ignored.
Title Level 3
=============
At this title level, you've probably been through a few missions and the Temple
of the Three Winds. Your backslot would have changed to either an Exarch Robe
or a Guardian Tank Armor. You may have upgraded to a suit of Carbonum Armor or
perhaps bits and pieces dropped by monsters in Foreman's/missions, but your
Robe/Guardian Tank Armor makes the package.
Example: Level 60 Armor setup (Doctor)
--------------------------------------
Main attributes used: Psychic/Stamina/Intelligence
* Head - Physician's Cap (Crafted from Cap of the Besieger)
* Body - Biomech Armor (rolled on a mission)
* Shoulders - Omni-Tek Shoulderpad/Pads of Will
* Arms - Biomech Armor Sleeves (rolled on a mission)
* Hands - Bau Cyber Armor gloves (looted from Foreman's)
* Legs - Biomech Armor Pants (looted from Foreman's)
* Feet - Waitt Cyber Armor (looted from Foreman's)
* Backslot - Exarch Robe (from ToTW)
Example: Level 60 Armor setup (Martial Artist)
----------------------------------------------
Main attributes used: Strength/Stamina/Agility
* Head - Carbonum Plate Helmet (crafted by tradeskiller)
* Body - Carbonum Breastplate (crafted by tradeskiller)
* Shoulders - Barrow Strength/Withered Flesh (from ToTW)
* Arms - Carbonum Plate Arms (crafted by tradeskiller)
* Hands - Rockcrusher Gauntlets (from ToTW)
* Legs - Carbonum Plate Leggings (crafted by tradeskiller)
* Feet - Carbonum Plate Boots (crafted by tradeskiller)
* Backslot - Guardian Tank Armor (from ToTW)
Title Level 4 and beyond
========================
Later, however, you will often be facing enemies at a much higher level than
you are. In Title Levels 4 and above, it is important to have a tailored suit
of armor that matches your primary two Abilities, at the highest QL you can
wear. Backslot items are still important, but as an integrated part of an
overall package, rather than the vast majority of your armor.
Example: Level 120 Armor setup (Pistolero Adventurer)
-----------------------------------------------------
Main attributes used: Agility/Sense
* Head - Globetrotter Helmet (Adv only, looted from Adventurer enemy)
* Body - Prowler Armor Chest (From CoH)
* Shoulders - Enhanced Pads of Dedication/Prowler Armor Shoulderpad
* Arms - Prowler Armor Sleeves (From CoH)
* Hands - Rockcrusher Gauntlets (From ToTW)
* Legs - Prowler Armor Leggings (From CoH)
* Boots - Prowler Armor Boots (From CoH)
* Backslot - Backpack of Survival (Adv only, looted from Adventurer enemy)
Armor Selection, by Abilities
=============================
The vast majority of armor in Anarchy Online requires a prerequisite of two
Abilities. Thus, when selecting which armor you wish to pursue, it would be a
good idea to know your character's highest two Abilities, or which two
Abilities you intend to focus on as you progress.
Agility & Stamina Armor
-----------------------
Top Tier
* Omni Carbonum Plate (QL1-200) Omni Only. Weak vs. Ener, Rad. Bonus to NCU,
Nano Init, Max Nano, Max Health. Craftable, Market Price is 1m + 10k/QL.
* Storm Carbonum Plate (QL1-200) Clan Only. Weak vs. Ener, Rad. Bonus to NCU,
Nano Init, Max Nano, Nano Resist. Craftable, Market Price is 1m + 10k/QL.
* Carbonum Plate (QL1-200) Weak vs. Ener, Rad. Bonus to NCU, Nano Init, Max
Nano. Craftable, Market Price is 10k per QL for a full suit at QLs 1-90.
Agility & Strength Armor
------------------------
Top Tier
* Servants of Eight (QL10-200) Level Locked. Weak vs. Rad. Many Bonuses.
Boss Loot.
* Flowers Tech (QL75-200) Weak vs. Pois. Avail in Mission/Loot.
* Primus Decus (QL30-200) Weak vs. Rad. Avail in Mission/Loot.
Other Armors
* Secundus Decus (QL20-200) Weak vs. Chem, Rad. Avail in Mission/Loot.
* Junkmetal Armor (QL1-200) Weak vs. Cold, Fire. Bonus to Health. Craftable
from Robot Junk. Cheap and Effective.
* Tech Armor (QL1-200) Weak vs. Cold, Poison. Avail in Mission/Loot/Shop.
Special Armors
* Metallic Mantis (QL80-140) Somewhat weak vs. Rad, Fire. Many Bonuses,
including Proj and Ener dmg. Craftable, from Mantid Parts in Smuggler's Den.
* Kirch Kevlar (QL45-200) Buffing Armor. Bonuses to Max Health, AGI, SEN, PSY.
Boss Loot.
Shop Food
* Tertius Decus
* Omni-Pol Desert
* Omni-Pol Forest
* Metaplast
* Kevlar
* Low-Tech Armor
Intelligence & Psychic Armor
----------------------------
The best armor category for Nanomages, as it is armor that matches their prime
abilities.
Top Tier
* Nano Armor (QL75-200) Weak vs. Chem. Avail in Mission/Loot.
* Waitt Cyber (QL30-200) Weak vs. Pois. The best form of Cyber armor, Avail
in Mission/Loot/Shops.
Other Armors
* Bau Cyber (QL20-200) Weak vs. Chem, Pois. Avail in Mission/Loot/Shops.
Shop Food
* Cyber Armor (QL1-200) Weak vs. Chem, Rad, Pois. Avail in Mission/Loot/Shops.
Special Armors
* Living Cyber Armor (QL 1 -50) Weak vs. Chem, Rad, Pois. Leveling armor
(from 1-50). Bonus to Health. The Sleeves do not exist in-game. Most parts
can be found as a drop in the Subway (Deep section, humanoid monsters) or
from the Party Mixer's quest.
* Barter (QL75-200) Trader Only. Weak vs. Chem. Many Bonuses. Craftable,
Market Price 50-100k per QL for a full suit.
Intelligence & Stamina Armor
----------------------------
* Bronto Hide (QL20-200) Somewhat weak vs. Ener, Rad. Bonus to Max Nano.
Craftable from Bronto Hide parts. QLs higher than 60 are very rare.
Psychic & Stamina Armor
-----------------------
Top Tier
* Biomech (QL75-200) Weak vs. Rad. Bonus to First Aid, Treatment. Available
as Mission Reward/Loot/Shops.
Other Armors
* Links Energized (QL1-200) Weak vs. Chem, Poison. Avail in Mission/Loot/Shops.
Special Armors
* Augmented Cyborg Armor (QL77) Level-Locked at 71, NoDrop. Weak vs. Cold.
Bonus to NCU.
* Physician's Cap (QL 15-75) Head Only. Leveling Armor (15-75).
Shop Food
* Raven's Energized (QL30-200) Weak vs. Chem, Pois, Fire. Avail in
Mission/Loot/Shops.
* Energized Armor (QL1-200) Weak vs. Chem, Cold, Pois, Fire. Avail in
Mission/Loot/Shops.
Sense & Agility Armor
---------------------
Opifex often do well with these armors, with their high Agility and Sense.
Top Tier
* Omni Steel-Ribbed (QL20-200) Weak vs. Rad. Many Bonuses. Craftable,
Market Price 1m + 10k per QL.
* Obtru Steel-Ribbed (QL20-200) Weak vs. Rad. Avail in Mission/Loot.
* Apocalypse Leather Armor (QL10-200) Weak vs. Pois, Chem. Many Bonuses.
Slightly less powerful than Omni Steel-Ribbed. Craftable.
Other Armors
* Nadir Steel-Ribbed (QL20-200) Weak vs. Rad, Cold. Avail in Mission/Loot.
Special Armors
* Shadowfade (QL1) Agent Only. No weaknesses. Found in ToTW, from Reverends
and Windcallers. Note: Technically, Agility is primary & Sense is secondary.
* Crawler Armor (QL75) Craftable, from Skincrawler Parts in Crypt of Home.
* Prowler Armor (QL100-150) Leveling armor. Made from Crawler Armor, using
the Proliferation Units dropped by the Alpha Skincrawler.
* Cyborg Death Squad (QL70-200) Fixer Only. Weak vs. Rad. Many Bonuses.
Available as Loot drops from Cyborgs.
* Dillon (QL5-200) Buffing Armor. Bonuses to STA, INT, Piercing. Boss Loot.
* Nova Dillon (QL5-200) Buffing Armor. Bonuses to all Abilities and
Piercing. Boss Loot.
Shop Food
* Sid's Leather
* Martial Artist Suit
* Steel-Ribbed
* Leather Armor
* Light Combat Armor
Stamina & Strength Armor
------------------------
This is the ability setup favored by Atroxes, by far, as it plays off of their
two strongest abilities. There are many armors that are in this category, and
your only limitation is the amount of credits you are willing to spend. These
two abilities are also among the easiest to buff.
Top Tier
* Omni Life Guard (QL30-200) Omni Only. Somewhat weak vs. Chem. Many
Bonuses. Boss Loot.
* CAS Symbiotic (QL30-200) Weak vs. Cold. Many bonuses. Craftable, Market
Price is 50-100k per QL for a full suit.
* Omni-Pol Elite (QL75-200) Omni Only. Weak vs. Chem. Avail in Mission/Loot.
* Rhinoman Leather (QL 1-140ish) NoDrop. No weaknesses. Drops from Rhinomen and
provides excellent bonuses to Melee attack skills. Added in 17.4. Guide here:
^ http://www.aofroobs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4710
Other Armors
* Graft Armor (QL30-200) Weak vs. Cold. Avail in Mission/Loot/Shops.
* Organic Armor (QL20-200) Weak vs. Cold, Rad. Avail in Mission/Loot/Shops.
* Omni-Pol Armor (QL30-200) Omni Only. Weak vs. Cold, Fire. Avail in
Mission/Loot/Shops.
Special Armors
* Omni-Pol Trooper (QL5-225) Soldier Only. Somewhat weak vs. Pois.
Boss Loot.
* Sekutek Chilled Plasteel (QL10-200) Buffing Armor. Many Bonuses, including
STR, AGI, INT, and Max Nano. Boss Loot.
Shop Food
* Vito's Plasteel
* Titan Plasteel
* Nomad Armor
* Chilled Plasteel
* Heated Plasteel
* Flak Armor
Other Armors
------------
* Decranum's Corona (MK I = QL 140, MK II = 170) This special armor drops only
in the Smugglers Den and requires Strength, Stamina, Agility, and Psychology.
It has Superior ACs (with no holes) and gives bonuses to Health and NCU. The
MK I is locked to level 91 and the MK II is locked to level 146.
* Massive Steel Body Armor (QL10-50) Male Only (no Atroxes or Females). Weak
vs. Cold, Fire. Leveling Armor from 10-50.
* Padded Love (QL5-200) Fixer Only. Somewhat weak vs. Rad, Cold. Many
Bonuses. Boss Loot.
* Notum Saturated Metaplast (QL50-90) NT Only. No weaknesses. Craftable,
Extremely Rare, found off of Molebots (Clon****, 20K) or Hollow Island mobs.
* Armor of Yearning (QL100-200) MP Only. Drops from MP mobs, Medusas, Dynas
Armor Alternatives
==================
* Some folks forgo armor completely and use a full Omni Med-Suit. This helps
early on (when your backslot from ToTW can cover all your AC needs), as the
First Aid/Treatment bonuses allow you to use higher level stims and labs, not
to mention that it is dirt cheap (although may be more difficult to obtain for
Neutral/Clan).
* There are special "social armor" items that fit in your backslot called Battle
Suits. They prevent you from wearing armor, but provide a lot of protection,
at the cost of some nano-efficiency and movement. In general, they won't be
as effective as an equivalent full suit of armor and backslot, but they tend
to be cheap and easily available. The best of the series is a unique Soldier
only Battle Suit called the Charred Abaddon Chassis from IS, while the best
rollable battle suit is probably the Assault Issue Omni-Pol Elite Battle Suit.
Note that Battle Suits in general are great shop food.
* For Fixers, there is a well-known nanoline called "Grid Armor". This backslot
prevents you from wearing much (only Skinchips, Fashionable Energy Rings, the
Corrupted Ring from Tri-Plumbo), but gives you massive bonuses, especially to
Add All Def and Evades. The effect is that it makes you nearly unhittable,
able to dodge almost anything. Because you don't have protection, when you
do get hit, you'll be hit for full damage, but this tradeoff is definitely
worthwhile... most attacks will miss you, and the attacks that DO hit you can
be healed by your HoTs. Grid Armor comes in 4 "levels" and all are very
rare, very expensive, and costly in terms of IP expenditure. Grid Armor, at
the time of this writing goes for the following credits: GA I - 10m, GA II -
25m, GA III - 50m, GA IV - 100m.
-----------
- Weapons -
-----------
It can be tough sometimes to evaluate the overall quality of the many weapons
in the game. However, there are a few criteria that I use:
* Look at the skills used. If there are two main weapon skills that are
required, the weapon may not be worth using because of split requirements.
There are only a handful of weapons that are preferred despite their dual
requirements (such as the Division 9 Plasmaprojector, Sleekblaster, and SOL
94-K Monster). In general, you will want to stick to a weapon that does NOT
have split requirements.
* Look at the special attack skills used. Some weapons require many specials,
which means they are more effective in combat but also cost more IP to use.
Weapon specials are also notoriously difficult to buff, with a couple of
exceptions (Burst, Aimed Shot, Brawl).
* If it is one-handed, look at the Multi-Ranged/Multi-Melee requirement. This
skill is the "opportunity cost" for dual-wielding a weapon. If the MR/MM
requirement is too high, it may not be worth it to try to dual wield them. A
popular example is the Gamma Ejector from Foreman's, which has a great damage
to skill ratio but has a horrendously high Multi-Ranged requirement.
* Look at the damage. Typically, I like to see a maximum damage that is
between 1/3 to 1/2 of the main weapon skill. Lower than that, it may not be
worth using. Higher than that, you are going to hit pretty hard for your
current skill level. Faster weapons tend to deal less damage, so keep this in
mind. Some slow weapons do a lot of damage, but have such high recharge and
attack speeds as to be nearly unusable.
* Look at the attack speed/recharge time. You can tolerate a bit higher
recharge than attack speed, but I would try to select a weapon that is close
to 1.0/1.0 speed when compensated by your appropriate Initiative value. For
example, if you are on Full Aggressive and you have 300 Melee Init, then you
can probably use a 1.75/2.0 weapon quite well (reduced by skill to 1.0/1.0).
Below is a listing of the most viable weapons that I've found to be useful so
far in my experience. They are ranked on a 1 to 5 scale based on Availability,
Damage, Speed, and IP cost, with 1 being worst and 5 being best. Items that
are in <> brackets are "Top Tier" items, which indicate that they represent
one of the best weapons of their level range.
Note that this list is for fr00bs only. Players with expansions will find that
there are many effective weapons much more powerful than the ones found on this
list which are "expansion only". If you have expansions, you probably won't
find this listing to be useful.
Availability
1) Almost impossible - Very rare drop from unique enemies/bosses
2) Rare - Uncommon/Rare drop from bosses, or common drop from unique boss
3) Uncommon - Tradeskilled weapon (from common parts) or Mission Loot only
4) Commmon - Bought from special shops and/or Rollable
5) Very Common - Shop-buyable and Rollable
Note: All of the common ToTW drops are designated with a 3
Damage (denotes damage per hit, independent of Speed)
1) Poor - Unfavorable Skill to Damage Ratio (greater than 8)
2) Average - Equivocal Skill to Damage Ratio (between 5 and 8)
3) Good - Favorable Skill to Damage Ratio (less than 5)
4) Great - Favorable Skill to Damage Ratio (less than 4)
5) Awesome - Excellent Skill to Damage Ratio (less than 3)
The formula used for raw damage is Primary Weapon skill divided by average Dmg.
This value is biased against crit-dependent weapons and it does not necessarily
represent the weapon's value in combat. It also is biased for many of the
NoDrop/Unique weapons that drop from Unique bosses/monsters, which tend to have
Damage ratios much higher than comparable weapons with similar skill reqs.
Finally, 2-handed melee weapons tend to score highly using this rating. In
general, though, if the Damage and Speed values are both high, the weapon is
probably a good choice.
Speed (assumes Agg/Def bar set at Full Aggressive)
1) Very slow - Requires over 900 Initiative to attack at 1s/1s
2) Slow - Requires up to 900 Initiative to attack at 1s/1s (up to 2.75/4.25)
3) Medium - Requires up to 600 Initiative to attack at 1s/1s (up to 2.25/3.25)
4) Fast - Requires up to 300 Initiative to attack at 1s/1s (up to 1.75/2.25)
5) Very Fast - Requires 0 Initiative to attack at 1s/1s (up to 1.25/1.25)
On some of the speed ratings, I "fudge" a bit. After all, 1.8/1.8 is about the
same as 1.75/1.75 with 300 Initiative.
IP Cost
1) Expensive - Requires IP in two Primary Weapon skills and many other specials
2) High - Requires IP in two Primary Weapon skills and one special
(example: Division 9 Plasmaprojector)
-or-
one primary Weapon skill and three or more specials and a Multi-wield skill.
(example: Chiroptera)
3) Average - Requires IP in one Primary Weapon skill and three specials
-or-
one Primary Weapon skill and two specials and Multi-Melee/Ranged
-or-
two Primary Weapon skills with no specials
4) Cheap - Requires IP in one Primary Weapon skill and two specials
-or-
one Primary Weapon skill and one special and Multi-Melee/Ranged.
(Examples: Phase Blade, BBI Faithful)
5) Very Cheap - Only requires IP in one Primary Weapon skill and one special
(Example: Energy Scythe)
-or-
one Primary Weapon skill and Multi-Melee/Ranged
(Example: The Original Electronicum pistol)
Many weapons with a lot of special attacks do much more damage in combat. This
value is just a raw estimate of the IP point expenditure needed to wield the
weapon, not an indication of the weapon's power.
-----------------
- Melee Weapons -
-----------------
1-Handed Blunt
==============
Unfortunately, the options are pretty slim for froobs in the 1HB category.
* Schiacciamento clubs - Avail 4, Damage 3, Speed 2, IP cost 2-3
Bought from the Tsunayoshi Smith. Large variety with all kinds of specials.
They are rather slow, but they deal good damage.
* <Howling Skull> - Avail 3, Damage 3, Speed 5, IP cost 4
Obtained in ToTW, from various bosses. Pretty standard fare, but they deal
good damage for their skill requirements.
* <Skull of Woe/Lamentation> - Avail 3, Damage 3, Speed 5, IP cost 4
These two skulls are very similar, and are also obtained from ToTW. They are
superior to the Howling Skull, and do Cold/Fire damage. You can receive them
from Lien and the Reanimator.
* <Skull of Despair> - Avail 1, Damage 5, Speed 3, IP cost 5
<Skull of Misery> - Avail 1, Damage 4, Speed 3, IP cost 4
These two skulls are in the Inner Sanctum (3rd floor) and are pretty much
upgraded versions of the ToTW skulls
* <Blood Mace> - Avail 1, Damage 3-4, Speed 2, IP cost 3
<Blood Bat> - Avail 1, Damage 4, Speed 2, IP cost 2
These drop from one of the toughest bosses on Rubi-Ka, the Mercenary Ian Warr.
* Native Alloy Staff - Avail 5, Damage 3, Speed 3, IP cost 2
A rollable and shop buyable option for 1HB.
Other Options
-------------
* Pillow with Important Stripes - Avail 4, Damage 1, Speed X, IP cost 2
These "weapons" aren't actually effective in battle; instead, they boost your
nanoskills. You can only have one (can't dual wield these pillows, although
you can wield them with other melee weapons). Most folks go for the low reqs
and high stat boosts of the QL 51.
* Concrete Cushion - Avail 4, Damage 1, Speed X, IP cost X
An honorable mention goes to these buffing items. While you probably won't
use these in combat, they can be dual-wielded to provide a total of +16
Stamina and Strength. Useful for equipping armor and implants.
1-Handed Edged
==============
* <Sharpened Kinetic Axe> (QL 25) - Avail 4, Damage 4-5, Speed 5, IP cost 3
These Rollable weapons can be bought from the Second-Hand Peddler in the
backyards (up to QL 10), but really shine at their highest QL, QL 25. They
are relatively fast and deal great damage.
* Meibutsu Daito swords - Avail 4, Damage 3-4, Speed 2, IP cost 3-5
Bought from Tsunayoshi Smith. Slow, but readily available and great damage.
* <Phase Blade> - Avail 3, Damage 4, Speed 3, IP cost 4
This common drop in ToTW has an excellent damage ratio, although it fails to
deal critical hits. Most folks use these for their early 40-60 levels, if
they go with 1HE.
* <Frozen Tear of Uklesh> - Avail 1, Damage 5, Speed 3, IP cost 4
This rare drop from Uklesh is a more powerful form of the Phase Blade. It is
extremely difficult to get and deals cold damage.
* <Chiroptera> - Avail 2, Damage 5, Speed 5, IP cost 1
Adventurer/Enforcer only. Drops from Cenobite Shadows in CoH. These weapons
have high reqs and many specials, but they are the close to the "end-game"
weapon for Advys and Enfos from levels 100 and up.
* SOL Fire Executioners - Avail 4, Damage 3, Speed 3, IP cost 2-4
Adventurer only. These weapons come in many different models with varying
specials, but they all do decent damage with an average speed. Rollable.
* Mantis Scissors - Avail 2, Damage 3, Speed 3, IP cost 3
Enhanced Mantis Scissors - Avail 2, Damage 4, Speed 3, IP cost 3
Dropped from Mantids in the Smuggler's Den.
* Impious Dominator - Avail 2, Damage 4, Speed 4, IP cost 4
Another IS weapon, from Hezek
* Icebound Heart - Avail 2, Damage 4, Speed 4, IP cost 4
Another IS weapon.
* Frost Shard - Avail 2, Damage 3, Speed 4, IP cost 4
Another IS weapon.
* <Gelid Blade of Innobak> - Avail 2, Damage 4, Speed 4, IP cost 4
This is the fr00b "high end" weapon for 1HE.
Piercing
========
* <Improved Tango Dirk> - Avail 3, Damage 4, Speed 4, IP cost 4
The regular Tango Dirk can be bought at the Trader Shop or can be rolled on
missions and isn't really anything to write home about. However, if you can
find a tradeskiller to improve the Tango Dirk (requires a special tool), it
turns into one of the best skill-to-damage ratio weapons in the game. While
it lacks most specials (except Brawl), it is easily dual-wielded and outpaces
many other 1-handed melee weapons in terms of damage.
* Newland Fish Knife - Avail 2, Damage 3, Speed 3-5, IP cost 3
Boss loot. With Fast Attack and Brawling specials, this knife is probably the
next best choice after Improved Tango Dirks. Slows down as QL goes up.
* Fear-forged Blade - Avail 2, Damage 1, Speed 5, IP cost 3
Drops in the Steps of Madness from Unrelenting Fear. It has Sneak Attack and
Fast Attack, but other than that, it's a mediocre weapon at best. It has a 5%
chance of casting a nano that does damage over time.
* Toothpicker - Avail 2, Damage 3, Speed 5, IP cost 3
Level 71 locked. Drops in the Smuggler's Den from Clawfinger Forefather. An
extremely fast weapon with Fast Attack/Sneak Attack and a proc that does
additional damage 7% of the time. It's decent, if a bit unremarkable.
* Stereotypical Dragon Tooth Poker - Avail 1, Damage 2, Speed 4, IP cost 4
Drops from the Tarasque. Rare. It is mostly used for the 25 Multi-Melee
bonus that it gives when equipped.
* <Slayerdroid Crystal Claw> - Avail 1, Damage 4, Speed 1, IP cost 3
Drops from the Obediency Enforcer, at QL 200 only. Your end-game Piercing.
* Mole Stinger - Avail 4, Damage 2, Speed 4, IP cost 2
If you can't get a hold of Tango Dirks, you can roll this item. It's fairly
fast, although lacking in damage.
* Hazangerine Claws - Avail 4, Damage 3, Speed 4, IP cost 1
Rollable. These claws actually have split requirements, but are one of the
few dual-wieldable weapons for Martial Artists that may be worth the IP cost.
In a proper setup, a skilled MA Claw wielder can have two weapon attacks, one
Martial Arts attack, and specials all at once, allowing the fastest obtainable
attack speed.
2-Handed Blunt
==============
Slow and powerful, 2-Handed Blunt weapons deal a lot of damage. They are
mainly limited to Enforcers or the occasional MP, mostly because of the class
limitation of the high-end weapon, the Howlet.
2-Handed Blunt can be buffed by Wrangles, Expertise, and Brutal Thug.
* Black Staff - Avail 4, Damage 5, Speed 1, IP cost 2-4
Bought from the Tsunayoshi Smith. Slow, but deals good damage and is easy
to acquire. At QL 50 and above, these weapons are usable only by Enforcers.
Shining has Fast Attack, Sleek has Sneak Attack, Dim has neither. Rough has
all Melee specials. All of the staves require Brawl and Dimach.
* <(Cold Morning) Icebreaker> - Avail 2, Damage 5, Speed 3, IP cost 3
Boss loot. Enforcer only. QL range of 40-50.
* <Howlet> - Avail 1, Damage 5, Speed 4-5, IP cost 2
MP/Enforcer only. This is pretty much the "high end" 2HB weapon.
* <Gravity> - Avail 1, Damage 5, Speed 2, IP cost 3
Boss loot, Atrox and Omni only
* Heavy-Headed Hardwood Staff - Avail 1, Damage 5, Speed 1, IP cost 4
Drops from the Tarasque. Extremely Rare.
* Punishment Rod - Avail 1, Damage 5, Speed 1, IP cost 3
Drops from the Obediency Enforcer
* Sledgehammer - Avail 5, Damage 5, Speed 1, IP cost 4
Slower than molasses.
Other 2HB options
-----------------
* Support Beam - Avail 4, Damage 4, Speed 1, IP cost 4
Atrox only. A special version called the Support Beam of Intolerance exists
up to QL 30 in the Subway. If you are a big 'Trox, it's hard to go wrong
with these. They are quite slow, but so are most of the other 2HB options.
* Bonehammer - Avail 2, Damage 5, Speed 1, IP cost 4
Drops in the Cyborg Barracks
2-Handed Edged
==============
* <Guard of the Gentleman> - Avail 4, Damage 4, Speed 5, IP cost 3-4
Keeper/Enforcer only. This weapon can only be bought in SL, but can be used
by fr00b Enforcers. At higher QLs, it requires more and more skills to
equip, but at low QLs (up to QL 29), it only requires Dimach, Fast Attack,
and 2HE. It has a high skill-to-damage ratio as well as a fast overall speed,
making it the perfect weapon between Newbie Island and the ToTW weapons. You
just have to find someone with expansions to buy one for you.
* Longmoon - Avail 5, Damage 4, Speed 2, IP cost 4
This is a nice rollable and shop-buyable option before you can get the ToTW
weapons. It's slow, but it's better than the beginner sword.
* Meibutsu Dai-Katana - Avail 4, Damage 5, Speed 2, IP cost 3-4
Bought from Tsunayoshi Smith. Slow, but deals good damage. A viable option
if you can't get the ToTW weapons or a Panther.
* Energy Scythe - Avail 3, Damage 5, Speed 3, IP cost 5
Drops from various humans in ToTW
* <Frost Scythe of the Legionnaire> - Avail 3, Damage 5, Speed 3, IP cost 5
Drops from Deathless Legionnaires in ToTW. Unique in that it does the same
amount of damage every time (min damage = max damage), which makes it better
for highly-armored foes.
* <Stygian Desolator> - Avail 2, Damage 5, Speed 3, IP cost 5
Drops in ToTW from Aztur the Immortal 100% of the time. It has a swift Fast
Attack recharge and occasionally casts a DoT nano when striking.
* <Panther> - Avail 2, Damage 5, Speed 5, IP cost 2
MP/Enforcer only. This weapon has high requirements, and is close to the top
weapon available for those two classes. Drops from Cenobite Shadows in CoH.
* Corpse Cutter - Avail 1, Damage 5, Speed 2, IP cost 3
Bossloot. A good stopgap weapon from QL140 to QL150. Enforcer only.
* The Edge of the Tarasque - Avail 1, Damage 4, Speed 3, IP cost 4
Drops from the Tarasque. Extremely Rare.
* Abyssal Desecrator - Avail 1, Damage 5, Speed 4, IP cost 5
Drops in IS from Hezak.
* Frost-bound Reaper - Avail 1, Damage 5, Speed 1*, IP cost 5
AKA FBR. Drops in IS. Has a major Melee Init debuff, which slows down your
attack rate significantly. Similar in profile to the Frost Scythe of the
Legionnaire, except higher stats.
* <Permafrost> - Avail 1, Damage 5, Speed 1, IP cost 5
Drops in IS from Hezak.
* (Enhanced) Queen Blade - Avail 1, Damage 5, Speed 1, IP cost 4
Drops in the Smuggler's Den from the Mantid Queen.
Melee Ener.
===========
There are even fewer options for Melee Energy than 1HB. Melee Energy tends
to be an additional requirement on a melee weapon instead of a single req.
* North Wind Katana - Avail 4, Damage 4, Speed 3, IP cost 3
Other than being Melee Energy (a generally unsupported melee weapon option),
this Katana isn't bad. It has a decent speed and has a favorable ratio of
damage-to-skill. The Eternal Sentinels in ToTW drop these weapons, and I
believe they are rollable. You can even combine it with Martial Arts.
* Sockdolager - Avail 1, Damage 4, Speed 4, IP cost 2
Nanomage only. This unusual weapon does decent damage, and supports several
nano-related skills. Boss loot only, in QLs 90-110.
* Gift of Jupiter/Jupiter Aegis - Avail 1, Damage 5, Speed 2, IP cost 3
Meta-Physicist only. This is an outstanding weapon that comes in QLs 40-50,
for MPs wanting to delve into Melee Energy.
* <The Argument> - Avail 1, Damage 4, Speed 3, IP cost 5
Drops from Hollow Island, from the Weed. The one reason to go the Melee
Energy route, this weapon has excellent damage and speed, especially at the
level range you can equip it. QLs from 150-200, and locked to Enfo/MP.
------------------
- Ranged Weapons -
------------------
Assault Rifles
==============
Mainly the realm of Soldiers, due to the excellent self-buffs available.
* BBI Gyro Gun - Avail 2, Damage 3, Speed 4-5, IP cost 4
Boss Loot only. A great Burst + FA gun, its low ammo capacity actually is a
benefit, considering its low recharge time. The attack and recharge time
increases marginally as it goes up in QL.
* Eradicator XCI-52 - Avail 5, Damage 2, Speed 5, IP cost 5
The Eradicator just has one special, Fling Shot. It is a fast gun and does
decent damage, a good choice for low levels.
* Seburo C-99a - Avail 5, Damage 3-4, Speed 2-3, IP cost 5
This assault rifle also has just one special, Burst. It is slower than the
Eradicator, but also has a decent damage-to-skill ratio. The attack/recharge
times decrease as it goes up in QL.
* Sentinel 20mm Snub Pistol - Avail 5, Damage 3, Speed 2, IP Cost 5
This assault rifle, similar to the Seburo, has just one special, Full Auto.
It does mediocre damage and is a bit slow, but if you are looking for a
decent Full Auto gun as a stopgap, this gun is widely available.
* <MTI F-88 Cineration> - Avail 2, Damage 3, Speed 4, IP cost 4
Soldier only. Boss loot only, this Assault Rifle is rather strange looking.
It has Burst and Fling Shot. Only available in QLs from 165 to 175.
* <Inner Circle Flamer> - Avail 1, Damage 4, Speed 1, IP cost 4
NoDrop item rarely found in missions inside chests. Great damage to skill
ratio, but a bit on the slow side. Soldier only.
* Hellspinner - Avail 2, Damage 4, Speed 3, IP cost 4
Hellfury - Avail 2, Damage 3, Speed 2, IP cost 5
NoDrop. These large and red weapons can be found in the cyborg barracks, off
of the Prototype Inferno (for the Hellspinner) and Augmented Hellfury (for
the Hellfury). Both are decent weapons for their level range. A guide to the
Cyborg Barracks can be found here:
^ http://www.ao-universe.com/main.php?site=knowledge&link=0&id=168
They can also be upgraded to...
* <Boosted/Augmented Hellspinner
> - Avail 2, Damage 4, Speed 3, IP cost 4
<Boosted/Augmented Hellfury
> - Avail 2, Damage 3, Speed 2, IP cost 5
Through a Tradeskill process, the Hellspinner and Hellfury can be upgraded.
The two upgrades have a level-lock of 175 and 190 for the Boosted and
Augmented, respectively, and locks the weapons to Soldier only. While the
Hellfury appears to do less damage, it has a faster Burst recycle, and thus
tends to be used just as often as the Hellspinner.
^ http://www.ao-universe.com/main.php?site=knowledge&link=0&id=179
Hybrids
-------
These weapons require both Assault Rifle and Ranged Energy. They are not
recommended for professions other than Soldier.
* Division 9 Plasmaprojector - Avail 2, Damage 5, Speed 3, IP cost 3
Soldier only, Boss loot. This gun is probably the most well-known option for
froob soldiers. It deals a lot of damage and has a fast burst cycle. The
speed isn't too bad, either.
* Nova Flow - Mark I - Avail 4, Damage 3-4, Speed 3, IP cost 2
Nova Flow - Mark IV - Avail 5, Damage 3, Speed 4, IP cost 2
Bought in shops and the Trader shop, these weapons are decent alternatives to
the Division 9 Plasmaprojector. The Nova Flow Mark IV is probably a better
choice due to its speed, but both models are no slouch in terms of damage and
specials.
Bows
====
One of the few viable ranged weapon options for Martial Artists and a signature
weapon of MPs, these antiquated projectile weapons tend to be slow, with decent
damage. They use Physical Init, similar to Martial Arts.
Note that you can supplement the damage with special attacks, based on using
special arrows that deal varying effects and additional damage.
* Bow of Ferocious Appetite - Avail 4, Damage 4, Speed 2, IP cost 5
This bow does decent damage and has no specials, making it ideal for the
casual bow user. It is fairly slow, however.
* Schuyler Bow - Avail 4, Damage 4, Speed 2, IP cost 5
Sold in the Trader shop. Another fine bow that only uses the Bow skill with
no specials. Slow, but does great damage.
Grenades
========
There are few options for Grenade Launchers, and the only class that really can
utilize them to their fullest are Engineers (because of the 'Extreme Prejudice'
buff).
* Red Line Grenade Launcher - Avail 1, Damage 5, Speed 1, IP cost 5
Engineer only. QL40 to QL50, Bossloot.
MG/SMG
======
SMGs are almost the exclusive realm of Fixers, although the occasional Soldier
will be able to swing it. This is due to the large line of SMG self-buffs that
Fixers have. In general, they do poor to average damage, but have swift Burst
recharges which boosts your damage capability.
* Mausser Particle Streamer - Avail 5, Damage 3, Speed 3, IP cost 5
Mausser Chemical Streamer - Avail 5, Damage 4, Speed 1, IP cost 5
These weapons are relatively slow to fire and are similar in profile except
for the damage type. The Chemical Streamer does more damage for its reqs and
has a much faster Burst recharge, making it a more popular choice than the
Mausser Particle Streamer. However, the Chemical Streamer is slower overall.
Note that the Particle Streamer can be built from Tradeskills, one of the few
viable weapons that is made from Weapon Smithing. It is shop-buyable/rollable.
The Mausser Chemical Streamer is tradeskilled from the Mausser Particle
Streamer, using the following tradeskill process:
^ http://arcanum.aodevs.com/weapons_chemicalmausser.html
* OT Kerans Automatic Grinner - Avail 5, Damage 2, Speed 4, IP cost 5
Excellent speed, Poison/Disease damage, and decent damage range make this SMG
a good bet at the early levels. It is shop-buyable for Omni, also rollable.
* Light Miasma Beamer - Avail 1, Damage 3, Speed 4-5, IP cost 4
The Fixer-only special gun, it has a great Damage/Speed ratio and can be
dual-wielded. The Fixer gun of choice for up to level 50. The QL 50 version
is also useful as a buffing weapon, as it is one of the few weapons that buffs
Breaking and Entry.
* MTI Russian Good Days - Avail 4, Damage 2, Speed 3, IP cost 4
An excellent choice for dual-wielding, these SMGs fire quickly and have a
swift Burst recharge. If you must dual-wield, this is the SMG to get. Bought
at the Trader shop and rollable.
* Gamma Ejector - Avail 2, Damage 5, Speed 3, IP cost 5#
Found in Foreman's. The damage on this weapon is the best you will find all
the way up to about QL 120 or so. NoDrop. Level 41+ required.
# 4 if you Dual Wield it
* Manex Catastrophe - Avail 2, Damage 5, Speed 1, IP cost 5
This gun does a lot of damage, but it's also very slow. Boss loot. Whimsically
named after the old Earth months of the year.
* <Blackbird> - Avail 2, Damage 3-4, Speed 5, IP cost 4
This is your "endgame" SMG. Amazing damage, very high requirements, and swift
attack/recharge speeds make this the premium choice for any SMG user. It is
even dual-wieldable. Found in the Crypt of Home Dungeon from the Cenobite
Shadows. Fixer/Soldier only.
Pistols
=======
Pistols are among the most versatile weapons in terms of buffing and classes
that support the Pistols skill. It is also among the easiest to twink, due to
the Pistol buffs available (Gunslinger, Pistol Mastery, Extreme Prejudice). The
weapon of choice for many classes. Generally, it is paired with Fling Shot,
although you will find Pistols that support all of the Ranged specials.
* BBI Faithful 22s/100s - Avail 4, Damage 3, Speed 3, IP cost 4
Adventurer only. The BBI Faithful is an excellent choice, with decent damage.
While the JCSPs (linked below) are better at low levels, the BBI Faithful
outshines them at TL4 or above. Rollable and purchasable from the Trader Shop.
* MTI Grey - Avail 4, Damage 3, Speed 3, IP cost 4
Adventurer only. The Cold Damage version of the BBI Faithful, it has a very
similar damage profile, with slightly better Multi-Ranged requirement and
range. It even has a small buff to BioMet and some ACs. This gun is better
than the BBI Faithful in many respects, although you are more likely to get
bonuses to Projectile damage than Cold damage on your buffing items. It should
be used in the same situations as the BBI Faithful. Boss loot/Dyna only.
Note: Apparently, until QL 79, these pistols are usable by any profession. A
good choice for early Fling Shot capable pistol.
* Joint Clans Scout Pistols - Avail 4, Damage 3, Speed 2-5, IP cost 4
Adventurer only. The best early gun choice for Pistolero adventurers, these
pistols do excellent damage, have a swift attack and recharge time, and long
range. However, the attack times for this gun become more prohibitive as it
goes up in QL. It is probably the best gun you can use at levels 10 to 100
until you can get your hands on a Customized IMI Desert Reet 1000. These are
shop-buyable in Neutral and Clan weapon booths. Of note, this is one of the
few weapons that is shop-buyable, but NOT rollable.
* Solar-Powered Engineer Pistol - Avail 3, Damage 3, Speed 4, IP cost 1/Special
^ http://arcanum.aodevs.com/weapons_engineerpistol.html
This gun is one of the few ranged weapons with unlimited ammunition. It is a
leveling item from QL 1 to 200, and the various stages of its construction
require a lot of tradeskills and special items (some of which are millions of
credits). Leveling the weapon takes Weaponsmithing. Right Hand only, but can
be dualed with another pistol. Despite the name, any class can make/use it.
* Dark Pistol (of the Revoked) - Avail 2, Damage 4, Speed , IP cost 4
Bureaucrat only. These pistols are only usable in the Left Hand (but can be
dualed with another pistol). They deal great damage and have great bonuses to
your abilities. Found in CoH.
* The Original Electronicum - Avail 3-4, Damage 3-5, Speed 4, IP cost 5
A decent pistol that does not have any specials. It's not the best, but it's
far from the worst in terms of damage, and can be dual-wielded. QL 1 to 10
can be found off of the Second-Hand Peddler in the Backyards areas. Higher
QLs can be bought by expansion players in Jobe. Great at low levels, less
powerful as the QL goes up.
* <Customized IMI Desert Reet 1000> - Avail 1, Damage 4, Speed 4, IP cost 3
Found in Foreman's. This level-locked gun has both Burst and Flingshot, and
has probably one of the best damage/speed ratios in the game. It also has no
Attack Rating cap, allowing high level users to do severe damage with it. An
excellent choice for the off-hand or to dual-wield.
* <SOL K-91 Monster> - Avail 2, Damage 4, Speed 2-5, IP cost 4
A pistol very similar in profile to the Joint Clans Scout Pistols. It is
slightly slower than the JCSPs, but packs more damage. Best of all, it is
usable by any class. A great choice if you can get your hands on one. Boss
loot only.
* Bronto Anaesthetic Pistol - Avail 2, Damage 4, Speed 2, IP cost 5
Boss loot only. Only uses Pistol skill, does a lot of damage, but is also one
of the slowest pistols.
Other pistols
-------------
* Soft Pepper Pistol - Avail 3, Damage 1, Speed 5, IP cost 5
Made from a Sealed Weapon Receptacle, found as random mission loot. This
pistol has awful damage, but this is compensated by the fact that it raises
three different nanoskills by a substantial amount, BM, MM, and MC. Most folks
prefer the QL 51 version, as that is the first QL that adds +14 to nanoskills.
Left Hand only (sorry, can't dual wield it).
* Galahad Tsuyoshi - Avail 5, Damage 2, Speed ?, IP cost 3
While the various specials are a pain to raise (Full Auto and Burst), and the
Multi-Ranged requirement is high (but possible), this pistol adds a whopping
+20 to BM/MM, making it a great companion for Doctors willing to spend the
IP on Full Auto and Burst. The damage is mediocre, but better than the Soft
Pepper Pistol. Lowest QL is 100.
* Old English Trading Company line - Avail 5, Damage 2, Speed ?, IP cost 4
This line of pistols is particularly sought after for buffing, as they add
Intelligence at all QLs, and Psychic at QLs above 100. The most popular ones
are low QL Second hand Old English Trading Company (+5 Int each) and the
O.E.T. Co. Jess (QL 100, +20 to Int/Psy).
Ranged Energy
=============
Ranged Energy is really only supported by the Soldier profession, and even
then, most soldiers use an Assault Rifle/Ranged Energy hybrid. There are a
few weapons that only have Ranged Energy as its requirement, though.
* Igelkott - Avail 2, Damage 2, Speed 4, IP cost 5
Available in the Trader shop, these interesting Dual-wielded guns have no
specials and do decent damage. An alternative choice for an unorthodox
character.
* SOL XII Medical Laser - Avail 1, Damage 4, Speed 4, IP cost 5
Doctor only. Decent damage, but there are few other options for Ranged
Energy. I'd pass on this if I was playing a doc.
* Freedom Arms Negotiator - AVail 1, Damage 4, Speed 4, IP cost 5
Bureaucrat only. Very similar to the SOL Medical Laser. Decent damage, but
because it is Ranged Energy, I'd pass on this one.
* Revolving Cold Laser - Avail 2, Damage 3, Speed 3, IP cost 4
This unusual weapon is thoroughly "average" in about every respect. Average
damage, average speed. Drops in the Sentinels Base in Wailing Wastes. It's
probably your endgame option as a froob, should you graduate from Igelkotts.
Rifles
======
Note: Almost all Rifles require half their Rifle skill req. in Aimed Shot to
use. Exceptions will be noted below.
* <Yatamutchy X-3 Counter-Sniper Rifle> - Avail 2, Damage 4, Speed 2, IP cost 5
These rifles are only dropped from Bosses, and are generally considered to be
the best premium fr00b rifle, especially at higher QLs (starting at around QL
65 and up).
* Tsakachumi Counter-Sniper Rifle - Avail 5, Damage 3, Speed 2, IP cost 5
The odd second cousin of the Yatamutchy, the Tsakachumi is the shop-buyable
inferior version of the X-3 Counter-Sniper. It does provide a sizeable
Agility bonus, making it useful for buffing, at least. If you can't get a
hold of a good X-3, get a Tsakachumi.
* FDA Caterwaul - Avail 4, Damage 3, Speed 2, IP cost 5
This Agent-only rifle is a popular choice for PvP, and does comparable damage
to the Counter-Sniper line of rifles.
* <Barret R05 A-M Rifle> - Avail 2, Damage 5, Speed 4, IP cost 5
The most expensive premium rifle is also the best low level rifle, doing an
awesome job at TL 2 and is not a slouch in TL 3 either. Boss loot only.
* Gripo-Com AKR 1k20/1k21 - Avail 5, Damage 3, Speed 5, IP cost 5
This rifle is generally considered one of the best affordable choices for
early Rifle users, ranging in QL from 1-50. The newbie rifle is probably a
better choice until around QL 20 or so, but as you progress through TL 2,
this gun can become your best friend. It is shop-buyable, costing at around
2k per QL.
* <Longshot> - Avail 2, Damage 4, Speed 2, IP cost 5
This rifle is comparable to the Yatamutchy X-3 at QL 200. There is only one
QL for it, and it is title level locked at TL5. A great high-end gun.
Other Rifles
------------
* Collins Bio-Energy Rifle - Avail 4, Damage 4, Speed 1, IP cost 5
Available in the Trader shop, these unique rifles have a slow attack time,
fast recharge time, and utilize Fling Shot instead of Aimed Shot. They do a
lot of damage when in the right hands, a good alternative to the usual Aimed
Shot Agents out there.
* OT-Windchaser M06 Series - Stats not applicable
These rifles aren't very impressive, and are probably dead last in terms of
combat effectiveness. However, at various QLs these rifles give some pretty
unique and sought-after bonuses. For example, the Windchaser Hematite adds
to Agility and Rifle skill, while the Quartz gives +10 to Treatment and +8 to
Stamina.
Shotguns
========
* Vector ND - Avail 5, Damage 3-4, Speed 2, IP cost 5
These popular shotguns require ONLY the Shotgun skill, with no specials. They
do Energy damage. Great for classes that can't spare the IP for weapon
specials and multi ranged.
* Springfield Arms Home Defender - Avail 5, Damage 3-4, Speed 2, IP cost 5
These are very similar to the Vector ND, except that they can be dual-wielded
and they do projectile damage. Note that at around QL 65 to 66, there is a
massive jump in Multi-Ranged, making it more difficult to dual-wield.
* Windchaser SMB - Avail 5, Damage 2, Speed 5, IP cost 5
Another shotgun that doesn't require specials, these weapons fire faster, but
they suffer in the damage department. Very crit dependent.
* Uncle Bazzit Diplomatic - Avail 3, Damage 3, Speed 3, IP cost 4
Trader only. A great dual-wieldable shotgun, with a nice balance between
damage and speed, along with good bonuses.
* <Pump Trainee/Master> - Avail 1, Damage 5, Speed 2, IP cost 5
Trader only. These infamous shotguns do damage way out of proportion to their
quality level and are prized for low-level PvP. They are also ridiculously
expensive on the open market, about 20-30m on RK1.
* SOL SG-71 Robust - Avail 1, Damage 4, Speed 4, IP cost 4
Soldier only. Dyna Loot. These shotguns are probably the best projectile
weapon for a soldier at early levels. They come in QLs 40-50. Sadly, there
aren't many more shotguns to look forward to after this, but it has Burst and
Fling.
* OT MPS-0X Police Shotgun - Avail 5, Damage 3-4, Speed 2, IP cost 5
Rather slow, but most shotguns are slow. This shotgun is probably your best
bet if you are looking for a 2-hander shotgun with Burst. The 0X goes up in
numerical order from 00 to 07 at the top QL (190).
* <Maw of the Abyss> - Avail 3, Damage 5, Speed 2, IP cost 5
From IS. Great damage, although lacking in Crits. Has Fling Shot for its
special. Probably the weapon of choice at TL5 for most Shotgun users.
* Eye Wind One Hander - Avail 4, Damage 2, Speed 4, IP cost 2
Boss loot, Rollable. This shotgun has mediocre damage and varied specials.
While it isn't as good in PvM, it is one of the guns of choice for high level
PvP due to its high crits, support for Aimed Shot, and the ability to wield
it with another weapon.
==============================
= Helpful Resources (aong12) =
==============================
Bots
====
These are helpful in-game entities that allow you to look up information on a
variety of topics, by simply sending them a tell.
Helpbot
-------
Probably the most useful and overworked of the public bots. There are a variety
of functions that this bot can do, too numerous to mention. You can send a
tell to helpbot to get a brief list of its functions. Some common ones include:
* Looking up a character's stats: /tell helpbot whois (CharacterName)
* Determining your level range: /tell helpbot level (YourLevel)
* Checking out your OE status: /tell helpbot oe (RequirementsOfItem)
Itemsbot
--------
Itemsbot allows in-game look up of pretty much any item in the game. It will
even show you the exact description of the item if you provide the appropriate
QL. The syntax is as follows:
/tell itemsbot (QL) (Search String)
For example, to look for all QL 50 Tank Armors, one would type:
/tell itemsbot 50 Tank Armor
However, be warned: Itemsbot also shows "theoretical" items that do not exist
in the game. For example, you can see QL 1 Tank Armors or Yalmahas.
Recipebot
---------
Recipebot has a list of many tradeskill recipes. To search Recipebot, you need
to know the name of at least one item used in the tradeskill process. While it
does not tell you the exact tradeskill requirements needed, it is a good
reference for step-by-step instructions for making almost all items in the
game. The syntax is as follows:
/tell recipebot search (Search String)
For example, to look for all recipes that require an Omnifier, you can type:
/tell recipebot search Omnifier
Mrshop/Thegms
-------------
by Spuds
Mrshop is the bot for RK1 and RK3. Thegms is the bot for RK2. Note that there
is an actual player named Mrshop on RK2. Please do not spam him with tells.
This bot is a directory of players who have items to sell. Not only is it
useful to find an item that you've been searching for on the open market, but
you can use it as a sort of price check for some of the more popular items.
The syntax for a Mrshop/Thegms search is as follows:
/tell mrshop !search (low QL) (highQL) (Search String)
/tell thegms !search (low QL) (highQL) (Search String)
For example, to find all of the players selling a Virral Triumverate Egg:
/tell mrshop !search 190 190 Virral
/tell thegms !search 190 190 Virral
You can also set up your own shops on this bot to advertise what items you are
selling and what tradeskills you have to offer.
There is a web-based search under development for these bots that can be found
at http://aogms.com
AOFroobs
--------
/tell AOFroobs !join
This is the chatbot for the AOFroobs community, and it is open for anyone to
join. While most of the folks are on RK2, it is linked across RK1 and RK2 at
this time. Enjoy the community, humor, and experience of the AOFroobs folks.
Atlantean
---------
^ http://www.aofroobs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2865
** AOFroobs post on Atlantean bot
^ http://ao.onedot.nl
** The official site
Only available on RK1, obviously...
This invite-only bot gives you a small community of high level players on all
factions who come together for high level raids. They typically tackle the big
raids like Hollow Island, 3rd Floor Inner Sanctum, Biodomes, Mercenaries, and
a variety of other raids that requires a lot of manpower and firepower. Best of
all, they don't use a point system, but instead use a flat-roll for all loot.
The admins are very much into fair and equal distribution of loot. To join
this bot, send a tell to one of the admins.
Online Class Guides
===================
While there are quite a few resources for subscribers, few of these class
guides address issues specifically for the fr00b population. I've tried to
collect several references for each class that may be helpful for fr00bs.
Adventurer
----------
^ http://www.aofroobs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2046
** Poorly written, but the thread discussion may be useful.
^ http://forums.anarchy-online.com/showthread.php?t=350486
** Viable Weapons thread, some may not be applicable for fr00bs, as it includes
weapons from expansions.
^ http://forums.anarchy-online.com/showthread.php?t=112446
** Adventurer's Handbook. Applies mostly to paying players, but some good info
for froobs.
Agent
-----
^ http://www.agentsector.com/agentsector/articles.html
** A whole website of useful Agent guides
Bureaucrat
----------
^ http://www.aofroobs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2904
** A decent fr00b Bureaucrat guide
Doctor
------
^ http://forums.anarchy-online.com/showthread.php?t=104301
** Various official forums Doctor threads
^ http://forums.anarchy-online.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=115833
** Some quick tips for playing a Doctor
^ http://www.aofroobs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4592
** My adventures in Piercing land
^ http://forums.anarchy-online.com/showthread.php?t=146310
** A satirical look at being a Doctor in AO. Humor.
Enforcer
--------
^ http://www.aofroobs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3270
** An enforcer guide written from the Fr00b perspective, by Pete
^ http://www.aofroobs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3317
** Some fr00b Enforcer weapons, with some discussion
^ http://www.aofroobs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=253
** The Enforcer's Prayer
^ http://www.aofroobs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=256
** Discussion on Gaining Aggro.
^ http://www.aofroobs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4653
** Guide to creating a Level 15 "Cold Morning Icebreaker" Enforcer twink
Engineer
--------
^ http://www.aofroobs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3339
** A fr00b Engineer guide... work in progress, by Reken
^ http://forums.anarchy-online.com/showthread.php?t=18075
All of the pets and their Health... and Nano (pets have nano?).
Fixer
-----
^ http://www.aofroobs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3410
** Ye olde Fixer Guide, by Tarradax. One of the finest froob class guides.
Martial Artist
--------------
^ http://users.adelphia.net/~chronita/index.htm
** An old, but detailed, MA guide
Meta-Physicist
--------------
^ http://www.gameguides.ws/games/ao/MP%20Beginners%20Guide.htm
** A detailed MP guide for beginners
Nano-Technician
---------------
^ http://forums.anarchy-online.com/showthread.php?t=235850
** An NT guide, geared more for paying players, at the official site
Soldier
-------
^ http://forums.anarchy-online.com/showthread.php?t=175515
** Links to various Soldier threads on the official forums
^ http://www.aofroobs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=415
** An interesting discussion on viable soldier weapons, focused on fr00bs.
Trader
------
^ http://forums.anarchy-online.com/showthread.php?t=168020
** Official Forums Trader Guide. A MUST read for any prospective Trader
^ http://www.aofroobs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4764
** This is my Froob Trader Guide, still a work in progress.
Utilities
=========
AOCrafter
---------
^ http://www.wrongplace.net/
An excellent out-of-game resource for looking up the skill requirements for the
various tradeskill processes in AO.
Atlas of Rubi-Ka
----------------
^ http://forums.flw.nu/viewtopic.php?p=1044
This is the most up-to-date map for AO that you can get. It has many locations
and unique encounters marked, and one of the layers has lines that show every
500 distance units (meters?). Get this map.
Clicksaver
----------
^ http://www.marquentein.dk/clicksaver/
Don't take missions without it! This highly useful program allows you to see
all of the details of a mission at a glance, and even includes a pattern-
matching buying agent that allows you to roll hundreds of missions without any
work at all. It takes a while to learn how to use it to its full potential, but
it will greatly aid your mission-rolling experience.
Darkbane's Implant Helper
-------------------------
^ www.lastmanut.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/implantHelperWebPage/implanthelper.html
A very sophisticated and up-to-date Implant creator. Requires .NET.
iMatrix
-------
^ http://www.kewlpack.com/iMatrix.shtm
Another popular and simple implant designer
CSP Map
-------
^ http://creativestudent.com/ao/#downloads
An updated version of the Huge Map (linked below), this is almost a must-have.
This in-game upgrade shows the locations of dynacamps, shops, whompahs, and
many many other locations, as well as displaying the world map in much higher
detail than the default in-game map. This has recently been superceded by the
superior Atlas of Rubi-Ka, which is based on this map.
Nano-Nanny
----------
^ http://www.timezulu.com.au/NanoNanny/
Sometimes inaccurate, but one of the easiest to use and popular implant tools
Nillan's Skill Emulator
-----------------------
^ http://aomainframe.info/skillemulator3.zip
Want to figure out what sort of skills and abilities you'll have at a later
level? This is the perfect tool for you.
Original Huge Map
-----------------
NOTE: No longer exists!
^ OLD Link: http://travel.to/rubi-ka/
This map is the basis for CSP Map, and is a little bit out of date. However,
this site had more than just the in-game Huge Map, as there were several
high-quality out-of-game maps and a large Whom-Pah route map. Sadly, it seems
to no longer exist, but this is kept in the guide for posterity.
Websites
========
- General Websites -
Anarchy Arcanum
---------------
^ http://arcanum.aodevs.com/
^ OLD URL - http://www.anarchyarcanum.com
While this site is no longer updated and maintained, it has an excellent design
and a huge stockpile of Anarchy Online information. I use it as my main site
for looking up any tradeskilling or unique quests in the game. Highly
recommended reading.
Addendum: It seems that the original owner of the site has failed to renew the
URL anarchyarcanum.com. You can find a mirror of this site, however, at
aodevs.com. Thanks to aodevs.com for keeping this wonderful site alive.
AOFroobs
--------
^ http://www.aofroobs.com/
A website for fr00bs, by fr00bs. Probably the best place to seek an active
Anarchy Online community for a fr00b, since you cannot log into the official
forums without a paid account. A lot of good fr00b-oriented information in
these forums.
AO Universe
-----------
^ http://www.ao-universe.com/
This website is notable for being one of the few out there that keeps its info
constantly up to date. The website author is very active and usually does
about one update a week, minimum. Probably one of the best sites for new
players out there. Click on the Classic AO link to learn lots of good info
about fr00b areas.
AO Wiki
-------
^ http://wiki.aodevs.com/
^ OLD URL - http://www.aowiki.com/
Another site that was resurrected by AODevs. If you like the "wiki" style of
content creation and reading, then you'll like this site. Mostly incomplete,
but it's growing in popularity.
AODevs.com
----------
^ http://www.aodevs.com/
This website is a general meeting place and forums for folks who create third
party programs for Anarchy Online. The developers of chatbots, Clicksaver,
and other utilities can be found here. They also now maintain an archived copy
of Anarchy Arcanum and the new home of AO Wiki.
- Implant Websites -
AO's Premade Implant Shops
--------------------------
^ http://www.dd.org/~tale/ao/premade-implants.html
A list of the premade implants available in the General Basic Shop
Darkbane's Implant Helper
-------------------------
^ www.lastmanut.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/implantHelperWebPage/implanthelper.html
A very sophisticated and up-to-date Implant creator. Requires .NET.
Muha's guide to Implant Construction and Design
-----------------------------------------------
^ http://forums.anarchy-online.com/showthread.php?t=475485
A bare-bones guide to constructing implants, for the veteran tradeskiller.
Information includes some of the more obscure implant creation bugs.
- Items Websites -
Anarchy Mainframe
-----------------
^ http://www.aomainframe.info/
This used to be http://aodb.info/, and is the main item database site that most
folks use. If you need to look up the requirements of an item, simply search
for that item using the website's engine, punch in the appropriate QL and
you're all set.
Auno
----
^ http://auno.org/
Another great site with a sizeable item database. A good alternative to
Anarchy Mainframe, if that site is down.
Kimi's AO website
-----------------
^ http://arpa3.net/ao/
For price checks on various nano crystals, or to see who has advertised on the
recently shopping channels, you can't beat this site. It also has links to a
custom version of Clicksaver and to several other useful sites. Finally, Kimi
maintains a "rollability database" which can tell you if an item is rollable:
^ http://arpa3.net/ao/rollability.html
AO Market
---------
^ http://pricewatch.aomarket.com/
Another price check site, this site looks at all the AI player shops and gives
price quotes on popular items based on those shop prices. It tends to over-
estimate prices for fr00b items, but it has a slick and easy-to-use interface.
- Personal Websites -
^ http://www.dd.org/~tale/ao/
A large amount of useful information here at Bima's site.
^ http://www.twinkthing.tk/
A fansite that focuses on the art of twinking.
================
= FAQ (aong13) =
================
Interface Questions
===================
Q. The chat box is scrolling way too fast! How can I sort out the spam?
A. In any chat box, you can right-click the box or left-click on the I to look
at the chat box settings. More specifically, you can subscribe or unsubscribe
channels, or create a new chat box entirely. I typically split my chat into
two windows, one with spam (combat messages, shopping channels, OOC channels)
and one with my usual communications channels (team, org chat, vicinity).
I have written a beginner's guide to the chat client at this link:
^ http://www.aofroobs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4647
Q. How can I resize my chat window?
A. The default chat window starts Borderless, which cannot be resized. If you
change it to a normal "bordered" window through the visual settings, you can
resize it.
Q. It's hard to sort through the shops and my inventory! How can I make it
easier to read?
A. If you click the "I" at the upper-left of any window that stores items, you
will notice an option called "List Mode". I find it MUCH easier to go through
my items when I'm in List Mode, as it shows the name, count, and QL of each
item in your pack (or shop or bank). The only disadvantage is that you will
only see a small icon and it is more difficult to gauge when packs are full. I
would highly recommend using List Mode for all shops, at the very least. You
can also sort items according to Name, Count, and QL by clicking on the tab, as
well as resize the tabs by click and dragging on the tab borders.
Q. How do I rename my backpacks?
A. If you click the "I" at the upper-left of your open backpack window, you will
see an option to rename your backpack. Use this feature to keep your personal
bags organized. The names are kept locally, and thus other folks will see only
the default name when you trade the bags.
Q. Where are my Perks?
A. Froobs will still get perk messages, even though they cannot have perks. It
is an annoying part of leveling up.
Q. Why doesn't the Global Market Search work?
A. You can only use the Global Market Search terminals if you have the Alien
Invasion expansion. Sorry.
Q. How do I split a stack?
A. Hold down CTRL and Left-click and drag to the left or right. This allows you
to create a separate stack from the item. Note that some things cannot be
separated once they are combined.
Mission/Quest Questions
=======================
Q. Where can I get Whiskey?
A. Most liquor can be bought at Bartenders throughout Rubi-Ka. However, the
stock that they carry is often random, making it difficult to buy the Scottish
Whiskey needed for the Omni-Tek Assault Pack mission. I've had the best luck
with finding an OT Bartender in Baboon's and Roomba nightclubs in Omni-1
Entertainment, and the Bartender that's next to the Bronto Burger in Galway
Shire. You can also try the Bartenders in the Trade Skill Area in most of the
Basic Shops. It might take a while, but just hunt down multiple bartenders and
look at their stock.
Q. Where do I find Omnifiers/Clanalizers?
A. These start to appear in chests as loot on missions after QL 50. The easiest
way is to just buy it from someone selling on the trade channel. Prices vary
from 50k to 100k. They are not rollable, nor do they drop from Bosses.
Q. So what can I use the Omnifier on?
A. Omnifiers can be used on Hacked Steel-Ribbed Armor, Carbonum Armor, the
Pads of Dedication, and the Omni-Tek Armed Forces Helmet.
Q. A door in my mission is locked! How do I open it?
A. You need a Lock Pick, sold in any tools booth. You can also get a free
lockpick from a Subway quest (generally involving returning a Vagabond Cloak to
a vagrant near the subway). Generally, you need a Breaking and Entry skill of
about 1 x (QL of the mission) to open doors, and 2 x (QL of the mission) to
unlock chests/barrels, but at lower skill, you can repeatedly try to pick the
lock until you randomly get it open.
Q. What's the deal with Nano-Critters/Symbio-Grafts/Boosted-Grafts?
A. These items are equipped on the wrist (or finger, for Nano-critters), and
allow you to cast the nano they are programmed with. If they are "Hacked" or
generic, then the nanoprogram can be used by any class, thus allowing you to
use certain nanoprograms from other classes. The nanoprogram list is very
limited, but it does include some of the low level Adventurer polymorphs and
several low level buffs. The "Playful Cub", "Sparrow Flight", and "Enhanced
Senses" Grafts are quite popular. Reflect shields are also popular, with the
caveat that they lock Time-Space, thus prevent you from using Nano Rechargers!
Symbio-Grafts lock the linked skill for 1 hour minus 5 seconds per QL. Boosted
Grafts lock the linked skill for 30 minutes minus 5 seconds per QL. Thus,
Boosted Grafts tend to be more desirable, especially at high QLs.
A list of useful Grafts is at this link:
^ http://forums.anarchy-online.com/showthread.php?t=495650
Q. I've heard that I have an apartment somewhere?
A. The apartments can be found in the Backyards areas for each faction. You
don't have to pay anything for an apartment, as you are automatically assigned
one as soon as you walk into an apartment door. As Omni, just enter any of the
Highrise areas to get to your backyards, and simply walk into an apartment
door. Remember where your apartment is, as the game will give you no reminders
as to where you live! You will be given an Ownership Access Card, which must
be in your inventory to enter your apartment. You can place up to 30 objects
in the apartment for furniture or simply storage. To show folks your home,
you simply need to be teamed with them... just be the team leader and walk into
the door first. More information can be found here:
http://ao-universe.com/guides/classic/apartment_guide.php
Q. Why am I not getting tokens in my missions?
A. In order to get tokens, you have to kill the monsters/enemies in the
mission. For each monster that you kill, your chance of getting a token goes
up by a set amount. If you kill all of the monsters in the mission, your
chance of getting the token is 100%. You have to kill at least 5 or 6 enemies
before the percent meter shows up (unless you are on a team mission).
The monsters that you kill must be green or higher... if they are grey, they do
not add to the token percentages, even though they count toward the maximum
enemies you need to kill. Conversely, "hidden" enemies like Garbage Fleas,
Garbage Salamanders, and Frightened Rollerrats actually count toward the
percentage and don't count in the maximum enemies total. Turrets and Security
cams also count toward the percentage without counting toward maximum enemies.
Tokens are also only earned after you fully complete the mission objective. A
common mistake is exiting the mission without having used the appropriate item
for a Repair mission, or forgetting to return the target item to the mission
terminal that you got the mission from in Return Item missions.
Be sure to always right-click and use your tokens after earning them, because
they are Unique... if you have a token in your inventory, you won't earn any
new ones! And remember, Neutrals don't get tokens.
Q. Where do I find (insert Engineer Pistol item) here?
A. There are a variety of materials needed to make the Engineer pistol. A full
list of the process can be found here:
^ http://arcanum.aodevs.com/weapons_engineerpistol.html
Briefly:
* Irreparable River MV - Shop buyable, rollable. Lower QLs require less trade
skills, but have tighter QL ranges to build.
* Jensen Ore Extractor - Tradeskill section, General Tools booth
* Screwdriver - Tradeskill section
* Notum Chips/Fragments - Drops from any enemy that can drop gems. You want as
low of a QL as possible. QL 1 is the best for this process.
* Robotic Self-Preservation System - Uncommon drop from any robot, including
dogs.
* Technoscavenger Brain - NoDrop item from Buzzsaws or Technoscavengers. A lot
of them can be found on Bot Mountain south of ToTW in Greater Tir County.
* Disposal Unit Toolset - From a unique Bronto Catcher in Greater Tir County.
18 hours spawn, costs 1-2m on the open market.
Gameplay Questions
==================
Q. How can I determine the level range of folks that I can group with?
A. Most of the time, I just enlist the services of one of the chatbots. People
typically type /tell helpbot level XX, where XX is your level, and helpbot will
spit back out a range of numbers, including who you can team with, what
missions are pulled from the mission terminals, etc.
Q. What's a Wrangle?
A. Wrangles are Trader nanoskills that are generally used to increase a weapon
or nanoskill temporarily so that one can use higher level weapons/bots. They
increase primary weapon skills (no specials or multi) and Nanoskills (but not
the aiding skills of First Aid and Treatment). They do NOT increase anything
else (such as Abilities or Tradeskills). Note that using high level Wrangles
to equip items will often make you Over Equipped, so try to do the calculations
beforehand using /tell helpbot oe (RequirementsOfYourWeapon).
Q. What nanoprogram buffs Computer Literacy?
A. Unfortunately, there are only two classes that can buff Comp Lit, and they
are Trader and Agent (using False Profession: Trader). There are no outside
buffs for Comp Lit except for the generic Comp Lit expertise for +20. Most
folks either use items or implants to increase their Comp Lit. Another option
is wielding the QL 44 Galahad Inc T70 Beyer pistols.
Q. What is OE?
A. OE stands for "over-equipped". Weapons and Armor can be equipped using
temporary buffs such as implants and nanobuffs. However, if your skill is too
low after you lose those buffs, you may become "over-equipped". OE starts
occuring if any of the skills or abilities in the requirements of the item
fall below 80% of the requirement. At below 80%, you lose 25% of the efficacy,
whether it is armor class or damage or attack rating. At below 60%, you lose
50% of the efficacy.
The OE calculation is also made on pets. If your nanoskills fall below 80% of
the requirements to cast the pet, then they will no longer follow your commands.
HUD/Util items, Belts/NCU deckslots, and Implants do not suffer from OE.
Q. What is Overflow?
A. Overflow is a special inventory area that opens when you receive an item but
you do not have the space for it. Once you zone, all items in Overflow are
gone for good. Once you move some items from your inventory (into a bag or
deleted), you can "loot" the Overflow just like any other inventory window.
The main problem comes when you accidentally close the Overflow window, but you
still have an item in there that you want. Most of the time, that item is simply
gone (sorry!), unless you can somehow manage to open the Overflow window again
by receiving an item when your inventory is full. Most tradeskill processes will
cause the newly created item to go into Overflow, so you might be able to do
that. Another method of opening overflow is trading with someone, putting
things from your backpack into trade, then cancel the trade.
Q. Why are all these Armors and Weapons "Worn" or "Cheap" or "Irreparable"?
A. These (and other) prefixes are simply given to various weapons and armor at
different QL ranges. A QL 10 Cheap Joint Clans Scout Pistol is the same pistol
as a QL 140 Joint Clans Scout Pistol, but at a different QL. Pay little
attention to these prefixes, as they are only there for flavor text. On the
other hand, Suffixes at the end of certain weapons may indicate different
"buffs" that the weapon has. For example, the OT Windchaser M06 "Quartz" gives
a Treatment and Stamina bonus, where as the "Hematite" gives an Agility and
Rifle bonus.
Q. Why does my Quantum Wings keep cancelling when I zone?
Q. Why does my Globe-Trotter Helm keep disequipping when I zone?
A. Some items and nano-program buffs in the game have what is known as a
"playshift requirement". This means, whenever you zone, the game re-checks to
see if you meet the requirements of the item. Since the game does not take
take into account your buffs from implants and nano-buffs while zoning, this
can cause Quantum Wings to quit or certain items to become disequipped (even
though it still appears in your wear window). The only solution is to simply
recast Quantum Wings or re-equip the item. When your base abilities/skills are
high enough to use these items without buffs, you won't experience this issue.
Q. What is Nano Delta/Heal Delta?
A. Nano Delta and Heal Delta is the value that represents your "natural" healing
rate over time. Your nanopoints regenerate according to your Nano Delta and
your health regenerates according to your Heal Delta. People also use "Heal
Delta" as a term to describe the natural healing of NPCs and Monsters, but often
this isn't a true "Heal Delta". Rather, it is either regeneration offered by
Mongo or the accelerated healing that a monster gets when there are no players
within line of sight. Monsters and NPCs do have a slow natural regeneration
rate, but this is only a factor in very high level monsters.
Nano/Heal Delta are composed of two parts: Tickrate (the amount of time in
seconds before the next healing) and the Delta value (the amount of Nanopoints
or Health that is healed). The base Delta values are determined by breed and
Body Dev. Atrox breeds get 4 points of Heal Delta and 2 points of Nano Delta.
Nanomage breeds get 2 points of Heal Delta and 4 points of Nano Delta. Solitus
and Opifex breeds get 3 of each. This is further augmented by Body Dev, and
every 100 points of Body Dev adds 1 point of Delta to both. These values may
seem very low, but they can be augmented by implants, nanobuffs, and armor.
The Tickrate is dependent on Stamina for Heal Delta and Psychic for Nano Delta.
The formula for Heal Delta is:
(870-Stamina)/30 (rounded down) in seconds
While the formula for Nano Delta is:
((899-Psychic)/60) (rounded down) * 2 seconds
Note that these tickrates are HALVED if you are sitting.
Note that the minimum Tickrate (as far as I know) is 2 seconds. This makes the
following tables for Heal Delta and Nano Delta:
Heal Delta
----------
0 Stamina : 29 seconds
30 Stamina : 28 seconds
60 Stamina : 27 seconds
90 Stamina : 26 seconds
120 Stamina : 25 seconds
150 Stamina : 24 seconds
180 Stamina : 23 seconds
210 Stamina : 22 seconds
240 Stamina : 21 seconds
270 Stamina : 20 seconds
300 Stamina : 19 seconds
330 Stamina : 18 seconds
360 Stamina : 17 seconds
390 Stamina : 16 seconds
420 Stamina : 15 seconds
450 Stamina : 14 seconds
480 Stamina : 13 seconds
510 Stamina : 12 seconds
540 Stamina : 11 seconds
570 Stamina : 10 seconds
600 Stamina : 9 seconds
630 Stamina : 8 seconds
660 Stamina : 7 seconds
690 Stamina : 6 seconds
720 Stamina : 5 seconds
750 Stamina : 4 seconds
780 Stamina : 3 seconds
810 Stamina : 2 seconds
Nano Delta
----------
0 Psychic : 28 seconds
60 Psychic : 26 seconds
120 Psychic : 24 seconds
180 Psychic : 22 seconds
240 Psychic : 20 seconds
300 Psychic : 18 seconds
360 Psychic : 16 seconds
420 Psychic : 14 seconds
480 Psychic : 12 seconds
540 Psychic : 10 seconds
600 Psychic : 8 seconds
660 Psychic : 6 seconds
720 Psychic : 4 seconds
780 Psychic : 2 seconds
=====================
= Glossary (aong14) =
=====================
1HB - 1 Handed Blunt
1HE - 1 Handed Edged
2HB - 2 Handed Blunt
2HE - 2 Handed Edged
3P - Tri-Plumbo, the boss in the sewers of Biomare dungeon.
add - Short for "Additional monster", these are enemies that join an attack,
ganging up on your character/party.
Advy - Adventurer.
afk - Away from keyboard.
aggro - A term derived from "aggression", it is the quality of being actively
pursued/attacked by a monster. For example, "The Enforcer was out in front,
so he drew all the aggro". Also used as a verb, for both players receiving
and monsters giving attacks. "I'll aggro those mobs, you guys stay back." or
"The Leet aggro'ed me!"
AI - Alien Invasion, one of the expansions.
alt - Short for Alternate Character. Basically, any character that is actively
played that isn't a main.
AO - Anarchy Online
AoE - Area of Effect.
ARK - These are the volunteer players in charge of responding to petitions
and smoothing over the wrinkles in player gameplay. Short for Advisors of
Rubi-Ka.
backyards - This is the expression used to describe the "home turf" areas of
each of the factions. For Omni, it's Omni-Trade and Omni-1 Entertainment. For
Clan, it's Tir and Athens. For Neutrals, it's Borealis and Newland. The
backyards contain floating help objects, a holoworld for training low level
characters, and player apartments.
behe - Essence of the Behemoth, Enforcer nanobuff for +20 Strength/Stamina
bio break - A break to go to the bathroom and pick up drinks/food.
blitz - To run quickly through a mission to get to the reward or boss as fast
as possible. Typically, one blitzes through a mission just to get the mission
reward (or alternatively, the pickup item), and nothing else.
BM - Biological Metamorphoses, a nanoskill.
BnE - Breaking and Entry skill.
bot - One of the various user-created automated programs that responds to chat
commands.
BRB - Be Right Back.
buff - Any sustained effect that increases a stat or a skill. Nano Buffs are
limited by NCU (the more NCU you have, the more buffs you can sustain).
BY - Acronym for "Backyards" See Backyards for more info.
camp - Staying in an area, typically to repeatedly kill a respawning monster.
For example: "The Cyborgs are heavily camped."
CC - Concrete Cushion. A common buffing item for +8/+16 Strength/Stamina.
CDR - Customized IMI Desert Reet 1000. One of the more popular pistols, due to
its speed, damage, and special attacks, as well as relatively low requirements.
This is a NoDrop item that only drops from the Lab Director of Biomare dungeon,
and is difficult to get without a team of 80+ people or the help of orgmates.
CH - Complete Healing, a high level doctor nano that virtually completely heals
the Health bar.
CoH - Crypt of Home. A 70-110 level dungeon in Broken Shores, north of Home
(the Grid point of Broken Shores).
ding - Gaining a level. "I just dinged" or simply "Ding!".
DM - Dark Memories. A drop from Lien in the Temple of the Three Winds, it is
a memory chip that gives a fair amount of NCU and some Nano Energy.
DoT - Damage over Time. This class of Nanoprograms damages an opponent every
few seconds over an extended period of time. Also, Defender of the Three, one
of the bosses in Temple of the Three Winds.
Dynaboss - Also Dynacamp or simply Dyna. These are "boss" monsters that are
stronger than the usual specimen of their species. They often have a glowing
aura of some sort which confers a special ability.
EE - Emergency Exit. These buttons in Foreman's dungeon resemble fire alarms
and pressing them will teleport you back to the entrance. Also, Electrical
Engineering, a tradeskill.
EP - Extreme Prejudice, Engineer nanobuff for +120 Pistol and Grenade.
ES - Enhanced Senses, Agent nanobuff for +15 Sense.
FE - Finest Edition, found in the northwest corner of Old Athens.
FG - Feline Grace, Agent nanobuff for +25 Agility.
FTL - "For the loss", the opposite of FTW.
FTW - "For the win", a general term of acclaim and prowess. Used in many game
shows and competitive sports, this term has since become internet slang.
fr00b - A player with a free account. Occasionally used as a derogatory term
by those who pay to play. See "What is a fr00b?" section for details.
GA - Grid Armor. The various Grid armor nanoprograms available to the
Fixer class are highly sought after, and can sell for quite a bit on the
open market.
GAI - Grid Armor Mark I
GAII - Grid Armor Mark II
GAIII - Grid Armor Mark III
GAIV - Grid Armor Mark IV
GB - "Golfball", the teleporters in the Biomare/Foreman's Dungeon.
GSF - Gridspace Freedom, Fixer nano that adds runspeed and evades.
GSP - Grid Stream Productions. An internet radio station that caters exclusively
to AO. Visit gridstream.org for more details.
GTA - Guardian Tank Armor. The best "Back" slot armor from the Temple of the
Three Winds, it has an abysmally low drop rate from the Guardian of Time.
HoT - Healing over Time. This class of Nanoprograms heals some damage every
few seconds. They are very popular "buffs", as they allow the receipient to
engage in extended combat without worrying about healing. Fixers and Doctors
are the two classes with the major HoT nanos.
IC - Iron Circle, Doctor team nanobuff for +20 Strength/Stamina.
IP - Improvement Points. Used for raising abilities and skills.
IS - Inner Sanctum, a dungeon for characters of level 125+
Kiting - Killing in Transit. Generally used to describe hit-and-run tactics.
KS - Kill-steal. Also "KSing". Generally considered poor gaming etiquette,
Kill-stealing is ODing (overdamaging) an enemy that someone else is already
fighting. While some folks appreciate the assistance, the ODing player is the
one who gets the most experience and the first chance to loot.
legos - Also leggies or legs. Refers to the Legionnaires in the Temple of the
Three Winds.
loot alpha - Setting the loot to a rotation according to alphabetical order.
Many groups appreciate this form of loot for general dungeon hunting, as it
fairly distributes the loot across the team. To do this, the team leader must
type /team loot alpha
main - Short for Main Character. This is the main character that you play
most often.
MBS - Maximum Beneficial Skill. This item attribute caps your Attack Rating
for a particular weapon.
MC - Matter Creations, a nanoskill.
meep - Slang for any line of Nano that teleports a character out of an area.
Fixers are well-known for their "meep" nanos. Originally the sound made by the
Warner Brothers character "Roadrunner".
mezz - Short for mesmerize. This class of nanoprogram, commonly used by Traders,
Bureaucrats, Adventurers, and Nanotechnicians, is used to calm enemies so they
don't attack you on sight. They are a great method of crowd control, and also
allow for fast "blitzing" of missions. Metaphysicists also have a pet commonly
called a "mezz" pet that performs a similar function.
missionable - Able to get an item through a mission. For example, "The
concrete cushion is missionable". Synonymous with rollable.
MM - Matter Metamorphoses, a nanoskill.
MoR - Might of the Revenant, a shoulderpad from Inner Sanctum
MP - Meta-Physicist. Also, Monster Parts.
MT - mistell. Often used as an apology right after sending a message to the
wrong window, such as sending a trade sell/buy request on the OOC chat.
Nano - This can mean a lot of things, but it commonly refers to Nanoprograms
in the game, the Anarchy Online equivalent of spells. It can also refer to
the Nanopoints used to fuel the Nanoprograms, or less commonly, the NCU number
utilized for buffs.
NoDrop - NoDrop items cannot be sold or traded. It is typically impolite to
loot NoDrop items that you cannot use, so use Shift-Click to examine an item
before looting it. Many powerful items are NoDrop and thus need to be looted
rather than bought on open market.
NS - Neuronal Stimulator, NT nanobuff for +20 Intelligence/Psychic. SL only.
NT - Nano-Technician.
OB - Outside Buffs. In general, it means receiving buffs from other people
playing a different profession.
OD - Overdamaging. This means dealing the greatest fraction of the total damage
to a target. The team or individual that ODs a target gets the first chance at
looting the corpse and also most of the experience.
org - Short for organization. The Anarchy Online equivalent of guilds.
orgmates - A reference to people in the same org.
Perk - A unique advantage for your character, allowing you to focus your
abilities above and beyond standard IP allocation. Fr00bs CANNOT have Perks,
although they will still get Perk messages when they level up.
PM - Psychological Modifications, a nanoskill.
Proc - Short for Programmed Random Occurrence. Any number of random effects that
can happen when using a nano, item, or weapon. For example, the random added
damage of a CDR or Stygian Desolator.
PST - Please Send Tell, often used after shopping advertisements.
QL - Quality Level. This number tells you the relative power of the item and
is loosely related to the equivalent character level. Note that most items with
a high QL can be used by characters with a lower character level, so this is
mostly just a guideline, not a hard and fast limit (although some items ARE
level-locked). It also determines the buy/sell price of the item.
RB - Rome Blue. RBB, RBA, and RBS refer to Rome Blue Basic shop, Advanced
shop, and Superior shop, respectively.
RG - Rome Green. RGB, RGA, and RGS refer to Rome Green Basic shop, Advanced
shop, and Superior shop, respectively.
RK - Rubi-Ka, the "planet" on which Anarchy Online is based. RK1 refers to
the dimension Atlantean (Server 1), RK2 refers to the dimension Rimor (Server
2), and RK3 refers to the german dimension Die Neue Welt (Server 3). People
also jokingly refer to real world activities as RK4.
rolling - Gaining an item through a mission. Because the missions and mission
rewards are quite random, it is similar to rolling dice and attempting to get
a specific number. For example, "I finally rolled some Concrete Cushions on
my last mission" or "I'm going to roll up some missions, see if I can finally
get that nano". It is easier to "roll" items using Clicksaver. The term is
also used when a team is randomly determining the assignment of important
loot, such as the Guardian Tank Armor in the Temple of the Three Winds or the
Customized IMI Desert Reet 1000 in the Biomare/Foreman's Dungeon. Example:
"We'll roll for the CDRs, whoever gets the roll gets the item." Rolling random
numbers are typically facilitated by a /tell helpbot roll X, where X is the
number range to roll.
RC - Riot Control, Soldier Nanobuff for +110 Burst.
RR - Rome Red. Also, RRG refers to Rome Red Grid, the grid point in Rome Red.
RT - Robust Treatment, Adventurer Nanobuff for +60 treatment.
SD - Smuggler's Den. Also, Stygian Desolator.
SFA - Superior First Aid, Doctor Nanobuff for +80 treatment.
shop food - Items that are meant to be sold to an NPC or a shop terminal, as
opposed to valuable items that are meant to be sold on the shopping channels or
kept in your bank. For example, "Blood Plasma is good shop food."
SI - Sensory Improvement, a nanoskill.
SL - Shadowlands, either the expansion itself or the Shadowlands areas as a
whole.
SL00b - A paying subscriber. See also fr00b.
tipping - A polite way to ask for money for services, especially when
advertising on a chat channel. "Will cast Wrangle for tips" or "Tipping for a
good SFA buff." Note that the usage of tipping varies among different social
groups. Some folks feel that you should always tip according to a standard
pay scale, and some folks feel that the recipient should receive the services
for free and is under no obligation to tip. This writer feels that you should
always tip for services. It's just good form and etiquette.
TL - Title Level. Each title level represents a major advancement in your
prowess and limits.
ToTW - Temple of the Three Winds, the main dungeon for 25 to 60th level.
train - A large group of monsters that are following a fleeing player. Train
is used both as a noun and a verb in this instance. For example, "There's a
train coming at us from the main hallway! Watch out!" or "That damn Atrox just
trained back to our location". Generally considered poor gaming etiquette,
like KSing, although sometimes one will "train" to their own team to kill a
large group quickly with area attacks and/or teamwork.
TS - Time and Space, a nanoskill. Sometimes erroneously named "SpaceTime" in
the in-game descriptions.
twink - A character that has equipment that is far above the typical level of
being able to use said equipment, usually to gain an advantage in earlier
level gameplay. Can also be used as a verb "I twinked my alt with a Panther
that I bought from a friend."
Unique - You can only have one Unique item in the inventory of your character.
This prevents some items from being hoarded (like Tokens)
WB - Welcome Back.
Whom-pah - Teleportation booths that run in circuits, similar to train station
routes. There are Whompah routes for Neutral, Omni, and Clan, and some
crossover points at for all three routes.
WTB - Want to buy. Used on the trade channel to advertise when you want to
buy something.
WTF - Will to Fight, a PvP dungeon no one ever goes to anymore. Also, vulgar
usage: "What the F***?"
WTH - Want to hire. Used on the trade channel to advertise when you want to
hire the services of another character, usually a buff or tradeskill. Also,
vulgar usage: "What the H***?"
WTS - Want to sell. Used on the trade channel to advertise when you want to
sell something.
Yalm - Short for Yalmaha, it is an expensive flying vehicle available in the
Vehicle shops of Rubi-Ka.
=========================
= My Two Cents (aong15) =
=========================
This section is devoted to pearls of advice and my own stuffy opinion. Feel
free to agree/disagree with them as you'd like.
* There is a bug in the game that prevents you from saving your settings on the
first time you log out. Every subsequent time, your settings on windows, chat
screens, etc. are saved, but the first time it is not. I typically create a
character and then log out immediately, log back in, set up my windows and
then log out again to set this once and forget it.
* Instead of having one chat screen at the bottom, you can split the chat
screen into two windows. To change the size of a chat window, it must be in
"Normal" mode. "Borderless" is default, and can be changed to Normal through
the chat menu (right-click the chat window or click on the I in the lower
right corner). Visual > Style > Normal. I typically put "spam" (combat
messages, OOC chat, Vicinity) in the left window and important chat messages
(Team, Org Chat, Private Tells) in the right window.
* Remember, you can store bags in your Bank.
* You can rename your backpacks by clicking on the I in the upper left corner.
This setting is "locally" saved on the client, so if you trade the bag to
someone, they will see only the default name. You can also put your backpacks
in List Mode using the same menu.
* While the different styles of backpacks all hold the same amount, they have
different icons. It may be worth the higher cost of these bags for the
purposes of organizing your bank.
* Get a new map! The Atlas of Rubi-ka is probably the most current and has the
most useful information. I can't imagine trying to play the game without it.
* When selling on shopping chat channels, don't spam your messages every minute.
Wait at least 5 minutes before posting another advertisement. A good rule of
thumb is if you can see your previous advertisement in the same window as your
current advertisement, you are probably posting too fast.
* You can't sell NoDrop items.Please inspect your items before you sell them on
the shopping channels!
* Always tip for services. Even if it is a small tip and you can't afford much.
It is professional courtesy and shows that you appreciate the effort made by
the other player helping you.
* When asking for wrangles in particular, be sure to state both the number of
points that you need and whether or not you are tipping. Don't ask for the
131 wrangle just because it's the biggest... you will be excluding out lower
level traders who can fill your need just as well with a lower wrangle. For
example, if I need 24 points in Pistols, I'd write in the OT shopping channel
WTH 24+ Wrangle, tipping 100k, pst.
* There is no magical method to make millions of credits without putting forth
any effort. Sometimes you just get lucky ("Wow! A Grid Armor disc!"), but
the best way to make money is to save money. It pays to be a packrat... save
all the discs you come by, keep all of your old implants (to donate to later
characters), and become familiar with what items are valuable to others. Don't
buy new armor every 10 levels. Roll for your armor and weapons instead of
camping (wasting time that could be spent on missions) or buying on the open
market and terminals.
* Speaking of frugal spending and saving, don't upgrade your Armor just because
you can. Figure out if you need higher level Armor first. Especially at low
title levels, Armor often isn't necessary to survive most encounters, unless
you are a primary tanking class like an Enforcer or Soldier. The way that I
figure out if I need better armor is:
** Check and see if the non-critical hits vary in damage. If they do not
(same damage every hit), then that means the enemies are hitting for only
minimum damage and you do NOT need armor.
** If the enemies are hitting for more than the minimum AND I am having
problems keeping up the self-healing to survive, then I consider getting new
armor.
** If I am a pet class, I typically do not worry too much about having good
armor protection. Instead, I focus on keeping aggro on the pet.
* Certain classes (Traders and MPs come to mind) have problems with being
chased by buff-beggars looking for free buffs. If you are playing these
classes or you don't like to be harassed by private tells from strangers, try
the /anon chat command. It removes you from the global /list that some folks
use to hunt down other people. Also, try using the /afk command, with a
message saying "I'm not available for buffing" or something similar. Most
people take a hint and try someone else.
* Kill stealing is rude, but it is practiced quite often. Remember, however,
that according to FunCom policy, "No one owns a mob (enemy)". You can't
/petition someone for Kill stealing. For froobs, this is almost universally
true (paying subscribers have a exception: when they are on Alien raids,
Pocket Bosses, or any "boss" that is deliberately spawned by their own
efforts).
* Training can be annoying at times, too. This can be a petition-able offense
if there is documented evidence that someone was deliberately training a
group of monsters on you. This constitutes as harassment under FunCom policy.
However, you need documented evidence. Folks like this tend to gloat when it
happens, so you can usually get a good screenshot of the offense.
* Shift-Up Arrow while inputting chat goes to the previous messages that you've
typed in that chat input bar. This is useful for repeating messages like
advertisements on the shopping channels.
* Have a Neutral alt dedicated to buying/selling items. Neutrals get access to
all of the chat channels.
* When allocating IP, Shift-Left Click will increase a skill to max (as long as
you have available IP) or decrease it back to your old value in one click.
* Keep a bag called "Spares" in your inventory and fill it up with some ammo
(at least 5000) of various types, stims, and labs/rechargers. You never know
when you are in the middle of nowhere and a teammate has run out of supplies.
I typically use a Large Backpack - Medical, just for easy identification.
* When I strip-mine, erm, gather large amounts of Carbonrich Rocks, I typically
go ahead and process them into Program Crystals in the field before stashing
them in a bag. This saves me a lot of time later, as I do not have to break
out my Rock-crushing tools.
* Pressing F9 shows your current coordinates and location. Useful if you don't
have the map for the area you are in.
* If you hold down a movement key and then hold down shift, then release the
movement key, then shift, you will continue to move in that direction that
you specified. This is useful for keyboards without a number pad (laptops),
and for Auto-running in a direction other than forward.
======================
= End Notes (aong16) =
======================
-------------------
- Version History -
-------------------
0.01 First Draft!
0.02 Added more class-specific tips.
0.03 Expanded class-specific tips, added more sections
0.04 Added My Two Cents, weapon rankings
0.05 More weapon rankings, expanded several sections
0.06 Minor format changes
0.07 More tradeskill information, added price guide.
0.08 Updated Mission information, more prices, more weapons.
0.09 The Superbowl Bears vs. Colts edition!
0.10 The monthly update
0.11 More updates, expanded several sections
0.12 Tax day update. Added IS information (prelim)
0.13 A few slight changes, additions
0.14 Added a few links
0.15 Added a few links (Atlas of Rubi-Ka), corrected some spelling errors
0.16 More weapons added, some formatting corrections
-----------
- Credits -
-----------
AnarchyArcanum.com was the first resource that I used when I first started
playing AO, and thus deserves mention here. I couldn't have gone as far as I
have without it. It is gone, but not forgotten (mostly because it's mirrored!)
Special mention goes to ao-universe.com, one of the few sites that I've found
which updates regularly and keeps current and thorough information.
Another special mention goes to aofroobs.com. This site is a beacon for all
free non-paying players of Classic AO.
I'd like to thank my org, Newcomers Alliance. You make gaming great! If you
would like to join the Newcomers Alliance (Omni, RK1/Atlantean), send the
following command:
/tell chunkbot guestjoin
...and join our guest chat. Note that if your character was made in the last 48
hours, you may not be able to join guest chat due to a bug in the way our bot
reads character information. We're working on it! Be sure to ask for Ferrell.
I'd also like to thank FunCom for making Classic AO a free game for all to
enjoy. It is truly a remarkable game, and even more remarkable that anyone can
play for free!
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- Copyright Notice -
--------------------
This may be not be reproduced under any circumstances except for personal,
private use. It may not be placed on any web site or otherwise distributed
publicly without advance written permission. Use of this guide on any other
web site or as a part of any public display is strictly prohibited, and a
violation of copyright.
The following sites have permission to use this FAQ as long as it is credited:
http://www.gamefaqs.com
https://www.gamerevolution.com
All trademarks and copyrights contained in this document are owned by their
respective trademark and copyright holders.
In particular, Anarchy Online is a trademark of FunCom Corporation.
Anarchy Online is copyrighted by FunCom Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2006 Hahns Shin
Copyright 2007 Hahns Shin
Copyright 2008 Hahns Shin
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- End Quote -
-------------
"One of the most adventurous things left to us is to go to bed. For no one can
lay a hand on our dreams."
-E. V. Lucas, 365 Days and One More
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